The Students Arrive.
Draco wakes up early in the morning when the sun is barely rising above the hills. Draco stands up and walks to the window, taking in the beautiful sight. The sky is a mix of violent orange, soft purple, and blinding pink. It looks like a mix of fire.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice asks behind him.
Draco jumps, spinning around. He sees Harry standing there, leaning against his bed. Harry smiles weakly at Draco before walking over and joining him. Draco takes a closer look at Harry's face. The bags under his eyes are so prominent they look like black eyes. Draco looks back to the sky, which is beginning to show some blue. Harry sits down on the window seat, still looking out. Draco sits opposite him, their legs resting next to each other. Harry looks away from the view, resting his head against the cool wall. Draco shivers, the heating charms haven't been extended to this wing yet, so it's still cold in early September. Harry notices and gets up, walking to his closet. He grabs something and hands it to Draco before sitting back down. Draco looks at the bundle of fabric, realizing it's a jumper.
"What's this for Potter?" He asks.
"I noticed you were cold, and you didn't pack any jumpers yourself," Harry replies, looking out of the window.
"How do you know that?"
"You unpacked your entire trunk in front of me yesterday. I saw every piece of clothing you insisted on folding twice till you got it perfect." Harry answers, looking so annoyingly calm.
Draco huffs, before pulling the jumper over his head. It's warm somehow and it smells like Treacle Tart mixed with hot chocolate. Draco's lip quirks up. Only Potter has a Christmas-smelling jumper. Draco looks back out into the window, the sky now a bright shade of blue, the last whisps of orange slowly sinking away with the moon. Harry looks towards the door, seeming to wait for something. Suddenly, the door creaks open, a red-haired individual shuffling in. Ron glances at Draco before looking towards Harry. Draco looks at Harry as well, almost gasping when he sees Harry's face. Harry has this expression on, no emotion at all. His face is blank, only emotion showing is carelessness. Harry slouches back into his seat as Ron draws closer. Ron comes to a stop in front of Harry.
"Listen, Harry, no one meant anything that was said yesterday. Blaise didn't mean anything. Everyone is sorry. Will you please come down so we can explain?" Ron asks, fidgeting with his hands, betraying his whole 'innocent' thing going on.
Harry looks up at Ron, and Draco can already see the resolve in those cold green eyes. Before Harry could open his mouth, Draco reached out and held his arm. Harry, froze for a second before slowly turning to Draco. Draco, with a half conscience of what he's doing, gives Harry that look. Harry sighs before turning back to Ron, pulling his arm out of Draco's hand.
"Alright. I forgive you and 'Mione. But Pansy and Blaise have to earn my trsut back." He says.
Ron breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Harry. We're so sorry. Me and 'Mione will be waiting in the common room for you." Ron says, walking out much happier than when he walked in.
Harry slumped back against the wall, turning to look out of the window. After a few seconds, Draco spoke.
"Today the other students are gonna arrive. You know they're going to ask questions about why we came early. What should we tell them?" Draco asks, looking at Harry.
"I dunno. We're gonna have to make something up, as we cant tell anyone else in case it gets to the Daily Prophet." Harry replies, looking towards Draco.
Harry stands up.
"We should probably go see the others, make a plan and all." He sniffs.
Draco stands up next to him, walking to the door. He turns to see Harry still standing at the window, looking down at his feet. Draco grabs his wrist and pulls Harry along with him, heading to the common room. As Draco rounds the corner, he lets go of Harry's wrist, seeing that everyone is there already. Harry comes around a second later, glancing around the room before walking to the armchair nearest the fire. As he sits down, he flicks his wrist at the fireplace, putting on a flickering flame. Draco moves to the sofa, where Hermione and Pansy are sitting. Ron and Blaise are sitting in armchairs next to each other. Everyone is watching Harry like he's a bomb that could go off at any time. Harry looks at them all, and Draco is relieved to see that there isn't a trace of the cold emotionless shell he was a minute ago.
"We need to figure out what we're going to say to people when they ask why we came earlier. Anyone got ideas?" Harry asks, looking around the room.
"We could say that Professor McGonagall asked us to come and help her with a few things before the year started," Hermione suggests.
Ron shakes his head.
"Then they're gonna go ask her and she'll tell them the truth. We need something that is vague but not too vague so it doesnt sound fabricated." He says.
"That would be the smartest plan. But, what is it that we're gonna say? That's the real question." Pansy points out.
Everyone nods their agreement, and they get back to thinking. They stay like this for a while, all thoughtfully thinking, until Hermione shouts,
"I got it!"
Everyone snaps their heads up, Ron jerking in a way that shows he was asleep.
"Whathaveyougot?" He mumbles, rubbing his eyes before looking at her more clearly.
"Well, you said it needs to be vague but not too vague, so this will definitely do the trick! If anyone asks, we tell them that it's classified but, it's about the recent attacks going on. We are trying to see if anyone has got any information! No one will be suspicious enough to write to the minister of magic to fact-check that! And we dont even have to give those extra details, just say it's classified!" She smiles brightly as she says this.
Everyone pauses as they think about it. It's a foolproof plan. Draco thinks it'll work, especially for their friends, who are all pretty thick-headed. He looks at Harry, who has a smile on his face.
"It's brilliant Hermione. So, anyone who asks, just tell them it's classified. Simple, and foolproof. You're the best 'Mione." Harry says, looking at Hermione with a wide smile on his face.
"No problem Harry. It's nothing." She replies, smiling back at him.
"Well im starving, so im going to grab some breakfast. Anyone coming?" Ron asks, standing up and stretching.
"Yeah, we are all pretty hungry. Let's all go, I think we could use some nice Hogwarts breakfast." Pansy says, standing up too.
Everyone gets up and heads down to the Great Hall, where the four tables are there. A few teachers are eating at the high table, glancing their way with either warm smiles or disgusted frowns. Every time someone frowned at him, Harry turned his shoulders in and looked down. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all walk over to the Gryffindor table and sit down on the edge of it. Draco, Pansy, and Blaise all walk over to the Slytherin table, sitting down opposite the Gryffindors. As soon as both groups sat down, a few plates of food appear in front of them. They all pick different foods to eat and they nibble away as they chat about random things. After a nice breakfast, both groups head back to the dorm. They just relax in the common room, playing a few different games till they get bored.
They all decide to go outside and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts, bringing out a few games to play. Harry and Ron bring out Wizards Chess, while Pansy and Blaise bring out Exploding Snap. They find a nice spot of grass near a patch of trees and they sit down, getting comfortable before beginning to play their games. Draco brought out a book, so he went to sit down under a tree, leaning against the trunk while he switched between reading and watching the others. He settles down before taking out his book and flipping to the page he was on. Draco reads for a while before getting bored. He looks up from his book to see that the chessboard lies abandoned a few meters away from the group, which now consists of everyone but Draco. Draco sighs and marks his book, putting it down beside him before standing up and walking over. He sits down next to Harry and just watches everyone play. It slowly ticks towards lunch, and the group makes their way inside because it's starting to rain. They have a simple lunch before heading back to the common room, beginning to play their game again. Slowly, the sun begins to set, and the time for the other students to arrive comes. The group changes into their robes and heads down to The Great Hall, mixing with the other students and finding their other friends. The Golden Trio sit at Gryffindor table with the others and wait for the sorting to begin. The Silver Trio does the same, sitting down at Slytherin table. Professor McGonagall stands up and announces what will happen to the First Years.
Then the sorting begins.