He rationalised that everyone was different, that everyone had their own thoughts and opinions regardless of which family, or which side, they had been born on. After all, Sirius was a prime example of that, he had been so against his family and the stigma of supposed 'dark' wizards that he had actually run away from his own family while still a minor.
He had to wonder though how much of Sirius' passionate hate had been fear or disgust at the allegedly 'dark' magic and how much of it was actually Walburga Black's fault for being such a cruel mother. According to Sirius' stories and dark reminiscing, she had hated him long before he had stepped foot in Hogwarts and she had liked playing favourites between her two sons, setting one against the other in a destructive, vile game for her own amusement. Harry was glad that she was already dead.
Today was the first day of the Christmas holidays, they had finished all of their lessons for the year the day before and Harry had eaten just a few pieces of toast for breakfast as he scribbled furiously on a spare piece of parchment. He checked over his information and rearranged the order of words to make it sound more sophisticated and intelligent before he transferred his words to the piece of parchment that held the finalised piece of homework that he would hand in to his professor when the term started up again in January. "Come on, Harry. We won't find an empty compartment if we don't leave now."
Harry startled and looked up at Draco who had spoken, Blaise was standing at the doors waiting for them. The words filtered into his brain before he nodded and quickly packed up his books, ink and all of his rolls of parchment before he leapt up and caught up to Draco, who was already out in the Entrance Hall.
They still ended up waiting for Blaise, who had cursed halfway to the grounds outside and declared that he'd left his mother's gift on his bedside table that morning. Draco had climbed regally into the front carriage to wait for Blaise to return, but Harry went to see the thestral pulling it.
Skeletal and bony thin, in a way it reminded him of Rabastan and Harry felt sick for thinking such things as he stroked his hand gently over the thestral's reptilian face. He was just nervous about seeing Rabastan again for the first time in four months later on that night, that was all. Of course, he was going to be nervous about such things, he hardly knew what to expect and all of the Lestranges were going to be there. It was a very nerve-wracking experience.
Pansy and Daphne greeted him and he nodded to them both cordially as they climbed into the carriage with Draco. Harry clenched his fist when he saw Theodore Nott, who was walking with a few older Slytherins just behind, sigh heavily and turn away from where his betrothed had just been stood. He looked crestfallen and Harry just didn't understand why he put up with Daphne's behaviour. Harry liked Theodore Nott and they'd had a few conversations over the last term. He was a well put together, level-headed person and he was definitely going to do well once he graduated from Hogwarts. He just didn't understand why he wanted Daphne so much or why he put up with her vile, disrespectful behaviour. He watched as Theodore and the other Slytherins climbed into another carriage and Harry went back to the thestral. He couldn't imagine holding such an unrequited love. The cruel thing was that they were betrothed and were going to marry one another one day. Theodore loved her and he was going to marry the woman that he loved, but that love was not reciprocated, not even a little bit and he knew it. Theodore had to live a lie, knowing that his wife had slept with anyone and everyone while they were betrothed and that she didn't respect or care at all for him or his happiness or his status. He would never be strong enough to do something like that, Harry was well known for his temper and he knew that if his betrothed acted like Daphne, if Rabastan acted like her, then he would have thrown a fit and torn up their contract, no matter how much it would have hurt himself to do so. He would not let himself be treated in such a way. "Got it!" Blaise exclaimed happily, red-cheeked, panting and out of breath, but he waved the small box with a grin on his face.
"Come on then." Harry said with a smile, pushing all the thoughts of Daphne and Theodore from his mind.
The both of them climbed into the carriage and Draco waved his wand impatiently to set them off towards Hogsmeade. He had a part grimace, part sneer on his face and Harry hid a smirk as he realised that he had been stuck in the carriage waiting for Blaise to get back with just Pansy and Daphne for company. No wonder he was a bit bad-tempered.
The ride was slow-paced, but quiet as no one felt the need to talk while they were moving and they found themselves at the station in Hogsmeade quickly enough. They grabbed a hold of their trunks and owl cages and moved so that they could climb aboard the scarlet Hogwarts Express and find an empty compartment for themselves before the majority of the students joined them.
Harry went first and he purposefully picked a compartment near the front as it would be quieter than any of the compartments near the back of the train. He planned to do as much homework as he possibly could while he was on the train so that he could spend the majority of the Christmas holidays with Rabastan, who was already settled into Malfoy Manor waiting for him.
He was oddly nervous about the whole thing as he set up his books, parchment, quill and inkwell on the small half-table in the compartment. He hadn't actually seen Rabastan since the end of August even though they'd corresponded through letters and gifts. His belly was knotted and his heart was racing and he felt a little lightheaded. He couldn't actually believe that he had faced off against Voldemort and his Death Eaters numerous times in the past, had held off over a hundred Dementors, survived with the Dursleys, competed in the Tri-wizard tournament and killed a sixty-foot basilisk at twelve years old and Professor Quirinus Quirrell when he was just eleven and he was really this nervous about going home and coming face-to-face with Rabastan for the first time in four months. It was laughable.
He blocked out Draco and Blaise who were laughing and chatting directly opposite him and he ignored the two girls who were sitting on either side of the door giggling at something they were talking about. The seat next to him was empty of people, but he'd filled it with his textbooks. He was determined to get all of his work done.
It was harder to block out the rest of the students when they started arriving in droves and filling up the rest of the train, but Harry tried his utmost best as he scribbled on his scrap parchment before carefully quilling each letter onto his actual piece of homework.
It took an hour before the shrill whistle had some younger students, and even a few immature older students, cheering. Harry pulled his hand away from his work and held his inkwell a moment before the train lurched forward to prevent it from spilling and from then on, every moment would bring him ever closer to Rabastan.
Once the train had settled at a constant speed and stopped lurching about, Harry went back to his work and only stopped once the trolley witch came around at lunchtime. He bought two bottles of pumpkin juice, some pumpkin pasties and some cauldron cakes to nibble on, but happily accepted when Blaise asked to swap a chocolate frog for a cauldron cake.
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