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Chapter Text

Chaos reigned.

From where Harry stood, he could see and hear everything.

Noise had erupted around the Great Hall, as students from every house discussed his return. The Top Table was just as bad. Flitwick and Sprout were in disbelief, talking excitedly to Hagrid. Dumbledore had paled, clearly in shock at his arrival; Harry could see the trepidation in his eyes. Sitting toward the end of the table was a woman who looked strangely familiar, she was talking to Snape, who was the only one who looked bored at the proceedings, but then again, he was in on them.

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione and Ron excitedly called out his name while Neville eyed him up suspiciously. Harry flicked him a wink; he’d clearly felt Harry come through the wards.

Neville was not the only one looking at him that way; Susan Bones was also focused on him in a way that was disconcerting, considering he’d not had much to do with her the last time he was here. The blonde girl from the Ravenclaw table waved again and then conjured some bubbles, letting them drift along her table in the uproar.

At the Slytherin table, Harry saw, rather than heard Zabini wolf whistle at him while Draco, stared in shock, blonde hair gleaming in the candlelight; it was a bit longer than the last time he saw him, outside the kitchens all those years ago, and it had developed a bit of a curl. It suited him. Beside him Parkinson was eyeing Harry up appreciatively, from where he stood, he saw her mouth to the brown-haired boy opposite to her, “Draco is fucked.”

Beside him, Sirius was laughing while Remus groaned and rubbed his eyes. Minnie arched a brow and stated, “caused enough mischief yet?”

“Never Professor.”

She shook her head, “just like your parents.” Harry beamed.

“Thanks Minnie.”

She sighed, “none of that now that you’re back Harry.” She looked stern but the corners of her mouth had lifted, and Harry knew she was trying not to laugh.

Harry nodded, “it’s good to see you.”

She smiled at him, “it’s good to see you too.” She looked up at the other two, “all of you. You have been missed.” Sirius and Remus nodded.

She squeezed Harry’s shoulder and gave him another smile before she exhaled and shot a noise out of her wand. “Silence! We have one more Sorting to attend to.”

The noise in the Great Hall cut out suddenly, as people realised Harry was to be resorted.

“Mr Potter, if you could be seated.”

Harry shot her a grin, she knew he was Lord Potter, but they’d decided to keep that under wraps for now.

He sat down and she placed the Sorting Hat on his head. Unlike the first time, it didn’t fall to cover his face, so he could see the students craning to get a look at him. 

“Ahh Harry Potter. Third times a charm.”

“Hi Hat. Good to see you again.”

“Hmmm I see you’ve had quite the adventure…. How is Sal?”

“He’s good, he told me to say hi.”

Harry got the impression that the Hat nodded at that. “I see you have finally accepted your role in life, have finally understood who and what you are. Will you now let me place where you should have been all those years ago?”

“Yes, I don’t regret my time in Gryffindor, but I don’t think it suits anymore.”

“I agree, good to have you back, Lord SLYTHERIN!”

“Thanks Hat.”

Harry handed the Hat back to Professor McGonagall, he needed to remember to call her that now, and stood, the final word having been shouted to the Great Hall. He shot a look at his old house, he hoped that wouldn’t be a problem, he knew they were friendly with the other houses now. Hermione and Ginny were smiling at him, Neville looked all-knowing while Ron looked a bit shocked. He waved and then felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned.

“Harry, it was a pleasure having you in my house for all those years… Just because you’re no longer one of my lions, does not mean that my door won’t be open to you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I’ll be there.”

Harry nodded again, then surprised her with a quick hug. “Thanks Professor.”

He turned to Remus and Sirius who both hugged him then shooed him to his new house. “Off you go you bloody snake,” joked Sirius.

The three adults walked up to the Top Table as Harry turned and walked to the Slytherin table in silence. The Great Hall was in shock.

“What the fuck?” exclaimed Parkinson, breaking the silence.

“Language, Miss Parkinson,” said Professor McGonagall calmly as she took her seat next to Dumbledore.

“Sorry Professor.”

Professor McGonagall just nodded in her direction and then nudged Dumbledore with her elbow.

As Harry sat opposite Draco, Zabini, Parkinson, settling in next to the brown-haired boy, Dumbledore found his voice, “Ah yes, well, what an… exciting turn of events, best discussed over dinner, tuck in.”

With that, the food appeared on the table and the noise level crept up.

He looked around at his fellow Slytherins, “so… what’s up?”

“WHAT’S UP? WHAT’S UP?! That’s all you have to say?!” exclaimed Draco in a scandalised voice. “What are you doing back here? It’s not safe.”

Harry shrugged, “I just needed to come back.”

Draco seemed to have lost his voice at Harry’s answer and kept opening his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Harry was nervous at the blonde’s reaction and the butterflies in his stomach weren’t helping. It felt a bit weird being back in the Great Hall.

“You’ll have to forgive Draco,” said Zabini, leaning forward. “He never does well with shock. Heir Zabini at your service, call me Blaise.” He stretched out a hand. Harry shook it.

“Call me Harry.”

The boy next to him turned and shook his hand too, “Lord Nott, call me Theo.”

Harry went to respond but was cut off.

“Yes, yes, we’re all friends now, blah, blah, blah, what are you doing back here Potter?” interrupted Parkinson.

“Have things to do,” he answered, loading his plate up with roast beef, potatoes, and Yorkshire Puddings. He had missed the Hogwarts food, and you couldn’t beat a classic British roast sometimes.

“Things to do,” deadpanned Parkinson, leaning across Draco, who was now watching the proceedings with narrowed eyes.

“Yep,” said Harry, as he nibbled on a potato. “Heard you’re dating Ron. How’s that going?”

“Don’t try and change the subject,” she snapped, blushing slightly.

Harry smiled, “not the best time or place for this conversation Parkinson.” He looked around at the Great Hall, at the people trying to listen in on their conversation.

Her eyes narrowed as she took note of the would-be eavesdroppers, “would you look at that. Potter has learnt some discretion.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “well you live, and you learn…. It has been a while since I was last here. Plus, it’s not like you actually knew me during my first few years at Hogwarts.”

He watched as she stabbed the pumpkin rather aggressively with a fork and then exhaled. “Right, you’re right, of course, my apologies… And please, call me Pansy.”

Harry nodded and continued to eat, watching as the others now filled their plates.

“You might not be able to tell us why you’re back here, but can you tell us why you are here, at the Slytherin table specifically?” asked Theo.

Harry smirked, “I was always supposed to be in Slytherin.”

“What?!” they all exclaimed.

“But then I met this really annoying boy on the train and decided I didn’t want to be in the same house as him.”

“Please tell me you mean Draco?” said Blaise, as he snorted his pumpkin juice onto Pansy, who hit him in return.

Harry nodded, as the students started laughing around him.

“You didn’t want to be in Slytherin because of me?” asked Draco, speaking for the first time since Harry had sat down.

“You were a bit of a dick the first time we met, and then all the other times in between. Plus, you sort of reminded me of my cousin, and we do not get on. I wanted Hogwarts to a be fresh start, for it to be different from my other schools, I thought being in a different house would help,” answered Harry, trying to explain his thought process from so many years ago, when he and Draco had been vastly different people.

“Oh,” said Draco quietly. He started playing with his cup.

“We talked about this though, in our letters,” said Harry hastily. He didn’t like how small Draco looked. “I don’t think that now. We’re good.”

Draco looked up, face lit from within, “you’re sure?"

Harry smiled, “I’m sure. It’s a bit weird being back here but we’re good. I promise.”

Draco smiled softly at Harry and relaxed, “good, I’m… that’s good.”

Harry sighed in relief. The rest of dinner was spent making small talk, no one really wanting to delve into the deep stuff just yet and some awkwardness remained; Draco was quiet, watching what was going on but not really contributing.

Over the main course, he was re-introduced to Crabbe and Goyle, though he was now expected to call them Vince and Greg. Over the desserts he was introduced to Daphne Greengrass, who was Blaise’s girlfriend, and someone Harry had no recollection of from his previous stint at Hogwarts. He didn’t mention that.

Overall, his first dinner back at Hogwarts had gone well. The Slytherin’s, whilst still a bit confused at his presence at their table, had been friendly and welcoming, including him their chatter about their summers. The food was as a good as ever, and even with all the bad news from the summer, the atmosphere was one of excitement and anticipation.

However, Harry was happy that’d he sat next to Theo with his back to room. It was strange being back in the Great Hall. Even though he didn’t regret his decision to return, his previous stint at Hogwarts hadn’t ended well and being back here had dredged up some memories he’d thought he was over.

As he made his way through his treacle tart and glanced up at the Top Table towards Sirius and Remus. Remus was engrossed in a conversation with McGonagall, but Sirius was looking his way. When he caught Harry staring his eyes narrowed in concern. With a quick quirk of his eyebrow, Sirius mouthed “you ok?”

Harry nodded and raised his glass to him. Sirius flashed a smile back in return and was soon pulled into a conversation with Professor Babbling.

Harry put down his spoon and watched the dessert disappear as Dumbledore stood.

“Good evening. For those of you who have just arrived here for the first time, welcome. For the rest, welcome back.”

Dumbledore took a deep breath, and Harry felt the mood shift in the room.

“A few months ago, Hogwarts came under attack, and we lost one of our own... Professor Slughorn may have only taught you for a year but his history with the school was long, and many of your parents or grandparents would have known him, learnt from him, and admired him. His loss is one felt by many and the nature of his death has ramifications for us all. The Death Eaters that attacked the school were aided by a student, one who had been a valued member of the school community during her time here, and one who, when it came down to it, put her fellow students in danger. It is that aspect of the attack which I wish to address tonight.”

Harry looked around the Great Hall. The students at his table were tight lipped with narrowed eyes, and frowns. They were tense, upright, serious. Slughorn was one of their own and had been killed in their part of the castle.

The Ravenclaw students were huddled together, hunched up, looking guilty. Harry remembered that the student who’d helped the Death Eaters had been one of theirs.

The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were focused on the Headmaster. Hermione had a small frown, Neville looked worried, and Ron had a focused look on his face. Harry took a deep breath and focused back on the Top Table. He felt a bit out of place, not having known the man who’d been murdered in this very school.

“Unity is our greatest strength. In the past few years, the divides between houses have broken down and the school has enjoyed a level of harmony not seen in many centuries. We must not allow that division to creep back in. When we allow animosity and fear to fester, it creates chasms that are hard to bridge. Do not lose hope in one another. Remember, we are stronger, together and in the current climate that strength will be needed.”

Harry watched as his table mates nodded their heads in agreement. Harry knew from the letters that this group of students had been the determining factor in the breaking down of barriers between the houses. Them and his old Gryffindor friends.

Dumbledore continued. “We are on the brink of war; we all know this, and whilst we can take as many precautions as possible to ensure the security of the school, the fact remains that it is our choices that will determine said security. In times like these it is important to make decisions that will keep us all protected, but sometimes these come with a price and sometimes to make a choice is difficult. And so, soon we may all face the choice between what is right, and what is easy.”

Dumbledore paused and looked around the room, focusing in on Harry for just a second. Harry kept his face blank as he examined the Headmaster, making sure his thoughts about the man didn’t show; Reggie had spent months making sure Harry could control his expressions. Dumbledore moved on.

“To ensure your safety, Professor McGonagall has taken control of security. More wards have been added, including ones that detect any forms of harmful magic. In subjects where this type of magic may be required for lessons, the teacher has the capability to lower the sensitivity of the wards in their specific classrooms so as not to impinge on the practical elements of learning. Wards have been put in place on all entrances to the school that will scan the magic of items entering.” He cast another look at Harry with that sentence. Harry also saw Remus and Sirius nudge each other; they were clearly thinking of the Shack.

“I ask that if you have any suspicions that you inform your teachers, or your Head of House and steps will be taken to investigate. We take your security seriously and-”

Harry couldn’t help but snort at that. He caught Sirius’ eye and stifled a laugh as he rolled them.

“- so please bear that in mind. Now onto less serious matters. I’d like to announce some staffing arrangements. Professor Snape has returned to his position as Potions Master and remains the Slytherin Head of House and Professor Lupin has returned to take on the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts again and will be stepping in to assist Professor McGonagall in her role as the Gryffindor Head of House for the year as she has had an increase in responsibilities. Due to this, there is also some changes in the Transfiguration Department; Professor McGonagall will be teaching the fifth, sixth, and seventh-year students, whilst Professor Black will be taking the younger years. He will also be introducing two new classes, Basic Magical Theory for the first and second years, as well as Advanced Magical Theory to the Sixth and Seventh years.”

The older students around him started murmuring, no doubt wondering what this new course would entail. Harry smiled at that. He knew Sirius had been working with Whaea Marama to create a crash course in the key aspects of magical theory for the older students. It wouldn’t be as comprehensive as the course in NZ for the next few years, but the aim was to at least get the ball rolling.

“Now off to bed.”

Harry had missed the last part of the speech watching the Slytherins ponder the introduction of new a subject this late into their schooling. He shrugged, probably wasn’t important anyway. He stood and stretched and turned to leave.

“HARRY!”

Harry staggered backwards into the bench as Hermione flung herself into his arms, getting a mouthful of hair.

“Hey Hermione.”

She pulled back and punched him on the arm and then hugged him again.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Running away, then waltzing back in with a ‘hey Hermione.’” She muttered into his shoulder. He laughed and she pulled back, a few tears glistening in her eyes, “I missed you, Harry. It’s good to have you back.” She looked him over, “you look good. Tall and no glasses. I’m sure there’s a story there.” Harry nodded.

“Let him breathe ‘Mione,” said Ron, wandering over with Ginny and Neville at a more sedate pace, a cautious look on his face.

Harry smiled and then winced as Ginny also punched him in the arm, “don’t run off like that again. You made mum cry.” She then pulled him into a hug. “It’s good to see you, Harry.”

“You too Gin.”

She pulled back and then Neville was upon him. “Harry, you saved my parents.”

“It was nothing Nev, you would have done the same thing.”

Neville smiled, “it’s good to see you, I’m glad you’re back.”  Harry smiled as Neville then muttered in his ear, “I think we need to talk about something else.” Harry nodded and let him go, “later.”

Neville nodded and then started talking to Daphne about something in the greenhouses, while Blaise nodded along beside her. Harry shook his head and turned to Ron, who was shuffling awkwardly from side to side, Pansy stood beside him, whispering in his ear.

Harry took a deep breath. He knew that this was going to be one of many awkward reunions. Deciding that their letters had been enough for now, he raised an eyebrow at Ron and spread his arms, beckoning him in for a hug. Ron sighed in relief and hugged him back, “mate, I am so sorry about everything. I was such a dick. I never wanted you to leave. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Harry let him go, “I know Ron, it’s fine. Your letters…”

Ron nodded, bright red, “still, I just, I needed to tell you in person. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

“See,” said Pansy. “I told you it’d be fine. If he can forgive Blondie over here, he’d forgive you.”

Draco spluttered from behind Harry, “I did not agree to the nickname Pansy.”

She turned an evil grin his away, “you don’t have to agree.”

Harry laughed, it was good to see everyone again. He spent a few more minutes greeting everyone that he knew, promising to catch up with them all properly over the next few days.

As the Great Hall emptied out, Harry shot another look at the Top Table. Sirius twisted a butter knife into the table as he stared daggers at Dumbledore who was deep in thought. Remus, who was also glaring at Dumbledore, clearly noticed the hole that was appearing, and put his hand on Sirius’. Sirius shook his head and then caught Harry’s eye giving him a nod. Harry smiled and turned back to his new housemates.

“Shall we?” asked Blaise, reminding Harry strongly of Reggie. Harry nodded and followed them out of the Great Hall. 

They slowly made their way to the Slytherin common room in a slightly awkward silence.

“Ron told us about your excursion here in second year,” said Blaise, trying to break the tension that had been building. “Impressive.”

Harry smiled, “I still can’t believe he told you.”

“You should have seen everyone on the train,” said Pansy. “Everyone was shocked the three of you managed that potion at that age.”

Harry shrugged, “Hermione did most of the work.”

“We figured,” laughed Draco. “We’ve seen your attempts at Potions.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Harry. “I was alright at Potions! And it wasn’t my fault things kept going wrong! You guys kept sabotaging them and Snape hated me! Plus, I’m pretty good now!”

“Sure, sure,” drawled Draco while Pansy chuckled alongside him, and Blaise nodded along.

“Yes, well Snape is a lot better these days,” said Daphne. “He was really good as the DADA teacher last year, though I am looking forward to Lupin being back. He was great in third year-”

Harry nodded; he’d been in correspondence with Snape since December of 1994. He probably knew better than most what Snape had been dealing with. Suggestibility Charms making him hate every house except Slytherin, making him hate Harry, making him hate students. Harry was surprised that Snape hadn’t been worse, what with all the charms the goblins had found on him.

“What?!” exclaimed Blaise.

Harry, who had zoned out of the conversation, snapped his head around.

“Don’t you agree?”

“NO!” spluttered Blaise.

“What’s going on?” asked Harry, confused.

Pansy filled him in. “Daphne here thinks Professor Lupin is, what was it, oh yea…kinda dreamy.”

“What?” asked Harry confused, “you liked Remus?”

“Yea,” sighed Daphne. “He was so kind, and patient. And plus, he’s got that rumpled scholar vibe. But I watched him carry a second year to the hospital wing when they got too close to the Dementors that year and he didn’t even break a sweat, so you know he’s strong, he could definitely toss you around… and those sweaters.” She sighed.

“Ok, calm down, Daph,” laughed Draco, “you’re going to break Blaise.” He indicated the boy who was speechless and spluttering in the hallway.

Harry found the whole thing strange. He didn’t really want to think about students crushing on his parental figures, especially as he had a bad feeling that soon students would be crushing on both on them… and Sirius would probably be a nightmare; in his mind, only he was allowed to like Moony like that. 

Harry exhaled and looked at Daphne, “this is really weird for me… but you should talk to Sirius about the sweaters. He loves them too.”

Daphne smiled at Harry and then went to whisper to Blaise, while Pansy laughed at the look on his face.

From behind Theo piped up, “why are you still in the corridor?”

“Daphne is traumatising us with her crush on Lupin,” drawled Draco.

“Oh… right… that,” said Theo, “well we’re probably holding up Snape’s speech so we should get a move on.”

They all nodded and entered the common room, Harry following Draco through. Harry rubbed his stomach as he did so. He needed to write to Kaea, that weird fluttery feeling was back and this time he hadn’t even had any alcohol; what was going on?

Chapter Text

The Slytherin common room was a bit different to what Harry remembered. He was sure it had been darker and more dungeon like the last time he’d been here; then again, he hadn’t been of sound mind the last time he was here what with all the Charms on him.

He decided to take a more attentive look around the room he’d only seen once before.

Toward the front of the room were large round tables and chairs with lamps in the middle; these were clearly for studying. Some students had already sat down and pulled out their books for the year.

Scattered around toward the back of the room were green armchairs and couches with black fluffy blankets draped along the backs or arms, and black cushions embroidered in silver grouped at the ends. Wooden coffee tables, with different coloured coasters, and stacked with books accompanied each set of chairs.

Something caught his eye and Harry looked up. The ceiling was low, and dark, with inlaid lights to mimic the night sky. It reminded him of the entrance floor at Black Manor in France. Draco noticed what he was looking at and smiled, “look familiar?”

Harry nodded and continued his examination of the room.

Along the walls were flickering torches that gave the room a cosy atmosphere. There were noticeboards and old class photos in between them, showing the history of Slytherin House. There were some blank spaces where old photos had clearly been removed. Harry wondered if they’d been taken down due to the Death Eaters in them.

A large fireplace on the left-hand wall had a mantle carved with snakes and a large painting of the Forbidden Forest at sunrise above it; golden rays of sun filtered through the leaves. Harry smiled at the painting; he was sure that it was of the clearing Sal had built his house in. Harry had been tasked to find it. Sal just loved giving him things to do. His list kept getting longer.

And stood on the side of the room by the roaring fire was Snape. He looked the same; dressed in his usual black on black outfit, with dark hair hanging down to his chin, though Harry noted, it no longer looked greasy. He also looked a bit healthier than Harry remembered; he wondered if it was because Harry was seeing him with a clear mind for the first time or if it was something else. He’d have to figure it out later.

Harry stopped his musings about Snape as Theo, Pansy and Draco stepped up to stand next to the other prefects beside him.

“Now that we are all here… Welcome to Slytherin. During your time at Hogwarts this will be your home. The people around you, your family. As such there are a few rules you need to be aware of. Slytherins stick together. If you have a disagreement with another member of this house, you do it in private. Outside the walls of this common room, we are united. If I hear of infighting outside of the common room, I will intervene. If you feel the need for mediation for said disagreement you can utilise the prefects.” He indicated the students around him.

“The Head Boy.” He pointed to Theo, “or me. Failure to conduct yourselves as honourable members of this house will end in detention, so too, will missed homework, and nighttime wanderings.” He paused to look at Harry, who smiled to himself.

“As well as any other behaviour that will besmirch this fine house. If you are struggling academically, mentors will be assigned, and study sessions compulsory. If you have anything else you wish to speak to me about, my office hours are on the noticeboard. Questions? No? Good. Now off to bed, timetables will be distributed in the morning…. Potter, come with me, we need to talk.”

Harry nodded to the other students then followed Snape to his office just down the hall.

Settling into the chair opposite Snape’s desk, he waited. The man himself had sat down and appeared to be deep in thought. Harry didn’t want to interrupt him, as he was still unsure of where they were at now that he was here in person. 

While the silence lingered on Harry looked around the office. It wasn’t as austere as he imagined it to be. On the left-hand wall was a large bookcase crammed full of hefty tomes on Potions, the Dark Arts and Healing. To the right was a small sitting area, with two armchairs and a coffee table in front of a fireplace. There was a weird looking plant in the middle of said table, it was the only thing that could be considered decorative in the whole room and even then, Harry was sure it probably had other uses.

Behind his desk was a door that Harry knew led to his suite of private rooms. In one of their letters Draco had informed him that he and Theo had had to hide there when the Death Eaters attacked in June.

“Potter… “

Harry jumped and focused back on the man behind the desk.

“Call me Harry sir,” he replied.

Snape nodded and took a deep breath.

“Harry… before we discuss your re-enrolment, I think it is important we start anew. I know that during our correspondence over these last few years we have said our apologies and started to build a new understanding of each other; however, it would be remiss of me to think that carefully thought-out words on parchment would negate the years of tensions and spite that existed between us.”

Harry nodded again, not wanting to interrupt Snape but needing to acknowledge the words the man had said somehow.

He continued. “Harry… I am so very sorry about my treatment of you during your first few years at Hogwarts. I acted abhorrently and unprofessionally and whilst I am aware that the Charms on the both of us were a mitigating factor, the fact remains that I was the adult in the room, and I did not behave like one. I know we have discussed this at length in our letters, and you may feel that that is enough and that this discussion is not needed. But I am now your Head of House and in a unique position of power over you and I wanted to reassure you that I will not be reverting to the man that you once knew, and I promise to continue making amends for my earlier actions.”

“Sir, I’ve already forgiven you. We talked about this in our letters, and I have no issues with you being my Head of House. It may… take me a while to forget though, being back here is dredging up all sorts of feelings that I thought I had dealt with…” Harry trailed off and shook his head and then smiled up at Snape. “It’ll be ok… we’ll be ok.”

Snape nodded and tapped his index finger on his desk and sighed. “Thank you, Harry. I know that your mother had hoped our relationship would be one of Godfather and son. I know that that opportunity was taken from us and that you have been with Bl- Sirius for these past few years and that you are of age now and-”

Harry just sat watching as Snape rambled on. He’d never seen the man so nervous before.

“– and so, what I am trying to say is that even though we have a difficult past I would like to take this opportunity to get to know the real you and to potentially start to build the type of relationship that Lily hoped we might have?”

Harry watched as Snape fidgeted in his and smiled. “I’d like that too sir… mum’s portrait told me lots of stories about the two of you as children. It was clear that you were good friends before everything happened with Dumbledore and the spying… It would be nice to hear those stories, and others, from you, if that’s ok?”

“I would be happy to share those stories.”

Harry smiled at Snape, gaining a very small smile in response. Snape cleared his throat.

“Very well… now that we’ve cleared the air in that regard, we need to discuss your seventh year. I have your transcript from your school in NZ. I must say that I was initially surprised at the results you achieved but then you were always good at Defence, and it was clear that you could achieve an EE in most subjects even with everything else that was going on, so it makes sense that in a safe and stable environment you were able to excel.”

“Thank you, sir! I did try my hardest and my old school did things a bit differently. I think that helped,” replied Harry.

“Hmm, I did notice the subjects on your transcript… it seems that they’ve taken a more cross-curricular approach to their teaching of magic. It’s something I’ve not seen before. The European schools all do the OWLs like we do. Could you tell me about your classes there?”

Harry launched into a monologue about his time at Te Kura Mākutu o Aotearoa, making sure to explain how the classes worked, his assessments and the magic he’d learned. Afterwards, Snape asked a lot of questions, making sure he understood how everything weaved together to get a clearer idea of what Harry had covered during his absence.

“It seems as if you have covered much of the NEWT curriculum already. In fact, I think you could possibly sit your Charms, Transfigurations, DADA and Herbology NEWTs in the next few weeks if you wanted to.”

“That… had been suggested,” said Harry, thinking of Reggie. “There was talk of me skipping Hogwarts altogether and just doing my NEWTs at the Ministry, but I think I still have some things to learn from you and the other professors here, and I did sort of miss the place.”

“Really?” asked Snape, surprise showing on his face for a brief second. “Even after how everyone treated you in your fourth year?”

Harry nodded, “yea, even then.” He sighed. “That year was tough.” Snape snorted at his understatement.

“Ok, fair, it was a bit more than tough and I don’t regret leaving. Not with everything I found out and experienced while I was away… but Hogwarts always felt a bit like home and even though the Triwizard Tournament ruined it there for a while, I knew I’d always come back….” Harry exhaled.

“I know my grades are good, and I know that the way I was taught means that the NEWTs would probably be doable, but I do think I have more to learn, and I’d like to do that here.”

“Understood; however, this means that I will be informing your professors that there is a need to extend you in certain areas.”

“Sounds perfect,” answered Harry.

“Well then,” replied Snape. “In terms of subjects you have the pick of the lot. What would you like to do?”

“How many subjects can we do?”

“You can take either six, with an extra study period or seven, without a study period.”

“Potions, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Runes and History of Magic, if I’m allowed to pick it up?” Harry paused for a second. “Would I still be able to do the Divination, Herbology and Care NEWTs even if I don’t take the subject?”

“In terms of History, I’ll talk to Professor Rutherford for you, but there shouldn’t be too much of a problem. For the others, there would be an element of self-study required, and you would need to talk to Hagrid and Professor Sprout for the opportunity for some practical work in those subjects, but I don’t see why not. If you’d like I could investigate whether you could do them before Yule?”

“Yes, please sir, if you don’t mind?”

“Not at all Harry…. And what about Advanced Magical Theory?”

“I’ve already done it. Sirius has based the course off the one I did in NZ. When my teacher found out I was leaving she ran me through the rest of the course, and I did the exam before I left.”

“Ah yes, I think I did see that in your records.” Snape shuffled the paper around and pulled out Harry’s transcript. “Another Tremendous… nicely done. I must admit, I am looking forward to seeing how your classmates-”

Before Harry could learn about what Snape was looking forward to, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

Sirius opened the door, laden down with Harry’s numerous pets, and his shrunken trunk.

“Sorry for interrupting Snape, but I went looking for Harry in the Slytherin Common Room and was told I’d find him here sorting his timetable?”

Harry watched as Sirius kept his tone polite and friendly, making sure not to offend Snape in any way. Harry knew that Sirius and Remus both had plans to make amends to the man for their behaviour during their time at school. He also knew that Snape wanted to do the same in return. All of them had hurt the other during their stint at Hogwarts as students, and then again in Harry’s third year.

Snape stood behind his desk, tall, and proud, but without his customary sneer that was often present when dealing with one of the Marauders. Stiffly but politely, he answered. “That is quite alright Black. We have sorted out most of the start of year logistics.”

Sirius looked at Harry as he struggled to hold onto Sala, “no issues then pup?”

“Nope,” replied Harry happily, “it’s all good.” He wandered over, shoved his trunk in his pocket, and took Sala out of Sirius’ arms before she scratched him to pieces. She wiggled a bit before settling in his arms, purring up a storm.

“And who is this?” asked Snape.

“Sala,” replied Harry, filling him in on where and how they found her. A hissing noise filled the room, “oh and that’s Pep.”

“A snake, cat and an owl?” asked Snape. “That might be pushing it a bit regarding the limit on student pets.”

“Well, if we must, we can just say Sala is Sirius’. And Hedwig is in the Owlery or out and about. And Pep…” Harry patted her head and hissed a greeting before taking her onto his shoulders where she hid mostly under his robes. “Well Pep needs to be here… for reasons.”

“For reasons?” drawled Snape, sarcastically.

“Yep,” replied Harry brightly, “I promise I’ll explain eventually.”

“And will this explanation shed light on the fact that Pep looks like she may be a Basilisk?”

“Perhaps,” smirked Harry, giving Pep a kiss on the head, and Sala a pat.

Sirius’ cough didn’t hide his snort of laughter as Snape let out a long-suffering sigh. “I don’t know how I missed it the first time around, but you are clearly your mother’s son. Merlin, help us all.”

Harry laughed as Snape pinched the top of his nose.

“Is there anything else you need to sort here pup?” asked Sirius from the door. Harry looked at Snape who shook his head.

“Nope, I’ll head back now.”

Harry farewelled Snape and gave Sirius a quick hug. “Good luck,” he whispered, “and say goodnight to Remus for me.” Harry felt Sirius nod and give him a quick kiss on the head. “Enjoy your first night in the dungeons.”

Harry headed back to the Slytherin Common Room and made his way up down the corridor to the seventh-year dorms. He found everyone inside, sorting out their stuff.

“All sorted?” asked Blaise as Harry walked through the door.

“Yep, just had to have a chat about my subjects.”

“What are you doing?” asked Theo from the bed next to Blaise.

“Potions, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Runes, and History of Magic,” replied Harry.

“That’s a nice mix,” replied Theo. “Should be good.”

“Yea, I’m looking forward to it,” said Harry. He looked around the room. “Where’s Draco?”

“Shower,” replied Vince, from beside Theo.

“Ah right.”

Harry wandered to the other end of the room. He popped Sala down on the last empty bed, and put Pep’s enclosure on his new beside cabinet, letting her slither down his arm and into the warm space filled with rocks, sticks and plants.

Sitting down next to Sala, who’d curled up quite happily; he looked around. The beds were the same as the ones in Gryffindor but with green curtains instead of red, which was not surprising at all given the location.

“Who’s that?” asked Blaise from opposite Harry.

“Masala, we just call her Sala… She’s my kneazle; is anyone allergic?”

“Nah,” said Theo. “you’re good… She’s cute.” He wandered over and gave her a pat on the head.

“Yea she’s great,” said Harry, smiling as she started kneading the blanket on the end of the bed, purring up a storm as Theo continued to pat her.

Theo looked at the glass case, “and in there?”

“That’s Pep, my snake. She’s friendly.”

Blaise and Theo just nodded, while Vince and Greg talked quietly by the door.

Harry continued to check out the room he would be spending the next year in. The dorm itself was a lot bigger than his old one. Clearly there were some benefits to being in the dungeons. Gryffindor Tower only had so much space, even with Expansion Charms. The dorm was a long rectangular room with doors on either end. Along each side were three beds, and three sets of small dressers that also doubled as a bedside cabinet. At the far end of the room was a fireplace with two couches in front of it. On either side of the fireplace was a door.  One was shut and based on the noise of water coming out of it, was the bathroom. He wasn’t sure about the other door.

“That’s the wardrobe,” said Greg, who had noticed where he was looking from the left-hand side of the entrance where his bed was. “Each of us have our own section, though Draco often acts like everything in there is fair game, so be aware.”

“Thanks Greg,” said Harry, who sat up and started unpacking his trunk after he’d resized it. He placed some photos of his parents, and grandparents, and friends from NZ on the dresser. He also included a photo of his time skiing with Reggie, Remus and Sirius. Reggie’s face was obscured by sunglasses and a beanie, so his identity wasn’t at risk of being found out too soon.

“I’m guessing Draco’s is the bed between ours?”

Greg nodded and continued unpacking. Harry joined him, as quiet conversation filled the room. Theo gave Sala one last pat and wandered back to his bed.

Eventually Draco made his way out of the bathroom in a billow of steam, chest bare, pyjama bottoms slung low on his hips. Harry’s mind blanked.

“You’re back. Everything alright?” asked Draco as he walked past, drying his hair with a towel.

“Ah… what? Oh, yea, just getting reacquainted and sorting out my subjects,” stuttered Harry, face warming.

“Hmmm, he wasn’t rude to you, was he?”

“Uh… nah, we’re good.”

Draco nodded while Blaise started to tease him about his hair from the other side of the room.

“Shut up Blaise, you know Drying Charms make it fluffy,” snapped Draco, who turned his back on Harry, as he continued to fuss with his hair.  

“Oh,” breathed Harry.

Crisscrossing the bare skin of Draco’s back were long scars, the largest running from his right shoulder to his left hip. It looked like someone had tried to carve Draco up with a sword. Harry tried to get his eyes to stop from watering as he remembered the attack from his letters. He stumbled forward, only just reigning in his instinct to trace the largest scar with his fingers.

Draco stopped his banter with Blaise and turned to face Harry.

“Harry-” said Draco softly.

“You…. Ahem… You downplayed the damage in your letters.”

Draco smiled sadly, “I thought it best. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“I worried anyway,” replied Harry, faintly.                                                     

Draco shook his head slightly, “I knew you would… but there was nothing you could have done. And look… I’m fine. No lasting issues, just a few scars that are slowly fading due to Potions.”

“They were worse?” choked Harry.

“Just for a little while. They won’t fully disappear, but they will fade to almost nothing. Don’t worry about them, ok?”

Harry nodded, unable to speak. He knew coming back to Hogwarts was going to be a bit difficult but seeing evidence of the attack on Draco was not something he’d even considered. He knew that the attack had been bad; Sirius and Remus’ reaction at the spell that had been used had been enough to inform him of that, but knowing and seeing were two different things. 

Harry shook his head to try clear his mind, but the image of Draco bleeding out in a bathroom lingered.

From across the room Theo interrupted his downward spiral, “I get it Harry. When I saw them for the first time I had the same reaction. But he’s fine and she’s gone. Plus, Hermione and Snape made sure we knew how to do the counter. It won’t happen again.”

Harry exhaled. “Right, of course, sorry.”

“No need to apologise Harry,” said Blaise.

“It’s fine,” said Draco softly.  “Plus, it’s not even my worst scar, see?” He turned his arm to show Harry, a large, scar slashed across his arm.

“Is that from Buckbeak?” asked Harry, mind flashing back to third year.

“Yea, scars from magical creatures don’t really fade.”

“Tell me about it,” said Harry, showing a very faint scar on his right arm. “Even the goblins couldn’t get rid of the Basilisk scar.”

Draco frowned, “we saw that thing when we went down the Chamber in fifth year; you were lucky to survive.”

Harry sighed, “yea well… wasn’t the first or last time I almost died at Hogwarts. Trouble often just found me.”

“Do try to avoid it this time around please,” replied Theo. “I don’t know if I could handle the stress of it now that you’re in Slytherin.”

Harry smiled sadly, “I’ll try… it’s not like I really ever had a choice though.”

Theo sighed, “I know.” He grimaced and then shook his head. “Maybe Hermione has some hints on how to keep you out of trouble this time year… I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

Harry laughed, “doubtful, she’s often just as bad. Don’t know why everyone always thinks she’s perfectly behaved.”

Draco snorted and flipped down on his bed. “Tell me about. Ever since she cornered me on Christmas Eve in fourth year my life hasn’t been the same.”

“Didn’t you corner her at the Yule Ball?” asked Greg.

“Semantics Greg,” snapped Draco, waving his hand carelessly in the air.

Harry and the other Slytherin’s laughed as the two of them started arguing about the timeline of Draco and Hermione’s friendship. Harry smiled at their antics as he put the last of his things away and zoned out on the bed, patting Sala who’d snuggled up on his lap.

He was looking forward to seeing how these new interhouse friendships played out in real life; he’d heard a lot about them from the various letters he’d received over the years, and it would be fun to see in person. He was a little worried about how he supposed to fit in with them all, now that he was back. He knew he’d changed; that he wasn’t the same person who’d fled Hogwarts on his broom. And he was certain that the others had all changed too. They had to have, with everything that had happened here since he’d left.

He sighed.

What if he just didn’t fit anymore? He’d voiced his concerns to Reggie, after their final run this morning. Reggie had just ruffled his hair and told him to stop borrowing trouble. Then he’d made him a smoothie and reassured him that it’d be alright in the end. Harry had just nodded quietly, not wanting to ruin their last morning together for a while, but the thoughts had lingered.

So far, Reggie had been right. His fellow Slytherins had been friendlier than he’d anticipated. He’d been a bit apprehensive about his Sorting here. He knew it had been inevitable, but he wasn’t sure that they were ready for Harry Potter to be at their table and in their house. And even though his letters with everyone had confirmed to him that Hogwarts had changed for the better, reading it on parchment was different to seeing it in person. Sure, the Slytherins were fine now, but they’d yet to delve into anything too deep and only time would tell how things would truly play out.

He was also anxious about his relationships with his old Gryffindor friends. They’d seemed fine with him and his new house in the Great Hall, but that had been a fleeting catch up; there’d not been time for anything other than the basics. He really hoped they would be alright. He scratched Sala under her chin, deep in thought. Maybe a shower would help?

“Is it alright if I use the bathroom?” he asked the room.

After a chorus of agreement and a quick run-down on the quirks of the bathroom, Harry stepped into the hot water and let it wash away his worries. For the time being.

“Harry,” whispered Draco, later that evening, as everyone else drifted off to sleep.

“Yea?” breathed Harry.

“How are you finding Slytherin so far? Do you wish you were back with your old house?” asked Draco quietly, concern lacing his voice.

Harry smiled into the darkness and watched Draco from the corner of his eye “nah, I’m good. It’s going better than I thought it would, to be honest. I knew I was going to end up here, and I’d made my peace with it. I was mostly just worried that Slytherin wouldn’t want me.”

Draco inhaled sharply and started frantically whispering.

“That makes sense. We weren’t good to you back then. You had every reason to dislike us. To dislike me. I know I was horrible to you, and I know we talked about it in our letters, and I have apologised repeatedly. But letters are… easier. There’s a distance to them. You’ve time to think about every word. You can revise them or toss them and start again. In person… it’s more difficult… And I just need you to know that I meant what I said, and I promise I’m not what I used to be… and neither is Slytherin,” Draco sighed. “And if the in-person thing takes some getting used to and you want to keep your distance I’d understand.”

In the low light it was obvious that Draco was stressed, worried, like he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Harry.

“Draco,” replied Harry in a whisper of his own, rolling on to his side to look Draco properly in the eye. “It’s fine. We’re fine. We’ve been over this. I’ve accepted your apologies, we’re good. And I know Slytherin changed while I was away. I knew before I even returned that the house divide had crumbled, that you were friends with everyone. And, yea, seeing it in person is a bit… different…. But the letters from everyone helped me prepare and the changes haven’t been as jarring as they could have been. Then again, it’s only the first night so I guess I’ll wait and see… I just hope everyone doesn’t turn on me again.”

Draco nodded, eyes focused on Harry. “I can’t even imagine what it must be like for you.”

Harry hummed. “Yea, … Being back here…” He shook his head and exhaled, “I hoped… but wasn’t sure I’d ever be back and it’s…Last time…” He trailed off, the ghost of his last time at Hogwarts hanging in the air between them.

“Harry… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. The whole school was horrid to you in fourth year... and the last time we saw each other outside the kitchens I was such a wanker, and I’ve always regretted it. I was horrible to you. I joked about you facing the dragons. I could tell you were struggling, and I made it worse. And sure, we’ve discussed it but it’s different now that you’re back in the castle. I just need you to know that I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Harry took a deep breath. They’d already talked this all over. He’d apologised and Harry had forgiven him. He even considered Draco to be one of his closest friends. He didn’t want to go backwards with Draco; he just wanted to move forward. He had enough things to worry about without rehashing the past he thought they’d put behind them. He needed to show Draco that they’d be fine. He thought back to where it all went wrong the first time around and smiled. He knew what to do.

He stretched out across the space between the beds, “Hi, I’m Harry Potter, and you are?”

Draco smiled and stretched out his hand, “I’m Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” said Harry, still shaking Draco’s hand. “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to be friends?”

Draco rolled his eyes, looking so much like Sirius. “I’d like that. I think we could be great friends.”

“Well, I do know how to tell the right sort for myself.” Draco laughed at that, clearly remembering their second interaction. They smiled at each other for a few more seconds before letting go of each other’s hands.

Harry felt Sala tucking in beside him and he watched as Draco gave her a pat with a small smile on his face.

“Night Potter.”

“Night Malfoy.”

“I’m glad you’re back,” murmured Draco.

“Me too,” whispered Harry as he closed his eyes.

Chapter Text

“Harry? What are you doing?” croaked Draco from his bed, sitting up.

“Going for a run,” said Harry quietly as he pulled on his trainers.

“Why?” Draco asked, incredulously, rubbing his eyes, he cast a quick Tempus. “It’s 6 am.”

“I know, habit, I guess… sorry for waking you.”

“It’s fine.” Draco yawned, laying back down and snuggling back into his blankets.

Harry smiled as a warm feeling flowed through him. “Here.”

He dumped a slightly indignant Sala onto Draco’s bed. With one last glare for disturbing her peace, she curled up on Draco’s pillow. Draco rolled over and gave her a kiss on the head and closed his eyes. “Have fun you weirdo,” he muttered quietly as Harry went to leave.

Harry made his way up the corridors toward the main entrance wondering where the best place to run would be. Definitely not the Forest; he’d run around that enough.

“Harry!”

“Argh! Remus! Don’t do that!”

Remus chuckled and fell into step beside Harry as they walked up the stairs to the doors. “Sorry. Though in my defence I tried to get your attention, and you just walked straight passed.”

“Sorry,” said Harry, shaking his head.

“It’s fine… everything ok?” asked Remus carefully. “Sleep alright? No issues in the dungeons?”

“I’m good Remus, slept well. Slytherin was fine. Had a chat to Snape and sorted my subjects out for the year.”

Remus nodded, “yea Sirius said. He stayed back and had a chat to Severus after you left.”

Harry spun around quickly, “are they ok? Did everything go alright?”

Remus shrugged, “as well as can be expected. According to Sirius there was no shouting or insults, but he thinks it still may take some time before it’s all water under the bridge.”

Harry nodded and sighed in relief; that made sense. He turned back to the doors and dragged them open, walking out into the crisp morning. Remus followed. “Where are we going Harry?”

“Run around the grounds. You don’t have to come with me you know?” Harry took a closer look at Remus. “Oh!” Remus was dressed in trainers, trackpants and a football jersey from somewhere.

Remus laughed, “Reggie woke us up with his Patronus, said one of us needed to join you on your run.”

“Oh, you didn’t need to,” said Harry softly. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I know. But you don’t need to be,” replied Remus, pulling Harry into a quick sideways hug. “I’m guessing the two of you planned this before school.”

Harry nodded, “we both thought it would be a good idea for me to continue with the good habits I picked up. This is one of them… I didn’t know he’d wake you.”

“Smart move Harry, and it’s fine. It’ll be good for me, though I doubt we’ll get Sirius out of bed early enough, especially as it gets colder.”

Harry laughed; he’d long gotten used to Sirius’ hatred of early mornings and the cold. “It’s fine. I might see if I can rope some of other students in eventually. Otherwise, I’m ok to go by myself.”

Remus nodded, “I’ll try join you a few times a week, if that’s ok?”

“I’d like that,” said Harry.

They took off in a light jog around the castle.

The early morning sun was starting to rise over the forest. The sky a pale blue with a few clouds scattered across, their fluffy white swirls edged in glowing pink; a burst of bright yellow and orange decorated the horizon, contrasting the with the dark green of the trees. Below them, the lake, crystal clear, and completely still, reflected the scene with such clarity that it was hard to see where the lake ended, and the sky began. It was a beautiful start to his first morning back at Hogwarts.

After a few laps of the castle and a quick chat to Hagrid who was heading off to feed his Hippogriffs, Harry and Remus made their way back to their respective rooms.

The Slytherin’s were still fast asleep when Harry got back. Sala was now curled up on Draco’s chest, and with every exhale his breath ruffled her fur. Greg and Vince were both snoring from their beds on either side of the door and Blaise’s wand was vibrating on the dresser next to his bed, while making weird chirping noises.

“Blaise!” groaned Theo, pillow shoved on his head.

Harry laughed quietly as Blaise snoozed his wand with a grumble.

Harry readied his gear for the day and showered quickly, only pausing to check out his new Slytherin uniform. It felt odd to be back in Hogwarts robes, though he had to admit the Slytherin colours suited him in a way the Gryffindor ones never did. He was glad that he’d gotten used to wearing green in NZ otherwise he was sure he’d be fretting a little bit.

As he fixed his hair, the other boys finally started to stir. Deciding to avoid the bedlam of the first morning back at school, which had always chaotic in Gryffindor, he grabbed his stuff and headed up to the Great Hall.

There were only a few students scattered around the various tables. It had just gone 7.15 and whilst breakfast had technically started most students didn’t drag themselves out of bed until about 7.45.

Harry made himself a cup of tea and some toast, while reminiscing about Reggie’s smoothies; he wondered if he could get the house elves to make him one.

Settling in, Harry opened his History of Magic textbook. He was hoping that he’d be allowed into the subject, and as NZ didn’t really teach British history, for obvious reasons, it was the one subject he was behind in. He wasn’t sure whether he’d even have the class today, but his time in New York had taught him that he functioned better in the morning and he intended on sticking to his new routine as closely as possible.

He'd just gotten through the introduction when the bench jostled beside him. Turning, he found himself smothered by a large bush of hair, as he was pulled into a hug.

“Morning Hermione.”

“Harry, it’s so good to see you. I thought I’d maybe dreamed it,” she said pulling away, with a smile.

“Nope,” he smiled. “It’s real, I’m back.”

“And reading?” she asked, curiously, “at breakfast, which you are early to?”

He lifted the cover to show her the title, “I’m hoping to pick up History, didn’t do much of it overseas, obviously.”

Hermione nodded, as she made herself a cup of coffee. “It’s a really good class,” she said. “Professor Rutherford is one of the best teachers we’ve ever had. She’s from NZ so she does things a bit differently, but it’s been good. I think I’m going to have to drop it for this new course that Sirius is starting. Why they would introduce a new course in our last year, I’ve no idea.”

Harry laughed, “you’ll love it Hermione. Trust me.”

“Hmmm?” She looked sceptical.

“Yea. It’s based off what I did at my old school and it’s so interesting, and magic makes so much more sense to me now. My old teacher actually helped Sirius adapt it for Hogwarts. In NZ it’s a seven-year course.”

“NZ? Is that where you were this whole time? I thought you were in the USA?” she asked as she piled eggs on to her plate.

“I was in a lot of places Hermione. I was gone a while,” replied Harry. “Some I probably shouldn’t talk about yet.”

“Right, of course, sorry,” she said.

“No need to apologise. I know you’re curious. And I’ll tell you eventually but…” he trailed off. He had so many things he wanted to tell her, but everyone had made him promise to be careful, especially Reggie, Sal, and Rodnok.

“Not yet?”

“Yea, not yet. Sorry.”

Hermione smiled up at him, “it’s ok. What can you tell me? Where are your glasses?”

“I’d like to know that too,” interjected Pansy, dropping into the seat opposite him. “I thought you were blind as a bat?”

Harry laughed, “you’re right, my eyesight wasn’t great. Got it fixed at Gringotts just after I left. I still need to wear glasses if I’m doing a lot of reading.”

“But you’re reading now?” asked Hermione, pointing at his book.

“One chapter at breakfast is fine Hermione. It’s more like if I’m spending the day in the library then I need them otherwise by the end of the day I’ll have a bad headache.”

Hermione nodded in understanding while Pansy peered at him, from over her glass of juice. “Please tell me you at least got new frames so you’re not in those ridiculous ones you used to wear.”

Harry laughed, “yes Pansy, I got new frames, and Sirius made sure they were fashionable.”

“Good,” she exclaimed.

“We picking on Potter already?” asked Blaise as he sat down beside Pansy. “Surely it’s too soon?”

“It’s never too soon to talk fashion Blaise,” said Daphne, from Pansy’s other side. Harry had no idea when she’d arrived.

He quickly looked around the Great Hall; it had filled up while he’d been reading. Greg and Vince were a few seats down, working their way through plates of what looked like Baked Beans on toast. Theo was sat at the end talking to Susan Bones, probably about Head Prefect stuff. Ginny was sat at the Ravenclaw table with the blonde he noticed last night. Neville was striding in the doors; Draco and Ron were nowhere to be seen.

“Where are Draco and Ron?” he asked.

Blaise snorted into his cup, while Pansy smacked him. He looked around at Hermione who had a small smile on her face. “You know what Ron is like Harry, he probably slept in.”

“He did,” said Neville, sitting down next to Hermione. “He’ll be here in 5.”

Harry nodded.

“Draco is doing his hair,” said Blaise, he rolled his eyes. “Apparently it’s not sitting right.”

“Ah…,” said Harry. He touched the quick bun he’d put his up into after his run this morning.

“Yours looks fine Harry,” said Pansy, making up two plates of food, and setting one to her left. She turned and arched an eyebrow at Blaise, who sighed and made his way over to Daphne, dropping a kiss onto her head as she smiled up at him.

Harry looked around confused, but everyone else seemed to think it was normal.

Ron soon stumbled in the door, tie askew, dropping into the now free seat by Pansy. “Thanks Pans, this looks great.” He said as he started in on the plate of food. “Mornin’ ‘Arry. Sleep well in the dungeons?” he asked around his toast.

“Ah, yea, pretty good,” replied Harry, looking around. He was finding the breakfast routine to be quite jarring.

“This lunatic was up at six am for a run,” drawled Draco from Harry’s right.

Harry jumped and turned, “when did you get here?”

“Just now,” smiled Draco, “everyone was distracted by that.” He pointed at Ron devouring his breakfast.

“Right,” swallowed Harry. He gave Draco a once over. His hair looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. Blaise had to have been wrong; surely, he couldn’t have spent that long on it.

“Run?” asked Hermione. “Why were you going for a run?”

“Oh,” said Harry, finishing the last of his breakfast. “I just got used to going for one in the morning when I was in New York. I go for one pretty much every morning.”

Everyone looked at him in shock.

“But why?” asked Daphne aghast.

“Oh… A few reasons, I guess. I enjoy it, it’s fun. Plus, it’s good for you, and it helps with Quidditch. It’s also useful if you’re in a fight.”

The table around him stilled at his last reason, everyone going quiet. They knew that Harry couldn’t avoid the fight forever.

“Of course, Harry,” said Hermione softly, “those are all perfect reasons for wanting to run. But are you sure you should be running around outside by yourself?”

“Remus was with me.”

“Oh, alright then.” Hermione looked much happier, knowing Remus had joined him.

“You can come with me if you want?” he said, addressing everyone around him. Most people shook their heads. Daphne actually looked like she’d be sick, but Neville looked intrigued. Before anyone could agree to join him, a voice cut in.

“Gryffindors, please return to your own tables to collect your timetables for the year,” said Snape.

“Sure Professor.” Hermione, Neville and Ron said their farewells and made their way over to where McGonagall was standing by the other seventh years.

“Harry, here is your timetable, as discussed last night. Professor Rutherford okayed your entry into History.”

“Thanks Professor.” Harry examined his timetable while Snape made changes to everyone else’s. A lot of them needed to drop a subject with the introduction of Advanced Magical Theory.

Harry had a busy day first day back. It was a Tuesday so that meant History of Magic, Runes, and Arithmancy, followed by Double Potions. It looked like his easiest day was going to be Monday: DADA, Transfiguration and Charms, along with a double study while everyone else was in AMT. He was going to enjoy those days. He quickly scanned the rest of it. His last lesson on Fridays was double DADA; he was excited to see what Remus was going to do with all that time. Harry hoped he’d copy what they’d been doing in Offensive and Defensive Magic back in NZ. He’d love to see how everyone here would handle it.  

Draco nudged him and they swapped timetables. They had a very similar timetable except Draco wasn’t taking Runes and had to take AMT.

“Snape let you into Potions?” asked Draco.

Harry laughed, “yea, told you I wasn’t that bad anymore.”

Draco nodded and looked up, “want to be partners, if we’re allowed to pick our own?”

“Sure, I’d like that,” said Harry, smiling at Draco.

“What are you two up to?” asked Pansy suspiciously from across the table.

“Just comparing timetables Pans, calm down,” replied Draco, swapping them back.  

Hermione, Ron, and Neville made their way back over.

“She wouldn’t let me take eight subjects! I wanted to take History as well!” exclaimed Hermione, working herself up into an academic rant. Harry smiled to himself a little bit, he had sort of missed these.

“Just ask if you can self-study,” replied Draco.

“What?” asked Hermione, pausing her rant.

“Self-study. You do all the reading in your own time and then sit the NEWT at the end of the year, with everyone else. I’m sure they’d let you do it,” said Blaise.

“You can do that?”

The Slytherin’s nodded.

“Yea, that’s what you should have done in third year to be honest. Would have made more sense than a timeturner,” said Ron. Harry hummed in agreement.

Hermione frowned at Harry and Ron, “but if I’d done that, we wouldn’t have been able to save Sirius.”

Harry snorted. “Yea, maybe Dumbledore could have done his job for a change. As the Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot he should have been able to call for a proper trial. You cannot tell me that two teenagers and a Hippogriff is the best plan he could come up. Fucking useless old man.”

Everyone stared at his outburst. Ron’s eyebrows were in his hair, Hermione was frowning, and Neville was nodding in agreement. The Slytherin’s were staring at Harry with mild shock on their face. Shit, he was supposed to be keeping his disdain for Dumbledore a bit quieter.

“Tell us how you really feel why don’t you,” joked Pansy, clearly trying to break the awkward silence that was lingering.

“Sorry,” said Harry rubbing his head, trying to figure out a way to salvage what he’d just done. “I just…” He trailed off, struggling to find the words.

“It’s fine Harry,” said Draco, quietly. Harry exhaled and then gave Draco a small smile. He turned back to the rest of the group who were still looking at him and went to open his mouth, not sure about what would come out when he was saved by his Godfather.

“Pup!” exclaimed Sirius, rushing over from the Top Table. “Happy first day of classes!! You need to swing by this afternoon after they’re done. Tell me all about your first day and I can tell you about mine. And then you can give me all the secrets of Slytherin.” He winked at Harry.

Harry relaxed a bit as everyone laughed around him and the tension broke. He stood up and gave Sirius a hug. “I think I’ll have to keep some things secret,” said Harry. “Can’t be spilling Slytherin secrets willy nilly.”

Sirius snorted at that. They were the ones keeping the biggest Slytherin secrets.

“Of course, of course.” He winked again and then looked around at the other seventh years. “I get to see all you tomorrow. You better be ready.” He turned to Harry. “Snape said he set up some tutoring with Professor Rutherford during AMT tomorrow. She thinks you’ll only need to do it until December but it’s just to help you catch up.”

“Hang on, why doesn’t Harry need to do Advanced Magical Theory with us?” asked Ron.

“I’ve already done it Ron. It’s based on what I did back in NZ.”

“Oh, right.” He frowned. “You were in NZ? I thought you said you were in New York?”

“Ah, yea, we spent time in both places. We got to NZ at the start of ’96, I was in New York for the summer of ’95,” replied Harry. He was struggling to keep track of who knew what.

“But you left here toward the end of ’94, where were you at the start and end of ‘95?” asked Ron.

Sirius laughed, “oh pup, you’ve so much still to tell them! Well, I best be off. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Harry, this afternoon. Bring Pep and Sala.” Sirius gave Harry another big hug and rushed off. Harry was happy he was so excited to be teaching.

“Pup?” whispered Daphne, “that’s so cute.”

Harry felt his face warm but didn’t say anything. He liked that Sirius called him pup.

“Whose Sala?” asked Hermione.

“Harry’s adorable kneazle,” replied Theo who’d wandered over. “She’s cute.”

Draco smirked, “I’m her favourite.”

Blaise rolled his eyes, as Pansy choked back a laugh.

“Sure Draco,” joked Harry.

“Ok, but who is Pep?” asked Neville.

“Ah, my snake,” replied Harry.

“You have a snake?!” exclaimed Hermione. “Isn’t that dangerous? How is that allowed?”

“She’s not dangerous,” replied Harry, ignoring the part where she was, in fact, a Basilisk. “Plus, I can talk to her, remember, so she’ll be fine. And Snape said it was ok.”

His ability to speak Parseltounge had clearly slipped all their minds as he watched the realisation dawn on all their faces.

“Right,” spluttered Hermione, clearly unsure of what to say next. Luckily the bell for first period went and they all stood.

“Is History of Magic still in the same place?” asked Harry.

“Yea it’s the same room,” said Ron. “Are you in History with us?” Harry nodded.

“I’ve a study now so I’m going to go speak to Professor McGonagall about this self-study thing,” said Hermione. “Who has Runes next?”

Harry, Theo, Pansy, and Susan all raised their hands.

“You’re in Runes Harry?” asked Neville. “No Herbology?”

“No sorry, Nev, but Snape said I could talk to Sprout about self-study, so I’ll need to do that at some point,” answered Harry. “Should probably also talk to Hagrid,” he muttered to himself.

Everyone just stared at him. He sighed, he hoped this wasn’t going to become the norm.

“We should probably go,” said Draco, cutting Hermione off before she could ask more questions. Harry threw him a grateful look. Hermione could be relentless with her questioning.

“Right of course, I’ll see you later.” Hermione turned and rushed up to the Top Table to catch McGonagall while the others made their way out of the Great Hall.

As the two groups spilt, Neville pulled Harry aside, “we need to talk. Tonight.”

Harry agreed, “kitchens at 9?”

Neville narrowed his eyes and then nodded.

“Tell the others,” whispered Harry.  

Neville nodded again and then turned toward the grounds, making his way to the greenhouses with Daphne and Blaise. Ahead of them were some Hufflepuffs Harry didn’t remember.

As the rest of them wandered down the corridor the others gave Harry a brief overview of what they’d covered in History since he’d left. They all had positive things to say about the teacher, and he was quite looking forward to meeting her.

As he entered the History of Magic classroom and spotted the professor, he froze.

“Whaea?”

“Where’s the fire?” asked Ron, from behind him. Harry ignored him.

The woman in front of him turned and smiled, “Ah, I haven’t been called that in a long time. Welcome Harry. My sister warned me you’d be back.”

“Sister?” asked Harry confused.

“Marama, my twin.” Ahh, that explained it. He thought he’d been hallucinating last night in the Great Hall.

“She told me you’d decided to return home. She was most upset; made me promise to keep an eye on you. I’m Professor Manaia Rutherford. You may call me Professor Rutherford like the others, or Whaea, if you’d prefer.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” replied Harry shaking her hand.

She smiled. “Thank you, Harry. Now how are you holding up?” she asked as everyone settled into their seats.

Draco pulled Harry to sit in the seat next to him and Harry just followed along. “It’s going alright,” replied Harry. “It’s a bit different to Te Kura Mākutu o Aotearoa but I’ll get used to it again.”

“Hmmm,” she said, smiling. “I do miss that place.”

“Yea,” sighed Harry. “Me too.”

She nodded and turned her attention to the class. “Right, welcome back everybody. I hope you and your families had a safe summer. I know that it was a tense one at times.”

Harry looked around as everyone nodded in agreement. Harry sighed, summers were meant to be fun.

“Now, we will be starting this year with an examination of the rise of communism and the impact of the Cold War on the world after 1945 until 1990. We’ll start by examining what happened in the Muggle world, looking at the economic, social and political factors that created the opportunity for it flourish in places like Russia, China, Korea, Vietnam and Cuba, among others. We will then move on to analyse how this in turn had an impact on the Magical world. We will be focusing on the increased authoritarianism that became a common feature of the Magical government’s as they tried to crack down on dissent in the name of fighting this ideology as it spread into our world. We’ll then analyse the impact of the number of conflicts that spilled over from the Muggle world into our own during this time and what this had on international relations. This time in particular is a good case study in examining the connection between the two worlds. So, we will use it to evaluate the relationship between the two worlds and examine the interdependent nature of said relationship. Like always, there is the expectation that we will treat each other with mutual respect and kindness over the course of this topic. Any questions?”

Harry smiled to himself. She was so much like Whaea Marama, he knew he was going to like this class.

The rest of his day went well. Professors Babbling and Vector were excited to see him in their Runes and Arithmancy classes. He didn’t really remember them from his previous time at Hogwarts, as he’d not taken their subjects before. However, they, like Snape, had seen his transcripts and had many questions about his time in NZ. Harry tried to answer as many of them as possible, but both seemed to have a never-ending supply. Both had had to be reminded that they had lessons to teach and had extracted a promise from Harry that they’d talk later.

Another person with a never-ending supply of questions was Hermione.

She’d sat next to Harry in Runes, with the aim of giving him an overview of the previous four years but it had soon become clear to her that he hadn’t needed the help. This, in turn, had led to a lot of questions which Harry struggled to answer. By the end of the lesson, he could tell that Hermione was frustrated with his answers, especially as some of his knowledge had come from the goblins and he wasn’t allowed to talk about it.

Her questions had continued in Arithmancy, but at least in that class he also had Draco, who soon got sick of Hermione’s incessant questioning and had snapped at her. This had led to the two of them bickering over the top of Harry while he did his equations.

It was weirdly comforting. Hermione and Ron used to do the same thing in their earlier years, so, whilst it was annoying, it was also familiar. Admittedly, Draco was a bit sassier than Ron had ever been and Harry had had to stop himself laughing a few times. He hadn’t been subtle, and Hermione had glared at him at one point.

Eventually though Draco, got through to her and she apologised for bombarding Harry with questions. Harry accepted her apology, he knew she was just excited to have him back. He could easily forgive her curiosity. In the end he promised to sit down with everyone in the weekend and explain everything he could in one sitting. This placated Hermione, and meant that lunch was a much calmer affair, with everyone else joining them to compare their first lot of classes.

Harry still found it a bit weird to be sitting at the Slytherin table, weirder still, was the number of non-Slytherin’s sitting there. Everyone else acted like it was a normal day and Harry realised that for them it was. They’d had years to get used to it. Harry hadn’t even been back a day.

Potions was both familiar and different. Everything about the room was the same, everything about the flow of the lesson was also similar but Snape was so different that sometimes Harry couldn’t believe it was the same person. He gave demonstrations of how to prepare the ingredients on the Draught of the Living Death which they were recapping, answered any questions that students had and gave encouraging advice as he wandered around the room.

The first time Snape had appeared at Harry’s and Draco’s cauldron, Harry had tensed, waiting for a scathing comment, but it never came. Instead, Snape praised them on the colour of their potion and then explained the best way to prepare the Sopophorous Beans with a silver knife. As Snape walked away, Harry let out the breath he’d been holding and bent over the desk, head in his hands.

“You alright Harry?”

“Yea, I’m alright,” replied Harry, running his hands over his face and standing up again. “I knew he was better, we even talked about it last night, but there’s hearing about it in letters and then experiencing it in person. It’s a bit bizarre.”

Draco laughed quietly beside him, as he added the Beans to the cauldron. “I imagine this whole day has been quite bizarre for you?”

Harry snorted, “yea. Some sixth year Hufflepuff came up to me in the bathroom after Arithmancy and apologised for saying mean things about me to their friends back in fourth year. I didn’t even know them!”

Draco smiled sadly, “a lot of people probably still feel guilty about that Harry. I mean, we quite literally ran you out of the school with how we were behaving. And then it turned out you were telling the truth the whole time, and that there had an escaped Death Eater moonlighting as our Defence teacher.”  Draco shook his head at the memories. “There was a lot of soul searching during that time, and everyone started questioning everything we thought we knew about you. And the more we probed, the more questions we had. We didn’t know if you were even alive until a month later. It doesn’t surprise me that now that you’re back, people want to make amends. You should let them.”

“Ok, sure, but in the bathroom? Really?” replied Harry, as he stirred the potion clockwise.

Draco snorted, “ok, yea, that’s not the right location for those types of conversations.”

“Tell me about it,” mumbled Harry.

“It’ll get better Harry; it’s not even been a day.” Harry acknowledged Draco’s comment with a nod and focused back on their potion, trying not to get distracted by the boy beside him, and the noise in the classroom. One was easier than the other.

The dulcet tones of Pansy and Ron arguing over how many Beans they’d added, drifting over to their side of the room could be easily tuned out, whilst Hermione humming a Muggle pop song as she stirred her cauldron, was doing so, so quietly that Harry thought he might be imagining things.

Draco though, was right there, cutting, stirring and muttering the instructions under his breath, all the while, making sure to check in on Harry as he settled back into Hogwarts. It made focusing hard, and only the continual movement of Snape around the room helped him stay on task. But he managed it and the two of them were able to hand in a perfect Draught of the Living Death.

As they packed up their cauldron at the end of the lesson, Harry felt a fluttering in his stomach and checked the time; he hoped Sirius had snacks.

Chapter Text

“Oh, thank Merlin, you’ve biscuits. I’m starving.”

“Nice to see you too pup,” laughed Sirius, as Harry sat down on the couch next to him and grabbed a handful of chocolate chip cookies.

Sirius and Remus had been given a shared suite in the Transfiguration corridor as it was the most convenient for the two of them; Sirius would be close to Professor McGonagall for their shared subject, and Remus was close by if she needed help with the Gryffindor’s.

It was a bit bigger than Harry had expected, with a small kitchenette and dining area attached to a larger living room, with a large fireplace and some comfy looking orange couches. Harry wasn’t sure on the colour, but with Sirius’ dark purple fluffy blanket tossed along the arms and the white cushions piled on top of them, they didn’t look so bad. Remus had bought some books from NZ and the Manor and had filled up the bookcase on the wall adjacent to the fireplace. He’d also added some photos of them in various parts of the world to the walls. It gave the room a lived in and homely vibe and Harry felt himself relaxing properly for the first time all day. 

Off to one side were two doors slightly ajar: the bathroom and the bedroom. Harry had had a quick peak as he sat down. From his place on the couch, he could see into both. The bathroom was like the one his Slytherin dorm, albeit a lot bigger and nicer. The bedroom was to be expected, a large bed in the middle of the room done in greys and whites, with an extra blanket on the side Harry assumed was Sirius’.

He sighed and flopped back into the cushions, pulling one of the fluffy blankets to cover his lap.

“Tough day Harry?” asked Remus, setting down a cup of tea for Harry.

He exhaled, “no, not tough but like… a bit draining.”  He took a sip and tried to explain where his head was at. “My classes and professors are great and it’s great seeing everyone again and I’m so happy to be back but… It’s weird. Like so many things are the same and then others are so different and it’s hard wrapping my head around it all. Plus, Hermione keeps asking me all these questions about what we got up to while we were away, and I can tell the rest of them want to know too. And, I get it, I want to tell them, but not in the middle of class where everyone else can hear.”

“Hermione has always been curious Harry,” replied Remus gently, who handed Sirius his own tea and then settled down on the couch opposite Harry.

“I know, I know, and I knew she’d be like this, and I’d be doing the same thing if she was the one who’d run off but… it’s not unexpected but it’s a lot.”

“Hmmm, have you told her this?” asked Remus.

Harry nodded, “sort of. Draco snapped at her in Arithmancy and she got the point he was trying to make eventually. We’re going to talk about it all in the weekend.”

“That’ll be good,” said Sirius from beside Harry. “Be careful though pup, you can’t tell them everything yet.”

“I know,” sighed Harry, thinking of their plans. “I think most of them want to know what we’ve been up to, but Hermione mostly wants to talk about school. She was so surprised that I didn’t need help in Runes or Arithmancy and she wouldn’t let it go. Especially in Runes.”

Remus chuckled quietly, “I mean, I’m not surprised by that. She always took her schooling more seriously than you and Ron in your early years here, and she had to spend a lot of time trying to get the two of you to study or do your homework. Add in the fact that she’s been taking those subjects since her third year, and as far as she is aware, you’ve never been interested in them, of course she’s a bit confused.”

“I guess,” said Harry quietly.

“You just have to get used to each other again pup,” replied Sirius.  “And it’ll come. You just need time. Same as me and Remus. Same as me and Reggie.”

Harry nodded, that made sense. He’d seen how long it had taken them to sort themselves out. He hoped it wouldn’t take that long with his friends.

Sirius pulled him into a hug. “You’ll be alright. You’ll slot back in or carve a new space. Don’t worry about it. You’ve not even been here 24 hours; you’re in a new house, new classes, and you haven’t had a chance to really speak to Ron and Hermione. It’ll be fine.”

“Thanks Siri,” said Harry, appreciatively.

“Anytime pup.” Sirius pulled back a bit but left his arm draped over Harry. It was comforting.

“Is there anything else you worried about Harry?” asked Remus.

Harry thought about all the things they had going on: Dumbledore, his lordships, the Wizengamot, the goblins, Sal, Tom, the wards. There was so much they had planned, but they had it in hand.

“Not really, I mean apart from the usual amount of worry, with everything we’ve got in the works, no, no new worries.”

Remus nodded, “you’ll let us know if that changes?”

Harry smiled, it was nice having adults who loved and cared for him, “Yea, Remus, I will, promise.”

Sirius ruffled Harry’s hair and then sat up properly and finished his tea. “Want to hear about how I transformed into Padfoot and scared the first years in my very first lesson?”

Harry started laughing as Remus groaned loudly, “Sirius!”

“What?! I’m a Transfiguration professor Remus… that’s how we start our lessons! Don’t you remember Minnie did that with us when we started?”

“She did that with us too,” added Harry, through his laughter.

“Yes, but she’s a cute cat, not a giant grim!” exclaimed Remus.

“Well, at least I’m not changing into a massive, terrifying panther like Harry!” cried Sirius. “Plus, they loved it…. once they stopped screaming.”

Remus screamed into his hands as Harry high fived Sirius. “Do not encourage him, Harry!”

“Sorry,” sang Harry.

Remus looked up at him. “No, you’re not you cheeky shit, look at that grin!”

Harry laughed again, “it’s just… they’re so tiny Remus, and Pads is massive… It would have been hilarious to see.”

“Soooo tiny,” agreed Sirius, cackling away. “Soooo funny!”

Remus took a deep breath, “Minnie’s going to kill you.”

“Nah, she loves me,” said Sirius breathlessly, as he tried to regain his composure. “It’ll be fine.”

Remus just shook his head, a fond and exasperated smile on his face.

The two of them proceeded to tell Harry about the rest of their day. Remus had just wrapped up a story about how one of his third-year students had managed to glue themselves face first to their desk when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

The door swung open revealing the person that Harry was not ready to see yet. He wiped his hands surreptitiously on his robes, hoping like hell that he wouldn’t linger.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Sirius, tone flat.

“Ah, Sirius my dear boy, and Remus… and Harry, hello, welcome back.” Dumbledore stood there in bright yellow robes covered with dark blue stars and a matching hat, a benign smile on his face. Harry didn’t trust him one bit.

“What do you want Albus?” asked Remus coolly, standing up and moving to the door, making sure Dumbledore couldn’t enter any further.

“I just wanted to see how you were all settling in now that-”

“We’re fine,” interjected Sirius. “You can go.”

“Well, I was also hoping-”

“GO Albus,” snapped Remus. “If there are any issues we’ll go to Minerva.”

“Well now I am the Headmaster.”

“For now,” muttered Sirius under his breath.

“Now, now, boys-”

“Albus, you need to leave now. I will not ask again,” said Remus, in a tone so icy, Harry shivered.

Albus went to interject but the look on Remus’ face was one that brooked no disagreement, after a long pause, Dumbledore nodded, “I shall see you at dinner.”

As the door closed Harry let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“You alright pup?” asked Sirius softly, rubbing a hand along Harry’s shoulders. He’d tensed up during the visit.

“Yea, just… don’t want to talk to him just yet.”

“Don’t let him corner you,” said Remus.

Harry nodded, “I know. I’ve got the Map on me, and I check it before I go anywhere.”

The adults both nodded. “And your Cloak?” asked Sirius.

Harry nodded again, “yes that’s on me too, and so is my dagger from Rodnok.”

“What about Suksu’s blade?” asked Sirius.

“Don’t be ridiculous Sirius. He can’t carry around a bloody sword!” exclaimed Remus.

“It’s in my bag,” said Harry, pulling it out of the bag he’d had specially made for his return to Hogwarts; he didn’t mention the other two blades that Reggie and Sal had snuck him. Sirius nodded, a serious look on his face. It was surreal that Harry had to have such protections on him, but they all knew the reasons why.

“Oh Merlin,” muttered Remus.

“Only I can see it and draw it Remus. And I’ve been training. I’m not going to just whip it out in the Great Hall.”

“Please do,” laughed Sirius trying to ease the tension.

“Please don’t,” replied Remus dryly.

Harry smiled, “got it. No whipping in the Great Hall.”

Sirius snorted while Remus buried his face in his hands.

The three of them headed down to dinner a few minutes later. Harry watched from the Slytherin table as Remus and Sirius wandered to the front of the room and were greeted by Snape and Flitwick. Harry realised he’d forgotten to ask Sirius about his chat with Snape. He’d need to speak to him about it later, maybe once everything had settled a bit more.

“Hey Harry,” said Theo, sitting down next to him. “Good first day back?”

Harry smiled at Theo, “yea, it was pretty good. You?”

“It was nice, easy, ended on a double study. Got started on the Runes homework. Going to head to the library and finish it tonight.”

“Mind if I join you?” asked Harry.

“I’d like that,” replied Theo. “We should probably invite the girls as well.”

Harry nodded, “Yea I think Hermione would combust if we didn’t.”

“Hmmm, I think she’d be the least of our problems. Pansy and Susan would hunt us down. It wouldn’t be pretty.”

Harry shuddered at the thought. “Why are we hanging out with the most terrifying girls in the school?” he asked.

Theo just shrugged, “blame Draco and Blaise.”

“What have we done now?” asked Blaise indignantly, sidling up with Draco and the rest of the Slytherins.

“Draco befriended the Gryffindors and dragged the rest of the house along with him. You added the Hufflepuffs, specifically Susan. And now we’re stuck with dangerous and intimidating women telling us what to do all the time,” answered Theo.

“What was that?” asked Pansy sweetly from behind Theo, who froze and then swallowed, hard, “nothing Pans. You’re amazing.”

“Nice save,” she smirked. “I do like that you think I’m intimidating.”

Theo sighed and dropped his head to the table while everyone else around him laughed.

Soon Hannah, Susan, Hermione, Ron and Neville joined them and conversation flowed. Harry relaxed and watched as his old and new house mates exchanged stories of their new classes and professors over food; swapping anecdotes and favourite moments while also reminiscing about the past.

It was something that he would have never considered possible during his first few years at Hogwarts. The animosity between the houses, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin, had been too great and very few people had truly attempted to cross the house divide.

Harry was so thankful that this was no longer the case. Hogwarts seemed happier and lighter without all the infighting. And it couldn’t have happened at a more crucial time; they were going to need all the help they could get to stop the war before it got too bloody. He just hoped no one he cared about would be hurt in the upcoming fight.

When dinner ended the seventh years headed up to the library to get started on their homework.

“This is going to be worse than the OWL’s. HOW do I already have so much homework?!” exclaimed Ron as they found a table big enough for all of them.

Harry laughed, it was good to know that some things didn’t change.

“Didn’t you manage to get some done in your study?” asked Hermione.

Ron flushed a bright red, while Pansy smirked next to him. “Ahhhh, no… I… took a nap.” That was new.

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” asked Blaise.

“Oh, shut up Blaise, like you and Daph were doing homework.” snapped Pansy, while Ron hid is face behind an upside-down textbook.

Harry took pity on him as everyone laughed and flipped the book the right way up. “Thanks Harry.”

“You’re welcome, Ron,” said Harry, smiling. As Ron met his eyes, he gave his eyebrows a bit of a waggle.

Ron exhaled, “don’t.”

“Didn’t say a word,” replied Harry.

“Didn’t need to,” muttered Ron.

Harry laughed and opened his Runes textbook; he only had the last question to finish and then he could move on to the Arithmancy equations that had been set. He started reading, ‘Ancient Runes are often only studied in relation to their role in magical rituals. However, scholars have argued that this obsession with magic has ignored the practical application of runes as a way to make the unknown, known through written communication. Discuss this argument in relation to Schulz’s article on early Runic writing. To what extent was the transmission of the runes largely determined by sociolinguistic factors?’ Harry smiled to himself; they’d covered this in his Ritual class in March. He started writing while Theo groaned next to him as he read the same question. 

Around him the rest of the table settled down and everyone started on their homework. There was the occasional bit of chatter as people asked questions or compared answers but mostly everyone was focused on their own work.

Harry noticed that he got a few intrigued looks whenever he answered some of the questions, but he decided to put it out of his mind. Hermione and Ron looked the most confused when he answered one of Draco’s questions about Potions. He knew that it’d been one of his worst subjects when he was last here, but he’d worked hard on all his schooling, and he wasn’t going to hold back just so he could fit with their perception of the Harry that they once knew. He just hoped that it wasn’t going to become an issue.

As 9 o’clock got closer, Harry noticed Neville and Susan start packing up. Susan said she had Head Girl duties to attend to; Neville offered to walk with her because he wanted to talk to Sprout again. They said their farewells and took off.

After a few more minutes Harry feigned a yawn.

“You alright Harry?” asked Draco, from down the table.

“I’m alright. I think I might go for a walk around the castle; reacquaint myself with it,” said Harry, standing up and stretching. He’d managed to finish his Runes and Arithmancy homework; he just had some reading to do for History.

“Want me to join you mate?” asked Ron.

“Thanks Ron, but I think I want to be alone for a moment… Today’s been…” He shook his head.

Ron smiled up at Harry, “I get it. Have fun on your walk.”

“Be careful,” said Hermione.

He nodded as he packed up, pulling some things out of his bag to look for the Map.

“Harry. Where did you get that quill?” asked Hermione softly, picking up his green and black quill that he’d placed on the chair.

Harry looked up at Hermione, “I got it in NZ at this shop called Parchment Palace. You’d love it Hermione. Remus used to drag us there all the time. I’ll take you one day.”

“Hmmm,” said Hermione, eyes narrowed. “It’s a nice quill Harry.”

“Thanks, it’s my favourite.” He replied, shoving it back in his bag. “I can get one sent to you if you’d like?”

Hermione smiled, “don’t worry about Harry.”

Harry stood up, “you sure?”

Hermione nodded, “be safe wandering around the castle.”

“And don’t forget curfew,” called Draco quietly. “You’re in Slytherin now. We can’t have you losing us points because of your nighttime wanderings.”

Harry laughed, “I promise I won’t besmirch the name of Slytherin.”

Draco smirked at the reference to Snape’s speech, “good, otherwise I’ll steal Sala.”

“You would not!” grumbled Harry.

“Would too!”

“Just be back before 11 Harry and it’ll be fine,” snapped Theo, who was deep into the most complicated Arithmancy equation and was clearly annoyed at the noise.

“Right, will do, sorry Theo.” Harry waved farewell to the table and took off.

Theo just flapped his hand as he scribbled on a piece of parchment, while Draco looked over his shoulder shaking his head, “no Theo you need to carry the …”

Harry chuckled to himself as Theo started shouting at Draco. He made sure to move to aside as Madam Pince rushed over to shush the seventh years. As he exited the library, he could hear Madam Pince berating them about how they should know better while his friends pleaded with her to let them stay and not to kick them out. He hoped they were successful, he had places to be tonight, and he needed them distracted.