Harry Potter and the Heir of Slytherin

Friends

Harry stared listlessly out of the window, his eyes taking in and memorizing the sight outside while his mind was locked onto what had happened in the compartment with Daphne, Hermione, Lisa and Tracey just a few minutes ago. The incident that not only those four had seen, but all of his friends outside the compartment had seen as well.

It had been a long time since he had lost control like that. Not since he had truly started working on his martial arts with Master Wei had he gotten so irrepressibly angry to the point where he not only felt violence was the best solution to his problem, but also relished in the violence itself and the fear it inspired in the one he was committing said violence upon.

A part of Harry would have liked to blame it on his hormones. It would be very easy to do. Hormones led to an increase in testosterone, which often resulted in males acting more rashly than they usually did. When such chemical factors are involved, it was all too easy to take the most brash and violent course of action. Yes, he could easily place the blame on hormones if he wanted.

But he wouldn't. Master Wei had taught him that the only way you could grow was to take responsibility for your own actions. People who could not admit to making a mistake could not grow into their full potential and would be forever stagnating under their own ignorance and unwillingness to improve themselves.

That was the reason Harry had made his odd form of peace with the Dursleys. Even if he would never consider them family, or even like them, he had wronged them in the same way they had wronged him. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, or so the old saying goes. Thus, Harry decided to be the bigger man and make his peace with the people he was forced to live with.

He liked to think it helped him grow as a person.

Thinking back on that moment in the compartment with Draco not to long ago caused Harry to wonder how he could have handled that better. There must have been something else he could have done to solve the situation with less violence. He could have easily just stunned the boy and his lackeys and tossed them out.

But when he had seen the looks on his friends faces, the tears in Tracey's and Hermione's eyes, the helpless look on Lisa's face and the large bruise on the left side of Daphne's face he had just lost it. In that moment all he had wanted to do was make Draco Malfoy pay for hurting his friends, for daring to even think he could hurt his friends without suffering from the consequences. He had wanted the boy to suffer.

For a second, rage consumed Harry's mind at the thought of what Malfoy and his companions had done to his friends. It only lasted for a second, however, and when it left, Harry just felt tired. An exhaustion that had not been there before filled his being, mentally and emotionally draining him. It felt like that single moment of adrenaline that comes when he's sparring had kick started his system only to leave prematurely.

Harry had made a mistake, and as much as he would have liked to blame Malfoy or hormones or even both, he knew that the fault was with him. And unfortunately, he did not know how to fix this particular mistake. He did not know how he could go up to his friends and apologize for scaring them.

How could he, when he wasn't even sure he could look them in the face without feeling shame?

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to.

The door slid open and the sound of multiple feet hitting the floor reached his ears. Harry looked up, blinking as he watched several people enter his compartment. Only his Occlumency training kept him from gaping in surprise.

"What are you doing, sitting in here all alone?" asked Tracey, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at the dumb struck boy with her usual devil-may-care grin. It was a tad bit forced, but it was still there. "Why don't you hurry up and expand this compartment so the rest of us can fit in here too?"