Thoughts: 'Blah. Blah. Blah."

Flashback: Blah. Blah. Blah. ( [END]FLASHBACK before/after them)

Hedwig: "Blah. Blah. Blah."

Parseltongue: {Blah. Blah. Blah.}

Letters/Articles/Writing: Blah. Blah. Blah.

Chapter 8

It's the morning of the first Quidditch game of the season and tensions are running high in the Great Hall during breakfast. When Harry and Draco had walked into the hall, their path was immediately blocked by Ron Weasley, which is not exactly what Harry would call a great start to the morning, and doesn't seem to bode well for how the rest of the day will turn out. Professor McGonagall actually had to intervene and pull Weasley by his ear over to the Gryffindor table to prevent an all-out brawl from starting in the middle of the Great Hall, throwing a glare at Harry over her shoulder as she went.

"Do you think she's still mad at me?" Harry says now that they are seated at the Slytherin table with their housemates.

Draco rolls his eyes. "Oh, let's see, you interrupted her class-"

"-Sassed her in front of every Ravenclaw and Slytherin second-year-" Theo adds idly.

"-And don't forget when you kept interrupting her and eventually got yourself kicked out of class with a week's worth of detention." Blaise supplies, finishing the three's explanation.

"So… You're saying that she is still mad at me…" Harry says slowly, narrowing his eyes.

Draco, Blaise, and Theo sigh in unison before chorusing a shout of, "Yes!", that draws more than a few of their housemate's attention.

"Sorry." Draco apologizes sheepishly, quickly turning back to Harry, raising a brow at his dark-haired friend.

Harry groans dramatically, throwing his head back as he throws his fork down onto his plate with a clatter. Blaise reaches over to pat him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, mate! I'm sure she'll come around." Harry doesn't say anything, instead opting to keep his head lolled back, staring at the enchanted ceiling above.

"Why do you care so much, anyway?" Theo asks before taking another bite of his eggs.

Harry whips his head back into an upright position, immediately regretting it when he feels a slight twinge of pain shoot through his neck. He rubs at his upper shoulder as the pain slowly fades and fixes his gaze on the plate in front of him, picking up his fork and poking at his sausage.

"I don't know, I just do. I mean, she is a teacher, and it's really not her fault that I was in a foul mood. I guess I just shouldn't have taken it out on her, that's all." Harry explains, stabbing his sausage and letting go of the fork, leaving it standing upright, eliciting a heavy sigh from Draco.

"First of all," Draco reaches his hand over and plucks the fork from the sausage, putting it down on Harry's plate. "Don't play with your food. And secondly, never feel guilty unless it benefits you to do so."

"Yep, Slytherin 101, Harry. Have we taught you nothing?" Theo looks over at Harry, having to lean forward a bit to see past Draco, who is seated on his left.

"You're right; I'm just going to ignore it and hope that it goes away!" Harry exclaims, delighted with his conclusion.

"That is not what I meant, and you know it." Draco groans, defeated, already knowing that his chances of winning this argument have dwindled down into negative numbers.

"Well, that's what I got from it, so deal with it, leave me alone, and let me panic in peace." Harry says, picking up his fork and sticking it back into his sausage, turning his head so he can look Draco in the eye, silently challenging him to do something about it.

Draco simply breaks eye contact and focuses back on his breakfast, muttering "You are absolutely hopeless" under his breath.

"Whatever works for you, Harry. Who are we to get in the way of your bad habits?" Blaise says cheerfully as he adds more eggs to his plate.

Theo leans forward again and stares at Harry, a confused look on his face. "Is no one else going to address the fact that Harry just said he was panicking?"

Draco inhales and exhales heavily, unable to ignore it, like he was trying to, now that it's been pointed out (Thank you, Theo). "What's bothering you?" Draco's tone is dull and uninterested, but of course, that doesn't deter Harry in the slightest.

"Why, thank you so much for asking, Draco. You really are the best friend someone could ask for." Draco elbows him in the ribs, hissing "just get on with it" with a heated glare. "Fine; Well, if you haven't noticed, we have our first Quidditch match today."

"Yeah, and?"

"That's it? You're not nervous? At all?"

"It's Gryffindor, of course, we're going to win. You've seen them practice; Their team is an absolute nightmare this year. It's Ravenclaw we should be worried about." Draco explains, deciding to risk all-out war by taking Harry's fork out of his sausage once more. Harry growls, immediately putting it back. And so the battle of the silverware begins. It's a fierce battle with no end in sight, neither side willing to compromise or back down. Just when they think all hope is lost and that there will be no end to this ferocious conflict, a third party emerges, claiming victory and putting a stop to the gruesome skirmish, probably saving countless lives in the process.

Harry and Draco both look up, startled by the sudden disappearance of the fork, to see Blaise holding it tightly in his left hand. "If you two don't cut it out, I swear I will use this fork to brutally murder the both of you. I know how, so don't test me."

"I'll hold them down for you." Theo comments, attention still on his food.

"Traitor!" Harry turns to Theo, aghast, pointing a finger at his friend. "I thought you were on my side!"

"And whatever made you think that?"

"Because I- You… Shut up." Harry blushes furiously, looking down at his lap.

Suddenly, Dumbledore's voice cuts through the chatter, silencing the students. "The first Quidditch match of the season will be starting in one hour. If you are on the Gryffindor or Slytherin house team, then you should begin making your way to the field to get ready. Good luck!" Dumbledore's eyes hold that same infernal twinkle that makes Harry's skin crawl, and he can't help but huff at the Headmaster.

"Alright, come on." Draco says, standing and pulling Harry up by the shoulders, beginning to lead him out of the Great Hall.

"Good luck!" Blaise calls after them, standing up from the table to wave at them obnoxiously.

"Yeah, and don't fall off your broom." Theo adds, a bit quieter, but loud enough to where Harry and Draco can hear his comment. Harry and Draco laugh and wave him off, continuing through the grand doors and making their way through the corridors toward the Quidditch pitch.

~~~Time Skip~~~

The Slytherin victory celebration was well underway by the time Harry and Draco made it back to the common room. Music was blaring, people were cheering, and Snape was even smiling a little. I know, scary, right?

As Draco predicted, the Slytherin team emerged victorious without an extreme amount of effort, scoring 380 to 200. The Gryffindor team was good; The twins were excellent beaters and Oliver Wood, the team captain, definitely kept them fighting to score. But, their seeker, a second-year named Dean Thomas who is the only new member on the team, lacked the agility to play seeker. Harry does believe that he would make a good chaser, and with enough practice, he could be a decent seeker. It's likely that if he stays on the team next year, he will be more of a challenge to out-maneuver.

Harry and Draco walk into the common room and are immediately bombarded by happy, celebrating Slytherins. A year ago, this setting would have made Harry unbelievably uncomfortable, probably sending him spiraling into a panic attack from the noise and abundance of people. But now, he actually finds that he enjoys the chaos. So, instead of running to his dormitory to hide, he embraces the boisterous environment, enjoying the praise he's receiving from his fellow Slytherins.

The Slytherins are the most rambunctious he's ever seen them, and he and Draco are quickly pulled into the fray, receiving pats on the back and "well done"s as they make their way through the crowd.

Finally, they find Blaise and Theo. Well, more like Blaise and Theo find them, taking their hands and pulling them into a less crowded area in the common room.

"That was bloody fantastic!" Blaise cheers, slinging an arm around Harry and Draco's shoulders.

"He's right, you were both brilliant out there." Theo adds, more subdued, but still spirited.

"Yeah; Draco, when you did the thing, and then that other thing, and then the barrel roll! And Harry, that catch? Absolutely incredible!" Blaise says joyously, still hanging off of Draco and Harry.

Harry blushes lightly, still not entirely used to being given open praise like this, but he gives Blaise a bright grin nonetheless.

"He's right, you know. That catch really was impressive. You were going so fast, I could barely see you." The small group turns around to see Millicent Bulstrode, a fellow second year and one of the Slytherin beaters, standing behind them, a rare smile on her face. She tends to be ostracized for her looks, pushed away just because she's different, and Harry always tries to include her if he can.

"Thanks! You were really great too, by the way." Harry responds kindly, earning a nod of respect and another smile before Millicent waves and descends the stairs to the second-year girl's dormitory.

"You talk to her?" Draco asks, wrinkling his nose slightly.

Harry rolls his eyes fondly, understanding that Draco's upbringing has made him prejudiced and overly focused on blood purity. There are a lot of rumours going around about Millicent Bulstrode, mostly about her bloodline. Personally, Harry couldn't care less, but quite a few of the other Slytherins have made it their personal mission to harass her about it, and the others just seem to ignore her. Whether it's out of fear, not wanting to run the risk of ruining their reputation, or pureblood beliefs, Harry does not know. What he does know, however, is that Draco has bought into these rumours. He doesn't make fun of her, but he definitely does his best to stay out of her way as much as possible. Harry doesn't particularly like that his best friend does this, but he doesn't judge Draco too harshly. Most of it isn't his fault, after all.

"Yes, I do. She's actually not too bad. She knows a lot about Charms and has helped me out a few times." Harry replies nonchalantly, disentangling himself from Blaise's iron grip. "Come on, I think I see Pansy starting to make her way over here."

Draco's eyes grow wide, panic written across his features. "Let's make a run for it! We can hide in the crowd!" Draco whisper-shouts hurriedly, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him away into the sea of celebrating Slytherins. Harry chuckles at the blond, looking back at Blaise and Theo, who are doubled over laughing.

Harry doesn't think that life could get much better than this. He has a caring family, he has a group of friends that can easily match his crazy, and most of all, he now has a future that is in no way bleak and dismal. He really does have it all, and he's confident that nothing can take that away from him.

~~~Time Skip~~~

"Drrraaaacoooo…" Harry coos into his best friend's ear. He had woken up early because he and Draco wanted to search for the elusive portrait of Salazar Slytherin. He has read somewhere that each of the founders had a chamber hidden in the school that was guarded. Slytherin's was said to be the hardest to find so they wanted to ask the portrait himself. The only problem was that no one knew where it was. So, here he was attempting to wake his blond friend because he knows from experience that it takes him forever to get ready. It really is rather inconvenient, but it's not like Harry can say anything. He knows that he's a nightmare in the mornings, and he wears that fact like a badge of honor.

Draco gives no indication that he hears him, so he decides to just resort to the Tickling Charm; work smarter not harder.

"Rictusempra." He watches as Draco wakes with soft giggles which quickly morph into hysterical laughter. Harry cancels the charm before he wakes Blaise and Theo. Draco glares at the dark-haired boy, venom practically spitting from his eyes. Harry, of course, ignores the ineffective glare. "So, now that you are awake, you need to get dressed. We have to find Slytherin's portrait, can you imagine what the man must know." Harry gains a gleam in his eyes at what the man must know.

Draco rolls his eyes fondly. "Give me a few minutes."

~~~Time Skip~~~

Harry and Draco were planning as they made their way to the great hall after their little adventure. The only thing they managed to find in the dungeon were some, very, creepy cells.

"I'm just saying, those cells could be very useful!" Harry exclaims as he sits at the table for breakfast. Blaise and Theo share a fearful look that Harry and Draco miss, completely immersed in the conversation as they were. Harry looked up at his friends across from him. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey Harry, how was your morning?" Blaise cautiously asks.

"It was great! Draco and I were exploring the dungeon and found these really cool cells. There were chains and everything." Harry replies with too much enthusiasm for this discovery.

Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by the sound of owls. Harry looks up looking for the white blur that was his lovely familiar. She and Loki, Draco's owl, are easily spotted amongst the sea of brown.

"Good morning, Hatchling." Hedwig greets.

"Good morning, Hedwig." Harry says as he lavishes her with attention.

"Harry, mother sent us a package." Draco interrupts, taking the package from Loki. The brown parcel that was attached to Loki's leg is enlarged with a swift engorgio. Inside is a pair of necklaces with their respective family crests along with an assorted variety of sweets. Harry notices they have a grey aura around them.

Dear Draco and Harry,

Lucius informed me of the trouble going on at the school. I've sent some necklaces that have protection charms on them. They will protect you from mild curses and hexes. They are spelled so only the one who put them on can remove them, wear them always. Be safe boys, and never travel alone.

Love,

Narcissa

"Well, that's not worrying or anything." Harry comments from over Draco's shoulder. Draco hands over the Malfoy necklace, both boys putting the chains over the other's head so only they could remove them from the other's person. "Do you have your journal on you?"

"Of course I do, don't you?" Draco replies, almost offended.

"Yeah, I just don't want to get it out." Harry responds with a cheeky smile. Draco rolls his eyes and pulls out his communication journal, the slight heat radiating from it indicating the awaiting reply.

Draco and Harry,

Thank you for informing me of the situation, the Board was not aware of the petrification of the old caretaker's cat. Please keep me updated if the situation gets any worse.

As for the message on the wall, you boys need to be very careful. The last time the chamber was opened a student died before the culprit was apprehended. Listen to Severus and never travel alone, do not put yourselves in any unnecessary danger.

Harry, I do believe you have a book about various wizarding abilities. You may want to give that book another look. Remember what you can do is a gift and should be treated as such. Don't be discouraged by what others say, embrace your gifts, they only make you stronger.

Sincerely,

Lucius

"That was frustratingly vague, why can't anyone just give us a straight answer." Harry whines.

"Do you know what book he is talking about Harry?" Draco inquires.

"Yeah, I got it before our first year. I think it's in my trunk. We can look for it later." Harry responds after thinking about it.

"Well," Blaise pips up. "We need to get to class. We wouldn't want Harry to annoy McGonagall even more than he already has, now would we?" Harry groans dramatically as the boys pack up their belongings and make their way to transfiguration.

~~~Time Skip~~~

It is much later when a young boy finds himself walking through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts. It's late, no doubt everyone else is asleep, and he knows that he shouldn't be out, but he's been meaning to do this for some time now.

He reaches the astronomy tower, and after checking to make sure that there is no one in sight, he climbs the ladder leading to the roof, careful to make sure that his camera doesn't swing into the stone wall and break. When he reaches the top he stops for a minute, taking in the beauty of the clear night sky.

He raises his camera and begins taking pictures, attempting to capture the grandeur of the moon and the brilliance of the stars. With each click of the shutter, he finds himself even more mesmerized by the spectacle before him.

Soon, too soon if you were to ask him, he is finished with his task, making his way back down the ladder and into the castle. He walks for a little while in the silence before he hears a rustling behind him. He whips around, his Lumos bathing the corridor in an eerie light that merges perfectly with the glow of the moon that shines in from the windows to his left. Forgetting the sound, he turns, placing his wand on the ground and bringing his camera up to his face. Just as he's about to take the photograph, he hears the strange rustling sound again, this time louder than before. Quickly, he turns, one eye closed with the other still peering through the camera.

The last thing he sees before he succumbs to the darkness is a pair of haunting, yellow eyes.

A/N: We hope you guys are enjoying the story as much as we enjoy writing it. It's great reading y'all's comments and reading your encouragement. Thank you for making this a great experience for us!