Authors Note: Thank you all so much for the reviews, views, favorites and follows! I'm really excited to write this story, and hope everyone enjoys it!
It was a quiet breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. Tempers had cooled, and everyone was looking over their classes for the first term. Harry was happy with classes he had, and couldn't wait to start the school year, he was even looking forward to doing homework.
Their first class of the day was Potions, which they had with Ravenclaw. Harry was surprised that they didn't have Potions with Slytherin, for it seemed like they always had been paired with Slytherins when it came to Potions, especially when Snape was teaching it. The young raven haired boy couldn't help it if Snape had done that on purpose knowing that Harry Potter was in Gryffindor.
Harry Potter actually breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the Potions dungeon, a smiling Slughorn greeting him. Since Harry, Ron and Hermione were now in the same year as Ginny, it made things a lot more enjoyable. He could sit with his girlfriend for potions, as well as his two best friends. He couldn't have been happier.
"Welcome everyone to another wonderful year at Hogwarts! Although I am sorry that this will be our last year together." Slughorn said, he seemed genuinely sad to see his Seventh year students leave. He was losing a lot of his Slug Club members after all.
Once everyone had gotten settled into their seats, Slughorn started the class. "Let's start off with something easy since it's the first day of classes. I'd like you all to make a Cough Potion." The aging man explained, stating that his reasoning behind such a simple potion was that since it was the start of the term, and in a sense the changing of the seasons he figured many students would be getting sick. "What better way to keep the Infirmary uncluttered then with a Cough Potion." Slughorn said enthusiastically. "But we can't make this too easy now, I'd like Gryffindors to pair with Ravenclaws." He said, a glint in his eye.
Everyone couldn't help but groan slightly at having to be partnered with someone from a different house. It wasn't often that Professors asked the Houses to mingle, but Harry figured that since the war was over, there was no harm in trying to improve the relations between the houses.
The potion wasn't as simple as it seemed. Like with any potion if you got the ingredients wrong you wouldn't correctly have the potion, but with the Cough Potion, if you messed up you'd be coughing for the rest of the day, and if left untreated could turn into a serious illness.
"Let's get to work!" The Potions Master said, as the students slowly started to pair up. Harry was not happy about having to work with the Ravenclaws. He had nothing against them personally, although sometimes they gave off an air of superiority.
"Hello Harry." A light, airy sounding voice got his attention. The Boy Who Lived knew whose voice that was and a smile appeared on his face. He hadn't seem Luna Lovegood the other night at the feast, but he was happy to see that she was back at school, as well as that she was his partner.
He caught Ginny giving him a longing look, which he returned. As much as he wished he could be partners with Ginny, Luna was a good second choice, especially for a Ravenclaw. It was then he noticed that a Ravenclaw with shoulder-length black hair had come over to Ginny. Harry recognized him as Michael Corner, whom Ginny had gone out with a few years ago. A flash of jealousy shot through Harry at the sight of the young man. He was handsome, definitely would have no trouble getting a girlfriend, but why he had to pick Ginny to be his partner baffled Harry.
Throughout the Potions lesson Harry couldn't help but glance over at Ginny and Michael. She seemed to be giggling quite a bit, the Ravenclaw smiling warmly at her. A frown creased his forehead, his thoughts on Ginny and her potions partner.
"Harry, careful." Ginny said, her voice never raising in alarm, but it brought Harry out of his thoughts. "You almost added too many Boom Berries." Luna told him, giving Harry a slight smile.
"Oh..Sorry..I was...distracted." Harry said, glancing back at Ginny and Michael. He didn't want to mess up the potion, so he did his best to concentrate on completing it. It was hard, his thoughts frequently strayed, but Luna managed to rein him in and their potion managed to come out perfectly.
"Good job me boy!" Slughorn said excitedly, giving Harry a wink. The raven haired young boy could barely smile at the compliment. His thoughts were on Ginny and Michael, whom were also just finishing up their potion. Harry's girlfriend couldn't stop giggling at something the Ravenclaw had said, and that made Harry's blood boil. He didn't like that Ginny was so friendly with her ex.
"Ginny, we have to get to our next class." Harry said through gritted teeth, attempting to grab his girlfriend's hand and pull her away from the black haired boy. Ginny frowned at him, jerking her arm away. "Harry, it's fine, I'll meet you there. I want to talk to Michael about the homework." She said, before leaving with the Ravenclaw boy.
Harry frowned, he hadn't even known there had been homework. He looked to Luna for help, and she explained to him that they had to write an essay with their partner on the effects of a healing potion of their choice. Harry nodded absently, before leaving his Ravenclaw friend to head to class alone.
The day had started off so well, and ended with Harry in a bad mood. He would have to talk to Ginny later that night in the common room to tell her how he didn't like her spending so much time with Michael, even if it was for a homework assignment.
The next class they had was Herbology with Slytherin, something Harry wasn't looking forward to. The more he thought of it the angrier he got with how rotten the day was getting. By the time he got to the Herbology greenhouse, he was seething, ready to snap at anyone who looked at him.