Chapter 2

To say that dinner was awkward would've been an understatement; despite having a long dinner table where everyone could sit around, the Ravenclaws ate at the desks, the Slytherins around the hearth, the Hufflepuffs near the bulletin board, and the Gryffindors at the table. Only the clinking of silverware on plates and whispered conversations could be heard, making Harry sigh.

'You'd think that fighting side by side would've instilled some sort camaraderie' he thought as Hermione and Joseph returned and took their place with their housemates.

"'Mione, what's wrong?" Ron asked, noticing the worried expression on the brunette's face.

"Nothing, just figuring out how to balance my study time and duties" she replied with a small smile. The group shrugged it off, but Harry kept his eyes on her and noticed how she kept looking at the Slytherins.

Suddenly, Luna stood from her seat, walked over to the hearth, and sat beside Pansy Parkinson.

"That's a beautiful necklace you have" she said nonchalantly. "It's a Carnation, yes?" Still in shock, Pansy nodded. "It's appropriate, considering it means pride and beauty."

Just when everyone thought hexes and jinxes were going to start flying, Pansy did something that shocked everyone even more.

"Thank you, I made it myself" she said with a smile. "Your hair looks lovely. Did you have it straightened?"

It wasn't long before Luna was having an animated conversation with Pansy, Daphne Greengrass, and Millicent Bulstrode. Lisa Turpin, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Padma and Parvati Patil eventually joined them while everyone else just stared, dumbfounded.

"That was unexpected." Harry said and his fellow Gryffindors agreed. They were all gathered in Harry's and Seamus's room.

"What's even more shocking is that Pansy and Luna are sharing a room now" Dean Thomas added.

"Wait, if Padma's rooming with her sister, and Luna's rooming with Pansy, who's 'Mione rooming with?" Ron asked.

"Daphne" Hermione replied, and her boyfriend's eyes grew wide. "Don't look so surprised, Ron."

"I'm not surprised, I'm worried" Ron clarified. "What if she curses you in while you're sleeping?"

"Firstly, you should stop thinking all Slytherins are evil just because majority of Voldemort's followers came from that house" Hermione told Ron, but meant it for everyone in the room. "Secondly, Daphne and I have come to an agreement to be civil with each other throughout the year. At least I can trust her to keep our shared bathroom clean."

Everyone laughed and Harry looked at everyone's smiling faces. After the war, he returned to Grimmauld Place to begin planning the renovations. He stayed there for two weeks until the press found him in Diagon Alley one day. Knowing he'd be followed, he went to the Weasleys, who agreed to let him stay with them. Although living with the Weasleys was nice, Harry missed just hanging out with his friends from school.

"Well, I've gotta go and start my rounds" Hermione said as she stood.

"Does you being head girl mean we can get away with stuff?" Seamus asked, and Hermione threw a pillow at his face in response. Harry then remembered how Hermione kept looking at the Slytherins during dinner and followed her out the door.

"Mione, why were you looking at the Slytherins throughout dinner?" Harry asked. "Do you know anything about Malfoy?"

Just then, another door opened and the Head Boy walked out. Hermione approached him and whispered something, to which the Slytherin shook his head.

"Sorry Harry, I can't say anything" she said before heading out.

The raven-haired Slytherin looked at Harry with a blank expression for a few seconds before following after Hermione. At this point, Harry would've given up if it was something else. But things were always different when it came to Draco Malfoy.

The next morning, all the girls, were all eating at the table, talking about different topics. At the start of breakfast, they were discussing their classes, which turned into a conversation about what careers they planned on pursuing.

"That's a bizarre sight." Ron said, and his friends nodded in agreement.

Harry's focus shifted from this friends' conversation to the group of Slytherin boys who just entered and began preparing their stuff for class. He stood and approached the group.

"Can we help you, Potter?" Blaise asked, putting himself in between Draco and Harry.

"I want to talk to Malfoy" he said.

Blaise looked at the blonde over his shoulder, who nodded before stepping in front of the group.

"What is it Potter?" Draco asked, his voice quieter than normal and it didn't hold that condescending tone it always had before.

All eyes were on them, everyone thinking that this would be what would start the infighting among all of them.

"Since Luna and Pansy can get along and be friends" he began awkwardly. "I think we should make an effort to try as well, be civil with each other at least."

He extended his hand, and the blonde looked at it and then his face. After a minute, Draco took it and shook hands with the raven. Harry smiled, and Draco gave a small smile before returning to preparing for class with his friends.

"What in Merlin's name was that?" Ron asked when he got back.

Honestly, Harry himself didn't know why he had done so. All he could think about was how soft Draco's hand felt and how the blonde looked a hundred times better when he smiled.

"Look, we don't have to be friends with them, but life would be so much easier if we don't antagonise each other" Harry said. "I don't want to start the Third Wizarding War so soon after the first."

The first day flew by quickly; Harry and Ron had Transfiguration with the new professor , Mirana Tilde, they met with their friends and some other students in their year and had lunch in Hogsmeade while discussing possible extracurricular activities they could do together. Then Double Potions arrived, which Harry dreaded. He had hoped that Ron would at least be with him, but Ron didn't rely on Professor Snape's old book to pass and Slughorn gave him a grade of O, which qualified him for the Aurors Program. Harry was just about to enter the Potions classroom when he heard Snape's voice

"Why wasn't I immediately informed of my godson's condition?" the Potions Master said.

"To be fair, professor, none of us knew you were alive" Joseph replied.

"I take it that measures have been taken to make sure it doesn't worsen?" Snape asked.

Joseph nodded, handing Professor Snape some papers. "Yes, the headmistress has called my father for the potions we need to keep on hand. He'll also be diagnosed weekly by Madam Pomfrey."

"Harry, what're you doing outside?" Hermione asked as she arrived, and the door swung open a minute later.

"In. Now" Snape said pointedly while glaring at Harry.

Harry noticed the four Slytherin students when he entered and was followed by Hermione, Lisa, Anthony, Susan, and Seamus.

"Professor, I thought we would be having class with the lower years" Susan asked.

"That's for your other classes, Ms. Bones" Snape explained. "But you use equipment other than your wands in this class. If you joined the seventh-year classes, it would be extremely cramped."

The classroom had been rearranged; there were ten desks with the equipment on them, standing three arms length apart, all facing the front of the class.

"Starting from the desk farthest to the left on the front row" Snape began as he read through a list. "Goldstein, Potter, Malfoy, Duskgem, Turpin, Bones, Granger, Zabini, Nott, Finnigan."

The students began rushing to their assigned places, and the chalk started writing on the blackboard. As bottles, vials and jars of ingredients started floating to Snape's desk, Harry groaned and wondered how he'd survive this class.

"Psst, Harry" he heard someone call, and turned to see Anthony. He was gesturing to the board with his head and lightly stabbing a roll of parchment with his quill. Harry turned to see everyone else taking notes and took out his own things while mouthing a 'thank you' to Anthony.

Ever since Harry and Draco agreed to try and be civil with each other, the tension between everyone had slowly dissipated. Everyone talked to each other, sat together in classes, and their common room was no longer divided into four areas during meal times.

"Everyone gather 'round" Pansy announced. "We're going to play Truth or Dare."

It was the first Saturday night of the school year, Hermione and Joseph had returned from doing their rounds and Pansy was feeling a little mischievous.

"This is a special spinning bottle from the Weasley joke shop" she explained as everyone else moved furniture and gathered in a circle. "If you pick truth, you must give a proper answer, no being vague. If you pick dare, you must complete the dare to its last detail. We can only move on to the next person if it blinks."

"What if we lie or refuse to do the dare?" Ron asked.

"I'll let you figure that on your own, Weasley" Pansy replied with a smirk.

Pansy spun the bottle, and it landed on Padma.

"Padma, truth or dare?" she asked

"Truth" Padma replied.

"Let's start with something simple" Pansy said. "Out of everyone here, who would you love to snog with?"

"Michael Corner" she replied as she tried to hide her face from said Ravenclaw, and the bottle blinked and spun on its own. "Ron, truth or dare?"

"Turth" Ron replied.

"What don't you like the most about Hermione?" Padma asked.

"Can I choose something else?" Ron asked, yelping when the bottle shot a stinging hex at him.

"That means no Weasley" Pansy said with a smirk.

"Well I guess…maybe…" Ron stuttered as Hermione looked at him. "Well she sometimes…" ZAP "often" ZAP "always starts talking about stuff that I have no interest in, and I always wish I was doing something else instead of listening."

The bottle blinked and Hermione nodded while everyone else tried to hide their laughter. "Hannah, truth or dare?"

"Dare, since you've all been chicken so far" the Hufflepuff replied confidently.

"What to do?" Ron pondered, and Ernie leaned in and whispered something in his ear. "I dare you to kiss Daphne for five seconds."

She looked at the two boys, who merely chuckled, and then to Daphne who nodded. Hannah sat next to Daphne, and they planted their lips on each others' as if they've done it several times before. After five seconds, the bottle blinked.

"Wait, that was it?" Ron asked.

"Isn't there a rule that the time only starts when someone's tongue is in the other's mouth?" Ernie added.

"That's Seven Minutes in Heaven, you twits" Millicent stated and the bottle spun and landed on Seamus. "Will we see that Gryffindor courage, or will you chicken out?"

"Dare" Seamus said.

"I dare you to snog with Ron for ten seconds" Hannah said with a smug look.

"What?! No way!" The two boys said in unison before being stung by the bottle.

"Come now Ron, don't be a spoilsport" Hermione added evenly.

After several more stinging hexes, the two conceded and snogged with each other, after which they ran towards their own bathrooms. The bottle blinked then spun, landing on Harry.

"Hannah, you ask for Finnigan since he won't be back for a while" Pany said.

"Truth or dare, Harry?" Hannah asked.

"Scared?" Susan asked.

"It's called being smart" Harry replied, earning glares from his two friends, who had just returned from gargling mouthwash.

"Why did you break up with Ginny?" Hannah asked and now all eyes were on him.

The question caught him off guard. One day, Harry and Ginny just told everyone it was over between them, and they accepted it, no questions asked. Not even Hermione or Ron knew the reason.

"Well, it's because I didn't really have much of an interest in Ginny" Harry answered. The bottle didn't zap him, but it didn't blink either. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that…generally speaking…I don't have much interest…in women."

The bottle blinked, and it was silent while everyone stared at him. A few minutes later, Harry felt himself being pulled into a hug.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked.

"If you were worried about is seeing or treating you differently, then you've gone nuts" Ron added, giving his friend a grin.

Everyone gave Harry hugs, words of reassurance and support. It felt as though a weight was lifted from his shoulders, and the group happily continued with their game. The rest of the night was filled with confessions of old and current crushes, which professor they hated the most, their most embarrassing memories, and running around the corridor naked for a minute.

Pansy had just completed a dare where she had to randomly choose ten Bertie Bott's Beans, and eat them all together. She said that even though there were more good flavours than bad, the mixture was horrid. Regardless, the bottle blinked, spun and landed on Draco.

"Draco, truth or dare?" Pansy asked, and Draco looked at the tall raven sitting next to him.

Harry had been glancing at the blonde all night, but only now had he realized how closely those two sat to each other. He didn't know why, but it made something pool and bubble in his stomach.

"Dare" Draco finally replied

Pansy smiled at Millicent and Daphne. "I dare you to snog with Joseph for ten seconds."

Draco stuttered, trying to find the words to object while his housemate just sat there unfazed.

"W-W-Well…I don't think..." Draco was blushing.

The pink tint on his cheeks made him look adorable, and Harry couldn't look away. The taller Slytherin sighed before taking the blonde's chin, making them face each other, and pressed their lips together. The Slytherin girls squealed, Draco's eyes widened, and the pool in Harry's stomach became larger and larger at seeing the blonde's eyes shut. The two Slytherins' lips parted and while Draco kept his head down, his face now completely red Joseph returned to sitting normally as if nothing had just happened.

"Harry, you alright?" Neville asked and Harry saw that his hands were balled into fists.

"Stomach ache" he replied, and placed his hands back on his lap. 'What's wrong with me?'