Disclaimer: I do not own HP. I repeat, I do NOT own HP. But, of course, you lot know this, right? If not, whack yourself repeatedly in the head with a blunt object until you do.
Chapter 24 – Oh What a Day"Are you sure we should be out here?" asked Draco, glancing about the platform nervously.
Harry rolled his serpentine eyes and replied, "Chill, Malfoy. Its not like Voldemort is going to attack the platform."
"He's not that reckless," added Ethan. "Besides, I can't wait for Hermione to get up to the castle."
"And I can't wait for Gin."
Draco rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Love birds."
"You can bet on it," chorused the two dark-haired boy's, who were both now – finally at age seventeen – approaching six feet in height. Ethan was still the slightly taller one but Harry was much more agile, which gave him an advantage. Draco was – unfortunately – shorter than the both of them, only being 5'7.
The scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station then and all three boy's snapped up, waiting for it to stop. As soon as it did, students poured out, the elder one's immediately flocking towards the spot where the 'horse-less' carriages stood. Harry followed a pair of fourth year Ravenclaws in that direction with his eyes and smiled as one of the Thestrals bowed its head towards him.
"ETHAN!"
A whirlwind of bushy brown hair plowed through the crowd and threw itself bodily onto Ethan, accompanied by a huge ginger cat that pranced behind it. Hermione pulled the green/black-haired boy down into a kiss, which brought forth a whole round of cat-calls and wolf-whistles from the sixth and seventh years.
Harry was smirking at this when a similar whirlwind of flame red leapt upon him and trapped his lips in a fiery kiss.
"What was that for?" breathed Ethan when Hermione finally let him go. His lips still tingled from the kiss.
"I missed you," replied Hermione. "Can't a girl kiss her boyfriend without having a wagonload of questions thrown at her?"
"Of course. I just thought you were going to kill me."
Hermione smiled and said, "Oh, I thought about it but then I decided against it. I wouldn't survive the world without you in it."
"I concur," murmured Ethan, bending down towards her lips…
"Oh, Merlin, stop the sappiness."
Both Ethan and Hermione turned their heads to glare at Draco, who looked slightly green. "You four make me sick," stated the blond. "Especially those two."
The two blinked and turned to look at Harry and Ginny, who were still kissing. And Ron, who was just now getting off the train, looked like he couldn't decided whether to cheer for his sister or tear Harry limb from limb.
"Mrow?" said Medusa, popping up out of nowhere to leap onto Harry's shoulder.
Harry and Ginny pulled away from each other to send the tiny creature two identical murderous glares, which the cat simply tilted her head at.
"Mrow?"
Harry rolled his eyes and said, "I swear this cat is nuts."
"It would have to be to be able to live with you," quipped Draco.
Hermione leaned close to Ethan at this and whispered, "Are you sure he's a descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw?"
"That's what the Hat said, "confirmed Ethan. "You've also got a tiny gift waiting for you in the boy's dorm."
"Not that tiny. Thin but not tiny," said Harry, having caught the end part of Ethan's words.
"What's going on?" asked Ron as he finally got through the milling crowd to them. He was frowning slightly at Harry, who had his arm about Ginny's shoulders.
"Nothing much," replied Draco. "We're just standing here discussing how to bring about the apocalypse."
Harry and Ethan both looked heavenward at this then said in unison, "Once again, Draco, we are not trying to bring about the apocalypse."
"How many times must we tell you this?" asked Ethan.
"Fifty?" suggested Harry.
"Many, many more," replied Draco with a smirk.
"What's he doing here?" demanded Ron after he got over the shock of seeing the blond Slytherin.
"I'd like to know that myself," said Pansy Parkinson, who had appeared behind Draco. Crabbe and Goyle stood on either side of her, greatly resembling huge statues.
"Ah, Pansy," sneered Draco, "how are you?"
"Confused," replied Pansy darkly. "What are you doing hanging around with the Mudblood's and Muggle-lover's?" She eyed Ethan with distaste and her upper lip drew back from her teeth. "Not to mention the scum."
Ethan bristled and felt both Hermione and Harry's hands came down on his arm to keep him from severely hexing the slightly pug-faced girl.
"No need for detention at the beginning of the year," whispered Hermione.
"Exactly," came Harry's voice a second later. "Besides…I want to see what Malfoy does."
"What are you…" began Ron, only to be cut off by Ginny's hand covering his mouth.
Draco looked down his nose at Pansy as he said, "I find myself having more in common with the Mudblood's and Muggle-lover's and the scum than with the lot of you."
Pansy bristled and sneered, "And what does your father say about this?"
Draco paled slightly and Pansy started to look smugly at the five teens ranged behind the blond. Then he gave a little shake and said coolly," Personally, Pansy, I don't give a damn what my father thinks. He's a murdering, psychopathic killer who should have been put in Azkaban years ago. And I'd have had a better life for it!"
Several people heard this and turned to stare at Draco. Ethan crossed his arms and smirked smugly at this while Harry chortled softly.
"You're joining the wrong side, Draco," sneered Pansy.
"Correction," stated Draco with a smirk and a step back towards the five others, "I've joined the right side."
Pansy snarled incoherently and snapped to Crabbe and Goyle, "Get him."
As the two oafs lumbered forward, Harry and Ethan disengaged themselves from their girlfriend's and stepped to either side of Draco.
"Please," sneered Harry, eyes swirling emerald and black, "do try and get him."
"Yesss," hissed Ethan, snake-like. "I would indeed love to see the results."
Pansy scowled at them and spat, "What are you two going to do?"
Ethan and Harry looked at each other then both drew their wands, pointing them at Crabbe and Goyle. "We'll hex the ruddy hell out of the walking walls here," replied Harry with a smirk.
"And have so much fun doing it," added Ethan. "What should we use first, Harry?"
"Oh, I think a Bone-Breaker Curse'll be a good place to start as any."
Crabbe and Goyle took nervous steps back and Pansy shrieked, "Get him!"
"Give it up, Parkinson," said Draco, crossing his arms across his chest. "If there's one thing you should remember about me, it's that once my mind is made up, it's bloody well made up. So bugger off."
"Go away," added Ethan.
"And, please, don't come again," finished Harry, with a crossing of his arms and a dark swirl of his serpentine eyes.
Pansy sneered and spat, "You'll pay for this, Malfoy. Joining the scum and the Mudblood's will be your undoing."
"Ooo, undoing," sneered Ginny as she stepped up beside Harry, "that's a big word, isn't it, Hermione?"
Hermione smiled and moved to stand beside Ethan.
"A very big word, Ginny," said the bushy-haired girl. "And though I don't really know what's going on here (she cast a frowning glance at Harry and Ethan here) but if these two psycho's think the Ferret here's actually a good person – let alone has a soul – I'm willing to stand beside them. Not to mention hex you and the walking brick walls."
Draco gave her an askance look but both Harry and Ethan grinned cheekily, causing Hermione to moan mentally.
Pansy sneered at the five of them then turned on a heel and stormed off towards the horse-less carriages. Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other nervously then at the five teens ranged in front of them. The second Harry tilted his head to the side and his emerald eyes swirled black again, the two boys fled up the hill after Pansy.
"What did it do, have to relay through their second brain?" quipped Draco after the two were gone.
"Guess so," replied Harry. He turned towards Ginny and immediately the smile he'd had on his face vanished. The lithe little redhead was frowning at him, hands on her hips and head tilted slightly to the side. Harry noted somewhere in the back of his mind that she looked very intriguing in that pose.
"What," she demanded, "is going on?"
"I'd like to know that myself," said Hermione, crossing her arms and frowning at Ethan.
"Mione, don't look at me like that…"
"How about we just go inside?" asked Draco. "We are standing in the middle of the Platform, you know."
"Thank you for pointing that out, Malfoy," sneered Ron. "Why don't you slither off now?"
"He's alright, Ron," reprimanded Harry."
Ron turned an incredulous look on the dark-haired boy.
"What are you talking about, Harry? He's a Slytherin. Merlin, he's Malfoy."
Harry rolled his eyes and sneered, "Please, Ron. I'm a Slytherin."
"Don't remind me," said Ron with a frown.
"Hey!" snapped Ginny, giving her brother a light shove. "Don't you start, Ron!"
"Start what?"
"Start acting like an ass," replied Hermione, turning her frown from Ethan to Ron. "Jeez, Ron, you act like just because Harry's got a little Slytherin blood, it automatically means he's evil."
"Well, You-Know-Who…"
"Voldemort," interrupted Ginny with a lift of her chin.
Ron glared at her and continued, "You-Know-Who is evil."
"Do I look like Voldemort to you?" asked Harry.
"With the exception of the eyes," added Ethan before Ron could reply.
Ron scowled at him and Ethan's left hand twitched hard as pain flared through his arm. Hermione turned a frightened look on him then fixed that same look on the ginger-haired boy. He noticed it and frowned at her.
"What?"
"I'd ask you a question, Ron," growled Ethan, clenching his right hand into a fist to keep it from latching onto his left elbow. "But I won't since if I did life might become a little difficult for you."
Harry turned a confused look on the other dark-haired boy at that. When he saw Ethan's clenched fist and his left arm shaking slightly, he turned eyes that were almost completely black on Ron. The barest line of emerald showed around his slitted pupil, which had gone down to where it was almost invisible. Ron took a nervous step back at this and Harry grinned ferally at him.
"Well well," he said softly, "we'll just have to see about this inside, won't we? Anyone besides me feel like missing the Sorting so we can (excuse the pun) sort this out?"
"No," replied Ginny, Hermione, and Ethan at once. The three of them were all eying Ron darkly.
Harry turned his head to look at Draco, who was standing to his left. The blond looked back at him for a moment then said, "Hey, its your call, Potter."
"Alright then," said Harry. "I know a certain place we can go where we won't be disturbed."
"What about McGonagall?" demanded Ron as Harry began to walk towards where one last 'horse-less' carriage stood. "What about Dumbledore?"
"You should worry more about yourself than them," hissed Ethan into Ron's ear. "Now move!"
"Back off, Snape! You'll regret it if you don't."
"Hey," spat Harry, whirling about, "don't threaten him."
"Or what?" sneered Ron.
"Or the two Thestrals attached to that carriage will decide you'll make a tasty snack," replied Harry, pointing at the two creatures, which were invisible to all but him and Ethan.
Ron paled and hastily scrambled into the aforementioned carriage, followed a Ethan with his wand drawn. Hermione and Ginny climbed in next and Draco started to go but paused. He looked at Harry and said softly, "Do you really think Weasel's gone to Voldemort, Potter?"
"I don't believe in much anymore, Malfoy," replied Harry in a tired sort of voice. Medusa, who had disappeared earlier, suddenly reappeared on his shoulder, purring loudly. He smiled at the tiny creature and reached up to ruffle the downy fur on her chest. "And I won't say I believe it till I see it."
"What do you believe in, Potter?" asked Draco seriously.
Harry smiled gently and said, "Ginny. Ethan. Dusa here. Even you."
"Me?"
"Yeah. Hard to believe, isn't it?"
Draco snorted and said, "What about yourself?"
"Malfoy…"
"Yeah, Potter?"
"Get in the carriage."
"Whatever you say, you Slytherin you."
"Shut up, Ravenclaw," snapped Harry genially, shoving the blond up into the carriage.
"Oi!"