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Chapter Text

“...Help you tell the wrong sort from the right”

“Wow… You are prejudiced aren’t you? Good thing I’m not. Be my friend and maybe we can change that.”

Harry stuck his hand out over Draco’s waiting for the boy to retract his hand to shake Harry’s. Harry hated bullies, but something told him this kid wasn’t all as bad as he seemed. Harry could feel Ron’s stare on him. He hoped his new friends were going to be OK with the latest addition to their group.

Draco’s hand was cool and soft as it slipped into Harry’s. The two boys smiled gently at each other as the grand doors behind them opened. Their hands dropped but never parted, as the witch from earlier strode in. Draco stood with his shoulder behind Harry’s.

“In a moment I will open these doors and we will enter the Great Hall. You will all be sorted into one of four houses, each has its glory. Your house will be like your family. If you make your house proud with good behavior it will earn your house points. Rule breaking will take points away. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will earn the house cups. In each house, there are prefects and head children to guide you. You may go to them for advice, study help, as well as any other problems you may have. Each house also has a head of house that you will meet in your dormitories. Inter-house relationships are permitted and even encouraged. Feel free to visit other houses and common rooms as you are invited, but all of the dorms are enchanted so that no one is allowed into a dorm that is not theirs, this is also true inter-house.”

The wooden doors behind the witch swung open as if on cue. She led the group of first years into the Great Hall. The room itself was the size of a football field. The walls were a homey feeling stone and the roof was just gone. At the front of the hall, there was a table filled with witches and wizards of all shapes, sizes, and cultures. There at the end, Harry saw Hagrid. The giant made lifted his platter sized hand off the table to wave at Harry.

The four tables running down the length of the hall were filled with students, again of all different types. The tables themselves were covered with golden goblets and plates, but no food. Harry briefly wondered how many waiters it would take to fill all of the tables. All of the students turned to look at the first years as the doors opened. Murmurs filled the halls, all harmless about siblings in the crowd, or a couple bets about where certain students would be placed. Some were about both. The witch (whom Harry thought was probably in charge, although the headmaster was supposed to be a guy…) lead the new students down the middle of all of the tables to the front where there was a stool. Just a regular muggle stool. On it sat a ripped, mended and re-ripped hat. It did appear to be a witch’s hat, but it also had a fair bit of dirt on it. As all of the first years started to stand at the front, one of the hats rips opened, like a mouth, Harry thought. It was a mouth, as the hat had started to sing to the students! Harry knew it wasn’t the weirdest thing in this castle, but he still couldn’t help but stare, along with the other muggle-borns. Those raised by wizards were still in awe but knew enough to be able to close their jaws.

The hat sang, its voice high and tenor, reaching across the whole hall.

“You may not find me pretty, but you better learn not to judge what you see

For you will never find another hat as smart as me,

I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat and I can cap (here another seam seemed to open and close as if the hat was winking) them all.

There is nothing in your head, that I cannot see

So try me on and I can tell you where you ought to be.

Be it Gryffindor, for the bold and brave

Or Hufflepuff true and loyal

Ravenclaw is for the wise and witty

And those Slytherin will reach their goal by any means.

So put me on! Give it a try!

For I will find where you are to be and I will release it in a cry!”

The entire hall burst into applause as all the first years glanced at each other, all thinking about the fact that this hat decided their next 7 years. Harry really didn’t like that the hat could see everything in his mind. There were some things that he couldn’t see in there. The witch from earlier walked back over to the stool with a scroll in her hands. She started calling off names in alphabetical order starting with, “Abbot, Hannah”. The hat decided fairly quick for most. Only a few it gave time to think. During these times it seemed as if it was struggling with itself. Harry knew the thought was silly though, after all, it was only a hat. It took the most time for the bushy haired girl from earlier (Harry now knew her name was Hermione), Draco (his newest friend, Neville (the boy with the toad), and Ron (the red-headed boy). And Harry himself. When his name was called the great hall broke into whispers. Harry felt like his knees were made of jello as he walked up to the stool. The moment the hat touched his head he heard its voice in his head.

“Harry Potter, how I have heard so much about you from your dear headmaster” sang it’s tenor.

“He told me I was to put you in Gryffindor, just as he said to do the same with that Granger, Weasley and Longbottom. That Malfoy was the only one that should have been in Gryffindor.”

Harry had no clue what the hat was talking about. Why would the headmaster be talking to a hat, of all things, and why about him? And why would he tell it to put kids in houses they didn’t belong? Harry found that he couldn’t respond to the hat though, he could only listen to it.

“I see it all here. You would do well in Slytherin. The real Slytherin, not the evil on that has been built. You could restore it to it’s glory though. You have real power, Potter. Learn to use it. I am afraid I can only put you in one place, though it is not the one you belong in. Don’t blindly trust, like others may expect you to, follow your gut, and don’t do what you are expected to because others have said too. I am sorry dear boy.” The hat sounded, almost sad. The hat made it sound like Harry belonged in Slytherin, which he was fine with, but the hat said he couldn’t put him there. But why?

The hat’s tenor became loud once more. “Sly-Gryffindor”

It had tried to put him in Slytherin. In the hat’s voice, Harry could hear the difference between what the hat meant to say, and what it was forced to say, but what was forcing it? Harry didn’t know.

At the cry of Gryffindor, the red and gold table broke into an uproar. None of them had heard anything that happened between the hat and Harry. As he made his way to the table he barely heard the cries of his name by his fellow housemates. He was too far in his head, wondering who would have stopped the hat from putting him in Slytherin. And who was placing his friends in different houses? Most of all he was wondering why him? Sure he supposedly killed some great wizard, but that was 10 years ago! He couldn't do that if he tried. Harry realized he had been lost in his thought for the rest of the sorting. He only started paying attention again when a wizard in grand robed and a long grey beard stood up from a throne shaped chair at the head table. Harry realized this must be the headmaster, not the witch from earlier. This would be the man who manipulated the hat. But why?

“Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Dig in!” proclaimed the headmaster. When Harry turned back to the plates all thoughts of the sorting hat were gone. The once empty table was now full of any kind of food you could think of. Harry dug in, eating the most food he could ever remember eating. Ron Weasley was next to him doing the same. It seemed like he was reaching in 4 directions at once. The only one not eating was the silvery man in the middle of the table. As Harry looked at him, he realized he could see through him. He must be a ghost! Harry had read about those when he tried soaking up all the magic world he could, through his school books.

Before Harry could ask anything about the ghost, all of the food and scraps vanished from his plate. All of the food on the table was now all desserts. Harry had already eaten more than he ever thought he could, but at the sight of the treacle tart he figured it wouldn't hurt to have a bit more.

When Harry began wondering if there was a spell to clean exploded remains of the wall (for he felt like he was truly going to explode, he ate so much), a bunch of the older Gryffindor students stood. Percy Weasley, Ron’s older brother was the first to speak.

“First Years, come with me” Harry and his yearmates stood. Percy led them out of the hall and through the halls, up two staircases, one of which moved on them, and to a painting. Percy began arguing with it.

“The password is Caput Draconis”, said Percy.

“Yes it is, but wouldn’t you like to hear my singing?”, said the opera lady from the painting. There was a chorus of no’s from all the students, except for one. Neville. This prompted the lady to go into the high falsetto that Harry had ever heard. It went on for several minutes.

As most of the first years started to consider strangling Neville for getting them into there, another professor strode past. It seemed like he was trying to get past the group without being noticed, but he had no luck.

“Professor Quirrell do you anyway to get the Fat Lady to stop singing?” asked one of the Prefects.

“Why N-no I-I-I I have no-no clue”, responded the stuttering Professor Quirrell.

“Where are you headed, Professor?”, inquired Percy, obviously hoping to help the professor with something important.

“Up-p-p t-to the th-third floor, to m-m-m make s-s-ure that n-no one is th-th-there.”

“Oh yeah, I should have told you guys that…” A sheepish looking Percy turned back to the first years. “Don’t go into the locked corridor on the third floor. Dumbledore said something about a painful death…” By the time he turned back to Quirrel, he was gone. Luckily for the student though the Fat Lady had just stopped singing, and was waiting for applause. All of the students gave her the polite amount, and rushed to get through the hole in the wall when she swung open. All of the first years head up their assigned staircases to their dorms. Harry roomed with Dean, Seamus, Ron, and Neville. He found his bed, with his stuff surrounding it. He changed as quick as possible and fell into bed. By the time he was in the bathroom, he was the last boy up. Harry’s head hit the pillow and he was out, dreaming of grey eyes, long beards, and ripped hats.

Chapter Text

Harry’s first week of school was amazing, terrifying, and crazier than he could have ever imagined. But yet he still felt like he was home, for the first time that he remembered. Every night he fell into bed, and never worried about what he would wake up to. Harry felt like he was meant to be at Hogwarts. His roomates and him got along really well. Ron was witty and sarcastic, something Harry had to get used to. Neville was kind, and more than once Harry forgot something in the dorm, only to find that Neville had gotten it for him. Dean and Seamus bonded together really well. It didn’t take long before they were finishing each other's sentences and doing everything together.

There were only two downfalls to Hogwarts, getting lost and the whispers. The castle had a mind of its own, the stairs changed and the doors played tricks. The second day Harry and Ron were lost for 45 minutes in the dungeons before they made it to the great hall for breakfast. Luckily a house elf (a butler sort of creature, that cooked and cleaned at Hogwarts, Ron informed Harry) found them and taught them how to get into the kitchen. After that he brought them up to the great hall. The next time Harry was lost was when he and a group of the other first year gryffindors were trying to get to transfiguration. Ron was convinced he had the right door. Harry and the others were not as convinced he knew where he was going once he almost fell into the magic room that they stored the school’s mooncalves in.

Hermione walked past them into the next door up. Into the correct classroom. Ron was still muttering when he walked into the room.

The worst time was when Harry was alone trying to find a bathroom when he came across Neville hanging from a old chandelier. Harry had to try to find the nearest teacher to get him down. Professor Flitwick was rather confused at the situation.

The whispers however were much worse that getting lost. It seemed that everywhere Harry went someone wanted to meet him, or see his scar. He heard others talk as he walked through the halls.

“Did you see his scar?’
“Do you think he remembers You-Know-Who?”
“I dressed up as him for Halloween once”

The worst were the ones that they would win his heart. More than one tried. After one particularly ballsy 7th year Gryffindor asked Harry to marry her, he was more than flustered. Luckily Hermione was walking in the halls at that point.

“Ummm… Sorry Harry isn’t interested right now, thanks” was her cool reply to the much taller, intimidating girl.

“And who are you? His girlfriend?” The 7th year was not impressed by Hermione. She stepped closer to the short girl and pulled at her wand. Harry was honestly scared for Hermione. So he did the only thing he could think of to get her attention off of his protector.

“No. My intended actually. So no we can’t be wed. I do however have a waiting list you can join.”
He grabbed Hermione’s hand and drug here into the nearest classroom he could find. He turned to apologize to Hermione and to thank her, but as he turned to her she paled, staring at something behind him. This time she grabbed his hand pulling him out of the room. Harry stared back into the room, at the very large three headed dog within. The middle head sniffed and growled right as Harry slammed the door shut.

After the two raced back into their common room, Harry got to apologize. Hermione, it turned out, thought it was hilarious. The two decided not to stomp out the rumor, just to see how far it would go. It also kept most of the female population away from Harry. Which he was just fine with. After the incident Harry and Hermione did become friends. They even met in the library every week to study.

Harry loved his classes. He really just loved magic. He started the day with Herbology, the study of magic plants. They were introduced to the greenhouse and started to study the types of plants. At the end of the first week they were each given and different plant with the instructions not to kill it by the end of the year. Harry and Hermione’s first study session was dedicated to trying to figure out what kind of plant they each had, and the proper ways to care for each so that they wouldn’t fail class. Harry figured out his was magical mistletoe, just like regular mistletoe, but it trapped two people under it, until they kissed. Harry planed to keep his in the window, far away from a door. Hermione had bloodroot, a powerful poisonous plant, good news it was fairly easy to take care of.

Then Harry had History of Magic, with Professor Binns, a ghost. He was the most boring teacher ever. Enough said. Harry’s notes were the only thing keeping him alive. Him and Hermione used flashcards whenever they went to the library. The wizard-born students always looked at them like they were crazy, but it worked.

Charms was also a lot of memorizing. Harry used his charms everyday. He used the levitating charm to get toilet paper and he used Lumos instead of lights. Transformation was a lot of theory. Professor McGonagall was Harry’s favorite. She was hard on the class, but she knew their limits better than they did. She knew how to push Neville, but never made him cry like Snape did.

Snape was terrible. He was basically a bully to the whole class. He was even mean to his own house. He started his lessons by going after Harry. Hermione always tried to help which always ended with less house points for Gryffindor. No one really thought it was their fault though. Everyone hated Snape.

All week Harry hadn’t seen Draco. He was in Potions with him, but he was on the opposite side of the room, lest there be any inter house unity. Friday morning Harry found the Owlery and sent Draco a note though. Draco replied later that night. They were going to study the next day. Harry had invited Hermione and Ron to go with, hoping that they would see the same promise in him that Harry did.

The next day Harry was woken by the bright light filtering through the curtains. Checking the time he realised that no one else from his dorm would be up this early. Through some odd miracle he made it to the great hall without getting lost or waking his roommates.

Sitting on the Gryffindor table, he observed the buffet before him. There were breakfasts for everyone. Some for those that came from the exercise room, some for those that woke looking for sugar, some for those that ate a four course meal, and for those that ate very little at all. Around the room there were very few students in the hall. Even less professors. They very rarely came to breakfast.

Harry was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the boy sitting next to him until he started to speak.

“Hey, what’s the plan for today? I know we were going to study, but there isn’t that much to study, and we never figured out when or where we were meeting.” Draco said, sitting on the bench with one of his legs scrunched to his chest, the other was hanging to the ground.

“What do you think?” Harry was unsure how much they could do on the grounds. This was his first weekend off, and McGonagall hadn’t gone over freetime.

“We could explore…” Draco had a twinkle in his eye. One that made Harry sit up. One that Harry knew would lead to fun. Harry hadn’t seen that much of the castle.

After it was settled, all they had to do was wait for the others to join them. They were lost in conversations of weather, classes, and hopes for the year. They were so lost in eachother, they didn’t notice the stars they were getting from everyone in the hall. From the newest first year, to the oldest seventh year, no one could remember a Slytherin sitting on the Gryffindor bench. And the two looked like they could be… Getting along. It was new, and different, like the feeling the two were beginning to have for eachother. As new and different as it was, even the harshest Slytherin could not find it in themselves to disrupt the two.

A half an hour came and passed. The conversation between the two was beginning to slow. By now it was a semi-reasonable hour to be up. More students began trickling into the hall. None of Harry’s friends were in the group. There was a little whisper in Harry that wanted to see the castle with Draco.

Draco was thinking the same thing.

They stood, gathering the attention of the hall again. But again, neither realised. They slipped out into the corridor.

“Where to first?”, asked Draco.

“Up.” They started up the nearest set of stairs. Up they went. One flight, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven seemed like the number to stop at. They started off to the right. The first door they came upon was cracked open. Harry pushed at the door until he heard the weirdest noises. They sounded… Animal-like. Groans and grunts. And breathy sighs… Were those student? Having sex? Gross.

Harry and Draco had the same thought at the same time. One look at each other and they ran. Down the hall, passed a drawing of a troll in a field, until they hit a wall. Well, they didn’t hit it, but they did run into a painting.

“Hey! What are you two lads running from? Should I get Dumbledore?” The paintings concern was real. He was already on his way to the next painting. Neither Harry nor Draco wanted to talk to the Headmaster.

They set off, running the opposite direction, chasing the painting.

This time they ran into the couple that was in the room. A dark looking Slytherin, and a boy Harry was pretty sure was in Gryffindor with him.

“Hey, watch it!”, the Slytherin yelled.

One more look at eachother had the pair running back again. As they passed the troll for the third time, a door appeared. Not bothering to turn around, Draco breathlessly yanked the door open. He hoped that whatever was inside was better than the couple behind them.

Inside the mystery room, there was a pile of bean bags, a bar of snack, and muggle electronics.

But Harry and Draco noticed none of that. All they saw were each other.
Harry saw Draco. The out of breath blond boy in front of him. Draco’s grey eye were wide in relief. The boys were slumped against the door, trying to catch their breaths.

Draco saw Harry. The terrible brunette in front of him. If Harry hadn’t pushed open that door, they wouldn’t be here, but Draco couldn’t find the Malfoy in him to be mad. He was too distracted by the growing feeling inside him that he thought might have something to do with the eyes in front of him.

Once Harry had his voice back, he cleared his throat. The way Draco looked at him… He would have to think about, but later. Right now, he had exploring to do. In this mystery room.

Chapter Text

The mystery room, the Room of Requirement-- as stated on the sign above the door. Was… well, magic. The rules of the room -- also by the door, were simple. If you walked past the troll painting three times, thinking about what you needed most at that moment, the room would appear. Draco had figured out how they found it. They had ran past thrice, wanting a place to hide from the painting or couple, so the room had given them a good play to hide until their pursuers were gone.

The first thing Harry did was turn on the TV. He hadn’t listened to the muggle news since at school, and he wanted to know what was going on.

Harry heard a gasp from behind him, “What is that?” Harry had forgotten that Draco didn’t know about muggle electronics as he did. Draco approached the television, wary of the unknown magic it held. Of course, Draco hadn’t seen a television. He was a pureblood, raised to believe that the Muggles were still stuck in the dark ages.

Looking around for a good way to explain how a TV works, Harry spotted a computer in the corner. Walking over, Harry started his explanation.

“Ok. Well… First off, Muggles are a lot different than you think Draco. They have their kind of magic, technology. It is… Basically science magic. They don’t have the power, they make it. And then they use it to power different kinds of things. They cook with it, and they make things like TVs and computers. The TV is a moving portrait that tells a story. Muggles have people that make the stories, and then they show them all over the world with TVs. The computer has all kinds of different uses. They use it to find information, talk to others, and waste time.”

“So Muggles have magic?” Draco asked. Harry understood that it would take a while for him to accept that Muggles were advanced.

“Sort of. But wizards could use that magic too, I don’t know why we don’t. The Muggles have a lot of different stuff we could use.” Harry himself didn’t know a whole lot about technology, but he hoped the Wikipedia did.

“Come here, I’ll show you how to use a computer.” Harry turned on the new Apple desktop. First, he checked the wifi, Hogwartz1234. He knew that Hermione would be excited to find out the wifi to connect her laptop to. Then he pulled up Chrome.

“This is a browser, it has all of the websites in one spot. Websites are the spot you find information, stores, and connection. I am going to search “explaining internet”, this is going to look through all of the websites, and find one with these words in them.” Harry explained. He pulled up Wiki and stood up from the chair.

“Here, read this. It will explain it better than I could.”

After making sure Draco was well lost in the Web, Harry wandered back to the TV. The news was on. Harry flopped into one of the three couches in front of the TV. A half an hour later, Harry was well informed on the news. Trump was president of the US. Harry married Megan. There was a baby.

Getting bored, Harry surveyed the room. Draco was still on the computer.

Harry decided to explore a little more. Over on the wall, there was a shelf of board games, everything from monopoly to wizards chess. Harry didn’t know how to play any of them, but they seemed like fun.

The first thing that Harry saw was a game of Truth or Dare. Reading the box it looked like it was a magically binding card game. Dangerous… The other games were a shmorgas board of muggle games, magical games, and a bit of both.

Harry was looking through the Truths in the box when the lunch bell rang. Draco’s head popped over the couch.

“You hungry?” Harry asked.

“Starved”, Draco said.

“Let's go then.”

They wandered their way out of the room, down the stairs, not getting lost once, and into the Great Hall. Most of Harry’s friends were already at the table. Sitting between Hermione and Neville, he turned to Draco.

“Do you want to sit here today?” he asked.

“I can’t. It’s against the rules, no interhouse mingling”

Hermione couldn’t help but poking in, “Actually I have read the whole Hogwarts a History and the Student Handbook and there is nothing about it in there.” She scooted over and motioned to the newly made space.

“Feel free to join us any time”

Harry watched in awe as he saw Draco integrate his way into the group. He started talking to Hermoine about study schedules and future classes.

“Hey, where’d you go all day? Did you run off?”, Neville asked, in between mouthfuls.

“Draco and I went exploring, we ran from a couple of 6th years and we found this hidden room!”, Harry whispered to both Neville and Ron. “It’s got whatever you need, you just have to know how to ask it for what you want.”

Percy leaned over, letting the group know he had very obviously been listening to their conversations.

"You kids need to stay away from there. I don't know where that is, so it must be dangerous. There are some areas in this castle that students don't belong in. That means you, Ron."

The last sentence was directed at his little brother.

Ron turned a brilliant shade of red and stopped eating to swallow and roll his eyes.

"You're not Mom, Percy. Not everyone needs to be a prude like you." He stood up and turned to the rest of the group. "Harry, want to show us where this room is? I think I could use something to do."

Harry looked up, startled, "Well, Ron… "

Hermione was the first to actually say anything though, "Ron I don't know if that is a good idea. Percy is right…"

Ron sat back down, dejected.

"I'm really sorry Ron, I just don't want to get in trouble my first week here."

"Yeah, Ron. You're gonna get your friends in trouble because of your stupid antics. You need to learn to behave. This is why no one wants to talk to you."

With every word Percy said, Ron, sunk deeper and deeper into his seat. By the end of his speech, Ron looked ready to cry. The rest of the group looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They were still fairly new friends, but they knew Ron needed something. It was Draco -- surprisingly-- that stood up first.

"Hermione, you said you've read all of the student handbook right? Is there anything in the book that said anything about a hidden room being off-limits?" He asked, looking not at Hermione, but staring Percy in the eye. Although he was younger, shorter, and had no power over Percy, this was a 12-year old that had years of practice being aloof and knew how to make others feel small. He may not have known this little ginger, but he knew all too well what it felt like to be belittled by people that thought they knew better.

Hermione meanwhile was having an internal struggle with how to respond. On one hand, there was nothing in the handbook, but that didn't mean it was ok to do. Classes were going to start giving out homework soon and there were other things to do. But the look on Ron's face… gave her no choice.

She stood up next to Draco.

"There's nothing that I saw."

Draco continued to stare through Percy.

"I think there are more important things than staying in line. I put my friends first."

It was Harry that broke the spell. He stood up and stood by Hermione and Draco.

"Come on guys." He muttered. He started walking down the aisle, fast enough that his robe billowed behind him. The other three hurried behind him.

What none of them saw was the way Percy's eyes changed color or the comatose state he sat in currently. They were all too focused on the way they felt as they traveled to the Room of Requirement.

Ron was excited to have someone stand up for him for the first time, even if it was Draco Malfoy

Draco was scared. Scared that his father might find out. And scared of the familiar feeling growing in his chest

Hermione was apprehensive. She knew the rules, but she thought this was the right thing to do.

Harry, well he was Harry, he wasn't thinking about his feelings too much, but he was excited, scared, and apprehensive.

--------------------

Harry was the first to arrive at the Room of Requirement. He turned to the rest of the group.

"What do we want? I think it will become whatever we need it to, so what do we want?"

Hermione, always the fastest thinker was the first to respond, “I think we need a place for all of us.” She turned to the group. “Think about it, we all need something different from the world. If this room is so magical as Harry thinks it is, it should be able to do that”

Harry knew that Hermoine was still obviously apprehensive about the room. Despite this, he turned and paced up and down the wall three times with this thought in mind. Afterward, he stopped and stood by the rest of his group. He looked around while everyone focused on the wall in front of them.

What an odd group they would have been to everyone else. Draco was the son of a Slytherin Lord, raised to be coldblooded and cruel. Never treated with care or love. And yet here he was giving others the chance he was never given. Opening himself up to the naive friendship of others.

Hermione, the once proclaimed child genius, left everything she knew and was good at to reach for something greater. She had to succeed here otherwise she would have lost all of the opportunities she had, for nothing.

Ron, the forgotten son. Left behind by everyone and forgotten for everything. He never acted up or called attention to himself despite it. He was ready to support and care for anyone that cared for him. He was always giving, never asking for anything back.

Harry had never before had a friend. All of this was new. He had had friends before, but they all left after his uncle and aunt called their parents. That or they saw the bruises. He was a freak. He hoped this would be different. He was scared for the future, but for right now he was content to explore whatever this room, and friendships, held.

It took the Room of Requirement a while to decide what these kids needed. Then it decided. These kids didn’t need refuge, food, a nap, or a bathroom like most seekers did.

They needed each other.