Chapter 4! Now, I didn't really find anything worthy of noting for a reviewer note, except that slytherin84 is to thank for catching my error with Draco in the Slytherin table. I'm sure I fixed that now. With nothing much left to say, let's finish this AN!
On with the story.
The sun was shining, beating downwards onto the Quidditch pitch. In the stands were mostly Slytherin greens and Gryffindor red and gold colors shining. It was the opening game of the season and the two teams had the honor of starting.
Harry was in the stands, Daphne and Tracy hanging off of his arms. He wasn't sure why they did it, god knows he had spent countless hours trying to figure out the dynamic since that morning he woke up in his own bed with them.
The announcer declared the beginning of the game, Madam Hooch throwing the ball into the air. Immediately, the chasers began to fly around, passing and intercepting the ball while avoiding the flying black balls being smacked around by brutish kids with large arms.
"And that's 10 points to Gryffindor!" cried the announcer. Harry knew the basics of the game, but he didn't find it interesting as a full time thing. At the moment, it was this or charms homework.
"So Harry, who do you think will win?" asked Tracy, lazily watching the chasers fly around with the ball. Gryffindor scored another 20 points, while Slytherin scored 10.
"I'm not sure," he replied, somewhat tired. Through September and this week of October, Harry, Daphne and Tracy had been investigating the timeline of his family absence and the Dark Lord that fought the ministry. Unfortunately, information was scarce, right up to the point of being nonexistent. The information in the books he had found was a fluke.
Daphne pointed out at one of the teacher stands. "Isn't that Professor Snape?" she asked, pointing to a flurry of black robes. Harry and Tracy squinted.
"Yeh, is he fighting Professor Quirrel?" Sure enough, there was a flash of orange light and Professor Snape fell, falling down the seats a little. A couple of the other teachers stunned the DADA teacher.
Harry watched with interest as the head of house was woken before being led away. He was shocked out of his concentration when the Slytherin stands erupted into fanfare when Terrance Higgs caught the snitch, ending the game 200 – 50.
Harry, surprisingly without the girls, was walking down the hall, somewhat deep in thought. Two days had passed since the attack during the game, and he had finally come to a conclusion: Quirrel was not who he appeared to be.
There was something wrong with him, like every move he made was being watched and scrutinized. His constant stutter was something he remembered from his days in the Dursly household. He used to stutter, but, going true with Dursly methods, enough beating will get rid of anything.
He was walking through the halls when he realized he was nowhere near the Slytherin common rooms. In fact, the subtle but present reds on the tapestries were a good clue in as to what section of the castle he was in.
"Back off," echoed a voice. Harry perked up, hearing it just several feet to his left. Behind a tapestry.
"And who's going to make us?" asked a voice. Harry scowled. It was Ronald Weasly. Usually, and to the delight of most of Hogwarts, Harry was a nice mannered student, if a bit quiet. But when Ronald came into the picture, all bets were off. He had repeatedly called him the next dark lord, a filthy Slytherin half-blood, and a large variety of curses and insults directed at his two friends.
"Ron, are you sure we should be doing this?" asked a somewhat timid boy. Harry frowned. He didn't sound like Finnigan.
"Please, she's a dirty snake, she has no rights." Ahh, there was the Irish kid. Not wanting to let a fellow Slytherin suffer, Harry drew his black ebony wand, using a wind charm to lift the end of the tapestry.
Inside were four occupants. First, there was Weasly, red hair blazing like a bad birds nest. Next to him, the brown haired Irish kid, one of the Weasel's cohorts. Surprisingly, the quiet kid in Herbology that dominated the class, Neville Longbottom was there. He was obviously not sure about the situation.
The fourth person, wearing green Slytherin robes, about his height and age, stood pressed against the wall. Her wand was lying behind the group, a nice greenish blue color. She also had bubblegum pink hair, spiking in the back.
"Potter!" growled Ron, training his wand on Harry. While he did have his wand out, he wasn't an instigator by any stretch of the imagination.
"I should hex you right here, nobody would know," sneered the redhead. Harry had to wonder where the kid got his hate from. Most of the school liked the timid Slytherin celebrity.
"Come on, surely we can just leave her alone, can't we?" asked Harry. Neville looked thoughtful, considering the idea. Ronald and Seamus were of other minds.
"No, we'll hex the two of you and leave you behind this tapestry, let you rot here!" Neville frowned, even the most zealous of Griffindors weren't that against Harry. At most they didn't like to talk about him.
Harry tightened his grip. As a first year, they didn't know much about any real offensive spells. What could be constituted as a harmful spell was currently an overpowered tickling charm. Quirrel was responsible for that.
In the end, Ron struck first.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The wand movement was precise, but the spell hadn't even been practiced in class. Harry, remembering something a 6th year was doing in the common room, decided to try it. After all, if it didn't work, what did it matter? He could tickle the crap out of the red head, literally! There were horror stories from other first and second years.
"Stupify!" He flicked his wand, aiming the end at Ron. A bright stream of red light flew at the boy, striking him in the arm. He crumpled, snoring. Harry stood, shocked. He glanced at his wand, then at Ron, then back to the wand, then at Seamus, pointing it.
He wildly aimed it at the boy, causing him to squeal and run. Neville just grabbed Ron and dragged him away.
Seeing the odd trio leave, Harry turned to the girl. He remembered her faintly, mostly as somebody everyone called the clumsy first year.
"Are you alright?" asked Harry, putting his wand away. The girl nodded, retrieving her wand.
"Names Tonks," she said, holding out a hand. He reached for it, but not before it happened. It started in his arm, an obvious shaking. He gripped it, breathing deeply and forcing himself to calm down. He wasn't sure why, but this always happened when he did anything to help someone. He squeezed his arm, the shaking slowly subsiding.
"You ok?" she asked. He nodded, taking several deep breaths.
"Yeh, just... not feeling great," he replied. She nodded, not quite believing. He was relived when she moved onto another topic.
"So, you're Harry Potter?" He nodded. "I'll admit, your quite the conversation starter. More than a few think you're an upcoming dark lord. Ginger there the most." Harry smiled, hand on the back of his head nervously.
"Yeh, I don't really know what's wrong with him, but he keeps saying those things. I've learned to mostly ignore them." Tonks nodded.
"So, what were you doing in this section of the school?" asked the pink haired girl. Harry frowned.
"I could ask the same of you. A better question is how two Slytherins ended up deep in Gryffindor territory." Tonks nodded thoughtfully.
"I got lost. Two left feet and no sense of direction my mother told me. I have to agree with her." The two began walking towards the great hall.
"I was actually thinking about other things. Lost track of where I was going," he replied. Tonks nodded. The two walked towards the great hall, learning about each other. Harry found she was one of the few people in Slytherin who didn't care if Harry was dark, light or both, just as long as they didn't have to choose. Despite her mother being in Hufflepuff, she was sorted into Slytherin for one reason.
Pranking.
She was a demon when it came to pranking, having completely pranked her Muggle neighborhood including her mother for 2 years before they knew it was her. It was the secrecy that helped.
Tonks learned quite a bit about Harry too. She learned that Quirrel was a suspicious character. When Harry told her of the fight, she was shocked, not having seen it. They speculated what it could have meant, ranging from a simple argument to lovers breaking up. She also learned, albit briefly, about how Harry thought Dumbledore was manipulating him, from his wand to his house placement.
When they arrived in the Slytherin common room, he was tackled by two raven haired girls, one with waist length hair, and one with shorter shoulder length.
"Harry! Where were you!" cried Daphne. It was the outburst of emotions like these that Harry liked. For some reason, in the presence of others, she had adopted a cool indifferent mask. When Harry asked her why, she just shook her head, saying she would explain later.
Tracy tackled him, landing him on a couch. "We were worried! Dinner ended an hour ago and you said we would study in your room!" Harry apologized.
"Sorry girls, I was wandering when I rescued Tonks here." To this, Harry pointed towards the bubble gum pink haired girl, who waved.
"Wotcher, names Tonks," she replied, smiling.
Tonks quickly joined the trio as a fourth member, making what was once referred to as the Slytherin trio to the Snakes Company. Nobody was sure where the name came from, but the members of this small group weren't complaining.
They were currently leaving charms, having, for the first time in class, attempted the Wingardium Leviosa charm on feathers. Harry had managed it, as well with Daphne, Tracy and Tonks, who was sporting violent orange hair. That was another secret, she was a metamorphous, a shape shifter. At her age, she could do facial features and hair without damaging her body. Only when puberty was done could she do changes to anything with safety.
Ahead of them was the familiar form of Ronald Weasly, with the blond ponce Draco Malfoy. They were, oddly, good friends. Probably united in their hatred for Harry.
"And she goes, 'its Wingardium Leviosa, not Leviosaa!' Honestly, it's a wonder she has no friends," stated the ginger, almost shouting it to the world. The blond idiot and the red head dumbass continued going on and on about how they were purebloods and as such were better than other. Harry noticed a girl with bushy brown hair and the blue robes of Ravenclaw rushed by, crying. Harry frowned. Was she the girl he was talking about?
Daphne was hanging off his left arm, while Tracy on his right. Tonks had taken to hanging off of Harry as well, opting to wrap her arms around his neck and lean on his back. Suffice to say, any thoughts of crying Ravenclaw students were banished when she adjusted her position.
"Tell me, why am I a human coat hanger?" he asked, leading them towards the library. Daphne shrugged.
"I don't know, probably because you do it so well." Harry frowned.
"What, you telling me you don't like three beautiful women using you for their personal use?" asked Tonks. Harry's face turned crimson, scowling at the statement.
"It's not that, it's that it can be very tiring." Tracy giggled.
"Poor Harry, forced to enjoy the company of three beautiful girls who think the world of him," she laughed. The other's giggled, Harry rolling his eyes at being subjected to this.
"So, is there anything happening for Halloween?" asked Tonks. What she was really asking was if they were doing anything in Harry's room that night that was remotely special.
It had been a regular thing now, even with Tonks in the mix, to do their homework in his room around the small table there. With them in all the same classes made it easier. After that they would possibly play cards for a while, before all sleeping on or in Harry's bed. In all honesty, he wasn't sure how it ended up like that, but all four of them ended up sleeping in his king sized bed. At first, they just slept above the sheets, in their clothes, but some unspoken agreement led to them sleeping in his bed. In fact, last week, at some silent command, they all moved their trunks into his room, it magically supplying benches along the empty wall beside the bed.
"No, I think it'll be a regular evening. It's only Halloween." Tonks nodded, her chin digging into his collar bone. The Slytherin company continued across the courtyard, classes being over. A stiff breeze blew through the air, promising a harsh winter with lots of snow. It was not unnoticed that the girls clung tighter, using his body to fend off the cold.
Harry sat at the Slytherin table, the girls near him. Tonight, Tracy was beside him, while Daphne and Tonks were opposite. They were midway through the Halloween feast when, as the Muggle saying was, the shit hit the fan.
Through the doors of the hall charged Professor Quirrel, robes slightly torn and with a wild look in his eye.
"TROLL!" he screamed, running the length of the great hall. He stopped in front of the teacher's table.
"TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" He spun about, Harry's scar hurting slightly when he made eye contact. It lasted only a brief second before he continued to spin, facing the table again.
"Thought you should know," he mumbled, before falling flat on his face, limbs sprawled out at varying angles. The man was clearly out.
Students started screaming, jumping out of their seats and running for the doors, heedless of the differences of houses.
"SILENCE!" Everyone came to a standstill when Dumbledore shouted his command.
"Better," he smiled. "Prefects, please escort the students to their dorms. Teachers, follow me." The older students took charge, reigning in their houses and leading them to the separate areas of the castle.
The company was halfway there when Tonks remembered something.
"Hey, did the Ravenclaw's know about their missing person?" Harry, Daphne and Tracy looked at her confused.
"I heard some students talking about a Ravenclaw girl crying in the bathroom during the feast. Helps when your table is next to them."
The four were silent. "We should probably go find her," stated Tracy. Harry nodded. With the metamorphous leading, they arrived at the bathroom, with no sign of a Troll.
"Hmm, no Troll," remarked Daphne. Tracy and Tonks were going to agree when Harry pressed them against the wall, shushing them. Tracy was going to complain when she heard it.
The thick, meaty slap of flesh on stone, a repetitive slapping sound. It was originating from the end of the hallway. Looking, the four of them gasped.
Standing 10 feet tall was a large grey mountain Troll, brown tattered leather vest on with a large tree acting as a club. As it stepped, the meaty smack filled the halls.
"Quickly, in in in !" whispered Harry, opening the door to the bathroom. They shuffled in, quickly closing the door.
Sniff sniff.
Harry whipped around at the sound, seeing one stall open. In it, just walking out, was the bushy haired girl from the courtyard in blue trimmed robes.
"Wh-what ar-are you d-doing h-h-here?" she stuttered, eyes red from crying, tear tracks going down her face. Tonks spoke.
"Well, the dolt Quirrel ran into the feast, screaming about a Troll. I remembered some Ravenclaw's saying you were missing, so I suggested we find you." The girl nodded.
"What's your name?" asked Tracy. The girl looked at her.
"Hermione," she whispered. "Hermione Granger." Further conversation was cut off when the door exploded inwards, a tree following. Crashing through stone and mortar was the Troll from before, a particularly menacing look in its dumb eyes.
It lifted its massive club, bringing it down on the group of students. Harry pushed Hermione away while jumping in the opposite direction. Tonks, Daphne and Tracy followed quickly, going in opposite directions. Well, they tried to. Tonks slipped on tile, head smacking against the ground. A small spray of blood and she was out.
Harry turned around, pulling out his ebony wand.
"Stupify!" The red bolt flew forth, striking the Troll in the chest. It stumbled, movements sluggish.
"Hit it with Stupify!" shouted Harry. Shortly after rescuing Tonks, he had taught the three girls the 4th year spell, mastering it with some help from a 5th year who liked the idea of The-Boy-Who-Lived being in Slytherin.
Three more bolts of red plasma like magic flew, striking the troll in the arm, chest and face. It slowed down considerably, doing this thing with its fingers, clenching them and unclenching them. Another two bolts struck its face, while the third, belonging to Harry, missed marginally. He had to work on his aim.
Fortunately, that did it, sending the beast into the sweet confines of sleep. It swayed on its feet, club falling onto the stalls, cracking the walls and crushing the fine porcelain beneath. It swayed further, tipping to the left. Harry looked at where it was going to fall, and noticed with horror that a bleeding and unconscious Tonks was there.
Jumping to his feet, he ran forward, grabbing the back of her robes. He swung her as best as he could, the tiles underneath her providing some sort of frictionless surface, allowing her to move. He dived right, just missing being crushed by two tones of grey flesh and leather.
Dust settled, revealing the chaos. A destroyed door and doorframe, destroyed floor, destroyed toilets, destroyed stalls, broken tile, a bleeding and unconscious Tonks, and a laundry list of other damages.
"What in blazes is going on in here?" screamed a Scottish voice. Harry turned to see professor McGonagall charge in. Behind her was Professor Snape and Quirrel, followed by a somewhat obvious trail of blood.
Christmas rolled around, snow falling from the sky in thick blankets. The lake froze over, causing the Slytherin dorms to be colder than normal. Ghosts prowled the halls, singing carols, while the suits of armor sung along when they passed. Trees lined the great hall, gold, silver, blue and sunny yellow decorations covered them.
Harry was currently lying in his bed, with Tonks, Daphne and Tracy in with him. Once again, he was completely dumfounded when he tried to come to the conclusion as to why his room was now the room for three girls and a boy. To his left was Daphne, wearing a black silk shirt with matching pants, with green trim. To his right, gripping his arm like Daphne, Tracy had white version with green trim, while Tonks, who's residency was now officially on top of Harry, had a deep forest green nightgown.
On the one hand, he liked the sleeping arrangement. He felt safe, secure, protected. His friends were there, everything was ok. On the other hand, he really had to pee. Finding he had the ability to move his head, he looked towards the tree beside the fire. Imagine his shock when he saw a large variety of gifts, wrapped in different colored paper, all underneath the tree.
"People, wake up," commanded Harry, trying to sound authoritative. All he got was a smack in the head from Daphne, a mumble from Tonks, and a groan from Tracy, who found herself waking up.
"Harry?" she mumbled, using a free hand to rub her eyes. Harry grinned.
"Can you help me get Tonks off of me? I need to pee." To this, Tonks replied, still somewhat asleep.
"But Harrryyyy! You're so warm, like a space heater," she smiled. Tracy, having been raised with Daphne in a pureblood environment, furrowed her eyebrows.
"What's a space heater?" she asked, confused. Harry sighed.
"A Muggle invention. A machine that does the same thing as a heating charm, but to a smaller area. It's used to heat rooms in lieu of central heating, which can be compared to a fireplace." Tracy nodded. Remembering Harry had to pee, she helped Harry out.
Grabbing the edge of Tonks' nightgown, she rolled the metamorphous onto herself, leaving Harry to contend with Daphne gripping his arm. He innocently poked her forehead, waking her.
"Daphne, I need to pee, can you let go?" She grumbled, but let the first year go. Harry eagerly jumped out of the bed, racing towards the bathroom.
When he returned, he saw the girls were awake, wearing the Slytherin housecoat, a soft, plushy green and silver robe that magically kept closed.
"Well, since that's settled, shall we open gifts?" asked Daphne. In agreement, they jumped over to the Tree, Tonks handing the gifts out to everyone.
Daphne had very little in the way of gifts, only one from her sister and one from her mother. She got a set of expensive looking quills with endless ink charms, and a scarf with her name on it.
Tracy got more. From her father, she got a book on darker magic usually reserved for 4th years and above. From her mother, she got a sweater, made with acromantula silk. It was black with a white snake around the bottom. Her grandmother sent her several boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.
Tonks got a box of Muggle style click pens, much to her and Harry's enjoyment. She also received a book on Muggle espionage and secrecy, to help with her future endeavors of pranking.
Harry had a gift from a random person, along with various candies from a few students that he knew in Slytherin house.
"What's that package?" asked Tonks, munching on a few of the beans. Harry grabbed the silver wrapped package. Frowning, he pulled the soft package onto his lap.
There was no paper, just string wrapped around the silvery paper. Wasting no time, he tore the paper off, revealing a dark silvery cloak.
"Well, that's a fancy cloak. Don't see the purpose of it," stated Tonks. Harry shrugged, grabbing the edges.
"Might as well see what it looks like," he replied, twirling the fabric around his shoulders and wrapping it around his neck. Tonks dropped the beans.
"That's an invisibility cloak!" exclaimed Daphne, pointing at him. Harry looked down, immediately shocked when he realized he was a floating head. The metaphorical light bulb appeared above Harry.
"Hey! I can use this to find out what Quirrel is up to!" The girls agreed, but only on the condition that he waited until night to do it.
And That's the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, I know I did. Once I powered through that last one, this was much easier. I find a mix of Warhammer 40K painting, The Beatles and Fanfiction reading/typing makes it easy to come up with the ideas.
Now, in your reviews, I kindly ask for your opinion on bringing Tonks into the fold. I plan to throw the cap on the number now, leaving it an HP/DG/TD/NT story. Yeh, it's a bit much, but hey, I like them all. I would like your honest opinion in the reviews.
I am still looking for a Beta. PM me for details.