Pass the Glamours

Chapter One: Sweet Smell

Harry carefully fixed his robes, doing a quick check that everything was covered and the glamours he had in place were still going strong. He had quickly learned that he should put his robes on before anyone could see him, see the scars on him. They ask too many questions with such unbelieving looks that he just wanted to hide away.

The boy soon sighed, falling into his seat. He sighed again before standing up and pulling out some of the required books for the Defense class. He didn't really like how the book seemed so basic and 101 compared to the other books they were given. Then again some of the teachers weren't that good, well... Except for Remus, he was a good teacher.

At the thought of the werewolf, a warmth flooded the boy's body. The older man was so kind to him, much like an uncle or a father figure. He also taught him so much more than the other teachers, seeing as one had the worse fake-stutter ever and the other was genuinely incompetent. The last one was also good, but definitely too much and a 'dead' Death Eater in disguise.

The Boy-Who-Lived hummed softly, leaning against the window, using the natural light to read the boring book. He might as well try to understand and get a head start on the material. It would at least do him that good if the year was going to be anything like his last few. Suddenly, the door to the compartment opened, revealing a girl roughly his age with bushy hair and perfectly placed clothes.

The young man gave her a smile after taking a second to calm down, her giving him one back.

"Hey, need a moment?" She hummed, her brown eyes scanning his body up and down. Her friendly smile faltered some, the one of the few people to know what he was hiding.

The boy glanced down at his book before giving a slow nod, shifting to properly sit up. Quickly, the clever witch hurried over to her friend, sending out any Privacy Wards she knew and could. Her slender body was by his, her welcoming arms carefully pulling him close to her body. Harry closed his eyes as he welcomed her comfort and silent words of encouragement. It wasn't long before tears began to tremble down his cheeks and his arms were wrapped around her waist.

"I wish I could help you..." Hermione whispered, tears lightly gathering in her eyes as well.

She hated what she had found at the end of first year. She had tried to owl Dumbledore and a few of their teachers about it, but most of the letters got lost, were ignored, or dismissed as her exaggerating. Dumbledore was the only one who dared to say she was misunderstanding something! Yet, she knew what she saw. She knew the thinness and the flinches he possessed were wrong, and she hated that she was right about that. She truly wished she could help her friend in any way, but as a student of Hogwarts, as a Mudblood, she held no power.

Soon, the body of her friend pulled away, giving her a weak smile as he wiped away the remnants of his tears. A true and sad smile.

"You have Perfect duties." He whispered.

Her face contorted into a tight look, her lips pressed into thin lines. Slowly, she nodded, standing up even slower. With a last look to her friend, she left silently to continue on with her job. She hated leaving him alone, yet as she left, her presence was quickly replaced by Neville and Luna. That made her feel a little better, helped her understand that he wasn't alone.

Draco took a slow and deep breath, his brows pulling at his once Pureblood face. His friends raised their own eyebrows as he had suddenly stopped talking, and bragging, about becoming a Slytherin Perfect. The blond looked behind him, to the closed door where a rather soft scent was coming from.

"Draco?" The pug faced Slytherin girl glanced at everyone else and then the door before finally landing on the creature Pureblood. "Do you smell something?" Her voice naturally lowered, an odd, excited look crossing her face.