Harry's eyes wandered across the classroom, Lockhart was at the front of the room watching a magical hourglass, using magic it could be set to time any amount. He could hear Draco sniggering as he wrote down his own answers. Blaise wasn't even trying, instead the half french, half italian boy was charming extra pieces of parchment to become aeroplanes and fly. They had discovered Muggles did it when they had snuck into the Muggle world a few years back, they had then spent a few weeks figuring out what charms could replicate it. Theo wasn't doing the quiz either, but instead of playing around like Blaise, he was reading a Defence Against The Dark Arts book that was actually useful and should have been used for their second year classes. Harry's attention then drifted to the table in front of him. Hermione was doing other classes homework, even from behind her Harry could tell, she always used sugar quills for homework so she could chew on them while thinking. It had been Harry to buy her, her first set in first year when he noticed she was chewing on her normal quills. Pansy, Daphne and Luna were all doing their nails side by side, sharing the colors and Muggle stencils of different patterns and designs. Even from his seat in the back he could see that Crabbe, Goyle and Bulstrode were struggling, although disgustingly enough Bulstrode kept staring at Lockhart dreamily.
The four Gryffindors in his row on the next desk were all whispering harshly, from what he could hear, they didn't think much of Lockhart either. Apparently Gryffindors and Slytherins could agree on something. The gossiper's Brown and Patil were scribbling their answers as quickly as they could move the quill. Harry just knew that their answers would all be serious attempts as well. Neville seemed to look bewildered, but even though he was in Gryffindor, the boy needed to work on his courage. He was obviously trying to answer the questions even though he most likely thought that the quiz was as ridiculous as Harry thought it was. The girls sitting with him seemed to be in the same boat, curiously looking at each other before shaking their heads and returning to writing.
"Times up!" Lockhart called cheerfully, which was really unfounded considering the loud beeping noise coming from the hourglass. Sighing everyone passed their quizzes along their tables to sit on the edge of the aisle so that their Professor could collect them. They sat in silence, friends sharing looks with friends while Lockhart graded their quizzes. A few were put aside straight away and they knew that those were the ones from students who didn't even try. Harry smirked when Lockhart's face went white and then an angry red, he shared a smirk with Draco. Hopefully that meant he had read his quiz. After what seemed like an agonizing ten minutes, Lockhart finally finished grading them. He stood up in front of the class smiling widely, but Harry could see it was slightly strained.
"Tut, tut." He started looking around with a disappointed expression.
"Hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti." He said shaking his head.
"Only two people got that right. Miss Brown and Miss Patil? Well done." The Cambions sneered when the two Gryffindor girls preened under the attention of their favorite Professor.
"Although, Mr Riddle?" He continued looking around, Harry raised his arm smirking.
"I sensed a fair bit of sarcasm coming through your answer. Now my lad, there is no reason to be hostile, although being faced with my fame I can't say I blame you. But I am sure that one day you will get your chance, you just have to work hard for it."
"Is he serious?" Harry gaped looking at his friends who were all sniggering. They all watched and listened in shock as the man continued to go through all their answers. He occasionally stopped to comment on Harry's responses and a few of Draco's which were just as funny. Unfortunately the man seemed to believe that they were just unsure of how to act with their Professor being as successful and famous as he was. Harry smirked, all that it meant was he was going to up his game, he would make the man crack before the end of year.
"It is time to get down to business. As your Defence Against The Dark Arts Professor it is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to Wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this very room." Lockhart said as he pointed at a large covered cage on the floor next to his desk; his dramatics caused the rest of the students to lean back in their seats eyeing the cage wearily.
"But know that no harm can befall you, whilst I am here. I ask that you remain calm." He continued. Harry shared incredulous looks with his friends as their Professor placed his hand on top of the cage.
"Screaming will provoke them." Lockhart said as he whipped the cover off. The other students leant back in fear only to stop in shock and send looks of confusion between the cage and their Professor. Even Neville looked to be holding back laughter.
"Cornish Pixies?" Harry snorted in derision, with his comment the rest of the class, even the Gryffindors started laughing, although Potter and Weasel looked upset that it had been him to make the joke and not them. Only Lockhart's fans; Brown and Patil weren't laughing.
"Freshly caught Cornish Pixies." Lockhart nodded seriously, his blue eyes confused at their laughter.
"Well, they're not very dangerous are they?" Seamus Finnigan choked on his own laughter.
"Don't be so sure!" Lockhart said waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus causing Harry to snort loudly. Much like his Mother when his Father did something stupid.
"Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" The Pixies skin was electric blue and they were about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them.
"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly.
"Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage. It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging hippogriff. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks.
"Come on now, round them up, round them up, they're only Pixies," Lockhart shouted grinning. He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed,
"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" It had absolutely no effect; one of the Pixies actually seized his wand and threw it out of the window, whilst laughing madly. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, leaving the students to defend themselves, it was chaos.
When the bell finally rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. Lockhart saw his chance and straightened up, catching sight of Harry and Hermione with their friends, who were walking towards to the door shaking their heads.
"Well, I'll ask you lot to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him.
"Can you believe him?" Harry snarled as one of the remaining Pixies bit him painfully on the ear.
"Surely we can complain about this." Draco said as he ran from a group of Pixies.
"He will just say he wanted to give us some hands-on experience," Hermione sneered as she shot freezing spells off at individual Pixies.
"Hands on? " Blaise asked chuckling, while he was trying to grab a Pixie who dancing out of reach with its tongue out.
"More like he just didn't have a clue about what he was doing."
"He has to be the biggest moron to ever breathe" Daphne scowled as yet another Pixie got caught in her wavy hair.
"You've met Potter haven't you?" Pansy asked laughing as one of the Pixies she had been chasing hid under Luna's school sweater.
"How is she doing that?" Theo muttered looking at the spacey blonde. Luna was perched on one of the desks with four Pixies on her lap, and giggling airily as another two Pixies tried to braid her hair.
"It's Luna." Harry shrugged.
"I am not even sure that she knows how she does it."
"You just have to understand them." Luna said before she began to hum softly while swaying side to side. Then peacefully each Pixie flew over to her and allowed her to place them in the cage.
"Thanks Luna." Harry sighed as he cracked his neck.
"Must you do that?" Hermione asked in disgust.
"Yes." Harry nodded seriously, before grinning widely.
"You alright up there Neville?" Luna asked, her voice breaking up another fight between Harry and Hermione.
"Neville?" Harry asked spinning around not seeing the boy, until he saw his friends looking up. Joining them he noticed Neville hanging from the chandelier.
"Hey." The shy boy said waving.
"How in Merlin's beard did that happen?" Harry asked baffled. The hanging boy just shrugged weakly.
"Alright let's get him down."
"How?" Neville asked nervously.
"The levitating spell should work right?" Harry asked Hermione.
"Yeah, the two of us together should prevent anything from happening. But just to be on the safe side Daphne, Pansy and Luna, spell the floor repeatedly with the cushioning charm. Theo, Draco and Blaise, can you three be ready to slow him down, you know the spell right?"
"Aresto Momentum." Draco recited dutifully getting a nod from Hermione.
"Together then? Harry asked grinning pointing his wand at the Gryffindor boy.
"3..2..1" Hermione said slowly.
"Wingardium Leviosa" They chorused sending their magic towards Neville. He could feel it washing over his body and lifting him above the hook he was stuck on. Grinning Harry and Hermione slowly lowered him to the ground rendering their friends spells unnecessary.
"T..thanks for that." Neville stuttered bashfully.
"What else are friends for?" Harry smirked.
"Well my 'friends' ran for their lives." Neville grumbled.
"Cowards." Hermione spat.
"How they ended up in Gryffindor escapes me." Draco sneered.
"You have us now Nev, you don't need those pretenders." Harry grinned.
"R..really? You guys are my friends?" He asked nervously looking around at the Slytherins, all he ever heard in the dorm room was how evil they were, and how they would join You-Know-Who as soon as they could. But he just couldn't see them as Evil. He was paired with him in Potions, receiving extra help outside of the class as well, and he in return gave tutoring on Herbology. The others joined them occasionally, but he hadn't thought that they thought of him as a friend.
"Of course we are Nev. We don't help people we don't like." Hermione said winking at him, he knew he must look like a nutcase with the big smile he had but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had true friends.
….
Lunch time found the Cambions outside with their lunches in different bags that were charmed to stay warm or cold. They were resting under their tree yet again happily eating and drinking while talking about their day. Although today was set to be different, they hadn't been there for longer than ten minutes before Neville appeared his usually soft brown eyes hard with anger. He stomped over in a huff and sat down next to Harry and snatched up some sausages.
"Wow, what ruffled your little mane today Simba?" Harry asked, the corner of his lips lifting in amusement as he ran his fingers over Neville's hair.
"Wha.. What?" Neville asked shaking his head in confusion.
"Ignore him." Hermione said after shoving Harry, shaking her head in exasperation.
"What happened to make you so angry?" She asked softly.
"Potter and Weasel." Neville grumbled as he slowly relaxed in the company of his true friends, even though he had only realized that they were that morning in Defense he was already more comfortable around them than his own dorm mates.
"What did they do to piss you off so much?" Draco asked grinning eagerly.
"They were bragging about this morning." Neville admitted after glancing at Harry for his reaction.
"We will pay them back." Hermione promised viciously.
"I wanted to punch them, so I left before I went through with it." Neville said, grinning when Harry laughed.
"So what will happen if they see you with us?" Pansy asked raising an eyebrow at the lone Gryffindor.
"Screw them." Neville grunted, laying back when Luna tugged his hair, pulling his head down to rest in her lap while she ran her fingers soothingly over his scalp.
"You don't want to ostracized by them already Neville." Theo said as he scanned the courtyard for any Gryffindors that could be spying on them.
"That is true, you dorm with them. They could make your life a living hell until we graduate." Daphne said smiling sympathetically as Neville groaned and nodded.
"I just can't stand them, they are nothing but bullies and they are so arrogant." Neville whined.
"But at least, if I am on their good side, I will hear all their plans regarding you guys."
"Won't it get back to them that you are with us now though? Nothing stays secret at Hogwarts." Blaise mused thoughtfully.
"Ugh!" Neville groaned again from Luna's lap.
"You just need an excuse for being with us, so you can complain to them about it." Luna said, the flighty blonde grinning when the groan turned into a moan as she massaged his temples.
"Oh I've got it." Harry cried.
"You can say that Professor Snape is making me tutor you in Potions and that Professor Sprout has got you tutoring me in Herbology. That way we have a ready go excuse to hang out in the library or in courtyard again."
"That could work." Neville mused.
"And it would be easy to make them believe it. They aren't exactly intelligent."
"There we go Nev, we will make a snake out of you yet!" Harry declared with an exaggerated wink.
"The hat said I had some secret qualities of a Slytherin but not enough to be sorted there, and that the current members would help me find something I didn't know I had lost." Neville admitted.
"Hmm, I wonder what that could be." Hermione mused.
"Well that explains why you were so willing to hear me out in Potions then." Harry laughed before whimpering when Hermione and Luna smacked his head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Harry complained.
"Smart arse." Hermione scoffed fondly.
"So have you planned how you will get revenge on Potter and the others yet?" Neville asked curiously from Luna's lap.
"Not yet." Harry grumbled reluctantly.
"He is waiting for permission." Draco teased laughing loudly.
"Oh fuck off." Harry sneered pushing his cousin over.
"Permission?" Neville asked Hermione curiously as Harry and Draco started rolling around in their mock fight.
"Swear a vow you won't say anything to anyone." Hermione responded, she liked Neville, but she wouldn't take any chances with anyone when it could jeopardize her brother. Neville nodded pulling out his wand and doing as he was asked.
"Fred Weasley. He is Harry's soul mate. Harry doesn't want to risk angering him even though the youngest male Weasel deserves it." She explained watching in amusement as Neville's brown eyes widened in shock.
"Wow.. So that's why he left before I did looking furious."
"Wait, he was there when Potter and Weasel were bragging?!" Theo asked stunned.
"Fred, George and Lee all were." Neville nodded in affirmation.
"Oh they are going to suffer." Blaise chuckled heartedly.
"Fred adores Harry, he won't let them get away with it." Hermione informed Neville as she snickered.
"It is sickening really." Draco piped up from where he and Harry had ended up.
"It's sweet." Daphne said defending the soul mates.
"You only think that because you're a girl!" Blaise laughed.
"Excuse me?!" Hermione, Daphne, Luna and Pansy said staring at him, each with one eyebrow raised and a look in their eyes that promised pain.
"I.. I mean… Um.. Oh look, it is Astoria!" Blaise stuttered out, causing Harry, Neville, Theo, and Draco to chuckle at their clueless friend. They were pulled out of their laughter when Daphne let out a happy cry when she realized that her younger sister was indeed walking towards them with her friends Ginny Weasley and Rose Potter on either side of her. The dirty blonde haired girl hugged her sister happily before ushering her and her friends to sit with them.
"Hey girls!" Blaise shouted with exaggerated arm movements.
"Hey Blaise." Astoria giggled, she adored her elder sister and her friends. She had grown up with them and they had never treated her badly, like they didn't want her around.
"So everyone, this is Ginny and Rose." Astoria said quickly when she noticed her friends looking a little awkward. She was just glad that she had convinced Ginny who hadn't met the others yet, to give them a chance to prove not all Slytherins were how her family had told her.
"Hello." Hermione smiled.
"I am Hermione, this is obviously Astoria's sister Daphne, then this is Pansy and Luna." She continued, introducing them all.
"Then the Gryffindor in Luna's lap is Neville." The three first years giggled when Neville waved his hand hello without sitting up to look at them, enjoying the massage Luna was still giving him.
"This is Theo, Blaise, Draco and my brother Harry." She finished.
"Hi." Ginny said waving shyly, unlike Rose, she hadn't met any of them was extremely nervous. All she had heard all summer was how evil the Riddle twins and their friends were, only to befriend Astoria and Rose and hear differently.
"Hiya Harry!" Rose chirped, arse shuffling on the grass over to him.
"Hey Rosie." Harry grinned wrapping his arm over her shoulder smirking down at the girl who should've been his sister, if he had his way they would have that relationship still, he wouldn't let the Potter's take that from him as well.
"How is Ravenclaw treating you?" He asked smirking at their blue and bronze ties.
"Ravenclaw is absolutely amazing!" Rose gushed.
"There are six girls in our year group, and obviously us three were sticking together." She said grinning at her two friends. She had known Ginny since they were in diapers as their Mothers were friends, and she had bonded with Astoria easily the night they met. She had been ecstatic when Ginny and Astoria had bonded together just as easily on the train to Hogwarts.
"We were allowed to go three in each dorm room, so it is just us." Astoria concluded happily, grinning when Daphne hugged her again.
"What about you Ginny?" Hermione asked trying to draw the girl into the conversation more, she knew it would mean everything to Fred and George if they could sway Ginny as well.
"Professor Flitwick is a great Head of House." She said smiling shyly when Astoria pulled her closer, and placed her hand on her knee in support.
"If we have any questions about anything, even if it is a subject other than Charms, he will sit down with us in the common room and help. He is there every night from just before dinner until dinner, and then after dinner until curfew." Ginny seemed to come out of her shell the more she talked and realized that the elder students were actually listening to her.
"What is the common room like?" Blaise asked eagerly.
"Oh it is stunning" Astoria said softly, her light grey eyes wide and bright.
"I know it is a tower like Gryffindor but beyond that I don't anything." Theo said leaning forward eager to learn about the house the Hat had debated over before deciding on Slytherin.
"Yeah it is, we have to climb a tight spiral staircase to reach it." Rose said grinning.
"The common room is circular like the tower, but very wide and so spacious."
"Although judging from what the tower looks like on the outside, it must have an Undetectable Extension Charm on the room at the least. Although it is possible that the founders had another spell back when they built the school, I've read a few from Rowena's published books that could've been used." Ginny said, showing that despite asking to be placed in Ravenclaw, she did deserve to be there.
"The walls are hung with blue and bronze silk too! It is warm, comfortable and inviting." Astoria continued, grinning over at Ginny, her hand still on the redheads leg.
"The best part is definitely the roof." Rose sighed happily from under Harry's arm, where she was still curled up. She never got this kind of attention from her Mother or Henry and was relishing in it, even her Father had gotten more distant since Henry's letter arrived and he had another fight with her Uncles Siri and Remy although she didn't know what it was over.
"It is domed and painted with the stars of the night sky, they reflect on the midnight blue carpet like the moon on water."
"Sounds beautiful." Pansy sighed dreamily.
"Way better than the Gryffindor common room." Neville muttered.
"The red and gold is blinding, and rather tacky."
"Aw, poor little lion." Harry said in mock sympathy.
"I know." Neville moaned nodding his head before burying it back into Luna's robe, this caused a round of laughter from the group, as they continued to banter back and forth until lunch was over and they headed off to their next class. All enjoying the peacefulness from having true friends.
…
Hey everyone! I am sorry about how long this chapter took. My fiance's grandfather passed away and I wanted to be there to support him and his family, by the time I felt it was okay to come back my writing muse had disappeared again. But I am back and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as always if I have let a mistake slip through let me know and let me what you thought of this chapter or things you want to see. Thank you all!