Hey guys!

This chapter is slightly shorter than the others, but they will increase in length, I promise. Well, I'll try to make sure they do :)

Please R+R!

Disclaimer: Yup. JK owns everything. Sadly.

Ron still wasn't talking to Harry the next morning. He had left for breakfast before Harry was even up. He sighed as he pulled his shoes on before reaching for his tie. He knew that the redhead would eventually come round. Ron had always been quite stubborn. He was reminded of the time in his fourth year, when Ron had thought that he had put his own name into the Goblet of Fire.

As he trudged down the stairs into the common room, he saw a few of his fellow eighth years gathered around the notice board. The Patil twins were giggling excitedly, and Hermione was looking quite pleased. Harry made his way over, tugging his tie on over his head.

"What's all the racket about?" he asked, looking at the notice board.

The Patil twins shot him a look before dissolving into more giggles. He rolled his eyes and looked at Hermione. She simply pointed. Harry frowned, but leaned towards the notice board and read the newly put up sign.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Reunion Ball

On the 30th September, Hogwarts will be hosting a ball for students in fifth year and above.

Attendence is mandatory.

This will be a formal event, and students should dress appropriately.

"A reunion ball?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Well, it is to promote inter-house unity as well." Hermione said. "The girls can't wait for it. You should have heard Parvati and Padma before you came down. They're already talking about dresses."

"And you're not?" Harry grinned at her, causing her to blush. "Come on, I'm hungry." As they headed for the portrait hole, Seamus came leaping up behind them. "So! A ball! You know what that means, don't ya?"

They just looked at him.

Seamus sighed. "Come on! Food and drink? Punch?"

"Seamus Finnegan, you are not spiking the punch!" Hermione rounded on him.

"Oh, come on Hermione!" Seamus whined. "Live a little! A little bit of it won't hurt anyone!"

"Yeah Hermione, live a little." Harry sniggered.

He got a slap on the back of his head.

Soon, they reached the Great Hall. Ron was sitting beside Neville, having a conversation. Ginny was sitting opposite them, and waved to Harry and Hermione as they made their way over.

"Morning guys. Did you hear about the ball? Half of my year are already hyped up about it." she asked as Hermione sat beside Ron, and Harry swung himself down beside Ginny, pulling toast and jam towards him.

"Well, they would be, wouldn't they? Seeing as half of your year are girls." Harry laughed, spreading strawberry jam onto his toast. He glanced at Ron, and saw that he was finding his eggs and bacon very interesting. Something hurt in Harry, but he shook it off. Ron had brushed him off a few times in the past. This time wasn't really different. Eventually they would make up. Until then, Ron needed his space.

"I'm gonna go." Harry said abruptly, grabbing the rest of the rack in front of him and standing up. "I'll see you guys later." He slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way to his first class, Transfiguration. He heard Ginny call after him but he ignored it. If Ron needed space, Harry would give him it. Otherwise, it would just provoke a blow up from him.

He was up the first flight of stairs before someone else called his name.

"Potter. Hey, Potter!"

Frowning, Harry turned around to see a familiar blonde Slytherin standing at the bottom of the stairs. "What?"

Malfoy made his way up the stairs towards him. "What's wrong with you and Weasley?"

"What's it to you?" He sighed, turning and continuing to walk up the stone stairs, Malfoy following him.

"Well, it concerns me if last night's row is anything to go by."

Harry stopped. He remembered the way that Malfoy had looked at him. Letting out a sigh, he turned to face Malfoy again. "Sorry. We've just had a fight because I've made a truce with you and he couldn't bare to see me actually have a laugh with you."

Malfoy snorted. "Potter, you two sound like a married couple when one suspects the other is cheating on them."

Harry faltered, looking at Malfoy and the look of bemusement on his face, before bursting into laughter. "Oh Merlin, you're right. I never thought I'd say that, but you are."

"I'm never wrong." Malfoy smirked. "Right, come on Potter. We have Transfiguration."

It must have amazed the people they passed in the corridor. It must have been a bizarre sight, to see Gryfindor's Golden Boy, Savior of the Wizarding World, walking along side by side with the Slytherin Ice Prince, known Ex-Death Eater, having an casual conversation as they went to class. Harry had never thought that this would happen. He was still getting used to it himself. Yet, it was nice in a way, knowing that the enmity between him and Malfoy has disappeared.

The date of the ball was fast approaching. Girls from fifth to eighth year were all talking about their dresses, their hair, their make up. It bored the boys senseless. The boys, as with the Yule Ball, would just be wearing their dress robes. Harry still had the bottle green ones that Mrs Weasley had got him back then.

"Parvati, will you stop prattling on about your bloody dress already?" Harry heard Ron moan at her a few seats away in the Common Room. "You've told us so many times already."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm excited!" She retorted, swinging her braided her over her shoulder and leaving with Padma.

Harry snorted into his book he was reading for Charms, to get notes of the Fidelius Charm. He sat alone near the fire, his eyes wandering from the book to the fire. He couldn't concentrate on the book. Not after last night's nightmare.

"You cannot fight me, Harry Potter."

He was in the Forbidden Forest, the darkness creeping in around him. He whipped around, trying to see the familiar face of Voldemort through the black. It was useless. He might as well be blind.

"Lumos." He muttered, watching the light at the end of his wand appear, then waver, flickering, before dying. He tried again and got the same results.

"It is useless." The voice was right behind him. He turned quickly, but no one was there. Something slithered along the floor at his feet, causing him to jump back, his heart racing.

"Look at what you have made me do, Harry Potter. Because of you, your friends… are dead."

A light appeared in front of him, before, with a loud CRACK it turned into Ron lying on the forest floor, convulsing, bleeding, white froth coming from his mouth.

"No…" he whispered. No, Ron was still alive. He had to be alive.

CRACK.

Hermione lay on the floor, screaming in pain as an invisible knife cut into her.

CRACK.

Ginny, her hair a fiery halo as her body began to rot.

CRACK.

Neville, Seamus, Dean. All dead before him, lying in a pile, blood covering them.

CRACK.

Malfoy, shaking with fear, crying blood, as an unknown attacker advanced on him.

"NO!" Harry shouted, screwing his eyes shut. "You've not won! You're dead! None of this happened!"

CRACK.

Sirius, not falling into the veil, but screaming and writhing in agony.

CRACK.

Remus, lying still, while insects covered his body.

"You delude yourself, Harry. They are all dead, and it is all your fault." The voice surrounded him as he whipped round, looking and looking for the source.

Something caught his eye momentarily, a flash of grey, before suddenly, Voldemort appeared before Harry, emerging out of the darkness. His white face was a brilliant contrast to the background behind him.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Just reliving it was horrible. He shuddered as he remembered all of his friends lying before him. The thoughts of Sirius and Remus, who had actually died, haunted him the most. He knew that wasn't the way they had died, but it seemed worse. Their deaths had been quick and almost painless, not the torture that he saw in his sleep. He shook his head. No, he wasn't going to dwell on it.

Someone prodded his shoulder. Jerking out of his thoughts, he looked up to see Hermione, smiling softly at him. "You alright?" she asked, sitting down beside him.

"Yeah…" He returned his gaze to the fire. "Just thinking about the nightmare I had last night."

Hermione was silent for a minute. "Have you thought about Dreamless Sleep Potion?"

"Yes." Harry said stiffly, "I'll tell you what I told Ron. I am not going to become dependant on a potion just because I can't face my own demons."

Another moment of silence fell between them.

"You can't afford to lose sleep, Harry. It isn't well for you."

"I know." He sighed, and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. Weariness was settling into his bones the longer he sat there. He had to move to stop himself falling asleep.

An idea struck him.

"I'm going to go flying for a while." He told Hermione, as she watched him quizzically as he stood. "I won't be long."

"Make sure you're not." She said matter-of-factly, before Harry climbed the stairs to his dorm to collect his Firebolt.

A good fly would do him some good, he thought, as he made his way out of the castle towards the Quidditch pitch. It had been far too long since he had felt the ground fall away beneath him as he rocketed into the air. Maybe it would send the nightmares into the back of his mind and he could get a decent night's sleep.

As he mounted his broom, he looked around the familiar stadium, the rows of seats, the hoops at opposites ends of the green pitch. Smiling to himself, he kicked off.

It was wonderful, and just as he remembered it. The wind whipped his hair back from his face as he sped from one end of the pitch to the other, looping around invisible opponents, swerving to avoid imaginary Bludgers. The exhiliration of it all made his heart soar. He wondered why he hadn't thought of this sooner, if it felt so good. It felt as if the harder he flew, the more he pushed himself, the more nightmares he left behind. He wished he had brought a Snitch with him, so he could chase it around the stadium, and feel like he was in a match again, against Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Victor Krum would have put up a good fight. Anyone. Heck, even the Chudley Cannons if he felt like it. Harry let out a whoop as he circled around the three hoops, weaving in and out of them. He soared through the air, chasing after a Snitch that wasn't there. He was in familiar territory. This was where he belonged. In the sky, on a broomstick.

That night, Harry slept soundly, dreaming of playing Quidditch against Puddlemere United, Oliver Wood cheering him on.

"Harry, are you honestly going to wear the same dress robes as before?"

Harry sighed down at his Herbology essay. It was the day before the Reunion Ball and, not only had Ginny been getting on his case about the fact he was wearing his green dress robes again, Hermione had joined in. "Yes."

"But why?" Hermione said, leaning across the table where they were studying in the common room. "It's a rule of parties that you don't wear the same thing twice."

"For girls." Harry stated, pointing at her with his quill. "I'm a guy, therefore it does not matter what I wear. They're just dress robes. Who cares if I've worn them before?"

Someone joined in the conversation behind him. "On the contrary, Potter, it matters very much."

Harry groaned. "Not you too, Malfoy!" He looked at his new acquaintance. "Then again, I suspect that you have robes of every style and colour, am I right?"

"You are," he pulled out the chair beside Harry, and sent a nod at Hermione, who tried to hide the baffled look on her face, "but do you think I have all of them with me? And it's too late to ask someone to send me them from the Manor."

"But you could have gotten them sent earlier, like me." Harry argued. He had done just that; he had sent an owl to Mrs Weasley a few weeks ago, asking her if she could possibly send him his dress robes from Grimmauld Place. Mrs Weasley had replied first before sending him, asking if he wanted a new pair. He had refused, and had gotten his old robes.

"As I was saying, appearance is very important." Malfoy went out, twirling one of Harry's spare quills between his fingers. "So, wearing the same robes will simply not do."

Hermione looked quite pleased with herself. "That's exactly the point I was making, Malfoy. So, Harry, you have to get new robes."

"The ball's tomorrow, if you haven't noticed." Harry grinned. "It's too late."

"Potter," Malfoy sighed, "Will you ever realise the potential magic has?"

Harry turned to him with a frown. What did this have to do with magic?

Malfoy seemed to read his thoughts, as he rolled his eyes before standing with a dejected sigh. "Take me to your dress robes and I'll show you."

"Um… okay?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who just sent a smile back at him, before turning back to her work. He led the way up to his dorm, Malfoy trailing behind him. The dorm was empty when they entered it.

"Right, show me the robes." Malfoy said, getting straight down to business. He perched himself on the end of Harry's bed and watched Harry as he opened his trunk and rifled through it to find them. Even though he had only gotten them recently, he didn't realise how many books or clothes he had actually used since then. Eventually, he found them near the bottom of his trunk and threw them unceremoniously at Malfoy, who caught them swiftly to avoid getting the fabric in his face.

"Merlin, I remember these robes." Malfoy muttered, standing up and bring the robes with him. He pulled his wand out and sent a spell at the robes, causing them to levitate in the air before him. "They're even greener than I remember."

"Oh ha ha." Harry rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up and do what you're going to do to them."

Malfoy smirked and twirled the robes around with his wand, his eyes darting between them and Harry. "Well, with your complexion, certain colours won't go. But you're quite tan as well, so others won't be a problem." He jabbed his wand at the robes and they turned a light blue. He frowned, and jabbed them again. Malfoy went through every colour, from blue to purple to pink (which mortified Harry but amused Malfoy) to orange to red. No colour, however, satisfied Malfoy.

He sighed dejectedly. "Are you bothered about what colour they are?"

"No." Harry said resolutely. "Which is why I didn't see any point in buying new ones."

Malfoy looked at him, with an eyebrow raised, before jabbing his wand once more at the robes, determination in his eyes.

They turned… Harry wouldn't call it grey. It was silver. They flowed as Malfoy turned them in the air with his wand, watching as when the light hit them in certain ways, they would flash a steely blue undertone.

"Wow." Harry said, his eyebrows disappearing beneath his hair. "That's… pretty cool."

"A little trick Mother taught me." He said simply. He muttered stuff under his breath, before looking at Harry, and waving his wand at the robes. They elongated by several inches, to accommodate Harry's new height. With scrutinizing eyes, Malfoy made more alterations to the robes. He brought them in a little at the waist, broadened them slightly at the shoulders, changing the collar so it sat high, and made the arms more fitted, before he looked satisfied with them. Malfoy plucked the robes out of the air and threw them at Harry. "There. You technically have new robes. My work here is done." He stored his wand back inside his robes and watched as Harry folded them up and placed them on top of his trunk.

"Thanks Malfoy." Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck. This was too weird. Malfoy had just helped him with dress robes. Homework was one thing, but clothes?

Malfoy was silent for a minute, before talking. "It's weird for me too, you know." His voice was quiet, uncertain in a way. Harry looked up and saw him standing near Seamus' bed, playing with the curtains. He looked up and caught Harry watching him. "But it's been a month, and we've not hexed each other yet."

Harry smirked. "Good point."

They stood there for a few minutes, just standing in each other's company, before Harry moved to the door. "We better go back down before Hermione thinks we've killed each other."

Malfoy snorted, before smirking and walking out before Harry as he opened the door. "I find that insulting to me, Potter. You think you could actually kill me? A lot of rubbish in my opinion."

"You know I could, Malfoy." Harry laughed, as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Hermione had vanished somewhere, probably with Ron. Michael, Justin, Hannah and Terry were all chatting around the fireplace, taking up the available seats. Harry looked at his Herbology essay that was sitting on the table, knowing it had to be finished.

"I suppose I better get this over with…" he muttered.

"You know, I could help you, seeing as Granger's left you to your own devices." Malfoy smirked, checking at his immaculate nails. "And Merlin knows I'd hate to see that."

Harry shoved him playfully, before accepting Malfoy's help to study with him for the second time that month.

It looked like this could become a familiar occurrence.