Chapter Text
It had been the best summer he had had in a long time. Harry loved the Burrow and anything that involved spending time with the Weasleys. And with Hermione, of course, spent basically her entire summer there. That month and a half really helped Harry to overcome, at least a little, the events of the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.
Harry still had nightmares about that night. About the foggy white veil, the flying curses, the broken prophecy, about Sirius. The loss of Sirius had caused an immense feeling of emptiness, of void, inside of Harry. One that probably would never be filled, but Harry was slowly learning to live with it.
Despite the great summet he got, it is to say that the days leading to his return to Hogwarts weren't as pleasant. The cause of his unease? Draco Malfoy.
It was no secret that Malfoy wasn't one of Harry's favourite people. In fact, he despised him. But the thing is, Harry never considered Malfoy as much of a threat. At least not until he saw him at Borgin and Burkes acting incredibly suspicious. Harry was almost one percent sure that Malfoy was an official Dead Eater. That wasn't a big surprise for Harry; he always thought it was only a matter of time.
Whenever Harry had a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep, his mind drifted to Malfoy. What was he up to? What was the object that he wanted to keep safe in Borgin and Burkes? And what did he want with it?
Harry's curiosity led him to make some questionable decisions. Like sneaking into the Slytherin compartment on the Hogwarts Express to eavesdrop on Malfoy and his gang, which resulted in a broken nose and more hatred than Harry had ever felt.
Harry kept a close eye on Malfoy during the first day of class, or at least tried, because they only had one class together: potions.
It was like a breathe of fresh air to have someone other than Snape as a potions teacher. Though professor Slughorn could be rather vain, it was definitely an improvement. Plus, with the recent acquisition of the Half-blood Prince's potions book, Harry was top of the class, which Slughorn appreciated.
For the worse or the better, Harry's year would also be occupied by Occlumency lessons, unfortunately given by Snape, and with Dumbledore's private sessions, which Harry had no idea what they would be about.