AN/ thank you for your patience. Thank you all again for reading. As usual I own nothing but plot.

Harry sat in his compartment, waiting for Amelia and Lilly to arrive at the train station. The end of the summer holidays had come faster than he had thought it would. It was strange because he found himself not minding if the summer would last longer or not. He chalked it up to the fact that he was now happy with his living arrangements, even if he did miss his parents still. He absentmindedly started to rub Sleepy Larry's head, causing the head to fall asleep as he lay on his lap. He watched the different people moving around the platform as they dropped off their children.

His attention was brought to a small family of three that looked somewhat familiar. He recognized Lucius Malfoy almost immediately, as he had seen him around school here and there. The boy was just like his son when he was this age, a pompous little prick with a daddy complex. He tended to prance around as if he owned the school and, from what Cygnus had told him, was the unofficial king of Slytherin. He threw his money around just as his son had, buying support to get his way within the house. He had also managed to gain a small following that included the young Crabbe and Goyle. The one that held a concern for Harry was that he already seemed to have his claws into Snape.

He shook his head as he looked elsewhere within the station. He spied Remus, standing next to the other three boys and their parents. He chuckled a bit as he watched Peter Pettigrew's mother rubbing dirt from his nose. He heard the compartment door open and turned his head to see who it was. He was a bit surprised to see Cygnus entering his compartment and got up.

"Cygnus, how are you, my friend?" He asked, sticking out his hand and shaking the other boy's.

"I'm alright, Harry. How are you?" He returned.

"I'm good. It was a bit of a full holiday, but I'm not complaining. How was yours?" He said as they sat down.

Cygnus sighed a bit and looked out the window. "It was fine. We went to Greenland for a time to try and gather some new plants. Other than that, it was a bit boring."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Not that I don't enjoy seeing you, my friend, but what brings you here? I know we aren't keeping this friendship secret, but we were planning on keeping a low profile for a time yet still."

Cygnus nodded his head. "Yeah, I won't be here long. I just figured I would catch up with you for now. You need to keep an eye on Malfoy this year, Harry, along with that Snape boy, as I have said before. I was at the summer gala a few weeks ago and overheard Malfoy talking with Nott and a few others about upping the ante on Potter and his gang. I'm not sure what they mean by that, but things could get ugly and fast, especially since it is likely that Potter and his crew will up their attacks as well. We could be seeing a bloodbath in a year or two if I would guess. It could be sooner if Snape loses his cool over that girl of yours."

Harry sighed and looked out the window. "This isn't good, Cygnus. It most certainly is not cool at all. The worst part about it is that it doesn't seem that the professors will do anything about it either. He hadn't liked to think that James had gotten special treatment in his last timeline when Snape told him, but he was starting to see it now. Even McGonagall would treat him differently, not being as harsh on her punishments. Looking back on it, she had carried that over to him when he entered school. Sure, she had given him a few harsh punishments, but she even rewarded him a few times for his recklessness.

"Yeah, it's almost like Dumbledore is setting up lines, and Slytherin is on the losing end of this little war. The Slytherins aren't afraid of causing real harm if attacked, and it shows. This makes people fear the house as a whole a lot more when you have one side throwing pranks that could be dangerous and the other throwing regular dangerous spells. If he would stop Potter and them to begin with, it wouldn't reach this point," he said softly.

"Are you suggesting that Dumbledore is using this to influence the way the other three houses look at Slytherin, that he is playing the two houses against each other? Perhaps he is telling Potter that all Slytherins are evil, so he takes it upon himself to punish them by using pranks. They respond in a manner that is predictable for children, like violence and proves him to be right in Potter's mind. Thus, he ups his attacks, causing them to do the same and making others' views on them go down?" Harry asked.

Cygnus blinked a few times. "Well... yeah, pretty much. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, you figured that out so quickly. I really don't see how you didn't end up in Slytherin sometimes."

Harry chuckled. "Oh, I could have, but the hat was afraid I would kill the lot of them." Cygnus paled a bit at that.

He finally stood to his feet and prepared to leave. "Well, either way, I figured I would give you a warning. You good to meet up next week?"

"Sure, same time as usual?" Harry asked.

"Yup, sure enough. Well, I'll see you then," Cygnus said with a wave.

Harry waved back before going back to staring out the window. When he noticed both the Evans and the Bones families enter the station, he got up and went out to meet them. After a short talk with the two families and wishing Petunia a good school year, they all boarded the train. A short while later, Snape entered the compartment. He threw a dirty look at Harry and Amelia before he sat down next to Lily.

The train ride to Hogwarts was, as usual, a fun one. The only downside was Snape constantly glaring at Harry or muttering things under his breath. Harry noticed that Lily had a hint of embarrassment on her cheeks from his behavior and raised an eyebrow at it. He shook it off, though, as a figment of his imagination and continued to talk to his friends.

Before long, they arrived at Hogsmeade and up to the castle. It was strange how mundane it all was in this timeline. Nothing had happened so far in the way of life-or-death situations as it had in his timeline. There are no barrier blockages preventing him from coming to school. He sat next to Lily at the Ravenclaw table, listened to the Sorting Hat's song, and watched the sorting. He only recognized a few names that were called, including Rita Skeeter, and he groaned upon hearing her name.

(A week later)

Harry was sitting in the classroom where he usually met up with Cygnus and Remus on alternating days. He was setting up the chessboard when Cygnus came through the door. "Hey, Cygnus, how's it going?"

"We may have a problem," he said, drawing his friend's attention.

Harry looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, and may I

Ask what that might be?"

Cygnus dropped into his chair. "We've been found out."

Harry chuckled as he continued his work. "You make it sound as though we are having some sort of sorted affair, Cygnus." His friend scrunched up his nose. "Now then, who has found out, and why is it a problem?"

Cygnus sighed and looked out the window. "Okay, maybe I was being a bit dramatic. Out of anyone finding out that we hang out, it could have been worse. It's Andromeda Black that found me out. She saw me heading up here after watching you come in here as well."

Harry raised his other brow. "Is she following me?"

Cygnus shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know. She said she would like to meet you, though. She said that she thought you were interesting and would like to get to know you as well."

Harry vaguely remembered her as being Tonks's mom in his timeline. He shrugged his shoulders a bit and said. "Why not? Have her meet me here on Sunday then."

Cygnus looked at him as though he was bonkers. "Have you gone around the bend, mate? Don't you know about the Blacks? Those three are the ice queens of Slytherin. Bellatrix is bat-shit insane, and Andromeda is a fierce girl who froze a bloke's bollocks right off last year."

Harry did inwardly cringe a bit at that description. It really didn't sound pleasant. "Don't worry, Cygnus, I can handle my own, you know?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll let her know then. It was nice knowing you," he muttered the last part under his breath.

Harry just shook his head, and they began to play their game. "It's been pretty quiet the last few weeks," he mentioned offhandedly.

"Too quiet, if you ask me. I feel it's just a matter of time now before all hell breaks loose," he said, getting back on the topic of their usual affairs of talking about the state of the school politics.

"Any news in the Slytherin common room?" Harry asked, making the first move.

Cygnus shook his head. "No, not really. The most I have heard is that Malfoy wants news on the movements of Potter's little club throughout the school. The only problem there is that they seem to be exceptionally good at sneaking around unnoticed."

Harry had to suppress a snort of laughter at the reminder of the Invisibility Cloak of James. "Well, at least we are getting one week of silence, I suppose. From what I have heard, those four don't have anything concrete planned yet, but you are right in that it is only a matter of time. By the way, I have heard that Potter is planning on trying out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, along with Black. That is not going to be a good thing if they get in when it comes to the Slytherin games."

"Bloody hell, I should just resign my position now, then," Cygnus winced, causing Harry to chuckle. He was on the Slytherin team as a Chaser and was pretty good at it as well.

"Hey, that's up to you. All I'm going to say is I would watch out. I have a feeling they wouldn't be against pranking the team either to stop someone from playing or for revenge if they lose," Harry told him.

Cygnus nodded his head and mumbled, "Yeah, thanks."

(Sunday)

Harry was sitting in the classroom, waiting for Andromeda Black to arrive. Curled up next to him upon the large desk was Larry, who decided to join him for this meeting. Usually, he would explore the castle, having long since become bored of watching chess. Plus, he could go unnoticed by many and gain important information for Harry on the various houses.

He was thinking about his encounter with Frank Longbottom the day before. He had run into the other boy while walking down the fourth-floor corridor. They had struck up a conversation when he noticed the other boy had a Rememberall. He had to suppress a snort at hearing how it had immediately lit up red when he got it and still couldn't remember what it was he had forgotten. He couldn't help but think "like father, like son" when hearing this.

The two of them had then gone off to lunch together, talking about their classes and what they thought about them. It had been a fast friendship, as both boys loved Transfiguration and Defense a lot and had a lot to talk about. Harry had even invited him to join their study group, which had now grown already to include Alice Fortescue, a friend of Lily's she had met last year.

He was brought out of his musings as the door to the classroom opened enough to let a very pretty girl with long brown hair and violet eyes in. Harry had to admit, as he stood to greet her, that she was just as pretty as both Lily and Amelia and found her eyes to be mesmerizing. She closed the door and turned to him properly.

Harry gave her a slight bow of his head, figuring he would go into this as a pureblood rather than speaking in an informal tone. He still wasn't sure what it was that she wanted and figured it would be best to play it safe. "Ms. Black, I presume."

Andromeda felt her eyes widen a fraction at his tone of voice. She had been watching him for a while now, since last year, in fact, and found him interesting. He seemed friendly and kind, and she liked how he treated everyone fairly despite her cousin trying to prank him with his friends. However, right now, he sounded like her grandfather. She looked up to Arcturus Black. He was a fair man, and while he didn't openly support Muggle-borns and half-bloods, he was okay with them. However, the Slytherin part of her quickly realized what Pendragon was doing. They didn't know each other, and their contact between them wasn't here for introductions. Thus, he was setting up for the conversation ahead and feeling how she wanted to proceed.

"Please call me Andromeda. I was hoping that we could be friends," she said in a musical voice.

Harry stared at her for a few moments before he nodded a bit and gestured for her to take the seat in front of the table. He held it for her as she took her seat before moving to his own. She was pleased to see that he had manners. "Very well, Andromeda, then please call me Harry."

She nodded her head as they watched each other. She couldn't help but find his sapphire eyes a bit mesmerizing. "Thank you, Harry."

A moment of silence passed between them. "So, Andromeda, may I ask why it is that you wished to meet me?"

She nodded a bit. "Well, I was just wanting to get to know you. You seem like a nice guy and someone I could get along with. I don't have many friends here and am looking for more."

Harry raised a brow. "I'm sorry if I offend you, but you are a rather pretty girl, and I find it hard to believe that you do not have many friends," he said bluntly.

Andie felt her cheeks heat up a bit at his compliment but quickly shut down her emotions. 'None taken; however, that is part of the reason I don't have many friends. I would rather people want to be my friend for me and not my looks. I also do not follow the pureblood ways as strictly as most of my housemates, so that has limited my friends within the house.'

Harry was a bit stunned that she was being so straightforward with him. He had expected her to be more withdrawn about this rather than tell him. He was fully prepared to play the game. He gave her a smile. 'I see. Well, as you may have come to know, I do not hold to the pureblood ways strictly myself. So, as long as you do not show any blood superiority, then we should be fine, and I would like to be your friend. You seem like an alright person.'

Andie felt her heart rise at his words and the excitement of making a new friend within the school. The two of them soon broke into a discussion of their favorite classes. They talked for a few hours about various things, like their likes and dislikes. They talked about what it was like growing up in America compared to Britain. Andie found it strange how much the two varied in their views of blood statuses but found she rather liked the American view. It was quick to determine that they had a lot in common, and they both enjoyed each other's company a lot.