your name on my wrist || drarry soulmates au

4 || it's almost as if the world is against me

// okay, I know this is a very large time skip, so just assume that August was filled with a lot of awkward interactions with Ginny and Molly being overbearing for Harry, and lots of awkward conversations with Pansy since they've started the courting process for Draco... Also. I may have gone a bit overboard with angsty memories that have no real connection to the story but it's FINE. //

Harry - September 1, 1998

The carriage ride up to the castle was strangely nostalgic, but something was off. The castle still looked just as grand as usual, but the air was filled with a strange sense of wrongness. It didn't seem like Harry and his friends could go back to the castle and start their 8th year as if it was just normal, like nothing ever happened there.

It was just wrong to see the crews of wizards and witches in gray work robes levitating pieces of stone to repair the left wing. It was just wrong to see piles of un-salvageable rubble mixed with dented plates from the suits of armor sitting where an open field used to be. 

The scars of the war marred the one place Harry felt at home.

But Hogwart's entrance seemed as grand as usual as hundreds of students walked up to it and through the towering front doors. Some wore a ghostlike look of remembrance as they surveyed the damage, and some were faces that were younger and didn't remember any fighting, but still were scarred by the horrors of the last year. Harry didn't even want to think about the youthful faces of the first-years as they looked up at the castle for the first time, seeing the magnificence of the towers deformed by miscast spells and the memories of terrors past. 

But Harry forgot it all when he stepped into the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione by his side. The place had been totally reformed, the magical ceiling restored (now showing the cloudless, starry night sky), the bright floating candles replenished, the tables polished, and the walls hung with tapestries depicting every house's colors. To Harry, it now resembled a cathedral more than a bleak structure where so many dead lay just months before.

Harry scanned the room as students meandered in, finding their seats at their House tables. His eyes caught at the Slytherin table as a certain blond definitely-not-soulmate turned towards him at the gesture of Pansy Parkinson. Draco Malfoy's smile dropped off his lips as they locked eyes. Harry could see the clear gray with the storminess around the pupil perfectly, even across the room, for the split second that they were both frozen in place. Or maybe that was just because Harry had the color memorized.

Harry shook his head and turned away quickly, speeding up as he followed Ron and Hermione to the Gryffindor table. He ignored the heat rising up his neck and vowed to push thoughts of Draco Malfoy out of his mind, but this was growing difficult as now he had a refreshed memory of Draco's attractively high cheekbones and raised eyebrows, a pink tint to his cheeks that matched his thin yet plump lips. Those lips looked quite kissable, as well.

Shut up, brain, Harry thought.

After Professor McGonagall addressed the school, the rest of the meal went as smoothly as Harry could hope after his mind shifted from thoughts of Draco to the delicious first-evening feast.

But the innocence of Harry's thoughts didn't last for long afterward.

As soon as she had made the end-of-feast remarks, the now-Headmistress McGonagall led the eighth years up to an unfamiliar hallway. There were occasional flashes of white at the edge of Harry's vision as he walked, as unfortunately, the torches that lit the stone halls glinted off of Draco's hair, and Harry's attention kept being unwillingly pulled towards Draco, and then his thoughts spiralled into what-ifs, and generally the walk was a very uncomfortable one.

McGonagall stopped at a tapestry that didn't look any different from the ones around it - simple, neutral tones - and turned to face the 8th years.

"The password for your new common room will change monthly, and you are not to tell any younger students what it is. We have done up this room for your class specifically because it is much smaller, and because we want you to interact with each other and rebuild inter-house connections. The war is over, and there shall be no more petty rivalries between house members," she explained. Her eyes seemed to linger on Harry and Draco.

"You will have classes with your fellow eighth-years. You will have the opportunity to go to Hogsmeade whenever you wish, except you should be back in the castle no later than 11 pm and should not go out again until 7 am. As it is not fair to the younger students, eighth years will not be permitted to play on the House quidditch teams-" at this there was an outburst, most noticeably from Harry and Draco-

"-but you will have the opportunity to help your team train at the request of the captain and you are permitted to use the pitch whenever as long as it is not booked for a match, a team practice, or the first-year class. And, as you are of age, alcohol is permitted but only in your common room. I advise you to use responsibly."

She surveyed the gathering of students sternly as many of them muttered excitedly under their breath.

"And, last but not least," she continued, her face softening, "you will find your roommates on the sheet on the bulletin board in your room. Your assignments are non-negotiable, but your heads of Houses and I believe we have chosen well."

Professor McGonagall smiled, and with a tap of her wand, she said, "Shizzewizzle!" and the tapestry rolled up to reveal an archway into the eighth-year common room.

Chattering with enthusiasm, the students rushed into the room. Most of them immediately crowded around the roommates list, but Harry followed Ron further in and surveyed the room.

"It's nice!" he said. The room reminded him of the Gryffindor common area, but was toned in beige and brown rather than red and gold - Harry supposed this was to promote house unity. There were many comfortable-looking couches and armchairs scattered about the room with two grand fireplaces flickering with golden light on either end of the rectangular space. Tables and chairs of various sizes lined the back wall, and two tall archways led the way into the rooms themselves.

"It definitely is," said Ron. "Harry, you reckon we'll be placed together?"

"I hope so," Harry sighed.

"Hey, Harry?" Hermione said, walking from the bulletin board towards the pair of them. "You should probably look at your roommate assignment."

Harry furrowed his brows, noticing Hermione's concerned expression. As he walked towards the board, he noticed Draco Malfoy looking particularly white but somehow very red at the same time, and Harry was briefly worried and wondered what was wrong. He then came to his senses and reminded himself that he did not care about anything to do with Draco Malfoy.

Harry scanned the board. When he found his name, he did a double take.

It seemed like the universe was against him, because right next to Potter, Harry were the words Malfoy, Draco.

This could not be happening.

// Soooo... This is kind of a filler chapter with like 1 important sentence in it... but I really enjoyed writing about the eighth years being back at Hogwarts and the rules of the common room and such, it was just so fun to consider! So, I hope you liked it :)

As always, please vote if you enjoyed it, it means so much to me! And of course, I love reading all your comments. Ily!! xx James //