The New Student

Disclaimer: I'm still not J.K. Rowling, and as a result, I still don't own Harry Potter, or any of the ideas within. While I own a copy of all of the books thus far that still doesn't give me ownership of the ideas or characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

Welcome Back

The rest of the train trip was silent for the most part. Harry didn't know what to say, Ron had nothing to say, and Hermione had fallen asleep, her arm resting against Harry's shoulder. The food cart had rolled by a few times, but no one really felt like eating at a time like this. The tensions were just a little bit too high. The had set a few minutes ago and they new it wouldn't be long until they reached the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry was glad that there was an approaching change in scenery. It might give a break in this tension between everyone and then they would be able to talk on the boat ride over without having to worry about strange people. He wanted to know what Hermione had been doing all summer.

The train was slowly coming to a stop. This was what all of them had been waiting for. The final arriving at Hogwarts where they had all the excuses and space that they would ever need to be right next to each other or as far away from each other as possible. Ron was the first to get up while Harry tried gently to wake the sleeping Hermione. He knew that he might as well just leave the two to do whatever it was that they were going to do. There was no point in him telling Harry how Hermione felt, and getting in Hermione's way was just itching to be hexed so many different ways that it would make him cry.

She was sometimes a little too brilliant for her or anyone else's own good. He normally had nothing to fear from Hermione, but in cases like this, it was better just to stay out of her way. She had her eyes set on Harry, and that meant that she was going to do whatever it would take to get him, which was particularly dangerous since she was now at a place where the had access to so many different potions ingredients and magical directions that she would be able to make almost anyone fall madly in love, hate, or any other emotion, with anyone else with a drop. This was quite a disastrous thing with a mind like Hermione's.

While Ron was thinking about all of this and getting his luggage ready to be moved again Harry had managed to wake the sleeping Hermione. She had been having the loveliest of dreams involving Harry and a pottery wheel. It was an excellent dream, which made it that much more painful to be dropped into the cruel reality of her situation with the great Harry Potter. He would still chase after that Ravenclaw, Cho Chang. He would still allow his defense lessons eat up all of his time. He still wouldn't notice how she felt for him.

She was still a girl, she could still dream after all. That had been quite a delicious dream too…She shook the vision of the shirtless Harry with flecks of clay clinging to his chest out of her head. He wasn't going to notice her, so there was no point in thinking about it as much as she was thinking about it right now. He had thing that he wanted to do and people that he wanted to be with, and neither of those included Hermione Granger, much to her chagrin.

Ron sighed softly. He could see all of Hermione's emotions plastered upon her face for the world to see, and Harry still hadn't noticed the prize that had fallen into his arms. He was still looking and didn't realize that he had found something more precious than any Ravenclaw seeker could ever be. Sure Cho was a good catch and all, but Hermione was their best friend and they had both gotten to know her so well. This seeker was never going to be able to compare to the brilliance and shyness of good ol' Hermione. There was no way that anyone could compare, and yet Harry still didn't notice how lucky he was.

Sure Cho liked him. A whole lot of girls liked him. He was the boy who lived. Harry Potter was a household name that everyone knew. Being with Harry Potter was the sort of thing that Ron assumed most girls dreamed of. He was famous, and everything that a normal wizard boy wanted to be. Everyone wanted to be a someone who could trade punches with Voldemort and live to tell about it, just like Harry. Everyone could look up to a hero like Harry potter, and everyone at Hogwarts did. That was probably why all of the girls were practically swooning over the boy. Ginny had even been madly in love with him for a while.

Ron wondered what it must have been like to be in the shoes of the great Harry Potter. Having everyone look up to and love you so much. He didn't want to do it, he just wondered what it would be like. Being that famous would probably be too much of a strain on a poor Weasley boy like Ron, but even to have one person who looked up to and love him like they did to Harry would be enough.

Harry sighed as he pulled his luggage up and got it ready to move. He looked over at the scarlet haired boy for a long moment, "Do you suppose that we should wake him up? I mean we have arrived and I wouldn't want to be left behind if someone was there to wake me up."

The boy moved slowly and let his long scarlet bangs fall in front of his eyes, "I'm awake." He got up and walked over to where his robes hung on the wall and pulled them on before picking up his luggage and looking to the others through his scarlet hair. His eyes were the colour of emeralds and he blinked a few times as he looked at the people who had shared a cabin with him, "I'd like to get going if it wouldn't be too much trouble."

Hermione put her hands on her hips as she looked to the boy, "Have you been awake for this entire time, listening to use and waiting for some juicy secret to come up or something."

"You were all completely silent. I've got no secrets to spread, even if I was listening for them." He spoke to Hermione before looking to Harry, "Maybe you should keep your girlfriend here under control." The boy then pushed past Ron, carrying his luggage into the aisle behind him.

Hermione was blushing furiously at the comment that the stranger had made, while Harry just blinked and looked very confused. This had been a very strange conversation to have for someone that they hadn't even talked to. It was possible that he was just angry because he hadn't heard any big secrets to spread, but that didn't seem very likely. He seemed to be very brooding and angsty, but that may have has something to do with the way he looked and the way he dressed.

Harry had figured all of this even before he woke up, but the fact that he had pushed Ron out of the way to leave like that had just further enforced the point. Well, he had been completely wrong about Hermione and his relationship, so even if he had been listening to whatever was going on with them he didn't catch on to very much. Then again the train ride had been completely silent. Maybe he had just assumed that Ron wasn't part of the group and that Hermione really was his girlfriend. In any case, standing here and pondering this wasn't getting him any closer to those boats.

Ron just stood there. He was completely invisible. He was sure of it now. The rest of the group had forgotten about him, and now he was getting pushed around by strangers like he wasn't even there. He couldn't have been more invisible if he was wearing Harry's stupid invisibility cloak. Why was he even still hanging around here? It wasn't like Hermione wanted him hanging around. He would just be an obstacle in her way of winning Harry and keeping his affections all for herself. He wasn't helping anyone by staying around. He might as well just drop off of the face of the earth.

Slowly they all pulled their luggage out of the cabin and down the aisle, remaining in the same tense silence that they had been in, in the cabin with that stranger. Somehow Harry had pictured arriving at Hogwarts this year differently. He had pictured more talking and less silence. He had expected all of them to get caught up on what they had been doing, and talk about how much they had missed Hogwarts over the summer. This tension just wasn't something that he had been expecting at all. It was like everyone had just grown completely apart from everyone else and that no one really wanted to be at Hogwarts or anywhere else for that matter.

They slowly exited the train and headed towards the boats where everyone was getting on to go across to the castle. Hagrid was up with the first years. He needed to be since they were always the ones that had no idea what was going on. They could vaguely make out his gigantic figure from where they were. He was helping some of the first years onto one of the boats to show how easy it was. He then got into one himself, since having more than just Hagrid in a boat wasn't the best idea because of his size. The lamps showed exactly where the boats were as they crossed the lake towards the castle.

Hermione wasted little time in leading them to an empty boat so they could get across the water. They all loaded their luggage into the relatively small boat and climbed in afterwards, relaxing as the boat started to move trough the water, joining the other lamps that lit the small boats on the lake. They were finally headed off to start another school year. Normally they wouldn't have been able to contain their excitement, but this time they were all completely silent, everyone with thoughts deep inside that kept them far too occupied to worry about the others.

The boat finally came to its resting place on the shore of the grounds of the school. Harry, Hermione, and Ron quickly got out of the boat, carrying their luggage up to the main doors of the castle, just like all of the other students. These three might have been the heroes of the school but they all knew that they didn't receive any special treatment, even when conflict threatened to pull them apart.

The floating candles and eerie songs greeted them as they always did when they entered the great hall of the school. The four house tables, and one staff table also sat there. Harry scanned the staff table to see who had gotten the great cursed job of Defense against the dark arts teacher. He didn't see anyone new, but at least didn't see that blasted, Umbridge woman. He always counted it as a blessing when he didn't have to see her toady face.

Hermione spoke the question that was going through Harry's mind, "I wonder who the new defense against the dark arts teacher is going to be this year. After what happened to Professor Umbridge, I don't expect she'll be coming back for another year."

Harry nodded softly. He hadn't really expected her to be back, it was just a shock to not see someone out of the ordinary to take the position. Then again he wasn't sure that he should have been thinking about any of this with the near brush with death that he had with Voldemort. Well, that always could have been worse. At least he had managed to get away with his life…unlike some people. It still sent sharp daggers of pain into his heart to think that he'd never again see the smiling face of Sirius again.

He clenched his fists tightly. Being the boy who lived didn't mean anything when everyone that he cared about was dying all around him. It was pointless for him to even continue this great battle with Voldemort. It would eventually end with him being all alone in the world with only his hate for Voldemort and his great desire for revenge keeping him from giving up. He felt a warm tear roll down his cheek but wiped it away quickly as he sat down at the Gryffindor table.

"Are you alright Harry?" Hermione asked, sounding quite concerned.

Usually Ron would have been right over her shoulder to see if he was alright, but this time Ron just stared at the table, looking like he had been going on a week without any sleep. He was starting to look tired more often now. Harry wanted to just shake off all of the pain he felt and go over to comfort Ron. Ron was one of the people who deserved that sort of treatment, especially without his brothers here to look after him. It was something that Harry hadn't even thought about. Part of him wanted to be angry at the boy for not worrying about him, but he knew that Ron was going through a tough time ever since Fred and George had flown out of Hogwarts leaving it all behind the previous year.

Before Harry got to say anything about how he was feeling, or even try to comfort Ron, Dumbledore had stood and was making his great speech that he started every year with that said how he was happy to see that everyone was back safely, "…Unfortunately, it would seem that some of the staff members haven't arrived yet, but I'm sure when you see them you'll be able to pick them out as staff, rather than students. They are after all, taller." Most of the students laughed at Dumbledore's joke, but Harry just couldn't find it in himself to laugh about much at all at the moment. Just knowing that some people wouldn't be able to laugh anymore hurt him, "Well, let the sorting commence."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as well as all of the other students at Hogwarts watched intently as the first years were sorted into their houses. The three clapped every time a first year was put into Gryffindor and were just silent for the other groups. There was no point in clapping for students who they would have to compete against at a latter date. Finally the sorting of the first years was over, and the students waited eagerly for the feast to begin.

"Well, normally this would be the point when the feast would start, but this year we have a very special occasion. We have one student who remains to be sorted, but unlike the other students, he is not a first year. He is a transfer student from one of the other wizarding schools. Blake Allendale!" Dumbledore clapped softly as the boy, who looked to be around the same age as Harry, Ron and Hermione, slowly walked towards the hat. It was the boy that they had sat with on the train. There was no doubt about it. His scarlet hair would have pointed him out if he were in the biggest crowed of the school.

The boy picked up the hat slowly and sat down, resting it upon his head. Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched quizzically as the boy sat there silently, and the hat tried to determine where to put the boy. This was a very unusual situation. So far in their experience the only students that had been sorted had been first years, and they assumed that there was a similar splitting system in other schools, so why not just have him go from whatever he was in his previous school to the corresponding house at this one?

There was silence for another moment before the sorting hat spoke, "This student goes to…"

((AN: Ha,ha! You thought I'd spill the beans? Bah! I bite my thumb at you, I am the master of the cliffhanger, even if I'm probably going to finish the next chapter before I'm allowed to submit anything. Hey, but at least we know his name now, right?))