"Harry!" Jami panted. "Harry, wait up!" Her charge paused, turned around and grinned.

"Hurry up, you slow poke. A snail is faster than you!"

"You could at least help me with all this crap! After all, it's your stuff too!"

"Yeah, but you're the one with the top secret and especially special, special powers. Why don't you put them to good use? He answered cheekily.

"I'll put them to good use by forcing you to stay in the lake for a week…in the winter!" Jami retorted, happily slipping into the familiar banter. Not the best threat, but it was all she could come up with at this time.

"Would I even survive that?" Harry smiled at her and motioned to the brick wall that hid the entrance of Platform 9 ¾. To a Muggle, they looked like ordinary teenaged kids, probably siblings, waiting around for their parents.

"If you did, my plan failed. If you didn't, more pie for me!" Harry snorted at Jami's gleeful reply as they fell through the entrance to the platform.

"You hate pie, Jami."

"That's beside the point, dumb nut."

"Then what's the point?"

"The point is...is…is…okay, there really isn't a point. But that's beside the point!"

"We are so no going there again." Harry shot her a small smile, which Jami returned by sticking her tongue out like the very mature sixteen year old guardian angel she was.

"Fine," Jami huffed. A pause as she picked up her trunk. Then she leveled a glare at Harry. "I still don't see you helping me." Harry laughed, the bright, cheerful sound carrying over the crowd of solemn witches and wizards as they sent off their children. Many turned to glare at them.

"Oh, whatever, you big baby." Harry teased, turning around to grab his own trunk. "They aren't even that heavy!"

"Maybe to you, macho man," she shot back. "But to this poor weakling, they feel like several tons of bricks…of gold bricks!" Harry laughed again.

"Let's just get this stuff on board and find a compartment." Harry stepped away from a door, holding it open. "Milady," he said solemnly, a twinkle in his eye as he bowed. Jami stuck her nose in the air and gave a disdainful sniff worthy of a pureblood.

"Don't even think of pick pocketing my trunk, peasant boy," She sneered. "As soon as you have taken care of my belongings, go and get me twelve Chocolate Frogs, and, no, you may not have one."

"As milady wishes," Harry replied in a grave voice. Jami disappeared with a giggle to find a compartment, leaving Harry to lift the trunks onto the locomotive.

"So, Potter," a voice drawled. "Got yourself a job, did you? As a servant no less."

"Malfoy," Harry answered, keeping his tone light and pleasant. "It's been a while. How did you fare this summer? And how are your mother and father? Well, I hope." He turned around to face the young Malfoy heir with a small, indulgent smile on his face. When he saw the other boy, he had to work to keep the smile on his face. Malfoy looked terrible. He was drawn, pale and skinny…well, more so than usual.

"Did you spend all your money, Potter? Try to keep the Weasels in school and clothes? What a waste."

"Yes, I suppose it would be, seeing as they'd never accept it. They seem to do quite well on their own, anyhow. Pity, it does seem that you are a bit worse for wear. Do you need a few Galleons? I'd be happy to lend you some. And you look dreadfully skinny. Have you been eating at all?" Harry put fake concern into his voice, letting a small frown mar his features.

"Shut up, Potter!" Malfoy growled.

"Of course." Harry bowed mockingly. "Now if you don't mind me excusing myself, my friend asked me to retrieve some Chocolate Frogs and I promised to get them." Then Harry nodded to the platinum blonde and turned his back on his red faced rival to walk away.

"You'll regret this, Potter!" Malfoy called to his back. "You'll regret turning me down in first year. Now you're just going to end up dead with your Mudblood mother and blood traitor father!"

Harry chuckled, sadly and darkly, and looked over his shoulder at the child behind him. "Malfoy, I feel bad for you. I really, honestly do. You don't know what a war can and will do. You don't know what it's like to watch friends and family die. You don't know what it's like to love unconditionally and irrevocably. And one day, when you do, when you understand, it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt a lot." He smiled sadly at the shocked look on Draco's face. "And I'll still feel bad for you, because that pain will destroy you. You just won't know how to deal with it." Malfoy started to come back to himself, but Harry turned his back. "You have a good year, Malfoy."

Then Harry boarded the train, too soon to see Draco's face as a dawning realization came across it. Too soon to hear, "You too, Potter…Harry."

Jami, on the other hand, had met two rather pleasant Slytherins while on her quest to find and empty compartment.

"Oh, hello!" Jami greeted in surprise when she opened the door to see the two in an intense discussion. "I didn't mean to intrude." The two eyed her warily and Jami knew the duo had noticed her lack of a House crest.

"Who are you?" The dark haired girl inquired. Jami noticed the slight flick of her wrist that brought her wand into her hand.

"Isn't it rude to ask someone their name when you, yourself, have yet to introduce yourself?" Jami replied loftily. The boy's lips twitched as he tried to stave off a smile.

"Blaise Zabini, and my companion is-"

"Daphne Greengrass." The girl cut in. "Now will you introduce yourself?"

"Billy Carl, nice to meet you." Jami smirked. The girl blinked in surprise and Blaise burst out laughing.

"Yeah, right. What's your real name?" Daphne replied.

"Carla Johnson," Jami replied promptly. At that moment, Harry walked in.

"Here, Jami. And why'd you have to come all the end of the train?"

"To annoy you, of course. Why else would I do it?"

"To annoy me," he replied.

"That's what she said," Daphne cut in, her utter confusion making her forget just who she was talking to.

"That's the point!" Blaise, Jami and Harry said in unison. Daphne just loode confuse. Blaise shook his head.

"I'll explain it to you when you're older," the Slytherin youth told her exasperatedly. Then he turned to Harry. "What did you call her, Potter?" Harry flashed Jami a look while she attempted to look innocent. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"Really, Jami?" Harry asked, folding his arms across his chest while trying not to smile in amusement.

"Really what, Harry?"

"You know what, Jay Bird. Must you always play mind games with people?"

"Hey, show some respect, Harry Bear! It got you to one up little ickle Drakie Poo." Jami shot back with a grin.

"Why can't you just call him 'Ferret' like the rest of us?"

"Because calling him 'ickle' and 'little' will piss him off more than 'Ferret' does. Remember, he's the heir of a prominent pureblood family. Anything about size or wealth or whatever could be taken as a derogatory remark about political and social standings." Harry grimace but nodded.

"How do you know so much about purebloods? And seriously, what's your real name?" Daphne inquired. Harry looked at the Slytherin girl curiously.

"Sorry to interrupt, Greengrass, but what do yo mean by 'real'?" Both Slytherins gave him utterly bewildered looks.

"What?"

"He said-"Jami began in a condescending tone.

"We know what he said!" They shouted in unison. The ground jerked undermeath their feet, suddenly reminding the four youths that they were not in a secure place but on a train headed for school.

"Then answer instead of making yourselves out to be total morons by asking foolish, idiotic, and irrelevant questions." Harry told them firmly, hist tone stern and his eyebrows pulled down into a scowl. Jami watched warily as a flash of recognition crossed Blaise's face. She sincerely hoped it was more of a déjà vu moment, with the feeling of familiarity than actual knowledge. If it was knowledge, she hoped to all gods and deities in the world that the boy knew when to keep his mouth shut.

There was a long silence as the two Slytherin students contemplated what Jami and Harry had said. "Exactly," Jami finally commented in satisfaction.

"I still don't get it," Daphne admitted. Jami smiled softly and shrugged.

"That's okay. I give Harry questions like that all the time, and only recently has he started understanding what I'm saying."

Harry nodded in affirmation when the duo looked at him. "She always gives me impossible questions with strange answers. My suggestion? Meditate before bed for a while and think about it when your calm and relaxed before going to sleep." The Slytherins considered his advice for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

"Come find me when you have the answer." Jami said, turning to leave.

"What if we can't?" Daphne blurted. Jami and Harry laughed.

"Can't?" Harry began.

"Or won't." Jami made it a statement and smiled at them as the door closed behind her.

It took a while for the trio to break; Blaise was the one who broke it. "Well, that was unexpected." The boy mused. Harry barked out a short and oddly bitter laugh.

"Yeah. She does that a lot. Might as well get used to it." He sighed ans gave them a rather sad smile. "Take care of her, snakes. And yourselves as well."

Only after he had been gone a while and the two had sat down and begun to talk that they realized that they'd just had a civil, almost pleasant, conversation with Harry Potter, Gryffindor Golden Boy. And it took just a little longer after that for his parting words to sink in. Not the content…but how they were said. They held no malice. Instead, they seemed sad…and regretful.

Like? Love? Hate? Please tell me! And I didn't mean to make it kind of depressing, but Harry said that that was what he was going to say and that he would torture me with Rictumsempra if I didn't put it in. *solemn face*

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