A/N this is one in a short series of one shots from A Better Ending.
I decided not to put these into the actual story just in case nobody likes them. Basically they'll be little snippets of Harry's life outside of the books; they'll explain how he got so close with his friends, and how he met the Slytherin twins.
This one is gong to be all about the boys through their first year
-/\- First Year -/\-
Harry curled up in his bed, shivering, he couldn't seem to find sleep. The bed was larger than what he was used to, so was the room itself. It was too open. Last night the amount of food caused him to sleep right away but tonight it didn't help.
He froze as he heard sniffling coming from one of the other beds, sitting up he looked around, wiping away the tear tracks from his cheeks. Ron was snoring loudly, making him smile lightly, the young boy was a good friend to him already even though they had only met each other yesterday.
On the other side of him, he heard a shuffling from Neville; the young round faced boy seemed nice enough, just a tad forgetful.
"Neville" Harry whispered causing the noise to stop.
Neville sniffed and turned over to face his new dorm mate.
"You okay?" Harry asked lightly
Neville shook his head lightly as tears continued to fall slowly and silently.
"Can't sleep?"
Neville nodded with a small shy smile
Harry smiled back at him lightly, "Yeah neither can I"
Harry looked at his hands for a moment then at Neville who still seemed to have small tears falling down his cheeks. Harry patted his bed inviting Neville over.
"Why don't we talk a bit, we can get to know each other more." Harry suggested lightly.
Neville bit his lip then nodded and dragging a blanket over to the other bed with him. Harry smiled at the boy and sat cross legged against his headboard while Neville sat at the other end of the bed.
The two boys started talking with each other, quietly and shyly at first but after some time, they became more animated yet still kept their voices low so that they wouldn't wake the other boys.
In the end Neville ended up curled up next to Harry sleeping soundly with a small smile on his face, as he thought about having a new friend.
The next morning Harry woke before the other boys so he quickly woke Neville up so that he was half asleep and was able to move to his bed before the others awoke.
-/\/\/\-
For the second night in a row Neville ended up talking to Harry until they fell asleep, but this time they weren't the only ones feeling homesick. Seamus was awake this time so, they got to know Seamus too, then the next night was Dean and the night after was Ron. All of the boys got to know each other and started getting closer but they all ended up in their own beds until one night Harry had an idea.
"Wait" Harry told them before they all climbed onto his bed.
He smiled at them and threw his mattress and his sheets on the floor, Ron caught on to his idea and put his on the floor too, followed by the other three.
They all sat in a circle with normal playing cards in front of them playing normal snap rather than exploding snap.
"We should set a night" Dean told everyone, confusing them "You know like one night a week we play games until we sleep"
"Another night can be a sort of study night so that if any of us need help, we can help each other" Harry added
Ron grimaced lightly but smiled anyway, knowing that he would need the help in the end.
-/\/\/\-
Harry curled up in a ball hugging a pillow with Hedwig over him preening his hair.
Snape hated him for no reason; these Potions lessons were going to be like the Dursleys all over again. He was going to be hated and belittled every single lesson. He could never escape it; he was always going to be a freak.
Harry jumped and flinched lightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He didn't think that there was anyone in the dorm.
When he looked around he saw Neville looking down at him in worry. He tried to smile but it didn't help at all.
"You okay Harry?" Nev asked
"He hates me for no reason, I didn't do anything to make him hate me" Harry sobbed lightly as he quickly clung to his dorm mate
Neville sighed and patted Harry lightly on the back.
"He's a git Harry" Dean's voice came from behind him as he sat next to the upset boy
"Yeah" Seamus added "He has no reason to hate you Harry, he doesn't even know you"
Harry looked up at the four boys around him; Ron said nothing since Harry already knew his take on the situation with Snape.
"No matter what mate" Seamus started "Everything Snape says to you, ignore it and remember that we're you're friends, always will be by your side through think and thin."
Harry smiled a watery smile up at his friends and threw his arms around them causing them all to laugh and pull each other into a group hug.
-/\/\/\-
"Neville?" Harry whispered anxiously as Neville shook in the common room once Hermione left after their little adventure.
Neville smiled lightly up at Harry, the three boys made their way up to their common room where the other two waited nervously for them.
After explaining everything the five boys curled up on their mattresses on the floor and Harry smiled to himself as he thought about the small family that he seemed to be growing.
-/\/\/\-
"A Troll!" Six voices echoed angrily and fearfully around the first year boy's dormitory.
Two of those voices shocked the first years as they spun around to face the third years Fred and George Weasley and Lee Jordan. Ron flushed and bit his lip nodding at his older brothers.
"Hermione didn't know" Harry explained to the occupants of the room "We only went to warn her and then the Troll ended up in the girl's bathroom with her and we couldn't let her get hurt"
The third years looked at the two boys who had started shaking as the adrenaline of their adventure slowly started to disappear. Fred looked over to the other two and nodded his head, and then he moved forward and pulled the two boys into a hug followed by the others.
Ron clung to his older brothers as he shook, thinking about how close he as well as Harry and Hermione were, to getting squished by a Troll, meanwhile Harry buried his head into Lee's chest shocking the older boy slightly but that just caused him to tighten his hold on the first year with a sigh.
All of them once again ended up on the floor of the dormitory curled in a cocoon of warmth as they fought away the fears surrounding the two boys as well as each other as they thought about losing the two first years.
-/\/\/\-
The boys wouldn't leave Harry alone as they thought about the fear that they felt as they watched him dangling from the broom, unable to do anything to help him.
The first year boys made sure to keep him in their site as they played exploding snap and other games and celebrated their first victory with treats.
The third years watched on with a smile, Fred looked over and noticed Oliver Wood standing in the doorway watching over their young seeker. Wood nodded to Fred and then left them without a word.
No matter what the outward reactions, all of them feared for their young seekers safety and wanted nothing but to keep him from harm.
The struggles of the young seeker as he tried his hardest to cling to his broom as if his life depended on it, and it did, etched itself in the older boy's minds.
-/\/\/\-
Christmas was absolutely brilliant, for the boys, Harry decided to make an owl post order, suggested by Percy Weasley.
For Dean he bought art supplies knowing that he had a passion for art, in return the muggleborn artist also gave him art supplies. Harry loved drawing just like Dean which gave them common ground.
For Neville, he bought a rare book on magical plants, knowing he loved the subject. Neville got Harry a pet care kit as well as a small book allowing him to read up about magical creatures.
Seamus received a book on Gaelic magic, due to his heritage, while he in return received a book about the magical families of Britain. (Including the history of his own family)
Ron, he bought a Chudley Cannons book due to his first friend's love of the team. And in return got a similar book as his friend tried to get him into the team but he also received a small journal in which he could keep his thoughts and sketches.
Hermione he bought a charms book which can't normally be found in book stores due to the rarity. She bought him chocolate frogs as well as a small necklace with a lily on it.
For the twins and Lee he made sure to get prank supplies that they had been running low on and they gave him a sketchbook in return.
He bought the Quidditch team a box of chocolates each and also received small trinkets from them.
He made sure to buy Percy, a load of supplies such as quills and ink to repay the older boy for his help.
He received other things too, but those are the gifts that made his Christmas special not even his fathers Invisibility cloak compared (but it did come close) to his first gifts from his new 'family'.
-/\/\/\-
Harry and Neville were both in tears as they thought about their friends reactions to the loss of such points. Neville knew there was a dragon; Harry had told him as soon as they reached the tower, hoping not to lose his third real friend.
The two other boys could hear the tears from their room mates; Dean got up and sat next to Harry while Seamus sat next to Neville.
"Ry, what's wrong? What happened?" Dean inquired
"Nev?" Seamus whispered
"We're sorry" Harry sobbed "I just wanted to help Hagrid and Nev was just trying to help me"
Dean gave Seamus a startled look then gestured up; Seamus nodded and quickly left out of the dormitory, leaving the two boys to sob their hearts out. Seamus soon returned with a tired Fred, George and Lee who quickly moved to the younger boy's sides.
"What's wrong with you two huh?" Fred asked softly as George gathered Harry into his arms and Lee did the same to Neville.
Harry choked back a sob and sniffed, as Neville clung to Lee.
"We lost Gryffindor one hundred and fifty points" Harry cried into George's chest.
"And how did you do that little Raven? Who did it?" George asked running his hand through Harry's raven hair.
Harry looked up at the nickname and sniffed, he gazed at George curiously.
"Hagrid had a dragon as a pet" Harry told the room softly, everyone either gasped or gaped at the young boy "Ron, Hermione and I knew about it, we got Hagrid to get your brother Charlie to take the dragon to the reserve in Romania and me and Hermione got caught past curfew, Ron is in the Hospital Wing otherwise he would have been with us. Nev heard Malfoy plan to get us in trouble so tried to come and warn us and he got caught and McGonagall took fifty points off of us each"
Fred and George both scowled at the mention of their little brother doing something dangerous under their noses but then turned to the two crying boys in the room with them.
"Don't worry Raven, we won't go against you, you or Leo" Fred whispered, Neville's head shot up at the new nickname given to him by the boys then nodded as he cried himself to sleep.
Two days after all this had happened the boys cried themselves to sleep as the abuse hit them deep. The older boy's tried to protect them but could not always be there for them. Dean, Seamus and Ron stuck by their sides no matter what, but it still hurt the first years at how quickly they can be turned on.
On the second night there was a timid knock on the dormitory door. Harry opened it to reveal Hermione in tears in the door, he took her hand and pulled her lightly into the dormitory where all their mattresses were on the floor and their books as well as some games were in a pile on the floor.
The boys all smiled at Hermione who stuck to Harry's side.
"You okay Hermione?" Dean asked
"My roommates are being horrible to me, I was hoping, I know it's against the rules but, maybe…" Hermione trailed off looking away
"You can stay with us 'mione" Harry told his friend, causing the young girl to smile lightly with small tears in her eyes.
For the rest of the week the young girl stayed with the boys, on a different mattress of course, unless she had nightmares then the boys would act like a barrier against the nightmares.
At the end of that week, Harry encountered Voldemort for the first time in the Forbidden Forest and three first years woke up in tears from nightmares of the forest they were forced to go into.
-/\/\/\-
As soon as the final feast was over, five first year boys, a young girl, three third years, and two fifth years ended up in the first year boy's dormitory. The five older boys were all pacing back and forth in front of three of the first years while the other three sat watching everything.
"I'm sorry Neville" Hermione whimpered lightly as she thought of her new friend abandoning her.
Neville smiled and hugged Hermione, "There's no need to be sorry Mia, I'm not angry"
Hermione nodded into Neville's shoulder and then wiped her eyes as she gazed lightly up at the older students.
"What were you three playing at?" Percy growled glaring sternly at the three troublemakers in front of them.
None of them had noticed Harry's slight flinch.
"No one listened to us Percy" Ron told his older brother meekly "We went to McGonagall and tried to go to Dumbledore but none of them believed us"
"Why didn't you come to us?" Lee asked
"I thought if the teachers didn't believe us then why you would" Harry answered softly
All of the older students looked at the young boy in shock. Oliver cleared his throat and crouched down in front of his young seeker.
"Harry, I'm sorry for what happened after the whole point's fiasco, I was too caught up in Quidditch to understand that I was hurting you. Next time you need help you come to one of us, understand?" He told the young boy softly
Harry nodded hesitantly.
"Ron, little brother," Fred started causing Ron to gulp "Unluckily for you, you will be with us all summer"
Percy rolled his eyes at his young brother "Harry, Mia, this summer I want you to write an essay on why you should have come to us before your adventure, including who would have been hurt if you had been hurt or worse killed okay?"
The two first years nodded in agreement. That night they ended with a bang, playing exploding snap and other games, forgetting about everything that had happened that year.