…insert second helicopter introductory nature shot…
Chapter Two
A Social Afternoon
Harry entered the Great Hall and quickly scanned the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione were sitting across from each other in obvious stony silence. Lavender and Pavarti sat next to Hermione, with Neville and Seamus not far from Ron. Dean was nowhere to be seen. He could have simply gone and joined them, that would have been the easy thing to do, but this wasn't… easy. He wasn't looking for easy. He wanted to reinvent himself. Make more friends. Make more allies. Where was the Quidditch team?
Katie was the closest, sitting with a bunch of girls that were probably from her own year. That would be interesting. Hm… If Emma MacDonald's sister was among them, he could probably start conversation pretty easily, using Emma's comments as the starting, but even if she wasn't, he got along well enough with Katie. Harry moved down the Gryffindor table until he reached Katie Bell's side. Like it was the most natural thing in the world, Harry slid into the seat next to his teammate. "So, I have it on good authority that you gossip about me, you really should stop that."
Katie simply stared at him, her dark eyes curious, her fork paused halfway to her mouth. Her friends weren't so slow to catch on, however. The girl across from Harry grinned. "Well if you weren't so famous and good looking, we wouldn't have to gossip, would we?"
"If you focused more on studies than gossip, you might get better grades," Harry responded, making a wild guess in the dark and hoping it hit home. It was an educated guess, however, if you take into consideration what Harry knew about Pavarti and Lavender.
The other girls laughed, even Katie. The girl grinned and looked down at her plate, a little chagrinned. "Fine. Fine. You win, Mr. Famous Potter."
"What are you doing here, Harry?" Katie asked. She had probably only just regained the ability to speak.
Harry started heaping food onto his plate. "Making friends. That and Ron and Hermione really should just kiss and make up. They fight too much." More laughs. Apparently, conversation with people he didn't really know wasn't as hard as Harry originally presumed.
"Do you even know my friends?" Katie asked, heaping herself to another serving of food.
"Nope. I'm just rectifying my deplorable social skills."
A certain, scary level of interest sparked in the girls' eyes. Even Katie looked scarily interested. Oh no. This was seriously not good. The girl across the table looked at Harry with a calculating glare. "To what extent?"
Well, he might as well be honest. "I don't know people. And I need to know people. I need allies and friends and people I can count on for support and help. And I really don't know many people in this school. I figured it would be wise to change that." If possible, the fourth year Gryffindor girls looked almost excited as if Professor Snape had suddenly decided to be good. That was really very annoying.
"You want to create a social network," said one of the girls, a smallish, brown haired girl on Katie's other side. "Oh excellent."
Really. Very. Not. Good!
"We can definitely help you there," Katie said, amusement in her voice. "You shouldn't be a hard client, in anyway. You're already famous."
"You'll need dancing lessons, I assume," said one of the girls, "and just general etiquette."
"We'll also probably have to go through the various houses and such; it's not much help with muggleborns, but it'll definitely improve relationships with the Noble houses. You have seemed very… unaware, of certain customs. We can rectify that."
Harry's head was starting to spin.
"It probably won't be just us," Katie said, musing. "We'll get the whole house involved."
"And Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," the girls kept talking at a very fast pace, ignoring Harry's whitening face. "And probably some of the good Slytherins."
"Definitely. We'll build you a social network you just can't say no too. We'll make you King of the School, prefect and headboy for sure. Of course, you'll need to put a bit of effort into it yourself, but once we lay the groundwork and start the rumors and everything, it should be pretty easy."
Harry just blinked. He really, truly had no idea how to respond to all of this. He had cast an extraordinarily difficult spell just this morning, and now through just one conversation, he had five girls pretty much promising to help him build a whole social network within Hogwarts. How on earth? But he couldn't deny this was what he wanted. He needed the connections. He needed the people. And if this was how it was going to work, he was game. "All right," Harry said. "Teach me. Connect me. I'll learn."
"Excellent," said the girl across the table. "We can even start this afternoon."
"Dakota's gonna love this," said one of the girls. "Too bad she's in the hospital wing right now."
"Why?" Harry asked, as he finished a bite of shepherds' pie.
The girls all snickered. Katie sighed, "Because one of the two boys in our grade is an absolute idiot. Cormac McLaggen. It really does cut down the dateable boys in our year."
Harry blinked. Oh please no.
"There's six Gryffindor girls in our year," one of the girls said, obviously directed towards Harry. "I'm Eliza Kirke." She gestured to the girl sitting across from Harry. "Mary MacDonald. You know Katherine, here." Next to Katie was Queenie Babbling, and next to Mary was Demelza Robbins. The girl in the hospital, Dakota, was Demelza's older sister, but only by ten months, so they were in the same year. Harry made note of hair and eye color and other markers he could use to tell the girls apart.
He leaned across Katie to speak to Queenie. "Are you related to Professor Babbling?"
"Yup, he's my gramps," she said, as she bit into an apple. "You taking his course?"
"I am now," Harry replied, digging into his shepherds' pie with relish. It was particularly good today. "He seemed really cool."
"He is," Katie said, "I love Ancient Runes."
The meal continued on for a few more minutes as Harry listened to the gossip of the five girls. They were a fairly close knit group, at least as close as the six girls could manage. From what he could deduce, Queenie and Katie were closer than the rest, Mary and Eliza generally paired off, and Demelza and Dakota were as close as sisters could be. It made Harry a little jealous, actually. He wished he had a sibling or two, but of course, he didn't wish for anyone else to have suffered through the Dursley's with him, so that was a conflicting point of interest and…
The conversation ebbed and flowed. Harry joined in on some of the points, and the girls seemed to make it a point of including him, but not to the point that he felt like they were actually working on it or being unnatural. It felt pretty cool, actually, to talk with them. It was a nice break from the predictable arguments of Ron and Hermione with the predictable interjections of his other yearmates.
Saturday lunches were usually fun. Most people hung around after they finished eating; some even jumped between tables to check in with friends in other houses. As conversation kept waxing and waning, Harry pulled out the packet on Ancient Runes and flipped through the first couple of pages. None of the girls he was sitting with made any comment, although Katie and Queenie also pulled out study material. Harry resisted a groan. Studying at lunch! He'd be turning into Hermione sooner or later.
Towards the end of the meal, a Gryffindor boy that Harry vaguely recognized breezed into the Great Hall and joined Harry and the girls. He raised an eyebrow at Harry, but said nothing as he loaded a plate with food and started to eat.
"Hey Able," Mary said, before turning back to her conversation. Able just kept eating.
Harry kept reading. He had stumbled upon a few words that he didn't understand what they meant, but Katie divined them for him. It was a really great atmosphere. Harry hadn't been expecting that. He actually felt comfortable. When Able finished eating, the two boys looked at each other, quiet.
Able stuck out his hand. "Able Vane."
Harry shook the proffer hand. "Harry Potter."
"You're famous."
"You're not."
"I'm glad of it."
"I'm jealous."
Able cracked a smile. "So why are you sitting with us, Harry?"
Harry shrugged. "I'm either expanding horizons or avoiding arguing friends. Take your pick." The two boys shared a laugh.
"You know, Mary," Demelza said, "I'm beginning to think that Harry's very personality will make our teaching job a lot easier." The girls all chuckled. Able looked a little confused, but when Harry shot him a mock-pained look, the other boy grinned and mimed being sympathetic.
Mary grinned at the two boys. "Hey, Able, wanna attend Harry's dance lessons so everything isn't so awkward?"
Able pushed his plate away and bashed his head on the table. "I'm not getting out of this?"
"Nope," the girls chorused together.
"Harry," Able said, in a serious tone, "I'm trying my very hardest to hate you right now."
Harry shrugged. He could tell Able was joking. "I get that a lot."
o.o.o.o.o.o
"Harry!" Harry turned from his walking companions and looked back at Ron and Hermione. Demelza and Able took a few more steps but stopped a distance ahead of Harry. They were obviously still mad at each other, but walking together. That was a slight improvement. "Where were you, mate?" Ron asked, as the two of them drew closer. "I looked for you at lunch. And you were gone all morning-"
"I ate with Katie and the fourth years," Harry said, keeping his voice level. He really did not want Ron mad at him. "And this morning I was talking with professors."
"Which professors?" Hermione asked, critical judgment in her voice.
"McGonagall, Lupin and Flitwick," Harry said, leaving out the other two. He really did not want to tell his friends yet. "And, well, I was in a conversation, so if you'll excuse me." Harry turned and caught up with Demelza and Able. They both gave him confused looks, but jumped smoothly back into their conversation about Astronomy. Apparently, it was Able's favorite class. Harry was really starting to like his new friends.
They veered off course of the Gryffindor common room, heading instead for the hospital room. Neither Ron nor Hermione followed them. Demelza was the first to mention it. "You were kind of abrupt with your friends there."
Harry bit his lip. "I want to chance things about myself. I'm not sure how they're going to take that."
They both nodded. "You should still talk to them," Able said, "and at least get their opinions before being brusque like that. They could still be valuable friends, especially Granger." They were silent for a time before slipping back into a conversation about Astronomy and the science of the night. That conversation carried them all the way to the hospital room, where a girl – who could only be Dakota Robbins – was sitting on a bed and humming some song that Harry had never heard.
She jumped up when they arrived. "Finally! Madame Pomfrey said I couldn't leave until someone picked me up! Want took you so long, Dem?"
Demelza smirked. "Well, we wanted Harry to meet you, so we just figured we'd come up after lunch."
Dakota's jaw dropped open when she saw Harry. "Wait, so, um, what?"
"Apparently," Harry said, "the fourth year Gryffindor girls have taken it upon themselves to make me popular. And I quote Mary there."
"Awe-some," Dakota squealed. "So, like, what? Etiquette? Pop culture? Music? People manipulating? What do you want to learn, Harry?"
"Miss Robbins," Madame Pomfrey called from her office. "Please keep your voice down."
"Let's go," Able said, pulling Harry out of the common room. He and Harry headed towards the Gryffindor common room. Demelza and Dakota followed, having a hurried, loud conversation about the plans for Harry's curriculum.
At the common room entrance, Able paused. "Mate, you are in so much trouble."
Harry just nodded and whispered the password to the Fat Lady. The door swung open and immediately. Harry stopped. It seemed like all the Gryffindor girls were just staring at him. And the common room…? All the chairs had been pushed against the walls, and in place of the fireplace, a giant jukebox looking thing towered over the room. Emma MacDonald stood by the jukebox, looking for all the world like a queen in charge of a small kingdom.
Harry gulped. Behind him, Able stepped through the doorway and simply stopped. "Mate, you are in so much trouble."
"I know," Harry groaned.
Demelza and Dakota tumbled into the common room and instantly joined the flock of girls in the common room. A bunch of bewildered looking boys – and Hermione – sat in the chairs and stared at the excited girls. Percy Weasley, the stuck up, all for rules headboy, was nowhere to be seen.
"Quiet, please," Emma called and silence fell, almost immediately. "We're having a house-wide dance party. And it's mandatory, unless you can prove to Sarah that you've got something you need to do. And, you prefects, don't worry, we've cleared this with McGonagall." No one said anything. Hermione looked close to horrified. "And don't worry if you don't think you can dance. We'll be starting with some traditional wizard dances and teaching them to those who don't know, followed be learning the waltz and a few other classic dances. We'll just have fun towards the end. Capice?" No one said anything.
It occurred to Harry that he'd never noticed how much Emma MacDonald was the queen bee of Gryffindor. Huh.
"Let's start with Helga's Reel. Partner up, everyone." Emma commanded, and people did.
They seemed to have already worked out who'd be partners with Harry, or, at least, that's how it seemed when Katie moved forward until she stood on Harry's right side. It was even further confirmed when Katie said, "They said I'd get the first dance with you, 'cause you know me best." She was grinning. Able paired with Demelza, Queenie with Lee Jordan, Mary with Neville, and everyone else paired off. A few people, like Ron and Hermione stayed to the side. Even the first years were participating.
Emma and a few of the other older girls, including Angelia Johnson, were directed people into two long rows, one of girls, one of boys. They walked through the complicated twists and turns, before Emma flicked the music on with her wand and the dance began. Harry found it surprisingly easy to keep up with the smooth, rhythmic pace of the music as almost the entirety of the Gryffindor common room swayed up and down, back and forth. The music rang through everyone, until at last, Emma and her dance partner sashayed through the group and ended up at the front of the line. The music stopped.
Emma and her partner were staring at each other, blushing. Fred and George started the catcalling. Harry joined in, along with everyone else. The chanting of "kiss, kiss, kiss!" grew to a fullblown wail before Emma and her partner leaned in and shared something a little more that caste. Harry joined in the cheering. It felt great. "It's traditionally a wedding dance," Katie whispered into Harry's ear. "Angelina suggested it, 'cause Emma and William are pretty close to engaged as it is. Isn't it adorable?"
Harry laughed.
"There's been some family problems though," Katie said, still grinning at Emma and William. "Emma's parents don't like that William's a muggleborn, even if there'd nothing like the Slytherin blood purists. Mary says that William's been talking about giving Emma up so as not to tear her away from her family. It's so sweet." Harry really didn't understand. But then, Katie was a girl. Katie was gossiping. He didn't think he was supposed to understand.
"Line up again! Different partners!" The line jumbled and mixed up a lot. Harry found himself opposite Eliza Kirke. Where the fourth year girls claiming him or something? That was a little more than creepy. Walking through the next dance, still a reel, but this time a dance called Layla's Staff, took even less time than Hegla's Reel. This dance was even more fun. Harry lost himself in the moves in the music as he and Eliza twirled through the people. It was an awesome dance. At three different points, the males used their wands and levitated their partners into the air. Emma only let those in third year or higher do the wand work. It was pretty close to awesome.
When the song ended, they ran through the dance again, and it worked nearly close to flawlessly. On the last lift, Lee Jordan's control dropped and Dakota tumbled to the ground. Everyone laughed. After two more reels, the Weasley twins showed up bearing a bunch of different snacks and drinks. They laid out a table in the corner of the room and took turns watching the food. Dancing reels continued.
Harry danced with all of the fourth year girls, Parvati, Lavender, Angelina, Alicia and a few others he wasn't really sure of their names. They learnt a simple waltz, a more complex waltz, and a few other dances that Emma decided. When the music turned loud and modern, Harry worked his way over to the drink table and accepted a glass of punch from Lee. The older boy had a silly grin on his face. Harry smirked and moved off to the side.
Almost immediately, Ron joined him. "How awful is this. Wouldn't you rather be flying or something?"
"I think it's fun," Harry said, taking a sip of his punch. He really, truly did. He wasn't even trying to like it. "Why don't you like it?"
Ron shrugged. "What's up with you, mate?"
"I'm trying to make some more friends," Harry admitted. Ron looked a bit affronted. "It just makes sense, you know, having more friends and a stronger ally system. More support. If more people know me for who I am, they'll be less likely to think I'm the heir of Slytherin or something like that again."
Ron stared. "But. Why? I'm your friend, Harry."
"Yeah, but seriously, how many people in our house can you name? This is supposed to be our family. I'm gonna make it my family."
Mary showed up at that moment. "Aw, how sweet." Ron pouted. "C'mon, Harry." Mary grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the floor. "We need to show you how to party!"
It was way more than a little fun.
o.o.o.o.o.o
Just before six o'clock, Emma called a halt to the dance party. The fifty or so Gryffindors all moved to their respective dormitories to shower and change. Harry spent most of that interim period talking with Neville and Able, who were actually close friends. They were sitting on a few of the plushy arm chairs. Neville looked more engaged than Harry was used to seeing him.
"Oh, Neville, I'm joining your Ancient Runes class next week," Harry added, in a break in the conversation. "It looks really cool."
"It is!" Neville said, his whole face widening and relaxing as the conversation continued.
"Runes is awesome," said a slightly older boy.
"Harry," Able said, "This is Kenneth Towler, fifth year. Kenneth, Harry Potter's making an effort to establish social connections."
Kenneth laughed. Harry elbowed Able. "Seriously? I don't need everyone knowing the ulterior motive for me being really friendly."
"You do know there's 54 Gryffindors right now," Kenneth said, with a slight smirk. "And there's 203 total students. To get to know all of them, you're going to have to be really friendly. And then if you count everyone else in the school, you've got a big workload ahead of you, Potter."
"Call me Harry, please."
The four boys left the common room with a clump of other Gryffindors, all headed for the Great Hall. They filled the Gryffindor table pretty quickly, as Harry sat with Neville, Able and Kenneth. Ron pushed into the seat beside Harry, and two of the second year boys joined them when Neville waved them over. Almost thankfully, neither of the second years was Colin Creevey. At times during dinner, Harry would look up and see Mary or Katie or Dakota or Demelza or Eliza or Queenie all looking at the group of boys with a smile. Apparently, while they had definitely gotten Emma involved, the six fourth year girls were the unchallenged queens of the education-Harry-project.
Harry, Kenneth and Neville talked a lot about Ancient Runes, but Able was taking Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy, so he just listened. The second years interjected a few comments, but not much. Harry met them as Geo and Andy, but didn't catch their full and last names. After a while, Ron actually spoke. "But Harry, you aren't taking Ancient Runes."
Neville looked confused, but Harry answered quickly enough. "I dropped Divination because it's pointless. I couldn't decide between Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, so McGonagall said I could take both." Ron gaped. The two older boys hid smiles at Ron's expression. When desert came, Kenneth excused himself to go to a prefect meeting and the conversation turned more to the second years.
Geo was simply infatuated with Quidditch and Ron seemed to brighten a bit as Andy proved to be a Cannon's fan. It was easy enough to discuss the sport, and argue over what the house teams would be like this year. The Gryffindor team was the clear favorite, as all seven members had been on the team for at least two years. Not to mention the three chasers worked so well, they were already talking about going pro together after Katie's seventh year. All in all, Harry's evening ended well-full of food and good conversation.