Chapter Text
Harry's Pov
Harry was quietly walking through the halls of Hogwarts. The feast had ended, and he didn't eat much. Luckily no one noticed, but who would ever noticed anything unusual about him. he's their saviour, so of course he's fine!
Clenching his fists together and biting his lip, he took a few deep breaths.
Harry was about to turn around and go back to the common room, until he heard a small whimper. He immediately stopped walking and turned to where the sound came from.
What he saw was horrible.
There were two boys, a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw who looked to be in Harry's year, pointing their wands towards a small Slytherin who looked to be a first year.
Wasting no time, he quickly grabbed his own wand, stepped between the first year and the 5th years and pointed it towards the boys.
"I suggest you leave." he growled out, trying to keep his anger in check.
They stared at him with Distaste clear on their faces.
"Why are you defending this snake? They're evil. we're doing everyone a favour!" The Ravenclaw spat, venom coating his tongue.
Harry's eyes narrowed as his lip curled up in disgust.
"Not all Slytherins are bad. Attempting to hurt someone else because of a stupid opinion like that is exactly what one of your so called evil Slytherins would do, wouldn't they? you're just as bad as death eaters." He spat out, meaning every word.
A slight Twitch of an eye was the only warning he got before the Gryffindor said, "Stu-"
"Expelliarmus!" Yelled Harry, effectively knocking the want out of the other's hand.
He turned to the Ravenclaw, but before he could get another word out, they both scrambled away, the Gryffindor shakily grabbing his wand from the floor.
Taking a deep breath Harry slowly turned around as to not startle the little Slytherin. He saw the first-year girl backed up against the wall and shaking.
Recognizing the symptoms of a panic attack starting, quietly, he said, "Is it okay for me to touch you?"
A small nod of confirmation was all he needed before placing a hand on her shoulder to ground her to reality, and to carefully comfort her without overwhelming her. He has experience with his own panic attacks, and he knows that being touched everywhere while in a state where you're barely focusing on anything else is awful.
He slowly grabbed her hand, all his movements visible to her, and placed it on his chest. He took big, exaggerated breaths, and soon she was following his breathing.
Seeing she was more aware of everything he said, "Would you like help getting to the dungeons?"
The girl nodded her head still looking a little shaken up. Giving her a sweet smile, he stepped back a little.
"Would you like to hold my hand?" He spoke softly and held out his hand.
She nodded and slowly grabbed it. They started to make their way to the dungeons, Harry making sure to not walk too quick, and staying at the pace of the girl.
As they got there the girl let go of his hand and mumbled out a small thank you.
Harry gave a gentle smile before replying with,
It's no problem. No one should be picking on anyone anyways."
Harry stood back and turned around.
"I need to go now, but make sure to stay safe. Goodbye!"
As Harry walked away, he was fuming.
'What the actual fuck!? Does that always happen to Slytherins!? It's horrendous! I can't believe this is the first time I've ever seen this! This might be a bit excessive, but I need to start looking out for them more. If I wasn't there, who knows what could've happened!'
Harry soon arrived at the common room. Trying to cool himself down, he grabbed the essay for Transfiguration that was assigned to do over the holidays and went through it all, purposely making small errors.
Ron always liked slacking off, and Hermione hated when people got better grades then her. He really didn't want to lose his friends over something he could do so easily, and so he kept changing his grades to make them happy.
Not to mention in primary school, Vernon and Petunia hated when he got better grades than Dudley. When he did, he would always get another beating and get locked in his cupboard without any food for a week.
He's been changing his grades for so long that it isn't hard to do it now.
Harry was born naturally smart, and before Hogwarts, he was always in a library, reading everything he could get his hands on.
He first started going to the library to get away from Dudley during his 'Hunting Harry' games which always ended up with harry bruised and bleeding, but once he started reading, he got addicted.
Once he found out about Hogwarts and went to Diagon Alley, he got as many books as he could, learning about everything and anything.
He first started out with books he thought was necessary, like introductions to Hogwarts, and wizardry as a whole, but once he finished them, he started reading more interesting and higher-level books.
He even started reading higher into the curricular, now onto 7th year books.
As said before, Ron always liked slacking off and for Harry to slack off with him, so to keep up this pretence, he did.
He usually read books at night when he can't go to sleep because of his stupid insomnia. He found reading much more productive than sleeping anyways.
He usually just put up a Glamor to hide his eye bags, and he also did it to hide his scars that he got from the Dursleys.
Harry shivered as he remembered the fresh scars he got over the holidays before school. Vernon wanted to give him a *gift* before he went off to Hogwarts, which was a beating. A really bad one. Harry's wounds were still bleeding, and he had to now carry around fresh bandages for when the blood leaks.
Sighing, he wondered where Ron and Hermione were. They were supposed to meet up in the common room.
'You should be grateful they're still your friends.'
He was right. They put up with him and haven't left yet. They shouldn't have to deal with someone like me every minute of the day.
Sighing again, he packed up his stuff and went to his dorm.
If he was lucky enough, no one would come get him for dinner. The thought of food was nauseating right now, but with his rotten luck, someone was bound to come get him.
________________________________________________________________________________
Slytherin Common Room
Draco was halfway through his rant to the other 5th years about how they don't make enough good quality hair gel, when a group of four first-years came running up to them in a panic.
Draco, seeing the panic on their faces, immediately stood up, the rest of the 5th years copying the motion.
Pansy was the first one to speak.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
The first-years all started talking over each other, words jumbled.
"Woah, woah, woah. One at a time." said Blaise
The group all took a breath before the one at the front of the group spoke up.
"We were walking to the Dungeons, but Lilith got lost in the crowd and we don't know where she is."
By now the whole common room was listening, and they all wore the same expression of fear. Slytherins were always supposed to walk around Hogwarts with at least one other person, since other students tended to hurt and curse them.
A Slytherin all alone was practically shark bait! It was silent for a bit before Draco spoke up.
"Okay. How long ago was this?"
"A couple minutes ago." Spoke the girl at the back of the group.
Daphine spoke up.
"Okay. It hasn't been that long, so how about we wait 5 minutes, and if she's still not back then we'll go looking. Does that sound like a plan?" She prompted to the Slytherins.
The common room all agreed.
4 long and gruesome minutes passed, and everyone was restless. As soon as the fifth minute struck, Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Daphne, as well as a few older Slytherins were about to leave and go looking for Lilith, until the door to the common room opened.
The Slytherins all immediately looked up, and relief flushed their faces as they saw it was Lilith. The Slytherins all rushed up to her, giving space in between as to not crowd her.
Pansy walked (ran) up to her, and started inspecting her body, checking for any injuries.
"Lilith! Are you okay!? You're not hurt, are you!?" Cried Pansy.
Draco chuckled before saying,
"Pansy, she's fine by the looks of it. You don't need to go all mother mode."
Pansy shut him up with a fierce glare.
"Shut up Draco. You'd probably go all protective mode on Pooter, wouldn't you?"
A crimson red blush appeared on Draco's face.
"S-shut up! I would not!"
"Totally would." Said Blaise.
Daphne chuckled, before turning to Lilith.
"Anyways, are you actually okay? Did anything happen?"
The Slytherins all looked at Lilith expectantly. She spoke in a quiet tone.
"Well, these two 5th year boys cornered me, and they were going to curse me until this other 5th year boy saved me... He even walked me back here... his hands were so soft.." She mumbled the last bit more to herself.
The Slytherins all had surprised expressions on their faces. Draco spoke up.
"Do you know who this 5th year boy was?"
Lilith shook her head. Pansy was in thought for a moment before saying,
"Gregory, go grab parchment and a pen. Lilith, can you describe this person?"
Lilith nodded.
Once Gregory got back, Pansy said,
"Lilith is going to describe the person, and you'll draw it. Lilith, can you please start?"
Lilith took a breath before starting.
" It was a boy, and he had black hair and green eyes. He was in Gryffindor-"
She couldn't finish her sentence, as all the Slytherins yelled, "WHAT!?"
Blaise spoke in disbelief,
"You mean to tell us, a Gryffindor helped you!? A Slytherin!?"
Lilith nodded again. Daphne sighed in exasperation.
"Never mind that. Please finish what you were saying."
"Well, the boy had really messy hair. That's all I can remember. Sorry."
Draco took the drawing from Gregory, and upon looking at it, his eyes narrowed.
" Lilith, did this boy have hair covering the top-right of his face?"
Lilith nodded, and Draco's eyes widened.
"Oh my Merlin-!"
The Slytherins all looked up in confusion.
Draco spoke again, voice tainted with surprise.
"It's Potter. He's the boy."