Xerosis

Born From Conflict

-0-0-0-
Born From Conflict
-0-0-0-

"You awake?" Terry asked through Harry's curtains.

Harry moaned faintly but reached up and tugged one side of his curtains open, covering his eyes for the expected afternoon sunlight. "Afternoon, Terry," he mumbled, peeking at his friend from between two fingers.

"At least you know what time it is," Lillian retorted from the doorway.

Harry frowned a bit; the Slytherins weren't supposed to arrive until the end of the hour. "What's the time?"

"It's almost three. Loony made us wait," Lillian reported.

"Oh for– Moon, get out of our dorm!" Anthony Goldstein complained.

Harry scrambled out of bed, grabbing his glasses and jamming them on his face on the way. "Anthony, you're okay!" he realised. He felt a little guilty for not having worried more for his roommate, considering he'd known that his house had been near the first explosion.

Anthony gave Harry a tired look. "Yeah. I was out of the house when the explosion happened."

"Wait, you lived near one of the explosions?" Lillian asked, her haughty expression fading.

"His house is two over from where the first explosion started," Harry offered. "What about your mum? Was she out with you, or–?"

"She's dead," Anthony reported in a bit of a monotone. "I'm a ward of the Ministry while they attempt to get my father to take me in."

Harry ground his teeth together, familiar enough with the Ministry's ward system to know it was not good for a kid who'd just lost his only real parent; after his kids had left the house, he and Ginny had occasionally hosted a ward or two while the Ministry tried finding a family for them, and the whole process was a lot of hell and bureaucratic nonsense. They'd always tried their best to provide everything they could for their wards, but most of them had just lost everything and tended to close in on themselves. It didn't help that some families hosted wards and then treated them poorly because of their emotional pain or who their parents were. And since everyone who kept wards were volunteers, the Ministry didn't really check up on them beyond making sure they had the financial stability to care for a child.

"How is your ward family?" Harry had to ask.

Anthony's face blanked. "They're fine."

Harry and Terry traded knowing looks. Harry would have to write to Sirius and see if his godfather was willing to host Anthony until they could find a new home for him.

Lillian sighed. "Harry, Loony said you wanted to talk to all of us?"

"I did?" Harry blinked and scratched at his head. "Oh, right. Where's everyone else?"

"Your other almost-muggle and the cowardly lion didn't want to chance getting caught in the Ravenclaw dorms."

Terry rolled his eyes at Lillian's terms for everyone. "They're going to meet us in the library. Li and Luna are waiting downstairs. Unlike somepurebloods I know." He shot Lillian a dark look.

Lillian smirked back.

"You lot are ridiculous," Harry declared, summoning a set of school robes from his trunk. "Lil, go downstairs so I can change."

"Ooh." Lillian wiggled her eyebrows, then slipped from the room.

Harry rolled his eyes and got changed while Terry chuckled, then the two boys wandered downstairs to meet the girls. Luna immediately fell in on his right while Terry and Li gathered together to continue an apparently interrupted discussion about Li's summer visit to China.