A/N Hey everyone! So I realized I messed up with my time frame of things. Aurora and Andi shouldent have been in the last chapter at Hogwarts so I apologize! Just forget they are in there and i'll go back later and edit them out haha They graduated while Ali was at Malfoy Manner and are both still dating Fred and George. Damian is a seventh year and Ali is in obviously in sixth...Aaaannnd GO!

        If I said I was welcomed back into Gryffindor tower with open arms, I would be exaggerating. Like hugely exaggerating. Exaggerating to the point of disbelief. I remember when I was stuck in the tournament from hell in fourth year and everyone treated me like I was some Goddess of Gryffindor. Now? I think everyone would have been happier to see Umbridge.

        Seamus sneered at me as I walked past him, Neville avoided eye contact until Ginny dragged him away towards the fire. Padma and Parvati frowned and turned their backs, almost all of the first through third years ran away terrified from me, and all I could do was stand awkwardly in the center of the room. Ron and Hermione looked like they wanted to say something to me, but the words were lost from them. And Harry, well he walked past me and up to his dorm without a second thought. 

        "I'm not a death eater if anyone wanted to ask!" I shouted across the common room. "Just thought I'd put that out there" I said with a shrug before walking back through the portrait. It was clear I wouldn't have a pleasant sleep in my dorm tonight, Lavender might try drawing the dark mark on my forehead or something and I couldn't risk getting expelled for throwing her off the Astronomy tower. 

        Draco had given me the password for the Slytherin common room earlier in the night, and right now I felt more welcomed with the people I used to hate than the people I normally called my friends. So after a very long walk into the cold dungeons after avoiding prefects, I was finally able to push my way into the darkened room. I had never been down here before, but might I say the Slytherins sure have a hell of a lot more room than we do. 

        The room was full of first years excited to start their first day, friends getting reacquainted after a summer apart, and a lot of older kids who looked like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. I had a sneaky suspicion as to why that was. The Slytherin kids acted just like every other house when they were in their own environment, only nobody quit what they were doing the second I walked in. I just sort of blended in with everyone, and after the summer I had -- it was nice. 

        I found Damian laying across one of the couches sending random spells into the fireplace, I ran over and plopped down on his stomach like I normally did. "Calm down Pyro, you'll burn the castle down" I joked. He grunted and shifted under my weight. "Ali bear, what are you doing down here?" he asked and slid his wand into his front pocket. 

        "Everyone in Gryffindor is giving me the cold shoulder, they all suspect I've joined the dark side" I shrugged. 

        "Luke I am your father" Damian joked in his Darth Vader voice, and I immediately was in hysterics.

        "Maybe I should bring a light saber to class tomorrow" I said between laughs. 

        "I think you're scary enough as it is" 

        "Oh shut up" I said with a sigh. 

        Damian and I made small talk for a while before people in the common room started to dissipate to their dorms. "You can have my bed if you want, I can just sleep down here" Damian said as he pulled both of us off the couch. 

        "Thanks Damian, but I'm just gonna go pester Draco" I told him and headed to the boy's dorm, but Damian pulled me back.

        "What's going on with you two?" he asked. 

        "Were friends Damian, nothing to worry about. We've just been through a lot of shit together lately" I told him. Damian raised an eyebrow and gave me his normal older brother look that I only rolled my eyes at.

        "You know I wont hesitate to throw the kid in the black lake again, right?" Damian asked, and I laughed and shook my head. 

        "As much as it pains me to say this after everything he did before, I love the kid" I told him " I understand him better after seeing all the terrible things he has to deal with at home, and he's become one of the most important people in my life" 

        Damian's lips pursed and I kissed his cheek. "After my big brother of course" I said before skipping off to the sixth year boys dorms.

        I found it odd how all the Slytherins were two to a room instead of five, us girls were practically fighting each other for space in the mornings before classes. Lavender got an "Accidental" elbow to the jaw on more than one occasion. I found Draco and Blaise's room at the end of the hall. 

        The door was only half open, so I just pushed my way inside. Blaise was doing push ups in the corner of the room, and Draco was transfiguring his ties into serpants. "So this is what boys do when they're alone?" I asked with a chuckle as I stepped into the room. Blaise only smirked before continuing on with what he was doing, and Draco smiled before shifting over on his bed to make room for me. 

        I picked up one of Draco's serpants before sending it over to Blaise. It hissed and crawled up his arm, Blaise shrieked and ran out of the room leaving me and Draco in a fit of laughter. "Didnt go well up in Gryffindor?" He asked, I looked down and nodded my head before pulling the comforter down on his bed and crawling inside. 

        "Oh by all means just steal my bed" Draco said dramatically. I raised and eyebrow and patted the pillow next to me. "We were roomates all summer, I miss hearing you snore" 

        "I do not snore!" Draco practically roared at me "And we shared a room, not a bed" 

        "Well I'm not sleeping with people who think I'm a death eater tonight"

        "But you are--" Draco was cut off by me. "Shut up. And sleeping with my brother does not interest me, so that leaves you"

        "Wow, glad to be your last resort" Draco mumbled before climbing off the bed. "Oh shut it and get in the bed"

        Draco only laughed and went into the bathroom before coming out in only a pair of sweats. He climbed into the bed beside me and turned to face me. "You're freezing Draco!" I exclaimed when my hand accidentally touched his ice cold skin. 

        "Then warm me up" he said with a cocky smirk I hadent seen in years, like the old Draco had popped through for a moment. But the underlining sadness I could see in his eyes, the sadness that only I could really see -- showed me that same boy was nowhere to be found. So I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close, his arms resting on my waist. 

        "That's better" he mumbled into my hair. I felt something tugging at my heart as I laid with him. And i had a suspicion it was a feeling of love for him as more than just one of my best friends. It was a welcome change from the unrequited feelings I had with Harry, but it didn't make the feelings any less complicated. 

       ~

        The next morning I snuck out of Draco's dorm before he woke up. I left him with a note saying I needed my uniform for classes and would sit next to him in potions like we normally did. The hallways were empty this early, except a couple of prefects patrolling the halls and outside the great hall. I saw Ron patrolling on the fifth floor, but he ignored me when he saw me walk past him.

        "Late night?" I heard someone ask as I took a short cut on the sixth floor. I turned around to see Harry leaning against a wall with a book in his hands. 

        "Couldn't sleep, went for a walk" I said with a shrug. "A walk to see Malfoy?" He asked with a scoff. 

        I only rolled my eyes and went to walk away, yet Harry once again had other ideas. He grabbed my arm and before I knew it I was shoved into the wall. I looked around and noticed Harry and I were the only people in the corridor. 

        "Did you take him back Ali? Are you back with Mafloy?" He growled. I shifted away at how angry he was, and couldn't help but feel a little giddy at his tone of jealousy. 

        "I don't see how that's any of your business, you've made it clear you want nothing to do with me" I sneered, trying to push my way past him. Harry however held his ground and placed his fists on either side of me against the concrete wall. He had me encased between his seething frame and the poor innocent wall. 

        "What the bloody hell gave you that idea?" He whispered, and I could feel his breath fanning across my face.

        "On the train you--" but Harry cut me off. He cut me off with a kiss so passionate it made me want to crumble onto the ground. His lips were searing hot as they moved with mine, a kiss I never expected to come from my awkward friend. His torso and mine were molded together while his hands stayed on either side of my head. 

        In shock I could do nothing but let my arms dangle at my sides. When I was finally coming to grips that I really and truly was here, that Harry was kissing me and I was kissing him back -- he pulled away. He pulled away heavily breathing and walked away. He left me with tingling lips and a completely numb body as I sunk down onto the ground trying to comprehend what just happened.