Chapter 066

"I did as well," she answered in a soft voice, her eyes going from his to the floor, then back to his. "And you? Did you sleep okay?"

"Like a rock," Harry said with a charming smile. Susan looked down at her toes.

"Anyway," Harry continued after a few seconds, "I was wondering if you two would like to have breakfast with me?"

"Breakfast? With you?" Hannah's mouth worked just enough to get that much out. Susan seemed even worse off, her eyes having widened to the size of galleons.

"Am I really so awful that you wouldn't want to have breakfast with me?" asked Harry, affecting a hurt expression. Both Hannah and Susan looked at him in shock.

"Of course not," Hannah hastened to assure him that she did not find his company unpleasurable. "It's just—I mean—are we even allowed to sit with you. I mean, you're a Gryffindor and we're Hufflepuff. I mean, aren't we supposed to sit at our own table?"

"It's generally expected that you sit at your own table," Harry explained patiently. "But not necessary. There are no rules that state you must sit with your house, or that you can't sit with another house." When they continued to look unsure Harry decided to make a bold move, a Gryffindor move. He grabbed the pair by the hand and began leading them to his table. "So, come on. I want the first two friends I made on the train to eat breakfast with me."

Everyone watched Harry once more as he did something that had most likely never been done in Hogwarts for a long time, if ever. If there hadn't already been a smile on his face, there would have been now. Perhaps his example would be followed by those who have friends in another house. He could only hope people would eventually begin following his lead.

"Well, alright," Hannah said with a giggle, her face slightly flushed. Beside her, being silently dragged along, was a red-faced Susan, who couldn't stop staring at her's and Harry's conjoined hands. She was blushing to the roots of her hair. "I guess we could join you for breakfast."

"Great," Harry said as he walked over to a surprised Neville. He let go of Susan and Hannah, allowing them to claim the seats across from him, while he took his original seat next to Neville.

"I believe introductions are in order." Harry cleared his throat. "Hannah, Susan, this is Neville Longbottom. Neville, this is Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones."

"Erm," Neville stuttered for a moment, but quickly jerked his hand out and held it over the table to Hannah. "Nice to meet you, Hannah."

Hannah smiled as they shook. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Susan," Neville greeted with an unsure nod. There was no hand shake involved, but unlike with Hannah, Neville spoke to Susan with familiarity. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Neville," Susan spoke softly, as was her wont. "How is your grandmother?"

"Oh, she's doing well," Neville edged, and Harry sighed. One of the first things he had noticed about the boy was how strained he sounded when he spoke of his 'gran.' Harry had come to the conclusion that the Dowager of Longbottom was at least part of the reason Neville's was so underconfident. "How's your Aunt?"

"Auntie Amelia is fine," Susan said. "Busy, but she seems to enjoy her work."

"That's good."

Harry hummed in the back of his throat as he listened to the two. "I take it you two know each other from somewhere?" he asked curiously.

"Ah, yes," Neville stuttered a bit as he realized he'd been ignoring the Harry Potter. "My gran and Susan's aunt travel in the same social circles." Which Harry took to mean they were in the same political circles. It would make sense, both Longbottoms and Bones were considered 'light neutral' families; families that were light, but didn't necessarily fall in Dumbledore's camp.

Of course, that was before Alice and Frank—who were good friends with Harry's mother and father—had joined Dumbledore in the fight against Voldemort. Despite this, the Longbottoms were still considered politically neutral, and had become even more so in recent years.

"Makes sense." Harry nodded, then smoothly changed the subject. "So are you excited for our first few classes today?"

"Yes," Hannah said, her face lighting up in an excited smile. "I can't wait to see what we're going to be learning. I'm really looking forward to Charms class."

Harry smiled, and thus the conversation went along this vane. Harry made sure to ask questions to all three of his companions, mainly focusing on school and what they wanted to learn, trying to get a feel for what they would be good in and what they didn't like. He made sure to ask questions in a way that required more than a simple one word answer, and also made sure both Neville and Susan had an equal amount of speaking time as the more talkative Hannah did.

As they spoke—their conversation had turned from Hogwarts to their favorite hobbies—Professor Sprout and Professor McGanagall walked over to them, both smiling.