Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

All is fair in the game called love	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 29070 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. J.K. Rowling owns everything.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Author's note: Exam stress and excitement about getting new Togainu no chi goodies is not a good combination for me *winces*

Thanks to the following reviewers: kain (Well, while they do have a fallout, Hermione won't cut ties with Harry completely. I can't say much because of spoiler alerts, but they will find a neutral ground eventually); unneeded and Madamdragon

I hope you'll like this chapter! It also has a little fluffy bonding moment between Remus and Harry :)

Oh yes, I can't remember how many Headgirls and Headboys there are in Hogwarts or when they get the badge so please bear with me on this, okay? ^^;

Chapter 14: Leaving for Hogwarts

The following days were hectic in Grimmauld Place. Besides searching for their books, quills, parchment and clothes (their stuff had mysteriously spread all over the house), they still had some cleaning to do, because Mrs. Weasley insisted on cleaning the house as much as they could.

Meanwhile, Harry had it difficult with handling his friendship with Draco and his friendship with Ron and Hermione. Ron still didn't want to acknowledge Draco – which suited the blond fine, because he wasn't forced to talk back – and Hermione was suspicious of Draco because he had bought that Powder. Harry didn't understand what the problem was. Draco had bought that Instant Darkness Powder, so what? It wasn't a crime to buy that. He tried to tell that to Hermione, but she stubbornly disagreed. She didn't want to believe Draco had changed. Harry had expected Ron's resistance, but he had honestly thought Hermione would have been willing to give Draco a chance. After all, she had been the one who constantly lectured everyone on peace and friendship between the four Houses. That same girl was now refusing to give a Slytherin a chance. This frustrated Harry to no end; he didn't want to choose between Hermione and Ron and Draco. The irony of all this was that Draco was willing to be civil. He hadn't had once insulted Ron or Hermione after their first encounter. If Harry had to be honest, he would have to say Draco was being a better friend than Ron and Hermione now.

Three days before they would leave for Hogwarts, Harry decided to try for the last time to convince Hermione of Draco's change.

Draco was talking to Snape about Potions, so Harry took his chance.

"Hermione, can I talk to you?" Harry asked when he spotted her in the library.

She looked up from the book she was reading. "Of course, Harry."

Harry took the seat across from Hermione. He cleared his throat. "It's about Draco."

As expected, Hermione frowned. "Harry, we already talked about this."

"Just hear me out, please." Harry begged.

Hermione sighed, but nodded.

"I know we had differences with Draco in the past and I don't say that what he did to us was right. It wasn't. He insulted and hexed us, but Mione, we did the same to him. It's not like we're innocent." Harry said uncomfortably. "But Draco apologized and…"

"Not to me or Ron." Hermione interjected.

"I know that, but you don't give him the chance to do that." Harry replied annoyed. "You won't talk to him or look at him; you completely ignore him. How is he supposed to apologize if you won't listen? Please, Hermione, Draco has really changed. Why won't you give him a chance?"

"Harry, too much has happened to just forgive him. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't believe Malfoy has changed, nor do I trust him. Tell me, Harry, what do you think will happen when we're back at school?" Hermione asked impatiently. "He may be friendly now, but what happens when he's back with his friends? I personally believe that chances are slim Malfoy still wants to be friends with you. He's a Slytherin, Harry. I don't think his reasons to befriend you were pure."

"What do you mean with that?" Harry asked through clenched teeth.

"Come on, Harry, use your brain." Hermione said annoyed. Really, for being so famous, good at DADA and outsmarting You – Know – Who, he could be really thick sometimes. Actually, now that she thought about it, his fame and his skills in DADA were the only things that made Harry remarkable. If you took those two things away from him, he would be nothing but a plain boy, probably not even worth to acknowledge, she mused. She shook her head; now was not the time to think about that. "You're the famous Harry Potter; if he's friends with you, the public won't dare to do something against him. I'm sorry, Harry, but I think he's just using you for your fame. It would be best to drop him and to use your energy for your real friends: I and Ron." Hermione said gently and reached out to touch Harry's hand.

Abruptly, Harry stood up. "Thank you for enlightening me about Draco's motives to befriend me." He said cold and walked out of the library, leaving a stunned Hermione behind.

Harry stalked through the corridors of Grimmauld Place, angry and hurt. Was it really so hard to believe that someone wanted to be friends with him, just because they liked him and not because of his fame? Or was he really that unlikeable? Briefly, Harry wondered why his sight was so blurry, before he realized that tears had formed in his eyes. Angrily, he swiped the tears away, cursing himself for being so weak to cry. Really, which sixteen year old boy cried because a friend said some harsh things? By now, he should be used to hear harsh things said to him, considering he had lived almost fifteen years with the Dursleys. So why did this hurt? Because Hermione had said this to him? Or because he was afraid that Hermione was right and Draco only used him for his fame?

Harry almost fell on the floor when he collided with someone. Two strong arms shot out and grabbed him around his chest to avoid his fall.

"Thanks." Harry mumbled when he was safely standing.

"Harry, is something wrong?" The concerned voice of Remus asked.

Harry looked up, but avoided the concerned amber colored eyes. "I'm fine."

"I don't have to be a Legilimens to know when something's troubling you. Your face is easy to read, cub; come on, let's sit down." Remus said and opened a door, which coincidentally led to Sirius' room. Sirius wasn't here, but Remus stirred the sixteen year old to the bed and closed the door, before sitting next to the boy.

Harry pulled his legs up and clasped his arms around them and placed his chin on his knees.

"Tell me what happened that made you upset." Remus said gently.

"I'm not upset." Harry said stubbornly.

"Harry, don't lie to me. I want to help you, but I can't do that if you won't tell me what's wrong." Remus said patiently. He had experience with coaxing someone to tell what was wrong. James had been just as difficult as Harry was being now. Stubbornness and refusing to talk about their troubles was clearly running in the Potter family.

"It's stupid." Harry muttered, a blush of shame forming on his cheeks.

"It's not stupid if it upsets you. I won't laugh of think different of you, cub. I just want to know what happened so I can help you." Remus replied.

Harry sighed; Remus clearly wouldn't give up. Wonderful.

"I tried to talk with Hermione about Draco." Harry muttered.

"Ah." Remus was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "How did it go?"

"Not well. I tried to convince her to give him a chance to show he has changed. She won't give him a chance; she said she doesn't trust him." Harry answered.

Remus furrowed his eyebrows. "But that's not the reason you're upset."

Harry began to fiddle with his fingers; a blush of shame creeping up again.

A hand was laid on his hands to stop the fiddling. "Harry, what did Hermione say to make you so upset?" Remus asked gently.

Harry bit on his lip and avoided the older man's gaze. "She said that Draco only wants to be my friend, because I'm famous." He finally mumbled almost inaudibly.

Remus thanked for the first time his werewolf senses, because without them, he wouldn't have been able to hear what Harry had said. He sighed. "Cub, you don't honestly believe that Draco only uses you for your fame, do you?"

"I don't know. Hermione is the smartest witch in our year; maybe she's right about Draco." Harry mumbled, sounding hurt.

Without thinking, Remus embraced Harry and pulled him towards his side. "She may be the smartest witch, but that doesn't mean she's all knowing. Believe me when I say that Draco's not using you; he truly wants to be your friend."

"How can you be sure of that?" Harry asked in a small voice.

"Besides the fact that he's practically attached to your hip, he also threatened us with severe harm if we ever upset you again, after we had come back from that check up. He was really scary. Trust me; he doesn't use you." Remus said and soothingly stroked a hand through Harry's unruly hair.

"Then why did Hermione say those things?"

"Maybe she's jealous that you found another friend and scared that Draco will take you away from her and Ron." Remus tried to form an explanation.

"That's stupid. They're still my friends; Draco is just a friend of me too. Why's that so hard to accept?" Harry muttered.

"I don't know, cub." Remus sighed.

Harry yawned softly; the soothing hand through his hair made him sleepy. He wasn't used to this calming gesture, because he never had someone before in his life to soothe him and he decided to enjoy it while it lasted. His eyes closed and his head fell on Remus' shoulder when sleep took over.

Remus looked down when he felt the weight on his shoulder and smiled softly. He glanced at his watch; ten past three. He decided to let Harry sleep. Careful, he arranged Harry so that he was laying on Sirius' bed. He stood up to leave so Harry could sleep in peace, but was stopped by a hand. Remus looked down, surprised.

"Don' go." Harry murmured, but he appeared to be sleeping.

Remus hesitated; he really should go back to help Sirius with his lesson plan. The idiot had left it until today to finish it. On the other hand, Sirius was an adult; he should be able to handle his lesson plan. And Harry looked like he needed him more.

"All right, I'll stay." Remus whispered and settled himself against the head board and resumed his stroking through Harry's hair.

When Sirius finally found them after a long search, (because really, who expected that his best friend and godson would be up in his room) he saw Harry still sleeping and Remus sleeping with his hand on Harry's hair.

Sirius didn't know what had happened that had lead to this, but he shrugged. He closed the door and tiptoed to the staircase. Best to let them sleep. Then he cursed; who would help him now with his lesson plan? He sighed; he would have to wait until Remus woke up. After that, he would also pester Remus as to what had happened with Harry.

Two days later, there was chaos in Grimmauld Place. Everyone's trunks had to be placed in the hallway, together with the owl cages. Harry stubbornly refused to place his cats and snake in cages, so they followed him everywhere he went (well, Sapphire and Ruby followed him, Garin was curled around his neck) to Mrs. Weasley's annoyance. She had opened her mouth to berate Harry, but two sharp glances of Sirius and Remus shut her up.

The group would be escorted by Tonks, Shacklebolt and Moody. Mister Weasley had managed to borrow some cars (that was of course because of Lucius' influence at the Ministry). Lucius would accompany them to the train too, before heading to his Manor in Wales.

When the clock struck half past ten, it was time to depart. The Weasleys, Hermione, Lucius and Tonks were placed in one enlarged car and Harry, Draco, Sirius, Remus, Shacklebolt and Moody were in the second enlarged car.

Moody's magical eye swirled in every possible direction, but his normal eye was fixated on the animals that were sitting in Harry's lap, regarding them with amused interest.

Harry stared out of the window, lost in thought. He wondered if Draco would want to sit with him in the train of if he would prefer to sit with his friends. And why should he care if Draco chose to sit with his friends? He had every right to. Besides, he had spent almost all his time this summer with Harry. Harry understood that Draco would want to spend time with his friends, but…

He startled when a hand tapped his shoulder.

"Harry, we're at the station." Draco informed him.

"Oh okay." Harry muttered and got out of the car.

They all placed their trunks and owl cages on caddies and walked to the wall that would lead them to platform nine three quarters.

Because a lion (especially a lion with fire on his body) would attract unwanted attention, they had covered Ruby in a cloak. He was hidden between Harry's trunk and his body from sight. Sapphire had settled herself on Draco's trunk and her blue eyes were observing the vicinity.

"We will go through the wall by two. Ginny, dear, you go first with me and Ron, you follow with Arthur." Mrs. Weasley ordered.

"Hermione, you're stuck with me, girl." Tonks laughed happily. "We're after Ron."

Hermione smiled weakly.

"Harry, we go after them." Remus smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Harry nodded and smiled.

"That leaves you with me, Draco." Sirius said.

"I don't have a problem with that." Draco smirked.

"I'm glad to hear that." Sirius snorted and crossed his arms.

'We only have ten minutes left; I suggest we leave now." The deep voice of Shacklebolt informed them.

Mister Weasley nodded. "You're right. Come on, kids."

One by one, each small group disappeared through the wall, leaving the Muggle world behind.

They were just through the barrier, when a familiar male voice called.

"Draco! Long time no see!" A boy with light brown skin color and half long dark hair grinned and approached the group. His chocolate brown eyes shone mischievously.

"Blaise, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Hogwarts." Draco said surprised.

Blaise shrugged. "The old coot decided it would be best for appearances if we took the train too. Theo's already on the train, though; he's pissed because he doesn't see the point of this. I don't see the point either."

"So Pansy is here too?" Draco asked grimacing. He really didn't want to see that annoying whining girl.

"No. Our royal highness has locked herself up in her room and she refused to come." Blaise rolled his eyes.

"I hope she stays there." Draco muttered under his breath.

"Draco, I hope you have a nice term and don't let the fool notice you." Lucius said and squeezed Draco's shoulder short. He nodded to Blaise. "You too, Blaise, have a nice term."

Blaise bowed his head. "Thank you, sir."

Lucius nodded curtly and disappeared.

At that moment, Blaise's attention was caught by someone standing behind Draco. He whistled softly.

"Sweet Merlin, that's one hot guy. I wonder who that is." He mused while his eyes roamed over that person's body. "Now that's a fine arse."

Draco turned around to see who Blaise was talking about and promptly jabbed his elbow in his friend's ribs.

"Oof, why did you do that?" Blaise growled and rubbed his ribs. That would leave a bruise.

"That's Harry you're talking about." Draco informed him, smiling strained.

"No way. Harry as in Harry Potter?" Blaise asked incredulously.

Draco nodded.

"Well damn. He's done a complete change. I wouldn't mind to get locked up with him in a closet. I always wondered how Gryffindors are in bed." Blaise grinned perverted.

"Continue those thoughts and you suffer the consequences, Blaise. You stay away from him, understood?" Draco hissed and his grey eyes burned dangerously.

Blaise gulped and held up his hands in defeat. He knew Draco well and didn't doubt for one second Draco wouldn't carry out his threat. "I didn't know you had set your eyes on him."

"It doesn't matter; don't try anything." Draco warned him.

"Draco, Sapphire hasn't escaped, has she?" Harry asked worried and stood next to him.

"No, she's still here."

Harry looked up. "Oh, hello, Zabini." He said carefully.

"Hello, Potter." Blaise grinned. "So, you're friends with Draco now."

"Yes."

Blaise clapped his shoulder and laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going to bite. Friends of Draco are friends of me."

Harry visibly relaxed. "Okay."

"Harry, we have to go to the teachers' compartment. We'll see you at school, okay?" Sirius appeared behind Harry and ruffled his hair.

"Okay, see you at school." Harry smiled.

Remus and Sirius waved and walked to the front of the train.

Blaise gaped. "What are Lupin and Black doing here?"

"They're going to teach Defence against the Dark Arts." Harry informed him smiling.

"Both?"

Draco nodded.

"Come on; let's go find a free carriage. Harry, are you sitting with us?" Draco asked and took his trunk.

Harry's eyes lit up and he nodded, relieved that Draco would still want to spend time with him.

"Aren't you going to wait for your friends, Potter?" Blaise asked curiously.

"Call me Harry. Hermione and Ron have to do their tasks as Headgirl and Headboy, so they won't be joining us for a while." Harry answered.

Blaise nodded in understanding and the three boys went on a search for an empty compartment. They found one at the end of the train. After a brief struggle, they all had their trunks on the train and in the carriage. Sapphire jumped off of Draco's trunk and settled herself on the table.

Harry sat in the seat next to the window and Draco took the seat next to the dark haired boy. Blaise sat across from Harry.

"Hey Harry, why did you – what the fuck is that?" He suddenly exclaimed and pointed at something near the door.

Harry and Draco looked and chuckled when they saw a cloak standing there.

"Sorry, I forgot to warn you: I have another pet. That's Ruby, a Nemean." Harry explained.

Ruby shrugged the cloak off and patted towards his master. He stopped before the legs of Harry and dropped his head on Harry's knees; he purred when Harry scratched behind his ear.

"A pet? You call that a pet? That's a fucking lion!" Blaise blurted out, not able to believe what he saw.

"Way to point out the obvious, idiot." Draco said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up, I have a right to be surprised." Blaise snapped, eyeing the lion before him warily.

"Don't worry, Ruby isn't dangerous." Harry assured him. He bit his lip. "The thing is, I don't have a clue as to how we're going to sneak Ruby in the castle without anyone seeing him. I don't want to be asked numerous questions."

"You're right, but how are we going to do that? It would be easy if Ruby could turn invisible." Draco mused and stared at nothing in particular while thinking about the problem.

"Your wish came true, Draco." Blaise replied baffled.

"What?" Draco asked confused and looked down. His mouth fell open when, instead of seeing the Nemean, he was looking at Harry's knees and the floor. "Did Ruby run off?"

"No, he's still here… only invisible, apparently." Harry said dumbfounded.

They were all startled when Ruby appeared again.

"Well, I suppose that problem is solved." Harry said dryly.

The three boys began talking about their summer. Blaise was greatly amused when they told him about the destruction of Mrs. Black, laughed when he heard a bomb had destroyed Weasley's and Granger's room and was awed when he was told about the prank on Snape.

"You have my respect, Harry." Blaise told him. "Nobody has dared to prank Snape. I'm surprised you're still alive."

"To be honest, I was surprised too." Harry laughed.

Soon after that, they were interrupted. They heard a bunch of girls giggling and whispering.

"Go on, go in and talk to him."

"No way. I'm too nervous!"

"Get out the way; I'll go talk to him." An arrogant sounding girl said.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

The door slid open and revealed a girl with long slightly curly black hair, black eyes and a tanned skin. She wore a short plaited black skirt and a blue tank top.

The girl smirked. "Hello Harry, I'm Romilda Vane."

"Euhm, hi." Harry shifted uncomfortably. Something about that girl's smirk made him nervous.

Romilda walked further into the compartment, fully ignoring the other two boys. "I was wondering if you would join us – meaning, me and my friends – in our compartment." She asked smiling and batted her eyelashes while twirling a lock between her fingers.

"Not to insult you, but I rather stay here." Harry replied.

"Oh, but Harry, surely you don't want to stay here with these," she wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Slytherins."

Harry's eyes flashed in anger. "I don't care that they are Slytherins – we're friends now." He said through clenched teeth.

Romilda looked taken back with that announcement, but recovered quickly. She leaned towards Harry and placed her hands on his knees, giving him a view of her décolleté. "Aw, Harry, I thought you would like it better if you spend some time with us, Ravenclaws. I didn't mean to upset you." She purred.

Harry opened his mouth to react, but was interrupted by Romilda's shriek.

"A snake!" She yelled and jumped out the compartment and shut the door. A second later, the boys could hear the girls running away.

Harry looked down and saw that Garin had revealed himself from under his shirt. He was hissing angrily.

"Stupid girl. Couldn't take the hint that she had to leave."

"Did you bite her?" Harry hissed concerned. Annoying or not, Romilda didn't deserve to be bitten. If only because it would cause trouble for Harry.

"No, I didn't bite her. She would have tasted horrible." Garin replied and after checking the compartment, he disappeared again underneath Harry's shirt.

Harry chuckled when he heard Garin's answer.

"Say, Harry, how many pets do you have hidden? Was that the last one or do you have a spider hidden in your sleeve?" Blaise asked with one raised eyebrow. Although he wouldn't admit it, he was scared half to death when the snake had popped out.

"No, that was the last pet I gave to Harry." Draco smirked. He enjoyed himself with replaying the scene in his mind. It served the girl right. Who did she think she was, intruding them and trying to persuade Harry to leave them?

"Yes, this is Garin, an Akeyra. He's a beautiful snake, isn't he?" Harry said fondly.

"Euhm, yeah." Blaise muttered, for some strange reason feeling confused. Honestly, who expected that Gryffindor's Golden Boy would have a snake as pet and be proud of it? Certainly not him. What had Draco done to the Gryffindor boy this summer?

After a while, they changed into their school robes and talked about their classes.

The train stopped eventually and they began to search for an empty carriage that would be pulled to school by the invisible Theastrals.

Harry waved at Hagrid, who was in charge of the first years, and searched for Ron and Hermione, whom he hadn't seen on the train. He caught a flash of bright red hair, but when he looked, he saw that Ron had closed the door of his carriage and they departed. His friends had left him here.

"Nice, guys." He muttered under his breath annoyed. Why hadn't they waited for him?

"Harry?"

He looked up and saw Draco standing by a carriage.

"You can join us if you want." Draco offered.

"Thanks." Harry said gratefully.

When Harry stepped into the carriage, he saw that Theodore Nott was joining them too. Draco took the seat next to Harry and they began moving.

"Well, well, I never thought I would see the day that Potter would be sitting with us." Nott said. His dark eyes were roaming over Harry. "So, you're Draco's new friend, huh?"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Harry asked. He resisted the urge to shift. Nott was making him nervous with his stare.

"I wonder how long you will last as Draco's new toy. A week, maybe?" Nott smirked.

"If you don't shut your mouth, I'll shut it for you permanently." Draco threatened.

Nott smirked, but wasn't stupid enough to risk his life.

The rest of the ride was spent in uncomfortable silence; even Blaise didn't open his mouth.

They arrived in the hallway of Hogwarts, where Hermione was tapping her foot; impatience written over her face.

"Harry, where were you? We didn't find you on the train and you weren't in our carriage." Hermione huffed.

"I was sitting with Draco and Blaise." Harry sighed. "Besides, by the time I saw you by a carriage, you were already driving away."

"Now that Harry is here, can we go in? I'm starving!" Ron complained and rubbed his stomach.

"Ronald, stop complaining! You already ate on the train! Now, come on, Harry, we can't miss the ceremony!" She insisted and turned around.

"I'll see you later." Draco whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry nodded and with an inaudible sigh, he followed his two friends towards the Gryffindor table. When they sat down, Harry could hear everyone whispering about the two new teachers. He looked up and saw Sirius and Remus sitting at the right end of the table. When they saw him looking, they smiled and waved. Harry grinned and waved back.

"Harry, why is Sirius Black sitting with the teachers?" Neville asked silently, his round face showing his confusion.

"He's going to teach Defence against the Dark Arts, together with Lupin." Harry answered.

"So, Lupin is back? That's great!" Dean grinned.

"Well, this should be interesting: an ex convict, teaching us DADA. I think it'll be fun." Seamus chuckled.

"It will be different, that's for sure." Hermione said cryptically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked annoyed.

"Not now, Harry, the Sorting Hat is singing." Hermione replied irritated.

Harry tried to concentrate on the Sorting Hat, but was failing miserably. His thoughts went to the blond boy sitting at the Slytherin table, who was currently listening attentive. Once again, Harry found himself comparing Draco to Ron and Hermione. Throughout the whole summer, Draco had been the one who spent most of his time with Harry. He could count his interactions with Ron and Hermione on two hands probably. That was a depressing thought. Maybe they could bring life again in their friendship, now that they were back at school. But there was no way he would dump Draco as his friend. He liked the blond Slytherin too much for that. Harry snorted inwardly; if someone had told him three months ago he would like a Slytherin, he would have told that person to go for a checkup with madam Pomfrey.

A painful jab to his ribs woke him from his musings.

Harry rubbed the painful spot and scowled. "Why did you do that for?"

"The first years are sorted and professor Dumbledore is about to say something. Honestly, Harry, pay attention." Hermione hissed.

Harry rolled his eyes, but looked at the Head table.

"Before we fill our tummies with this delicious food, I have a few things that, unfortunately, need to be said." Dumbledore began, his blue eyes twinkling madly. "First of all, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden for all students. Some do well to remember that. Second of all, Mister Filch wants you to know he has made a list with all the objects that are forbidden to enter the school, including the tools of the two Mister Weasleys. You can find that list at the door of his office. Then, after the feast, I would like to ask that the years five to seven stay here, because of a ritual that needs to be done. Further explanation will be given later."

An excited murmur rose up. Everybody was wondering what ritual it could be and why only the fifth to seventh years were allowed to participate.

"Maybe it will be something like the Triwizard Tournament." Seamus suggested.

"After the disaster two years back, I doubt they will do anything like that again." Hermione snapped. "Besides, the Headmaster was talking about a ritual, not about a tournament."

Harry was unpleasantly reminded of Cedric's death and shook his head to get rid of the memories. He didn't want to think of that now.

"Silence, please." Dumbledore clapped in his hands. Immediately, the Great Hall was silent again. "One last thing. I'm pleased to announce that this year we have two teachers for Defence against the Dark Arts. Please welcome professor Lupin – who will teach here for his second year – and professor Black!"

Remus and Sirius stood up and bowed. A few seconds it was quiet, but that changed when Harry began clapping. Seeing their unofficial 'leader' giving the two men his support, the rest of the Gryffindor table followed him and clapped too. After them, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff followed too and even Slytherin clapped – they followed the lead of Draco, their leader. Though, they couldn't understand why Draco showed his support, they knew better than to ignore his lead.

"I won't let you wait any longer. Enjoy the feast!"

Immediately after that, all kinds of food appeared on the golden plates. Harry served himself some of the mashed potatoes and a chicken leg. He filled his goblet with pumpkin juice and frowned when a small vial appeared next to his plate. He picked it up and smelled. It smelled like his nutrition potion. He looked at the Head table and was met with Snape's raised eyebrow. He sighed and downed the vial.

"Say, Harry, where did your glasses go?" Neville asked timidly.

"I don't need them anymore. My godfather took me to a shop to let my eyes get fixed." Harry explained.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "I didn't know you had a godfather, Harry. Who is it?"

"Sirius Black." Harry answered carefully.

Several mouths dropped open.

"No way! The guy that's going to teach us DADA, the ex convict, is your godfather? That's so cool!" Seamus exclaimed.

Harry blushed.

Hermione huffed, but didn't comment.

Eventually, all the food – including the desserts – and the dirty dishes disappeared back to the kitchen. The fourth years were ordered to lead the lower years to their dorms and threatened with detention if they would go anywhere but their dorms.

Dumbledore stood up and everybody went quiet. "I'm sure everybody is curious as to why you must stay here. I will explain it. As you all know, Voldemort is gaining power." He began gravely. A shiver went through the Great Hall. "He may be powerful, but there are some things that he doesn't understand. One of them is companionship. Friendship is a powerful emotion. Like the Sorting Hat sang before, we must all unite ourselves and present one front. I know this will be slightly difficult, considering there are some … problems between some Houses," he paused and glanced at Gryffindor and Slytherin, before continuing, "but we found a solution. A long time ago, the four Founders created a book with very useful rituals. One of the rituals will change four students – one of each House – to another House to provide more understanding. Hufflepuff will exchange a student with Ravenclaw and vice versa and Gryffindor will make an exchange with Slytherin. The Founders made this ritual because the students will be forced to see how the other House truly is and not what they think it is. This way, all the prejudices will be banished. The exchange will last until there's peace between all the four Houses. I must warn you: you can't fool this ritual. It will decide on his own if the peace is honest. I would like you to write your name on a piece of parchment together with the name of your House. The parchments will be collected and be put in this cup. When I call your name, you will go to the other House. No switch or withdrawal is possible. Now please, write your name and House." Dumbledore instructed.

So this is what Dumbledore has planned. It explains why they didn't send the Captain badges. If the captain of the team got chosen to go to the other House, it would create a problem. They probably decide on a captain when the ritual is completed, Harry thought when he wrote his name and his House on the parchment he had lent from Dean.

While the students wrote their names and Houses, Dumbledore activated the House cup if front of him with the spell "Ante amicitiam, pacem et concordiam, dimitte hanc inimicitiam."

"I wonder who the four students will be." Hermione mused excitedly.

Ron shrugged. "Who cares? As long as it isn't us who have to go to the Slytherins."

One for one, the pieces of parchment were dropped in the House cup. You could cut the tension that hung in the Hall with a knife. Every student wondered who the person would be that had to switch. The tension was especially heavy at the tables of Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Finally, the Cup glowed and spit out the first name.

"The student from Hufflepuff that will go to Ravenclaw is… Mister Zacharius Smith." Dumbledore announced.

Smith scowled, but took a seat at the Ravenclaw table.

A second name was spit out. "The Ravenclaw student that will change to Hufflepuff is… Miss Luna Lovegood." Dumbledore called out.

Luna smiled dreamily and skipped towards Hufflepuff. Some of the students eyed her warily, but most smiled friendly.

Now it was only Gryffindor and Slytherin. The tension went up.

The Cup spit the third name out. "The Slytherin student that will grace Gryffindor with her presence is… Miss Pansy Parkinson!" Dumbledore smiled.

"What!? That can't be!" Pansy shrieked upset. With trembling lips, she turned to Draco. "Drakey, did you hear that?"

"Pansy, stop calling me that and just go to Gryffindor. Stop making such a fuss about it." Draco ordered annoyed, but inwardly was doing a dance. Thank Merlin that she's out of my way, he thought relieved.

Pansy pouted and huffed, but went to the Gryffindor table. The students near her shuffled out of her way.

Then for the last time, the House cup produced one more name. Draco crossed his fingers and hid his nervous, but hopeful face. Please let it be Harry, please let it be Harry, he pleaded repeatedly silently.

"The student that will join Slytherin as from tonight is…" Dumbledore's eyes widened and he gritted his teeth silently, but continued, "is Harry Potter."

It went very quiet in the Hall. Draco did a victory dance. Inwardly of course.

AN: Well, this was expected of course LOL What did you think of it? As a side note: anyone interested in reading a (probably smutty) oneshot of Togainu no chi with Akira and Shiki as pairing? *shrugs*

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review! See you all (normally) next Tuesday!

Love and cuddles

Melissa
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