Ok, I decided to try first person. Please let me know if you prefer third person or if there are any mistakes!

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Harry's POV

As we walked into the school, I fought to control myself. The sight of the place where so many had fallen at the hands of the Death Eaters and Voldemort filled me with a rising sense of panic. I didn't think it would affect me as much as it did, but I found myself short of breath in my agitation.

Images flashed through my mind, each bringing with them an avalanche of feelings so heavy I couldn't breathe. My eyes widened, and everything around me seemed dimmed; tarnished by the war that once again raged in all directions.

I forced my head up, locking onto small, minute details near the ground, my suitcase, and my hands. Anything to take me mind off of the raging floods coursing through my brain.

My friends had noticed - of course they had - and had questioned me on it, but of course, I said I'd be fine and began to focus on the intricate designs adorning the path that we walked along, looking anywhere but the scorch marks I could see out of the corners of my eyes.

I'd never been happier to enter the Great Hall.

I had found myself paying more attention than ever before during the Headmistress' speech. Usually, I zoned out after the first few minutes, but this time was different due to what was being said.

I noticed that Headmistress McGonagall skipped around the subject of the war, which I was thankful for. There was no way I wanted to be reminded of that fucking battlefield anymore than I already was, plus the new first years didn't need to know the details. When she had spoken about the new arrangements for eighth years, I was intrigued.

It seemed odd that they would put us somewhere different, but I supposed it was to stop over-crowding or something. I hadn't really thought on it for too long.

Now however, as we filed out of the Great Hall, following the Headmistress, it was all that I could think about. I wondered who I would be in a dorm with, how many people, whether I'd know any of them or not. It was exciting and slightly terrifying all at once.

The Headmistress eventually stopped, in front of a portrait I'd never seen before near the Gryffindor tower. Judging by the looks of confusion from the other students clustered around me, they'd never noticed it either. The portrait showed a storm swept field, with lightning dancing over the dark trees in its background.

In the forefront there was a man with piercing light brown eyes. He wore a creaseless suit and sat up straight, as if he'd been called to attention. A muggle pipe sat on his lips, which was strange since he was surely a wizard. He watched us all without a word, one eyebrow raised. His left hand stroked the stubble adorning his chin. He looked as if he was deep in thought.

The professor spoke the password loudly, obviously ensuring that all of us could hear.

"Lupus."

Hermione helpfully informed me that it meant 'wolf' in Latin as the portrait swung open and we entered the room.

When I finally saw the inside, I couldn't believe the sheer size of the place.

The common room was a huge rectangular shape, decorated with a mixture of all four house colours. At its centre sat a pile of assorted bean bags and couches. There were polished mahogany tables around these seats etched with the house symbols. Ok then, so they hadn't forced us to completely abandon our houses.

The sides were lined with fully stocked bookcases and desks for a more private studying area. I loved it already. It felt cosy, like the Burrow in a way, but more spread out.

I watched eagerly as everyone spread around the room, checking out the various alcoves around the place. Doors dotted its sides and end at intervals.

"Students, I have the list of who will be Sharing a dorm here." She pulled a piece of parchment from a pocket in her robes. "As the rooms are considerably smaller, only two or three students will be sharing at a time. When you hear your name, please go to your allocated dorm. You will find your luggage inside." McGonagall said, adjusting her glasses on her nose.

She began reading out the names a room at a time, indicating what door each student was to go through. The group grew smaller and smaller, until there were only a few of us left.

Ron had been paired with Dean and Seamus.

Hermione had been placed with Parvati and Pansy.

I wondered who I would be paired up with, and when McGonagall read out my name, I didn't even look about to realise that there was only one other male still here.

"Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy," she indicated a door near the end of the long room. Was it just me, or had she just smirked as she read our names?

'Finally!' I thought.

Now, I had a chance to end this stupid rivalry between us. Malfoy would have no choice now; he'd have to speak to me.

I started towards our room and entered through the dark wooden door. The door knob was cold in my hand as I turned it. The door opened inwards, releasing the delicious scent of vanilla. The room was decorated plainly with Gryffindor and Slytherin colours, occasionally even mixing them together.

I wrinkled my nose at that.

Two four poster beds sat to the right hand side, a long, rectangular mirror with a ledge between them. One of the beds, obviously Malfoys, had a green duvet and pillow with silver lining. I snorted. Typical Slytherins; they just had to go over the top with detail.

The other bed had a plain red duvet. That was much better.

I made my way around the room, entering the small bathroom complete with shower, sink, and toilet. I caught sight of my shockingly green eyes and ruffled hair as I turned back out.

He was standing there, by the door. Malfoy.

I remembered suddenly that I didn't want to keep being mean to him and tried to hide the scowl that seemed to automatically take over my features.

Malfoy looked as if he would rather be thrown off of the Astronomy Tower than stand there. He shot me a withering look.

"Come on ,Malfoy. Let's end this bloody thing." I said to him. I hoped he realised I wasn't going to let this go. There was no way I was going to keep up this fight between us and, one way or another, he'd have to tolerate me.

"Fuck up, Scarface" he sneered, shooting me a glare as he went over to his bed to unpack. Whatever had been wrong with him on the train seemed to be long gone now. The look of despair had been replaced by his usual don't-mess-with-me expression that I'd come to associate with with Malfoys.

"Merlin, Malfoy. What's your problem?" I kept my voice level. I didn't want to provoke him. If he wanted a fight, I wasn't going to rise to it. Then again, talking was better than nothing.

"Have a bloody guess, Potter! I have to share a room with the likes of you, why the hell would I be happy about that?" He snorted, eyes flashing dangerously as he threw open his suitcase and began to unpack.

I felt hurt for a second, then remembered who I was speaking to. I turned away from him, there weren't many ways I could respond to that. I didn't have any idea why he refused my friendship, then I remembered how I'd done the same to him back in first year. Surely he wasn't still sour about that? It was what..... seven years ago today?

Not even a sod like him would hold a grudge for that long, I was almost certain of it.

I moved to my case and began unpacking too. There was more room in here compared to the usual dorms, but I could understand why there weren't as many people per room here. It was nice to have some silence for once. I glanced up at my new roommate once as I lifted books and clothes from my case. His hands shook slightly as he moved them. I wondered about that as I finished with the case and slid it beneath the bed. Why would his hands be shaking? Was something wrong?

'Wait a minute. I'm worried about a Malfoy?'

I berated myself and kicked the thought away. No, I wasn't worried about a Malfoy. I was checking on my roommate, who just happened to be a Malfoy, that was completely different. I had the sudden feeling of eyes on me and looked up.

Malfoy locked his gaze with mine for a heartbeat, his face slowly hardening, then dropped it back to his almost emptied case. I decided not to dwell on that. He had looked so helpless in that one second, so broken, like he had on the train.

I moved away from my bed and towards the door, leaving him alone.

-------

The common room was packed, but that was to be expected. Everyone was sitting in a cluster, chattering amongst themselves. There weren't really any distinct groups that I could pick out, but I noticed Ron and Hermione sitting on the bean bag chairs, talking to a Hufflepuff girl I'd never seen before.

She had long black hair and electric blue eyes. Her face was angular and she was wearing dark blue eyeliner. I felt like I recognised her the more I tried to remember, but I couldn't place her name.

I walked over and sat down next to Ron on a red beanbag.

"How d'you like the rooms?" I asked him, smirking.

"Don't even get me started, mate! Just my luck to be put with those two bloody lovebirds." He indicated Dean and Seamus, holding hands as they spoke to a Ravenclaw on one of the couches. "Who'd you end up with?" He asked, turning away from the couches.

"Malfoy," I groaned.

Ron laughed "Should'a expected that, really." He smirked at my glower. "Bloody Malfoy, that's karma for pulling that stunt on the train." He paused. "Why'd you do it anyway? You really want to be friendly with that moron?"

"I'm tired of us being at each other's throats all the time," I stated.

"I just can't be bothered with him, to be honest. I mean, he's a Malfoy for Merlin's sake - it's in their blood to be gits." Ron shot a look at the blonde as he emerged from our room.

"Can't argue with that, mate." I chuckled.

I turned to Hermione, who'd been locked in a deep conversation with the Hufflepuff.

She glanced my way as I turned to her and smiled at me. "Oh, Harry! This is Juniper." She said, grinning at the girl next to her.

'She looks so familiar...'

"Hi! It's so nice to meet you," She beamed, holding out her hand for me to shake.

I took it, grinning at her as she turned back to Hermione once more. I couldn't place where I'd seen her before, but something about her......

"Mate, you still there?" I snapped back to the present at the sound of Ron's voice.

"Uh, sorry, what?" I stuttered, blinking a few times to re-orient myself.

He launched into conversation about who he thought the new teachers would be. I listened as he spoke and took over half way through with my own theories.

We must have stayed in the Common Room, chatting with each other and our friends, for a long time. I barely even remember going back to my room I was so tired.

All I know is, I woke up to the sound of screaming.