So Far Away

So Far Away
By: Gwen
Rating: NC17 overall
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Warning: AU/Slash/Drama/Angst/Romance
Betas: Tracy & Dorothy
Feedback: Much appreciated
Disclaimer: The \"boys\" belong to JKR. I just borrow them on occasion. No money is being made from this little adventure.

Summary: Interesting things can happen when you\'re away from everyone and everything you know.


Part 5 - Welcome To America

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With a flash of light and a pop, the boys appeared in the waiting area of the Headmaster\'s office at Hamilton School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, located in upstate New York. Harry, who was not accustomed to traveling a great distance by port-key, stumbled a bit and crashed into Draco, which sent them both to the floor.

\"Potter, you klutz. Get off of me!\" Draco yelled as he tried to push the offending body off of his. \"You are wrinkling my robes!\"

Harry snorted as he tried to untangle himself from the boy below him. If he didn\'t know better, he\'d swear that Draco\'s middle name was Vanity. It didn\'t matter where he went, he was always dressed immaculately, not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle in sight. But here he was, sprawled out underneath him, looking like he had just been thoroughly shagged, his hair was mused and his robes were twisted this way and that. Harry wished he had a camera to capture this particular moment in time. It might have come in handy at some point in the future.

When the Headmaster heard the commotion outside of his office, he rushed to the door to find his newest additions in a tangle of arms and legs.

\"Here, here, let me help you,\" he said as he made his way over to the boys and helped extricate them from the jumble. \"See, this is one reason we do not wear robes around here. They get in the way of things,\" he stated as he helped to set the boys to right.

\"Headmaster Collins?\" Harry asked as he attempted to straighten his robes.

\"I am,\" he stated with a nod of his head. \"And you must be Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy,\" he said, shaking each of their hands. \"Come into my office so that we can get your paperwork completed and get you off to your rooms,\" he said as he turned and re-entered his office.

This office was nothing like Dumbledore\'s. This one was nice and tidy, with just a few odds and ends lying about, completely opposite of their Headmaster\'s own office that was cluttered to the rafters with things. The man was a pack rat and refused to throw something out for fear that it might be needed one day. Obviously one day has never arrived, hence the way his office looks. But here, you could find your way around with nothing to impede your steps.

Taking the seats in front of the large oak desk, the boys listened as Headmaster Collins went over the rules of the school, which matched the rules of Hogwarts for most things, but there were a few nice surprises.

\"You will find that we are more lax in some areas than Hogwarts. For one, we no longer wear robes, except for special occasions, such as holiday meals and such. You\'ll be notified ahead of time when they are expected. We\'ve found that they hinder the students in some aspects, especially in hand-to-hand combat situations as well as during the physical education class.\"

\"Another change that we\'ve implemented here is that the students are not divided into the house system. Over time, we\'ve come to realize that students were only interacting with their own houses, and if they attempted a friendship with someone outside of their house, they were shunned. Well, no more. Everyone here is an equal and will be treated as such. The only separation we have is with the sports, but I\'ll cover that later.\"

For several years, Harry had thought that the hosepaseparation was a good thing, to a certain degree, but as Headmaster Collins\' pointed out, it hindered the students as far as forming friendships beyond their borders. He was very interested to see how everyone interacted together.

Draco, on the other hand, thought that doing away with the system was tantamount to disaster. It was allowing the different social classes to mix, and that was something that had been drilled into him since he was old enough to walk. He only associated with the most prestigious purebloods. Everyone else was beneath him and did not deserve his time or attention. This was not a change he was looking forward to.

\"To go along with the dissolution of the house system, we have restructured our student housing areas. We have placed first and second years on the bottom floor, third and fourth years together on the second, fifth and sixth together on the third floor, leaving the fourth floor to the seventh years. Boys and girls are still separated, and the dorms are spelled so that boys may not enter the girls, and vice versa.\"

This would not be a problem for either, although they were smart enough not to comment about it. It wasn\'t a secret that Malfoy had kept company with both boys and girls alike during the previous school years. Harry himself had dabbled in both sexes, although he kept quiet about it, whereas Malfoy didn\'t care that everyone knew.

\"I realize that you both were Seekers on your house Quidditch teams. In addition to Quidditch, we have added several other sports as well. Lacrosse, soccer, which you call football, and rowing all seem to be the most popular this year. Until now, we have not included muggle sports, but there are only so many students who can play Quidditch, which is why we\'ve added a few others to our program. Your physical education Professor will let you know when tryouts will be for each, and you can check the bulletin boards in your dorm for the information as well,\" Headmaster Collins said.

\"As for your rooming assignments, I have placed you within the same suite, which is two bedrooms separated by a walk-through bath. You will be sharing sleeping accommodations with what we call a mentor, who will assist you in any way he can to make sure that you are integrated into our system with the least amount of pain,\" he said with a smile.

Harry almost laughed at that. While he had no aversion to Americans, or any nationality come to think of it, he knew that Malfoy would. He would be the Ice Prince until he could get the lay of the land, so to speak, and find out who was worthy of his friendship and who was beneath him, especially with the house system not in place. He wondered if there was anyone here who could take him down a peg or two. Harry had already decided that he\'d pay any amount of money to see that.

During their conversation, two young men had joined them in the Headmaster\'s office and were finally introduced.

\"Gentlemen, I\'d like to introduce you to your mentors, Chad Sharpe and Allen Wells,\" he said as the boys stood and greeted each other.

After being introduced, Harry braced himself for what was coming … the attention that he hated more than anything in this world. Even more than he hated Malfoy. He hated the fact that he would never be known as just Harry Potter, seventh year student, but instead as Harry Potter, The Hero. At seeing Harry\'s discomfort, the Headmaster discreetly cleared his throat and nodded to the other student in the room.

Now it was Harry\'s turn to step back and watch to see how these two reacted to Malfoy, The Ice Prince of Slytherin. As expected, his cool mask of indifference was firmly in place as he appraised the situation. He had no information on the two Americans yet, which meant that he would remain detached and aloof until he could ascertain if they were worthy of his time or not. Harry knew how it felt to be on the wrong ef Maf Malfoy\'s icy demeanor, and sincerely hoped that Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he sent them both here.

Headmaster Collins wished each of the new students luck with their stay here before they were whisked away by their new mentors. He had decided to leave it up to the four of them to decide who would be rooming together, and that once they had come to a decision, word would be sent back to him.

TBC