Today was the day Harry dreaded. It was the end of Christmas and the new term started tomorrow, which mean he had Snape's two hour Slytherin and Gryffindor potions class first thing in the morning.

Ron and Hermione had still yet to return from their holiday trips, Ron taking a trip to Romania to visit his brother Charlie, and Hermione from a skiing trip with her parents in America, which left him alone in Gryffindor tower until the feast that night. Well, not totally alone. There was still Neville, but he was too engrossed in his Herbology textbook to do much with, he becoming the male counterpart of Hermione Granger in Herbology during the winter breaks.

Sigh.

Harry lazily twirled his wand in his hand, emitting green sparks from the tip. He watched them as they disappeared in one lazy swish of his hand. Lately, he has grown to where he doesn't even need a wand to do magic, just a wave of his hand will do the simplist of spells for him, such as Accio or Wingardium Leviosa.

He made more, red this time, and made them do a little dance, doing loop-de-loops and making shapes. He even made some fly at Neville, making the other yelp when they collided with his face, evaporating like snow at first touch. He made them take the shape of an owl, flying around the common room and hooting every once in a while, letting have a taste of freedom before turning it back to normal sparks.

He quickly got bored of the sparks when they brought no more mindless entertainment for him, instead opting to rummage through his school bag to see if there was anything he could do from there. Pulling out his potions homework, which he still had to finish, he sighed as he realized there really was nothing else he could do.
He would have taken a walk to the Owlery, but a blizzard was currently blowing outside, making the giant glass window rattle and shake so violently he was afraid it would break from the window sill.

So much for that idea.

A trip around Hogwarts was out of the question with the Toad Queen hopping around. He would get expelled for just sneezing wrong, let alone walk around and-oh dear!-have fun. The bitch. Snape would have probably given him detention anyway if he saw him, despite the rules of no detention during holiday.

He grudgingly sat down at the desk near his four poster bed, black quill in hand as he began his task of finishing the ridiculously long essay. Explain the three main ingredients used in a Wolfsbane potion and their qualities in a three foot essay-turn in on Monday.

Dear Merlin.

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He was vaguely aware of the passing time as he wrote, the answers coming surprisingly easy to him as he did. He only realized how much time had passed when running feet alerted him to the others that had arrived at Hogwarts from their vacation. He set the quill down, rubbing his suddenly tired eyes and stretched, popping his back as he did so.

He walked down the stairs leading to the common room and smiled when he saw Ron and Hermione sitting in their favorite spots by the fire. So they were back. They looked up and caught his eye when he entered, and waved, him waving back when he saw the excitement on their faces. He quickly jogged the rest of the way down the stairs and came to a stop by the cushiony couch.

"Harry!" Hermione quickly hugged him, knocking the air out of him. Ron, looking a bit embarrassed, just shook his hand with a nod of his head. "Glad to see you, mate."

"It's good to see you too guys. How were your trips?" He asked as he sat down on the couch, drawing his legs under him.

Harry sat there listening to his two best friends drone on and on about how fun their trips were and listening to the sounds of laughter coming from the other students. He was hit with a wave of melancholy that surrounded and choked him, bringing a sudden warmth to the back of his eyes. He knew the Dursleys would never treat him with such kindness as his friends' parents, and why should they, when to them he was nothing but a freak, an abomination in their eyes? He would never be accepted, despite what others may say.

He was snapped out of his depressed mind by Ron, who was waving his hand in front of Harry's face. "Yoohoo! Earth to Potter! Where you listening?"

"Huh? Sorry, Ron. I'm just tired and I spaced out."

"It's alright, mate. You must be tired, doing all that homework and all." At Harry's confused glance, he quickly explained: " I walked in a while ago, but you didn't even notice me. Or Seamus, for that matter. I don't see how you can be that engrossed in homework, especially if it's Snape's. I haven't even started on mine yet."

Hermione glared at Ron, giving him her, Oh no you didn't!, look that she only reserved for the twins. " Honestly, Ronald! How hard can it be to just do a simple essay?"

"Simple? Hermione, the greasy git wants us to do a three foot essay on only three ingredients! That's not possible!"

"Really, Ron? I got mine done the first night I got it. You do realize they are due tomorrow first thing in the morning, don't you?"

"Well, that's because you're a book nerd! And I'll do it during breakfast, 'Mione, don't worry." If Hermione was angered by those words she didn't show it, instead turning to face away from Ron and stare into the fire. Harry turned to Ron, a look of anger and confusion etched into his face. Ron just shrugged, picking up a Chudley Cannons magazine from the table and began to read, putting his feet on the table.

Harry only sighed.