Beta'd by: Bombadilo Baby. Yes, yes, and I thank you. And it's appreciated!
Arghhh. I'm sorry I was a bit late in posting this one, my week has been hectic. SERIOUSLY hectic. Also, I may have been distracted because there were so many choices from who's perspective I could write. . . It took forever to finally settle on one. Like picking your favourite from your favourite chocolate shop (how do you choose?!). Cough, cough.
Anyway, hope you like it! (If you hate it you have to let me know why. Constructive criticism and all that. Cheers!)
Also, Hogwarts classes begin next week! Yaaaayyyyyyy. And I plan on making them far more interesting than the books do . . . just a heads up Cause I love magic, and why does J.K.R never write enough about it?!
I adore all reviews, favourites, and follows.
A Luminous Weekend To You All!
-G
Harry slid onto the bench seat beside his friend, lifting his head up to meet the happily smug gazes of Pansy, Greg and Vince opposite them. The groups delight only increased as Blaise sauntered over to join them, sliding in beside Harry at the Slytherin table.
Pansy giggled in delight. "We did it!" the words sounded hissed between her brightly smiling teeth.
Vince chortled "Told you, you're not a Puff-"
The arguments of his new House mates and (he hoped) friends faded into the background as he turned hesitantly to look at the Head Table.
Dark gleaming eyes met his, and Harry's smile absolutely bloomed. A faint pleased blush spread across the raven-haired boys face as he met the unmistakably smug (and exceedingly proud) expression on his Godfather's face.
Chapter 14: Slytherin Common Room
When the sorting ceremony finally concluded Headmistress McGonagall moved to stand once more in the front of the entire school. Most of her notifications for the start of school year were predictable, and Draco listened with increasing disinterest until she reached the last topic: forbidden areas. He perked up with curiosity, ears honing in on her next words. "In addition to the Forbidden Forest, I must also inform you that no student will be allowed within the third floor corridor on the right hand side." Draco raised a pale brow slowly, face laden with incredulity. He glanced around at the rest of the student body. Confused and disbelieving expressions could be found at every table, with no disparities between ages. As he turned back to the Head table when the Headmistress continued, his gaze wandered and caught on his Godfather. Out of all the teachers he seemed the only one caught unawares by the announcement (if his dark scowl was any indication). Draco stifled a laugh at his Godfathers obviously disgruntled expression, knowing how the man loathed being uninformed.
"This area is highly unsafe, and punishment will be dealt out heavily for those who choose to flout this, or any other, rule." McGonagall concluded. The Headmistress took a breath, and her serious demeanour dimmed somewhat. "I look forward to the next year with you all, may the best House win!" she said with a smile. "Enjoy the feast."
Draco rolled his eyes good-naturedly as numerous gasps were heard the moment a huge banquet of food shimmered into existence along the tables. He assumed they were first years. Though honestly, hadn't they seen magic before? It wasn't even anything particularly spectacular or unusual.
Pansy picked up her Goblet, a smile wide on her face as she toasted.
"To Slytherin!" she cheered.
The rest of their group broke out in broad smiles, quickly snatching their own goblets in response. Greg's sloshing dangerously close to the rim in his haste. "To Slytherin!" they echoed, cups raised.
Blaise took a sip and chuckled, a glint in his eye. "Of course, we will with the Cup." He commented, relaxing in his seat.
Devious grins curled on six of the Slytherin first years faces. "Naturally." Draco drawled, swirling the pumpkin juice in his goblet.
"Oooh!" Pansy mused excitedly, suddenly whipping out her wand and swirling it in a circle. A translucent dome spread out over the six of them before fading from visibility. Everyone but Harry recognised the basic privacy spell. "We should make a pact!" she declared.
Harry tilted his head curiously, unsure what she meant "A pact?" he asked.
Greg nodded his head "It's a promise to each other." He told Harry, loading up his plate.
"With magic." Vince added before eating his cauliflower hungrily.
Pansy was clutching her fork tightly with determined excitement, that the boys found slightly concerning, but mostly humorous. "A pact to take Hogwarts to storm."
Draco tilted his head. "I have no idea if you mean we're aiming to be the top students or prank everyone that breaths."
"Both ideas have merit" Blaise murmured considering, cutting his chicken into slices.
"Can't forget the ghosts though" Greg added
Vince scoffed, rolling his eyes "Why would we bother pranking ghos-"
"Why don't we do both?"
Five pairs of eyes turned towards where Harry sat.
Pansy's grin turned fierce. "Yesssss" she hissed, almost wiggling on her seat in excitement.
"That would take a lot of work." Blaise mused. Draco nodded in agreement, but everyone could see the mischievous light that had sprung up in the blondes grey eyes, clearly indication his willingness to participate.
Vince and Greg looked at each other, then shrugged easily. "We're in" they said, turning back to their meals.
Pansy's magic was stirring around her excitedly.
Blaise just sighed tiredly, but didn't reject the idea.
Draco nodded in decisively, and stretched out his left hand, back straight. He curled all his fingers but the index, holding it in the centre of their group.
Pansy's index shot out, quickly joining Draco's.
Vince and Greg followed suit. Blaise's eyes flickered up to the ceiling as though asking some deity for guidance or intervention, before also resignedly stretching out a hand.
Harry watched in confusion but, seeing no harm, slowly joined his own index finger. The moment all six hands combined, like a six pointed star, a warm bronze light engulfed the kids.
Harry's eyes widened as he felt the magic sweep over him, like the breeze before a storm.
When their hands lowered all six had slightly ruffled hair and broad grins.
Draco, along with everyone else, turned back to the food he'd been serving. Trying to be discrete, he placed an, admittedly eager, amount of roast pumpkin on his plate. Mother never let him have two servings of his favourite vegetable.
Their pact officialised, Draco's mind wandered back to the Headmistress' earlier announcements. Why in Merlin's name would an entire corridor be labelled out-of-bounds? Surely if it was dangerous the Headmistress could have easily brought in magical specialists to remove the problem? Draco cast aside his speculation and growing curiosity for now, as he was distracted by the excited conversation of his friends. He could always ask Severus later, since he was sure his Godfather would demand an explanation (assuming he didn't have one already).
Pansy had removed the privacy bubble a couple of minutes ago as their conversations spread along the table. Harry was talking to Greg about their classes tomorrow (Vince was mostly eating), whilst Pansy and Blaise were chatting with Theodore Nott further down the table. He recognised all the other Slytherin's from their year with ease: Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis. Those three were sitting in a group near Theo.
It took him around fifteen minutes to properly notice the tense air throughout the rest of the Great Hall. Draco had also been taught, at an early age, to read the faces and body language of those around him. He shifted in his seat, grey eyes darting out across the hall as he took a drink from his goblet. He'd be disappointed to realise that the action wasn't even as mildly discrete as he assumed.
The Great Hall was . . . rippling uneasily was the closest description he could come up with. The grey eyed Malfoy had a sudden moment of clarity, causing his eyes and posture to sharpen, as he identified the cause. Or causes, rather.
Harry's sorting, and the absence of Hogwarts' long standing Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.
(Whilst the third floor corridor was interesting no one, except him and a few others, appeared to really give it much mind.)
As the Malfoy heir placed his goblet back down, he tried to smoothly peer over at the Gryffindor table. He could hear their anger and confusion building from across the hall, though the individual words were indecipherable. And (unfortunately) the unrest wasn't limited to the bull-headed Gryffindors. . . As he turned back to his dinner, he listened carefully, catching a few snippets (some even from the Slytherin table itself).
Draco quickly checked on Harry, and felt a wave of relief that his raven-haired friend seemed (as of yet) unaware of the brewing tension. Draco felt a sense of protectiveness grow, as a resolution quickly firmed in his mind to try and limit Harry's exposure to the censure of the student body.
Realising that, whilst he'd literally been in a bubble of his own, that the rest of the Hall was in a much different mood, Draco wondered who else had noticed the hostility directed at Harry. Draco shifted his gaze to meet that of his Godfather. Severus, who had been throwing a murderous scowl towards the red and gold portion of the room, turned as he sensed Draco gaze.
The blonde sent a questioning gaze to his Godfather, hoping he'd understand and send some form of answer or advice. Severus sent him a contemplative look before his attention was drawn away by the Headmistress sitting beside him.
Huffing with frustration, Draco turned back to his friends, whilst keeping part of his attention of the rest of the Hall. It wasn't even a minute later that a small paper crane glided smoothly onto the table beside left hand.
With a swell of relief, Draco quickly snatched and hid the note in his cloak pocket. Glancing around, he hoped that no one else had noticed the missive. Draco froze as he met Blaise's dark curious gaze. Zabini raised a black eyebrow and Draco hesitated before slowly nodding his head, indicating that he would explain later. Zabini turned calmly back to his previous conversation and dinner. Thank Merlin the boy was more discrete than Pansy!
Draco almost sighed in relief until he became aware of the bright green eyes watching his closely. Draco winced slightly, wondering how long Harry had been observing him.
With a slight feeling of guilt, that frustrated Draco because he had nothing to be guilty about, the blonde turned to face Harry properly.
His raven haired friend seemed so small, even sitting on the bench surrounded by other first years. They stared at each other silently, faces mild. Neither giving away their thoughts.
Somewhere across the hall drifted the snippets of many voices.
"What in Morgana's name is Harry Potter, doing in Slytherin!?" someone's hissed voice echoed.
Another voice scoffed "-e's Snape's ward now, probably already as bad as the rest of those dirty snakes."
"I heard he had something to do with the Headmaster's removal!" another voice babbled, voice tinged with outrage.
Draco's eyes stayed focused on Harry's, as the voices drifted around them. And he knew it was too late to hope that Harry hadn't heard, his friend seemed to already be aware of the snide remarks (maybe had been even before Draco).
Draco frowned, concern increasing as Harry's face remained blank. He opened his mouth to say something when Harry turned away, the raven delving easily back into the conversation (now with Pansy, Blaise and Vince) about their schedules for tomorrow.
The Malfoy heir reached out and clasped Harry's hand on the long bench beside his. Startled, Harry's eyes flickered back to Draco's.
Draco's protective anger flared as he saw the uncertainty and resignation that was tucked away in those green eyes, both expressions that he hadn't seen for several weeks at the Manor. He gently squeezed Harry's hand. "Alright?" he checked, wanting to curse everyone responsible for crushing the happiness that had been in those green eyes.
Harry's eyes softened and he nodded his head slightly, hand tightening imperceptibly around Draco's "Alright." He replied.
"Don't worry Harry, there all idiots!" Pansy's voice proclaimed assuredly, turning up her nose with a sweeping scowl across the Hall.
Harry and Draco jumped and turned around, surprised by the interruption. Harry focused wide eyes on the young girl and realised, that along with Pansy, Blaise, Greg and Vince were nodding with conviction.
"Err.." Harry replied, bewildered.
Blaise rolled his shoulders, frown lines between his brow "They're not exactly quiet. We all heard their moronic accusations." He said bluntly.
"Greg and I know a great tripping hex, if you want Harry?" Vince offered helpfully as he munched idly on a slice of tart.
Pansy's eyes flared up in vindictive delight at the suggestion, but Harry had already replied.
Despite his mood, Harry felt his lips tup upwards. "Show me later, Vince?" He asked, green eyes mischievous.
They all froze in shock as an elder Slytherin, who Draco recognised as Marcus Flint, casually commented "Best stick close to us for a while Harry, those Gryffs look offended enough to do something imbecilic." He commented lazily.
Their group froze in alarm, even as Harry blushed bright red upon noticing the additional attention.
The fifth year seated beside Marcus snorted, peering over at the Gryffindor table, before saying (making sure her voice carried) "Of course, why they believe they would stand a chance against someone who defeated you-know-who as an infant is the real question." She drawled, as though with idle curiosity.
The words carried, and the hostile stares from across the entire Hall faltered and flickered away.
The group of first year turned towards the older Slytherins, smirking gratefully (though slightly miffed they'd needed assistance). Draco tightened his hand around Harry's, relived that their intervention had so quickly diffused many peoples hostility. Though he knew already it would only be temporary.
"Reckon we might need to start on those plans sooner than expected" Greg mused, munching on a blueberry muffin.
Vince nodded "Something good to get the Gryff's off our back."
Marcus Flint rolled his eyes, as the girl beside him smothered a laugh. "I did not hear that." He said drolly.
"I like em'" the girl chortled "Our firsties have bite. Reminds me of when we were young, sweet and innocent." She reminisced, with a fond expression.
Flint snorted, turning back to his desert. "Eat up shrimps. We'll be escorting you through to the common room in about five or so minutes." He advised.
Greg and Vince quickly scooped up a mound of the best deserts, whilst Blaise lazily helped shrink them all down to fit in a napkin, which was quickly hidden in Greg's pocket.
"Dibs the lemon tarts." Draco called absently as he swept his wand down to straighten his uniform.
"Oh! And I want candied strawberries!" Pansy added.
Harry, who (along with Blaise) was too full to contemplate food without groaning, stayed silent. Though he did watch, with slight envy, as the ease with which they performed magic.
He turned to Blaise "Can you show me how to do that one later?" he asked.
"Course, Harry." He said whilst stretching languidly in his seat.
"Alright you lot." Marcus said, standing up. "First year Slytherin's will follow me now, I'll take you to the common room." He told them.
All ten of the first year Slytherins eagerly stood up, following in a line behind Marcus.
"We're going to need to check everyone's strengths and weaknesses as soon as possible if we want to get top of the year level." Draco mused, walking beside Harry. "Whoever's best at a subject can tutor the rest of the group?" He suggested.
Harry's shoulders slumped slightly, as he contemplated how little he'd be able to contribute.
Greg thumped Harry's shoulder from behind them. "Don't stress Harry, everyone starts of somewhere."
Draco turned to Harry with a smile, nudging his shoulder teasingly "Yeah who knows, by the end of the first week you might discover an amazing talent for Divination." He joked.
They were walking down a dark stone corridor now, lined with flickering torches and gleaming silver suits of armour.
Harry's head turned to the left, distracted by a sharp, gleaming mace held tightly in a statue. "Divination?" he asked, tilting his head inquisitively.
Blaise, who was walking in front of Harry and Draco, replied "Pretty rare talent. It's for those who can see the past, present or future, though how they do it changes a lot between people. We call them Seer's."
"Mother told me that Divination isn't available until third year, and the class is basically a waste of time for anyone without actual Seer blood." Pansy added, somewhat petulantly. She'd tried numerous times as a child to scry in pools of water or glass with no success.
Harry stumbled "People can actually do that? Predict the future?" he asked shocked.
Marcus had stopped along a blank stretch of dungeon wall "You're still thinking like a muggle, Potter," Flint said, his face blank before a sharp smile flickered at his lips. "and forgetting one crucial thing:" he said, before whispering something to the wall, causing it to suddenly break open, flooding the group with murky green light and warmth. The first years eyes widened. "Magic." He said, and swept through the entrance in the Slytherin Common Room.