CHAPTER 5

Neville and Hermione were ignoring them. Their absence from everyday life was bothersome to the Slytherin boys, who missed the presence of their Gryffindor friends more then they cared to admit.

"Maybe we should just apologise?" asked Theodore, sitting on a comfy chair by the fire, Harry and Draco let out synchronised scoffs,

"Have some shame!" cried Draco,

"Apologise?!" Harry spat, simultaneously. The two boys nodded at each other in approval of their mutual dramatic reaction.

"I doubt apologising would get us anywhere anyway," said Blaise to Theodore apologetically, "'I'm sorry' doesn't get them back their one hundred points." the boys lapsed into silence for several minutes, before-

"How do you defeat Devil's snare?" Harry asked, quill paused above his Herbology essay, Draco sighed dramatically,

"Hermione would know…" he said, voice forlorn,

"So would Neville." Blaise said, dryly. Harry wiped a fake tear from his eye,

"They will be missed." he said, voice sombre,

"They're in a better place." comforted Draco, patting his friend on the shoulder,

"Sometimes," Harry confided, "in potions, I think can hear their little voices…" Draco nodded,

"Me too, Harry, but don't fret, all pain is temporary." he said, Harry sniffed and Theodore slammed his book on the table before them angrily, making everyone (except the ever-composed Blaise) jump.

"Stop talking about them as if they've died!" he snapped, eyes flashing as he looked at the two boys angrily. Harry's jaw protruded stubbornly as he scowled at his friend.

"Let me grieve!" he hissed, "have some compassion." Theodore opened his mouth to snap back a retort, but Draco beat him to it,

"Theo is right, Harry." he said. Theodore blinked, surprised at the support,

"I am?" he asked, Draco nodded,

"Neville and Hermione wouldn't want us to remember them this way, they will live on in our memories." he said, voice clear and calm. Harry nodded, though still grief-stricken, and Theodore slapped his forehead, before returning to his book, giving up on the conversation at hand. A light slightly crazed look entered Harry's eyes before a grin overtook his features.

"I have an idea," he said, gaining the wary attention of his three friends, "Crabbe, Greengrass, get yourselves over here!" he bellowed. The two disgruntled looking first years made their way over curiously, and Harry cleared his throat imperiously, "Due to the unfortunate loss of Neville and Hermione," he said, "we find ourselves lacking two companions, we need a bookworm, and a grunt that's good at herbology. We have looked at your applications, and found you to be meeting the necessary criteria, sit." he said, gesturing to two empty seats, Crabbe obeyed, but 'Greengrass', a pretty girl with long blond hair tied in a braid, glared at them,

"What makes you think I want to be a replacement for Granger?" she asked, tapping her foot,

"Would you rather be a replacement for Neville?" Draco asked, the girl turned her dark gaze to him, and the Malfoy heir shrivelled back into his seat, wide-eyed. "I liked the old Hermione better." he whispered to Harry.

"I'm sorry about them…" Blaise finally spoke up, having been watching the conversation with mild shame, "They don't know how to act around people sometimes. It would do us a great honour if you would deign to grace us with your presence, Lady Greengrass." the girl's glare faded as she thought about the offer, slightly mollified,

"Only if Tracy can come too." she finally decided, "And we want first names."

"Done." said Blaise, before Harry or Draco could interject and scare the pretty girl away.

It turned out that Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass were a good addition to their friendship group. Crabbe, who had taken up the role of Neville with great dedication, spent most of his time in the Greenhouses, becoming better acquainted with Herbology so he could master the art, and play his character to the best of his ability, but the two girls more then made up for his absence.

It was during this period, that Neville and Hermione committed what was, to the four boys, the ultimate betrayal. A stunned Blaise spotted the two in the company of Weasley in the library, the three of them had their heads together as they whispered frantically. The boys were left in a sombre mood for days as they pointedly ignored the Gryffindors, who ignored them in return. Draco, in particular, was stung by the Gryffindor's ease in becoming friends with their worst enemy, he felt it as a personal insult, seeing as he was the first to offer his friendship to Hermione, no, Granger.

"I offered that mudblood my friendship." he said angrily one evening, "We all did, and she rejects us over some stupid prank on the Weasel?" Harry ripped a leg off his chocolate frog as he listened to the boy rant,

"What's a mudblood?" he asked curiously, once the boy seemed to have simmered down,

"It's a bad word for someone with muggle parents." Blaise said, arching an eyebrow in Draco's direction, "My mother always said it was the most vulgar of terms to use in every-day conversation." the blonde boy flushed at the jab, falling silent as he continued to glower into the fireplace.

Harry frowned, "So, like my mother, then?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly, Draco shifted uncomfortably,

"I didn't mean anything by it Harry, it was meant for Granger only." he muttered, Harry shrugged,

"I'd rather insult her for something she's done, then something she can't control." he said finally, allowing the comment to slide.

"I'm surprised that you guys managed to remain friends with Granger and Longbottom for as long as you did, to be honest." said Daphne, glancing up at them from the chess board herself and Tracy were hunched over, "Gryffindor isn't known to be friendly towards the Slytherins at the best of times, well, no one is, but Gryffindors are the worst."

"It's not like they had alternatives," said Harry angrily, remembering the children in his primary school, who would flock to Dudley's side the moment he offered them any attention, leaving Harry alone, "They didn't have friends in Gryffindor but now that the Weasel is interested in a friendship with them, why would they want to hang out with us?" his fists clenched slightly as he said the words, which made sense as he spoke them.

"We don't need them anyway." said Draco with a tone of finality, "Slytherins stick together, why should we care about stupid Gryffindors?"

"Ravenclaws aren't that bad…" Theodore commented, "I was paired with Terry Boot for Herbology during my first couple of weeks, he was alright." Blaise snorted,

"Ravenclaws at least have a couple of brain cells to rub together, I was paired up with Ernie Macmillan, the little ponce kept flinching and wouldn't speak more then two words to me." the group shared a laugh at that, and decided to pack up for bed as Tracy finally beat Daphne at chess, gold exchanged hands, as Harry gleefully patted Tracy on the back, thanking her profusely, as he pocketed the gold handed to him by Draco and Blaise, Daphne gave him a filthy look which had him speeding upstairs with a squeak of goodnight.

Despite the amount of time they spent messing around, the Slytherins were flourishing in class, a fact which was noted by their professors.

"It's like having James Potter and his friends back around the halls," noted Professor Mcgonagall sentimentally, one evening,

"They are doing very well in my class." said Flitwick, eyes bright, "Though I do wish that their feuds with Ms Granger, Mr Longbottom and Weasley would stop." he shook his head, "The glaring is very distracting, and if they set Mr Weasley's feather on fire one more time, I will have to deduct points."

"I worry that Mr Potter has surrounded himself with the children of Death-Eaters." Professor Mcgonagall said, "While the children are young, who knows how much they will resemble their fathers in the years to come."

"They are, first and foremost, youths, Minerva," said Flitwick said, cleaning his glasses on his robes as he spoke, "Whether or not they will become their parents, there is little point in worrying, as it is impossible to extricate him now." The two then went on to discuss their other students

Hermione and Neville finally moved on from their anger at their Slytherin friends several weeks later, despite Gryffindor still being at the bottom of the house leader boards. The two approached them in the library, where they were crowded around a table with the addition two girls that neither of them knew. The group looked up as they noticed them, and Draco sneered,

"Look what the cat dragged in." he said, eyes cold, Hermione glared at him,

"We're not angry at you any more, and it's not like you have any right to be angry with us." she said, setting her jaw angrily, "We're the ones who've basically lost the house cup."

"Boo hoo, cry us a river, why are you really here?" It was Theodore who spoke, the usually quiet boy was looking at them with undisguised anger, Hermione flushed a deep red, and Neville took over the speaking role,

"Look, we shouldn't have ignored you for this long, and we're sorry, but we were angry that you used information we'd given you to hurt our house, it felt like a betrayal."

"You'd know all about betrayal, wouldn't you, Longbottom, did Weasley finally get bored of you?" asked Harry, the use of Neville's surname caused the boy to blink, surprised,

"What are you talking about?" he asked, voice genuinely confused, Blaise shut his book with a snap,

"Guys, shall we continue studying in the common room? There's too much riff-raff round here." The group stood without a word, and left the two stunned Gryffindors alone, Hermione glance up at Neville with wide eyes,

"Why are they so angry with us?" she asked, voice quiet, the girl had never had many playmates in her muggle school, being too bookish to warrant much attention, she was unfamiliar with the ins and outs of friendship and her heart constricted painfully at the four boys sharp words and exit. Neville, who was in a similar situation, shrugged, stunned,

"I'll talk to Harry in Potions, I guess." he mumbled, but the opportunity never presented itself, Harry had quietly moved seats before the lesson began, and Neville, who was now seated next to Ronald Weasley, who's options skills were abysmal at best, cast a hopeless look in Hermione's direction.

Snape passed Harry and Draco's shared table without comment, clearly thinking better of moving Harry again, having met the eyes of his godson. The two boys cast brief dirty looks in the Gryffindor's direction,

"I'm sure Longbottom will have more fun with Weasley, anyway." said Harry, trying to assuage the guilt in his stomach at the boy's wide eyed look in his direction, Draco nodded sullenly, casting a dark look Hermione's way.

It would be a long time before the once-friends would speak again, at which point, the house rivalry which was almost unnoticeable in their first year, would have grown into an impenetrable wall holding them apart. Perhaps, if graced with the knowledge of what was to come, Neville Longbottom would have pushed through the potions lab and gained his friend's attention and sorted out their issue, but as it was, he merely got to work despairingly.

Hermione and Neville did indeed spend a lot of time around Ron after that incident, the three Gryffindors were seen in Hagrid's hut on several occasions, and were always whispering about something. The Slytherins never made any effort to find out what, focusing on increasing Slytherin's lead for the house cup, gaining many points in their classes, exploring the castle, and betting on chess games. Their year concluded uneventfully, and they approached the end of year feast with light hearts, smiling at the Slytherin decorations spanning the walls, the first years were regarded somewhat as heroes in their house, having been the ones to ensure Slytherin's victory by taking Gryffindor out of the equation. They were gifted with many pats on the shoulders from older years.

"Look!" Draco said delightedly, "Weasley broke his arm!" he pointed to where a bashed and bruised redhead was sitting, beside him was Hermione. Just before the feast began, Neville came in, looking worse for wear, and was greeted with a hug from the bushy-haired girl. The three sat down next to each other and finally, Dumbledore stood, clapping his hands together to bring the hall's attention to him,

*"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were...you have the whole summer ahead of get them nice and empty before next year starts...

Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

The Slytherins whooped delightedly, and Harry and Draco high-fived, grinning. Even Blaise allowed a wide smile to creep onto his face.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account." The Slytherin celebration was cut off as abruptly as someone putting out a candle. A sense of forboding began to creep up Harry's back as Dumbledore continued, "Ahem," he said "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...

"First - to Mr. Ronald Weasley for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years. I award Gryffindor House fifty points. Second - to Miss Hermione Granger...for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points. Third - to Mr. Neville Longbottom,…" said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House seventy points."

The hall erupted into wild cheers, and screams. The Weasel turned in their direction, flipping them a rude hand gesture. Harry blinked, stunned, the injustice of the situation made his blood burn, they had worked so hard, to get Slytherin up at the top of the leader board, yet, with a benign smile and carefully calculated point additions, Dumbledore had brought all their hard work crumbling down.

"Fifty points for a game of chess?" said Blaise, numb, "Who wins fifty points for a board game?" he asked,

"Must have been some game." Theodore agreed, pale. The Slytherin house was silent whilst the rest of the houses cheered,

"I guess it doesn't matter that they didn't win, as long as it wasn't us." Harry finally said, eyes unusually bright as he surveyed the other houses. Draco nodded,

"What's the point of the house competition if Dumbledore just makes sure we loose at the last minute?" he asked, unknown to the four boys, the other Slytherins, who had been listening to their words, the only words being spoken by any of the stunned Slytherins allowed the final question to resonate in their heads for a long time,

"What's the point?"

Blaise, Draco and Theodore had all extended summer invitations to Harry, who had accepted, staying with each boy for two weeks. He had written to the Dursleys in advance to let them know he wouldn't be returning home, and despite his reluctance to leave Hogwarts, he was exited. As he boarded the Hogwarts express, signifying the end to his first academic year at school, he allowed a smile to overtake his features. Though the end of year feast had cast a negative spin on the year, it had still been the best year of his life, and as he watched Draco and Tracy play exploding snap, a game which resulted in the loss of eyebrows from both parties, he felt overly content. Summer was going to be great.


Ok, so that physically hurt to write. I know that this is short, and it took me a long time to update, but I was finding it hard to continue. I ended up getting this done quickly, but at least the first (boring) year is over. Harry's second year will be several chapters longer, and the chapters will be bigger. Ginny is coming, next chapter, I swear. Please review, they really help dedicate me.

Please review (I beg you) THANKS FOR READING