Chapter 2
Author's Note: OK, I totally forgot to put a disclaimer on Chapter 1 so here it is now. All the characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling. The plot is mine. So, hope you liked Chapter 1. If not, please tell. By the way, there will be slash later (unlikely as that may seem at the mo) so if you have a moral objection to that, stop reading this fic now.
Harry woke on September the first with mixed feelings. He was happy, of course, to be going back to Hogwarts, but he knew from what Dumbledore had told him in June that he was much safer here in Little Whinging.
All things considered, the summer had not been too bad. After his confrontation with Mad-Eye Moody at the end of term, even Uncle Vernon had been relatively subdued. Harry's regular correspondence with the members of the Order had helped to keep him sane too. He had noticed that Lupin sounded a little strange, but attributed it to tiredness.
A new resolution had struck Harry (being back with the Dursleys gave him plenty of time to think). He knew that to avoid dying himself, he would have to kill Voldemort. Merlin knew how he was going to do that. In the face of such a hopeless situation, Harry had decided that he might as well try to carry on with life anyway.
He smiled and muttered a quick spell so that his trunk became light as a feather. He carried it downstairs to the front door. In their newly induced fear, the Dursleys had agreed to take him to the station.
"Harry!" On arrival on Platform 9 ¾, Harry had almost been knocked over as Hermione dashed over to him and grabbed him in such a tight hug that she cut off his air supply.
"Erm, Hermione, I don't think Harry can breathe," Ron intervened, walking over at a more calm pace.
Blushing slightly, Hermione released Harry, who took a deep breath and rubbed his neck. "Thanks," he managed to say to Ron.
Ron shrugged. "Well, can't have you choking before term's even started, can we?"
Harry grinned. "It's great to see you guys again."
"Same here." The other two replied in unison.
As the trio stood grinning at each other, a whistle blew. Harry quickly lifted his trunk, while Ron took Hedwig's cage. Together, they carried his luggage onto the train and stowed it in the compartment Ron and Hermione had already saved. He stepped back onto the platform briefly.
"Well, I'll see you next summer then," he said to the Dursleys, who all looked terrified at being surrounded by so many witches and wizards, even if half of them weren't old enough to use magic outside Hogwarts yet.
Without waiting for a reply, Harry stepped back on the train, to find that Neville and Ginny had joined their compartment. He greeted them both and sat down, feeling both happy and apprehensive. He couldn't wait to see the person who had spent so much of the summer holiday preying on his mind. He wondered if he would see the person on the train. Probably he would.
The train set off a few minutes later. Harry looked suspiciously at Ron and Hermione. "Don't you two have prefect duties to attend to?"
Ron chuckled. "Nope. They leave it to the Fifth Year prefects to do duties on the train. Let them enjoy their first taste of power."
Harry grinned back.
"So Harry, you never said in your letters what you got in your OWLs!" Hermione reminded him. "Tell us!"
Without a word, Harry removed the parchment from the pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. As she read it, her eyes widened. "Harry, that's brilliant! An 'O' in Potions! How did you-"
"Absence of Snape." Harry said simply. "How did the rest of you do?"
"All passes." Hermione replied. "Well actually, all 'O's except Astronomy, that was an 'E', but then the practical exam did get... interrupted."
Harry nodded. Hermione's marks did not differ from what he had expected. "Ron, how about you?"
"Same as you mate, except I got 'E' on Potions. Should've revised harder." But his expression was not resentful.
"I got 'O' on Herbology!" Neville told them. "I got 'A' in most stuff, but... I got an 'E' in Transfiguration and Potions!" He looked overjoyed about this. All of the others in the compartment spent several minutes congratulating each other. Ginny joined in with this.
"So," she said when the congratulations had died down, "OWLs aren't all that bad then?"
It was about halfway through the journey when the Gryffindors received a guest. "You all look happy. I suppose Longbottom managed to pass at least one OWL then?" A lazy drawl from the doorway made Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny all look up. Of course, the drawl belonged to a blond Slytherin who they had all expected to appear at some point.
"Malfoy! What a pleasant surprise!" Harry said sarcastically. "You should have warned us you were coming, we could have baked something..." There was perhaps not as much sarcasm in his voice as they expected, because the other Gryffindors all gave him funny looks.
When Harry realised this, he quickly added, "...With cyanide in it."
"Clever, Potter," Malfoy said, equally dryly. "Have you been taking lessons to improve your sparkling wit?"
"Eat dung," Harry replied.
"Hardly complimentary, considering what you've done to me lately, Potter," Malfoy drawled. "I think you're in my debt rather..."
Ron interrupted the exchange of retorts. "What the hell do you mean, Malfoy? Think about what you've done to us, you ba-"
"Ron," Hermione said warningly. Ron reluctantly shut up.
Malfoy laughed. "Whipped, Weasley. Just like your lousy father, but then I suppose your mother's enough to scare anyone into silence."
This time it took all four of them to restrain Ron from jinxing Malfoy into oblivion.
"Not like your father then," Ginny retorted, breaking her silence. "He couldn't have scared a snail."
"You shut up about my father!" Malfoy snapped. "I won't forget what you did to him you know," He told Harry. Then he left, trailing Crabbe and Goyle, who as usual had not spoken at all.
"That total... slug," Ron raged. "I'll teach him to say stuff like that, I'll teach him..."
"Yes, Ron, we know," Hermione said soothingly. "He'll get his in the end."
"Too right he will," Harry agreed, lost in his own thoughts.
The five of them whiled away the rest of the journey silently considering ways of exacting revenge on the platinum-haired Slytherin.
Harry felt at ease. This was what life at Hogwarts was all about. This was what he planned to make the most of.
Author's Note: I deliberately made this chapter a bit shorter. Review please! And I promise it gets more interesting next chapter.
Author's Note: OK, I totally forgot to put a disclaimer on Chapter 1 so here it is now. All the characters, settings etc belong to JK Rowling. The plot is mine. So, hope you liked Chapter 1. If not, please tell. By the way, there will be slash later (unlikely as that may seem at the mo) so if you have a moral objection to that, stop reading this fic now.
Harry woke on September the first with mixed feelings. He was happy, of course, to be going back to Hogwarts, but he knew from what Dumbledore had told him in June that he was much safer here in Little Whinging.
All things considered, the summer had not been too bad. After his confrontation with Mad-Eye Moody at the end of term, even Uncle Vernon had been relatively subdued. Harry's regular correspondence with the members of the Order had helped to keep him sane too. He had noticed that Lupin sounded a little strange, but attributed it to tiredness.
A new resolution had struck Harry (being back with the Dursleys gave him plenty of time to think). He knew that to avoid dying himself, he would have to kill Voldemort. Merlin knew how he was going to do that. In the face of such a hopeless situation, Harry had decided that he might as well try to carry on with life anyway.
He smiled and muttered a quick spell so that his trunk became light as a feather. He carried it downstairs to the front door. In their newly induced fear, the Dursleys had agreed to take him to the station.
"Harry!" On arrival on Platform 9 ¾, Harry had almost been knocked over as Hermione dashed over to him and grabbed him in such a tight hug that she cut off his air supply.
"Erm, Hermione, I don't think Harry can breathe," Ron intervened, walking over at a more calm pace.
Blushing slightly, Hermione released Harry, who took a deep breath and rubbed his neck. "Thanks," he managed to say to Ron.
Ron shrugged. "Well, can't have you choking before term's even started, can we?"
Harry grinned. "It's great to see you guys again."
"Same here." The other two replied in unison.
As the trio stood grinning at each other, a whistle blew. Harry quickly lifted his trunk, while Ron took Hedwig's cage. Together, they carried his luggage onto the train and stowed it in the compartment Ron and Hermione had already saved. He stepped back onto the platform briefly.
"Well, I'll see you next summer then," he said to the Dursleys, who all looked terrified at being surrounded by so many witches and wizards, even if half of them weren't old enough to use magic outside Hogwarts yet.
Without waiting for a reply, Harry stepped back on the train, to find that Neville and Ginny had joined their compartment. He greeted them both and sat down, feeling both happy and apprehensive. He couldn't wait to see the person who had spent so much of the summer holiday preying on his mind. He wondered if he would see the person on the train. Probably he would.
The train set off a few minutes later. Harry looked suspiciously at Ron and Hermione. "Don't you two have prefect duties to attend to?"
Ron chuckled. "Nope. They leave it to the Fifth Year prefects to do duties on the train. Let them enjoy their first taste of power."
Harry grinned back.
"So Harry, you never said in your letters what you got in your OWLs!" Hermione reminded him. "Tell us!"
Without a word, Harry removed the parchment from the pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. As she read it, her eyes widened. "Harry, that's brilliant! An 'O' in Potions! How did you-"
"Absence of Snape." Harry said simply. "How did the rest of you do?"
"All passes." Hermione replied. "Well actually, all 'O's except Astronomy, that was an 'E', but then the practical exam did get... interrupted."
Harry nodded. Hermione's marks did not differ from what he had expected. "Ron, how about you?"
"Same as you mate, except I got 'E' on Potions. Should've revised harder." But his expression was not resentful.
"I got 'O' on Herbology!" Neville told them. "I got 'A' in most stuff, but... I got an 'E' in Transfiguration and Potions!" He looked overjoyed about this. All of the others in the compartment spent several minutes congratulating each other. Ginny joined in with this.
"So," she said when the congratulations had died down, "OWLs aren't all that bad then?"
It was about halfway through the journey when the Gryffindors received a guest. "You all look happy. I suppose Longbottom managed to pass at least one OWL then?" A lazy drawl from the doorway made Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny all look up. Of course, the drawl belonged to a blond Slytherin who they had all expected to appear at some point.
"Malfoy! What a pleasant surprise!" Harry said sarcastically. "You should have warned us you were coming, we could have baked something..." There was perhaps not as much sarcasm in his voice as they expected, because the other Gryffindors all gave him funny looks.
When Harry realised this, he quickly added, "...With cyanide in it."
"Clever, Potter," Malfoy said, equally dryly. "Have you been taking lessons to improve your sparkling wit?"
"Eat dung," Harry replied.
"Hardly complimentary, considering what you've done to me lately, Potter," Malfoy drawled. "I think you're in my debt rather..."
Ron interrupted the exchange of retorts. "What the hell do you mean, Malfoy? Think about what you've done to us, you ba-"
"Ron," Hermione said warningly. Ron reluctantly shut up.
Malfoy laughed. "Whipped, Weasley. Just like your lousy father, but then I suppose your mother's enough to scare anyone into silence."
This time it took all four of them to restrain Ron from jinxing Malfoy into oblivion.
"Not like your father then," Ginny retorted, breaking her silence. "He couldn't have scared a snail."
"You shut up about my father!" Malfoy snapped. "I won't forget what you did to him you know," He told Harry. Then he left, trailing Crabbe and Goyle, who as usual had not spoken at all.
"That total... slug," Ron raged. "I'll teach him to say stuff like that, I'll teach him..."
"Yes, Ron, we know," Hermione said soothingly. "He'll get his in the end."
"Too right he will," Harry agreed, lost in his own thoughts.
The five of them whiled away the rest of the journey silently considering ways of exacting revenge on the platinum-haired Slytherin.
Harry felt at ease. This was what life at Hogwarts was all about. This was what he planned to make the most of.
Author's Note: I deliberately made this chapter a bit shorter. Review please! And I promise it gets more interesting next chapter.