Author's Note

This is my first work of fan fiction, though not my first written work. I do hope that you enjoy it, as my desire is to entertain readers just as much as it is to get this story out of my head.

I despise typos, continuity errors, and formatting mistakes. Do not hesitate to point them out so I may set them on fire, though I would prefer you DM me so my shame does not live eternal in the reviews.

Please. Review. I cannot stress this enough. Your feedback, both positive and negative, motivates me and helps me to become a better write.

Do. Not. Post. Spoilers. In. Your. Review.

Disclaimer: I am not the immensely talented and inspiring woman known as J. K. Rowling, and therefore hold no claim to the fantastical world she allows our imaginations to frolic in.

Chapter 6: The Breakfast Club

The first thing that Harry noticed was how full the Great Hall was. The unexpected meeting upstairs must have held them back longer than he thought, and breakfast was clearly well underway. As his housemates entered the hall they split roughly into two lines to move down the sides of the long Gryffindor table. They weren't marching to a rhythm or trying to keep the lines straight, many of them were just talking with their friends, and he caught more than one of them laughing.

However, the fact that the entire house had arrived together was still being noticed. Most likely due to the fact that their table faced the doors of the Great Hall the professor's realized something was different first. Many of them started whispering to each other quietly, some leaning across the table to do so. Professor Sinistra actually got up to cross the room to speak with Professor Vector. For whatever reason Professor Flitwick seemed highly delighted, and Professor Sprout was nodding solemnly. Professor McGonagall only watched them carefully, a small smile resting gently on her face.

Harry's eyes quickly darted to where the potions master normally sat, and was relieved to find him absent. However, before he could turn to his own table he caught a glimpse of the headmaster staring down at him. His hands were folded in front of his face, and he seemed to be resting against them. But his eyes were twinkling merrily, and even from halfway across the room he could see the wrinkles that only appeared when the older man was smiling.

The Slytherin's suddenly became deathly quiet, as it seemed some had finally noticed what was happening. This caught the attention of the other houses, including the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons who seemed more amused than anything. Harry wanted to look over and catch a glimpse of Draco Malfoy's reaction, but he assumed he was still the Gryffindor getting the most attention, and he didn't want to give the impression that he cared about what Malfoy thought.

Instead he decided to seek out Cedric, the other Hogwarts Champion. It took until Harry sat down, but he finally found the older boy three quarters down the Hufflepuff table. He was surrounded by what Harry recognized as the Hufflepuff quidditch team, as well as an unusual number of girls who were trying to talk to him.

Cedric, on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to any of the people at his table. Cedric was looking right at Harry. Being caught off guard Harry gave the boy what can only be described as a "sort-of" wave, though an outsider might see it as more of a muscle spasm. The Hufflepuff seemed to smile back bemusedly and gave him a nod before returning to his friends.

He sighed and looked up to see that both Ron and Hermione had sat on either side of him. That wasn't the problem however. The problem was that on the opposite side of the table Neville was surrounded by students who seemed to be doing their best to convince him to leave.

"Come on Longbottom, you're already his roommate."

"Would you slide down so me and my friends could fit?"

But Neville didn't seem to want to move. In fact he was holding onto the table tightly as a few of the older students started to physically push him down the bench.

"Hey guys, Neville's my friend can you leave him alone?" Harry said, raising his voice slightly.

Everyone looked towards him with surprise, though the one seeming to be the most surprised was Neville. But before anyone could react two familiar redheads pushed through the small crowd and slipped into the places on either side of the round faced boy.

"Why thank you brave Sir Longbottom for guarding our seats while we were busy organizing things." Said George.

"Not that there isn't plenty of room next to us, isn't that so brother mine?" Said Fred.

George smiled widely towards the group of huddled students. "Indeed, indeed. And I myself am quite interested to see if our latest creation is undetectable in pumpkin juice. We're aiming to christen it the 'Gas Guzzler'. One drink and for the rest of the day you'll be experiencing an unending amount of . . . "

But the group dispersed too quickly for George to finish his explanation. Instead the twins just smiled brightly at each other, and turned back towards the table.

"Alright then, Harry? Ron? Hermione?" Fred asked with a wink.

"You're unbelievable you two are." Ron said as he reached out and started loading his plate with food.

Harry wasn't sure what to say, now the brothers were finally in front of him. When they had dragged him in front of the house he was mortified, perhaps even a little angry. But after hearing what Hermione and Ron had said he actually thought he was feeling grateful towards the two of them. Still, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to encourage them or he might end up in even worse situations.

But before he could come to a decision a few people forced their way onto the benches nearest him. On opposite sides of Fred and George the Creevey brothers, Colin and Dennis, squeezed between a couple of fifth years just before they had finished sitting. They looked up smiling at everyone, seeming extremely pleased with themselves. And next to Hermione a fourth redhead slipped in, elbowing the closest person until she had enough room. Harry saw Hermione and Ginny Weasley exchange smiles, but she didn't look in Harry's direction at all.

Ron had plenty of space, as no one liked to sit too close to him during meals.

"Hiya Harry!" Colin said brightly, reaching over for the eggs.

"Ah, just the three we wanted to see!" George exclaimed.

"Quite well done this morning, the three of you." Fred continued, while getting himself some bacon.

Ginny's ears turned pink as she focused on her omelet, while the Creevey's gave each other big thumbs up to go along with their grins. Neville was quietly eating a piece of toast and looking around nervously, maybe because he was in the middle of both sets of brothers.

"So you did plan that ahead of time then?" Hermione interjected as she was blowing on a cup of tea.

"Plan what?" Harry asked in confusion as he speared an impressively large waffle.

Hermione rolled her eyes before looking towards him. "Honestly Harry? What just happened upstairs? It was obvious that they planned it all, but I wasn't sure for certain who had been a part of it."

"Waiff" Ron slurred with a mouth full of what Harry thought might have been potatoes. Thankfully he seemed to take a moment to swallow before talking again. "The three of you? Even our sister? Why them? Why not Hermione and me?"

"Would have loved to include you Ronniekins, but you." Fred said, pointing across towards his younger brother. "Were not exactly in your dormitory last night."

George nodded along with his twin. "Not our fault you decided to spend the evening in the common room with our beloved headmaster, rather than conspiring with us."

Neville, who had finally seemed to relax and take a big sip of pumpkin juice, immediately choked into his glass. "D..Dumbledore?!"

"We were shocked as you Neville." Fred continued. "After the last three years we were starting to have high hopes for our wee brother at this school. Playing giant games of chess in forbidden rooms . . "

"Chasing after wanted criminals on school property . . "

"Breaking into the common room of another house . . "

"Setting fire to teachers at quidditch games . . "

"Oi!" Ron interrupted. "That wasn't me, that was Hermione."

"RONALD." Hermione flushed and looked around in a panic to see if anyone had heard them.

Colin and Dennis's eyes had been growing wider as they looked between everyone, but their smiles never left their faces. Neville's head was now in his hands as he listened to some of the less famous exploits of the trio.

"Be. That. As. It. May." Fred said, after a sip of pumpkin juice. "We were still rather disappointed to hear that you were spending your night having a chat with Dumbledore, hence unavailable for our most wicked scheme to gain dear Harry here the support of the house. Luckily we were informed of another set of brothers who were keeping a late night vigil for our young hero, and we made plans to join forces."

"And who exactly informed you?" Hermione questioned, shifting her eyes from one brother to the next.

"Oh sweet Hermione, no need to concern yourselves with the specifics. We have our ways, suffice to say." George replied with a wink.

Hermione looked like she wasn't satisfied with that answer, but before she could respond Ron leaned forward, thrusting out a fork that still had half of a sausage affixed to it.

"That's all fine, but what's with you dragging Ginny along? You should be keeping her out of trouble, not dragging her into it."

Harry could see Ginny herself scowling at Ron and reaching for her wand, when her eyes suddenly caught sight of Harry's. The tips of her ears immediately turned pink again, and she turned away from the group to refocus on her omelet, her long red hair blocking her face from view.

He had hoped that spending some time with her family over the summer would have helped with the awkward crush Ginny seemed to have on Harry. Unfortunately every time he had tried to talk to her she would immediately leave the room. The only time she had seemed to forget her crush was during the quidditch world cup, when she had been too busy screaming threats to the Irish team for not scoring fast enough. He really wanted to become better friends with her, but if she refused to even meet his eyes he wasn't sure there was much he could do to change things.

"Drag our sister along?" Fred said, sounding incredulous.

George reached over and snatched a piece of bacon off of the table. "Little brother, no one drags our Gin-Gin along. I will have you know that the only reason she was involved was because she had already been trying all night to convince people to stand by Harry."

"How do you know that!?" Ginny said with a slight squeak to her voice, her face looking scandalized.

"We have our ways." The brothers responded together.

"So wait." Harry interrupted, now realizing the full extent of what was being implied, "Fred, George, you decided, last night, to pull that stunt upstairs? You got Colin, Dennis, and Ginny to help you. "The Creevey brothers reached across the twins to high-five, while Ginny was scowling at her brothers. "As well I am guessing as the quidditch team?" He looked up at them, questioningly.

"Now Harry, we're a team, we do things together don't we?" George smiled broadly.

Fred nodded sagely alongside his twin. "I only wish Oliver was still here, it would have taken a lot less effort. He had a lot of respect with the upper years."

"I imagine he wouldn't have enjoyed the lack of quidditch in his final year though." Harry commented while refilling his pumpkin juice.

"He would have started throwing blasting curses." Fred said to George, smiling wistfully.

George grinned broadly "I wonder if you get Azkaban for destroying the Goblet of Fire."

"You have to do worse things to be sent there . . " Neville said quietly as he ate his breakfast.

"Not necessarily." Said Hermione, a note of anger in her voice. "They sent Hagrid to Azkaban, and he wasn't even charged with anything."

Harry clenched his fist around his fork, forgetting his waffle momentarily, and thinking back to his terrible second year. Due to the chaos caused by the Chamber of Secrets, and everyone blaming Harry for what was going on, he hadn't been able to devote any time towards Hagrid's cause. But he still remembered the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, sending his first friend to the wizard's prison. The worst part of it all was that he had plainly stated that it was solely due to the need for him to be seen "doing something", and not because he actually thought Hagrid was a threat to the school.

And then of course there was Sirius. He couldn't tell the others at the table, because only Ron and Hermione knew, but his godfather had been sent to Azkaban without a trial, even though he was innocent. More than once during the summer Harry reminded himself that it was another reason that he had grown up unloved, sleeping in a cupboard, rather than in a wizarding home with someone who cared for him.

Suddenly Hermione's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Harry, did you want me to take notes for you?"

Harry blinked in confusion, not simply because he had been worrying about Sirius, but because he couldn't understand what Hermione meant.

"Notes? For what?"

Hermione sighed and gave him a pitying look. "For History of Magic? In case you want to study it later?"

It took a full eight seconds for Harry's brain to process what she had said. The others at the table seemed to be giving her equally bewildering looks, and Harry was just about to ask her what she meant when suddenly the events of the previous night came rushing back.

Harry no longer had History of Magic. In fact, remembering that it was Tuesday, he didn't have any classes until after lunch. He tried not to grin over the thought, reminding himself this was only the case due to an incredibly dangerous tournament. But as his memory called up the dull voice of Professor Binns lecturing about the most recent goblin rebellion, some few hundred years ago, he couldn't help the small smile that came to his face.

"That's alright Hermione, it's not really a subject I have a lot of love for." He said, apologetically.

For a moment she looked like she wanted to argue with him, she even opened her mouth to do so. But instead she stopped, looked at him again with sad eyes, and finally nodded. He was grateful. He knew Hermione didn't think anything was more important than education, but the truth was even without the tournament Harry never felt he was gaining anything by going to the classes he had chosen to drop. He really only ever put effort into learning new spells, especially any that could be useful in a fight. Maybe it was because he had known, ever since his first year, that he would have to face Voldemort again. Maybe it was because his Defense teachers the first two years were so terrible that he always felt like he had to make up for it. Or maybe it was the thrill seeker in him, the same part of him that fell in love with quidditch.

No matter the case, Harry promised himself that he wouldn't waste his new schedule by sleeping in or playing exploding snap. He remembered the look that the headmaster gave him the night before, when he had decided to drop several courses. He didn't want to disappoint him.

He didn't want to disappoint himself either.

It was at this time though that Neville decided to say something.

"Not to interrupt, but, well, shouldn't we actually be going to History of Magic?"

Hermione's eyes widened as she looked around the hall. Well over half the students had left during their conversation, and many of the others had at least finished their meals. She sucked in her breath and leapt up, pulling on her nearly exploding book bag.

"Oh no, Neville's right, we'll be late for class if we don't hurry. The staircases are a nightmare just after a meal. Ron, NO, we have to go!" She said in a hurried manner as she started to make her way to the entryway.

Ron, who had just piled a new helping of bacon onto his plate, looked extremely put off. However only a second later he seemed to brighten, take a waffle, and wrap it around his pile of bacon. He stood up with a grin and gave Harry a pat on the shoulder before chasing off after her, eating his creation like a sandwich. Harry just caught a glimpse of Neville catching up to him before he returned to his food.

"What's this now my dear brother? Is young Harry ignoring his educational duties?" George inquired, while looking over to him carefully.

"Methinks he's finally deciding to join us in our skiving ways, brother mine." Fred finished with a grin.

"My timetable had to change due to the tournament." Harry smiled up at the two of them broadly. He didn't want to flaunt his new schedule to people, but there wasn't any way he would be able to hide it either. "But it sounds like you have class, but aren't planning to go?"

"If only that were so, but alas, Tuesday morning is Transfiguration for us . . ." George began, pulling his bag up to him.

". . . and McGonagall isn't someone we want coming after us right now. Lots of plans in the works for this year, you understand." Fred said with a wink, as he hoped out of his seat.

Harry gave them both a wave as they left, and quietly finished his breakfast. He thought about everything that had happened that morning and how much the two Weasley twins had managed to do for him in such a short amount of time.

Compared to last night when he was certain his life was ruined, and he wouldn't have a friend in the world, he instead found himself without the weight of nearly half of his course load, and the complete support of the other Gryffindors. In the back of his mind he still held the fear that this tournament would be the end of him, but at the moment he was actually thinking this might end up being one of his better years. At least if he ended up in the hospital wing, again, he wouldn't have to make up quite as much homework.

As he looked around he could see that he was one of only a few handfuls of people left in the Great Hall. Most had classes at this time, and those who didn't wouldn't waste their free period in here. He grabbed his bag, only to realize he still had his History text and his Astronomy equipment weighing it down. He decided that he might as well head back up to the dorm and repack things since he had plenty of time.

And, Harry thought, if he was already in the dorm and ended up taking a nap, well, who could blame him? He pulled himself away from the table and headed for the entryway with a grin on his face.

A grin that wouldn't last long.

Author's Thoughts

I'm going to start writing out thoughts at the end of each chapter, sort of like director's commentary. They will be spoiler free, but feel free to skip them. They are mostly my own musings and I think the only ones interested will be other fanfic authors. I also might answer reader questions that I don't feel need to be in the author's notes. I'm also going back and doing the first few chapters if you are interested.

I am quickly learning that any chapter that has the Weasley twins in it is a fun chapter to write, though challenging. Their dialogue flows amazingly when you hear it in your head, but it can be hard to write it down without it sounding stilted. However the great part about having them in a scene is that they might literally say anything. The idea for the Gas Guzzler came out of nowhere, but it sounded too much like something they would do to leave out.

Weirdly enough what I loved most about this chapter was the breakfast itself. Deciding simple things like Hermione preferring tea while Ginny had an omelet brought a bit more life to the characters for me. The Harry Potter world is so big that we don't always get time to learn smaller character quirks, so I am going to try my best to flesh some out a bit.

Also I hadn't tried a waffle-bacon-sandwich until after I had written it, and I just want you to know it was a damned good idea and I stand by it.