Chapter-6

The next morning Noah woke up feeling fresh, he rolled to his side and pulled his curtain aside to check the clock on the wall. It was only 6:00am. He groaned as he knew that he wasn't getting anymore sleep; he slowly got up so as not to disturb Lily, who was sleeping beside him and pulled the curtains surrounding his bed to reveal the dorm. He saw that everyone's curtains were closed and the only sound disturbing the morning silence was the gentle snore coming from Ron's bed.

He padded towards his trunk which was at the foot of his bed and removed a pair of daily clothes and a Hogwarts robe with a Gryffindor patch and a red and gold trim. Thankfully, they didn't have a uniform except for the robe which they had to wear for classes and important feasts, as he hated uniforms.

After getting ready for the day, he took out a book on charms and sat on the window sill as he read through it. It was only 6:30 and breakfast started at 7:30; he had a lot of time to kill before that.

Soon alarm clocks started ringing distinctly in the tower as everyone got up for the day including Harry and his dorm mates whom he greeted briefly and got back to his book.

Whispers started following them as they (with Ron and Neville, the later had been dragged along by Noah as he had gotten ready fairly quickly) stepped out of the dorm and towards the Great hall for breakfast. Noah was getting frustrated by all the stares but he kept his cool with the fact that Harry was getting even more attention than him, and it was probably driving him insane.

Not wanting to be late for classes they quickly finished their breakfast and set off to find the classes after collecting their time tables. They had decided to forgo their morning exercise until they knew more about the castle and the grounds.

Their first class happened to be Transfiguration with Hufflepuff's. They arrived early as Noah had taken to ask the directions from the portraits and the ghosts they passed by. The classroom was empty except for a few Hufflepuff boys.

They sat at the middle of the classroom and started taking out their new notebooks, pens and the assigned textbook.

"What are those books? And where are your parchments and quills?" asked Ron confusedly as he finished taking out his own textbook.

"They are muggle note books and pens. We asked Professor McGonagall if we can us them instead of quills and she agreed," said Harry as he watched Noah write his name and subject on the book.

"Oh, weird," shrugged Ron.

Soon all the Gryffindor's and Hufflepuff's with Susan among them filed in. She was talking to a girl with blond hair. She looked around the classroom as if searching for someone and grinned when she spotted them and mouthed that she would meet them at lunch. They quickly agreed as Professor McGonagall arrived and started the class.

The days passed by in a daze with classes (which were a little boring as they were only doing theory for now), homework and exploring the castle at the persistence of Noah. He liked all of his classes so far except DADA and History for obvious reasons.

He and Harry had taken to sitting in the last row in DADA and read through the defense books on their own instead of trying to understand the horrible stuttering of Quirell and they had taken to do the same in History or sometimes they did their homework to pass the boring class. His favorite classes so far were Charms, Transfiguration and Astronomy. And as for his self-studies he had already completed the first year material and was now focusing on the dueling books, Occlumency and his parents notes to get a strong grip on the fundamentals of all the subjects.

He had become fast friends with Neville despite him being clumsy, shy and having a low self-esteem. He had started working on the self-esteem part by trying to help him in classes and homework. This seemed to work as he had started coming out of his shell little by little. He had been thinking of bringing the prospect of Neville using his father's wand to Aunt Minerva but as being the first week, she had been very busy with her own Deputy Duties and classes. Despite that she was writing them letters, asking about their well-being and what they thought about Hogwarts.

As for Harry, he had become good friends with Ron but seemed to be having problems with him as he had taken to ignoring Noah altogether and was distracting Harry from his studies by whining about him always studying like bookworms and wanting to play chess or talk about Quidditch and food. Harry didn't seem to like how he behaved with him and started distancing himself from Ron by socializing with others with Noah's help and was making friends with the other Gryffindor'0s.

He had come out of his own shell that he had created before meeting him, Aunt Minerva and Aunt Amelia, and moving to McGonagall Manor. He was smiling and laughing a lot compared to the shy and timid Harry he had first met. It was wonderful to watch how he is slowly growing into the person he should have been if their parents had not died that fateful night. He had also started taking his studies seriously and was already halfway through the first year material by now.

He and Harry were also getting along well with Dean and Seamus; debating on football and other muggle things with Dean and learning more about Quidditch teams from Seamus; as for the girls only Hermione was able to make any conversation with them without giggling and squealing like Lavender and Parvathi. He, Harry and Hermione had taken to debating about the new magical world they had stepped into and mostly talking about studies after she got over the fact that they were also human like her and not what had been portrayed about them in the fiction books she had read. Since then she had been hanging out with them.

He was interrupted from his mussing by Hedwig landing on his shoulder and helping him to refocus on his surroundings. He was presently sitting on the floor of the common room in front of the warm fire a forgotten Charms text in his lap. As he looked up he found Harry sleeping on the couch he was leaning against, Neville sitting beside him; his head immersed in a Potions text, Hermione on the armchair beside him scratching away on her Herbology assignment and a few older Gryffindor's studying or relaxing on the other couches and armchairs around the fire. Other sounds of exploding snap and other Gyffindor's talking and laughter filled the common room.

He smiled when he felt an impatient nip on his ear and focused on Hedwig who was still perching on his shoulder.

"Hey girl, sorry I was lost in thought. Here let me take it from you," I whispered as I gently untied the envelope from her leg.

"Here have this," I said as I grabbed a few chips from the packet beside me and held it to her. After she finished them she hooted and perched contently apparently waiting for a reply.

I turned back to the envelope and saw that it was from Aunt Minerva. I quickly opened it to find a letter in it and started reading it.

Dear Harry and Noah,

I apologize for not being available to chat with you personally. I have been busy with the paperwork and classes as you know. I was wondering if you would like to come to my office this Saturday at 8:00 for breakfast and some family time. I can show you my private quartos so you can visit me whenever you can. If you have any prescheduled work just let me know, we can meet another time.

Love,

M.

Noah smiled as he closed the letter and quickly wrote of a reply agreeing to come.

"So Noah, what are you going to do about Malfoy?" asked Neville hesitantly.

"Huh? What about him?" He asked confused about what Neville was referring to and quickly thought back to what happened the previous day.

*flashback*

Noah, Harry, Ron, Neville and Hermione were making their way to Herbology with Noah and Hermione discussing about what happened in DADA as she insisted on them listening to the Professor even through his stuttering instead of reading on their own as Noah suggested and; Neville and Harry silently watching them debate as Ron shot them irritated glances as he tried to make conversation with Harry.

"Come on Noah you can't just ignore the Professor just because he-" Hermione was interrupted by three Slytherin boys stepping in their way.

"So are you the famous Harry Potter everyone is talking about?" The middle boy with platinum blond hair asked. Noah waited with bared breath as he watched the exchange he knew was coming one of these days and was thankful that he had remembered to talk to Harry about this situation.

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger.

Draco Malfoy looked at him."Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasley's have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He sneered at Ron.

"Watch your tongue Malfoy," said Neville as he stepped forward his face angry. Noah bristled internally at what was happening and prayed that things wouldn't get too complicated.

"Oh Longbottom, Did your Gran forget that you are a Squib? How did she send you to Hogwarts? By bribing the muggle loving fool?" Neville turned beet red and shrunk back.

He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's. Harry's eyes drifted to Noah's who stared meaningfully and nodded his head slightly.

"I can accept your friendship but on two conditions," Harry said as he turned to meet the blond's eyes. Neville and Ron stared incredulously at Harry but Hermione watched with a puzzled expression as if trying to figure out what was actually going on.

'Merlin, that girl is smart,' thought Noah.

Draco's eyes lighting up was the only indication they got that their plan might work but it immediately became guarded as he slowly asked "They are?"

"The First one is you will not insult any of the people I consider my friends and their families for that matter and act civilly to them and the second one is you will keep your pureblood believes to yourself," stated Harry as he stared challengingly at Malfoy.

Malfoy's gaze was steady as he stared at Harry then at everyone present with him including Noah and then returned it to Harry.

"Agreed," said Malfoy his hand still held in front of him. Noah internally signed in relief and hoped that this decision will not come to bite them back in the future.

Harry smiled genuinely as he accepted his hand which got a shocked expression from Malfoy before it vanished under his mask.

"It's nice meeting you Malfoy. May I introduce you to my twin Noah Potter," introduced Harry as they released their hands.

"It is nice meeting you Heir Potter," said Malfoy as he held out his hand again.

"It is nice meeting you too Heir Malfoy and please it's Noah," said Noah as he too smiled genuinely. Noah caught the slight upturn of his lip before it vanished.

"Draco then," said Malfoy as he firmly shuck hands with Noah. Soon Harry introduced everyone to Draco and he held his promise by apologizing to Neville and Ron and shaking everyone's hand including Hermione's a bit hesitantly. Thankfully even though Hermione noticed it she didn't comment on it her eyes boring into Noah and Harry as if waiting for an explanation of what was going on to which Harry mouthed a silent later.

"I suggest that we quickly head to Herbology before the bell rings," said Noah to disturb the silence that descended on them after the introductions and started making their way towards the greenhouses.

*End of flashback*

"Oh him, Well we were thinking of keeping an eye on him," He raised his hand to interrupt Neville who was about to comment and absentmindedly noticed that Hermione was also listening," From childhood he has been raised to believe all that Pureblood non-sense and that he was above everyone else. But he is trying to make real friends outside his circles as he doesn't have any. The ones he is hanging out with are just allies or followers who would immediately abandon him if he was not up to their expectations. He is a loner Nev with a father who has only high expectations from him and wants him to follow in his footsteps".

Noah signed as he closed his book and watched as they thought about what he said.

"I think I am missing something," said Hermione as she worried her lip, her book forgotten on her lap.

"His father is an inner circle death eater," whispered Noah. Hermione's eyes widened as she connected the dots.

Any further conversation was stopped by the voice of Amanda Anderson a sixth year prefect.

"First years it's your bed time. Please go to bed any assignments can be done tomorrow".

Noah signed as he saw that it was already 9:00pm. There were many things that his vision didn't mention like the bed time rules, Head of house meetings where Professor McGonagall would visit them every week on Sunday evenings, the daily visits from her where she checked on everyone and talked to them if they had any problems (they were told by the Prefects that this would be implemented from the second week as the Professor would be busy with her Deputy Headmistress duties and the prefects will be available to them instead of her for the first week) and many others.

As they got up one of the fifth year prefects performed a lightweight charm on Harry so Noah can easily carry him upstairs to his bed without waking him up.

(A/N: Please read and review. I would like to explain about Draco, I have been analyzing his character for a long time with the help of Google and some of my friends and this is what we came across in one of the sites (I dont remember properly but i made sure to copy it in case i forget the websites as i always do.

The first scene in which Draco meets Harry, in HPSS. Draco is quick, even eager in his attempt to strike up a friendship, or at the very least alliance, with Harry. Draco notes that Harry is well-known and that his name is obviously influential. Draco then offers his assistance in guiding Harry through the regimen of the school (albeit in a mean-spirited way). However, his offer is refused in favor of a friendship with Ron.

Note that Draco as yet has no apparent reason to seek an enmity with Harry, even after his offer of an alliance is rejected. He seemingly decides to hate Harry of his own accord, for no reason aside from a rather shallow Gryffindor-vs.-Slytherin tradition. However, let us look at this from a different perspective.

Consider the way Draco reacts to those he considers his superior, whether in title, rank, cleverness, or age (Snape, his father etc). He is highly deferential, even obedient, and is the picture of docility, all too willing to please. Draco is more of a follower than a true leader. He wants to be lower in rank, and why not? Leaders are prime targets for the opposition, and Draco, through a sense of non-ambition and plain reason , prefers a lower position. While he will reluctantly shoulder the burden of leadership if he sees no other (in his eyes) qualified candidate, he will willingly foist the burden-and thus the responsibility-onto another qualified individual, if he believes they are worthy.

Harry Potter is obviously such an individual. He is world-famous, and has apparently deserved renown as a powerful, if still immature, wizard. He is the school's golden boy, if you will, prophesied to rid the world of corruption-if you will pardon an expropriation of a certain phrase, "bring balance to the Force". A person of his influence would seem to make a fine leader, and Draco offers the responsibility of leadership to him, preferring instead to follow where Harry leads.

Harry blatantly rejects Draco's offer to govern his little gang, and befriends a rather, in Draco's opinion, sorry lot of people, unworthy of someone of Harry's importance. Draco is affronted both by Harry's refusal and his alternate selection. This is an unforgiveable offense.

Draco probably also feels a certain sense of obligation to maintain a position as leader, because his father is so prominent in wizarding society and he must therefore follow in his father's footsteps. He does not want the task, but less than the highest standards are met with disapproval.

Draco is a leader by default, thrust into the position because of his father's status and the fact that no one else in his house is willing to take the job. He knows he's not a very good leader, so he seeks the obviously deficient-mentally, socially, physically-to follow him. His henchmen are bullies and intellectually dull lugs, giving him a sense of superiority.

After reading this i thought that Draco might value his status but he is also human and might want to have a friend and a powerful one at that.. )