Harry entered the library last of all his friends. The rest were all already seated in the far back, where very few students ever ventured. Ginny noticed him first and waved him over smiling. Harry smiled back and walked up, sitting down next to Fred and Sirius.
"Hey," he greeted.
"We were just asking around how everyone is doing in their new Houses," Sirius told Harry.
"How do you think I'm doing?" Harry asked frowning.
"I'm bunking with Tom Bloody Riddle."
Ginny winced at the name, and the expressions of the twins darkened. Ron and Sirius seemed sympathetic with Harry's dilemma, but Hermione just sighed and shook her head.
"It was your own idea to give the boy another chance, Harry," she pointed out.
"I know it's hard, but we can't back out now. We're here if you need us, but in the end, it'll be you who'll have to do this."
"I know that," Harry groaned, lying his head down on the table with a deep sigh.
"But it's not easy you know, always with his blasted 'holier than thou' attitude. He's bloody infuriating!"
"If it helps, we've got this awesome prank ready for him," Fred comforted.
"Just say the words, and we'll have him singing ballads for a whole week," George added grinning.
Harry couldn't help but snort at that. The twins always had some way or another to make him feel less like shit. He tried to imagine how Riddle would react if they did something like that, but the face of a raging Voldemort appeared before his mind's eye and he quickly shook his head.
"Let's keep that as a back-up plan," he mumbled softly.
"I'm sure I can think of something else to stop him from becoming Voldemort."
"If you say so," the twins replied in chorus.
Harry chuckled and looked around himself, observing every single one of his friends. They seemed calmer than they had in a long while already, more relaxed than they'd been at Grimmauld Place. None of them was worried about never going back, and Harry was sure that if they tried, they could make a new life here that was worthwhile.
"So," he spoke up after a short while.
"What's everyone been up to this week?"
"I have been getting to know my housemates," Hermione spoke up proudly.
"Though Ravenclaw has always been considered a neutral house, there are a lot of dark wizard children there too. Not as many as Slytherin, but definitely more than Gryffindor and Huffelpuff."
"Like who?" Ron asked frowning.
"Lucinda Malfoy and Cedrella Black from 7th year for one," Hermione replied.
"Not that Cedrella Black is particularly dark. She'll marry Septimus Weasley, so she's very light oriented already. Then there's Hannah Wilkes in 6th, Johnathan Selwyn in my year. He's an awful bully, just like that Olive Hornby. They always pick on poor Octavian Weasley."
Hermione sighed and leaned her head on her hand.
"It's horrible to think that poor boy will die in a few months..." she muttered sadly.
"He's really smart and kind. He could have a wonderful life, if it wasn't for all those bullies."
"You think we can save him?" Ginny asked hopeful.
"We might," Hermione replied nodding.
"That's why we're here, aren't we? Saving lives?"
"We are, but remember it's only secondary," Sirius told her.
"Stopping Voldemort will have priority in this, no matter what."
With grim faces, the teens all nodded at the only adult in their group. Sirius smiled weakly and turned towards the twins.
"What about you two, what have you been doing?" he asked.
"Getting detention," Fred replied almost immediately, looking far too smug.
"The whole weekend with professor Merrythought," George said grinning.
"How is that a good thing?" Harry wondered out loud.
"Well, you see-" George started.
"-Since professor Merrythought gives detention real easy, we figured a lot of those baby Death Eaters would end up with her too-" Fred continued.
"-And that would mean we'd get a closer look at them, find a few things out maybe-" George said again.
"Maybe even win their trust!" Fred finished.
"But it does mean you'll miss Harry's try-outs," Ginny pointed out.
"He's got them tomorrow, remember."
"We don't need to see it to know Harry will get the seeker position," Fred waved her off.
"It's pretty obvious he'll get it anyhow," George agreed readily.
"Harry's a bloody natural. The first kid in a century who'd gotten on the team in first year."
"Thanks for the trust in me you guys, but I'm still not sure if this is such a good idea," Harry told them.
"I mean, I'll be playing for Slytherin. I love quidditch, but... Slytherin! I don't know if I'll be able to get over that. Maybe I'll even purposefully let them lose!"
"I wouldn't mind that at all, mate. Especially if you're playing against Gryffindor," Ron replied grinning, only to receive a slap to the back of his head from both Ginny and Hermione.
"Ouch! What's that for?!"
"Don't you want to win fairly?" Ginny asked.
"Cheating is wrong, Ronald!" Hermione scolded at the exact same time.
"And there is nothing inherently wrong with Slytherin, Harry. You're just biased because of Malfoy and Riddle."
"Can you blame me?" Harry muttered bitterly.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, my week was bloody amazing," Ron told the others grinning.
"How's that going to make me feel better?" Harry asked sceptically.
"Because I'm your best mate, and you wouldn't want me to be miserable," Ron replied, his grin widening even more.
Harry chuckled and shook his head. At least Ron was still pretty much Ron. It made him feel a bit better about the whole situation.
"I got to know my own classmates too. No Death Eaters there of course. I hung out a lot with this guy named Lewis Young and, you're never going to believe it, Lyall Lupin! Professor Lupin's future dad! You wouldn't say it when you see him for the first time. They guy looks nothing like the professor."
"He looks like his mum," Sirius nodded.
"I've met his parents a few times. You'd never believe that guy's his dad if it wasn't for their last names."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Ron replied.
"Personality wise, I think they're pretty much alike."
"Really?" Sirius asked surprised.
"When he's older he'll be a very strict man though..."
"He isn't yet. He's actually pretty great to hang out with," the young redhead told the others, before he started frowning.
"Only... he really, really hates Slytherin... usually, that wouldn't bother me, but he thinks Harry's gonna end up an evil dark wizard too! Gin got in a big fight with him two days ago about it. I told him off too of course, but other than that, we're still cool."
"Thanks for sticking up for me I guess," Harry said, smiling at Ginny.
The youngest redhead blushed a bit and smiled back.
"Of course! What else should I have done? I couldn't let him say those things about you. You're a hero."
Harry's smile fell. He frowned and looked away, shaking his head sadly.
"I'm not a hero, Gin," he muttered.
"A hero would have been able to save Cedric."
"That's bullshit and you know it!" Ron exclaimed.
"How could you even know that was going to happen? Besides, just because you survived the killing curse as a baby doesn't mean you'll do it again if you jumped in front of the bloke."
"His parents didn't blame you either, did they Harry?" Hermione pointed out.
"Listen to your friends Harry," Sirius told him when he noticed Harry was still upset.
"You're a wonderful person, and you've done more for any of us, for the whole Wizarding World than anyone else would be willing to. You're just a boy Harry. You never should have been in the position where saving anyone's life was an option, let alone necessary."
"Honestly, we would have been more upset if you did save Diggory," Fred pointed out.
"Because that would mean you'd have died instead, wouldn't it?" George added, seeing Harry's frown worsen.
"We're family you know," Ginny pressed smiling.
At last, Harry smiled back at his group. They all cared so deeply for him, it never ceased to amaze him others could hold so much love for just him. He loved them too you know, but somehow, it seemed more logical for him to love them than the other way around. Ridiculous of course. He knew what he meant to them, but that didn't stop him from marvelling at the little fact.
"Thanks. I wouldn't know what I'd do without you guys," he said honestly.
"Probably attempting to murder Riddle," Sirius replied dryly.
Harry chuckled.
"Yeah, probably," he agreed.
"Sirius," Hermione spoke up frowning worriedly.
"What have you been doing this week anyway? I've seen you wandering the halls a lot, but you always seemed so lost, like you didn't know what you were doing?"
Harry's eyes widened and he stared at his Godfather worriedly.
"Are you alright?" he asked quickly.
"I'm fine, Harry," Sirius replied, shaking his head.
"At least, I think I am... I feel like there's a dark hole in my mind. I'm pretty sure I'm missing several hours of memory this past week, but I have no idea how that happened."
"Maybe you're getting old?" George suggested.
"Aren't you already like, 35 right now?" Fred asked.
"35 isn't old!" Sirius countered offended.
"But add Azkaban..." Fred muttered.
"Dad says you get old a lot faster there," Ron nodded.
"Maybe that's what happened to you? No offense, but you look a lot older than 35."
Sirius glared at the three red haired boys and opened his mouth to reply when he suddenly realized something and closed his mouth again. He deflated with a deep, sad sigh. Harry smiled when he noticed how much his Godfather looked like a kicked dog at the moment.
"That might actually be true," Sirius admitted.