Nearly

Harry is woken up roughly by a stressed-looking Remus who has a rather wild look in his eyes when he tells Harry to hurry up and get dressed, then disappears from the room again in a flurry of movement. The chaos continues throughout the morning. Remus is muttering about missing the Hogwarts Express and tells Harry to hurry up several times, then scolds him for not eating breakfast when Harry decides to forgo it for the sake of saving time. 

”You need to eat!” Remus says and pushes him onto a kitchen chair.

”Moony…” Sirius says in his most patient voice from his own seat at the table. ”Calm down —”

”Don’t”, Remus snaps. ”This is your fault — I told you to wake me — oh God, is that really the time? We’re going to miss the train —”

”We’re not going to miss the train”, Sirius says calmly, then urges Harry to finish his breakfast in an undertone and Harry quickly stuffs the piece of toast in his mouth then burns the roof of his mouth when he tries to wash it down with his tea. 

Harry barely has time to take one last look at the house where he’s lived for as long as he can remember, before Remus is ushering him into the hall. 

”No, wait — Selina — I have to say goodbye —!”

”Harry, it’s half past ten!” Remus growls and pushes him insistently out the door, then swiftly catches him as he trips over his own feet. ”Come on, come on, you’ll Side-Along with me, and Sirius —”

”Wait, what about Hedwig —?” Harry says in panic. 

”— is with your dad, now come on, grab your trunk!”

Harry quickly grabs the handle on his school trunk, and then Remus grabs his other hand in a tight grip and turns swiftly on the spot. Harry feels squeezed from all sides, his eyes pushed into his skull and his stomach plummeting. He clutches Remus’s hand desperately, afraid that he might lose him and be sucked into the black nothingness forever. 

Finally, their feet touch ground just outside King’s Cross Station. Sirius is waiting for them at the entrance with Hedwig’s cage dangling from his hand, and he grins as Remus grabs the trunk from Harry and then proceeds to run up to his husband, Harry struggling to keep up behind him.

”We made it”, Remus says breathlessly as he almost crashes into Sirius. ”I can’t believe we made it.”

”Now will you relax?” Sirius says affectionately. 

”Do not think this means we will make a tradition of sleeping in on the morning of the first of September every year!” Remus growls, the kiss that Sirius plants on his lips barely registering as he continues to glower at the other man. ”Besides, Harry is not sitting on the Hogwarts Express yet. I’ll relax when he is — Harry, come on now!”

The family make their way through the station quickly, Harry glancing around curiously and noticing the attention they’re receiving from the muggles around them, but not really caring. Like with Diagon Alley, Harry has only heard stories about King’s Cross but has never actually been until just now. It’s a little smaller than he’d imagined, and a lot dirtier. But he likes it anyway. 

”Come on, come on, quickly…” Remus mutters, dragging Harry along behind him. ”This way, this way… God, packed with muggles, of course… Here we are, platform nine…”

Without pausing, Remus continues to walk briskly with Harry still running behind him struggling to keep up, heading straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten — a foot away from it, Harry squeezes his eyes shut, getting ready for the crash — but it doesn’t come… Remus just continues walking, and Harry stumbles after him blindly… after another moment he opens his eyes and is startled to see a whole new platform and a huge scarlet steam engine waiting for them on the tracks. 

”Come on, it’s getting ready to leave”, Remus says and pulls a little harder on Harry’s arm.

”What about dad —?” 

”Right behind you, runt!” Sirius calls out from behind him and Harry tries to look over his shoulder, but ends up stumbling and Remus immediately lifts his arm up to help him regain his balance. 

The smoke from the train billows into the air and drifts over the heads of the small crowd. Harry unconsciously scans it for any sign of blonde hair until he catches himself and resolutely tells himself he doesn’t even care if the boy has made it. 

They run down to the end of the train where, Remus informs Harry, there are plenty of empty seats. He then stops to catch his breath for the first time this morning, and just looks at Harry for a second before his eyes well up with tears unexpectedly and he throws his arms around Harry in a tight hug. Harry hugs him back, just as tightly and feels the older man sniffle softly into his neck. 

”Come on, Moony”, Sirius says gently next to them. ”It’ll be Christmas before you know it…”

Remus lets out a wet chuckle and nods, finally releasing Harry again so that Sirius can hug him as well. Harry grabs Hedwig’s cage from him and climbs onto the train after Remus who has heaved the trunk onboard for him. 

”Remus, the train is moving”, Sirius says. 

The other man nods quickly before giving Harry one quick hug, then jumps back onto the platform before the steam enginge starts to pick up speed. Harry hurries over to the now closed door and leans out of the open window to wave at his two fathers. They both wave back enthusiastically. 

A plump, red-haired woman and a young girl with equally flaming red hair are waving at someone a bit further up the train from Harry and when the little girl starts crying, he can hear an older boy yell, ”Don’t Ginny! We’ll send you lots of owls!”

”We’ll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!” another voice pipes up, uncannily similar to the first one. 

”George!” the woman shouts sternly.

”Only joking, Mum!”

Harry glances back at his fathers again, and just before the train lurches around the bend and they disappear from view, he sees fresh tears spill down Remus’s face and Sirius wrapping an arm around him. 

Harry feels a weird mix of sadness and excitement. On the one hand, he’s worried about being away from his fathers for so long. He’s never been away from the both of them than a day, and now he won’t see them for months… What if he gets homesick… What if something happens and he feels sad, and Remus won’t be there to comfort him… On the other hand, he is finally going to Hogwarts, something he’s been dreaming about since he was a little kid and Sirius told him stories about his time there. 

And he’ll get to meet lots of other wizards and witches, and hopefully make lots of friends… He tries not to think about the blonde boy, when this thought pops into his head, but since the blonde — the Malfoy boy, as Remus had called him — is one of few wizards Harry’s own age that he’s ever met, it’s hard not to think about him. 

With a sigh, Harry turns back to his trunk and realises for the first time that he has no way of moving it into a compartment. He puts Hedwig’s cage down on the floor and tries grabbing the trunk with both hands, then heaves with all his strength… He can barely lift the one side off the ground. Harry puts it back down with a groan. 

”Want a hand?” someone says suddenly and Harry jerks his head up, an older boy with flaming red hair and a face full of freckles is sticking his head out of a nearby compartment, and Harry realises his is one of the voices he’s just heard.

”Oh, yes, please!” Harry says in relief. 

The boy nods, then turns his head to shout over his shoulder, ”Oy, Fred! C’mere and help!”

In the next moment, another boy appears, looking identical to the first one. Harry blinks, then smiles gratefully as they both grab a hold of the trunk and lugs it into an empty compartment for him. 

”Thanks so much”, Harry says, wiping the sweat from his forehead. 

”What’s that?” one of the twins says suddenly, pointing at Harry’s lightening bolt scar. 

”What’s what?” Harry says. 

”Blimey! Are you —?”

”He is”, the other twin says excitedly. ”Aren’t you?”

”What?” Harry says in confusion. 

”Harry Potter!” the twins chorus together. 

”Oh him, I mean, yes, I am.”

The twins gawp at him for a moment, and Harry feels his face flush. Then one of them — Harry thinks he’s the one called Fred — seems to shake himself and exclaims, ”Shit, we forgot about Ron!”

Then just as suddenly as they’d appeared, the two older boys leave again. Harry looks around the empty compartment and gingerly puts Hedwig’s cage on one of the seats, then takes the one next to it, closest to the window. He watches as houses and trees fly by in a flurry of colours, feeling a mounting excitement start to build in his stomach as he thinks about where he is heading.

The compartment door slides open again and Harry turns to see another red-haired boy with freckles, younger than the twins but almost as tall. Harry guesses he must be their little brother and he smiles awkwardly at him. 

”Anyone sitting there?” the boy says and points to the seat opposite Harry. ”Everywhere else is full.”

Harry shakes his head. The boy gives him a pinched smile and takes the seat. 

”Hey, Ron”, one of the twins say from the doorway. ”Listen, we’re going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan’s got a giant tarantula down there.”

”Right”, the younger boy mumbles.

”But you’re alright here, aren’t you? With Harry Potter?”

”Oh, Harry”, the other twin says with his chin propped up on his brother’s shoulder, making it look like they’re conjoined. ”Did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And you’ve met our little brother Ron. Well, see you later then!”

”Bye”, Harry and Ron say as the twins slide the compartment door shut again. 

”Are you really Harry Potter?” Ron blurts out. 

Harry nods. 

”Oh — Sorry, I thought maybe it was one of Fred and George’s jokes… And have you really got — you know…”

He points to Harry’s forehead and Harry stifles a sigh and nods, lifting his fringe completely out of the way to reveal the lightening bolt scar. 

”Wicked”, Ron whispers. ”So that’s where You-Know-Who —?”

”Yeah, but I can’t remember it”, Harry mumbles awkwardly. 

He’s never really talked about it, not even with his fathers. He’s asked them questions growing up, of course. But he could tell it made them uncomfortable to talk about it, so he’s learned to ignore it as well. 

”You don’t remember anything?” Ron asks eagerly. 

”Only… Well, I remember a lot of green light, but that’s all.”

”Wow”, Ron says amazed and just stares at Harry for a moment until he catches himself and quickly looks out the window instead. 

”Have you got many brothers and sisters?” Harry asks, not wishing this to be the end of their conversation now that he’s finally talking to a wizard his own age, who isn’t behaving like a snooty little shit, he thinks.

”Yeah, well, just the one sister. But I’ve got five brothers. You met Fred and George. And then Percy is still at Hogwarts as well, he’s the oldest of us four. Then there’s Charlie and Bill, but they’ve already left Hogwarts…”

”I kind of wish I had brothers and sisters”, Harry admits. ”I’m an only child — er — or maybe you knew that already?”

Ron gives him a sheepish smile, ”Kind of. And weren’t you raised by —?”

”I have two fathers”, Harry says quickly. ”They were best friends with my — well — my real parents, and after they were killed, Sirius and Remus took me in and raised me as their own. They’re really great. I can’t imagine not having them as my parents, actually…”

Harry feels a flush on his face but stares back at Ron defiantly, as if challenging the boy to disagree with him but he doesn’t. He just nods seriously. 

”And they didn’t have any more kids besides you?”

”No”, Harry admits. ”I wish I had at least one sibling… But it’s all right.”

”I’m the sixth to go to Hogwarts, so you can say I’ve got a lot to live up to”, Ron says looking quite morose about it. ”Bill was Head Boy, Charlie was captain of the Quidditch team, and now Percy has  been made Prefect as well — Fred and George mess around a lot, but everyone loves them and I think they do get good marks when they really try, and even if they don’t everyone thinks they’re really funny… Everyone expects me to do just as well, but if I do it’s no big deal because they’ve all done it first. Plus, you never get anything new when you’ve got older brothers. I’ve got Bill’s robes, Charlie’s old wand and Percy’s old rat…”

Ron reaches inside his pocket and pulls out a fat grey rat which is asleep. 

”His name is Scabbers and he’s useless, he hardly ever wakes up… Percy got an owl from dad for being made Prefect, but they couldn’t aff— I mean, I got Scabbers instead.”

Harry nods, ”This is Hedwig. I got her for my birthday.”

”She’s really nice…” Ron says, then looks down at the sleeping Scabbers with a disgusted look. ”He might have died and you wouldn’t even know the difference! I tried turning him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn’t work. I’ll show you, look…”

He rummages around in his pocket and pulls out a very battered-looking wand, then clears his throat and raises it over the sleeping rat. 

The compartment door slides open and a girl with bushy brown hair and quite large front teeth marches inside, followed closely by a tearful-looking chubby boy. 

”Have either of you seen a toad, Neville here has lost one”, the girl says in a rather bossy voice. 

”No, sorry”, Harry says, glancing between the two of them, but the girl doesn’t seem to notice, she’s looking at Ron’s wand with interest. 

”Are you doing magic? Let’s see it, then!”

She promptly sits down next to Harry and stares at Ron expectantly. 

”Er — all right… Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow!”

Nothing happens. Scabbers continues to snooze in Ron’s lap and he groans miserably. 

”Are you sure that’s a real spell?” the girl says. ”It’s not very good, is it? I’ve tried a few simple spells for practise, and they’ve all worked for me. Nobody in my family is magic at all, so it was quite a shock when I received my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it’s the very best school of witchcraft there is, I’ve heard — I’ve learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I’m Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?”

Harry and Ron turn to stare at each other in shock, then turn back to look at the girl. 

”I’m Ron Weasley”, Ron mutters.

”Harry — ehm — Potter”, Harry says. 

”Oh, are you really? I’ve read all about you in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and of course Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century.”

”Er — all right…” Harry says awkwardly, glancing at Ron again who makes a scandalized face that makes Harry smile. 

”Do either of you know what house you might be sorted into?” Hermione continues, unperturbed. ”I’ve been asking around and I do hope I’m in Gryffindor, it seems the best, I mean Dumbledore himself was a Gryffindor after all — But I suppose Ravenclaw would be all right, as well… Anyway, we should continue looking for Neville’s toad… And you two had better get into your robes, I expect we’ll be arriving soon!”

”Whatever house I’m in, I hope she’s not in it”, Ron mutters after the girl and the toadless boy has disappeared again. ”Stupid spell — George taught it to me, bet he knew it was a dud…”

”What house is your brothers in?” Harry asks curiously. 

”Gryffindor”, Ron says heavily. ”My whole family have all been in Gryffindor. I don’t know what they’ll say if I’m not… I don’t suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine being put in Slytherin!”

Harry’s heart seems to skip a beat. The whole time he’s been talking to Ron, he’s managed to push all thoughts of the Malfoy boy into the back on his mind, but at the mention of Slytherin, out he pops into the very forefront again. Harry barely suppresses a groan. 

”I know”, Ron says, mistaking the look on Harry’s face for a reaction to the prospect of being sorted into Slytherin, but Harry doesn’t bother correcting him. ”Anyway, what’s you Quidditch team —?”

Harry opens his mouth to reply, but is interrupted as the compartment door slides open once again. Harry looks over and his heart lurches: the pale, blonde boy from Madam Malkin’s is standing in the doorway, bookended by two heavy-set boys with rather mean-looking scowls on their faces. Harry glances between them nervously, then focuses on the blonde who is staring right back at him, looking rather intrigued. Harry feels a traiterous flutter in his belly. 

”Is it true?” the blonde says. ”They’re saying all down the train that Harry Potter is in this compartment. So it’s you, is it?”

”Yes”, Harry says and for the first time he doesn’t feel awkward admitting it, but almost a little excited as the other boy’s silvery eyes glitter with interest. 

”I’m Draco… Draco Malfoy.”

Ron gives a slight cough which might have concealed a snigger, and Draco turns to look at him sharply, ”Think my name’s funny, do you? No need to ask yours. My father has told me the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford.”

The fluttery sensation fades away, and Harry sighs silently. He’s reminded again of the way Draco acted i Madam Malkin’s, the way he looked down his nose at Remus, and why Harry wasn’t supposed to care about him… 

”You want to be careful, Harry…” Draco says coolly. ”If you hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys it might rub off on you —”

Ron jumps to his feet, his face as red as his hair and his Scabbers free hand balled into a fist, ”Say that again!”

Harry quickly got to his feet as well, prepared to restrain Ron in case he decides to actually attack.

”Oh, you’re going to fight us, are you?” Draco sneers. 

”Just get out”, Harry snaps at him. 

Draco’s eyes flicker over to Harry again, and they seem more steel than silver suddenly. He frowns, then forces an insincere smile onto his face instead, ”But we don’t feel like leaving yet, do we, boys?”

One of the other boys takes a threatening step closer to Ron and reaches out to grab him, but suddenly jumps back with a howl of pain. Harry frowns in startled confusion and looks between Ron and the boy, but Ron seems just as surprised as him. But then the large boy starts swinging his hand around, still howling in pain, and it all becomes clear: Scabbers has sunk his teeth into the boy’s finger and is holding on for dear life. 

Finally the boy manages to dislodge the rat who flies off his finger and hits the window. Ron yelps and dives after him. Harry looks at Draco who seems to hesitate, but then quickly follows his two friends as they scramble away. 

”I think he’s been knocked out”, Ron says cradling the unconscious rat carefully. ”No — I don’t believe it — he’s gone back to sleep!”

The Hogwarts Express slows down and stops. Harry’s stomach lurches and he glances nervously at Ron who seems to have paled underneath his freckles. 

”Here we go, then…” he says and the two of them make their way off the train and onto the unfamiliar platform. 

Harry shivers as the cold, night air hits him. Then he spots a lantern bobbing along towards them and a loud, booming voice calls out, ”Firs’-years! Firs’-years over here! Gather aroun’ ye lot!”

Harry, Ron and the rest of the first-years scurry between the older students and gather in front of a huge man wearing a large furry coat, and Harry realises with a jolt that this is Hagrid, he’s met him a couple of times before! When he was younger, the man — half-giant — had come to the house to visit them. He beams up at him, not feeling scared anymore. 

”All right there, Harry!” the half-giant greets kindly, his big hairy face beaming down at him before he turns to the group at large again. ”C’mon ye lot, follow me!”

Slipping and stumbling, they follow Hagrid down a steep, narrow path. Nobody talks. Neville, the boy who has lost his toad, can be heard sniffling once or twice. 

”Yeh’ll get yer firs’ sight o’ Hogwarts in a sec”, Hagrid calls over his shoulder. ”Jus’ round this bend here…”

The path opens suddenly on to the edge of a large black lake and on the other side, the castle sits perched atop a high hill, its many windows sparkling like some addition to the starry sky. There is a collective ”Ooooh” and some astonished gasps from the students. Harry’s heart seems to leap at the sight. It’s just beautiful. 

”All right, get in the boats now”, Hagrid instructs. ”No more than four to a boat!”

Harry and Ron climbs into one of the boats and is followed by Neville and Hermione, much to Ron’s chagrin. Harry discretely looks around for a sign of blonde hair in the gloom, but it’s too dark to make much of anything out. 

When all the students are seated, Hagrid climbs into the last boat and shouts, ”FORWARD!”

The fleet of little boats move together as one and sets off across the lake. 

*

The giant oak doors of the castle swing open to reveal a tall, stern-faced witch in emerald green robes. 

”The firs’-years, Professor McGonagall”, Hagrid says and the old witch nods solemnly and gestures for the group of students to follow her into the entrance hall. 

The ceiling is soo high Harry can barely make it out, and a large staircase of gleaming marble rises from the flagged stone floor and disappears into the depth of the upper levels of the castle. 

Professor McGonagall leads them into a small chamber and gives them what sounds like a well-rehearsed welcome speech, then explains that once they have entered The Great Hall, there will be a Sorting Ceremony to determine which House they will be in, and Harry’s stomach clenches with a mix of dread and excitement. He glances at Ron, who looks just as nervous and then at Hermione and Neville on the other side of him. Neville looks about ready to faint, but Hermione looks mostly excited. 

Professor McGonagall instructs them all to form a line and follow her into The Great Hall, and Harry quickly aligns himself behind a boy with sandy hair, taking great care to lift his feet carefully so as not to trip over or stumble. He can just imagine what a spectacular first impression that would make: knocking over the rest of the first-years like dominos in front of the whole school…

As they filter into The Great Hall, Harry looks up in awe at the vaulted ceiling, black and dotted with stars like the night sky outside. Below the ceiling a hundred or so lit candles floats in midair, casting a warm glow over the student body scattered around the four long tables and the professors at the High Table at the far end of the Hall. 

Professor McGonagall guides them to the front, then places a four-legged stool in front of them upon which she places a patched and frayed hat… The Sorting Hat, Harry realises with a jolt. It looks exactly like he always imagined when Sirius was telling him stories about his own Sorting, but despite knowing what to expect, Harry still startles when the Hat suddenly twitches to life and a rip near the brim opens like a mouth — and it begins to sing…

As the Hat finishes its song, the Hall bursts into polite applause, and then Professor McGonagall reads out the first name from a long list, ”Abbott, Hannah!”

Harry watches with bated breath as the girl with blonde pigtails takes a seat on the four-legged stool and gasps as Professor McGonagall places the Hat on top of her head. There is a loaded pause when everyone seems to be waiting for the Hat to begin speaking, to begin asking its questions, but when it does finally open its rip again, all it does is shout ”HUFFLEPUFF!”

Harry frowns. Sirius has always told him that the Hat would speak to you, ask you some questions, before finally deciding where to put you… But the Hat hadn’t said a thing to Hannah Abbott before determining her fate. 

After Hannah has taken her seat at the Hufflepuff table, a new girl takes perches on top of the stool and once again Harry holds his breath as he waits for the Hat to start asking questions, but ince again all it does is shout ”HUFFLEPUFF!”

Harry looks at Ron in confusion, but the red-head merely shrugs. The Sorting continues without much change, besides the Hat’s proclamations that does begin to very from Hufflepuff to the other three Houses. A girl named Lavender Brown is the first to be Sorted into Gryffindor, soon to be followed by Hermione Granger, much to Ron’s displeasure. 

When Professor McGonagall reaches the Ms, Harry heart begins to hammer rather hard in his chest and when Draco Malfoy swaggers up to the stool, the by now familiar flutter in Harry’s belly makes itself known again and he stifles a groan. The Hat has barely touched Draco’s head when it opens its rip and shouts ”SLYTHERIN!”

”Figures”, Ron whispers next to Harry who can only nod, unable to tear his eyes away from the smirking blonde as he makes his way over to the Slytherin table. 

”Potter, Harry!” Professor McGonagall says sharply and there’s a collective gasp inside the Hall. 

Harry takes a deep breath and walks up to her with slow, deliberate steps, careful not to trip. As he gingerly perches on top of the stool, a intense hissing noise rises up as whispers break out across the Hall: 

”Potter, did she say Potter?”

”What the Harry Potter?”

The last thing Harry sees before the Hat is dropped over his eyes is a Hall full of people craning their necks curiously, trying to get a good look at him. 

”Hmm”, a voice speaks up suddenly and Harry startles. ”Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that is interesting… So where shall I put you?”

Do I answer? Harry thinks, gripping the edges of the stoolto keep himself from fidgeting. 

”Well, sure”, the Hat replies. ”You are allowed some input, this is your Sorting after all…”

Harry thinks hard, recalling the Hat’s song about the different Houses, and what Remus told him a few months ago about all the houses having their good qualities, and whichever one he ended up in, it wouldn’t matter because he would do well regardless… 

He thinks about Ron and the twins, who are all in Gryffindor… Well, Ron has yet to be sorted, but Harry is sure he’ll end up in Gryffindor with his brothers, and Harry is sure he’ll make friends with them all if he ends up in Gryffindor with them… Friends, he thinks longingly… 

Then a certain blonde-haired boy flashes before him and his belly flutters insistently. 

”Well, it looks like we’ve at least narrowed it down to two”, the Hat says, a little smugly. ”Gryffindor or Slytherin, eh? Well, I can’t argue with that… But which will it be?”

I don’t know, Harry thinks truthfully. I can’t choose. 

”No?”

No, he thinks firmly. I can’t choose, I like them both. You decide. That’s your job, isn’t it? 

”Very well, then… Better be… SLYTHERIN!”

The fluttery thing in Harry’s belly flies up and starts flapping away worse than ever, but Harry releases a breath he wasn’t even aware of holding in as he thinks, at least it’s over… The Hat is removed form his head again, and the whole Great Hall comes into view: hundreds of students are staring up at him in mute shock. There is no applause, no cheering. 

Harry swallows thickly and carefully slides off the stool and starts making his way over to the Slytherin table. 

It’s not until he slips into his seat opposite Draco that the Hall seems to shake itself out of its trance and the Slytherins start clapping their hands furiously, while the other three houses join in with much less enthusiasm. 

Harry glances over at Draco who gazes back impassively, his two friends Crabbe and Goyle scowling uncertainly on either side of him, clearly confused as to how they should treat Harry now that he’s one of them. The sandy-haired boy who had walked in front of Harry in the line, Seamus Finnegan, has also been sorted into Slytherin and is sitting next to Harry. He turns to grin at Harry now and offers him his hand.

Harry looks over at the next table, where Ron takes his seat next to Hermione. The red-head meets his eyes and gives him a pinched smile. 

It’s fine, Harry thinks. Who says you can’t be friends with someone in another house anyway? Me and Ron are friends already, there’s no reason that has to change just because we’re in different houses now!

Harry glances back at Draco just in time to catch a subtle frown on the blonde’s face before he quickly looks away again, attempting to seem bored. It is kind of cute in a way, Harry thinks and smiles to himself. He remembers what Remus said, how there’s most likely a different side to Draco that Harry will see if he gets to know him better… And Harry can’t wait to discover it.