It was an angry Harry Potter that wandered back into the Gryffindor tower that evening. It had only taken the short walk from McGonagall's office to the tower to destroy his good mood after leaving Kalina.
After his shopping punishment and Kalina's final words he was a bit at a loss. He still felt it was important to talk to Sasha but maybe Sirius had a point too. The Bulgarian Veela was the closest thing to a mother he'd ever had since he was eighteen months old. Her hug good-bye really brought into focus what the crazy cheerleader had come to mean to him.
Harry was so distracted by his thoughts that at first he missed the signs of an additional Auror presence. But once he did, he turned to Professor McGonagall and asked what was going on. His Head of House looked grim at the question.
"Professor Dumbledore took your warning seriously. He put in a request to the Aurors for a sweep of the school on Friday after your return. We had no response until Ms Grimsly, a First Year Slytherin, turned up missing at lunch. Ms Grimsly at breakfast and then went to the library with two of her roommates. When it was time for lunch, they were unable to locate her. Mr Grimsly holds a Wizengamot seat and a sometime ally of the elder Mr Malfoy so we had Aurors here almost immediately."
"Did they find any sign of her?" Harry asked.
"Not yet."
"Could someone be hiding her to make Professor Dumbledore look bad?" Harry asked. "It wouldn't be too different from what Malfoy tried my Second year." McGonagall pursed her lips at that thought before shaking her head.
"I taught both of Ms Grimsly's parents. Her mother was a Hufflepuff while her father was in Slytherin. I saw the panic on their faces last night and this morning. If this is a setup, I honestly doubt either parent is aware of it.
Harry thought about that as they walked. He didn't really have a problem with most of the Slytherins but the girl was only a First year. It's not like she could have offended anyone that badly yet.
"At least they can't blame me, I wasn't even here," Harry muttered. He heard McGonagall scoff and looked up and saw an odd expression on her face.
"They tried to didn't they?" he half-asked. The Transfiguration professor's expression answered the question. Harry started to feel angry and the Beast started to growl in the back of his mind. Everything he'd ever done was to protect people and stop Riddle and how was he thanked? Suspicion and glares. Even before the existence of the Beast was made public and gave them at least some reason to be fearful they had hated him. No… they hated Harry Potter while still dreaming of their Boy-Who-Lived.
One part of Harry said he should just leave. The Packs would take him in if he decided to stay in Britain. Or they could help him get setup somewhere else. But the rational part of his mind knew that Riddle and the Death Eaters would target Harry's family, his friends, and their families just for being close to Harry.
The wolves were right.
The Pack was the only thing that truly mattered. He would protect his Pack from their enemies and if some of other predators took down some of the herd - well that was their problem.
As Harry climbed through the entrance to the Gryffindor tower, all conversation in the common room came to a stop. His friends, including Daphne, Ernie, and Padma were in their regular places on the couches near the fire and were looking at Harry expectantly. Most of the other Gryffindors were there also.
The rest of the Fifth years were clumped together in a corner near a large tinted window of a griffin while Dean painted yet another picture of his girlfriend who was seated on the sill of the window. But what caught Harry's attention was the fact that although it was dark outside, sunlight was streaming through the window to highlight the girl. It was an impressive use of a Light Charm. Parvati sat on the floor at the feet of her current boyfriend, Jason Moon, a Sixth year, her arms wrapped around his legs while chatting happily with her ex-boyfriend's current girlfriend. Moon was a great musician and had his guitar in his lap. It boggled Harry's mind how the twin girls could be so different. That whole group, with the exception of Neville who was dating Sue Bones, seemed to trade significant others like chocolate frog cards.
Of course Fred, George and three Gryffindor Chaser girls sat near them and were probably been involved in one of their weird five-way flirt sessions. Rumour had it the five had been caught in a naked pile in the Gryffindor locker room the week before. Harry wouldn't be surprised but he almost wished he was naïve enough to miss their innuendos during practice. At least he could fly off alone 'looking' for the snitch. Ron had to sit in his rings and listen to it all practice.
Yes, the hormones were high in Gryffindor tower, but all that stopped when they saw Harry enter the room.
"As you were," Harry said with an absent wave. The sarcasm went right past most of them. He made his way over to his normal spot. Padma rose up to greet him with a firm hug and a quick kiss.