Disclaimer: All characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishing company, or whoever has the copyrights. I have just borrowed the characters to put them in an odd situation.
My first fic. Please review. A beta would be nice if anyone is interested. I will update soon.
Harry took a deep breath as he entered the room. It was his 6th year and he was now facing his final test. Slowly he walked across the hall, he knew who he would encounter at the end of the next doorway. He was 16 years old. While most 16 year olds were worrying about getting their driver's permit, or getting their hand up a girl's skirt he was here to save the world. Harry would avenge his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Charley…Harry was going to stand face to face, alone, against Lord Voldemort.
"This time there will be no escape for you" Voldemort smiled evilly.
"I've stopped you before, I will do it again" Harry sneered, hatred in his eyes. His wand was ready, but there were no curses in his mind- just blind rage. Harry knew he had to clear his mind, he had to push away the anger. He couldn't, he couldn't force himse to concentrate.
"Time return, life undone, the incantation of changing what is now our past.
Forth a new reality, a place where you were never brought to life"Voldemortchanted.
"Reflejio!" Harry shouted and threw forth the reflecting shield from his wand just as the last words of Voldemort's spell were spoken. It had been the easiest and quickest spell he could bring to mind.
Harry sat up, his body covered with a light coat of sweat. He couldn't remember what he had dreamt, whatever it was he was glad it was over. He got out of bed slowly, his mouth was dry and there was no way he would be able to fall asleep again unless he got a drink of water.
Softly he made his way across the room, into the bathroom. Turning on the tap, he took a deep breath before filling a glass with water. He felt disoriented, emotionless, confused…things were not falling into place. It was almost as if he was still in the dream, he felt like a zombie.
'No need to make a big scene, -he told himself- no need to summon a stupid elf, I just need…' there was a movement behind him, he jumped.
"You're jumpy lately, Potter. Got a guilty conscious?" Malfoy walked past him to a urinal.
Harry turned back to the sink and gulped down the water. He splashed his face and stared at his reflection. His black hair was messy, as usual, and although he knew he had always looked like this, that he was still Harry, he did not feel himself. His green eyes seemed to flash and everything came back to him, like he had just woken up suddenly.
Malfoy washed his hands. Potter glanced at the blond Slytherin who shot him a glance.
"Nightmare" Harry told him.
"I'm starting to worry that you ARE developing a conscious" Malfoy smiled.
"Promise me the day that happens you will put me out of my misery" Harry smirked.
"Hey, that's what best friends are for"
PLATFORM 9 3/4: The Trip to Hogwarts
Harry hoped that his father would show up. His father had not been to visit him at all this summer, even missed his 11th birthday. The train was leaving, but his eyes still searched the crowd at platform 9 ¾ expectedly. Any minute his father would appear, and he would at least get to see him waiving goodbye. All he could see was his mother, however, her auburn hair tied back. Sirius stood by her side, one arm waiving at him and the other holding Harry's younger half-brother Sid. Harry smiled at him, Sid was waiving with such enthusiasm that Harry feared he would fall from his father's arms. Sirius was a great step dad, but it was not the same as having his own father there to see him off on his way to begin his wizard training at Hogwarts. This was a very important milestone in the life of any young wizard.
Harry plopped back down on his seat in the compartment and glanced across at Draco.
"Do you think house placement has a lot to do with family?" Malfoy asked.
"I don't know" Harry shrugged looking out the window. "I hope not".
Malfoy was positively obsessed with houses. For his part he knew that both his mother and father had been Gryffindors. Draco's family had been Slytherins.
Draco and Harry were acquaintances. Sirius's marriage to Lily had caused a lot of problems. No one in his family really talked to him, he had always been considered the black sheep of the Black family. He had disgraced them further by marrying a mud blood and not just any mudblood but his best friend's wife. His cousin Narcissa had been the only one willing to open her home to them, occasionally. That was because Sirius had hurt James Potter, a man she hated to no end. During their years at Hogwarts together she had been madly in love with her cousin's best friend, James, only to find him chose a filthy mud blood instead.
In the end Potter's heart had been crushed when Lily and Sirius had been unable to keep themselves from each other. The divorce shook James to the core. Sirius took James' lovely young wife, his 4 year old son, Harry, and soon enough had his own son with her, Sid. Lily was pregnant even before the divorce went through.
Harry and Draco had met occasionally during Harry's birthday parties. Narcissa felt kind of sorry for the little boy, Harry Potter. Lily had no living family, aside from a sister who did not accept her. From his father's side, the Potters, a long standing wizarding family, the discomfort of the betrayal made it impractical to keep in contact.
"Has anybody seen a toad?" a bushy haired, nosy girl opened their compartment.
"No" Draco snapped impatiently at having been interrupted from his ongoing monologue about finding the perfect wand.
"This boy Ariel McKinnon has lost his…"
"A toad?" Draco sneered. "Why would he bother even looking for that?"
Harry joined the three boys in a smirk. His eyes shifted over to see the girl's reaction. She looked un-amused.
"My name is Hermione Granger" she announced. "And you are?"
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" he replied. The name Granger did not sound familiar to him. "This is Crabbe and Goyle" Draco continued.
"I'm Harry" he told her when her eyes shifted to him.
She had pretty brown eyes, that seemed to be thinking deeply about something. Classes hadn't started, so he could see no reason for her to seem so preoccupied.
"Have you heard anything about the sorting ceremony?" Draco took the opportunity to ask someone new.
Harry kicked himself when she felt her gaze move to his blond companion. He had not been able to think of anything to say.
"Do you know if it has anything to do with family?" he continued.
"I don't know. I read in Hogwarts: A history, that you are chosen by the qualities prized by the founders of the house"
"That doesn't make sense" Draco retorted as if she had just insulted him with that answer.
"It was a very long book. ISkimmed through that section" she admitted and glanced back at Harry, as if wondering if he was still watching. She didn't add that it hadn't interested her so much because she did not have family who had ever attended Hogwarts. She was grateful just to be here. Deep inside, however, she hoped she would make Ravenclaw. "I better keep looking. I think you guys better change into your robes, we will be arriving soon"
Harry was in awe of the Great Hall. He heard someone up ahead say something about the ceiling being bewitched, but he wasn't really listening. He was looking at what seemed to be walls disappearing into a summer night. Even though he had been exposed to magic before, it had never been on this level. He was grateful that other students seemed just as impressed
"Look at this" Draco nudged Harry, "it's a Weasley"
A boy with fiery red hair turned back to face them.
"I've heard about them, thought they were extinct. Notice the tattered second hand robe, the dim-doe eye look in his eyes and that hair" Draco laughed.
Harry smiled, even though he felt sorry for the boy.
"They can be spotted for miles. That's what makes them such easy targets in hunts" Draco continued. "Hello, Weasley, had anything to eat today"
Harry saw the young boy's face go red, and stopped smiling. This was going too far. The boy did have tattered robes, his hair tossled and a small bit of dirt on the side of his nose. Harry pitied him.
"Come on, Draco. I want to be in the front when the ceremony starts" Harry started to walking, Draco followed shooting a backwards glance at the young Weasley.
"They really are pathetic. They have about 10 kids. They are a shame to pureblood
Wizarding families everywhere- my father said"
"No need to rub it in" Harry told him. "We've got money and he doesn't. He didn't seem like a bad kid"
"Harry, considering that you and I are…we're cousins I suppose, sort of…I think" the whole relationship between them wasn't too clear to either one of them, so he decided to move on without trying to chart their relation. "and that you have been out of the Wizarding world for a while, my mother asked me to help you" Draco told him. "If you want to fit in, back in where you belong and who you belong with, you are going to have to behave the right way. Your mother already gave you a bad start, being muggle born and all"
"Don't talk bad about my mother" Harry snapped.
"You have good Wizarding family in you. Your name, your stepfather's, you have a lot to live up to, just like me. I am here to help you. You can learn the ropes and make your father proud or you can fail and never get noticed"
Harry nodded. That's what he feared the most. He could not go through life being a nobody, being an anonymous face in the crowd. He wanted to stand out, he wanted people to know his name, his face and most of all he wanted to make his father proud.
His mother loved him, he knew. His father loved him, he knew that also. The problem was that each of them was married to a different person and each of them had a young son with their respective spouses. His mother had Sid, fathered by his stepfather Sirius and his father had William, the boy's mother was a woman Harry had met once. They each had their own families and Harry didn't feel he belonged at either home.
They had lived most of their lives in the muggle world, with a hint of magic. It was their mother's desire her children be exposed to the muggle world. Sirius had been angry at first, accusing her of wanting to escape their wizard friends. There had been many argumentsin whichSirius had accused his mom of being ashamed of their relationship. Mom had told him that she was afraid of her boys someday turning into muggle-born haters. That had satisfied Sirius. The muggle-born situation was one that was getting increasingly bad throughout the years, or so Harry had heard his mother say, and he wanted his children never to forget that half of them came from the muggle world.
It had been hard keeping secrets. While in front of the world they were the Blacks next door, behind they were millionaire wizards who had guests apparitioning in and out, owls and mailmen coming to their door and a legacy of bad blood between loved ones that Harry didn't understand.
It had been at his 8th birthday that he had met Draco. Draco told him that he didn't know of a single wizarding family that was divorced. He had gone on to say that it was his mom's fault, everyone knew this, and that it had happened because she was a mud blood- Narcissa had slapped Draco. He had embarrassed her in front of the guests, that's the day Harry knew he would never truly fit in…not a muggle and obviously not a pureblood wizard.
Harry hadn't liked Draco then, and, glancing at him as they made their way to the front, he wondered if he even liked him now. They had met up a couple more times before being shipped to Hogwarts together. The two boys had almost been forced to befriend each other, as if their parents thought each had some kind of flaw that impeded them from making other friends.
"Harry Potter" McGonagall called.
Harry walked up to the hat and cast a quick glance at the faces lined up in front of him. They were waiting anxiously for their moment. The girl he had met in the train, Granger, had been sorted into Gryffindor. The hat had been annoyed at having to place another Weasley, but he was sorted into Gryffindor also. Draco had just smiled when the hat called out Slytherin. Deep down inside Harry knew that there was more relief than satisfaction in that smile. Although Draco had meant to play it cool, something inside him had honestly feared his placing by the hat. Harry didn't get to wonder what it was when the hat began to speak.
"Hmm, difficult, very difficult…there is bravery and a strong heart. There is courage and talent…but you thirst, above all, to prove yourself, to set yourself apart from others. You want to find your way to greatness. You will do that at SLYTHERIN!"
Harry smiled. Yeah, it was relief. That's the feeling you felt when the sorting hat put you where you belong. It's as if you realize something which you subconsciously knew all along. You feel where you belong, but now you KNOW where you truly belong.