Harry arrived back at his private quarters and set his schoolbag down on the table. This was supposed to be the first of his study periods, set aside for the completion of homework and for going over the notes that he had taken in class to make sure that things made sense and that he learned them.
However, he currently had no homework, Umbridge's class had not featured any note-taking, and he had learned practically nothing in Snape's class.
He cursed himself for stupidly giving up his morning break in order to write out the reports regarding the incident on the Hogwarts Express. He should have left them so that he could have written them now.
In the end he decided to pull out his question paper from that morning's History test and go over it in an attempt to imprint the correct answers into his mind.
He was just going through question twelve when, quite suddenly, realisation struck him.
He did not have detention this evening!
In spite of his fears, neither Dumbledore nor Snape had managed to say anything about him serving a detention before he left the office, and McGonagall certainly had not informed him that he had one when she had caught up with him, so therefore he didn't have one.
That meant that his date with Padma was still on and he hadn't made any arrangements to get a picnic together.
"Tippy?" he called out into the room.
With a pop, Tippy the House Elf appeared before him.
"Sir is needing Tippy?" she asked in her high voice.
Harry grinned. It was nice dealing with a House Elf that didn't fan-worship him like Dobby did and who didn't have a drinking problem like Winky did.
"Hey, Tippy," he said by way of greeting "Has Madam Bones found out anything about the food sample I sent?"
"Mistress Bones was giving the sample to Mistress Abbott to examine sir," replied Tippy "I's be bringing you the answers as soon as they is knowing them."
"Right, thanks," said Harry "Um, Tippy, could you do me a favour?"
"A favour?" asked Tippy "Yes, Tippy can be doing a favour for yous, sir."
"Could you prepare a picnic basket? You know, with a few sandwiches, cakes and things?"
"Tippy can," replied the House Elf with an eager nod "Should Tippy be getting the foods from the manor or from the castle?"
"The castle," said Harry "I pay my fees, so why should the food come from elsewhere?"
"Ok, sir," said Tippy "When is you wanting the basket?"
"Tell you what, I'll call you when I'm ready, how's that?"
The House Elf nodded and disappeared with a pop.
Harry went back to his studies.
Harry went down to dinner with no small amount of trepidation that evening. Having sat with the Gryffindors for dinner the previous evening, the Hufflepuffs for breakfast that morning and the Ravenclaws for lunch, it was now time for him to sit with the Slytherins.
He was glad that he was going for a picnic afterwards as he most certainly would not be eating much food at the Slytherin table.
Hopefully he would be able to sit himself down with Daphne, Astoria and Tracey, as they were the least likely to try and murder him.
That afternoon's Defence Against the Dark Arts class had gone off without a hitch. Professor Tonks had barely acknowledged Harry's existence and took the class as though he wasn't there, which was surprising given how it had been her spying on Harry for Dumbledore that had gotten her fired from the Aurors. Not his fault, but such things rarely seemed to count to magicals.
As far as teaching went, Tonks had a fun personality and was good at engaging students in the lesson. She instinctively refrained from talking down to them, as some teachers were prone to doing. However, she was also clumsy and had a habit on knocking things over. She had broken three ink pots in that lesson alone, much to the amusement of Harry's classmates.
Harry came down the marble stairs and arrived in the Entrance Hall just as a group of Ravenclaw fifth years came in from their Care of Magical Creatures lesson.
Amongst them was Padma. She spotted him but could not reach him through the bustling crowd that was making its way to dinner. Harry gave her a thumbs up and she managed to send him a smile before the tide of students swept her into the Great Hall.
Harry followed the crowd and made his way into the hall. Once inside he looked longingly at the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, silently wishing that he could be sitting with them, but he steeled him resolve. He had to sit with the Slytherins. This was his role now, and he had to be approachable to all.
The hall was now nearly full, so most of the school was there to watch as Harry made his way over to the snake put. The murmur of many conversations went quiet as every eye turned to watch him.
Harry was well aware of this as he approached the table in question. He spotted Daphne and Astoria and made a beeline for them.
"Good evening Daphne," he greeted with false cheer "Astoria. Mind if I sit here?"
The two sisters exchanged a look before shifting apart, making a space between them.
As Harry sat down between them, a red faced Draco Malfoy stood up from his spot further down the table and yelled "What do you think you're doing, Scar-head?"
"I think that I'm about to have dinner," replied Harry "And as part of my new role, I have to eat dinner at this table."
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