A new chapter is here! I hope you enjoy it A big thank you to everyone who reads as well as all the wonderful kudos and comments on this story, they make my day 3

Chapter 16

Harry's face flushed crimson as he realised what he'd said, he gave James and Sirius a helpless shrug while both looked at Regulus with murder in their eyes. His face was still red as he sat down for breakfast.

"First day, are you nervous?" Greengrass asked while Harry dished up some warm porridge.

"A little," Harry shrugged. "I just hope I'm not really far behind or anything."

"We'll help you catch up if you need it" Regulus said from beside him and Harry smiled. He looked down to find Crookshanks winding around his feet, he pulled the cat into his lap, feeding him bits of bacon as he glared balefully at the gathered Slytherins. Harry would wonder how he'd gotten out of the Slytherin common room, but he knew better then to ask when it came to Crookshanks.

"Try not to get into any trouble" he whispered as he sat Crookshanks back on the ground and followed the others out of the Great Hall.

They talked as they walked to their first class, Snape avoided him like the plague, but the rest of his dorm mates seemed happy enough to make conversation. They asked him about what subjects he had studied before coming to Hogwarts and what his tutors had been like. Harry kept to the prearranged script, which was basically the truth anyway. The subjects were just ones he'd studied in his old life, the tutors' names came from muggle literature from his time. He told the truth about his abilities, there was no point lying, they would see soon enough just how terrible he was at potions.

McGonagall fixed him with her usual beady stare when he entered transfiguration, no doubt trying to size up the newest Slytherin. He moved to sit next to someone other than Regulus, concerned that he was monopolising the Slytherin's time, taking a seat next to Avery instead. They shot him a surprised glance but otherwise didn't comment. Luckily the lesson was similar to what he'd been learning in his own time. He didn't seem to be behind or in front, just floating somewhere in the middle. He felt himself relax a little at that, determined to put more effort into his schoolwork this time around.

Regulus was at his side as soon as the lesson finished, subtly manoeuvring Avery out of the way.

"How did you find that, Harry?"

"Not too bad, I think I'll be alright with transfiguration."

Regulus nodded, following Harry out of the classroom. "No doubt Avery, was a big help during the lesson."

Harry just shrugged, "not really, we didn't talk much."

As they walked down to herbology Harry's leg began to pain him, it reminded him that he had an appointment with the medi-witch this afternoon after lessons. He wasn't too big a fan of herbology, finding it a reminder of long hot days in the gardens at the Dursleys, but he could appreciate the usefulness of learning such skills.

"Knew you'd be another filthy snake" a voice rang out from behind him.

He spun around to find the group of Gryffindors from the train trailing behind them to herbology.

"Me?" Harry asked, momentarily confused.

"Yes you! Just as bad as the rest of them no doubt" a blonde boy sneered and Harry let out a low chuckle, wondering if his own arguments with Malfoy had been so ridiculous.

"I'd say I'm much worse, actually" Harry laughed, causing the other teens to look confused.

"What?"

Harry smiled, spinning around and continuing to walk towards the greenhouses ignoring the muttering behind him.

"Bloody Gryffindors" Lestrange muttered.

Harry just snickered.

"Something funny?" Lestrange asked.

"Just remembering something" Harry smiled, he glanced at Regulus to find the other already watching him, amusement dancing in his eyes.

They spread out at tables when they entered, predictably the Slytherins staying amongst themselves and the Gryffindors with their own house. The Gryffindors were eyeing their table with distain and Harry who had had more than his fair share of being on the end of that look threw a quiet shield between the two tables.

Today they were milking seed pods, the pods were as big as his hand, and it took quite a lot of work to squeeze the seeds out. They had a large bowl in front of each of them to collect the seeds in. The seeds were used in a variety of potions and highly valuable, hence while this task was left to the sixth years.

Harry gripped his seed pod tight, concentrating while having one ear open to the conversation around him.

"Start at the end and squeeze down" Professor Grubblyplank instructed, and Harry grunted as he tried his best. Biting his lip between his teeth he squeezed and pushed sighing in satisfaction when the seeds eventually started pouring from the end.

"Bloody hell" someone murmured, and Harry looked up, pushing his sweaty fringe off his forehead, to find every Slytherin's eyes on him.

"That was harder than it looks" Harry said, meeting the sea of eyes, his eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion.

"Somethings definitely hard" someone whispered so quietly Harry wasn't sure he was supposed to hear.

Before he could respond a resounding crack echoed through the room and Harry looked over to see an invisible wall covered in the very seeds they had been harvesting, with half of the Gryffindors also covered.

Professor Grubblyplank started berating the Gryffindors for their carelessness.

"Who put the shield up?" Mulciber asked moving forward and running his hands along the still intact barrier.

"Sure, showed those Gryffindors what for" Snape smirked, a few others laughing as the professor refused to let the Gryffindors use magic to clean up the mess.

"Know anything about it Harry?" Regulus asked with a sardonic raise of his eyebrow.

Harry shrugged sheepishly, "thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a shield up, just in case."

A few others at the table smiled.

"It definitely paid off."

"Back to work, all of you!" Professor Grubblyplank shouted shrilly, and Harry quickly got back to trying to milk his seed pod. By the time the class was done, and they were walking back up the slope for lunch, Harry's arms were aching as much as his leg. It had taken a lot more effort than he'd thought to milk the pods.

He ate sparingly at lunch, before following the rest of the sixth year Slytherins down to the dungeons for potions. When they entered, he immediately veered off from Regulus again, a plan forming in his head. He placed his things down at the table next to Severus before anybody else could. He swallowed thickly, though tried to look non-chalant as dark eyes bored into him, threatening violence.

"I work alone" Snape snarled, and Harry fought not to take an involuntary step back.

"Tell you what" Harry said quietly, "you help me with potions, and I'll help you learn how to cast a corporeal patronus.

Snapes eyes narrowed. Harry knew he was considering it, not many could do it and Harry knew Snape would love to have the ability. He hesitated and Harry could practically see the internal battle raging behind the dark eyes.

"Fine" the older Slytherin hissed. "You will do exactly as I say and try not to mess everything up."

He gulped, his body relaxing a little. He began unpacking his things as Snape went to collect their ingredients for the lesson.

Harry watched intently as Snape started preparing their potion, giving curt though useful instructions and letting Harry do only the most menial of tasks that couldn't be screwed up.

"Smaller" Snape hissed and Harry who was used to this from Snape every potion lesson just nodded and cut the bat liver into smaller chunks.

Harry turned to Snape after they'd turned in their perfect potion at the end of the lesson, "have you thought about writing a potions book? It'd be much better than what we are using at the moment."

Harry scurried away before Snape could respond, but he was pleased with how the lesson had gone.

He caught up with the other Slytherin 6th year boys, who were waiting just outside the door for him and Snape.

He gripped his cane tighter as they walked, "I've got an appointment with the healers" Harry explained as the other Slytherins branched off to their common room to drop off things before dinner, while Harry and Regulus continued on down the hall.

"We will see you at dinner later" Regulus said, putting a hand on Harry's back and starting to guide him down the hall.

Regulus was quiet as they walked and for the first time since meeting him Harry found himself unsure what to say. Usually even their silences felt comfortable, this one however, felt strained. He glanced at Regulus from under his lashes, but found the other Slytherin staring straight ahead, his entire posture seemingly relaxed. Maybe the tension was all in his head?

They arrived at the hospital wing and Harry had this overwhelming feeling of fear that Regulus was going to leave him. He couldn't understand the terror that was suddenly clutching at his chest.

A warm hand rubbing up his back brought him back to himself and he blinked green eyes up at Regulus.

"Harry?" Regulus asked in concern, and he shook his head, clearing it. He leaned into Regulus' hold a little.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" Regulus asked, and green eyes flashed up to him.

"No, I'll be alright."

Dark eyes scanned him intently, "I would feel better if I went with you. Just so I can make sure you're alright."

Harry squirmed a little, "alright" he murmured, trying not to look to pleased, before pushing open the doors and they both strode inside.

Madam Pureg greeted them with a smile before the doors had even closed behind them and Harry had to fight the urge to run.

"Harry Potter, I presume?" the woman asked, and Harry gave a jerky nod of his head, taking in the older woman's appearance. Short blonde hair and soft wrinkles around her eyes, and a warm nature that was reminiscent of Mrs Weasley.

He was led over to a bed and laid down while the woman started casting diagnostic tests. The good news was that there had definitely been improvement since healer Jones had done the last lot of scans. The bad news was that there was still a long way to go.

Madam Pureg gave him a supply of a variety of pain and healing potions as well as nutrition potions.

"The severe malnutrition you suffered in your childhood is making it harder for your body to properly heal now. But it will, it will just take time and perseverance."

Regulus shifted beside him while Harry merely nodded in acceptance.

He was given a long list of instructions, including reducing his use of his cane. "We need to be careful that you don't become reliant on it" she said as she shuffled through the pages in his file.

"Alright" Madam Pureg huffed, "I want you to come back in a month so we can re-assess."

"Thank you" Harry murmured as he climbed down off the bed, already making plans to try to avoid coming back ever again. Unfortunately, he knows that Regulus, Sirius and James would be on his case if he missed a healer's appointment.

Regulus was once again quiet as they walked down to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry was beginning to get worried. Though, perhaps this was just what Regulus was like at Hogwarts. How someone is at home could be completely different to how they are out in public.

"Will you come with me to see Sirius and James after dinner?" Harry asked quietly as he took another bite of his treacle tart.

"I don't think so. I'm sure James and Sirius would prefer if it was just you."

"That's not true, they'd love to see you as well" Harry argued.

"Not this time, I have a few things I need to do this evening. You go have a nice visit with James and Sirius."

Harry looked down at his plate, not feeling particularly hungry anymore.

"Alright."

Harry pushed his plate aside, deciding there was no time like the present, before he headed off towards the Gryffindor table to find James and Sirius. Unfortunately, in his haste to get away from Regulus and his confusing feelings he forgot about his plan to avoid the Gryffindor table and Peter Pettigrew as much as possible.

His eyes had caught on the familiar shock of dark curly hair that was James, already approaching him, before realising that the boy next to him was none other than the rat himself. His movements turned jerky as he came to a halt, eyes wide, but unfortunately close enough to garner most of the Gryffindors attention.

It was surreal… to see the orchestrator of so much of his pain and suffering, just sitting there, eating his dinner like he wasn't already planning on betraying the people closest to him.

Blood pounded in his ears, drowning out any noise around him, it wasn't until somebody forcibly gripped his arm that he blinked back to reality, finding a concerned Sirius staring back at him.

"Alright there, Harry?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just came over to see you and James."

Sirius nodded and Harry glanced around to find James already standing beside him. Remus had engaged Peter in conversation and sent Harry a small wink as he was led away by James and Sirius.

"Are you OK, Harry?" James asked with concern.

"Yeah of course" Harry said, shaking his head to clear it. "Just... I just forgot about him for a moment. Wasn't expecting to see him there and suddenly, he's all I could see."

Sirius gripped his arm tighter in comfort and James wrapped an arm around his shoulder. They led Harry to the Room of Requirement, that was masquerading as a cosy sitting room this time. James called for some tea and a few moments later a house elf arrived with a pot and a warm cup was being pressed into his hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sirius asked cautiously.

Harry blinked slowly; his eyes trained on his cup.

"What's there to talk about?"

Sirius and James shared a glance.

"That- that was just the first time I've seen him, s-since he killed Cedric… which is ridiculous as Cedric hasn't even been born yet."

"That's not ridiculous" James said quietly, gently pulling Harry into his side while Sirius carefully took away his still warm cup of tea.

"What was Cedric like?" Sirius asked and Harry blinked at him, having never been asked that before.

"He was brave. He didn't hesitate to put his name in to compete in the Triwizard Tournament" Harry said, thinking of Cedric's smiling face when he had thrown his name into the flames. "He was kind, he was always nice to everyone and when the Slytherin's made 'Potter Stinks' badges during the tournament, Cedric tried to get them to stop. He was hardworking" Harry chuckled lightly, "he was a Hufflepuff after all."

James and Sirius laughed too.

"He was considerate and fair, he helped me solve the second clue in the Tournament, without his help I might never have figured it out" Harry admitted.

"Did- did you have…. feelings for him?" Sirius asked cautiously.

Harry shook his head, rubbing his eyes and realising there were tears in them. "No, nothing like that. I guess I just admired him, was maybe a little bit jealous. He came from this wonderful family, worked hard and did well, everyone looked up to him… nothing bad had ever happened to him, until he crossed my path. I guess I always wondered if that's what my life could have been like, you know, if it weren't for, Voldemort" Harry finished quietly.

Sirius squishes in on his other side and they both just hold him.

"He sounds wonderful" James murmured, and Harry could do nothing else but nod.

When he made his way back to the common room hours later, he felt wrung out but oddly warm and soothed. He found Regulus still up, reading quietly in bed when Harry entered their dorm room.

His stomach twisted; he forgot something was going on with Regulus.

Regulus placed his book down and looked at Harry as he entered, dark eyes no doubt taking in his red eyes and pale complexion.

"How was your evening with Sirius and James?" Regulus asked as he stood, making his way to Harry.

"It was, wonderful" Harry said quietly. Regulus studied him, no doubt trying to work out if he was telling the truth, before nodding slowly.

"Good, I'm glad."

He guided Harry over to his bed, handing him one of the prescribed healing potions he'd been given earlier, his mouth pressed in a thin line.

"Is everything OK?" Harry asked as he drunk the potion down.

Regulus' face became completely smooth, as though realising he was giving too much away, and Harry felt cold dread seize his heart.

Seeing Harry's upset expression, Regulus let out a weary sigh. Harry tried to move away but Regulus pulled him even closer.

"I'm sorry, Harry" Regulus looked like he was in physical pain as he tried to explain how he was feeling. "I have been a little… unsure, why you didn't want to work with me in class today."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed in thought, before his expression cleared a little.

"I just didn't know what you usually did, so didn't want you to like, get sick of me or something. I mean I love that we're in the same house and get to hang out together, but I know you have other friends, I don't expect you to spend all your time with me."

He felt Regulus relax against him.

"Your company is far preferable to everybody else" Regulus rumbled, and Harry felt his chest warm.

"I also want to befriend Severus" Harry said quietly, glancing around the room to make sure they weren't being overheard.

"Severus?" Regulus asked, the question clear in his voice.

Harry nodded, thankful when Regulus didn't question him further.

"Come on Harry, let's go to bed" and Harry didn't even think to object when Regulus guided him into his bed and pulled the curtains closed around them.