Garnet

Harry got up around five like he always did since there was no point in laying in bed any longer. Sitting up he felt instantly dizzy, his vision started to blur and he started to sway unable to completely hold himself up. All he could do was close his eyes and hope it went away. Luckily after a few seconds, he felt normal again so he slowly got up to shower and change into his robes, since it was the first real day of classes.

He got his clothes out of his trunk and brought them to the bathroom with him since there was no way in hell he would change in front of his dormmates. Even if they were all asleep, better to be safe than sorry.

The earliest any of them woke up was half past six so he knew he had time to get ready and leave for the common room before any of them were up.

He made sure to ward the bathroom door shut so none of them could get in just to be safe, he wouldn't be in there for long anyway so it wouldn't cause any problems.

Harry carefully took off his shirt and winced as it brushed against his back. The lacerations that nearly completely covered his back still weren't healing. When they got irritated they still bled although not as much as about two weeks ago when he got the most recent.

He looked over his shirt and found out that it was covered in fresh blood. The cuts were bleeding more than they had in a while but it was probably fine.

It was just a bit of blood.

He could feel warm drops of blood dripping down his back but it was probably just because he took his shirt off and it irritated his cuts. After he got out of the shower it would be fine.

The fact the cuts were no better now than when he got them didn't make sense, he always healed quickly so why were these cuts not healing?

He had always taken fast showers. At the Dursleys, it was because he wasn't allowed and he knew he would be in trouble if he used any of the hot water or showered for over two minutes.

Now he could use all the hot water he wanted but he couldn't bear the water running down his face and body. As punishment, his uncle used to waterboard him. It was something that never left his head, he couldn't even be outside in heavy rain without panicking and being right back in his uncle's bathroom.

Every time he let his head fully submerge in water all he could remember was the inability to breathe. The burning in his lungs and his uncle pushing him down not letting him up for air.

So now his showers never lasted longer than they had to, he quickly rinsed off his body shampooed his hair, and got out.

With his hair being curlier than it used to be, it was less unruly but still messy. But now in a way that looked more intentional compared to looking like he just rolled out of bed.

He looked himself over in the mirror, his chest and side were still covered in bruises which now were turning green and blue. At least they were going away.

His fractured and bruised bones were mostly healed, some of them were set the wrong way and still hurt like a bitch but they also seemed to be healing. All the cuts on his arms besides the most recent were completely healed making his arms have more of a silvery appearance than his tanned skin.

The scar from the graveyard was completely healed, he wished it hadn't. Liking the reminder of the night he lost the one good thing in his life. He didn't deserve to forget a moment of what happened or the grief that followed and continues to consume him.

The slight bit of pain that still lingered from his newest cuts was a small comfort.

The cuts on his back were puffy and bleeding more heavily than before his shower. But it still wasn't enough to be concerned and it probably would go away within a few days.

Harry grabbed the bandages he kept with his toiletries and started to wrap his back with gause. After he was sure he wouldn't bleed through the gause for a few hours he wrapped the bandages around. They were so tight it was starting to become slightly difficult to breathe, and he couldn't bend his back if he tried but the tighter the better for cuts like this.

After he was done bandaging himself up he changed into his new robes. They were the same as his old ones besides the fact they had the Slytherin crest and green trim. Red always clashes with his eye, he finds the green brought it out even more.

He looked himself over in the mirror one last time and was about to leave when he remembered his glamors. He closed his eyes and focused on all the places he wanted to conceal until he felt the cool rush of magic washing over him and he knew it had worked.

He was able to hold the glamor all day and still easily cast so he found no problem with it. As long as he stayed completely conscious he looked normal and no one was any the wiser.

It's not like he fell asleep in classes or slept at all anymore so there was no reason the glamors would fail him, they were foolproof.

He walked over to his trunk unlocked it and grabbed his book bag. Today he had double potions first then Transfiguration both with Gryffindor.

This day is going to be hell, double potions with a teacher who hates him with a house that hates him even more if that's possible. Then he has another class with a teacher who is probably angry with him for switching out of her house and with the same house who hates him.

If it wasn't the first day of lessons he would skip altogether since nothing good could come out of today.

But he can't so he places both of his textbooks in his bag along with quills, parchment, and a book on warding.

He walked back to his bed where he saw he had gotten blood on his sheets so he cleaned them before anyone could notice, if they saw they would without a doubt question him.

Arie still was sleeping in his bed and there was no reason to wake her up, after all, she knew he would be going to classes. He could come back after potions to get her, after all the fumes from potion-making were probably not the best for a snake to be around anyway.

He closed the curtains leaving a small gap so she could get out if she wanted to and headed down to the common room.

He knew most people wouldn't be down till around seven so he still had an hour to think of an excuse to skip breakfast or to convince himself to go.

He sat down on the couch under a big window that showed the inside of the great lake. He could see fish and all kinds of sea creatures swimming around. He even saw a mermaid swimming by.

He pulled out his potions book to review one more time. Potions in theory was his favorite subject. Besides, if he knows all the information from the textbook by heart Snape would maybe leave him alone to brew.

It's not like Harry will have a brewing partner to work or even to sit with, so he will have to do the work for two people. But that's fine he was alone more times than not and it wasn't as bad as everyone always made it seem.

Maybe if he sat in the back of the room and kept his head down Snape wouldn't bother him, although that seemed unlikely.

Like the previous morning, Gemma was the first person who came to the common room besides Harry. She politely nodded at him sat down at a table and started writing.

As more and more people came down Harry was becoming more and more uncomfortable. No one was looking at him but could swear he felt their eyes on him.

The first of the fifth years to come down were Davis and Millie and they sat on the love seat next to Harry's couch.

Wait, did they still want to sit with him?

He thought they only did it yesterday since they knew nothing about him, they still knew only the basics but it's still more than basically anyone else.

They probably just wanted to sit next to each other and this was the first available seat, who was he to assume they wanted to sit near him?

But then Daphne and Pansy came down and sat down and both sat on Harry's couch. Pansy was next to him and Daphne was on her other side. She left enough room in between Harry that he had no chance of bumping into her which was something none of the Gryffindors did. If they were not practically on top of you, you weren't sitting close enough in their book.

The Slytherins didn't seem to have the same theory as Daphne and Pansy were sitting next to each other but enough so either could move if either wanted.

Millie and Davis were leaning against each other as Davis talked animatedly showing Millie something from a book, but they were dating which made it different.

With Cedric, Harry had no problems with touching him besides when he was feeling shitty. He always asked before touching Harry and Harry knew whenever he said no Cedric wouldn't be offended or do it anyway, he would immediately stop and give him space. He never left though, he stayed with Harry and kept him company even if he was just sitting in silence.

No one else had ever done that for Harry and he missed it. He missed Cedric with everything and the guilt of his death was eating him alive. But it was only fair, that Harry live with regret and grief for the rest of his life. Cedric didn't get a life he didn't get to live past seventeen and that was Harry's fault.

The next to come down were Draco, Blasie, and Theo.

Millie and Pansy moved even farther down the couch leaving space for Draco to sit next to Pansy and Harry.

Blaise and Theo sat on the couch diagonal from Harry's leaving space for Greg and Vince for when they came down, which happened to be right then.

They all sat quietly like the previous morning till Blaise complained about being hungry so they all got up for breakfast.

Harry hadn't thought of a good enough excuse not to go so he got up with the rest of them.

He found that if you had a drink other than water like Harry's drink of choice, Coffee, and drank it slowly then people were less likely to question why you weren't eating so that's what Harry resolved to do.

__________________________________________

Draco had just woken up and was walking to the bathroom when he saw Harry's bed curtains open which was weird since he could have sworn he warded them shut.

He quietly walked over and peeked through them, and saw nothing.

Well, Harry's snake was there but nothing else which was weird.

He knew Harry didn't really sleep but he didn't know the extent of it, he vowed to pay attention to how much Harry slept since he knew if he just asked Harry would lie or get offended.

Draco got ready for their first day of classes and walked into the common room looking around to where his friends were.

It seemed like they were in the back near the biggest window, as he walked toward them Pansy moved from where she was sitting next to Harry so he could instead. She always seemed to know what he was thinking and he couldn't be more grateful. He wanted to be near Harry as much as he could to try to figure him out. Things about him just didn't make sense and he was going to be there for him even though Harry would never ask him to no matter what. Harry needed friends and people he could count on and Draco knew he and the rest of the group would prove to Harry he didn't always need to go through everything alone.

As he sat down next to Potter he noticed something weird about the way he looked. He couldn't identify exactly what it was but something about his appearance was off. He could have just let it go but he was nosy so of course he didn't.

So he did what they all did when they didn't know something, ask Daphne.

Now he couldn't just outright ask since Harry was sitting next to him and he did not want anyone else in the common room to hear either so he pulled out his notebook. This wasn't just any notebook, it was one their group had made in the second year, and each one of them had a notebook. All you had to do to use it was write the name of the person you wanted to receive the message to at the top of the page then write what you wanted to tell them and to anyone besides the person who wrote it and the person who is receiving the message will just see notes.

He wrote: Daphne, have you looked at Harry this morning? Is it just me or does something look off about his appearance? I dont know exactly what, but something is wrong with him.

She wrote back nearly immediately saying: Draco, I thought I was going crazy. Yeah, I noticed that too, and it's definitely something. It's nothing that I can directly identify but we should watch him be safe and I'll look into it.

Draco nodded at her and went back to subtly glancing at Harry.

Once Blaise said it was time to go to breakfast he saw as Harry slightly hesitated before getting up and following the rest of them.

Once again Harry fell into the middle of the group as they walked through the halls since there was the same amount of staring and insults if not more thrown at him than the previous day.

Throughout this, Harry kept a blank face and looked like he couldn't be bothered to react to any of what people were saying about him.

The school always turned on Harry no matter what he did so he did have experience dealing with it but it never had started so early in the year, and Draco knew he was still bothered even if he didn't let it show.

They sat down in the same in the same order as the previous days and all started to grab food and drinks. All Harry grabbed was a small cup of coffee he took black.

Draco hadn't expected him to get food but it disappointed him all the same, he thought it was still a bad time to bring it up so he didn't.

Harry still didn't trust them so it's not like if they asked anything personal he would answer, they needed to wait for the right time.

Today they had double potions first and Draco couldn't be more excited. He had always loved potions especially since he found it easy and Severus was his godfather so he favored him.

Harry on the other hand hated potions. Although Draco had seen him reading a potions textbook earlier, maybe he didn't anymore.

By the time breakfast was over it was time to head to class so they all started walking back to the dungeons.

Draco had always liked the dungeons, they had felt like his home away from home. He loved both of his parents and he knew they would both do anything for him, he loved going home and seeing them but like for most students Hogwarts was special.

When they made it to the potions room like always they were the first ones there. The Gryffindors always showed up right on time or slightly late which was one of the many reasons why Severus didn't like them.

Usually, Draco would be worried Severus would target Harry but he noticed this year Severus didn't seem to hate Harry, he almost seemed to like him.

So there was most likely nothing to worry about there.

Harry immediately went to sit in the back corner of the left side of the room and pulled his textbook back out.

Draco and his friends always sat on the left side of the room but in the front so they could see the board.

Harry at least was sitting on the Slytherin side of the room, but he looked like he expected to sit alone for the year. That was not the case and Draco took the seat next to him and the rest of his year fell in around them.

Draco thought since Harry was oblivious he should outright ask to be partners since he probably couldn't guess Draco wanted to be.

¨Harry, do you want to be partners? I'm good at potions and I bet if we work together we'll have free time in the end.¨

¨Draco I don't need your pity, I'm great at potions, and I'm going to show it this year. I don't need your help, work with someone you choose.¨

Harry didn't even believe Draco wanted to work with him when he asked. What could Draco say to get him to believe him? Probably nothing but he might as well try.

¨Harry I don't doubt that you are good at potions and I'm asking you because I want to work with someone smarter than Blaise for once.¨

¨What the fuck Draco, the only subject your good at is potions so you're one to talk.¨

¨At least I'm good at a subject Blaise, can't say the same about you.¨

¨Yeah, yeah whatever helps you sleep at night.¨

¨Ok Draco I'll work with you but only to prove to you, that you're not the best at potions in the class.¨

¨No matter how much you have improved you're not going to be better than me but I look forward to seeing you try.¨

Draco was thrilled Happy had agreed to work with him since for a second he thought he would refuse.

That was until the Gryffindors walked in.

They walked in loud and oblivious to their surroundings like always and sat in their usual seats.

It seems that in the trio Harry used to be a part of it was now Weasly, Finnigan, and Thomas, and then Granger who seemed to be now dating Weasley and instead of being part of the group like before was practically hanging off Weasley's arm.

Draco had thought better of her but apparently, she had no self-respect or standards.

He knew the group was going to be insufferable before they even opened their mouths.

Weasley was of course the first to speak up, ¨Hey Potter, enjoying sitting with all the other death eaters? Let me see your dark mark, or are you waiting for an in-person meeting to you know who's ranks? Don't worry I'm sure there's still time for you to get it. But I wouldn't blame him if he didn't want you, no one wants you. You are an unlovable traitor who everyone only put up with because you were the boy who lived. You probably only stopped Voldemort so you wouldn't have competition when you want to take over the world.¨

Draco was shocked, he had always heard Weasley's comments about Slytherins but he never imagined that he would say something like that to Harry no matter how much he disliked him.

Harry doesn't respond or even move after Weasley's comment.

Pansy was the first to respond.

¨Weasley I don't know why you're talking, you are just another Weasley. The one who is least important and unliked. Shut you're mouth before I make sure you won't be able to open it again.¨

One thing about Pansy is that she is fiercely loyal to those she likes and it seems Harry already fell into this category.

Draco was about to add in his own comments along with Blaise when Severus walked in and all the Slytherins immediately sat back down and turned toward the front of the room.

The Gryffindors stayed standing and looked like even with Severus's presence they were going to argue back when Severus spoke up.

¨Students sit down. I don't know if one summer away caused you to forget the basic rules you have been told repeatedly for the last four years but you have never been the brightest bunch so I will reiterate them. When I enter this room you sit down, you dont talk, you do your work, there will be no wand waving. If you do not follow these rules I will take points and you will be in detention for the rest of the term. Do I make myself clear since I will not be repeating myself?¨

Granger like always raised her hand but Severus ignored her and moved on with the lesson.

¨On the board there are the instructions for Drought of the Living Dead, you will have this potion completed by the end of class and hand it in at my desk. You may begin.¨

Draco saw Harry was already copying down the instructions onto a piece of parchment so he decided to grab the ingredients since Harry didn't like going up with everyone else to the crowded ingredient closet.

¨I see you're writing down the instructions, you can do that and I'll get everything we need. Is that fine?¨

¨Yeah that's fine Draco.¨

And with that, Draco got up to get the ingredients. When he brought them back Harry was sitting expectedly waiting.

¨Ok what do you want to do, whatever you don't I can do.¨

Harry took a second to think and said, ¨I can start on the cutting since you're already lighting the fire but we can both do everything, it will be quicker than each of us waiting for the other.¨

¨Ok sounds good.¨

They both started working and to Draco's surprise, Harry was just as good at him. Potions seemed to come naturally to him which was a shock since he was so terrible before. They worked simultaneously in comfortable silence, not having to talk to each other about steps and check to see if the other was working which was a nice change.

By the time they were done with the Potion, it looked exactly how it was described in the book. Harry poured it into two vile's and they each brought one up to Severus's desk to grade.

Draco knew their potion was perfect so he wasn't worried about what Severus would say but Harry looked like he was trying not to show how nervous he was. Unless you looked at the slight quiver on his hand it was a believable act.

Severus took both viles and looked them over.

¨Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy you brewed the potion correctly and finished early as well. Potter with a component partner it seems you can complete a potion that can do its intended purpose. Five points to Slytherin for each of you.¨

Harry looked the closest to Happy Draco had seen him since at least two years ago, he wasn't smiling but he had a spark in his eyes Draco had thought was gone for good. It quickly faded but it was there for a second and that meant something.

In unison they both said ¨Thank you sir¨ and walked back to their desks.

They had about twenty minutes left until class was over so they washed and put back their cauldron and then sat back down.

¨Well Harry maybe I was wrong, you're not better than me but you can hold your own.¨

¨Yeah no shit Draco, I wasn't saying it for no reason but thanks¨ Harry said with no heat to his voice.

Harry went back to his book and Draco spent the rest of class pretending to read while thinking of how good Harry looked with that spark in his eye and how he would do anything to get it back.

__________________________________________

Harry was sitting at a table with Draco, Blaise, and Theo waiting for transfiguration to start and trying to stop the room from spinning which happened every time he moved.

It had been getting worse and worse since he woke up, especially since potions, but it was probably nothing. Maybe the lack of sleep finally catching up to him.

Hell, maybe he would be able to get a couple of hours of sleep with how awful he was feeling.

Snape surprisingly didn't say anything bad about Harry during potions or do anything that could be taken negatively. Harry was shocked, and all he could do was hope that Snape would continue to leave him alone.

Harry tried to focus on what Theo was saying to the group but he couldn't think of anything besides the mix of insults that had been thrown at him today, and how much he wished he had the comforting weight of Arie around his shoulders since there wasn't time to get her before class.

She would have calmed him down with her sarcastic comments and questions. She would have made him feel alright again.

Harry was starting to get even more lightheaded and it was becoming difficult for him to sit up straight.

Then McGonagall came walking into the room and immediately started giving the class instructions Harry couldn't really hear.

Draco spoke up ¨Harry, are you alright, you look a bit flushed.¨

¨I'm fine, why wouldn't I be? ¨Harry said his words slightly slurring together.

Theo spoke next ¨He's just saying you look like you are getting sick, it's not a bad thing if you want to go back to the dorm and rest. One of us can come with you if you want.¨

¨I'm fine, I'm just going to go to the bathroom quickly.¨

¨Do you want one of us to come?¨

¨No.¨

And with that Harry promptly stood up swaying slightly as all he saw were black spots crowding his vision feeling like the world was tilting. He regained his balance and walked out of the room quickly.

Although when Harry stood up he felt the uncomfortable dampness of his robes sticking to his back which was slightly concerning.

Fuck, had he bled through his bandages?

It had only been about five hours since he put them on, he should still have a few hours until he had to change them again.

When he got to the bathroom he warded the door shut so no one would barge in as he was checking on the cuts.

He let his glamor fall.

He looked even worse than he did to begin with. He looked like he did at the end of a full summer at the Dursleys, maybe even worse than that.

Harry peeled the bandages off and immediately saw that they had completely bled through. His robes were damp in certain spots, so he quickly cleaned them the best he could with his magic not completely working with him anymore.

He tried to dab off the remainder of the blood on his back which was now slowly but steadily coming out with a damp paper towel but it was so inflamed he quickly stopped in favor of bandaging it with the low amount of bandages he had with him, and hoping for the best.

He just needed to make it to four which was when he had his meeting with Snape which he could try to get out of since everyone believed he was sick. It's not like Snape would even care he was missing it, so he could lay in his bed with Arie and have her tell him a story from before he ended up in Knocktern where he got back to the dorm and maybe sleep.

He cleaned up the blood that had dripped onto the floor and sink around him and started to head back to transfiguration.

He felt the bone-deep tired slowly starting to creep into him as he walked back. It was barely there, and if he hadn't become so used to the feeling he wouldn't be able to notice it coming.

He hoped by the time he got back to class it would be over even though that was impossible.

When he walked back into the room everyone was staring at him and he saw the Gryffindor's whispering and laughing at him for whatever reason.

He walked over to the left side of the room where all the Slytherins were and sat back down.

They were all giving him a weird look especially Daphne which he ignored. They were probably talking about him like the Gryffindor's which was something he should have been expecting.

Harry decided he would sit there and wait for the class out since he already knew everything they were covering all year so it's not like he would be missing out.

No one commented on his lack of effort, McGonagall just gave him her disappointed mom look and walked away. He would rather that any day over yelling so he counted it as a win.

Class dragged on forever and when it was over they finally headed back to the Common Room.

They had to walk across the school to get back to the dungeons which usually wouldn't be an issue except for the fact Harry was currently finding it slightly challenging to breathe. His heart was racing and he was trying to occlude so he would calm down but he couldn't. Occluding didn't work, trying to breathe normally didn't work, and taking deep breaths didn't work. Nothing was working but he could not show it, he couldn't show his weakness to people he barely knew.

After what felt like hours the group made it back and sat in the same seats they were in that morning.

Greg, Vince, Pansy, and Blaise were all having a conversation about care of magical creatures, everyone else in the group was either writing notes or reading. It would have been peaceful if Harry wasn't trying not to pass out.

They had been sitting comfortably for about an hour when the last person Harry wanted to see walked into the room. To make matters worse he started walking over toward the fifth years.

Harry had never wished Snape would go away as much as he did at this moment.

But Harry never got what he wanted so to his misfortune Snape walked over and stood directly in front of him.

Harry still didn't look up hoping if he didn't look up maybe Snape would go away.

¨Mr. Potter, I know you can follow directions based on the result of your potion earlier today so why are you not in my office for your interview and health check?¨

¨Sir, I never had those when I was in Gryffindor and I can assure you that my health is up to check and my grades are going to be up to you're standards. If I give you any reason to doubt this assessment, later in the year we can have this discussion.¨

¨Everyone in this house goes through this process each year and seeing you are no longer in Gryffindor you will too.¨

¨Sir, I'm fine, I have work I should be getting to anyways and I wouldn't want to waste your time.¨

¨If you're fine Mr.Potter then you should have no problem going to your check. It will be over within twenty minutes. The sooner you come with me to my office the sooner you will be able to get back to your studies so get up and follow me.¨

Fuck, why was Snape so insistent he go. If he went Snape would notice something's wrong with him and his cover would be blown. Everyone would know how pathetic he is.

He couldn't go.

Wait, he could go out with Snape and then slip into a passage while they were walking to his office.

Yeah, that could work.

Harry slowly stood up with the hope that he wouldn't get dizzy but doing so slowly made it worse. Harry couldn't help but close his eyes for a second trying to center himself and will his vision into coaperating.

When Harry opened his eyes he saw Snape staring at him in a way that made it seem like he was looking for something, Harry had no idea what it was but it was something.

¨Mr. Potter, is there something you wish to tell me?¨ Snape slowly drawled.

¨I don't know what you mean sir, everything is fine.¨

¨Then why are you wearing a glamor? Unless I am mistaken which I'm not, people who don't have anything to hide don't wear glamors. So I'll ask you one more time Mr. Potter, is there something you wish to tell me?¨

Harry had no idea how Snape had noticed his glamor, it was undetectable and there was no reason Snape should have even been looking for something like it.

There was nothing he could do but deny it again and hope Snape would drop it or was just bluffing.

¨Sir there's nothing I'm hiding, and I'm not wearing a glamor. We can head to your office now.¨

¨Fine if you're not wearing a glamor and are completely fine you won't mind if I do this.”

With that Snape muttered finite causing Harry's glamor to drop.