See chapter 1 for disclaimers/warnings/summaries. Give yourself a pat on the back if you've already read them. I'm proud of you! ^_^

PREVIOUSLY:

Harry's first day at Hogwarts has him hiding the fact that he does not have any magic. No one has noticed yet. The new DADA professor is named Terius and has an interesting teacher's assistant, a girl by the name of Calida.

An anxious Dobby woke him with fifteen minutes to get to his next class. Harry begged the house elf to find him some Pepper-up potion and a snack. A doubly anxious Dobby returned with a corked vial and several sections of a chunky purple fruit on a long skewer. A fruit that Harry had never seen before.

"Dobby?" Harry eyed it suspiciously.

"This be good fruit for Harry Potter, sir." Dobby pushed the skewer to his unwilling hands. "Dobby be helping in a good way!"

The strange fruit, surprisingly, wasn't too bad. It filled his stomach and soothed his dry throat. Harry hoped he wasn't coming down with anything serious. The very last thing he wanted to do was visit the infirmary and see the disapproving glower of a certain Madam Pomfrey.

Relieved and somewhat more awake, Harry made it to the next class of the day managed to stay somewhat awake. The final class of the day was potions and Harry was not looking forward to it. He had a feeling Snape would see through his foggy mental and physical state and find some way to make a mockery of his entire effort to be there.

He didn't know if he could stand it.

Harry was surprised to find that he was not the only one walking slowly towards the dungeons. There were a few others and one of the laggers happened to be a certain blond Malfoy. The blond moved slowly and carefully, his silvery eyes occasionally shifting to take stock of his surroundings as he moved. Without the usual accompaniment of his cronies or Pansy Parkinson, there was something decidedly off about the Slytherin and something different in the way he moved. His footsteps were light and his posture was far too relaxed for it to be natural.

Harry quickened his step and trotted past, unable to keep from sneaking a sideways glance. For a moment, emerald eyes locked with pure silver ones, a look of pure fright cracked through the pureblood's mask. Then, as quick as it had appeared, it flickered away and Draco turned his eyes straight ahead as if he'd never seen Harry at all.

The unusual moment was enough to prompt Harry to look back, but when he did, Draco's mask was stubbornly back in place and his head was held high once more as if Harry was nothing but a speck of dust on the bottom of his shoe.

Brushing it off, Harry continued on. He couldn't afford to waste his precious waking moments thinking—being awake simply cost him too much at the moment. He was so tired! The Pepper-up seemed to be fizzling out just as fast as it had given him a boost. He grimaced and sighed, remembering the night of his inheritance and the fact that he'd apparently slept for nearly two weeks afterwards. He'd woken exhausted, cranky and feeling drained, in spite of the temporary wonderment over his new Dragel attributes.

Magic probably left then, he mused to himself.

Visualizing the weariness as something he could stuff in a box, Harry mentally gathered it up and shoved it in a corner. The trick sort of worked as he willed the Pepper-up to hold him out for just a little bit longer.

The door to the potions classroom came into sight and Harry quickened his step with the little snippet of energy he could barely spare.

Potions was harder than Harry could ever remember it being.

For the first day, it wasn't really that bad. In fact, everything was the usual mix of chaos and confusion that he'd come to associate with Hogwarts and the first school day and consequently, the first school week. It was always like that and the normality of it should have provided some semblance of comfort—not panic and a short temper.

Harry found himself becoming snappish and increasingly furious as the last portion of the day wore on. Potions was his last straw. He couldn't understand it at all, but he didn't have time to puzzle through it. It was hard to keep his temper in check and hard to keep from saying things that he knew wouldn't go over well.

He couldn't remember if Ron was always this annoying, Hermione always so frustrating and Ginny always so irritating. He was thankful he'd been spared their company at lunch and that Ginny wasn't in the same classes as he was. He didn't think that he would've been able to handle it.

As it was, when Professor Snape split them up and paired them with Slytherins, Harry was more than happy to be away from his fellow housemates. There was a restless undercurrent traveling through them and he didn't like the unease that his new instincts screamed at him. It was constantly warning him that something bad loomed ahead. Harry hoped it was just a feeling not an actual premonition.

Premonitions were bad things.

Usually.

He tried to focus on the lesson, grateful that the Pepper-up at least allowed him to be awake enough to make an effort. The mental trick for his exhaustion seemed to be working—somewhat. He only hoped it would last.

His attention returned to the present and Harry realized that he didn't really know the tanned fellow he was paired up with, but he knew the name associated with the face. That realization wad enough for him to maintain a civil front for the sake of appearances. Millicent Bulstrode, was, by Harry's own admission, a rather boring and plain girl with ordinary brown-black hair and equally boring gold eyes.

Gold eyes.

Harry did a double take. A closer look showed at that her pale, hazel eyes weren't really brown at all, but a very rich, very vivid shade of gold. They sparkled to life when they caught Harry staring.

It made him swallow in surprise. He could only vaguely recall their interactions being less than stellar in moments such as these. She'd been part of Dolores' esteemed Inquisitorial Squad the year before—and had been with the group that had caught him and the others in the pink-witch's office trying to use the floo connection.

A floo call that could've helped to straighten out a tangle of things before Sirius had come charging in to his own death.

Harry suppressed a shudder.

He really shouldn't be thinking of these things.

His green-eyed gaze flickered back to his new potions partner.

"See something interesting, Potter?" Millicent teased, a playful light sparking in her dark eyes and prompting a more lovely expression to her simple features. She'd bent over to grab something from her school bag and caught his stare locked on her figure, her slightly chubby figure had morphed into a stocky, muscular build and while her face had lost some of its roundness, Harry was suddenly aware that the change had done her good. She would definitely remain tomboyish for her days, but the lack of obvious curves and a carefully manicured face didn't detract from anything. "Something really nice, perhaps?" There was absolutely no hint of condescension in her voice, though the touch of warmth was decidedly unexpected—as was the wink that followed.

Harry found himself nearly blushing and promptly scolded himself for having such an obvious reaction as he looked away. "N-nothing." He stammered, avoiding those laughing eyes.

"Nothing?" Millicent repeated, incredulous. She threw a look over her own shoulder and gave a slight wiggle of her hips. "Nothing interesting, he says." She muttered. "Well, thank you for that lovely bit of honesty." She gave an amused snort. "Should I try again?"

Harry opened and shut his mouth, before he really did blush this time. He immediately redirected his attention and tried to focus on the words on the page between them bearing the potion ingredients. The words were starting to dance together before his eyes. He did manage, however, to give a quick shake of his head.

"I'm heartbroken." Millicent said, cheerfully. "And here I was about to congratulate myself for all that hard work finally paying off." She tucked a few strands of dark hair behind one white ear. "Are you alright? You look a little-"

"I'll get the other ingredients." Harry said, hastily. He was on his feet and gone before the Slytherin girl could protest. He took his time rummaging through the cabinet and extracting the necessary bottles, before he cradled them carefully in his arms and began to walk back to the shared table.

He thought he saw the flicker of movement before it registered that someone had tripped him. Harry felt his breath catch and everything slowed to a point where it felt like life was playing by in slow-motion. He knew he would fall and ruin the ingredients in his arms as well as his entire day—there was no way a simple fall like that would result in anything else but injuries from sharp pieces of glass. He'd end up in the infirmary, in spite of his careful hopes to avoid it and he'd be subjected to Madam Pomfrey's tender mercies.

He closed his eyes for the impact that never came.

Strong, slender arms caught him about the shoulders and braced to take his weight, before easing him upright.

Harry's eyes flew open and he found himself staring into a pale face with unreadable grey eyes and a familiar—but muted—sneer. "Two left feet, Potter?" He said, snidely. The blond steadied him with a hidden hand. "Do try and put one foot in front of the other. It'd be a waste of potions' ingredients otherwise." Draco nudged him in the direction of Millicent's table and stepped out into the aisle moving up towards the ingredient cabinet to retrieve his own necessary ingredients.

Harry snuck a glance around the room to see that others had noticed the little exchange and it was only Hermione who eyed him with pursed lips, while Ron seemed torn between saying something and keeping quiet. Harry hurried over to the worktable and carefully set the ingredients down. He tried to focus on the potion and the instructions, but his mind was elsewhere, replaying the precious seconds in Malfoy's arms.

The earlier incident had piqued his curiosity. Something had been off there—and he wanted to know what it was. There hadn't been a hint of the fright that he'd seen in Malfoy's eyes earlier and it was almost as if he'd gone through a complete transformation from the moment he'd entered the Potion's Classroom. There was also a familiar scent to the boy that Harry also couldn't place, but his mind was too tangled to puzzle it out in the middle of class.

"Potter, Potter—Harry!" Millicent snapped her fingers in front of his face. She perked a brow when Harry flinched and leaned away. "Oh nevermind!" She sighed, the faintest furrow in wide forehead. "You're pants at Potions, aren't you?"

"Well excuse me for-" Harry began, pushing away from the table to glare at her. The last thing he really wanted to do was to be working with her out of all the Slytherins present in the classroom was pushing what little good humor he decidedly did not have to spare.

But Millicent caught his hands quickly in hers, moving with surprising quickness and held them over the cutting board. "Dice." She ordered, dropping his cool hands. "Don't do anything else. You can dice, can't you?" She verified when it looked as if Harry was about to object.

Harry didn't answer. He just yanked his hands back out of reach, trying not to pay any attention to the fact that her hands had been warm—very warm—and rough. With a scowl, he began to viciously dice said ingredients.

Millicent snorted. "I'm trying to help." She blew a strand of hair out of her face. The teasing tone returned to her voice as she leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. "I think you'd agree that it'd be nice to explode anything today, right?"

Harry shifted uneasily as her warm minty breath gushed over his ear. He quickly bent his head over the cutting board and began to dice the wrinkly brown root in as even squares as he could muster. It was cold in the dungeons, as usual, but now that he had noticed, simply being near to Millicent seemed to chase the coldness away. She was warm and nearly radiating a gentle heat as she worked around him with quiet efficiency.

Surprisingly, they managed an acceptable potion between them and Harry managed to slip out of the room without any further incidents—as far as blushing went anyway.

"Hiya Harry!" Terry Boot, from Ravenclaw waved at him as he passed in the hallway. "Is it true that you-"

"Hey!" Seamus glared at him. He'd appeared at Harry's side the moment class had let out, as if in Ron and Hermione's stead. "He doesn't need to hear about that rubbish from the likes of his own-"

"Harry, mate!" Ron stood at the end of the hallway looking flustered. "Hurry up!"

And so Harry hurried.

He tried and failed to piece together what it was that everyone was supposedly not asking him about, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He only knew that something was slightly off and he didn't think it had anything to do with the issues at Azkaban. He'd have to figure it out on his own later. For the meantime, he just needed to keep everything together and Hermione from trying to pry all his secrets free.

In the midst of dinner however, Hermione finally had her chance. She'd managed to sit between Harry and Ron and once her redheaded-friend was stuffing his face, she turned her attention on the smaller boy. "Harry, what did Professor Terius want this afternoon? Is everything alright? Where were you during lunch? We saved your seat and you didn't show up and-"

"He didn't say." Harry said, quickly filling his mouth. He knew one of the best ways to distract Hermione was either through a forceful change of subject or something equally visually distracting. Stuffing his face as Ron did might make him sick for a bit, but it would certainly send Hermione into a different kind of fit. "He looked at me and then said I could go." He shrugged. "I don't know what he wanted. He never said."

Hermione frowned. "Why would he call you and then send you away without saying anything?" She elbowed Ron. "Chew with your mouth closed." Her gaze flickered back to Harry. "You too, Harry, that's disgusting!" She wrinkled her nose. "We should all keep an eye on him. There's something strange about him and we need to know what it is." She nodded across the table to Ginny, who was tucked up with the Twins, as usual, the Weasley's eating together out of habit. "Did he do anything strange in your class, Ginny?"

The redheaded girl shook her head in thought. "Not really, but I didn't see him do anything. He mostly talked."

"Didn't use a-"

"wand though." The Twins chorused.

"Thought it was odd, Gred."

"Thought so myself, Forge."

The twins beamed at each other and went back to their respective dinners.

"Didn't use a wand?" Hermione mused, her eyes glazing over as the mental wheels began to turn. "Wandless magic is dangerous and very difficult to perform. I don't think I've ever seen another professor use wandless magic—not even Professor Dumbledore." Her lips pursed. "Parvati," She turned to the slender Indian girl who had taken up residence beside Harry once more. "He asked you to stay back too, didn't he? What did he want?"

Dusky lips quirked into a half-smile. "Something about wanting to know if I really had a twin in Ravenclaw." She shrugged. "He also wanted to know if I had any objections to the curriculum."

"But why?" Hermione frowned. "He didn't ask anyone else-"

"My parents are pureblood." Parvati said, stiffly. "And I am well aware of what they permit me to study and what they do not." She rose from the table, her plate in hand. "Eat up, Harry." She then turned away and strode across the Great Hall to the Ravenclaw table, where a spot opened magically between her twin, Padma and a white-blonde head of hair, Luna Lovegood.

Hermione's narrowed eyes followed her progress all across the room, but the bushy-haired witch didn't press the issue. She did take a glance at Harry's face and noted that he was eating better than he had at the welcoming feast. Her mind then immediately diverted to more interesting things. The new DADA professor had used wandless magic. "Wandless magic…" She murmured. "That's almost dark isn't it? No wait, that only depends on…" And her voice trailed off as she was caught in her own musings.

Harry stifled the urge to roll his eyes. That was somewhat true, but when you had tremendous amounts of magical power at your disposal, wandless magic helped to burn off the excess—at least, that was what Dumbledore had once told him—and Harry had seen the old man use it a few times on occasion. Maybe he was lucky. He'd always wished he could learn it for himself. It'd looked like fun.

"Now that I think of it, most professors use a spell to write on the boards." Hermione mused. "He wrote with his hand and he didn't seem very accustomed to it either. He also didn't use charms to clean the board." She frowned into her dinner plate and began to mutter book titles beneath her breath. An evening of research was certainly in the works

Harry was glad for that. It meant that she'd likely end up in the library on the grounds of research. He felt a yawn coming on and stifled it, impatiently. The Pepper-up had barely managed to get him through classes, though the minute he thought of dinner, his body seemed to revive itself. He hoped the temporary awareness would last long enough for him to get some other things done. For now, he could trek along to the library with her and get in with the same library pass to take a look on what Hogwarts had to offer about Dragels.

He could use all the information he could get!

Another yawn threatened to come and Harry forcefully willed it away as he focused on emptying his dinner plate. He was busy with his own musings and thoughts and never noticed the Indian sisters watching him intensely from the other side of the room or Ginny's pointed frown in his direction.

A/N: And VOTES ARE NOW CLOSED! I am no longer accepting any votes, I have all that I need and I know where the story is heading now. Thank you all very much for taking the time to vote and special thanks to those of you who also voted via PM.

waulkeepaintballer, Lazy Eyes Conway, Teon, Dark Dragen, Penny is wise, : Votes received.

Alex The Goth: Aw, thanks! I think you'll like the outcome. ^_^ At the bottom of my profile, I have a running tally of the current differences between both fics. I had one in my notes, so I could keep it straight and then I figured I'd share. It's not too many differences just yet. I'll update after I post new chapters here.

Nargus: I'm sorry it's too angst, that's actually pretty light on the angst for me. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing though. I suppose I ought to include in my fic warnings that I do love to torture my characters to some degree, so the drama bit is to be expected. ^_^

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! I appreciate it. You make me smile. ^_^