Green eyes scanned the crowd in front of him as he stepped off the Hogwarts Express. If someone were to look from afar, they would see him blend into the pool of black-robed students, practically impossible to spot amongst the countless bodies. Yet, as Harry stepped onto the Hogsmeade train station, he never felt more alienated or more painfully foreign. He wanted this; he told himself repeatedly in his head, he had wanted this estrangement; to isolated by himself; without weakness, without distractions.
His wandering eyes caught on to the all-familiar red hair as he watched Ron, Ginny, Cho, Neville and Luna got off the train. He noticed, with a pang, that they were all wearing frowns on their expressions and briefly wondered if he was the cause of it all. He gazed at them from where he was as they made their way to one of the horseless carriages. They were upset with him, disappointed and hurt by his actions... but they were safe. He gave a sad smile. As long as they were safe, Harry did not mind any sacrifice. They would get over him eventually, forget him and get on with their normal lives...
The smile slowly faded however as his eyes followed them to the carriages and caught sight of the Thestrals. Black as night, they were barely visible. His eyes took on a faltered bitter look as the skeletal horse silently raised its head to reveal glowing white eyes that was staring straight at him. The eyes could pierce his soul if it wanted; it was already doing the equivalent. Staring directly into its eyes, Harry felt that it was examining him, digging through his emotions and memories; those that he tried so hard to file away were suddenly unravelling and flashing within him as though the Thestral's eyes unlocked the drawer in his mind.
The cold wind blowing against his face and the night view of London as he flew on the Thestral. The urgency and frustration at being delayed by Umbridge. The circular room with the revolving doors. The confusion and anger at going into all the wrong rooms repeatedly. The room of prophecies. The eagerness of finding Sirius. The hundreds of shelves towering over him with the countless glowing bottles of prophecies. The cold fear that slid into his heart when Lucius Malfoy's voice rang out in the chamber. The fight that issued afterwards. The adrenaline that pumped through his veins and the painful awareness that he had led his friends to their deaths. The spark of hope that he allowed himself to light as the Order members apparated in. Sirius's loud bark of laughter. The voice shouting out the curse. The green flash-
"Stop."
He hissed through clenched teeth, tearing his eyes away from the eerie stare. His body tensed up as he bent over, his hands slamming onto his knees for support. Ragged breaths escaped him as he struggled with himself. Damn those Thestrals. Damn those memories.
"Stop!"
He forcefully whispered to himself, giving his body a jerk.
"What's wrong, Potter?" An all-too-familiar voice drawled above his head. "That hysterical banshee sapped all the life out of you already?"
Harry's eyes snapped open to glare at the dark ground. The grip on his knees tightened as he listened to his school rival taunt him for what was the second time in the day. Keep going Malfoy. He never had better timing; he was the distraction that Harry needed so badly then.
A deep breath. A push off his knees and Harry was standing upright again. He had grown a little again over the summer, he was now approximately as tall as Malfoy or perhaps even taller. Taking a step closer, he fixed his eyes on him.
"Don't call her that." His voice carried a hint of threat and challenge.
Malfoy took his challenge head on; stepping up to close the distance between them. Green met grey as the two teenagers stood eye-to-eye, amongst the moving, bustling crowd that were oblivious to the tension building up.
"Bite me."
The silent challenge between them heightened as Malfoy smirked in response. In Harry's opinion, it was a smirk itching to be smacked off. Before he could do anything though, Hagrid's voice boomed loudly above them, calling out for the first years. The tension that had been built up dissipated as quickly as it had been formed.
Malfoy chuckled, "I won't be too keen to lose house points just yet, Potter.".
His grey eyes flicked behind Harry for a short moment. Another of his smirks flashed before he suddenly turned away and strutted off to one of the empty carriages, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Harry watched their retreating figures for a moment before turning around... his eyes caught on immediately on the one figure who was stepping onto the platform. Despite the black mass of students around her, his eyes could differentiate her from the rest.
She stood out amongst the crowd...for reasons unbeknownst to him. Perhaps it was the glow she had around her, illuminated by the streetlight above her. Her head slowly turned to one side as she took in the sight around her, her brown hair swishing into a soft golden colour when it caught the light. He watched her from where he stood as she stepped into the flow of people, pushed along by the students heading in the direction of the carriages. He himself was also nudged and shoved along the way, but his attention never swayed too far from the mysterious girl, even when she entered the shadows, he was always able to make out her figure in the dark.
His eyes followed her as she manoeuvred her way through the crowd to one of the horseless carriage. He noticed that she glanced over to the front of the carriage, and vaguely wondered if she could see the Thestrals too. A hand came up to grasp the handle and a step up to the carriage. Before she entered however, she turned her head around. Her eyes swept across the crowd and stopped when she met his gaze. Neither of them looked away, she standing on the step of the carriage and him standing amidst the moving crowd. Harry caught the corner of her lips hitch upwards for a moment, just before he was knocked off balance by a second-year student. The eye contact broke as he stumbled momentarily, but in that flash, she had disappeared into the carriage by the time he looked up again.
Left standing there with a strange emotion, Harry kept his eyes on the carriage. It occurred to him suddenly that it was the same carriage that Malfoy had entered minutes ago. She knew. She went over to the carriage not by coincidence; she made her way there on purpose. Harry watched her do it, just moments ago. He let out a disbelieving breath, the strange feeling disappearing, replaced by another that felt remotely similar to betrayal. They knew each other, of course they did. Why would she, otherwise, stand up for him earlier in the train? He shook his head as he looked up at the carriage that sat his two school rivals, chuckling slightly. He should consider her a school rival too, since they were so chummy together.
He put his hands in his pockets and started making his way to an empty carriage alone.
---------------------------------------------
"I know."
Hermione sat upright in the carriage, directly opposite her brother. Her eyes did not meet his gray ones as she stubbornly kept her gaze at the space next to him.
"Oh? You know?" Draco's sarcastic tone contrasted with Hermione's quiet statement. "You know that you nearly jeopardised the mission earlier? Just because you couldn't control yourself?"
"I don't regret it, Draco." She said evenly, her eyes coming up to meet his. "She deserved it."
"No! Leah, you have to get used to such things! We're not in the high society here, these are teenagers. Mudbloods, muggle-lovers, half-bloods, pure-bloods. They are all here! You have to get used to all of these!" Draco exclaimed loudly and forcefully, before softening his voice and expression, leaning forward to look at her intently.
"You've never came here before, of course you wouldn't know how it is. I should have told you before we came." He rested a hand on hers. "Leah, it is how it is. We don't like it, but this is something that is out of our control. It's not worth the mission, not worth blowing our mission for something as trivial as this. We know our family honour, we know our status, and we know our value. That is all that matters because we have what it takes to prove it."
"This mission, we have to complete it. Our lives depend on it, Leah. You know it."
Hermione looked down at their hands before looking back at his intense gaze. "I do."
Draco squeezed her hand softly, giving her a gentle smile. "We're in this together, Leah, the two of us. We'll fix this and make Mother and Father proud. We won't disappoint Master."
"We haven't failed him before, Draco, and I don't think we intend to fail him now." She smiled back at him, before glancing out of the window, into the night sky.
Draco let out a laugh, releasing her hand and sitting back into his seat. "We've got a lot to do then......"
--------------------------------------
The great hall was buzzing with commotion and life. The students chatted animatedly over their house tables, the professors' table gradually filled up as they entered the great hall. Everyone was looking forward to the sumptuous feast that was to come.
The heavy doors to the great hall opened with the rumbling creak that turned the heads of every one, silencing the hall momentarily. A tall, stern-looking lady strode purposefully, trailed by a line of young, wide-eyed first years. They padded along quietly down the aisle between the house tables, their heads turning in every direction, mouths open in silent exclamation. The students seated at the tables started whispering to each other, staring at the newcomers.
"They're so small!"
"Haha, look at them gape at the ceiling!"
"More people for us to torture!"
"Are those twins?"
Professor McGonagall led the first-years to the front of the hall, where on a tall stool, sat a torn and tattered wizard's hat. The Sorting hat burst into life as it started singing, an annual tradition of Hogwarts.
Harry took the time to scan the Professors' table, tuning out the song. His eyes swept past the usual teachers - Professor Flitwick, Professor Sprout, Professor Hooch and the others, pausing slightly on Hagrid. A mixture of relief and happiness to see him brought a small smile to his face as he watched him accidentally rattle the entire staff table as he laughed heartily at a joke Professor Flitwick just told. As though sensing Harry's gaze, Hagrid looked back from across the hall. Recognising Harry with a smile mostly hidden behind his bushy beard, his large hand came up, knocking the table in the process, and gave a small wave. Harry's hand instinctively moved to wave back, but he stopped it halfway, clenching into a fist. No, he reminded himself. No distractions, no connections, no weaknesses. Not even Hagrid, he told himself as he pretended not to notice his acknowledgement, his gaze continuing down the staff table.
Professor Dumbledore sat regally in the centre of the stall table, looking down and across the Great Hall. Looking calm and poised, Harry noticed that he was wearing a kind smile on his face as he observed yet another batch of students entering his school that year. Harry remembered a conversation he had with Professor Dumbledore over the summer whilst sitting on the grass to admire the stars.
"Professor, would you close down Hogwarts? I mean, with Voldemort out there... and the war..."
"No Harry, I would not. As long as there is still a Hogwarts student, I will always keep the doors open for him."
"Why? I bet many of them are going to withdraw from the school. Not that I want you to close Hogwarts..."
"As you said, Harry, a war is on its way. The people already live in fear and apprehension. Within the walls of Hogwarts, Harry, I can keep my students free and safe from such a life, perhaps not completely, but it is enough for a childhood. I look at them and I see hope in their innocence, encouragement from their laughter and determination from their carefree lives. In dark times like these, Harry, you will need it. Only with hope, you can fight a war. With encouragement and determination, you can win it."
"My students are my greatest joy and pride, Harry. That is why I fight to keep them safe."
He wondered if Professor Dumbledore had remembered what he had shared with him that night as he clapped for a student who was sorted in Ravenclaw.
Next to Professor McGonagall's empty seat was Snape, looking as sour-faced and pale as ever. Over the summer, Professor Dumbledore had him to train under Snape in various aspects of magic - potion-making, dark magic theory, defence magic and even a little of physical combat. He had not forgiven him for snubbing Sirius the year before, but he had put it aside to learn from him. Snape was an equally unwilling participant in the arrangement, but had ultimately heeded the headmaster's plans to train him. The past summer had been rough; Snape had not gone easy on him. He guessed the mutual hate would never disappear, just temporarily put aside for larger matters.
Next to Snape sat a pudgy man who was babbling animatedly to him. Harry squinted, wondering if he was the new Defence against the Dark Arts professor. He looked like one who experienced more riches and luxury than dark arts, judging from his size and expensive-looking robes. He was extremely chatty, Harry observed, as he went on and on to Snape who sat stiffly in his seat with obvious annoyance.
Professor Trelawney sat at the end of the table, draped in her coloured shawls, looking very much like an insect with her magnified eyes. He let out a bitter chuckle. After all those years thinking that she was a fraud who predicted his death in so many ways, who knew that one of her predictions could actually affect his life so drastically since he was born? Did she know that she had been the one to make the prophecy that everyone was speculating about in the papers? The same prophecy that nearly caused his friends their life? The same one that caused him... to lose his godfather.
For a moment, he felt a rush of anger at the woman who sat there sipping her pumpkin juice. If she had not made that damned prophecy, he would not have had to go through everything. His parents would be alive, Sirius would be alive, and everything would be all right. How could he face her in Divination classes? Knowing that she was the one who changed everything with the prophecy? Harry shook his head again; he knew it was wrong to blame her. It was destiny. Fate had chosen this path for him, as Professor Dumbledore had said. No prophecy could change that. He had to accept it, to walk the path with courage.
"Granger, Hermione"
Professor McGonagall's crisp voice rang out in the Great Hall. Harry turned his attention back to the sorting. There were no longer any first-years waiting to be sorted in the front but the professor remained standing in front of the stool, reading from the long scroll of names.
"Granger, Hermione." She called out for a second time. The murmurs and whispering had started; everyone was looking around for the mysterious student. Harry wondered, as he too searched around, why the student was left to the last instead of being alphabetically sorted like all the other first-years. From the sea of heads, a movement caught his eye at the other side of the hall, where the Slytherin table was. A figure had stood up and begun walking to the front of the hall.
That girl! Harry recognised her instantly from where he was. It was that girl from the train. She definitely was not a first year, was she a transfer? Were there transfers in wizarding schools? Harry did not know. No wonder he could not remember who she was; she was new! He vaguely heard one of the Gryffindors comment that she was sitting at the Slytherin tables. His eyes riveted back to where he had first spotted her and true enough as he suspected, Malfoy was seated not far away, with what was an anxious expression on his face. What was he anxious about? If that girl, Hermione Granger, could get sorted into Slytherin? They had to be pretty close for him to be anxious about her getting sorted into the same house as he was.
Harry watched the mysterious girl stride to the front of the hall, her face expressionless as Harry had seen earlier. No doubt she will be placed into Slytherin.
--------------------------------------------------
"Granger, Hermione."
Hermione had been seating at the Slytherin table, watching the Hogwarts Sorting for the first time when she heard the lady call out. Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and the Head of Gryffindor. She was wondering about her own sorting. Surely she would be sorted into Slytherin? Did she have to go up and put on that tattered hat though? They had not mentioned it in the letter of acceptance, so she had followed Draco to sit at the Slytherin tables. She sat near him; a few other students separated them. Sitting quietly, she observed her brother and his friends. Draco was certainly popular enough amongst his housemates, who were not that much to her liking; especially the girls who were fawning over him shamelessly. Hermione had to restrain herself from losing control again and dragging the girls aside. Instead, she remained where she was, watching on uncomfortably at how he flirted with the girls and joked with his friends.
"Granger, Hermione."
Her head jerked up at the sound of her name called the second time. There was no mistake; she was to be sorted at that instant. Immediately, she stood up and started walking to the front of the hall. All heads began to turn in her direction, and she could hear whispering erupting from all tables.
"Who is she?"
"Is she a transfer?"
"Did you see? She was seating over at the Slytherin tables."
"I bet she's going to be in Slytherin."
She ignored the murmurs and the stares, simply making her way to the front. Even the professors were all looking at her curiously. Dumbledore, she noticed, was observing her very intently. All that too, she pretended not to acknowledge as she approached the tall stool. Professor McGonagall was looking at her sternly, presumably unpleased by her lack of promptness. Without a word, she sat on the stool and waited for her sorting. In that short moment, she realised that she did not know how the hat worked. Hogwarts: A history had never mentioned it. All it wrote was that the Sorting Hat would sort the students based on the characteristics of each house.
She felt the hat brush the top of her head for a brief second, before it shouted out its decision.
"Slytherin!"
Was that it? She wondered as she glanced up at the Professor. There was no indication to stay, thus she got off the stool gracefully and begun walking back to her seat. Inwardly she was happy to be in Slytherin, to be in the same house as Draco was. She searched for Draco as she walked back and saw him smile fondly at her. She was about to smile back when amidst the clapping and cheers....
"Gryffindor!"
Hermione stopped in her tracks, a few steps away from the Slytherin table. The cheers died quickly and the Hall turned silent. She turned around to look at the Sorting Hat with a frown, before glancing up at Professor McGonagall. She looked unsure. Turning around, she questioned the Sorting Hat.
"Are you sure?"
"She belongs in Gryffindor."
Never before in the history of Hogwarts had the Sorting Hat remade its decision for a student, much less from an obvious Slytherin to a Gryffindor, the opposing houses. A look of uncertainty crossed the professor's face before she made her decision.
"Well, the Sorting Hat has decided. Gryffindor it is."
Hermione hesitated. She had wanted to stay in Slytherin, not Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat was wrong, she belonged in Slytherin. She was a Malfoy after all! How did it figure out that she should be in Gryffindor instead?
"Miss Granger, the Gryffindor table is this way." Professor McGonagall's voice cut through her thoughts.
She looked around her. Professor McGonagall and the Sorting Hat were looking at her expectantly. The teachers were all staring at her; Dumbledore was still looking very intently at her behind his spectacles. The students were silent and watching, waiting for her next move.
She made up her mind quickly and changed directions. Walking over to the Gryffindor table, she could feel the eyes of the entire hall on her. Holding her head high, she avoided everyone's gaze and continued down the table right till the end where there was a space. Promptly but gracefully, she seated herself down, feeling quite self-conscious. When she glanced up however, she was surprised.
Seated directly in front of her was Harry Potter.
-----------------------------------------------------
Hey! The next chap is finally up as promised by the end of the week! Hope u guys like it...
Tell me your comments in your review! =)
Till then.
Good Things are Worth Waiting for.
-->