"Wake up or we'll be late! We need to get there early!" Hermione exclaimed into the room. Ron and Harry groaned but got out of bed. Today was the day they were heading back to Hogwarts for their 7th and final year of Hogwarts. Technically the year before was their 7th, but they didn't attend school.

The group was fresh out of the war and were still in some type of danger. Aurors patrolled the now rebuilt Burrow, and everyone inside made sure to not unless it was necessary.

Everyone needed to wake up early since the train would leave earlier. They needed to expand the train because there were an extra generation of students. Each grade level would have more students since everyone was redoing their grade level. Harry threw on some clothes and headed to the bathroom with Ron to brush their teeth and bring their bags downstairs.

Harry looked into the mirror and squinted. His lightning bolt scar was now faded, but visible if you looked. His skin had tanned, and his hair grew longer. He hadn't been keeping up with his apperances, yet he looked better than before. He had spent most of his time sunbathing in hills, away from the family and Aurors. Away from anyone in general. He had become to like the quiet a lot more, and he was definitely a little more quiet than before the mess of the previous year.

Everyone grabbed the bags and flooed to the station to find platform 9 3/4.

The family was still greiving, and it was noticable. Neither Molly nor Arthur wore clothes of any color. They vowed to wear black until the first anniversary of Fred's death. They had taken it hard, and so had George. George was almost nonexistent. He lived with his girlfriend, and he closed down the shop until further notice. No one heard from him, and only Hermione seemed to be able to get some words out of him. Harry reminded him too much of the war, and the red hair made him remember Fred. And so Hermione was the perfect in between.

They found out from Hermione that he had died his hair brown, and he wore sunglasses inside. Hermione guessed it was to hide his reflection from himself so he wouldn't think of Fred.

The group passed through the wall barrier, and arrived to the train. They placed their bags down and said their goodbyes.

"Bye bye. We'll see you soon." Ginny and Ron hugged Molly and Arthur.

"Goodbye Mrs. Weasley. I will keep in touch." Hermione hugged the two.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Harry managed to say. He still felt very scared around the two. Harry had to still wait for his inheritance to come in before he could inherit the Black Manor, so he was forced to live with the Weasleys now that the Dursleys had moved away permanently.

"What's all the Mr. and Mrs. stuff? Continue to call us Arthur and Molly." Arthur told him gently. The tow hugged him, and Harry held on. The group seperated and loaded onto the train. Ginny went to find her friends while the trio snagged a compartment all to themselves.

The train started to move, and they embarked on their ride to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Halfway through, they got changed into their clothes, but someone interrupted them.

"McGonagall has given me a message to pass around. Everyone in Gryffindor needs to get ride of everything on their uniform that has a Gryffindor crest or house colors. That means not red and gold stripes and no lions." She told them.

"Wait why?" Ron asked her, but she left to tell some others.

"Why the hell do we have to remove our house colors?" Ron asked aloud. Although the group still did it. They vanished away the color and crests. Now their uniforms looked dull and colorless, just like when they arrived the Hogwarts for their first time.

The train stopped and everyone loaded into the carriages. The secret of the Thestrals were no longer a secret, as most of the students could sadly see them. Some were afraid while other's thought they looked pretty in a morbid way. Harry had found himself facinated with them after the initial shock of them. They were very nice and he found them beautiful.

In the carriage sat Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. They carried a small conversation among them, and Luna and Hermione were throwing ideas around to figure out why the Gryffindors had to remove their colors.

"Minerva McGonagall is a very smart woman. She must have a good reason for it. I am sure she will address it soon." Luna assured them.

Once the carriage stopped, they hopped off and walked into the castle. In the mass of people, one person stood out for a moment. Harry looked to the side, and got a glimpse of Draco. He didn't think he would come back for another year, but sure enough he was there wearing Slytherin robes. Harry couldn't help but notice the grim look on his face. Although Harry understood. How would you react going back to a school where everyone associates you as a murderer?

Everyone sat down, and the confused Gryffindors sat at their normal table, even though the color red or gold was not displayed on any of them. The word had spread around, and everyone was aware that the students had no identification.

Once everyone was settled, McGonagall stood up at the golden owl podium, and began to speak.

"Welcome back everyone, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am glad you have all decided to come back and retake your previous year. I know it must be tough, but we will all get through it together. I am McGonagall, your new Headmistress. As you have probably already noticed." She said a little awkwardly. Everyone was silently watching her.

"Everyone here knows the rules of Hogwarts, so I will not bore you with that. Although I would like to first start the sorting before I start the speech. Now it is already known that all Gryffindor students have lost their colors, but I will explain soon." She waited for the new first years to walk into the room and stand in the front.

"But for now, let us sort our new students." She pulled the stool out and sorted them all. Every house cheered when someone was sorted into their own house. And as usual, Hufflepuff cheered for everyone. Although many were happy for new students, the dinning hall remained quieter than before.

"I think you should all have a great feast before my speech. Do not leave after you are done, and remain seated. But for now, enjoy!" Food flourished onto the tables, and the room dug in.

Harry hadn't realized how diverse the food was until he saw it again. He gladly piled his plate with food among the others. Ron dug in and Hermione and Harry ate a little slower.

The trio talked and speculated with Neville, although he didn't have much ideas on the subject.

After an hour of eating an socializing, the food and plates disapeared, and McGonagall stood back up with a somewhat morbid face. She had aged over the years, and had more grey hairs than ever.

"As I have watched this school for many years, I have noticed that the most students who change are those from Gryffindor. You have the best hearts, but are persuaded by others without realizing it. The majority of you have become Gryffindors because you asked for it, and only a small portion have received Gryffindor titles because they were 110% brave, loyal, and honest. So I believe that in light of many changes, you all should be resorted to fit your best needs. Please bear with me through the process." She pulled the old stool out with the sorting hat sitting on it. She took a list of names, and first sorted the new students. Once she was done, she put away the list.

"Will the previous Gryffindors please stand up and group in front of the sorting hat." She gestured. Everyone besides the new Gryffindors walked to the front, and grouped together. Hermione, Ron, and Harry stuck together like glue.

She pulled out a list, and read off a name. The student walked to the front and sat on the old stool. McGonagall placed the hat on them, and was sorted. Sometimes the students got placed back into Gryffindor, and when they were, McGonagall restored their colors. But when a student was sorted elsewhere, they went to their new table with colorless robes.

"Ron Weasley." She called. Ron hugged Hermione and Harry, and then walked up. He sat on the stool, and the hat was placed on him.

"Hmmm. Better be, Hufflepuff!" The sorting hat exclaimed. The table cheered, but Ron looked mortified. He wasn't a Gryffindor?

Ron walked down the steps in a daze, and sat at the table of yellow.

"Hermione Granger." She walked up and sat down.

"Ravenclaw!" The hat yelled. The table cheered, but Hermione looked sad. She walked back to the new table, and sat next to Luna.

McGonagall read over her list and hesitated.

"Harry Potter." She said finally. Harry hesitated, but walked up the steps. As he did, a Gryffindor stood up.

"You've got this. Gryffindor all the way!" He exclaimed. Harry didn't look, he just sat down.

The hat was placed on him, and it started to speak.

"I was supposed to sort you elsewhere a couple years ago, but I decided against it. Now I can right that wrong. Always and forever, Slytherin!" It yelled. The world seemed to freeze. At least for Harry it did.

No one cheered, everyone was just shocked. The boy-who-lived was a Slytherin "Always and forever."

Harry seemed to be a little shocked, and McGonagall had to tap his shoulder. As he walked by, their eyes met. Harry knew she felt sorry for what happened.

Either way, Harry walked to the Slytherin table and stopped to look for a spot. Everything was utterly full, but there was one space available. Beside the one person he didn't want to see. Malfoy.

Everyone watched as Harry slowly walked to the back of the table, and sat down next to Draco.

There was some murmering going on but they stopped as soon as McGonagall finished reading off the names. In the end, Neville was placed back into Gryffindor, which he was happy about, although he had no more friends. Gryffindor was just a little bit smaller in size, and the rest of the houses were full.

Harry sat awkwardly at the table. He sat in between Draco and Blaise. He was sort of glad that Blaise was there. They had spoken from time to time, and Blaise was the more tolerant Slytherin. He and a small group of others were the only Slytherins who were prisoned during the battle of Hogwarts due to their rebellious nature towards Voldemort and Dolores.

"Don't worry Potter. You'll be fine." Blaise patted his back. Harry was grateful and smile to him.

Professor McGonagall stood at the podium and started to speak.

"As all of you know, Hogwarts witnessed the biggest battle of the century just last year. Many of you students were imprisoned, and some were killed. No matter what position we were in during this time, we are all victims to Voldemort's reign." She paused.

"I have spent the entire summer memorizing this list. It's the list of every person who fought and every person who died during that fight." She started to list off the names of everyone who fought against evil. It was a long list, but everyone listened. Some started to tear up hearing the list that McGonagall repeated from memory.

"And lastly, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter. Without these three, we might not have a life to live. They traveled around the world in search of the very things to get rid of Voldemort once and for all. They risked their lives, and we should be thankful that they did so." She let it sink in. Harry didn't know how to feel about it. He was embarassed, sad, and happy all at once.

"I would like to take some time to tell you the names of who died. Don't be ashamed if you become sad. I believe I may even choke up while reiterating their names." She assured everyone.

As she said the names, Harry became more and more sad. The room was quiet except for the occasional sniffling. McGonagall said the names by family in alphabetical order. When she said Lupin, a tear streamed down his face. When he said Crevey, another tear slipped. Even a tear slipped for Lavendar Brown. And then came the 'W.'

"Fred Weasley." She paused for a moment to remember the next name, but the whole area was silent.

All anyone heard, was a short cry that was cut off short. Everyone turned to the Slytherin table.

Harry had a hand over his mouth, and a head down. He was trying to calm himself down, but he had been holding it in the whole time.

No one saw his face as it was tilted down, but they did see a couple tears drip off his face.

McGonagall turned to the noise but continued to say the names. Ron was crying as well, but his was more silent. It unnerved him slightly that the Hufflepuffs kept offering tissues, but he just denied them and looked straight forward.

Harry hadn't stopped listening, and he still cried, although he was now silent, he kept a hand over his mouth to stop any outbursts.

Blaise had a hand on his shoulder, but he felt a little awkward trying to comfort Harry. But what suprised Harry, was the feeling of another hand on his opposite side.

He froze when he felt it touch him. He turned his head slightly, and noticed that Draco had his hand on his back. He was stiff and wasn't looking at Harry, but he looked very sad as well.

Harry felt better and a little confused. But he didn't say anything.

Once McGonagall finished the list, she said some more words, and then let everyone go. Harry waited to be in the back of the group, and he followed them to his new dorms.

The Slytherins took a detour to some stairs, and they went beneath. It looks like they fixed the flooding situation, and the dorms were back to new.

"Alright everyone. Remember, to enter the dorm you have to give the painting a snide remark, insult, or set him up in some way. Has to be clever or you'll have to get help to get in." The tall skinny prefect told them.

"I found your nose. It was in my business, again." The prefect told the painting. The old man with the dropping white hair and receding line nodded and opened up. Everyone filled inside and walked around.

The common room was very dark yet cool looking. It was candle lit and fire lit. It was obvious that it went through a major redesign. It looked completely different.

The ceilings were lower, but the area was wider. Around the fireplace were black, quilted, leather sofas with silver buttons, and then dark green velvet lounge chairs and matching single sofas.

The tables were a dark brown, almost black, finished wood with matching dark wooden chairs and velvet cusioning on the bottom and back.

The mantle to the fireplace had a large Slytherin crest, and the rugs were dark green and grey.

There were windows, but all you saw was murky brownish green water, and the occasional fin swimming along of a mermaid or fish.

"Girls the the right, boys to the left. Don't enter each others corridors. Find your rooms." He finished off. Everyone rushed to get their own rooms.

Everyone got their own small room with their own personal full bathroom. Harry walked down corridor awkwardly as other watched him. Some sneered, some raised their eyebrows, and only a couple smiled at him.

He found a room at the very end, and sat down on the bed.

The bed frame was the same dark wood finish, and the sheets were dark green and grey. There was a Slytherin crest on the wall, along with a matching dark wood drawer, green rug, and a dark bathroom.

Harry's bags appeared, and he set up his stuff.

As he was putting things away, Blaise popped his head into the room.

"So, how do you like it?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.

"A little dark for my taste." Harry jokes slightly. His eyes are still red and a little puffy.

"How do you feel?" Blaise asks.

Harry feels a little awkward, but answers. "Like I want to cry more." He laughed slightly.

Blaise nods and looks around.

"Make sure to wake up early and look presentable. Or you'll have a hoard of Slytherins all over you trying to fix your hair." He recommended.

Blaise left and Harry finished packing away his clothes. His door was still open, and he was looking for his toiletries.

He hears a knock on the door and sees a head shyly pop in. It was Draco.

"Malfoy." Harry rises an eyebrow. "What can I help you with?"

Draco seems to try to find some words, but it seems a little hard. Harry notices how nervous he looks. His usually straight back was hunched into himself slightly, and his constantly up nose was tilted down.

"Hunch over too much and you'll form a hunch." Harry told him, knowing what happened to Vernon and Petunia. Draco straightened up but he still didn't look confident. Harry found his toiletries and started to put them in his bathroom. Draco stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"You can come in. Remember what you are going to say and say it." Harry told him from the bathroom.

Draco slowly walked in and leaned on the wall waiting for Harry.

"I wanted to come here, and say thank you." Draco said. Harry pocked his head out.

"What did you say?" He asked. Harry walked out of the bathroom and looked at him.

"I said thank you. I wanted to thank you for everything you did, and apologize for how much of a prat I was to you." He said, somewhat avoiding eye contact.

"You weren't a prat. You were an ass." Harry corrected. He closed the empty suitcase and slid it under his bed.

"It was living hell while you were around me, and it was living hell when you did things to me and my friends indirectly. You were a bitch to deal with, especially when you started to work for the other side." Hary continued. Draco seemed a little shaken, and avoided his face, staring at the rug.

"But..." Harry continued. "I know you did it because you were forced and brainwashed into it." He took his shoes and robe off, and sat on the bed, looking at Draco who leaned up against the wall.

"Your father was a bastard, and I won't take that back no matter what. He brainwashed you into the person you were before. Your mother was great, but she couldn't do anything to help you. You were forced to take on the dark mark, and forced to work for the dark side. I know that know." Harry told him. Draco felt a lot better hearing Harry say that.

"Now the fact that you acted like a dick to me even in the beginning years is all on you. But I'm sure if you were raised a little differently, you would have been a much nicer person." Draco smiled weakly. He walked over to Harry and held out his hand.

"Then can we be friends? Or at least try to start off a little differently?" His hand held out. Harry looked at it for a moment, but nodded. He grabbed his hand and shook it.

"Consider your past forgiven, but never forgotten." Harry smiled.

Draco smiled. "You already sound like a Slytherin."

The two let go, and Draco went back to his room to finish packing up.

Harry quickly changed into some black pajama bottoms and a red tee shirt.

A group of guys walked to his doorway.

"Hey Potter. Join everyone in the common room." One tall brutish guy said before leaving. Harry rolled his eyes and followed them.

He walked there, and it looks like the maority of the Slytherins were there socializing.

It seems that someone snuck in some liquor, because they walked around drinking goblets of something that made them cringe slightly.

He walked there and instantly felt out of place. He was the only person who was sorted into Slytherin, and so the only people who knew him was Blaise and Draco. The others knew him, but they weren't on good terms.

"Hi there Potter. Take some." A girl tried to hand him a goblet of alcohol.

He held his hands up a little. "Oh, no thank you. I don't drink." He told her.

She pouted but shrugged, and tried to hand someone else the drink. He was glad she denied. It seemed that the drink was gigglejuice.

Harry ran back to his room to grab a book, and then brought it with him. It seemed that the group was very relaxed, and there were quiet conversations around the room. Harry found a place on the couches next to Blaise, who was talking to someone else. He pulled the book out, and pretended to read. Instead, he was listening carefully to what everyone was saying.

"He looks kind of lonely over there." He heard a girl say from far away. She obviously didn't know how to whisper.

"Oh my Merlin. He's a mudblood. You can't be serious." Her friend said.

It seems they were talking about him, and someone wanted to talk to him.

"Hey mudblood! Over here!" Someone called. Harry looked up, and saw two guys with a girl. Harry knew he was the only non-pureblood, so he walked over to them.

"Follow us." One especially tall guy said. He had blonde hair, pale skin, and a thin frame. He was accompanied by a tall, fat, brunette guy, and a black haired, average height, girl.

The four walked out of the common room, and they sneaked around in the dark.

Harry had no idea why he was following them, but he knew it was better than that party. He followed them, and found themselves in front of a portrait. It was of a very very ugly woman who seemed sad.

"Your eyes look especially bright today. May we please come in?" The fat guy complimented. She smiled and opened up.

Everyone walked inside, and they found themselves in a small common room. Bean bags and sofas were everywhere, and there was a community table in the back with some benches.

Inside were people strewn about the room talking with their friends.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"This, Potter, is the Hufflepuff common room. Occasionally we come here since it's more enjoyable at times." They told him. The group split off, and Harry walked around.

"Have any of you seen Ron?" He asked a girl with a Hufflepuff scarf.

"I'm sorry, I haven't. I can help you find him though." She excused herself from her seat and lead him to the males dorms.

"Won't you get in trouble?" Harry asked her.

"Nope. As long as I don't step two feet within the rooms." She walked around until she found an open room. Ron was inside on the bed, reading a book that Hermione had gotten him.

"Ron." Harry smiled. Ron looked up from the book and smiled. The two hopped over and hugged each other while the girl walked off.

"Good to see you again." Harry smiled.

"How's the group of tools?" Ron asked him. They both sat on the bed.

"Intimidating and confusing. Half of them either like me but don't want to talk to me, or want to talk to me but also be mean. I mean I already made two friends, but I bet that's the farthest I'll go." Harry told him.

"Who's the friend?"

"Blaise Zabini. You know him. He's one of the neutrals. Very cool." Harry told him.

"And the other?" Ron asked again. Harry twiddled his thumbs.

"Well, you see, it's a really weird story..." Harry trailed off. "Malfoy came into my room and apologized and we talked for a couple minutes. He wants to start off fresh." Harry told him, afraid of what he'll say. Ron's eyes widened.

"No way! Malfoy is the rudest prick on earth! He would never just started being friends. He must be playing you." Ron insisted.

"I don't think so." Harry told him. "He really has changed. I thought about it, and I realized that he was brainwashed and forced onto the dark side. He can't help it that he flees towards the safe side. Even if it isn't the right side. I told him that I forgave his dickness, but I won't forget what he did."

Ron nodded and processed it. "Alright, but I will be keeping an eye on him. That's what brothers are for, anyways." Ron smiled. The two had really grown more in the past year. They were like brothers, and treated each other as such.

The two talked for a bit before Harry headed back to Slytherin common rooms. Since he was alone, he had to think of something witty to say.

The portrait waited there intimidatingly, waiting for Harry to say something nasty.

"I would slap you, but I don't want slut on my hand." Harry thought up. The man cracked a smile and opened up.

Harry walked in and took a bee-line for his room. He walked down the corridor and closed the door behind himself. He brushed his teeth and jumped into bed.

He laid there for a moment.

'I hadn't realized how quiet a room is without snoring.' He thought to himself. He fell asleep in the quiet, thinking about the next day.