Harry Potter and the Other Half

Chapter 4: A Good Start to the Year

The three black haired teens sitting on the couch in front of the fire, staring at it contemplatively, looked up when they heard footsteps coming down the girls' staircase. Hermione smiled tiredly as she made her way over to her friends. As she took a seat between Harry and Iris, the Fat Lady's portrait opened and Ron came through leading a very disgruntled looking first year.

"Now you know not to get in the way of a Slytherin!" Ron was scolding the eleven-year-old girl. "Go on, up to your dormitory. No, not that staircase, that's the boys'! The girls' is the other one." The little blonde had been running towards the left staircase, before being redirected to the right. "Nice little bugger," the second prefect commented gruffly as he took a seat on one of the armchairs near the fire.

"What happened?" Iris questioned, concerned for the little girl's safety. Hermione looked equally concerned and urged the red headed boy to continue.

"Well, Darcy, that's her name," Ron began his tale, "got in the way of that Slytherin cow, Pansy Parkinson. She got all indignant that a 'filthy little Gryffindor first year' would presume to touch her. After insulting the poor girl's family and the like, Parkinson called to her fellow Slytherins and they all ganged up on the kid with their wands!" Taking a breather, Ron let the others exclaim over the Slytherins' cruelty and idiocy.

"Any way, Darcy was barely conscious when I got to her, and lucky for the both of us that I had learned tons of hexes and things in the D.A. last year. So, I dispersed the evil Slytherins and carried Darcy to Madame Pomfry, who proceeded to address her wounds and demanded to know who had done the dirty deed." The tale teller flushed pink as he finished his story. James looked at his new friend curiously, knowing that there was something behind Ron's blush other than pride at Hermione's praise.

"Ron, what else happened?" James asked, suspicious. The other boy looked surprised, then flushed more.

"What makes you think that something else happened, James?" Iris giggled, knowing what her long time boyfriend saw in Ron's eyes. Ron, Hermione, and Harry looked at them curiously.

"Oh, maybe that your eyes say you did something else," Iris explained to Ron. "Something special!" The red head laughed nervously.

"C'mon, Ron, tell us what happened, and with who!" Harry couldn't control his voice from letting out his excitement. If the thing that happened was what he thought had happened, his best mate was in for a lovely year. Hermione smiled knowing full well that Ron had had a crush on her for years, and glad that he was over her.

"Well," Ron dragged out the word. "I was waiting for Darcy, when Susan Bones, you know that Hufflepuff from the D.A., came in for a potion or something. The two of us got to talking and, well, she and I are going on a date the first Hogsmeade weekend." The room exploded into cheering and applause; Ron just sunk lower in his chair, his face bright red from neck to hairline and a big smile plastered on his face from ear to ear.

~*~*~*~

"Well, since your comfortable here, why don't you come out to the common room?" Padma asked her new friend, Lily Black. Lily smiled and followed the other girl out of their dormitory.

"Would you mind terribly if I explored the castle?" Lily courteously asked in a soft murmur. Padma smiled and said that it would be fine for Lily to explore, but reminded her to return before curfew. Lily nodded her agreement and quickly ran from the common room.

Lily stopped for a breather outside of the passageway that led to the Ravenclaw dormitories. She stood after a few moments and brushed her hair out of her face, her mind on finding Draco Malfoy. Lily decided to try near the dungeons first. She walked slowly, contemplating her feelings.

Lily knew from the moment she saw Draco that he wasn't someone who deserved to be hated, and when she heard his story that belief was reinforced. She knew he might act cruel, but he really wasn't that mean a person. He hated Voldemort and everything the evil wizard stood for; Lily knew this was a good quality in Draco. Her musings took her all the way down the passage way the Slytherins had traversed, when she accidentally knocked into some one.

Lily looked up, startled, and began to apologize when she looked into the sallow face of her "Uncle" Severus Snape. She smiled and politely asked, "Uncle Sevvie, would you kindly tell me where I may find Draco Malfoy?"

Snape visibly angered, slightly. "Since we are at school it would do you well to call me Professor Snape, my dear, and Mr. Malfoy is currently in the Slytherin common room. I shall get him for you." And with that the man who had cared for her almost since birth turned on his heel, his black robes swirling about him, and left Lily alone in the cold stone corridor.

~*~*~*~

The stone wall slid back into itself and the Potions master and head of Slytherin house entered his common room. Severus Snape surveyed the room before spotting his quarry, Draco Malfoy, reclining indifferently on a couch, surrounded by his "friends".

"Mr. Malfoy," the boy looked up at his teacher's summons, "you have a pretty young lady waiting in the corridor, eager to speak with you. I suggest you hurry to reach her." Draco rose and moved past the older man with a muttered thank you, his head down, and a smile playing across his pale features.

~*~*~*~

The wall grated open and Lily looked towards the sound. She smiled exuberantly and ran to embrace her love. Draco hugged her back and swung her in a circle, happy to see her alone.

"Draco, I want to talk to you. Do you know of a place where we can talk privately?"

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I do know of a place. Come, we shall talk on top of the Astronomy Tower!" The blonde Slytherin grinned mischievously and led the sweet tempered Ravenclaw away from the dungeons and up many flights of stairs.

~*~*~*~

When Draco Malfoy and Lily Black reached the Astronomy Tower, Lily shivered and Draco drew her in close to him against the cool night air. The young couple sat down and started to talk. After an hour and a half they realized that it was almost curfew and promised to go to the first Hogsmeade weekend together. Draco stood and pulled Lily to her feet, smiling, into his arms.

"You amaze me, Mr. Malfoy," Lily murmured.

"Do I now?" was his response.

"Yes, my dear, you do."

"Well then, I shall take that as a compliment and bid you good night." She chuckled before he stepped away. Lily stopped smiling and pulled Draco back to her. He held her again and she gently and softly kissed him; he kissed her back and the lip lock deepened and broadened. Now, she was the first to pull away, reminding them both that they needed to return to their dormitories. They walked down the spiraling staircase hand in hand, before breaking apart to go their separate ways.

~*~*~*~

"Come now, it's getting late and we should go to bed," Hermione interrupted the happy conversation. "And we have the start of lessons tomorrow." Harry laughed and kissed his girlfriend before agreeing with her.

"How like you, Hermione, to remind us all of our studies tomorrow!" Ron exclaimed, used to his friend's studious ways. James let out a loud appreciative laugh and began to tickle Iris in their last few moments together for that night. She screamed and let out peals of laughter as her mass of black spiraling curls flipped over her head and cascaded down into her boyfriend's lap. Hermione looked on at her new friends antics and smiled, squeezing her own boyfriend's hand, warning him not to try anything.

Eventually, the renewed chaos died down and the five friends stood to go to bed. Hermione and Iris left the boys still patting Ron on the back for his date with Susan. The two girls climbed the stairs in silence and walked into the sixth year girls' dormitory. Iris went to her bed, which was next to Hermione's, and prepared herself for sleep, still smiling over the good time they had had in the common room. Hermione also got ready for bed and agreed that she had had a wonderful time downstairs. The two young witches got into bed and both drifted off to sleep fairly soon.

~*~*~*~

The three boys had joked and horsed around on their way up to the dormitory. When they entered their sleeping quarters, Harry and Ron noticed a sixth bed in the room. James laughed and flopped onto the extra four-poster.

"Hey, you guys got nice accommodations here!" James stated still in joking good humor. Neville, Seamus, and Dean entered their dorm and were surprised by the changes they saw. The six beds were situated three on each side of the room, cramming what, without magic, would have been a room with nearly no walking space. The boys were introduced to each other, and after a short bit of conversation and joking, began preparing for bed.

~*~*~*~

Early next morning, Iris awoke from a very pleasant dream. She looked at her watch; it was a little after six, which was unusually early for her. Iris stayed snuggled in her warm bed for a few minutes before getting up. She got dressed in silence and crept down the stairs to the dormitory with a Muggle fantasy she'd been reading. The young witch plopped herself down into the very comfy couch in front of the guttering coals in the fireplace. Iris read for an hour before she heard another student come down the stairs. Hermione came down from the dormitory in her bathrobe, a towel and soap in her hands.

"Hello, Iris," Hermione said cheerfully. "Ready for the first day of classes?" The brunette paused next to the couch where her friend was relaxing, a book on her lap. Iris looked up at her new friend and weighed her possible answers.

"Yeah, I'm ready. It'll be fun, right?" Hermione smiled, murmured a short 'see you at breakfast', and left through the Fat Lady's portrait, heading for the prefects' bathroom. Iris went back to reading, until she was interrupted by the arrival of more students.

~*~*~*~

Harry woke, sunlight gently streaming through a gap in the bed curtains glistening on dust motes. He felt too cozy to get up, but knew he had to get ready for classes. He reached out a hand lightly tanned from the summer to lift his glasses from the bedside table and place them on his nose. He rolled on to his back and listened to the noises of his fellow students. Harry heard the usual snores emanating from Ron and Neville; he also heard the sound of water running in the single bathroom the boys shared.

Seamus stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist to survey the room. Harry was just parting the scarlet curtains around his bed, his bare feet hitting the cool, wooden floor. Ron's arm could be seen hanging lazily off the edge of his bed, and Dean, who was surrounded by a pile of random paraphernalia, was digging in his trunk. James stretched languidly, running a hand through his damp mass of black hair, before leaving the dormitory with a rumbling stomach. The other boys soon followed.

~*~*~*~

"Nice outfit, Iris," James commented as he came down the stairs. Iris was wearing a pair of boot-cut jeans with a rip in the right knee and a lime green sleeveless shirt beneath her black school robes.

"Same to you, Mister Morning!" It was a joke between the two of them; back in the U.S. James always woke the earliest in their year. He was wearing barely baggy jeans and a slate gray T-shirt. James plopped himself down on the couch next to his girlfriend. They enjoyed several minutes of contented silence, her head on his shoulder, before other Gryffindors came down the stairs.

Laughing, James stood and offered the young lady that he loved his arm as the boys from his dormitory barged down the stairs. "My fair damsel, may I have the immense pleasure, and honor, of escorting you to breakfast this fair morn?" Iris accepted, laughing at the romantic, not to mention Medieval, language the couple spoke in every so often. The group of friends left Gryffindor Tower and descended the many moving staircases to breakfast.

~*~*~*~

Lily woke to the mumblings of her dorm mates. She was 100% awake, and restless. She arose from her four-poster bed and dressed in a plaid blue skirt shot through with silver threads and an off-white blouse. Lily grabbed her books and left for breakfast, leaving a note on her nightstand to make sure her new comrades wouldn't worry. She caught a glimpse of the woodlands near the castle out of a ground floor window on her way up to the Great Hall.

~*~*~*~

From the Slytherin table, Draco looked across the slowly filling hall, hoping to observe Lily Black in her morning beauty. He saw her as she spoke to her Ravenclaw friends, and then went to sit at the Gryffindor table for the morning meal. The green clad blonde looked at his closest ally through the years, Blaise Zabini. The boy had a certain flair for trouble unknown to any other student. The oddly brunette, intelligent, and flushed Blaise was an unusual looking person to be placed in a house where so many were either similar looking to vampires or stupid thugs.

To be Sorted into Slytherin a child must have ambition. Not be cruel, or evil, just to be ambitious. Draco's main ambition was to prove that not every Malfoy was a strong supporter of Voldemort; Blaise's ambition was to be a detective or an author of mysteries. The two young men may have seemed ill suited to be close allies, but they were like brothers.

"Who are you looking for, Draco?" the brunette questioned his friend. Blaise followed Draco's intense stare to the Gryffindor table. "You're looking at Potter's sister! Mate, that's not like you!"

Draco broke his gaze to answer his friend's query. "No! Of course I wouldn't stare at the Pottyette! No, I was watching Lily, you know..." His voice trailed off as he went back to watching Lily talk animatedly with her Gryffindor friends.

~*~*~*~

James looked up from his pancakes as his sister came over and sat across from him, between Harry and Ron. After a swift grin at him, Lily jumped into Iris and Hermione's conversation as she grabbed a plate and some food. James surveyed the Great Hall as he chewed through his second helping of pancakes and eggs. His gaze passed over the Ravenclaw table, spotted Susan Bones at the Hufflepuff table, and saw Malfoy watching Lily from the Slytherin table...wait, Malfoy watching Lily from the Slytherin table! Not good! The boy almost choked on a bite of eggs as this realization struck home.

"Whoa! James, mate, you all right?" Harry's voice pushed through the fog in his brain.

"What's wrong, Jamesy Jim?" Iris asked concernedly, using her nickname for him from before they were dating. James mock glared at his girlfriend before proceeding to explain his reaction. When he finished, Iris began giggling madly, Harry's expression hardened, and Lily and Hermione's attention was caught.

"What's wrong with Draco looking at me?" Lily asked, a falsely innocent look on her face. "It's not as if he's, I dunno, kissing me!" Iris shared a secretive smile with her friend as the male members of their group were baffled, and Hermione's keen mind began thinking more on what wasn't said than what was.

As the six friends finished their breakfast, a pile of papers was planted at James's elbow and Padma Patil came over with two sheets of papers in her hands. James began handing out the papers to the Gryffindors, and the Ravenclaw handed Lily one.

"Here, Lily, it's your schedule." Padma brushed a lock of her straight, dark hair from her face. Lily thanked her housemate and looked at the form in her hands.

"Hallelujah! Defense Against the Dark Arts first, then Transfiguration!" Ron let out a whoop of joy, punching his fist in the air and tilting back in his seat. Harry laughed and smiled, just as happy as his best mate. Hermione's brow was furrowed in her usual manner as she surveyed her own sheet.

"But you guys didn't see what we have after lunch!" Iris broke in. "It's double Potions!" Ron's face fell and his chair legs hit the stone floor with a thunk.

"Fan-bloody-tastic!" Harry groaned. "Why do we need to have a double period with Snape, the slimy git?" Hermione gave her boyfriend a scolding glance then resumed perusing the schedule. Iris leaned over to her own boyfriend's sister, peering over the shorter girl's shoulder.

"What do you have, Lils?" Iris questioned, hazel eyes glinting in the sunlight coming through the huge windows.

"DADA, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, lunch, Double Potions, then Herbology before dinner," Lily read off her paper. She looked up to her long-time friend before continuing. "I don't have all the same classes as you because you know I'm not going to be an Auror, like you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know you wanna be a Healer, but at least most of our classes are the same!" Iris Potter and Lily Black had talked over their dream jobs before coming to Hogwarts. A ringing sound filled the hall and the students rose to go to their first classes.

~*~*~*~

Draco stood with his friends, lifted his bag to his shoulder, and left the Great Hall, his eyes still on Lily as he continued his conversation with Blaise. The two went their different ways, Blaise to Ancient Runes, Draco to Defense Against the Dark Arts.