Harry woke up the next morning to the sun shining unnaturally through his window, and found that he was actually in a good mood. He wondered idly how the heck sunlight could reach this far down, before musing it was probably a spell or something. As he got out of bed he pushed the haunting thoughts of his dream in the back of his mind, unaware that he was still shielding his mind. He didn’t realize nor wonder why it came so easily to him.

Apparently when he had drunk the potion, he inherited certain attributes from his teacher, like him being a natural Occulemens. He smiled knowing that that he was going to be resorted along with his death being formally announced in the wizarding world. He never thought he would see the day where Lucius Malfoy was rendered speechless. But when he ‘died’ he was rewarded with just that.

Getting up he got dressed and was in the process of making up his bed when Snape walked through the door. He frowned, didn’t his teacher ever hear of knocking? And how did he know that he was up anyway? He said nothing of course, keeping his face unnaturally blank. He had found that if others didn’t know what you were thinking you could use that to your advantage.

“Oh good you’re up and dressed. We will be walking down to the great hall in about 10 minutes.” Severus said conversationally.

“Yes sir,” Harry nodded grabbing his new wand. The core of it was serpent scale and the wood was Monterillo. He didn’t know much about it, only that Snape had looked a bit ill after hearing the last bit. Harry made a mental note to check out what it meant when he had a chance.

Placing it into his holster on his forearm, another courtesy of Snape, he made his way out his room. He didn’t need to bring anything else since the house elves would bring his new trunk to his new house. Harry couldn’t wait to see the reaction of his teacher; he knew that Dumbledore wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.

Very soon they were out of their quarters and heading towards the great hall. Harry had to wonder why he was so comfortable in the man’s presence. He was still very wary of him, but he felt like he could sort of trust him. He shook his thoughts away before looking up at the man whose face was blank, and he found himself unconsciously copying it. As they neared the doors of the great hall, Harry got a bit nervous.

“Where do I go?” Harry asked softly.

“What do you mean?” Severus asked.

“Which table to I sit at to wait?” Harry clarified.

“None go straight down the middle to where Minerva will be standing. It’s going to be just like your first year,” Severus said before making his way towards the staff table.

Harry took a breath as everyone seemed to turn as one towards him and stared. He forced himself to look straight ahead as he walked, though he couldn’t resist looking over at the Gryffindor table out of habit. He could see Neville looking more confident then he remembered and Seamus and Dean picking at their food. Ron however was a sight; he was gazing at the empty seat across from him and he wasn’t eating, he wasn’t even pretending to eat. Harry didn’t worry about that for long as he suddenly came to stand in front of his former head of house.

“Children, may I have your attention for just one moment?” Dumbledore asked as he stood up, the hall immediately quieting.

“As you might have notice we have a new transfer student and he will be sorted in just a few moments. Please treat him with the proper respect he deserves and I’m sure he will treat you the same way in return.” Albus said before sitting down and gesturing to Minerva to start.

“Emerson Prince,” she called loudly.

Harry heard the gasps around the hall, more so from the Slytherin table and he turned to look at them. He saw that his year mates didn’t seemed to be doing so well over there either, but it was Draco who looked the worse. The boy looked so haggard and lost, and he was dressed like he just tossed on clothes from the floor. He shrugged not really caring as he walked up and took a seat on the stool.

So we meet again Mr. Potter, or is it Prince now?

It’s Prince.

Will you let me do my job this time and sort you to where I believe you belong?

Of course.

Well it’s nice to know that I wouldn’t find any resistance because I was going to sort you where I wanted this time anyway. This is very simple Mr. Prince, and I stand by everything I said your 1st year, Slytherin will help you achieve everything you need, without costly distractions. And just because you’re in that house, doesn’t make you a dark wizard.

I know that now; before you call it out I’m going to turn around.

Any particular reason child?

I want to see Snape’s face, when I get into his house.

Haha I wish you the best of luck then Mr. Prince and stay strong. Better be SLYTHERIN!

True to his word Harry had turned around and looked at Snape and was rewarded when Snape seemed to choke on his tea before blanking his face. Harry smirked brightly as McGonagall pulled the hat off and gestured which table he was to go to. Harry nodded before he walked over to the Slytherin table. He grinned inwardly as he had an evil thought and he took a seat directly across from Malfoy.

“Hi, I remember you,” Harry said as he sat down, though the other didn’t say anything he just looked at him.

The other boy just nodded but he didn’t say anything, it was like he was staring into space.

“Were you friends with the boy-who-lived,” Harry asked curiously.

“Why would you think that?” Draco asked his voice raspy from lack of use.

“Well you were crying when he died,” Harry pointed out.

Draco half snorted, half sobbed as he stared at Harry in horror. Harry watched as Malfoy’s already anguished face crumpled even more before the boy placed his head on the table and cried into his arms. Harry kept his face blanked though he knew that everyone was looking at him in shock, and he turned towards Theodore who had his fork frozen halfway to his mouth.

“What did you say?” Blaize whispered out, his eyes wide.

“I said that, the boy who lived had…” Harry trailed off and turned to look at the front of the table as the Headmaster stood up again.

“I need everyone’s attention please,” Albus said looking at the children with a sadden expression.

“What’s going? Did he say that Harry had died Blaize?” Theodore asked, gasping on his breath as he held off a panic attack.

“He was lying Theo relax,” Blaise said, though his tone was unconvinced and he turned to stare at the Headmaster.

“I regret to inform you that, yesterday morning we lost one of our own.” Albus said with emotion, preparing for what he was about to say.

“No, no, Harry isn’t dead, he’s wrong,” Pansy said shaking her head in the negative as she caught the meaning in the headmaster’s word and had heard what Emerson said to Draco.

Harry watched as the Slytherin 5th years turned towards Draco who was quietly weeping into his arms, not paying attention to anyone. He could see careful masks start to fall apart and he held in his glee. He shook his head inwardly, wondering why now they seemed to care. He watched Blaize look around widely but at nothing in particular, and could see Theo struggling to catch his breath, and Harry turned back to the Headmaster.

“Harry Potter has died from a self-inflicted wound.” Albus finally said, as his eyes filled with tears as the children across the hall each registered his words.

“No, he was ok, he can’t be dead. Madame Pomprey can heal anyone,” Blaize said as he shook his head harder.

Theo was clutching his chest in horror as his eyes overflowed with tears, as the grief hit him. He was gasping on his sobs and choking on air. Harry turned to look at the Gryffindor table, really wanting to see their reactions.

~*~*~*Gryffindor Table~*~*~*~

Neville was staring unblinkingly at his plate. He could feel the heat rush behind his eyes, and gritted his teeth. This had to be just a nightmare, Harry couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t believe it, even though he knew in his heart that it was. He stood up, and slowly walked out the hall, unable to deal with this near anyone else. His heart breaking over and over at just the thought; of his friend no longer being alive.

Ron eyes filled with tears as he looked at his sister. His best friend, couldn’t just be gone, he didn’t believe it. He couldn’t Harry was always invincible. He always bounced back from all of his near death experiences. Ron sniffled loudly as the owls came in with the daily mail. He heard a whimper to the right as Hermione shook her back and forth before jumping from the table and running out of the hall.

Ron turned to grab the paper his stomach turning as it told of Harry being dead. He bawled loudly, attracting the attention of his housemates around him, unable to will his body to move he buried his head into his hands.

“This can’t be real,” Seamus said in denial as he stared at Dean in horror, but as he watched Neville walk away, the sinking feeling in his stomach he knew it was.

“Well, if it’s not in the paper, then it’s not real,” Dean said idly, though that was forgotten when he read the paper over Ron’s shoulder.

“No,” was all Seamus said as his body crumpled to the floor. He had never lost any so close to him before and his body didn’t know how to handle it and he passed out from the shock of it.

“Seamus,” Dean said through his tears, though he didn’t go to him as he rocked on the bench.

Harry was trying his hardest to keep his expression neutral when Seamus fainted. They were all hypocrites the lot of them, they were crying why? Was it because their savior was gone? He shook his head; not bloody likely. He relished in their grief until he looked a bit further down the Gryffindor table and saw Ginny.

Ginny was staring lifelessly at the wall, tears slowly falling down her cheeks. She didn’t move, but her tears continued to fall, quickly picking up pace. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t believe that this was true. Harry had just hugged her; she had just seen him the other day. He couldn’t be dead; she could remember him saying he hugged her because he felt like she needed it. She felt so lost, wondering if he was somehow saying goodbye. The headmaster had said it was self-inflicted, was he saying that Harry had killed himself?

Ginny couldn’t believe the boy who had selflessly saved her his second year was gone. The basilisk had nearly killed him but he had made it. Why now? She shook her head and bowed her head as the tears continued. She felt herself get grabbed into a hug, she knew without looking that it was one of the twins. She shook her head and sobbed hard into his chest, as she mourned the loss of a boy who was so misunderstood.

Harry turned around from the scene as heat pricked the back of his own eyes, he didn’t mean to hurt Ginny. She had always stood by him, she didn’t want her to suffer, but there was nothing he could do. As he turned back around he saw Snape walking towards the Slytherin table, where the older year(excluding the 5th years) were staring at their table curiously. They couldn’t understand why they seemed so heartbroken that the Gryffindor boy was dead. They hadn’t known him personally had they?

Harry watched as Snape gently administered a calming draught to Theodore who immediately quieted as his panic attack ebbed. He handed a few out to the other snakes before looking at Blaize. Harry could see the betrayal in the boy’s eyes as he stared at his head of house.

~*~*~*~Slytherin Table~*~*~*~

“Blaize, what’s the matter?” Severus asked quietly.

“You lied to me,” he said struggling to hold back his tears.

“What do you mean child?” Severus said.

“When I asked you yesterday, if you thought Harry was gonna make it. And you knew that he had died, and you lied, why would you lie about something like this?” He asked, his tears finally falling as his voice cracked.

“I didn’t want to upset you,” Severus said gently, even though he knew it was a poor excuse.

“You wanted to see my pain huh? To let us know that we deserved this, that Harry’s death was our fault? You’re not sad because you know he forgave you in the end, what about the rest of us? He didn’t forgive Theodore, or Draco?” Blaize said angrily as the tears continued.

“Blaize I can assure you, everything will be fine.” Severus said soothingly.

“I don’t believe you, you lied to once already. How do I know that everything else you say isn’t also a lie? Why couldn’t Madame Pomprey save him?” Blaize whimpered as he got up and ran away from the table.

Harry felt guilt trying to assert itself in his heart but he pushed it away, they deserved this didn’t they? This is what they all wanted right? He shook that feeling away, looking at the scene in front of him where Snape was trying to feed Draco a potion.

“Draco, please open your mouth and drink this,” Severus said gently as he took a seat next to his snake.

Draco’s body shuddered as he cried, it was official. He could hear them say it was in the paper. But he didn’t need to read it, he had seen it. He didn’t want a potion, he deserved this Harry had been right. He could feel it eating him up inside, he should have never have threatened the other boy with a kiss. He couldn’t help but think that it was his threat that made the other boy lose his last remaining will to live. He had caused all of this, his fault.

“I don’t need it sir,” Draco said with a sniffle as he sat up.

“I beg to differ child,” Severus said as he looked at his snake carefully.

“I deserve to suffer, he did.” Draco said as he stood up.

“Draco you don’t believe that, Harry’s death isn’t your fault.” Severus said aware of Harry was listening.

“It is, you don’t know what I said to him, you don’t know what we talked about. How could I be so mean? How could I be so stupid? Why would I say that?” Draco said as fresh tears welled in his eyes.

“What did you say child?”Severus asked he hadn’t been aware that they had even spoken.

“It doesn’t matter now, he’s gone and I have to live with that.” Draco said his voice laced with so much regret Harry himself winced.

“Child, it’s going to be ok,” Severus said his heart going out to the child next to him.

“It’s never going to be ok, Harry’s not coming back and that’s on me.” Draco said tearfully before he walked out the great hall.

Harry watched the other boy leave with a blank expression on his face, though inside he was reeling. He hadn’t realized that the other boy would feel for him so greatly, he knew that the show of emotion he had just witness had not been faked. He could feel Snape’s gaze on him and but he didn’t turn. He found himself standing up, intending to go after the other boy; he knew blaming oneself for someone’s death tended to eat at you until you couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t understand why he felt so sympathetic towards the blonde bully.

“Emerson, where are you going?” Severus asked with guarded eyes. Though inside he was wondering when the child had gotten good at shielding his emotions, and he couldn’t read him at the moment.

“For a walk,” Harry said softly.

“Finish your breakfast,” Severus said knowing exactly where Harry was going. He knew he couldn’t stop him, since his students here needed him. He didn’t know what Harry was going to say to Draco, but he hoped it wasn’t anything hateful. He knew already that his Slytherin couldn’t handle it.

“I’m not hungry,” he said before quickly walking out the hall and following Draco.