The Golden Boy

32

Harry's POV

I could feel my shoulders start to shake violently. Is the train running off the tracks? I opened my eyes and was startled by Blaise in my face. I fell asleep. That wasn't part of the plan. But hey it got me out of that weird situation.

"Harry, stop staring and get dressed." I quickly looked away. I had been staring at his bare chest. Do I get dressed right here? Then again it's not like we have changed in front of each other before. Plus we're both guys. I got up and quickly changed into my robes joining Blaise at the door. I wonder if the others have finally given up on talking to us. Hopefully they have.

At the castle

Feels nice to be back. Even if I don't have anyone to talk to. Dumbledore gave a welcoming speech and the food appeared. To be honest I'm not really hungry. I sat picking at my food taking the occasional bites.

Aunt Petunia said Vermin would be gone for the rest of the break but he came back early. Which really killed the mood around the house. And he kept trying to hit me. When he failed to attack me he spat curses. Real nasty saying that would have stunned a person still. And Petunia refused to call the police. So, I'm not in the best of moods.

And that run in with the Ravenclaws doesn't help. I'm so tired of this. Of them. Of everybody. They wanted to study me. See what made me speak to snakes. Like some kind of experiment. The audacity.

I looked up from my plate to across the hall. Blaise sat zoned out. I wonder why he's always zoning out. I continue staring in hopes he'll notice me. Luckily he does. Though it took a few minutes.

I smiled at him and waved. He smiled and motioned for me to eat. I know he wasn't eating either so I told him to do it too. For the rest of dinner we watched each other eat. Doing our best to communicate while doing so.

When it was time to leave I was ecstatic. Ready to start having sleepovers with Blaise again. Oh this is a good time to ask him if we're doing that tonight. I was one of the first Hufflepuffs out the door ready to stop Blaise. I had to stop myself from bouncing. I'm so glad we're friends. Blaise was the first Slytherin to walk out the doors. He looked around a bit before he saw and started to walk in my direction.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"We didn't get to talk much on the train." His voice. Is it....

"No we didn;t. Sadly." Now's my chance. "Did you want to, I don't know, sleepover? I mean you don't have to. It's just been awhile and I was just wondering. And I wanted to talk. You don't have to talk. Oh I'm so sorry that was rude. I.. I'll be quiet now." I was out of breath. I didn't notice I hadn't breathed at all during that. That was dumb.

Blasie in turn gave a lopsided grin. Though he quickly beat it down. As he would say, can't let his "reputation" be damaged.

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you. I don't want to be around any of them." Yes! Though I guess it's not a good thing that we're basically fighting with all the houses. Alone.

"Great, come on before Dumbledore sees us." I grabbed his hand and we jogged to the Hufflepuff Basement. About halfway there we could hear the others behind us. As long as we don't get caught up with them we're fine.

"I know how you feel, Harry."

"Probably because I dragged you into this." He shrugs.

"Maybe. But we always do what we want. We don't care what the others have to say. And to be honest, we're glad we did it." Looking over at the boy at my side I saw nothing but truthfulness shining in his amethyst eyes.

"Thank you for being kind." Wait, how did he know what I was thinking?

"We're here." He announced. And I could hear the voices getting louder. And it was at that moment I realized I didn't have the password. Blaise seemed to notice too.

Panicking we started saying random things that would be a password for the hufflepuffs. We're not sure which one of them opened it but we didn't care. We ran inside and up the stairs faster than the lightning scar on my forehead.

"Next..... time ask some.... one for the ..... password." Blaise was out of breath and so was I. Who knew running upstairs at top speed would tire you out? I guess I should have known. I did just do this exact same thing with Dudley. I took a seat at the table that for some reason remained in my room.

"Sorry dude." Was the only thing I could say. I was still trying to catch my breath, Wow that really took a lot out of me.

"We said a lot of words. I wonder which one opened the painting." At what point did he cross the room? Blaise was currently looking through his dresser. Guess I should probably change too.

After changing into our night clothes and doing our nightly routines we sat on our beds looking at each other. It kinda felt like the first night all over again.

"I missed you too by the way. I never did actually tell you on the train. I have a reputation, ya know?" I laughed a little.

"Yes Blaise I know. So how was it?" He sighed.

"In a word. Tense. I was on edge the entire time. Bl-" He stopped suddenly. "I tried my best to stay calm but it was so hard. You wouldn't believe my mother's mood swings." I gave him a small semi sad smile.

"What about you?"

"Confusing and tense, Awkward too. My Aunt and cousin were acting so weird. Total contrast to what they're usually like. And my Uncle didn't show up for the most part."

"We would have had so much fun had we stayed." He's not wrong. And the castle would have been next to empty.

"Maybe Christmas. Oh wait, you probably want to be home for your gifts."

"Bold to assume we get gifts." I raised an eyebrow at him. He doesn't get gifts either?

"What do you mean?"

"We don't celebrate christmas."I'd like to think I know Blaise quite well. Well enough to know when he's lying or putting something off. I won't push but I am curious.
"So about the train ride? What was up with that?" I sighed.

"Ravenclaws' curiosity and need for knowledge will undoubtedly be their downfall."

"What we meant was 'How did you get in that situation?'"

"How I always get in those situations by keeping my head down avoiding trouble." It seems the more I try to back away the more things push at me.

"As they say, curiosity killed the cat."

"Satisfaction brought it back."

"Quite right Harry."

"Let's talk about your reaction though. You THREW them across the train."

"In our defense. We were protecting you. They were harassing you which is bad."

"You didn't even raise your wand. I could feel the magic rolling off you. It felt as if the sun were right next to me. But it wasn't hot but it was still hot at the same time." He stayed silent. Probably wondering what to say. What do you say to that? Guess I put him in a tight spot.

"I'm just that powerful." I forgot. This is Blasie. Prideful and arrogant but also humble. I laughed as he smirked back at me.

"So what did you do while away?"

"Well if you're thinking I left the house and did some extravagant things you're dead wrong. As I said my Uncle wasn't really there so I had a good time. I got to know my cousin a little better. I even cooked with him. Aunt Petunia told me stories about her and my mom. It was nice. But you won't believe-"