"You two go ahead, I'll be right there." Hermione said as they passed by the Great Hall, which had the older years rather than the first years in, the first years always heading to their classes rather than getting something to eat during break.
"What're you doing?" Ron asked, him and Harry stopping to look at her as she ran to the Great Hall.
"I just realised there's someone I know and I need to ask their help with something. We've got plenty of time, I won't take long." Hermione said, running over to the Hufflepuff table where a girl with blue and purple hair who looked tired, pale, and ill, their head resting on the table before Hermione came up to them.
"Who's that?" Harry asked.
Ron shrugged, making a confused face. "Maybe it's someone she knew before Hogwarts?"
-----
"Hello." Hermione said as she approached Lexsaidh, making Lexsaidh look up at her, she didn't look very well.
"Hey, can I do something for you?" Lexsaidh asked, her tone friendly, but her expression neutral, looking like she couldn't really be bothered with the conversation, playing with a bracelet she always wore, it was old and scratched up, and had a faint smiley face on it.
"I'm Hermione, I need your help." Hermione said, a little too energetically. She had forgotten until she caught a glimpse of Lexsaidh that she existed. A part seer like Lexsaidh might well know about the other timeline even though there was little chance she would remember that timeline. She had helped Hermione a little in that timeline before disappearing for a week, next thing Hermione knew she was blaming Dumbledore for the murder and attempted murder of her family. "I and a lot of other people came back in time and remember the previous timeline. I know you're part seer and I was hoping you could help us with preventing the previous timeline repeating itself."
"The timeline you're talking about, does it happen to be a timeline where Harry Potter dies?" Lexsaidh asked, rubbing her eyes slightly, getting a headache as she spoke to Hermione.
"Yes, do you remember it too?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"No, I had a vision of his death. I saw things after that but nothing clearly. What is it you want me to do though?" Lexsaidh wasn't exactly cutting Hermione off, but was looking at her watch and collecting her things up as though she was leaving.
"If you could at least come to Gryffindor tower after curfew then we can discuss everything we know. If you decide you don't want anything to do with it afterwards then you don't have to." Hermione said, looking at the time herself.
"Sure, am I allowed to ask some other people to come too?" Lexsaidh asked, picking her bag up and walking to the door with Hermione.
"Provided they're people we can trust I don't see why you can't." Hermione agreed, also leaving. She wasn't sure why Lexsaidh was leaving so early, there were still 10 minutes of break, normally only first years would leave that early.
"Great, we'll be there. I have Potions, I'm just trying to get a little good grace from Snape." Lexsaidh explained, the two of them leaving the Great Hall, Lexsaidh going to the dungeons, and Hermione joining Ron and Harry who were waiting to go down to the greenhouses for Herbology.
"Did you get what you needed?" Harry asked, the three of them walking across the grounds, though the air was brisk, it was a pleasant walk, and the Hogwarts grounds were never not breath taking.
"Yup, by the way are you going to write to Remus at lunch or after classes?" Hermione asked, she and Ron needed to ask Remus to come this evening too, though obviously not for Harry.
"Will there be enough time to reply at Lunch?" Harry asked, the three of them were the last to get to the Greenhouse, other than Professor Sprout that is. The plants they could see looked pretty much exactly like the kind of plants that Harry had to tend to in the garden.
"There will be enough time to write it, but we have Potions after lunch, so probably not enough time to send it." Ron said, looking at their timetable.
"I'll probably do it after dinner then." Harry said, he didn't want to forget or lose his chance to escape the Dursleys.
"Okay, whatever you want." Hermione said. Whatever Harry's plan was she was going to write her letter during lunch, and was going to send it with Harry's.
"Hey, what was up with Crookshanks?" Neville asked, joining them towards the back of the line. Of course Neville had been at the front, he loved Herbology, always had, so even if they were just going over the basics he would be the most enthusiastic.
"He saw a dog and wanted me to deal with it. Everything's sorted for now though, don't worry about it." Ron technically didn't lie, Crookshanks was stressed over a dog, it just happened to not be a dog that was just a dog.
"Okay, let me know if you need anything. I can't wait for Herbology, I love plants." Neville said, he did indeed look bright and excited at the idea of spending time with plants.
"You've done Herbology stuff before?" Harry asked, genuinely interested.
"Well I only started recently, but I have a garden at home. I realised that I actually find plants really interesting. Did you know they're developing trees that are antigravity?" Neville asked, he had told Harry about it when he was putting in a last ditch effort for the second task, but he didn't think Harry was even aware of his presence at that point, if he cared. In all fairness he wasn't sure that he would be very good at listening to people under so much stress, and clearly sleep deprived.
"That's cool, I don't really know anything about magical plants." Harry said, before registering what Neville said about antigravity trees. "But don't trees need soil? How will that work if they're antigravity?"
"That's what they're working on at the moment. They don't need soil, but roots grow away from the light and they need nutrients and water which is what soil provides. Muggles grow plants without soil in order to save space and grow more sustainably. I'm sure they'll figure something out, but isn't it exciting that they're going this?" Neville said, looking like his eyes were sparkling as he talked about the trees.
"Are the trees going to be used for something or is it just because they can?" Harry asked, he still didn't know much about the wizarding world, only what was said in classes, and about his godfather.
"I think they're being developed for brooms to make them lighter and easier to use, they're not anywhere near that yet though." Neville said, he was far more interested in the existence and method of creation for the trees than their use.
"Could the brooms float away if they're made from antigravity trees?" Harry asked, it was nice to be able to ask questions without punishment, unlike with the Dursleys, though he still asked some anyway, but only small ones that would only get him a tongue lashing. If he asked the kind of questions he did at Hogwarts he didn't think he'd see the light of day for at least a week.
"They haven't gotten far enough to know if that's an issue yet, but I would assume they could use the varnish or something else to stop it from floating." Neville said, even the latest time he had reached before it was reversed they hadn't perfected the trees.
"Alright class, everyone in the greenhouse. You must let me know if you start to feel dizzy or ill in any other way, while the plants in here aren't dangerous, the scents can be very strong and have a powerful effect on people who aren't used to them." Professor Sprout said, unlocking the greenhouse and gesturing for everyone to come in.
-----
After the lessons had finished Hermione and Harry headed to the owlery to send a letter to Remus. Hermione definitely agreed with Remus that any letters from him had been intercepted, so any letters not sent with Hedwig could also end up not getting to Remus. Because of this she had slipped her letter into the same envelope as Harry's.
"I still don't know why Professor Snape hates me so much." Harry said, looking downcast. Sure, he was used to most of the people around him hating him, but he thought that maybe Hogwarts could be different, and he was starting to get used to being liked. He didn't even know what he had done wrong.
"He hates everyone." Hermione said, trying to comfort him, it was true, but she still didn't know why Snape hated Harry so much, but there was no reason for him to, unless Dumbledore lied and he was really still a Death Eater.
"He doesn't hate Draco." Harry said, still sounding sullen.
"Oh, come on, I know you were listening when he said Professor Snape is his godfather, and that he hated Draco, but in private to keep up 'godfatherly appearances'." Hermione said, with heavy air quotes around the last part. "Don't worry yourself over him though."
"I thought I was going to be good at potions, it's basically just magical cooking, but it turns out I'm useless at it." Harry said, there it was, what was really bothering him.
"Maybe try working with Draco next time, or at least use your own ingredients rather than the ones Professor Snape gives us. I heard he deliberately gave out ruined ingredients before." Hermione said, indeed one of the times they had been making antidotes she had noticed that Neville and Harry had been given faulty ingredients. Whoever came up with the idea of making Snape a teacher should get their brains fixed. He wasn't even a real professor.
"Draco?" Harry asked, surprised as they opened the door to the Gryffindor common room to see Ron and Draco having an intense Wizard Chess match.
"Hey," Draco said, not taking his eyes off the board. "I wanted to see how your first day was, and we started playing while waiting for you. Knight to B12."
"How long do you think the game will be?" Hermione asked, looking slightly annoyed as she say down and grabbed a book.
She didn't like chess, wizard or not.
"It's over now." Ron said with a slightly malicious grin, moving his rook to checkmate Draco.
"What!? No! You must have cheated!" Draco yelled standing up and looking over the board to see something in a place it shouldn't be, but Ron was right, he had won.
"You said you came here for Harry, not chess." Hermione snapped at them over her book.
"I don't mind." Harry said a little awkwardly, sitting on the sofa closest to the fire, taking up as little space as he could.
"Nah, Granger's right." Draco said, plonking himself down beside Harry. "So, how was your first day?"
"Overall good, you saw how Professor Snape treats me, and how I failed to make the potion." Harry said, looking a little upset.
"Snape has real issues, and hates everyone. He was a Death Eater and I don't think his beliefs changed after he joined Dumbledore. I don't even know why he joined Dumbledore." Draco said, what he said was more reassuring than what Hermione said, but then again he knew Snape better, so it likely would.
"Oh, I got a letter from my parents' friend who was called my uncle, he said he wants to meet me, so I got permission from Professor McGonagall to meet him at the weekend." Harry said, looking a little excited.
"That's great!" Draco said, nudging Harry slightly as he spoke.
The big black dog that had been sleeping by the fire from before they entered the common room perked up, seeming to have slept enough, and plodded over to Harry, resting it's head in his lap. The dog looked at Harry with eyes that seemed to be begging for affection, though seeing the dog's actions, Crookshanks also came over to demand Harry's attention.
"Seems like you're popular with animals." Draco said, trying not to laugh as Harry tried to keep Crookshanks calm as he petting both him and the dog, who was surprisingly calm with how much Crookshanks was batting it.
"Only at Hogwarts, at home the only dogs I met try to rip my legs or face off." Harry said, his voice was too calm for someone who was neither sarcastic nor exaggerating.
"Clearly animals surrounded by magic are more intelligent then." Draco said, the dog and Crookshanks seemed like they understood Draco and agreed. Harry wasn't so sure, but he wasn't going to argue.
"What about you, how was your first day?" Harry asked, Draco leaning back on the sofa and looking up at the ceiling.
"Pretty much uneventful." Draco said, sounding bored.
Draco had never been in the Gryffindor common room before, and it was almost what he expected, it was far messier than the Slytherin common room, but it didn't feel cluttered like he thought it would. Both Gryffindor and Slytherin were filled with warmth, they were distinctly different, but Draco couldn't say which he liked more. The room showed that the house was much more chaotic than Slytherin, but it didn't feel like the unnecessary chaos he had always assumed from Snape's mutterings, and was more like people just having fun. There were paintings on the ceiling that were definitely not the kind that were placed around the castle, so it seemed like the students had painted it at some point, probably using brooms to get up there. Draco couldn't judge though, as Slytherin also had many walls painted by students.
The four of them talked until they were the only ones left in the common room, Crookshanks and the dog constantly fighting for Harry's attention as he tried to give them equal amounts, eventually having to give Crookshanks less as Harry held his front paws so he would stop batting the dog who looked annoyed with it.
"-So yeah, we all ended up sleeping here last night." Ron said laughing slightly, trying not to remember how embarrassing his brothers were when they woke him and Hemione up.
"If you're having trouble sleeping you can try the sleeping potion I made." Draco offered, while at least offering Harry the sleeping potion had been a part of the plan, it seemed perfectly natural.
"How does it work?" Harry asked, honestly he was interested, he had had the best night's sleep he had ever had the night before, but that didn't mean he was truly well rested and if the potion worked then he would probably get fewer nightmares and would be able to take it at the Dursleys too.
"Well you drink it and it makes you go to sleep." Draco said, oh so helpfully. "This one isn't like most of the other ones which you need to be careful with so they don't build up and cause health problems. It's not as powerful as dreamless sleep, but it will make sure that your dreams are peaceful."
"I'd like to try it." Harry said after a little while thinking, biting his lip. He had fallen asleep on Hermione last night, so it would be fine. "It can be hard to get to sleep sometimes."
Harry's smile wasn't entirely natural, but now was not the time to press about the situation. That would be something they could deal with later.
"Sure, here you go." Draco said, holding out a small vial of the clear blue potion which was in a colourless vial with a silver metal lid which had a chain attached, like it was supposed to be worn on a pendant.
Harry drank it after a small pause, almost immediately after he had finished drinking the small amount of the potion he fell forwards. It was clear from the way he was falling that he was going to end up falling on the floor, Crookshanks already having jumped off his lap.
Before Harry could fall far though Sirius transformed back into his human self and caught him.
"Sirius Black." Draco said, his wand pointed at the man who was holding Harry, though his hand was trembling slightly.
"Malfoy, put the wand away, Sirius is safe." Ron said, sounding a little bored, going to grab a blanket to cover Harry with while he slept, the door opening as the other people in Hogwarts who remembered came in, Neville coming downstairs.
"Sirius Black." Neville said, stumbling back a little, the members of the Order just walking in comfortably and sitting down.
"Do have a shower before anything else Mr Black." McGonagall said as she looked at Sirius' dirty, messy hair and filthy robes. "You don't want to get Harry dirty, do you?"
"I will after the meeting, Professor, I'll be clean before I meet Harry." Sirius said, laying Harry down on the sofa where Ron covered him with a blanket, Crookshanks jumping back up to Harry's side, curling up in his arms.
"The others will be arriving through the fire here, I've already contacted them." McGonagall said.
"Professor, that man is Sirius Black, the convict." Draco said, his wand still pointed at Sirius.
"Yes, but he's innocent, don't worry. If he wasn't he wouldn't be here." McGonagall said, the others trusting her words and going to sit on chairs, though nobody wanted to sit close to Sirius, those who didn't know him still scared, but those who did either hated his smell, or wanted to be close to Harry.