Ok, first off, I *know* I haven't updated for ages, and I'm really really sorry. I've just been so busy, I've been totally neglecting my writing. In fact, I've got 4 tests in the upcoming week, and a major history one tomorrow that I haven't studied for at all. I made the mistake of checking my mail after dinner though, and I felt so awful about completely not listening to my reviewers and updating that I shoved the books and started typing frantically.
Anyway, about this chapter, to all you Hagrid fans out there, I offer my full apologies. It really seems like Hagrid-bashing down here, but all I can say is that it's totally not going to stay this way, and that Harry will soon discover that he completely underestimated this not-so-big and overly-friendly giant. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) For now at least, I hope you can grit you teeth and bear with the touchy-feely way Hagrid's acting, and how Harry's being completely antagonistic towards Harry.
That said and done, here's the chapter, hope you enjoy it, and I do hope that I don't leave everyone hanging like that again. *blush*
Chapter Nine - When a Weasley comes a calling
The days passed flew by quickly, as they were apt to do, and one sunny afternoon, Harry realised to his surprise that in just a few days more, he would be going to Hogwarts. The small calendar that he had created was pinned right next to the mirror, announcing the imminent arrival of September the first.
When Harry had expressed his enthusiasm at finally leaving to Draco however, the blond had merely given him a queer look and said, "So what? It's just school." Harry had given up trying to explain that going to Hogwarts meant full access to a large library and the chance to ask the teachers what he wanted to know.
Not that he had not tried. To his dismay however, Draco had proceeded to shoot Harry an exasperated look, shaking his head and telling Harry that the only reason why Hogwarts was worth attending was because of Quidditch. The two boys had come to the unanimous decision to leave that topic alone shortly after, choosing to go for an ice-cream sundae instead.
Leaning back into the pillows piled against the headboard of his bed, Harry gave a contented sigh, flicking to the next page of 'Charms for the Bewildered' and frowning as he studied a particular spell.
With Draco otherwise occupied with some visiting relative, Harry had been left more or less companion-less for the past few days, with the sole exception of Ray. As such, he had taken to spending much of his day in his room in the Leaky Cauldron, reading the numerous books that he had purchased.
Yawning slightly, he pulled a quill from his side, dipped it into the open pot of ink at the bedside table and scribbled some notes in the margin, before closing the book at placing it on top of his trunk, shoving aside some robes as he did so.
He had to pack soon, something he had been putting off for quite a long time. When Snape had recommended the multiple compartmentalised trunk, Harry had agreed, as that seemed to be the only way to squeeze all his newly acquired belongings into a reasonably sized container.
Unfortunately, that just meant that Harry had more to pack. The fifth keyhole led to a moderately large chamber, which he fully intended to transform into his personal library… once he stopped procrastinating and started working. Draco had offered his assistance earlier. However, his father had demanded that he 'stop hanging around Diagon Alley like some hooligan' and 'come back home and make yourself presentable'.
As such, the blond boy had left somewhat morosely, to play the gracious host, and Harry had been left with an as yet still unfurnished trunk.
Ray screeched slightly, and shot Harry a reproachful glance, hoping over to the book and pecking at it. Harry groaned. He was trying to look for some charms that could come in useful in packing, but had not seen anything that he thought he could use yet. The few that he had seen seemed rather dubious in nature.
"What I need," he told Ray, rubbing his beak, "is a housewife's guide. I'm sure that'll solve my problem more than learning about reparo will."
Nonetheless, he sat up, rubbed his eyes and picked the book up again, flipping to the middle where he had stopped. Maybe when he went out for dinner later, he could ask Tom whether he knew any suitable spells. Till then, he would read then attempt to start packing.
~*~
September the first was a busy day for the Leaky Cauldron, as countless witches and wizards flooed in to access muggle London. Up on the second floor, in his bedroom, was a young boy with a shock of dark hair who was in no less of a flurry than his counterparts downstairs.
To Harry's disappointment, he had not been able to find a suitable spell on time, and neither Snape nor Draco had been free to visit him the past week, leaving him to resort to packing his trunk the muggle way. He supposed he could have asked Tom, but the bartender had been so harried with the influx of people staying at the Leaky Cauldron, that Harry had not the heart to distract him from his work.
Swearing loudly, Harry threw the last of his clothes into the second compartment, heedless of the way everything had been hurled messily in, and how everything was creased and crumpled. He would just have to sort it out at Hogwarts. For now, he had to ensure that he was down in time to meet Snape, who had sent him an owl the night before, telling Harry that the seemingly dour professor would once again be the lucky person to escort him around.
When Harry finally thumped down the stairs at two minutes to half-past ten however, he was surprised to find no Snape there. Instead, there was a large giant of a man, who was clutching a pink umbrella and looking expectantly at him. Hagrid. The man he had seen in Gringotts.
Hagrid waved jovially in Harry's direction, and Harry looked away from the pink umbrella and into Hagrid's beetle-black eyes, quashing down all his former thoughts about how wrong pink looked with the rest of Hagrid's ensemble. That was more Draco's area, not his.
"Al' righ' there, 'arry?" Hagrid asked, shoving past the throng of people in standing between them, who hurriedly scattered when they found themselves in danger of being flattened.
Harry frowned. "I thought Snape…"
Hagrid flipped a large hand. "Ah, well. It's a righ' treat ter find me 'ere instead eh?"
Harry wanted to say no, but figuring that would have been rude, merely glanced aside. "Right," he said weakly, "a real treat." Somehow, he thought that travelling with Hagrid would be far more torture than going with Snape, and as Hagrid smiled fondly at Harry and sighed, his eyes glazed in remembrance of some far off memory, Harry shook his head in despair. Far worse would probably not even begin to describe it.
~*~
Arriving at King's Cross came as somewhat of a relief for Harry. The entire trip from the Leaky Cauldron had been awkward; at least on Harry's part. Hagrid, on the other hand, seemed to have no such reservations, as he often looked past his bushy beard to gaze fondly at Harry, patting him genially on the back and muttering "Jus' like yer parents yer are… look jus' like James did too…"
The entire atmosphere would have been too sentimental for Harry, had Hagrid's sentences not been frequently punctuated by comments like "Blimey! Look at the time!" and "Muggles are righ' strange aren't they…" as they weaved their way past gawking passer-bys.
As Hagrid smiled broadly at Harry on the way to the trolleys and murmured "Oh, and yer mother's eyes…" Harry took a deep breath, fighting off the strong urge to scream at the large man. Not only was it highly annoying, but Hagrid's statements brought home the fact that Harry could not even remember his parents, something he had spent most of his life hiding and squashing into one small corner of his mind. For some reason, that the dark-haired boy could not fathom, it hurt, and he did not like it.
Harry had originally thought to try sneak some information about the top secret business that Hagrid had been involved in on Harry's birthday from the man himself, but five minutes into meeting Hagrid, he had firmly decided to keep his mouth shut, severely doubting Hagrid's ability to remember any matter of importance.
Normally, Harry would have been more generous towards Hagrid, but he had been in a rather bad mood since morning, due to having lost Moste Potente, and much of his sleep the night before as he ransacked his belongings. It was, in all likelihood, merely misplaced, but for the time being, at least, Harry felt wholly uncharitable towards anything that moved.
Loading his trunk and Raven's cage onto the trolley, Harry waved a distracted goodbye in Hagrid's general direction, paying no heed to the twinkling ebony eyes, or the proud smile, and headed towards the magical barrier. He could see it, just past the heads of the many rushing commuters, another shimmering mass, just like the entrance to Diagon Alley.
Glancing behind his shoulder to confirm that no one was paying any attention to him, Harry leant casually against the shifting coloured wall, feeling himself sink through the barrier. The next moment, Harry found himself in front of a large scarlet train, surrounded by anxious parents and numerous children, some clinging to their parents tearfully, and others rolling their eyes as they listened to the never-ending lectures.
Setting his jaw, Harry shoved down the unwanted thought that had risen unbidden of what it would have been like for himself if he had his mother and father with him, and how his first trip on board the Hogwarts Express would have started out.
"This proves it," he thought dolefully, looking for an empty compartment, "I have gotten soft."
"Hey! Harry!"
Shaking his messy hair out of his eyes, Harry turned towards the voice, not in the slightest bit amazed to see Draco beckoning him, "Over here."
Together, both boys hauled Harry's trunk into Draco's compartment. "Packed everything finally haven't you?"
Harry scowled. "I hope so. I can't find Moste Potente."
Draco stopped, rolling his eyes and yelping when his side of the trunk came crashing down on his fingers. "Well," he said, wringing his hand, "I expect it's around somewhere. Besides, you've got so many books! You're bound to have enough references. It's just a book anyway…"
As Harry's gaze darkened, Draco added hastily, "of course, that doesn't make it ok that you lost it. We'd probably still find it in the library though."
Throwing himself down onto the seat, Harry sighed, running his fingers through his already standing locks. "Look, I know I'm being a complete beast today, and I'm sorry. It's just that I was working on something, and my notes are in the book, scribbled in the margin. Not to mention I didn't get enough sleep…"
Draco looked scandalised. "Harry!" he admonished, "it's the holidays!" Then, laughing, he flopped down onto the chair in a move that was uncharacteristically Malfoy. "At least you got to work early. I've spent the last week being scrutinised by various relatives. 'Why, Draco,'," he added, his face screwed up in a comical imitation of some old aunt or other, "'you've grown!' You'd think my parents would let me off such torment, but no… I have to behave 'as is befitting of a Malfoy…'." His voice deepened in an attempt to copy his father's smooth tones.
Harry felt himself grinning, despite his earlier bad mood, and opened his mouth to offer some sarcastically teasing comment or other, only to shut it as their compartment door suddenly flew open, and a gangly red-headed boy towed his trunk in. "Hi," he said, looking at Harry, "d'you mind if I sit here? Every where's full, you see, and the train's leaving."
With a soft snort, Draco gestured expansively towards the station guards who were slamming the doors shut. "So we see," he said, in a tone that spoke volumes about what he thought of the other boy.
Harry looked at Draco sharply, his eyes flicking back to the red-head when the latter scowled, crossing his arms and intoning stiffly. "Malfoy."
Glancing between Draco, who had pulled himself out of his relaxed position, and was glaring at the other boy, and the swiftly reddening subject of Draco's scorn, Harry frowned. "Draco? What's going on?"
Hm, well. I guess it wasn't that difficult to guess which Weasley would come a calling. All right, when you scroll down, you'll see this lovely little button down there that this writer is hoping you'll hit and leave your comments. It would encourage me to post the next chapter you know... after all, I was on a guilt trip throughout the whole time I was working on this one! Lol. So leave your review, you know I love it! :)
To all my wonderful reviewers. (scuttles off so she doesn't start bawling in absolute guilt... peeks around the pillar dabbing her eyes suspiciously) I know I've been terribly bad, and I'm very sorry.
down-right-mystical - Admitted, it was your review that really got me cracking more than anything else, so thank you. You've been great, and I'm awfully sorry I didn't post chapter nine any earlier. *sniffles* hope you're not all shrivelled and grey now... haha. as for the sorting... well. I'm not releasing that information this chapter. Tantalising hints. Hm. *smiles* My lips are sealed, really. Yeah, I know... I've been really busy recently, and my piano teacher totally driven up to the ceiling by now.. I've not really been practising much, and I've got my exams up coming.. it's just that school's been this mad rush, and it's ever so easy to procrastinate. and procrastinate. and procrastinate... hee. well, you get the point.
SnooZa - yes, yes, so I do see. And to be fair, you haven't been updating either.. so there. Lol. Hm, Hedwig... well. I guess some things just don't quite go with the flow anymore. I'll brood a bit over the possibility of having a Hedwig-like appearance somewhere in there though. No promises, however.
Serpent of Light - And here he comes, sauntering in this chapter. Haha, Draco's here. Lol. My mom would kill me if I went nocturnal, she probably thinks I'm insane enough already. *whistles*
MoOnSpIrItE - On Hermione... well, now, that would be telling wouldn't it? Haha.
A Sly Fan - Thanks for reviewing!
StolenDreamer - Thanks! Hope you like this update too.
HAZZAGRIFF - interesting pen name... any connotations what so ever?
Iced Flame - Bingo. I wouldn't say Harry's dark. He's not, and I can't quite imagine him being so, but at the same time, he's not the exact way we've come to know him in Canon either. So as to how he finally ends up, you'll just have to wait and see! :)
Mikito - *looks guilty at the very words 'update soon!'*
wanderingwolf - body building? uh, ok... haha. to each his own I guess... but AU Harry is always fun to write, no?
ER - I know, I know, finally an update... after ages... I've been naughty *nods* Happy Easter.
Lunawolf - I'll have you know that the words 'update soon' still have me cringing in guilt. Haha. J/k. Thanks for the review though.
Adonis - Yes... I *have* been naughty... sigh. Thanks for reviewing! :)
athenakitty - I can't quite answer all the questions... so I'll have to be evil and say... for the stuff that have answers, they're in the story... for the stuff that don't, you'll have to wait and see. Haha.
Once again, thanks for reading, and do review. Happy Easter everyone! And I'll try be a *better* (note the absence of the word good) girl this time. See you!
