It's the last day of Harry's second year and he walks into the great hall for the closing feast. He spots Ron and Hermione and goes over to sit across from them. He sits with his back to the rest of the hall and after a minute he can feel eyes boring into the back of his head. He turns, but no one is looking at him. He faces back towards his friends and hears a few Hufflepuffs behind him whispering about something. He tries to ignore them and focus on Hermione talking about her most recent interest, but he can't shake the feeling that they're talking about him.
Kids whisper in classrooms and hallways and behind bookshelves, falling silent as soon as they see him coming near as if he can't hear what they're saying about him.
Heir of Slytherin, monster, murderer, Parselmouth, dangerous, scary, the next Dark Lord.
Harry shakes his head to get rid of the thoughts trying to invade his mind and moves next to Ron and Hermione so that his back is to the wall instead. The group of Hufflepuffs is bent over a set of colorful stones one of them brought to the Great Hall. That's what they are talking about, not him. Still, it would be best to be able to watch the rest of the students, just to make sure they aren't watching him.
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The Demons That Follow (Harry Potter fanfic)
FanfictionHarry has been through some shit and I think he would not be nearly as well-off as he is in canon. This is a character study of the various ways each year has traumatized him, a chapter for every year. *also posted on ao3 under the user allhailnezut...