Hello guys!
Thanks for the reviews :)
Btw, there will be sliiight Ron bashing in the coming chapters, but don't worry, everything will work out :D
I'm going to probably change the rating of his to M from T. There is going to be a bit of swearing, as I would imagine Harry still snapping when things got too much for him.
Disclaimer: Yeah, I own nothing to do with Harry Potter, sadly. That's all Jo's work. :)
Harry ended up sharing dorms with Ron, Seamus, Neville and Dean again. It was like they were still in Gryfindor Tower. They had been up half the night, talking and laughing, just like the old times in their old dorms.
They all trudged down to breakfast the next day, all laughing at a joke Dean had told about a leprechaun and a house-elf. Hermione looked up from her book to send a wave their way, before nibbling on her toast, returning to her book which she had propped up against a flask of pumpkin juice.
Harry swung himself onto the bench on the opposite side of the table from her, and pulled a rack of toast towards him. "Good sleep?"
"It was alright. I'm sharing with the Patil twins and Hannah, so it was quite nice." Hermione smiled at him. "What about you?"
"Stuck with the same lot." He grinned. "How come you're sharing dorms with other Houses and we aren't?"
Hermione placed her bookmark in her place, and closed the book. "Maybe they think that you'll try and kill the others."
"Only the Slytherins." Ron said, as he sat beside Hermione.
"Ron! That's not funny!" Hermione exclaimed, picking up her book and slapping his arm with it. "Honestly! It's called Inter-House unity for a reason!"
"Calm down, I'm kidding!" Ron forced a laugh. Harry knew he wasn't. He recalled what Ron had said on the train, about hexing Malfoy if he ever did a dark curse or spell. He raised an eyebrow at the redhead, before finishing his rack of toast.
"Have the timetables been handed out yet?" He asked Hermione, but before she could reply, Ginny sat down beside him, rolls of parchment in her hands.
"I got them off McGonagall just now." She said, handing them out. "You're sharing classes with us seventh years in Charms and Herbology, but that's about it."
Ron groaned. "I have to share classes with you?"
Ginny glared at him. "Yes, so deal with it. Anyway, I've gotta run. I'll see yous at lunch." She picked up an orange from the fruit bowl and headed for the doors.
"What have we got first?" Ron asked, mostly to himself, as he unrolled his parchment. Seamus and Dean sat down beside him as Harry handed them their timetables.
Ron let out a long groan, before promptly dropping his head onto the desk with a big whack. Some fourth years near them jumped, startled at the loud noise. Harry bit back a laugh as he looked at his friend. "What's so bad to make you do that?"
"Double Potions." He grumbled into the wood. "Bloody double Potions first thing on a Monday. Bloody brilliant."
"Come on, it can't be that bad." Seamus chuckled. Ron lifted his head and gave the Irishman a look of bewilderment before dropping his head back down with another whack.
"Now, today, we will be looking at one of the four potions I expect you to brew by the end of your year." Professor Slughorn said, from the front of the class. "As it goes, Polyjuice Potion is very tricky to make."
Harry hid his grin beneath his hand. He looked beside him and saw Ron trying to bite his lip to stop a smiling spreading across his face. Hermione wasn't looking at Slughorn at all, instead, finding her cauldron very interesting indeed. The memories of their second year came back to them all. Harry still remembered the overcooked cabbage taste that had been Goyle.
"It is a very complicated potion," Slughorn went on, "that allows the drinker to assume the form of someone else. Now, while this can account for age and gender, it however cannot be used for a human being to take on an animal form, or a half-breed to assume human form."
Ron sniggered into his hand and looked at Hermione, who had gone a little pink in the cheeks. "I still remember your tail." Ron whispered to her, and received a sharp jab in the ribs from her elbow.
"It will take one month to brew, and requires ingredients that I have in my private store. For this potion, I am going to allow you to use them, as you need to. I shall be splitting you into pairs, from different Houses. And yes, before you ask, this is part of the Inter-House unity."
Ron sighed. "I hope I'm not with a Slytherin." he muttered to Harry, who just raised an eyebrow at him.
"Mr Longbottom, you will be with Miss Granger, as I know she will be able to keep you on the right track. Mr Finnegan, you are to be with Mr Corner. Ah, Mr Weasley, you shall be paired with Miss Bones here, there we go. Mr Zabini, can I ask you to move beside Mr Thomas? Thank you. Mr Boot, yes, yes, with Miss Abbott. And that leaves…" Slughorn looked up, "Harry, m'boy, you shall be working with Mr Malfoy."
Harry's eyebrows shot up as he looked at Malfoy, who was standing patiently beside his cauldron. This had to be a mere coincidence… didn't it? Then again, maybe they thought that by putting the most well-known rivals together would show better Inter-House unity.
"We don't have all day, Potter." The sarky voice reached Harry's ears and he scowled slightly as he picked up his bag and cauldron and hauled them over to Malfoy's desk, which had previously seated Zabini.
"Actually, we have a month, or didn't you notice?" Harry retorted. Malfoy snorted slightly, but Harry could tell there was no malice between them. "Are you going to get the ingredients, or shall I?"
"Be my guest." Malfoy said, lightly a fire beneath his cauldron with his wand.
"You shall find the instructions and ingredients written on the board, so, on you go!" Slughorn finished, sitting down behind his desk.
As Harry made his way to the store cupboard, he saw Hermione walk over at the same time, a small smile on her face.
"Feel like you're in familiar territory?" he asked her quietly, a smirk on his face.
"Oh, I really do." She laughed slightly. "It feels quite nostalgic, after everything we used it for, and now we're making it in class."
"Quite ironic." Harry chuckled.
"Come on Potter!" came a bark from behind him. He looked at Hermione, who was trying hard to stifle her giggles.
"Well, you're the one who made the truce." She said, before hurriedly leaving to go back to Neville.
He cast a shocked, hurt look at her as he past her table, causing her to grin at him. Soon, he dumped the ingredients on the desk and immediately Malfoy was straightening them up, a scowl on his face.
"Honestly, Potter. Can't you do anything right?"
"Oh, ha ha, Malfoy. Let's get to it then, shall we?" Harry said simply, opening his jar of lacewing flies as Malfoy examined each of the ingredients to make sure they were okay.
It looked like the following month was going to be fun.
"No, no, Potter! That goes in after these!" Malfoy sighed, tipping lacewing flies into the cauldron. "Now you can put in the Antimony."
"Yes, boss." Harry grumbled, and did what he was told.
It was alright, working with Malfoy. He obviously knew a lot about Potions, and of course he had been Snape's favourite pupil, and worked with a grace and ease with them that Harry knew he would never possess. He weighed out everything correctly, and added the ingredients at exactly the right time.
"That's all we can do just now." Malfoy muttered, jolting Harry out of his thoughts. "We have to let it stew for a while before adding the rest."
Slughorn was walking around the class, checking the progress of the pairs. Harry watched and listened as he passed judgment.
"Very nice, Miss Granger, very nice indeed. Oh, you're almost at the same stage as Miss Granger, Mr Weasley. Well done, well done. Oh, Mr Finnegan, they're not added until later! Mr Zabini, you're falling behind." And then he reached Harry and Malfoy. "Harry, my dear boy, you're at the right stage! Oh, well done! You're even further ahead than Miss Granger. I knew you had it in you-"
"Um, sir," Harry interjected, "It was actually Malfoy, who did all the work. I almost did nothing."
Slughorn looked slightly perplexed as he looked from Harry to the Slytherin. "But, m'boy, surely you're being modest!"
"No, sir, I'm not. I'm really not. Malfoy really did do almost all the work."
Malfoy looked at Harry and raised an eyebrow. Slughorn looked at the blonde. "It is true, Mr Malfoy?"
"It is, sir. Potter almost ruined the whole thing by adding the Antimony too early." Malfoy rolled his eyes. Harry snorted. Of course, Malfoy would make a jibe and make Harry look inferior. He wouldn't be Malfoy otherwise.
"Then, well done, Draco!" Slughorn beamed at the boy, causing Malfoy's eyes to widen in shock slightly. "Look here, everyone. Mr Malfoy here is at exactly the right stage that we should be at at this stage of the potion! Well done! Have ten points for Slytherin. Oh, and five for you, Harry m'boy, for helping. Now, take notes on the potion and its effects." He smiled at then once more, before moving on before Seamus could blow his cauldron up.
"Ha, I even beat you in this Potter, and we're working as a team." Malfoy smirked, before sitting down and pulling out a notebook, quill and ink, and his potions book.
"Hey, he was gonna give me all the glory there if I hadn't piped up, so don't go acting like all Mr High and Mighty." Harry retorted, pulling out his own work to do.
Malfoy snorted, and gave Harry one last look before opening his textbook and beginning to copy down key points about the potion. They worked in a comfortable silence until the end of the lesson.
"Ah, yes, homework. I want two feet of parchment, explaining all of the effects of Polyjuice Potion, and what can go wrong, by Thursday. Have a good day!"
The class filed out, Seamus wiping soot from his cheeks. Despite Slughorn's and Michael Corner's best efforts, he had still managed to blow up their potion, which had looked more like blue lava than the stage that the rest of the class was at.
"I honestly followed the instructions!" He persisted, as they made their way to Charms. "I did! I swear!"
"Did you add the Antimony before the lacewing flies?" Harry laughed. Seamus stopped for a minute, and looked to be thinking hard.
"Bugger…"
"That's a yes then." Dean sighed. "Honestly, I'm quite surprised you took Potions again, Seamus."
"Ah, it's cause I like blowing stuff up!" The Irishman grinned.
"Oh Seamus, stop rubbing." Hermione sighed, before pointing her wand straight at his face.
"Whoa! What're you doing! Hey, someone-"
"Tergeo!"
Instantly, the soot began to siphon off Seamus' face, as he watched in amazement.
"Hermione, you've gotta teach me that!"
"I will tonight." Hermione smiled. "God knows you'll need it."
The day passed by in a rush. Class after class whizzed by, and it wasn't long before Harry was making his way from Herbology up to the Great Hall for dinner. The chatter surrounded him as he walked in with Neville and Ron. Hermione hadn't taken Herbology; instead, Arithmancy fitted that part of her timetable.
Neville was rabbiting on about a new plant that they had been introduced to in Herblogy. "…and did you see the colours of its leaves? How the red changed into the blue-"
"Neville, mate, I don't want to sound harsh, but can you stop going on about the bloody plant?" Ron groaned, as he swung onto the bench. Harry sat opposite him and pulled a steak and kidney pie towards him. Already, they had been given homework from all of their teachers. Their new teacher for Transfiguration was a bubbly man, roughly about fifty or sixty from the grey hair and wrinkles he had. He had squeaked when he had got to Harry's name on the register, causing the class to laugh momentarily. They had been given the job of two feet of parchment about recapping on human to animal transfigurations. And Flitwick, on top of that, had given them two feet to do on spells to make objects move, ranging from the simple Wingardium Leviosa in their first year, to the Summoning charms and more. It seemed that the homework was more like that to ease the eighth years back into school life.
Hermione joined them shortly afterwards, as Harry was halfway through his pie. She dumped a large book onto the desk, causing Neville to jolt so badly he fell of the bench. After laughing and picking the boy up, Ron turned to his girlfriend. "What's that for?"
"Ancients Runes, believe it or not." She sighed, pulling potatoes and chicken towards her to fill her plate. "Professor Babbling wants three feet just on two specific runes that are quite identical, their differences and similarities, and what will happen if you get them mixed up. This," she tapped the book, "is the best book in the library for it and I had to get it before anyone else did."
"No wonder you look slightly mad." Ron chortled, before Hermione reached over and whacked him on the head.
After that, dinner passed by quickly, as Harry talked and laughed with his friends, before they retreated to their common room. Harry quickly nabbed the armchair nearest the fire, and watched the flickering flames and Hermione hurried over to a table with her book to start her work.
"Jeez, you would have thought she would want to relax a bit, wouldn't you?" Ron sighed as he fell back into the couch.
"If it means that much to you, just go sit with her and distract her from her work." Harry sniggered. Ron shot him a look as his cheeks blushed, and he threw a pillow right at Harry's face, knocking his glasses off, before they both started laughing. It only took Ron a few more seconds before going to sit with Hermione.
Harry bent down and began to search about for his glasses. He frowned. They couldn't have gone too far.
A familiar voice reached his ears. "Looking for these?"
Harry could make out a bit of white, and he felt for his glasses and took them from the outstretched hand. After putting them on, he looked at the other boy.
"Thanks."
Malfoy collapsed out the couch, where Ron had sat moments before. "I figured I better start acting more like an… acquaintance, to you." he said.
"Why?" asked Harry, watching the blonde.
The Slytherin shrugged. "Well Potter, if we've agreed on a truce, I suppose it's one of the best things to do."
Harry continued to watch him. He looked like he had put on the weight he had lost when they had met in Diagon Alley, but he was still a little pale. Underneath his eyes, Harry noticed, dark circles were beginning to form.
"Are you sleeping alright?" Harry asked abruptly. Malfoy was shocked from his own thoughts.
"What makes you ask that, Potter?"
"You look tired." he said simple.
Malfoy tensed slightly, before casting his eyes around the area around them, before sighing wearily. "I've had better nights, I'll be honest. But why do you care?" His grey eyes focused on Harry.
"It was just something I noticed." Harry shrugged. "Sorry for prying."
Malfoy snorted slightly, before watching Harry. He began to fidget under the gaze. He wasn't used to people watching him from such a close distance. Usually, they were on the other side of the room or behind glass in a compartment.
"I'm going to go do that Potions essay. I got a few books out the library that might help." Malfoy stood. "You're more than welcome to look at them, by the way."
Harry was shocked. Had Malfoy just offered Harry a chance of a studying session? It was just a strange concept that Harry didn't have the will to speak for a moment. It was too bizarre.
"Well?" Malfoy had raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, um - well - alright then." Harry stammered.
Malfoy smirked. "You're definitely a Gryfindor. I'll be back shortly."
Harry watched the retreating back of the blonde.
"Not as much as you think." Harry muttered, a smirk appearing on his face as he picked up his bag and made his way to a table.
Once the initial shock had worn off, studying with Malfoy wasn't as bad as it had seemed. The books he had found really did come in useful. Apart from Hermione's mishap in second year, Harry hadn't heard of a Polyjuice venture going wrong. There was a witch from Shaftsbury who hadn't been able to return from a horse-like state. Another man had died from drinking the potion which had contained two different animal hairs. How that had happened, Harry didn't want to know.
"Pass me that book, Potter." Harry wordlessly handed said book to the blonde.
"So, why did you want to study with me?" Harry asked, as he copied down notes about animal transformation mishaps.
Malfoy didn't answered for a minute, and Harry had to look up to make sure he was still there. He was about to repeat the question when Malfoy answered.
"Look, Potter. I'm trying."
Harry's eyebrows shot up. His voice had sounded tired. It was unlike the Malfoy that Harry knew. Or, had known. "Trying?"
"Yes. With you." Malfoy sighed. "When I make a truce, I don't expect the person I made it with to ignore me or just go about their daily lives, forgetting they made it. You offered the truce, and I accepted it. That means we have to work together, Potter, for this truce to actually mean anything."
He was shocked at this sudden outburst of thoughts. Malfoy looked uncomfortable; he wouldn't meet Harry's eyes, his own fixed on the book in front of him. He was trying, just as Ron had tried with Harry and his dream all those nights ago, back at The Burrow.
"I… don't know what you want to me say, Malfoy." He said slowly.
"You don't have to say anything. I was merely voicing my opinion." Malfoy opened the book and began to flick through it. "Nope… No… Merlin, who uses Draught of the Living Dead for that? No… AH! Look, there's one of a house-elf trying to take the Potion." Malfoy said, pointing to a paragraph in a book, which was titled The Mishaps of Potions, Great and Small. He turned the book to Harry, so he could read it when he was ready.
"What happened to it?" Harry asked, finishing his paragraph of Mrs Horse-Woman, and beginning of the dead man.
"Well, they died, obviously."
The last word sounded so similar that Harry whipped his head up so quickly he cricked his neck.
"What is it?" Malfoy asked, eyebrows drawn down in concern.
"N-Nothing." Harry stammered, before pulling the book towards him.
He had sounded very like Snape when he had said that, Harry thought. It was unnerving. He had been expecting to see greasy black hair and a hooked nose when he had looked up, nothing the white blonde hair and grey eyes of Malfoy. It sent a shiver down him, and his hand tightened around his quill. It was strange, how many things reminded him on Snape. He just guessed that he'd get over it in time. Like how he would eventually stop looking at joke shops without automatically thinking of Fred, and how George was now. Or how he'd buy chocolate without thinking of the first time he had met Remus, that eventful day on the train, or the Patronus lessons with the Boggart. Time heals all wounds, he told himself, as he pulled the book towards him to write down about the house-elf.
Another hour passed before they had both finished their essays. Harry threw his quill down, feeling triumphant. He had finally managed to achieve finishing homework on the day it was giving out. It had only taken him eight years to do it.
"Are you done with those books, Potter?" Malfoy asked, leaning back in his seat.
"Yeah. You can take them back now." Harry answered, closing over the covers and putting them into a pile
Malfoy smirked. "If you think I am trekking all the way to the library to hand those books back, you're mad Potter."
Harry laughed despite himself. For the first time since he had sat down with Malfoy, he noticed Ron over his shoulder. He was frowning at Harry. He shrugged his shoulders in return and rolled up his work. He was quite proud of it.
"To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't hex me with the amount of questions I was asking." he said.
Malfoy scoffed. "That would defeat the purpose of the truce, Potter." He picked up his work, quills, ink and books. "Later."
"See you." Harry gathered his own stuff together as Malfoy left. Seconds later, he heard someone sit down across from him. Bracing himself, he looked up to see Ron.
His ears were red, an obvious danger sign to those who knew him. "What the hell was that about?" he growled at Harry.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Ron, it's called a truce for a reason."
"That doesn't mean to have to act all pally-pally with him though, does it?"
Harry sighed and slammed his books onto the desk, causing Ron to jump. "Listen, Ron, this is the last time I'm going to say this. Grow the fuck up already, and move beyond the past. It's called that for a reason." He watched his friend's eyes widen. "I don't care what you think of Malfoy, alright? I made the truce for a reason, so that I could have a peaceful year at school. And look. For the first time ever, I've finished homework, happily, on the day it was given out. You know why? Because Malfoy is actually quite smart. He got all these books for this one essay. He offered me the chance to study with him, and I took it. So what? Why are you so angry about it?"
Ron was silent for a moment, staring at Harry like he had grown a second head. "But, mate, you hate him."
"No, Ron. I hated him. Past tense." Harry snapped.
"But - when - why?" Ron spluttered.
Giving a sigh, Harry looked up at Ron's blue eyes. "I've not hated him in a long time. So, drop it. I'm going to bed."
As he made his way to the stairs, he heard Ron call after him. He ignored it. If Ron wasn't going to move on and mature, then so be it. That didn't mean that Harry didn't have to.
A figure at the bottom of the stairs caught his attention. He looked up to see Malfoy standing there, just looking at Harry. But there wasn't malice, or pity in his eyes. Harry then realised that Malfoy didn't hate him either. They could actually be friends.
Because what was in Malfoy's eyes, was understanding.