Slytherin Saviors

Disclaimer: All characters so far are JKR’s. Not mine. I’m not making any money. Just playing.

The three boys headed back up to the Great Hall. They still had 15 minutes until lunch actually started but they were supposed to meet Crabbe and Goyle. Harry tried to get over the strangeness of walking the halls with Draco and Blaise by his side. It just felt incredibly wrong. He wondered how Ron was doing and what classes he had.

The closer the group got to The Great Hall, the more nervous Harry got. He knew that he was going to be bombarded with owls. With everyone’s attention focused on him and the owls that would be coming in, he wondered how he was going to take the potion that Snape had given him. Hermione and Ron had always been the ones he counted on to help him sort the mail and look out for the dangerous pieces. He wondered what he would have to deal with today. All the thoughts started circling in his head and he was startled to realize that they were already in the hall and almost to the table.

The room was empty since there was still time before the meal. Harry wondered why they hadn’t gone back to the rooms before coming but he didn’t feel like asking. The guard duty bit was getting slightly annoying. He didn’t know how he was supposed to behave. Would they take orders from him? Or would they only take them from Draco, even though he was the one they were supposedly guarding? And when exactly did he start calling the blond annoyance Draco in his mind?

The group was joined shortly by the rest of the Slytherin house. Soon after the room started to fill up with the other students and noise filled the Great Hall. The teachers were seated up at the head table and food suddenly appeared. Harry was glancing nervously at the windows when he felt an elbow nudge his side.

“Potter, just eat. They will get here when they get here. Enjoy the food while you still can,” said Malfoy.

Harry rolled his eyes. He could feel the burning gaze on him coming from at least two directions. He looked towards the teachers table and saw Snape glaring at him. This one was not his usual hate filled glare but rather a very pointed glare at the fact that Harry had not yet either taken his potion nor filled his plate.

He quickly swallowed the potion not wanting to annoy the older man. It wasn’t until he finished the last of the potion that he realized that wasn’t the only stare he was receiving. He looked up and found himself staring into the eyes of Hermione. She looked from him to the potions vial pointedly.

Harry simply mouthed the word “Later” at her very pointedly and looked back towards the table.

He had just started filling his plate when he heard the ominous fluttering of wings. With trepidation, he looked up to see the flurry of owls heading straight towards him. His face blanched as he saw the number of red, smoking envelopes clutched in the talons of many birds.

Draco and Blaise exchanged a quick look before standing up.

“Shall we take care of these for him?” queried Draco.

“Target practice?” asked Blaise, his wand pointed towards the birds.

“Target practice,” answered Draco with a smirk raising his own arm.

“NO!” yelped Harry, batting at the arms.

“Potter!” exclaimed Draco as he turned to the other boy. “Do you mind? We are trying to get rid of these damn birds.”

“Not like that,” glared Harry. “It isn’t the birds’ fault their owners are ignorant asses.” He turned his attention to the pile of mail that was starting to build in front of him and missed the rolled eyes.

He didn’t miss the muttered “Bloody Gryffindorks!” but chose to ignore it as he worked at separating the Howlers from the other mail. Briefly he pondered just setting fire to the whole pile. When he realized there were others who might be mailing him, people he didn’t mind hearing from including the Weasleys, Remus, Tonks, and maybe Mad-Eye though he didn’t think Moody would actually mail him. Maybe send a message through someone else, but not actually mail him.

Harry shook himself mentally and returned to the task at hand. Namely, sorting out the mail. Just in time for the first of the Howlers to erupt, spitting out it vitriol from some person that Harry had never met. This was rapidly followed by several other eruptions, the combined shouts deafening.

Draco snarled, giving Harry a dirty look for protecting the owls and bringing the attention, and snickers, of the other houses. He pointed his wand at the pile of Howlers that was just growing larger with each owl that was delivering its message. A muttered incantation later and the whole pile went up in flames.

Working together, Blaise and Draco snatched up the Howlers as they came in and put silencing charms on them before incinerating them. Harry in the meantime was carefully removing messages from the birds that had messages tied on, rather than carried in their beaks. He paused briefly in his job when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Professor Snape standing over him. The rest of the house was all looking his way, except Draco and Blaise who were still torching Howlers and appeared to have turned it into a game.

“Mr. Potter, please do not focus so much on the imbeciles with nothing better to do than meddle in matters not of their concern that you forget your own concerns,” he said with a pointed look at Harry’s virtually untouched plate.

“Yes sir,” said Harry with uncharacteristic meekness.

As Snape walked away, Harry looked back at the birds only to see Crabbe and Goyle had taken over removing messages and were even giving them each a treat before sending them on their way. Other house members had jumped in to help. Some were working on Howlers; others were starting to open the mail to sort it.

“Stop!” Harry exclaimed with a brief moment of panic, remembering the tampered with letters from before.

“Um, careful opening those,” he said when he realized everyone was looking at him.

“They have come in before with some, er nasty stuff attached,” he muttered.
The house as a whole nodded once at Harry before returning to their organized chaos. Harry looked for a moment at the piles of mail before shrugging and turning to his plate. They had the situation handled with greater ease than Hermione and Ron and he had ever managed, and Snape would not be happy if he didn’t eat.

It was an odd thought. Only two days, okay so not quite two days, in Slytherin and he was already trying to please Snape. Not to mention, working comfortably with Draco Malfoy and watching Crabbe and Goyle feeding birds before sending them away with…a pat? It all felt too surreal and Harry wondered fleetingly if he was going to wake up some time soon.

Before long, Harry had finished his meal and the mail was sorted. The Howlers had all been disposed of, Draco and Blaise joined the group casting spells to identify any curses, jinxes, hexes, bobuter pus, or other harmful contents. That pile was summarily dealt with by placing it in a box that would be given to the Head of House to dispose of.

The remaining mail was then further sorted into hate mail, supportive mail and possible mail from people Harry knew. As the people sorting had to admit, they didn’t know Harry that well, they couldn’t judge if all the people really were friends of his, or just people who felt they “knew” The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry swept the pile of possible friends’ mail and the supportive strangers’ mail into his bag to read later. The rest he looked at with contempt and cast an Incendio watching with satisfaction as the pile went up in smoke. For the first time, dealing with the aftermath of a newspaper article was not a nightmare of epic proportions. Merely a nuisance. And never once had he had the whole of Gryffindor house help him. Usually, just a few friends.

The group left that Hall in a large, single unit. Every house member had surrounded Harry, blocking him from the stares of the other houses. There was a strange energy surrounding the group. A silence covered the group that was strangely energized by the rapid work and the number of close calls. Not a word was spoken until they reached the stairs where everyone spilt into smaller groups to head to their respective classes.

Harry headed towards Transfiguration with Ravenclaw. A slight smile played on his lips. Class that day was a discussion on Animagus and the difference between them and simple transfiguration. Professor McGonagall looked at Harry several times during this lecture with very pointed looks. Harry did his best to meet her gaze innocently. He almost laughed at one point when human to animal transfigurations were discussed and attention shifted to Draco. The blond was slightly pink tinged and muttered angrily about insane Aurors having no place in the school.

When he heard the comment Harry looked at the other boy in shock. Did he not know? Harry wondered how much of everything that had gone on did the rest of the school know. Gryffindor House knew almost everything. He was so lost in thought, he missed the class being dismissed. Blaise nudged him and he looked around in surprise.

“Mr. Potter, please stay after class,” asked the professor.

Harry sighed and nodded. He slipped his books into his bag and waited for everyone to file out.

Once the door shut, he approached his former Head of House. She smiled at him reassuringly.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” she said quietly. “You may no longer be in my house but that will not change the concern I feel for you.”

Harry smiled at her. “Thank you. I’m doing okay.”

Harry hesitated. He didn’t know if she wanted more or if he should leave now.

“If you need anything, my door will always be open to you…Harry. Anything at all,” she gave him a pointed look.

“Um, I really think I am okay. It’s different. Not really anything like I expected. But that’s good, isn’t it?” He looked at her, afraid to say too much, afraid to offend her if he said that he thought he might like it better. Of course, it was still too early to know that for sure but so far it was…different. Nicer somehow. He still didn’t trust most of his housemate but really, how was that different from Gryffindor where most of his housemates turned on him every time he didn’t do exactly as expected. Thinking about it, the only ones he really trusted in Gryffindor were Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Neville. Well, Fred and George too, but they were no longer students there. “Yes Harry, it is good. I’m sorry to see you leave our house, but I am sure the Sorting Hat knew what it was doing,” Harry snorted briefly. She smiled knowingly at him.

“I am not going to ask what was said. I can only assume that it has to do with the war and continuing its message about House unity.” Harry nodded slightly.

“In that vein, I want you to know, while I still think of you as one of my students, I have worked with Professor Snape for many years now. He takes his duties very seriously and will always be there for you. I know you haven’t gotten along very well in the past,” Harry rolled his eyes at the understatement. “However, I believe you will find that changing now.”

Harry nodded. “We have already talked m’am. I…I think it is going to be different. He let me into his potions class.” He grinned at the look of shock that crossed her face.

“Well now, I guess that does show change. Now, unless I miss my guess, you have some people waiting for you and my next class will be showing up soon.”

She handed him a slip of paper for his next class explaining his tardiness. It was written for the whole group and Harry felt a flash of relief that the others wouldn’t be punished for his being held behind.

Sure enough, when he got out in the hall, Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and even Nott were waiting for him. The group hurried to their next class, Charms.

This class passed fairly quickly. Soon Harry found himself once again flanked by his housemates as they headed to the dungeons. Somehow, Harry was surprised to find he was starting to get used to the feeling of protection. In the past it was this very group that he needed protection from. The strangeness of his situation still boggled his mind if he allowed himself to think of it. So he opted not to think about it. Instead he just accepted it as the course of life as Harry Bloody Potter.

The common room was abuzz with groups of people chatting. When they walked in silence fell on the group and everyone was looking at Harry. He felt himself become self-conscious.

“What?” he muttered.

“Potter,” a fifth year student approached him.

Draco and Blaise remained relaxed, even as Harry felt himself tense. Some part of his mind was whispering that if they were relaxed then he should be too.

“Yes?” he asked warily.

“That mail today…” the student seemed uncertain how to proceed. Harry looked at him expressionless.

“Well, I…we just wanted to ask. Is it always like that?” the younger boy seemed slightly shocked.

“Er…yeah.” Harry nodded.

“The hexes and nastiness and everything?” he continued. Again Harry nodded.

“Oh. Damn. That sucks,” Harry snickered and heard the guys around him snicker as well.

“Some of it isn’t that bad. Last year I got a few dozen marriage proposals.” The boy blinked at him. He didn’t seem to know how to respond.

“Er…last year? Seriously?” Harry laughed.

“Yeah. Complete strangers telling me that wanted to marry me. Have my kids, you name it. Even a few pictures,” he paused when he saw a few people nodding.

“Oh shit. Did I get some of them this time?” Harry cursed. The room almost as one nodded.

He heard Blaise laughing. His roommate swung an arm over his shoulder and led him towards their room. “Come on Romeo. Let’s get all the mail out so you can see your potential suitors.”

Harry shuddered at the thought of the photos. “Do I have to?” he whined.

The room burst into laughter. “Don’t worry Potter. We torched most of the…er…less desirable ones.”

“You mean the woofers don’t you Andrew?” cracked Draco.

“Of course. We left the cute ones for you to post on the wall. Er, a few males in there as well. Again, sorted the nasty ones, left the cute ones. Don’t know which you prefer,” answered the seventh year student who was lounging on the couch.

Harry’s eyes grew wide as the meaning sunk in. Fortunately, he wasn’t required to respond as he was pushed into the bedroom followed by the rest of his entourage and the door closed behind them.

He sighed with relief as he dumped his bag on his bed. He collapsed on his bed, tension draining slightly.

‘Finally! It has been so boring in here all alone. Everyone else takes off, never mind the poor snake. No one wants anything to do with me all day, oh no, only pay attention when it suits them. Leave the poor little snake all to her own with nothing to do,’ Harry started laughing.

The others looked at him strangely.

“Er, Potter?” asked Draco. “Not that I didn’t know you were crazy but what is so funny?”

Harry laughed harder, the snake still whining about being bored. He just pointed towards the cage.

“Blaise, do something about your snake. She is bored and a real whiner,” Harry gasped out.

Blaise looked at Harry curiously then noticed the hissing coming from his pet. His eyes widened with recognition before he hurried over to take the snake out of his cage. It was a livelier creature than from the day before, the changes obviously having made it happy.