Changes

"With that said, I hope you all enjoyed your summers so let the feast begin!" Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands together and a large array of food appeared on all five tables in the Great Hall. Harry heard a bunch of oohs and ahhhs, though to him, this was nothing special, especially after being at Hogwarts for five years.

The food looked delicious as usual and yet, Harry couldn't stomach any of it down. It had been this way all summer...he had rarely eaten a thing, even though the Dursleys had tried to be nice and for once, offered him something good to eat. They were only being nice, though, because Moody, Lupin, Tonks, and Arthur Weasley had all warned the Dursleys that they'd better be nice to Harry "or else". The Dursleys, of course, were scared to death by this threat so all summer long they acted "fake nice" to Harry, which was only worse than being really cruel to him, like they used to be.

Harry sighed and stared down at his food, but didn't dare to pick up his fork. It was an odd feeling, he felt hungry, but every time he tried to eat, he would suddenly feel like vomiting.

"Harry, is there something wrong? You haven't touched your meal," Hermione Granger suddenly asked him. He turned to her and she looked concerned.

Yes, there's something wrong indeed, Harry thought bitterly to himself. Thanks for stating the obvious!

But Harry shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong," he mumbled in reply. "I just don't feel like eating tonight. I had a lot to eat on the train."

Ron Weasley, his other best friend, also turned to look at him. "Blimey, mate. Are you still pissed about not being able to visit the Burrow this summer? I told you we went on vacation to the Bahamas. I mean, it's not very often when Dad saves enough money for us to go on vacation..." Ron's voice trailed off.

The least you could've done was invite me to go along! Didn't anyone know that I would've loved to spend a summer at the Bahamas? Of course, you ended up taking Hermione along! So why not me...your so-called best friend? The bitterness in his thoughts made Harry feel scared. He had never felt so much amnesty toward his best friends before, it just wasn't like him at all.

Harry couldn't take it any longer. "I'm going up to the dormitory," he finally told them. He looked at the shocked expressions on his friends' faces as he stood up and left the Gryffindor table.

"What's gotten into him?" Harry heard Ron mutter to Hermione.

"Shhh!" Hermione had hissed back.

Harry ignored them as he walked out of the Great Hall. The corridors were practically empty, with a few ghosts roaming around here and there as he made his way up to the Gryffindor dormitory.

Watching the ghosts go by made Harry think of all the deaths he'd experienced in his life. So many. All thanks to Lord Voldemort. Harry wanted nothing more to see Voldemort dead. His lightning bolt scar started to burn as he thought about Voldemort's death. Usually, when his scar burned, it meant Voldemort was near. But Harry ignored his scar's warnings as he continued to think about Voldemort...and the prophecy. The prophecy which would determine his future.

In the prophecy, he would either die trying to destroy Voldemort, or actually destroy Voldemort and live.

I'll probably die, Harry decided dryly. Oh well. There's not much to look forward to in life, anyway. Might as well be for the best.

When he finally made his way to the Gryffindor dormitory, he met the Fat Lady who guarded the dormitory. She smiled when she saw him. "Have a nice summer, Harry dear?" she asked pleasantly.

Or not.

"Oh yes, splendid," Harry replied dryly, in a very sarcastic tone.

"Why are you up here so early?"

Harry yawned. "Tired." Truthfully, he wasn't really tired, he just wanted to be alone.

But that seemed to be good enough for the Fat Lady, and she smiled wider and swung her door open, even without making Harry say the password, which he did not know.

Harry walked inside the porthole and into the familiar Gryffindor common room. There was already a fire blazing in the fireplace, so the common room felt very warm indeed. But Harry ignored the fire and went directly up to the sixth year boy's room. Maybe what he could use was a good sleep, so he walked over to his four-post bed and laid down, without even taking off his Hogwarts robes.

He stared up at the ceiling for quite some time with nothing to think about until he began to feel drowsy and sleepy, and was soon sound asleep.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, down in the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione were arguing about the girl they had met while in the Bahamas.

"I saw you giving her googly eyes, Ronald Weasley," Hermione accused.

"Well, excuse me for looking at other girls! Just because we happen to be dating doesn't mean I can't look at anyone else!" Ron retorted back. He paused. "Besides, I saw you give those surfer guys a wink or two."

Hermione gasped. "Ron, I would never - " she started, but she was cut off.

"My, my, my...having trouble in paradise, are we?" an all-too familiar voice drawled from behind them.

"Go away, Malfoy," Ron exclaimed, turning to glare at him. The tall blond from Slytherin smirked at them.

Draco Malfoy's silver eyes looked up and down at the Gryffindor table. Many Gryffindors had stopped their chatting to stare at the scene.

"Someone's missing from your lot," Malfoy remarked. His eyes flittered down to the empty spot where Harry had sat. "Ah, yes! Your main man is missing! Where's Potter, Weasel?"

"That's none of your concern, Malfoy," Ron spat.

Hermione groaned. "He's up in the dormitory, Malfoy," she replied.

"Hermione!" Ron sputtered.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron. "Honestly, Ron. What will he be able to do? He hasn't gotten the password..."

"Unless you already gave Malfoy the bloody password," Ron retorted.

"Well, there you have it, Malfoy. The password," Hermione shot at Malfoy, while glaring at Ron.

"Hermione!" Ron gasped again. "How could you tell him the bloody password?"

"I didn't!" Hermione insisted. "You did!"

Malfoy continued to smirk. "Hmmm...bloody password. Highly original," said Malfoy sarcastically. He turned to the center of the Great Hall. "Hey, everyone - the password to Gryffindor is bloody password - now ain't that original?"

He was answered with laughter from the Great Hall. Malfoy smirked down at Ron and Hermione, who glared up at him. "Don't be surprised if you end up getting a lot of visitors," he sneered. With that, Malfoy turned and stalked back over to the Slytherin table.

"I'm going to...I'm going to murder that bloody git!" spat Ron through clenched teeth.

Hermione sighed. "Just forget about Malfoy," she said. She pushed her plate away and stood up. "Well, I'm off to the library."

"Already?" Ron demanded, wide-eyed.

Hermione glared at him. "Yes," she answered defensively. "And don't even think about following me."

Ron snorted. "Trust me, I won't."

"Humph!" Hermione muttered as she made her way out of the Great Hall.

"Girls," Ron muttered, turning back to his food.