FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination
Sera Luanma
Author of 7 Stories |
---
Harry had never even imagines such a strange and splendid place as
the Great Hall of Hogwarts. After getting off the train with his
new friends, the first years had been ushered into the castle and
made to wait before Professor McGonagall had pushed them into the
Hall and continued walking to the front while the rest of them
gaped. Harry's eyes were drawn upwards to the black, starlit sky
as Hermione whispered close to him, "It's enchanted to look like
the sky outside." Harry thought it was entirely possible to believe
that the Great Hall simply didn't open up into the heavens. But,
his attention was quickly drawn to a rickety stool and battered
hat when Draco's breath flushed warm across his ear.
"That's the Sorting Hat. It's what they use to put you into your
Houses. I hope I'm in Slytherin." Harry grinned when he heard Ron
mutter about, '...stupid George and Fred, telling me we had to fight
a troll...' He was amazed though when a slit opened up in the hat
and it began to sing.
The whole Hall burst into applause when it was finished and the
hat sort of nodded in the direction of each of the tables.
Harry didn't have any more time to think though when Professor
McGonagall stepped to the side of the hat and began to speak,
"When I call your name, put on the hat and sit on the stool to
be sorted." She pulled out a scroll and read the first name,
"Abbot, Hannah!" The girl stumbled forward and quickly put on
the hat, a moment's pause and, "HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hufflepuff
table burst into applause and the names flew by in a blur of
faces until the Professor announced, "Malfoy, Draco!" The hat
barely touched his head before it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" Draco
sneaked a look at Harry and saw him grinning madly before
walking jauntily over to the lowly applauding table decked in
silver and green. Harry had but a second to think how it
complemented his eyes when the Hall fell silent as, "Potter,
Harry!" was read out.
Harry walked slowly up to the hat and placed it on his head,
allowing it to drop over his eyes and obscure his view of the
Hall and all the whispering voices. "Hmmmm," said the small
voice in his head. "Difficult. Very difficult. You have the
talent, oh yes- and a deep thirst to prove yourself...So where
shall I put you?" Harry just sat there, thinking how nice it
would be to be in the same House as Draco. "A Malfoy, eh? Well
in that case- SLYTHERIN!" Harry heard the hat shout the last
word into the stillness following the announcement, then a
great boom of applause came from the Slytherin table, Draco
clapping enthusiastically. Blushing, Harry took his seat by
his friend, unable to wipe the silly grin off his face. He
quickly sharpened his attention when, "Granger, Hermione!"
was called.
She practically flew up to the stool and jammed the hat onto
her head, expression not more surprised than the others when,
"SLYTHERIN!" was called out. She went straight to Harry and
Draco and plopped down next to them. "It told me that I had
the cunning and wits to put me into the house specializing
in it!" Hermione was practically beaming as she thought of
all the things she could do to housemates as annoying as
Crabbe and Goyle. All three sat straight when the name,
"Weasley, Ron!" rang out.
The hat sat on his head for a good long moment before shocking
a couple professors and most of the Gryffindor table with it's,
"SLYTHERIN!(1)" Fred and George Weasley were on their feet
staring at their brother, and it wasn't an entirely proud look,
either. He sat down with Draco, across from Hermione and Harry,
and mumbled to his hands, "It said my ambition alone was enough
to get me put into Slytherin...Mum's going to kill me." Ron didn't
look too happy through the rest of the Ceremony, the speech Dumbledore
gave, or the final applause as the hat was carried out. He did,
however, perk up when the food blossomed on their plates and the
platters in the middle. Harry tried to cheer him up as they shoveled
food into their mouths.
"Don't worry about it, Ron. At least we all got to stick
together. I mean, how effective is the new...umm..." Harry
hesitated a moment before turning to Hermione. "Herm, what should
we be called?" Hermione looked at him a moment and gave a
disdainful sniff.
"I won't say a word until you've eaten what's in your mouth, Harry."
Harry grinned and opened wide, causing Ron to start laughing and
Hermione to give him a bemused glare. "Well, the one's who made
the map were the Marauders...I suppose we can use that, even if
it is a little less than original. I have to research to find a
new name."
Ron's laughter died down as he asked, "What? Think we can't live
up to their legacy? Watch this." Ron gave a small flick of his
wrist before muttering, "Afficio belch powder," and waving the
wand at the food on the Gryffindor table, specifically his twin
brothers. Harry looked confused.
"What did you do?"
Ron gave a sound that sounded suspiciously like a giggle before
replying. "Just sit back and watch." A few moments later, many around
the middle of the Gryffindor table were belching loud, stomach burps.
Professor McGonagall looked scandalized as the other three tables
cracked up. Fred and George turned to glare at their brother before
both had to stifle their insanely loud gas of the mouth. Professor
McGonagall stood up and said quite sternly, "That is completely
improper behavior. Report to the Infirmary wing, now!" to all those
afflicted. She glared at the room at large before following the
students slipping out, Ron once again asked Hermione, "Still think
we can't live up to their legacy?"
Hermione just looked at him. "Nice spell, Marauder. Opposite of the
accio charm?"
"Yep, learned it myself from one of Percy's books. Since he's a
Prefect, he gets all the good ones." The remaining students settled
down when Dumbledore rose from his chair, sang the final song, and
told the Prefects to get the rest into their new dorms. An unknown
seventh year stood up and coldly told the rest of the table to follow,
not even looking to see if they were. Harry heard some mutters as
they trooped down into the dungeons that would be his
home for the next couple of years.
A wizard near the back of the group yelled out, "Hey, Tracey, do you
remember the password this time, or are you too buzzed on laced butter
beer?" Harry saw the Prefect go slightly pink near the collarbone,
not looking back or dignifying the shout with an answer. They reached
the portrait of a young man sitting on top of a rock with a snake
coiled at his feet, hissing menacingly at the group.
"Obitus divinus(2)."
The snake hissed again before the portrait swung forward. Harry
thought he heard it say, 'Bloody wankers,' but couldn't be sure
he actually heard it, even excluding the incident with the Brazilian
boa on Dudley's birthday. They walked into a room draped in green
velvet and containing a chill even the fire couldn't wipe away.
Green lanterns hung from tarnished silver hooks and cast a sickly
glow into the room. "Girls to the left, boys to the right. Each
level is to each year, first years, you have the bottom floor. Take
those stairs and follow them down." Tracy spoke with a bored tone,
quickly striding up the stairs and presumably into the seventh year
floor at the top of the tower. As the group slowly dispersed, Harry
looked at Hermione.
"Have fun with the girlies, Herm. If any give you any trouble, just
send them down to Ron, here." Ron looked mortified and Hermione
graced all with a slightly terse good-night before padding across
the commons and disappearing down into the first year girl's dorms.
The three remaining boys quickly took their leave of the rest of the
house, finding six beds hung with black curtains and emerald sheets.
Draco looked at them and couldn't help a random thought, [Just like
Harry's eyes.] Muttering a night to the others, he stripped down and
twitched the curtains shut, falling asleep as soon as his head hit
the dark pillows. Harry gave his parting and yawned as he stripped
down into silky boxers, one of the things he had bought in Diagon
Alley while getting his robes. He too fell instantly asleep, even
if his dreams were haunted by a chilling green light and a piercing
laugh that almost woke him many times during the beginning of the
night.
In the middle of one such series of images, he gasped awake and heard
a sleepy voice mutter, "You okay, Harry?" Draco's sleep-tousled hair
appeared between his curtains and beckoned Harry over. He slipped
onto Draco's bed and spilled out the images from his dreams, comforted
only when Draco pulled him into a hesitant hug, slightly surprised
when Harry returned it. When Draco began to pull back, he heard a
soft snore from his shoulder. Laughing silently to himself, he
maneuvered them both under the covers(3) and rolled onto his side,
his last thought being of the warm body at his back and the arm that
slipped around his waist before drifting off to sleep.
For the first time in a while, neither Harry or Draco were disturbed
by dark dreams as they slept the sleep of the protected. When Harry
woke the next day, he didn't remember anything of the night...But
Draco did.
---
Settling quickly into a routine, Harry learned there was more to
magic than spells and wand waving. They had History of Magic with
the Hufflepuffs and Flying with the Gryffindors. Three days a week
they had Herbology, Transfiguration, and Astronomy, while the other
two days they had Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Double
Potions. Both with the Gryffindors. Sometimes, they had a few minutes
to stop in with Harry for tea at Hagrid's. Wary of Draco at first,
he quickly warmed up, much to Fang's delight as he liked to sit his
head on Draco's lap and drool, causing no end to the jokes the others
poked at him.
It was at his first flying lesson that Neville Longbottom got into
trouble and caused Madame Hooch to take him to the Infirmary. Laughing
to himself, Draco picked up the Rememberall that Neville had dropped,
picking an argument with Harry as to whether or not to throw it.
Quickly getting on his broom, he chucked the thing near the Slytherin
House. Harry went after it, causing the Gryffindors to gasp at how
he zipped by Draco, almost unseating him from his broom. Doing a front
flip, Harry righted himself from his dive and quickly caught the shiny
ball in his hand. Returning to the field, he didn't notice Snape
stalking towards him as he casually chucked the ball to Lavender Brown,
the soft Gryffindor with a thing for Neville.
"Mr. Potter, I'd like to see you right now." Snape said, something
indefinable glinting in his eyes. Harry put down his broom and
shrugged to the Marauders, ignoring the curious gazes of the
Gryffindors as he followed Snape to the Defense Against the Dark
Arts classroom. Snape cleared his throat and brought the attention
of the stuttering Quirrel to him. "May I borrow Flint?" [Flint?
What's he going to do, use it to set some wood on fire?] Harry
wondered. He didn't have long to wait when a lean boy with a mean
face came striding out of the room. Seeing Snape, his gaze lightened
somewhat and he asked in a hoarse voice what was going on.
"Potter," started Snape, "this is Marcus Flint. Flint - we have a
Seeker to replace Adrian." Flint's hard face broke into something
resembling a smile, more along the lines of baring his teeth. He
turned to Snape and nodded.
"Perfect build for a Seeker, light and speedy. Get him a Nimbus
2000, and I'd say the Cup is ours again this year." Snape just
nodded and left, cloaks billowing behind him. Flint watched him
go before turning to Harry and muttering, "Ponce." Harry laughed
and followed Flint as he began to explain the finer points of
being on a team that Draco forgot to mention.
---
"You have got to be joking!" Ron cried as he slapped the table, not
even causing the plate loaded with dinner to budge. Harry had just
finished telling the Marauders what had happened when Snape had
taken him off the field, causing Draco's jaw to drop right in the
middle of eating his food. Hermione glanced at him before turning
to Harry. Draco stewed a little at the thought that someone as
untrained as Harry could have gotten the spot he had wanted since
he saw his first Quidditch game. Irrational jealousy filled him as
he couldn't hold in a snide comment, "That's just because Harry
was showing off." Harry flinched a little and Ron opened his mouth
to shoot something back when Hermione broke the inevitable fight.
"The youngest Seeker in over a century! Come on, I have just the
thing to celebrate with." Hermione stood up and motioned the others
to follow her. Outside the Great Hall, Harry asked what they were
all wondering.
"Where are we going?"
"Well, there's this great room near the forbidden corridor on the
third floor. I found it when I was trying to find one of the small
study rooms Hogwarts, a History talked about. It has a whole shelf
of butterbeer and Tupperware. I think it was an old professor's
room. Now shut up and hurry!" They all obediently followed Hermione
up to the stairs and Draco was almost thrown over the edge when
the stairs suddenly shifted in mid-movement. Hermione glanced around
at the hallway they were in before hearing Peeves come screaming
up the corridor. "Hurry, follow me!" She whispered as one muttered
"Alohomora!" got them panting into the room. Harry was just about
to whisper the locking spell when a very pale Ron tugged on his
robes.
"What?" Harry turned around - and saw exactly why the third corridor
was forbidden. All four screamed when the dog rolled it's six mad
eyes and leapt forward to snap at their robes. Pushing Draco out
the door ahead of him, Harry rushed out and the foursome only had
time to push their backs to the door when a thick, salivating muzzle
tried to push it's way into the hall. When they got the door back
into place, Hermione almost shouted the spell, and all four were
dizzy with relief at what they had narrowly escaped.
Draco was the first to speak. "Why in the nine rings of Hell, would
anyone keep a dog like that here?!"
Trying to catch her breath, Hermione replied, "Didn't you *pant*
see what it was sitting on?" When Draco shook his head in the
negative, she looked around to see confused looks on the other
two Marauders. "If you had paid attention, you'd have seen it was
on a trapdoor, obviously guarding something!"
"Well, excuse me Hermione, but I was a little too busy staring
at it's teeth to care!" Ron hissed back.
Harry still had the confusion pasted on his face as they argued,
when an epiphany suddenly hit. "The package Hagrid took from
Gringotts bank! He said it was secret Hogwarts business!" Harry
was so caught up in his musings, he didn't notice Draco's or Ron's
faces flush a little from the glow in his emerald eyes or the
way he looked so delightfully rumpled. Then they both looked at
each other and scowled.
Draco: [Mine!]
Ron: *glaring* [In your dreams!]
Draco: [I saw him first!]
Ron: *looks aside* [...bastard...]
Draco's face slowly broke out into a languid smirk that was just
begging to be punched off, in Ron's opinion. It seems he had won
this round. Too tired though to think straight, the Marauders
resolved to talk about this over breakfast and they headed back
to the drafty Slytherin dorms.
---
Harry peered into Draco's curtained bed, trying to see if he was
awake or not. "Draco?" A sleepy affirmative met his question.
"Can I sleep with you again?(4)" Draco pushed himself up and
pulled back the covers, allowing Harry to slip in and curl next
to him. Right as he was about to lay back down, Harry sat up and
pressed a clumsy kiss onto Draco's warm lips. A muttered, "Thanks."
was all he got as Harry lay down and fell instantly into a deep,
and once again dreamless, sleep. It seemed now days that both
could only have a good rest if they had the other body curled
up next to them. For a certain Malfoy though, he lay awake long
after Harry's breathing evened out into small snuffles, tormented
by the heated thoughts racing around in his brain. When Draco
finally did begin to feel sleepy, he threw an arm around Harry's
waist, letting his leg slip between his legs and thanked whatever
was out there that the next day was Saturday.
---
"Either it's really valuable, or really dangerous," said Hermione.
"Or both," said Harry.
"Well," began Draco, "let's review what we know. First, it's only
about two inches big and Dumbledore knows something about it, and
it must be powerful if Dumbledore has it in his possesion. That,
ladies, is it." He leaned back and glanced at Ron, who briefly
scowled and went back to sulking over his eggs and toast. Draco was
about to say something snide when owls came flooding into the room
with the morning mail. A black owl soared over Draco and dropped
a letter and parcel into his lap, but was completely ignored as six
large screech owls dropped a long package in front of Harry. He
opened up the attached letter and read:
Potter-
Here's your new Nimbus 2000. Flint will practice
with you at seven o' clock on the Quidditch field.
Snape
At the bottom of the parchment was scrawled:
Don't be late to Potions again!
But that was it. Quickly unwrapping his broom, the Marauders, with
the others tables straining to get a look, oohed and aahed over it.
Leaving the table, they ran into one of the twins. Fred gave them
a murderous look and called to the passing Snape, "Potter's been
sent a broomstick, Professor! First years aren't supposed to have
brooms!" Snape stopped and stared at him as if he were an idiot.
"Of course he does, he's our new Seeker. And don't think to lecture
me on house rules, you impertinent child!" Snape sounded a little
more annoyed than usual today as he breezed away. Perhaps it had
something to do with the fumes of the Dying Devil Powder Draco had
slipped into a cauldron on Snape's desk. He had lighted a fire under
it and snuck out of the room the night before, causing everything
in the Potions dungeon, including three sets of freshly washed robes,
to reek of decaying matter. Ron gagged at the smell as it wafted to
the group's noses. Fred glared at him and hissed, "Don't think I
don't know about what you took. Don't worry, I'll get it back...
with interest!" Draco snickered and Harry looked at him in delight
after Fred also stormed off.
"Don't tell me...That stench is somehow your doing?"
"Well, I didn't think we were doing enough things to truly entrench
our reputation."
"Yeah, but you haven't seen what I've been planning," Harry smirked
and, refusing to say another word, he left the others to their antics,
going to talk to Hagrid about any suspiciously large dogs the giant
might know about.
---
"What do you know about Fluffy?!"
"That thing has a name?"
"What's it guarding, Hagrid?"
"That is specifically between Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flammel- I
shouldn't have tole yeh that..."
---
During dinner, all Harry could think of was the upcoming practice
with his team captain. Thus, he was completely oblivious to the
somewhat jealous, more often desiring, looks he was getting from
Draco. Things were quiet throughout the foursome, each too caught
up in their thoughts to really do much else but eat.
::God, he looked so sexy last night in those bloody boxers...Stupid
git got *my* spot on the team...Wonder why dad sent me a book about
arranged marriages...Damn it! Now that the Dark Lord has risen again,
Dad will keep nagging me about the Dark Mark...Should I think about
becoming a Chaser now?...Naked Harry...Damn! Missed my mouth again!::
::Hmmm...If Harry's the Seeker now, does that mean he'll help me get
on the team?...Woah! I didn't think Neville could kiss like that...
I wonder what mum's doing...Did Seamus Finnegan just wink at me?!...
Oh bloody hell! I forgot to do that three scroll essay for Snape!...::
::Haha! Ron's got a guy with the hots after him...I think I should
catch up on my reading...Oh my darling books...Pansy's looking
awfully cute tonight...Draco's looking at Harry like he wants to
ravish him again...Hmm, should I go over that light reading I checked
out from the library?...::
::Quidditch...Was that Flint blowing me a kiss?!...mummy...I wonder
who Nicolas Flammel is...I think I'll have another biscuit...
Maybe I should go polish my broomstick?...::
And dinner continued.
---
Harry was still lost in thought as he reached the Quidditch field.
He started for a minute when he realized he had reached his
destination, then looked around for Flint. Not seeing him, he
mounted his broom and flew up to the rings to get a good look
at them. But one brief glance later, Harry was reveling in the
wind in his hair and the sleek speed of his first broomstick.
"Potter! Get your cute ass down here!"
Flint had arrived. A large wooden crate was tucked under his arm as
his beady eyes glared upwards and his mouth twisted into a leer.
Harry briefly shuddered and lightly lit on the ground. Flint opened
the box and pointed to each ball, explaining their function and
then letting them loose for a moment to show how they maneuvered.
The snitch was kept in his pouch due to the late hour, but Flint
pulled it out breifly to explain how it was only a little
pale after a bludger tried to ram into his crotch, Flint just laughed
and tried to reassure him.
"Don't worry, you'll learn to handle balls better under my tutoring."
Did I mention the reassurance didn't make Harry feel any better?
---
With Quidditch practice, classes, and avoiding both male and female
attempts to molest him, Harry had barely realized two months had
passed until he woke one morning to the smell of baking pumpkin
while in Draco's arms. He poked an elbow into Draco's side to get
him to move so he could get to the showers and head to the Great
Hall. All Draco did in response was cuddle closer and mumble into
his shoulder, "...but Harry, I want to..." voice fading off before
Harry could tell what he was dreaming about. Probably Quidditch,
Harry shrugged. He shoved Draco onto the other side of the bed
and slipped between the curtains, hoping to get to his bed before
any of their housemates woke up. Unfortunately, Ron had gotten
up early and nearly blew a gasket when he saw where Harry came
from.
"What in the bloody hell were you doing in *Malfoy's* bed?!" He
shouted. Harry flinched, hearing a snort that meant Blaise was
waking up.
"Shhh...Ron, I'll explain later-" he was cut off when Draco's
sleepy voice asked, "Harry, where did you go?"
Ron flushed in anger and concealed jealousy before snarling, "No
need to, Harry, I can tell just fine!" Harry looked hurt and Ron
hurried off to stew in anger, and to stop himself from rushing
to Harry and apologizing profusely at the kicked puppy look he
was receiving.
Harry quickly forgot all about the incident as the Slytherins and
Gryffindors got to practice making things levitate in their Charms
class. Harry got paired up with Hermione, while Draco got Ron, both
pissed off and just itching for a fight. The whole class time was
spent in jabbing each other and whispering insults while Harry was
tutored by Hermione. He let out a brief, "yatta!" when he got his
feather to float, congratulated by the Professor and Hermione.
Draco mouthed a sentiment from across the room and Ron just huffed,
trying to get his feather to levitate, and succeeding in blowing
it up and ruining Draco's robes, starting in a fist fight that took
off 50 house points from Slytherin. A first year girl smirked at them
from across the room, someone Harry vaguely remembered as being named
Anna.
On his way down to the Great Hall, Harry heard Draco mutter to
Hermione about how Ron was in an unused bathroom, blowing up bathroom
seats with cherry bombs and licking his wounds. Harry looked a little
awkward, but put it to the side when the Halloween decorations came
into view. Live bats swooped and hung from every rafter while a thin
fog crept along the floor and clouds scudded across a black sky above
levitating jack-o-lanterns. The feast bloomed up on every table
and they helped themselves until Professor Quirrell sprinted into
the hall with his robes and turban askew.
"W-wolf in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know," and fainted
dead away onto the floor. It took several loud firecrackers from
Dumbledore's wand to calm the inevitable fiasco that followed.
"Prefects, Houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Tracey
Davis snapped some orders and led a collected group of Slytherin's
out the huge double doors. Harry suddenly grabbed Hermione's arm.
"Herm, Ron doesn't know about the wolf!" Hermione bit her lip
and Draco scowled.
"It's the Weasel's fault for storming off and being a waste of
space," he sneered, still a little miffed about a perfectly good
morning with Harry ruined by the Weasel's homophobic blathering.
Hermione leveled a glare at him.
"I know you don't like him, Draco, and I must admit he can be a
fool at times, but we still need to go get him. He is our friend."
"Fine. But only because it would be too hard to find another
Slytherin to be a Marauder." Harry knew this was as close as an
acquiescence he was going to get, and they slipped off, unnoticed
by their fellow house-mates and their prefect swigging something
from a hidden flask. Slipping down a side corridor, Hermione
pulled them behind a statue as they heard footsteps. Peering
around the corner, they saw Snape headed the opposite direction.
"Hey, Herm, isn't that the way to the third floor?" She nodded in
the affirmative after checking the map. She saw something that
startled her, and was about to say something when Harry grimaced
and Draco sniffed, holding up a hand and crinkling his nose at the
scent of blood and sorrow.
"I don't know...It doesn't smell like a typical mountain wolf...or a
Were for that matter. Weres are notoriously clean. Looks more like a
Grim." Harry looked like he was about to ask about what happened
when they saw the huge shape slouch into a room. "They key's in the
lock..."
Harry caught the idea and leapt forward, slamming the door shut and
turning the key. "Yes!" They were starting to run when they heard a
suspiciously girl-like shriek from the room. Harry turned to Hermione.
"Oh no! That was the boy's bathroom!" Hermione turned around and
quickly twisted the key and ran inside, closely followed by the boys.
Ron was huddled under one of the remaining intact sinks as the black
beast advanced, grey eyes narrowed with mute malice.
"Distract it!" Harry hissed to Draco, picking up a piece of sink and
chucking it at the thing. Draco raised his wand to do something when
the wolf suddenly leapt onto Ron and lunged his teeth towards his un-
protected neck. The wind from the passage blew Harry's bangs off his
forehead for a moment and the Grim looked at his scar amazedly.
Harry tried to thing of something, anything, that would help. Right
when he was about to cast a binding speel though, Hermione rushed
forward and screamed, "Harry! That's your godfather, Sirius Black!"
---
(1)Well, my thinking was always that Ron should have been sorted into
Slytherin. If his heart's desire is really to beat all his brothers,
that's ambition, and that belongs in Slytherin House. Just my HO,
though.
(2)Divine Death
(3)Not like that pervs! Harry was hugging Draco while he was on top
of the bed. Since it's drafty in the dungeons, Draco was looking out
for his well-being *smirk* and keeping him from catching cold. Nothing
else, honestly!
(4)When I wrote they settled into a routine, I also meant about Harry's
nightmares. So, he was really going to Draco almost every night for...
comfort.
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