Expensive Disaster

Harry woke up feeling disoriented and groggy. He blinked rapidly as he recalled the events of earlier that morning. He felt like he had just barely slumped onto his bed, planning to rest only a moment. But he must have dozed off. He looked around the room with a slight tinge of awe.

The room was quite nice, too nice for a student dorm, really. It was nothing compared to his suite of rooms at the Black Manor, or even his rooms back at his parent’s, but certainly nothing to scoff at. The walls were dark green damask on top of mahogany wainscoting at the base. The room itself was really three, a bedroom, a study and a separate bath. The furnishings were nice, a cherry wood four-poster bed with a cushioned seat at the end, two matching nightstands, an L-shaped desk in the far corner with a black ergonomic chair, and a window seat with flanking bookshelves.

The closet was a nice sized walk-in and the bathroom had a full soaking tub, as well as a shower and a double sink, all done in pale ivory tiles with dark green glass accents.

He had unpacked most of his things before falling asleep but there was a smaller bag with several more personal items left. The smaller suitcase had a few framed pictures, a journal and a photo album.

The first framed picture was of his parents, his father James who had the same slim build as Harry, and the same messy jet black hair, and his mother Lily, who had vibrant red hair and brilliant green eyes, just like his own. He missed his parents so much; they had been perfect and loving and perpetually understanding of him.

The second picture was of his Godfather Sirius and his father’s other best friend Remus. Back when they had all gone to Veritas together they had been called the Marauders. Their stories of pranks on other students always made Harry laugh and tended to get them all scolded by Lily. His godfather stood in this image, only a few years ago, looking dashingly handsome, with long thick curly black hair and the occasional streak of gray. He had stunningly clear gray eyes, which were usually filled with mirth.

His lover Remus—though they would never admit that fact to Harry, but Harry knew better—was taller than Sirius and of a slighter build. He had dusty brown hair and piercing golden brown eyes. He was far more serious than his godfather, and was perpetually pushing Harry to study harder.

The third photograph was of himself between his best friends. He had been sick to leave Ron and Hermione behind at public school, but Remus and Sirius had left him little to no choice. The boy to the right of Harry was much taller than him, and had overly long limbs. He appeared as though he would continue to grow throughout the year. He had fiery red hair and a face full of freckles.

The girl to his left was small and prim and her hair flew out in a billion frizzy directions. She was actually very pretty, but boys rarely said so because she tended to care more about books and cleverness as opposed to makeup and clothing.

The last photograph in his duffle was one he had never taken out while he stayed with Sirius. He wasn’t completely sure why he even brought it along from his parent’s house, let alone here to the academy. It was a simple picture; it contained two younger boys, thirteen or so, clutched tightly together, shoulder to shoulder. One with lovely platinum hair, the other with ebony curls. They were smiling and obviously having a good time together when the photo was taken.

Harry grumbled and stuffed the photo away in his nightstand, slamming the drawer shut. As he did so, he spotted the time.

Noon.

His stomach rumbled and reminded him that he was too nervous and upset to eat breakfast that morning, so he needed to find lunch soon. He rummaged in his nightstand for the map, that Griffin had given him, of the school grounds. It appeared the cafeteria was on the other side of campus.

Harry groaned and changed into his uniform, which consisted of pressed black slacks, a crisp white collared shirt, a black suit jacket with the Veritas crest and a black tie. It was stuffy and a far cry from his normal jeans and tee shirt ensembles he would wear in public school.

The shoes would pose a problem though. Harry hated the shiny patent leather oxfords that went with the uniform, so he stuffed on his favorite pair of dark green Doc Martin boots and left his room.

He ran into Griffin just a few doors down from his own and he offered to walk with Harry to lunch. They took a detour and added a couple of Griffin’s friends to their party. The first was a short mousy boy named Colin, and the other was a tall lanky fellow named Neville. Harry liked Neville right off; he was full of laughs and very cheerful. Colin on the other hand was slightly creepy and a little over fascinated with him.

Colin followed Harry so closely that when Harry stopped short, seeing Malfoy up ahead, the smaller boy ran right into him. “Colin,” Griffin hissed, gesturing toward Harry and scowling. It was obvious that Griffin wanted to make a good impression on his new friend. Harry pretended to ignore this added attention and instead, focused his own on Malfoy.

It had only been three years since the evening he last saw the blonde, but the boy had changed, and much as Harry was loathe to admit, it was all for the better.

Malfoy looked back just then, possibly feeling the heavy weight of Harry’s gaze and caught the boy’s eyes. Draco’s glistened with a metallic silver sparkle, almost otherworldly, as he caught Harry’s and his lips curved into a wicked smile. Draco winked at him and it took all of Harry’s self control not to blush, and instead to sneer at him with disdain.

Draco’s smile faltered and he stalked over to stand directly in front of Harry, trying to intimidate him with his four inches of extra height. Harry let him have his fun but made it clear that it was having no affect on him. Harry was already used to Ron towering over him by more than what Draco could achieve in height.

He sneered, his gray eyes flickering back and forth between Harry’s companions. “I see you’ve already started making alliances,” he drawled.

Harry gave him a smug grin and nodded. Beside him Griffin puffed up slightly, as if rewarded by the remark. Malfoy just rolled his eyes at the intruder, his attention falling mainly on Harry. Draco’s usual childhood goons, Vince and Greg stood to either side of him, like linebackers, but another boy in their group caught Harry’s eye at once.

The boy was tall, but still shorter than Draco, probably close to Harry’s own height. He had a thick mane of black hair that was straight and shiny and fell around his face in artful clumps, unlike Harry’s own, which was slightly curly and always looked disheveled no matter what he did to the ebony mass. The stranger’s eyes were a bit hazel, and his face was lightly tanned as if he played an outdoor sport.

He stared at Harry through thick black eyelashes, and his face was pulled into a subtle but menacing snarl. No one else seemed to notice the malice that this unnamed boy directed at Harry.

“So, are you going to introduce me to your new friends?” Draco asked, seemingly polite, but Harry could detect the bitterness beneath the words.

“You first,” Harry bowed slightly, a mocking gesture, but it caught Draco off guard.

“You already know Vincent and Gregory. This is Theodore Nott, Theo,” he added, gesturing to the boy directly behind him.

“Another bodyguard?” Harry asked with a smirk.

“No,” Theo interrupted, taking Draco’s hand. “His boyfriend.”

Harry blanched but quickly regained his composure. “Funny, from the ruckus you caused with your father after kissing me, I was certain you were straight.” Well, at least that explained the animosity Theo had toward him, but it didn’t explain why he thought Harry of all people was a threat.

Draco was shooting his boyfriend a scathing look then turned back to Harry. “Well, you were always brilliant at jumping to conclusions.”

“As I recall you were a gold medallist in that sport yourself,” Harry mocked. “Anyhow, we were just trying to get some lunch, so if that will be all…” He raised a pitch-black eyebrow waiting for Draco to add some snide remark, but he didn’t, so Harry attempted to push through them and into the cafeteria.

Draco wouldn’t be moved so easily though. He held up a pale hand, and with a gentle shove, kept Harry from moving forward. “Yes, Malfoy?”

“Did you think about what I said earlier?” he asked, his face hovering beside Harry’s ear, his sweet breath whispering over his face.

“I did,” Harry began, wiping the look of school boy hormones from his face, “And I have decided to decline your generous offer. You’ll not be in charge of me here. Things are not like they were before… I’m not like I was before,” he finished through gritted teeth.

“I can see that,” Draco said quietly, for Harry’s ears alone, as he raked his eyes up and down the other boy’s body. Theo scowled behind him and shot Harry a look that would have melted a weaker man into a frightened puddle of goo. He tugged on Draco’s hand and eventually Malfoy relented and the small troupe left Harry and his friends alone.

Griffin’s hands were clutching Harry’s shoulders tightly, and Harry took a deep breath. “That was so cool,” Griffin said at last, as they made their way into the cafeteria.

Harry rolled his eyes. “What exactly about that, Griffin, was cool?”

“I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Draco Malfoy like that,” Colin interrupted. “You never even flinched,” he said in awe, eyes wide.

Griffin and Neville both nodded in unison and Harry felt like he had his work cut out for him to try and convince them that Draco Malfoy really wasn’t all that special. First however… he needed to convince himself of that same fact.