"Second is that no matter how someone acts outside of the club or how bad you treat each other, inside the club, we're family and each other's support. We all have different ways of hiding our identities and different expectations from our families, but whatever you do outside the club doesn't come into the room," Luna looked at him significantly.
Harry figured that if Snape behaved himself then he could too. He wasn't the one that started things anyway. "Ok, I think I can do that as well."
"Great!" Luna beamed at him. "Next is very important, but you never ask what creature anyone is. They'll tell you when they're comfortable, and they'll afford you the same courtesy. I feel it goes without saying that you never out a creature to anyone inside or outside the club either, right?"
Harry really liked that rule. He didn't plan on telling anyone he was a dementor anytime soon. "That's good. I like that!"
"Ok…you ready?" Luna took his hand supportively.
"Is there anyone else like you that can figure out what I am?" Harry asked tentatively.
Luna shook her head. "No, there aren't any other fairies in the school, and you said the house elves already know. Besides fairies and sirens (of which there aren't any in the school right now), magical creatures that pass as human don't have quite the refined senses that our more animalistic counterparts do, even werewolves wouldn't be able to tell what you were just by scent. You're safe until you want to tell them."
Taking a deep breath, Harry nodded. "Ok, let's do this…"
Luna canceled her ward and led him further into the dungeons, only stopping when they approached a classroom that Harry didn't remember ever being used for anything. "Welcome to Remedial Potions," she smiled as she opened the door to a brightly lit room with people from all years and houses milling about and laughing.
"Oh hell…what's he doing here?" A familiar voice indignantly drawled from the corner of the room, making Harry instinctively go on guard and prepare for a fight.
.....
"Oh hell…what's he doing here?" A familiar voice indignantly drawled from the corner of the room, making Harry instinctively go on guard and prepare for a fight.
"Malfoy?" Harry asked in resignation. Of course, Malfoy was a member.
"Shut it Draco, you know the rules," a tall, dark-skinned Slytherin berated the blond before walking over to Harry. Harry recognized the teen as a member of the Slytherin quidditch team. A seventh-year chaser, if he remembered correctly. "I'm Graham Montague, in case you don't remember me without my quidditch robes," the seventh-year smiled as he held out a hand to shake. "We all go by first names in the club, so call me Graham."
"Harry," the dementor said with a shaky smile as he shook the older teen's hand and did his best to forget that this Slytherin was known for his violent fouls on the quidditch pitch.
"HARRY!" an excited male voice called out before the Gryffindor was slammed into and a taller student suddenly was hugging him from behind.
Harry repressed a flinch and wiggled around to see who was trapping him in a bearhug. "Neville?" He asked in surprised disbelief.
"Wow, you're really cold," Neville finally let go of him and continued talking quickly like he was on a sugar high. "Hey, what're you doing here? This is awesome! We needed another fifth year in the club! Oh wait, Professor Lupin didn't bite you, did he?!"
"No! Definitely no!" Harry vehemently assured him, not wanting anyone to get Remus in trouble. "I'm not a werewolf."
"Neville, remember the rules," Graham frowned and kindly grabbed the excited Gryffindor by the shoulders and passed him off to Draco. "No asking what our new member is."
Neville immediately wrapped his arms around a resigned Draco Malfoy who glared at Harry like he was daring him to say something about it. "Sorry, Harry," Neville smiled sheepishly from Malfoy's shoulder.
"This is bloody ridiculous!" Malfoy growled out in frustration and jabbed a finger towards Harry. "You'd better stick to the rules, Potter. We don't take kindly to those who don't take the society seriously here."
"Harry," Luna reminded him.
"Ergh! Fine, Harry!" Malfoy crossed his arms, ignoring the Gryffindor draped over his shoulders like wasn't even there.
Glancing around the room, no one seemed to think that Neville hanging off Malfoy was surprising or even worth a glance up from their other conversations, books, or chess games they were currently involved in.
It was the most comfortable classroom Harry had ever seen with armchairs, couches, bookshelves filled with books, snacks on a low table, and many boardgame options. A couple people looked up and smiled at Harry, but mostly, he was quietly accepted into the room without much comment. Until… "Well…I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Severus Snape commented dryly as he entered the room and sat in a dark armchair that seemed to be reserved for him in the corner. "Did the wolf bite you over the summer?" He threw on at the end with a sneer.
"No!" Harry ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. "Luna said no one was going to ask me what I am, that's the second time I've been asked if I'm a werewolf! I'm not!"
Snape shrugged at Harry's outburst. "Werewolves are a special case. We have a buddy-system for them. Someone to cover for them in their classes and make sure they get their Wolfsbane at the full moon. So, we do ask about them specifically," he explained in a surprisingly neutral tone.
"He really didn't mean any offense," an auburn-haired, third-year Hufflepuff girl with amber eyes remarked. "My twin brother and I are half-werewolves," she motioned to a Ravenclaw who was reading a large textbook and taking notes.
....
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