Chapter Text
Waking up on the cold stone of the Astronomy Tower definitely wasn’t something he’d recommend to anyone. At least the early morning view is nice, Harry noted as he got up from where he was perched. He spent a moment just gazing at the slowly reddening sky. The sun painted amazing red hues across the sky and the clouds cast gentle shadows on the lush greenery of the Hogwarts grounds. He could feel the crisp wind in his hair. Even though the cold wind made him shiver, it also helped clear his mind from any doubts he had felt about his decisions he has made just hours before he fell asleep.
He had decided that the most important thing for him from now on was his own survival. Not his abusive relatives. Not his friends, who had very likely just pretended from the very beginning. Not even his mentors, who had forsaken him without a second thought. He wouldn’t be dependent on anyone anymore, he was going to seize his own destiny. He was going to live through this stupid Tournament and then survive the bloody war. One way or another, he was going to survive damnit! And most importantly, he was going to live by his own rules from now on. No more regrets, he decided, giving a firm nod towards the steadily rising morning sun. With a last glance to the beautiful view, he turned on his heels and left the Tower.
Harry enjoyed the peacefulness of the hallways on his way to the Gryffindor Tower. The portrays were just starting to wake up as he walked the familiar path. The whole school was bustling with people now-a-days because of the Tournament, so he appreciated the peace and the quiet humming that seemed to emanate from the Castles’ walls. The amount of people roaming the Castle seemed the grow with each day as the first task approached, it was nearly impossible to find a peaceful place to study or prepare for the first task. He would definitely need to go and explore the Castle more, see if he could find a room out of the way of others so he could have some much needed solitude. Hmm, maybe he could do that today….
Harry was startled from his musing by the sudden woosh of cool air that passed right through him. He quickly turned to look at the ghost who was gliding away from him. The ghost had her back turned to him and was gliding away fast so all he could make out were long dark curs which cascade down the ghost's back. She looked suspiciously like the Grey Lady, but what could the Ravenclaws' ghost be doing here? Sure, she often wandered the empty corridors, avoiding people, but he was just a few paces away from the portrait of the Fat Lady. He hadn’t seen her wander so near the Gryffindor common rooms for the three years that he’d spent at the Castle. Just as she was about to turn the corner to go towards the staircase she turned and her eyes met with Harry's. Her eyes held such sadness that Harry was taken aback by it for a second. Seeing his confusion, she hastily turned her head away and continue her journey.
Harry shook his head hastily to clear it from the sudden encounter. He had too much to overcome, even without strangely acting ghosts. With that final thought he turned to continue towards the portrait of Fat Lady. ”See, see. And who do we have here? It seems as Potter has decided that curfews are just a suggestions made by Professors, again. Boy, you ought to start taking these things more seriously…”
”Valour.” Harry didn’t let the Lady finish her sentence and said the password through gritted teeth. He'd had enough of people trying to lecture him for his decisions. The portrait swung open and revealed the common room. He hastily walked inside and thanked the high heavens, for the common room was completely empty. Seems like Granger isn’t such an early riser after all, he sniggered quietly to himself as he made his way towards the boys’ dormitory to grab his things so he could shower before the others woke up.
All the boys were still sleeping as he opened the door and made his way further inside the room. The whole place was echoing with Weasleys’ loud snores and he wondered why nobody said anything about it. Surely they were as irritated as he was by the loud snores? Or, they had all cast silencing charms so they wouldn’t have to deal with Weasleys’ inconsideration, seeing as Weasley didn’t seem to care enough to cast one. He opened his trunk and after he gathered a change of clothes he made his way towards the showers.
The warm water felt like heaven on his skin after the night spent sleeping on the cold stones of the Astronomy Tower. He could feel the ridges from old scars on his skin as he washed away the soap. He only left the showers after his fingers started to become pruny. Quickly dressing himself, he made his way back towards the common room. He was walking past the fireplace, trying to flatten his unruly hair a bit, as he realized that Ginny was sitting on the armchair facing the stairwell that led to the entrance of the Tower.
It seemed that Ginny saw him the same time he saw her, since she blinked at him slowly and raised her right hand to wave at him shyly. ”Hi, Harry.” Her voice was quiet and sounded timid. He decided to simply ignore her and continue his way towards the exit. He didn’t know why but he was ravenous suddenly. Maybe seeing Weasley and his sister had increased appetite. For revenge. Hmmm, he hoped there was raspberry jam at breakfast today. ”I was waiting for you, wondered where you went to. I didn’t see you come in yesterday and even waited a few hours after curfew to see if you would come.” He furrowed his brows as he turned to regard the She-Weasley. All he could see on her face was an overly hopeful expression. For what, he wasn’t sure, but he could bet galleons that it wasn’t anything good.
”And why did you do that?” He asked just to see what she would say, it wasn’t like he cared about her answer. His question seemed to make her even more shy as there was a faint blush on her cheeks as she averted her gaze. ”I wanted to see if you were okay, I mean, what with the Tournament and all.” At this, he nearly couldn’t hold himself back from snorting at her. It seemed like she hadn’t realised his reaction because she met his eyes again. ”Would you like to accompany me to breakfast? I mean, it would make sense as we’re both awake now. Just, wait here for a moment and I’ll go get my bag and then we can go!” Her face seemed exited, but that excitement seemed to turn to smugness as she went on with her words. It seemed like she already expected him to say yes and be happy that she had decided to grace him with her presence.
”Oh, sorry Weasley but I’d rather not lose my appetite this morning.” With that, he turned to leave the common room without waiting to see her reaction to his words. It would do good for her to not be so sure of her welcome.
He had just placed his last cup of tea back on its saucer, when the doors flew open with Granger and Weasley rushing inside. They seemed to frantically look for something amongst the Gryffindor table. As they scanned the table, he met eyes with Granger. He saw her elbow Wesley sharply on the ribs, say something and tilt her towards where he was sitting close to where professors were sitting. Oh, so they were looking for someone. Well, he wasn’t interested. And it seemed like they weren’t interested either because they made their way towards the middle of the long table and sat down there. As he turned his face back to his plate, he saw from the corner of his eye how Weasley shoved a third year student out of his way to sit down. He wondered yet again why nobody said anything about Weasley’s rudeness. It was getting weird now that he finally realised what kind of a person he was.
He grabbed one last toast and spread raspberry jam on it. He was nibbling on his toast and thinking about the classes that he would have that day. Glancing around absent-mindedly he realised that the Treacherous Duo kept stealing glances at him. When he turned his gaze fully towards them, they hurriedly looked away and he saw Granger turn her nose up primly. What a stuck-up, he couldn’t help thinking. Snorting at her, he noted that Weasley was just shovelling food into his mouth. Well, nothing different there.
Suddenly his eyes started gleaming when he a brilliant idea hit him. Smirking, he finished the last of his toast, took hold of his book bag and hurriedly got up to leave. Just as he was walking past the Treacherous Duo he grabbed his wand and inconspicuously pointed it towards them. ”Vermiculus.” He whispered under his breath.
As he was exiting the Great Hall he could hear the shrieks and screams that followed in his wake. He didn’t need to turn around to see that all the food on the Treacherous Duos’ plates had turned into worms. Smirk widening, he made his way towards his first class of the day.
It sure seemed like he had a good day ahead!
By the time he was waiting in front of the potions classroom for Snape to arrive, he was ready to take back his earlier words. And it had all started very well too. He was finally able to be himself and show that he wasn’t a complete moron after all. But seemed like Granger couldn’t take that. Oh no, instead she had taken to cutting off his answers and answering the questions for him and when she wasn’t doing that, she was spouting some nonsense about the topic he had answered the question on, trying to one-up him. The most maddening thing about it was that she always had this pitying look in her eyes. Like he wouldn’t have managed without her intervention. Like he needed her! Even the professors had started to get irritated by her behaviour and started deducting points instead of awarding them.
He was lightly massaging his temples when Snape finally arrived. In one sweep he walked past him and the door flew open. Harry followed him inside and took a seat at the workstation near the front of the room. Like hell he was sitting anywhere near the Treacherous Duo at the back!
Snape waved his wand and instructions for the potion they would be brewing that day wrote themselves on to the blackboard. His robes pillowed behind him as he turned his attention back towards the classroom. One glare from him was enough to settle down the whole class. He seemed to quickly sweep the classroom with his gaze when he noticed Harry at the front. Snape raised a delicate eyebrow a him.
”It seems as Mr. Potter here has decided that he is interested in the delicate art that is potion making overnight. Mr. Potter, I regret to inform you, but your pathetic, however fleeting it may be, interest will not make you the hero of this subject. Your level of knowledge would not be able to hold up your recent interest.” Snape raised his second eyebrow as well as he saw that his word had no effect and Harry wasn’t moving from his chosen seat. ”Very well, let me shatter your dreams gently then. Answer me this, which potions can the dung beetle be used in?” There was a hint of exasperation in his otherwise even voice. Harry, not wanting to make Snape wait any longer than necessary, he started to answer immediately. ”Dung beetles, also known as the scarab beetles, can be used in the Skele-Gro and..”
Unfortunately for him though, he didn’t get to finish his sentence as once again, Granger cut-in all of a sudden. Her shrill voice cut through his. ”And the Wit-Sharpening potion, Professor!” Grangers’ voice was loud and had that annoying smug tint to it, which made Harry see red. He glared at her and couldn’t help but think that he could just happily strangle her right here, in the middle of the potions class room. Granger didn't seem to realize the danger and smiled to herself smugly.
Luckily for her, Harry didn't have the opportunity to execute his thought. ”20 points from Gryffindor Ms. Granger. I believe you should know your place in this classroom already after three years. Do. Not. Speak. Unless given permission, of course.” Snape said in a deadly calm voice. Only thing betraying his anger was the venomous glare he had levelled Granger with. Finally, after a minute he relinquished Granger from his gaze and swept the class with his gaze again. ”Now, I’ll ask Mr. Potter again and should anyone, and I mean anyone, ” he continued while glaring briefly at Grangers’ way again, ”interrupt Mr. Potter again, I'll personally oversee their detention for the rest of the term.”
Finally, Snape turned his attention back towards him. ”Mr. Potter, what uses does unicorn’s horn have for potions?” He seemed quite expectant as he asked the question, staring intently at Harry. ”They have purifying properties, Professor.” As he started to answer, he turned back towards Granger to glare at her. His green eyes seemed to glow venomously and he saw Granger swallow. ”This is why they are commonly used to dissolve poisons as well as in several antidotes for poisons.” He finished off while turning back towards Snape. Stunned silence followed his words, and as he locked eyes with Snape, he saw that his professor had fallen silent as well. Their staring contest was interrupted when Snape’s expression changed fleetingly and the other man turned away hurriedly. ”Very well, then. What are you dunderheads still waiting on? Get on with the assigned potion!”
Later, when he was making his way towards the storage room to get his ingredients for the Wit-Sharpening potion, he was still wondering about the emotion that had crossed Snape’s face. It had looked suspiciously like pride.
The corridors had quietened down once again as he walked down the second flood corridor. He was armed with his Invisibility Cloak and the Map again as walked down the corridor leading to the big floor-to-ceiling windows to admire the moonlight. He absently thought back to the day which he’d just had.
Luckily for him, he’d been able to avoid the Treacherous Duo for the rest of the day. He’d even managed to keep his distance once he’d returned to the Gryffindor Tower and had decided to work on his homework on his bed with the curtains drawn. He’d only parted his curtains when he’d heard the unmistakable noise of Weasley snoring again. Silencing his footsteps he'd left to wander the Hogwarts at its most peaceful.
Thinking about lack of peace and solitude brought his thoughts back to the reason that had led him to wander the second floor corridors in the fist place. By this time, he had searched nearly all of the castle looking for a room or a corner comfy enough to make his own. Up until now, he hadn’t had any luck in finding one, but he was still searching half heartedly. Maybe he could go outside? No, it would be too cold to stay there. Getting sick now on top of everything else would be like a cherry on top of a sundae right now. A very poisonous sundae. Merlin, he really needed to figure out what he was going to do about those blasted dragons. They would be the end of him if he couldn’t figure something out, and quickly. There was only two more weeks to the first task. He sighed desolately and absentmindedly leaned on the wall between two portraits.
He was so focused on his damning thoughts that he didn’t pay attention to the faint groaning sound that the stonewall behind him gave. That’s why, all he could do was gasp softly and then groan in pain as the wall behind him gave way. He had fallen flat on his arse.