AN: Hi there. Remember me? I'm that weirdo who said she was going to be writing a story. Well I'm back. Wow I haven't written in so long. But hey, maybe putting in this chapter will inspire me to get my act together. Anyway here's the latest installment of my Draco/Harry fic. I'm not sure why, but I got MAJOR writer's block on this one. Any and all comments welcome!

Warning: I've already got warnings up, but this is the chapter where it actually starts being slashy. So if you don't want to read it, don't. If you feel a need to comment on it, go ahead, but I'd really rather people stick to comments with some constructive stuff in them.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of J. K. Rowling's WONDERFUL creations and I am sincerely sorry about the butchering that they receive at my hands.

Parlance of the Serpent

Chapter 6

"That's everything then," Ron said as he flung his book bag onto one of the seats in their compartment. Harry sat down on another seat and yawned. He and Ron had stayed up late last night doing some last minute Herbology homework. Hermione, sitting across from Harry, gave him a disapproving look. She had told them to start their homework earlier, but they hadn't listened and now she would have to deal with them being irritable and tired. She was about to open her mouth to voice her disapproval for the tenth time, when Ginny stuck her head into their compartment.

"Come on out you three. Mum wants to say goodbye to us all," as she popped her head out of the compartment she called over her shoulder. "You've got some dirt on your nose Ron."

Ron scowled and rubbed his nose. Harry saw a misty look on Hermione's face and quickly went outside. As he was walking out he heard her say,

"Oh Ron, just like when we first met."

Platform 93/4 was emptying swiftly, so Harry had no trouble picking the Weasleys out of the dwindling crowd. Glancing at his wristwatch, he saw that the dial was pointing to "time to get on the train." Rushing over, he was pulled into a huge hug by Mrs. Weasley. She let him go and moved on to Ron and Hermione, talking all the while.

"Now you all have a good time at Hogwarts. I don't want to hear about any trouble. Merlin knows we've had enough of that. I expect you all to do very well and have a good time. Now get back on that train before it leaves without you."

Mrs. Weasley bustled them back on the train and they hung their heads out a window to wave goodbye.

"Goodbye Mrs. Weasley," Harry called. "I'll see you at Christmas."

As the train picked up speed, Harry, Ron, and Hermione pulled their heads back inside and returned to their compartment. Harry sat down and leaned back, enjoying the comfort of the deeply squishy seats. Across from him Ron sat with his head back and his eyes closed. Hermione, realising that neither of her companions showed any inclination to talk, took out her Arithmancy book and started reading. The silence in the compartment was a comfortable one, broken only by the turning pages of Hermione's book and the train moving along the tracks.

Harry listened to the train and thought wistfully of his home with Sirius. He always enjoyed his years at Hogwarts, but for the first time in his life he was living in a home with family. Not blood relations like the Dursleys, not blood relations like the Dursleys, but with his caring, loving, and funny godfather Sirius Black. Harry had thought of him as an overly friendly uncle or an adult older brother ever since he realised that Sirius was not a psychotic murderer. After the war, Harry had been unsure of what to expect in his life. It had been the happiest moment he could remember when Dumbledore announced that it would be safe for him to move in with Sirius. The thought of moving away from the Dursleys had completely sustained him during so much of the war and the final reality was in no way a disappointment. Harry found himself wishing he could exchange the daily entertainment of the Great Hall for the quiet companionship of Sirius' highly interesting cooking.

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts by Ginny's return. She sat down next to Hermione and the two of them started having a very loud whispered conversation about Lavender Brown and the Patil sisters. Harry just shook his head and tried to ignore them, waiting for Ron's inevitable reaction. He did not have to wait long. At a particularly large jolt of the train Ron woke up and heard Ginny and Hermione gossiping. With a scowl he sat up straight.

"See here you two," he said gruffly. "How am I supposed to sleep with you two endlessly yakking on about nothing?"

"Well if you hadn't procrastinated and left all your Herbology for last night you wouldn't need to sleep on the train where we have a right to talk!" Ginny's eyes flashed as she scowled back at her brother.

Harry caught Hermione's eyes and she nodded to him. Standing up she took hold of Ginny's arm.

"Ginny, let's let them be," Hermione's voice was firm, but not overly demanding. "They're too boring, and anyway I want to say hello to Parvati and Lavender. I haven't seen them in so long."

Ginny allowed herself to be drawn out of the compartment by Hermione, making one final face at her brother as she left. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and looked back over at Ron. His friend was still scowling, but some of the extra colour had left his cheeks. He stared out the window angrily. Harry knew that his friend wasn't really that mad, he was just tired and grouchy.

"Some Herbology homework, eh?"

"Yeah," Ron replied. "Who's the new teacher again?"

"I think Sirius said her name was Nimy or something like that."

"Well whatever her name is she assigns a lot of homework!"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Bet Hermione's going to love her."

They sat silently for a moment, each thinking their own thoughts. Harry was remembering Professor Sprout. She had been one of the first teachers to get killed once the war started. He hadn't known her that well, but he remembered her being very straightforward about things with a frankness that he had liked. He remembered meeting Justin Finch-Fletchly right after it had happened. That moment made Harry realise why Hufflepuffs didn't have as much of a drive to prove themselves as the other students. Professor McGonagall was a wonderful head of house and Harry had loads of respect for her, but the one thing she lacked was caring. Hufflepuffs were not only given rules and supported at Quidditch matches by their head of house, but they had been on personally friendly terms with Professor Sprout.

"Who's going to be the new head of Hufflepuff then?" It seemed Ron had been thinking the same thing as Harry.

"I don't know," Harry replied. "It's hard to imagine Herbology without Sprout around."

"I know. What if McGonagall had died?"

"I don't really want to imagine that."

"Hey, did Sirius tell you who was going to do Defence Against the Dark Arts this year?"

"No," Harry said glumly. "All he told me was about the new Herbology teacher."

"I wish he would," said Ron. "Dumbledore might make Snape the Dark Arts teacher if we don't get someone good, and you know what that would mean."

"I don't think I could deal with failing Potions and Defence," Harry said. "God, what if Snape taught two classes? 'No Potter you may not breathe unless I say so. Oh, I'd better let you live until potions Longbottom's already had a heart attack and I need someone to terrorise.'"

Ron snickered at Harry's impression of their least favourite teacher. Harry tried to hold on to Snape's ever-present look of disdain, but he soon caught Ron's infectious laughter. When Hermione returned to the compartment she saw her two best friends rolling about in their seats with tears of mirth streaming down their cheeks. She was secretly pleased that they could finally enjoy themselves, but remembered that she had been upset with them, so she hid her smile and sat down next to Ron.

"Honestly," she said, in a very strict tone of voice. "I'd think that you two would have got over this sort of behaviour, but I suppose you three-year-olds must be allowed to goof off from time to time."

Ron and Harry's laughter subsided into mere chuckles. They both knew very well that Hermione wasn't in the least bit angry. Ron took Hermione's hand and patted it absently, trying to suppress the few tiny giggles that escaped him at odd intervals.

"How were Lavender and Parvati?"

"Lavender's done something with her hair. I think she used a muggle dye, but she might have charmed it, but at any rate she's got reddish tints in her hair now."

Ron, unnoticed by Hermione, raised his eyebrows at Harry and mouthed "help me". As their friend started discussing Parvati's new class list, Harry got a very mean idea. He stood up and made a great show of stretching his arms and legs. With a slightly lopsided smile, he interrupted Hermione.

"Look you guys keep talking," he said. "I'm going up to the front to get some food. I'll be back soon."

Hermione nodded while Ron, shocked at Harry's betrayal, tried to resign himself to listening to Hermione's gossip. Harry himself slipped into the corridor. He started walking towards the front of the train. As he passed one compartment he heard a bang. Worried, he looked in, but realising who the passengers were, he hurried along. It was never wise to barge into a compartment where Neville Longbottom was showing Seamus Finnigan a new spell he'd learned. At the front of the train Harry saw that there was a small crowd around the woman with the snack cart. Harry pushed his way through, taking advantage of his seniority, and bought pasties, pumpkin juice, and sweets for himself and his friends.

As Harry was walking back to his compartment, his pockets bursting with chocolate frogs and his arms full of food, he almost bumped into someone coming out of the lavatory. It was Malfoy. For a moment they froze, face to face in the narrow corridor. Harry noticed again the near godlike beauty in Malfoy's pale grey eyes Harry hurriedly bent over and started to pick up spilled candies. The very last thing he wanted was to be attracted to such a bastard as Malfoy. Who cared if he had turned in one of Voldemort's top supporters? He was still a rude and stuck up git. Harry almost had himself convinced of this when Malfoy got down on his hands and knees to help him pick up the sweets.

"Thanks," Harry said hesitantly.

The word sounded strange on his tongue. He'd never thanked a Malfoy before. The two of them stood up. They stared at each other again, but without the usual hatred. Harry suddenly noticed how close the corridor was forcing them to stand. Malfoy nodded to Harry, unsmiling, and walked away. Harry watched him walking for a moment, and then returned to his compartment.

"Sweets," exclaimed Ron, his eyes lighting up. "Excellent."

Harry sat down as Ron opened a chocolate frog. Hermione reached for a flask of pumpkin juice and looked up at Harry.

"What's wrong Harry?" she said. "You look upset."

"It's nothing," Harry felt his cheeks turning slightly pink. He hoped Hermione would never find out he was thinking of a pair of cool grey eyes.

"It's probably just the train," said Ron, his mouth full of chocolate frog. "You know he doesn't like these curves 'Mione. Oh look Harry, you're on a chocolate frog card now!"

The two young wizards started chatting again, but Hermione's eyes narrowed. Ron may have been oblivious, but unless Hermione was much mistaken, Harry was bothered about something. Very bothered indeed.