Changed (Drarry)

Chapter 6

"Hermione!" A girl Harry didn't recognise called, running over. Her skin was tanned, and her hair was covered, clearly for a purpose, but Harry wasn't sure what it was. She seemed to be trying to hug Hermione, but Ron had stood between the two girls, looking at the girl with contempt. "Are you okay? You didn't respond to any of my letters this summer. And Harry, you're alright, everyone was worried about you after you disappeared."

The girl didn't seem to care about Ron, stepping to move around him to talk to Hermione and Harry more intently. She was looking at their faces, rather than their robes, but Harry wasn't sure why he had noticed that.

"I'm sorry, I only got letters from Ron over the holiday," Hermione said awkwardly, not looking at the girl, "But... Do I know you?"

"You're joking, right?" The girl asked, pulling her chin in closer towards her. "Harry! You know who I am." She said, rounding on Harry.

"Do I know you?" Harry asked, he hoped it didn't come across as rude, but he didn't recognise anything about her really, other than the fact that he noticed that she was wearing the Ravenclaw uniform.

"You're joking, right?" She asked, looking somewhere between horrified and shocked. "You have to be, you wouldn't be talking to me if you really didn't know me."

"Why wouldn't I be talking to you? I'm sorry if I ignored you once, but I don't try yo be rude like that." Harry said, looking at the devastated girl whose expression had darkened, looking scared.

"Okay, you both got me, but this isn't funny anymore, please." The girl said, looking increasingly desperate as her eyes flicked between Harry and Hermione, looking like she might cry.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't think we've met." Hermione said, Ron grabbing her hand, dragging her to the Great Hall, Ginny dragging Harry.

"We need to go get some food, I'm starving." Ron complained loudly as he led the way into the Great Hall, the other three following him.

"I'm sorry, maybe you should go to Mme Pomfrey." Harry said, feeling a little worried for the girl who was so convinced that she knew the two of them. Maybe there were other people in Hogwarts who looked like them that they just hadn't met yet that she knew, or someone had played a mean prank on her, which is why he told her to go to Mme Pomfrey.

"Who was that?" Hermione asked, looking over her shoulder at the girl who stood, almost frozen where she had been talking to them, seeming like she was almost in pain.

"Khadija." Ron mispronounced, sounding annoyed. "She was a transfer student who came here last year, she didn't manage to make many friends."

"I heard she was friendly with Neville, though." Ginny said, still clinging onto Harry's arm as they sat down and waited for the sorting, making Harry feel uncomfortable, but he was still more uncomfortable telling her to leave him alone.

"That's great for both of them, Neville's always had a tough time." Harry said with a smile, looking down the table at the blond boy trying to keep hold of his toad, the seats beside him were empty. There were a few members of Gryffindor talked to him, and get along with him, but they weren't exactly friends. They would be kind to him, but they would only really spend time with him if it was with everyone in the house.

"Like attracts like." Ron said, his stomach making a rather loud noise, making a few people look over at him. "I hope they come in soon, I'm hungry." 

"You ate most of what Harry bought on the train, how are you still hungry?" Hermione asked, looking his rather skinny body up and down. "And the normal phrase is opposite attracts."

"Oh, who cares." Ron groaned, Harry looking over at the door, and noticing Khadija coming in with Malfoy, Zabini, and Parkinson.

"Is she friends with those three too?" Harry asked, looking over at the three, his eyes focusing on Malfoy.

The Slytherin trio waved goodbye to her when they reached her table, and were talking intensely with each other, their heads together and the conversation seemed intense. They looked over at the Gryffindor table, and Harry immediately looked away before they made eye contact, not wanting them to know he was staring at them. He cringed internally when he realised he had turned to look at Ginny, who immediately gasped and smiled more brightly at him, Harry still seeing the pink in her pupil that he knew was strange, but unsure what it meant or where it came from.

"It definitely looks like they know her. Maybe they're just nicer to the other houses and not Gryffindor." Hermione said with a shrug, looking over when Harry had mentioned it.

"But if she's friends with Nev, then wouldn't that mean they would at least show him common courtesy too? I know she may feel awkward because of coming late, but why would you associate with people who are cruel to your friend?" Harry said, he didn't know where using the nickname came from, but it didn't feel wrong. He felt an odd kind of kinship with Neville, more than he would expect because of them having similar experiences. He knew all too well what it was like to be isolated from peers in school, and while it seemed like Neville's relatives liked him more than Harry's, but he was still mistreated.

"That would make sense, it would be good if Neville had it at least a bit easier this year." Hermione agreed, glancing up the table at Neville too.

"Since when did you call him Nev?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry, his tone making him a little uncomfortable.

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, I just thought it suited him."

"Fine, I guess, but it feels like you wanna be his friend more than mine." Ron said, with a sulk.

"No, no! You're still my best mate, sorry." Harry said, only flapping one arm, as Ginny was gripping his other too tightly for him to even move it.

"Really, Ron? I don't know where you get these ideas sometimes." Hermione said, rolling her eyes before the hall went silent, the new first years filing in, sticking together, looking around seeming scared, which was fair.

((A/N: Hello everyone!! Sorry this took longer than the previous ones did, I had an endoscopy recently, and they're pretty unpleasant and my body is complaining about it. I hope you're liking this so far and let me know if you want to do another Q&A with the characters! (Sorry, I am going to have to block Predawn from being asked questions because I can't draw snakes.) I love you all, stay healthy!))