I named my puppy Asura, which is the name of a race of people in Guild Wars 2 :P So cute. :D

Harry entered the Common Room and instantly knew something was wrong. His stomach muscles tightened as his eyes swept around the room at all of the angry people. He could see Ginny in a corner and it appeared as if she'd been crying. Dean and Seamus were apparently back on speaking terms as they sat beside each other, the latter glaring at Harry and the former looking very confused. Neville was sporting a red mark on his cheek and Ron was wearing a grimace. The twins didn't seem happy and were whispering over in a corner with Jordon, who was wearing a surprisingly blank look. Hermione wasn't even in the room.

A seventh year boy stood and walked forward. "We've made a decision."

"Yeah? What's that?" Harry was speaking as defiantly as he could, but he was scared. He'd never seen this kind of atmosphere...not in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"You're not a real Gryffindor." The boy snarled. "I don't know how you fooled the Hat, but no Gryffindor would ever be paired with a Slytherin."

"Well, it put me here." Harry was barely breathing, his mind spinning through solutions to this new problem, but he wasn't Hermione. He didn't know what to do! "And there wasn't any tricks about it."

"We can't kick you out." The boy stated, apparently ignoring what Harry was saying. "But we can do other things."

"Max!" George started, but Percy gave him a dark look. "Come on, Perce! He's being ridiculous!"

"I agree with him." Percy stated. "Everyone agreed."

"I didn't!" Neville stood up suddenly and walked so he was standing beside Harry. Harry had never felt so grateful to him in all three years he'd known him. "I didn't agree with any of you!"

"Than you're an idiot!" Ronald barked, rising.

"You're his best friend!" Fred objected.

"I thought I was." Ron's look had soured and he was glaring at the floor. "But who could be friends with such a...House Traitor."

Everyone gasped.

"I didn't choose this!" Harry stated. "Okay? I didn't ask to be paired with someone from another House, from Slytherin! No one has ever picked their particep, unless they're a blank right? How can you judge me when it's not my fault?"

"You tricked the Hat." Max repeated. "I already told you. Now, Oliver has agreed. Only a true Gryffindor can play on the team. You're kicked."

Harry's mouth dropped, but he was too shocked to come up with words.

"That's the final word." Max told him then turned to walk away.

Harry stood there, gaping at everyone, hoping someone else would stand up for him...hoping they'd all turn around and tell him it was a joke and he could start shouting at them that it was a terrible joke, that it hadn't been funny. No one did. Everyone just kept walking off until the whole Common Room was empty, leaving Harry standing next to the bruised-cheek Neville.

"Come on." Neville suddenly said, patting his arm. "Wake up."

Harry's eyes flew open and he stared at Neville who was staring down at him and it took several minutes to shake off the dream and realize what he'd seen had never happened. He sat up and looked around at the other beds. Ronald was lying in his facing away from Harry. Seamus was upright in his own and looking at Harry with worry while Dean was halfway between his bed and Harry's.

"You finally woke up." Neville sighed with relief. "You were having a really bad dream, Harry."

"Was I?" Harry wiped a hand over his face and realized he was coated in sweat. "Uh...thanks for waking me..."

"No problem." Neville gave a smile and turned to get back in his bed. Harry stared after him and then gave a grateful nod to Dean too.

"Hey, Harry." Seamus suddenly spoke and Harry turned towards him. "You know, none of us mind you got paired with a Slytherin."

Harry's heart leaped up in his chest.

"You're still Harry and you're still our friend. It's just a bit shocking, is all. We don't blame you though."

"Yeah, Harry." Dean agreed as he got comfortable in his bed again. "We wouldn't stop being friends with you just because you got paired with a Slytherin. It's not as if it's your choice anyways. You didn't choose who you got paired with."

Neville gave Harry a grin. "We won't let the other Gryffindors say otherwise either. Okay?"

"Thanks." Harry was smiling and relief had flooded through him. "Thank you. Really."

As he shifted around in the bed, he waited to hear Ronald say something similar, but instead all he got was a loud, clearly fake snore. Half-happy, half-disappointed, Harry fell back asleep, but his rest was as uneasy as before and littered with nightmares.

Over the next few weeks, Harry hardly saw the Nott boy, except in classes when in general they ignored each other. Ronald was hardly speaking to Harry, but had rejoined to make up the trio. He wouldn't walk alone with Harry anymore though and was spending more and more time trying to get to know this Sally-Anne girl. Harry didn't care much for her. She was blonde with curls in her hair and seemed uppity. She was constantly wearing a scowl and wouldn't talk to Ronald much. From what Harry was learning, she came from a well off family. Her father, a Muggle, was a lawyer and her mother worked for the Ministry and had a position with a long title that Harry couldn't remember for the life of him. Sally-Anne was always up in style and she wore a lot of make-up for a third year. Harry thought it didn't improve her appearance at all, but he was never stupid enough to say this to Ron, who seemed absolutely infatuated with her, which Harry supposed was normal.

With only Hermione really as a friend and as the only glue to keep him and Ron together, Harry hated to admit it to himself, but he was really starting to get depressed. Hermione was nice, sure, but she was a girl and she was always busy with studies. He wanted a real friend and the only person who was coming to mind was...

The first Hogsmeade weekend was coming up and Harry, without a signed permission form, would be stuck in the castle alone. Ronald didn't seem the least bit disappointed, even though Hermione felt really bad.

"Maybe you could talk to Nott." Hermione suggested. "While we're in Hogsmeade. Maybe you can get to know him."

"He'll be in Hogsmeade, won't he though?" Harry asked with a sigh, his ears drooping.

"I don't know." Hermione frowned. "I mean, he practically lives in the library."

"He what?" Harry gave her a shocked look. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

"You didn't know?" She seemed just as surprised. "Oh! Well, he stays in the library...alone. He doesn't have any friends really. I mean, I suppose he probably does and they just don't want to be in the library too. He's a bookie like me, but he hates my guts. I tried to study with him once...me and Michael Corner since we were all in the library together, but he called me a...you know...and...oh, Harry! Don't get mad at him for that! He's a Slytherin! What did you expect?"

"Him not to call my best friend and you-know-what!" Harry growled.

"This was last year." Hermione huffed. "He had no idea! And he won't learn what you dislike unless you...oh, what now?"

Harry tried to get rid of his scowl. "He wanted to break the connection."

"NO!" Hermione gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh, Harry that's a terrible idea. It could really kill you!"

"Then what am I supposed to do? We don't talk! We don't even look at each other! He's in Slytherin and I'm in Gryffindor and..."

He stopped because he realized abruptly how sore his throat was and how much his eyes burned. "What..."

"It's because you're not around him." Hermione stated. "He's your particep. You want to be around him. Trust me, he's feeling the same way. You two need to get to know each other. It'll strengthen the bond and he may listen to you about what you like and dislike. It's natural to want to please your particep..."

"What if I become more like him though?" Harry asked in a whisper. "What if I become more like...a Slytherin?"

"It won't change who you are." Hermione told him.

"But if it's natural to want to please..."

"You just have to be firm about who you are. You don't seem the type to bend easily, Harry..."

"Neither did he."

The day before the Hogsmeade trip, the third years had a special class. They entered to find their heads of Houses all looking at them. Excitement filled the air as everyone instantly guessed what this was about.

"Today." McGongall began. "You will be learning to form a true connection with your particep. You will begin by getting to know each other. For those who do not have a particep or whose particep is older than them, please come with me. We have many things to discuss."

After a small group of students had left, Professor Sprout advised everyone to get with their particep and begin chatting.

Anxiously, Harry approached Nott, who raised his head in an arrogant fashion and then spun on his heel and led them to a corner where he sat down. Harry took his seat across from him and stared nervously at the other boy, not sure how to start.

"Er...so...where do you live?" Harry tried and watched as Nott's brow raised. "Okay...sorry...um...so what do you go by? Theodore? Ted?"

"Theo." The boy answered coldly as if he'd been insulted.

"Right." Harry realized his mistake. A Slytherin named 'Ted'? In a dream maybe. "Is it all right if I call you 'Theo' then?"

Theodore's eyes were icier than they had ever been. "There isn't much else you could call me."

"Good point." Harry mumbled, feeling even more anxious than before. "So...what's your favorite class?"

"You're going to take the 'favorites' approach?" There was annoyance in the Slytherin's voice and his ears had flattened against his head.

"Well, I don't know what else to say." Harry snapped. "And you're not helping."

Theodore looked away and Harry had an intense feeling of intrigue well up within him. Nott didn't seem the type to constantly converse with people. As Hermione had said, he was a bookie and he probably preferred to be alone, reading...

"What kind of books do you read?" Harry asked abruptly.

The Slytherin turned to him, eyes partially narrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"To get to know you." Harry answered coyly. "Why so secretive?"

"Why so curious?"

"Why do you think?" Harry came off angrier than he had meant to, but he couldn't help it. This boy was frustrating! He made another attempt. "You like reading, right? Hermione told me you read a lot in the library."

"That Mudblood?"

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!"

Harry had stood and shouted before he could think to do otherwise, all of his hairs standing on end. Everyone else had stopped talking and were all staring at him now. Harry's heart was hammering quickly and he was barely breathing as he glared at the Slytherin still sitting. Theodore didn't look the least bit alarmed. In fact, his eyes seemed pleased even as his face remained calm and collected.

Smoothly, he stood, gave Harry a look the Gryffindor couldn't define, and then walked up to his Head of House.

"I would really like to leave." Theodore told the man.

"That is not your decision to make." Snape stated in a sneer. "You should return to your particep and try again."

"He doesn't want to." Theodore's voice was cold. "He wants to disconnect."

There were gasps all around, but they were outshone by Harry's, "WHAT?"

Snape and Nott both turned towards him.

"Oh, great!" Harry snapped. "That's just great!"

"Harry!" Seamus whispered from nearby, eyes wide. "Calm down!"

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Harry roared.

"Control yourself." Snape growled, eyes filled with malice. "You're making yourself look like an idiot, not that you needed to try any harder."

All the Slytherins snickered, but everyone else glared, even Sprout and Flitwick.

"I did not want to disconnect." Harry stated as seriously as he could, his tail flicking behind him. "He was the one who wanted to!"

Nott just shrugged, completely unfazed by the outing. "I was simply looking for our best interests. Besides, it's not as if either of us want to be paired."

"Maybe you don't." Harry crossed his arms, eyes filling with rage, but he was happy to see he'd caught Nott off-guard enough to not reply immediately.

"A lock-in should be a good solution then." Flitwick squeaked suddenly.

"A what?" Harry gaped at the teacher.

"A lock-in." Flitwick waved them to follow him and, reluctantly, both boys did.

They were lead to a classroom, which was empty and Flitwick turned to them.

"Wands please."

"Why?" Both boys asked in unison and then cast each other glares.

"Because you won't be needing them." Flitwick explained and they handed them over after much deliberation. "Now, go inside."

Once they were inside they turned to see Flitwick still at the door.

"I'm locking you in now. You will have plenty of time to get to know each other today."

"Wait!" Harry started forward, but the Charms Professor had already closed and locked the door.

Silence fell around them like a veil and it took a couple of minutes before Harry turned around. Theodore had already picked up a book lying on a desk and was now sitting reading it, completely relaxed and uninterested in Harry. Irritated, Harry sat down at a desk near him and watched the boy read for awhile.

He couldn't explain it to himself, but Harry really did want to get to know this Theodore Nott kid. It was an unexplainable desire. It boiled up in him and the moment Nott turned away from him, anger would well up inside of Harry. He knew Nott could care less to get to know him and be around him, but a small part of Harry hoped that the Slytherin wanted to get to know him too...or would once they got closer. He just didn't know how to start or what to do in the meantime...

"Why do you like to read so much?" Harry finally asked.

"Because I don't like to be an idiot." Theodore answered calmly, glancing at Harry as if the one he was currently addressing was just that: an idiot.

"What kind of books do you normally read?" Harry tried to ignore the insult, but his anger showed in his voice.

"None of your business."

Rolling his eyes, Harry rested his head for a moment to shove down his anger before lifting it again. "Hey, I have a question."

"Isn't that all you've had to say to me?" Nott turned a page. "Question after question after question."

"Well, unless you just tell me I'm not going to know." Harry hissed. "Though it doesn't look like you'll tell me anything anyways."

Theodore didn't deny this and kept reading.

"Do you hate me?" Harry whispered and he saw, finally, a flick of eyes his direction.

"I don't really feel anything towards you." Theodore answered, but his voice wasn't as cold. "Was this your question?"

"No." Harry wasn't sure how to react to the fact Theodore felt nothing at all towards him and so decided to move on. "Where do wizards and witches go to school before Hogwarts?"

"Muggle Primary schools if they're pathetic." Nott replied dryly. "Those who are less pathetic are homeschooled."

"Were you homeschooled?"

"Yes." Theodore answered. "I studied in a group with Malfoy and Goyle and was taught by Mrs. Malfoy."

"Huh..." Harry frowned. "Wouldn't sending kids to a Muggle school risk magic getting revealed?"

"Perhaps, but the Ministry doesn't seemed concerned with it."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to have a school for wizarding children?"

"Maybe, but as I said before the Ministry doesn't seem concerned with it. Besides, most parents wouldn't want to have to spend the extra time and energy getting their children to school. It'd become a boarding school and they'd never get to see their children. Most parents wouldn't agree to such a thing."

Harry reflected on his aunt and uncle and knew they wouldn't have minded one bit.

"Yeah...I guess..." Harry sighed and watched Theodore for a moment. "You're finally talking to me."

"It's not about me." Theodore's answer sent a spike of fury through Harry.

"You don't want to get to know me at all, do you?" Harry seethed. "And you don't want me to get to know you either!"

"I thought this was obvious." Theodore lifted his eyes to stare at Harry. "You really are the nitwit Malfoy says you are."

Harry stood abruptly. "You don't know anything about me!"

"And I don't want to."

He didn't get why this hurt so much. He knew what Hermione would say, but he didn't want to hear it. No one had ever made him feel so inferior. Even his cousin Dudley and his gang and even his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon...for all the times they had humiliated him, for all the times they had verbally abused him and neglected him and made him feel like dirt...Harry had somehow managed to let these feelings bounce off of him. Malfoy's taunts, the other Slytherins' bullying, the embarrassment of the dementors on the train, the berating he'd felt last year when everyone thought he was Slytherin's heir...none of that compared to how he felt right now. It was humiliating. The desire to hide away and not come out ever was nearly overpowering. He stared down at Theodore, tried to regain control over his emotions, and shook the entire time.

Furious, frustrated, and lost as to what to do, Harry turned away and walked to a corner to take a seat on the floor. There, he hung his head and attempted to think about anything except Theodore and having a particep.

Instantly, pain erupted in his chest and he grabbed at it, yelping and barely breathing. It hurt so badly, he knew he was crying. Sickness came up in a rush and he latched onto the closest thing for support. Hours floated by in a daze as the pain exploded through his chest repeatedly until he was swimming in stars and black clouds.

The ground came up suddenly beneath him and he opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling and the person beside him. Theodore was there along with Professor McGonagall, who looked very serious.

"Well, he's come to." McGonagall finally said and then gave Theodore a stern look. "Remember what we've discussed."

She patted Harry's shoulder and then stood and left the room. Harry tried to sit up, but his stomach hurt and he decided it was probably best to rest a little longer.

"W-what happened?" He croaked, looking at Theodore, but the Slytherin's features were blank.

"You...experienced a soul rift."

It was the first time Harry had seen nervousness enter the other boy's eyes and the look was as foreign to Theodore as it was to Harry. It didn't sit naturally with him as if he'd never felt nervous his whole life.

"What's...a soul rift?"

"It's when the connection is trying to break." Theodore replied with forced calm, which caused his voice to waver and even his ears were twitching. "During the course of a connection breaking, there are numerous rifts. They're incredibly painful, which is why most do not survive the disconnection."

Harry finally sat up and was surprised when Theo reached over to assist him.

"What? That change your opinion?" Harry asked, harshness in his voice. "Seeing me in pain?"

Theodore's jaw set itself and all emotion extinguished from his features. "If you'd rather go through that again..."

"Look." Harry interrupted, agitated, still in pain, and desperate to get Nott to make a better attempt than he had been earlier. "We don't have to be best friends. I get that that's too much to hope for...but we can be civil right? We can get to know each other, right? We don't have to share everything and we don't even...ow...have to tell a lot, all right?"

Nott's eyes were narrow as he stared at Harry, uncertainty and suspicion written across his face.

"I don't want to die and neither do you!" Harry snapped at him. "So let's just try to get along, all right?"

Theodore shrugged and then stood. "Fine."

"Fine." Harry hissed back, but in reality he was excited.

He'd won the first battle.

Hope you enjoyed. Took forever to write this XD