Harry awoke the next morning refreshed and somewhat confused. He'd had the best night's sleep he could ever remember having, warm and fuzzy and every nice thing, but he didn't wake up to the sight of the underside of the stairs, like he'd done every day for the past ten years. Also, nobody was banging on his cupboard door for him to get up and make breakfast.

For a good long while he lay staring at the yellow bedcurtains, until his brain woke up fully and he remembered the train ride and the Sorting and the Feast. When the group of first-year Hufflepuffs had been brought to 'the Den', as the prefect had called it, professor Sprout had come in briefly to talk to them. Mostly she'd welcomed them to Hogwarts in general and Hufflepuff in particular, and assured them that if they ever needed a friendly face to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, her door was always open. Harry couldn't help but give her an excited little wave, and she'd winked back at him. He thought he might have to start a journal, just to make sure he wouldn't forget anything.

When he got out of bed, he noticed the other boys in his dorm were still asleep. Judging by the light falling in through the window, he'd say it was about seven o'clock, which was sleeping in as far as he was concerned. Aunt Petunia usually woke him up around six. Then he stopped and stared at the windows. Hadn't they gone down several sets of stairs to get here? How did he have a view of the grounds if they'd gone underground?

Harry blinked, and then he shrugged. Magic, if he had to guess. Dismissing the thought from his mind, he padded to the bathroom, where he was delighted to find nobody at all timing his visit. He could shower however long he wanted, and with warm water, too! Freedom!

In the end it was still only ten minutes or so, because he was so used to washing as quickly as possible. After that he didn't quite know what to do with himself, but still. It was a nice feeling.

By the time he was done and dressed in Dudley's castoffs and his second-hand robes, another boy was sitting up in bed with tousled blond hair hanging in his eyes.

"Oh, hello, Harry," he said, "you're up early. Did you sleep wel?"

Sitting down to put on his worn trainers, Harry smiled at the boy. "Yes, thank you, er... uhm... Justin?" he answered. The boy nodded encouragingly. "Sorry, so many names to remember. Yourself?"

"Yes, marvelously so. Much better than usual when sleeping in a different bed for the first time, don't you think?"

"Oh, I'll take your word for it," Harry said with a shrug. "I haven't actually slept anywhere but my own bed, to be honest, so I was mostly confused when I woke up."

"What, never? Not even on a holiday?"

Harry laughed. "No. My aunt and uncle weren't really the travelling sort. Anything within the UK was a waste of money, and everything outside it was too foreign."

"Huh. Sounds lovely. Well, you'll just have to come around to my place for a week or two come summer, get you used to sleeping in more than one place. Well, two now, I guess."

Harry grinned, not knowing quite what to say to that. It would probably come to nothing in the end, but it was the sentiment that counted.

"Do you want me to wait for you? We could try and find the Great Hall again, see if we can find the way," he settled on eventually.

Justin smiled brightly and nodded. "That would be nice, yes. I won't be a moment."

True to his word, some minutes later he was washed and dressed, and they left the other boys to wake up on their own.

When they came to the common area, it was to find a number of older students sitting around, third years maybe? The prefect who'd brought them here last night was also present. She came over as soon as the two of them appeared.

"Good morning, you two! Did you sleep well? Good! I guess you're ready for breakfast now, right? Now, we have a buddy system in place in Hufflepuff. Third and fourth-years can volunteer to be a buddy for a first-year. Show them around the castle, where their classes are, that sort of thing. Do you want to be part of the program? All we ask in return is that you consider joining up when you're eligible."

Harry looked at Justin for a moment, then he beamed at the prefect. "I'd like that, thank you."

"So would I," Justin said.

"Alright, perfect. Let's see, uhm... Cedric, do you want to be Harry's buddy? And... maybe Archie for Justin?"

Two boys came forward, one blond and the other with dark brown curls. The blond held out his hand to Harry with a friendly smile. "Hi! I'm Cedric Diggory, third-year."

Harry shook his hand. "Harry Potter."

The other boy shook Justin's hand, but before he could introduce himself, Justin exclaimed in shock, "Not Archibald Tennison?"

The other boy peered at Justin, as if trying to place him, before brightening suddenly. "Why, if it isn't Justin Finch-Fletchley, as I live and breathe! What a small world, who knew you had magic too!"

"Archie used to be in my fencing club, but he stopped going a couple of years ago. I thought he'd just lost interest, but coming to Hogwarts explains it," Justin said to Harry.

"You did fencing?"

"Sure. Well, nothing professional, I'm not old enough for a licence yet, but the sooner you start the better you are by the time you can fence competitively. Not that I'll do that now, I guess."

"We could practice here," Archie said, "if you wanted to. We could even teach your friend here some of the moves. It'd be good to get the practice in. Oh, maybe there's a fencing style that incorporates magic? We should totally look into that!"

Cedric laughed. "Hold your hippogriffs, Archie! Lets get these firsties to breakfast before we start any fencing clubs!"

As they walked to the Great Hall, Archie and Cedric told them a number of interesting facts about life at Hogwarts, from the location of the kitchens for when they were feeling a bit peckish (just be respectful to the House Elves), down to 'don't trust anything the Weasley twins give you'.

After breakfast, where they received their timetable, Archie and Cedric brought them to the classroom for their first lesson, Transfiguration, before going to their own class. Inside the classroom, Harry and Justin shared a desk. Was this what having friends felt like? If so, it was a very, very nice feeling.

***US***US***US***

It wasn't until the Wednesday that Iris saw an opening to talk to Harry. Gryffindor had Herbology together with Hufflepuff, and Harry was walking just in front of her, together with two girls and an older boy.

She was just close enough to hear the boy say, "I'll leave you here, I've got Potions and professor Snape doesn't care about any buddies. For Greenhouse One you just go outside. It's the first greenhouse you can see.

"Great! Thanks, Cedric. See you later!" Harry answered.

Just as the trio went outside, the blonde in pigtails gasped. "Shoot! I forgot my dragonhide gloves!"

"Oh!" Harry said. "Go! You should have enough time to get to the Den and back. I'll wait for you here."

The blonde nodded, and together with her redheaded friend she ran past Iris, leaving Harry alone.

Iris nudged Neville, who nodded and hung back a little, while she went forward.

"Hello!" she said with a smile. Harry started and looked around. Apparently he hadn't noticed her approach.

"Hi," he answered softly.

"You're Harry Potter, right?"

He nodded but didn't say anything else, looking shyer than he had been with his Hufflepuff friends. Come on, work with me here, say something! But that wasn't quite fair, she realised. She'd initiated the contact, so it was up to her to steer the conversation.

"Do you think we might be related?"

Oh, really smooth there, Iris. The epitome of subtlety. Still, she carefully watched his reaction to her words. To her disappointment he just shrugged, but seemed to think words were a necessity after all. "I don't know. We could be, I guess. I don't actually know who my parents were, so... anything is possible. Maybe a distant cousin or something?"

Iris smiled at him warmly. "Maybe. If I ever find out who your parents are, you'll be the first to know. Just so you know, I'd be happy with any kind of relationship to you."

Harry seemed to start at those words.

"Oh!" he said. "Er... thank you? But... why? You're like this really famous person and I'm... just Harry. Nothing special."

"Psh, nonsense. I'm famous because wizards are sheeple, and they don't seem to understand that being famous for losing your parents isn't all it's cracked up to be. Anyway, I'm hardly likely to turn my nose up at more family, am I? So, what do you say, possible-cousin? Wanna hang out sometime, get to know each other better?"

Harry smiled shyly, but he nodded willingly enough. "I'd like that."

"Oh, just as a warning, that deal comes with a Neville Longbottom included. Nev, say hi to my possible cousin!"

"Hi!" her friend said with a smile and a wave.

"We sort of come as a package deal, I hope you don't mind. Anyway, your friends are here. I'll see you at the greenhouse. Come on, Nev!"

She dragged Neville with her, leaving Harry with the dazed look that was usual after a first encounter with Hurricane Iris, as uncle Remus liked to call her.