Larus frowned a little butnodded. "I suppose. I don't appreciate all of this attention on me though." He said, a little bit more pleased to drown out the old man who spoke up on the stage while. Dumbledore spoke of activities that would be taking place throughout the schol year and about classes. He was aware to get his schedule in the morning. He was thankful further when the food appeared at the table. It allowed him to eat without being interrupted in his thoughts. He was very much feeling utterly alone and he just wante to be somewhere where he could write to his lover, and feel the little bit of affection shared between them. He only nibbled at his food. He had no friend at themoment. He and Draco were not allowed to converse so much, and Harry was quite clearly not very friendly like he'd thoght he would be. He felt more than alone.

Ron and Hermione exchanged worried sort of glances at Larus and Hermione rested her hand on his for a second causing Larus to glance up in slight worry.
“What?”He asked, thinking he’d missed something. “I’m sorry, I’m lost in thought, this is all a little too new to me.”

Hermione patted his skin and then took her hand away. “It’s okay to be shy I think harry knows exactly how you feel. No one ever really leaves him alone about him being the one to vanquish you-know-who and all.”

Larus raised an eyebrow. “Vanquish? I think you mean that he pissed him off and he’s hiding in the shadows waiting for the exact moment to ruin another life?”

Ron grimaced “She means that he’s the only one who survived him. Haven’t you heard his tale?”

“Whether I have or not, have you ever wondered that maybe our friend here doesn’t like to talk about it? It seems to me that something like that being brought up over and over again might irritate someone.” Larus said in Harry’s defense, hoping to cheer the brunette up a little.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, while Ron looked scared, but Harry opened his mouth just in time. "Thanks, Larus. But that's not really necessary. I need them to remind me what I have to do sometimes, so it's not so bad." He smiled at them both, then turned back to Larus. "But I appreciate you defending me. There aren't many people who do that, lately. Everyone is starting to think I'm crazy..." Harry looked up and down the table. Ron and Hermione exchanged worried glances again.

Larus nodded and yawned."That's true I suppose." He stretched and yawned. "Is it bed time soon I really, just want to sleep." He said, craving towrite in his book and tell his lover the plan was moving around smoothly.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, mate, after dessert we'll be heading up."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Larus? You've barely touched yoru food."

"I'm fine, I just want to sleep is all. I'll probably pig out during breakfast." Larus replied reassuringly, poking at a potatoe.

Suddenly, Harry felt a little bad for Larus. Maybe he just had a lot on his mind because...he was warring with himself over what was the right thing to do? That seemed very likely to him, and his demeanor lightened a bit. "It's fine, Larus. Guys, don't pester him so much, I think he's just stressed. Don't you remember how terrifying it was to be at the front of the Great Hall in front of all of the other students." He didn't add that they had no idea what it was like to have so much light directed on them. Being singled out for something special about you was pretty irritating.

Ron turned his attention away from Larus and Harry, and began eating instead. Hermione opened and closed her mouth indignantly, but said nothing otherwise.

When the great hall all finally rose he followed after the others to the dormitories. "Does it matter which bed I have?" He thought out loud to himself. He was glad to be in the same year as the other so he wasn't completely alone and he waited for everyone else to get situated before he chose the bed on the other side of their room. It was three people to a room, and Harry, Ron and Larus were sharing. He saw his trunk was already placed at his bed and he lay on the bed with a sigh. "Well, will you mind leading me to where we get schedules tomorrow?" He asked, pulling out his jounral and his ink pen to write to his lord while he waited for an answer. 'I've been sorted properly, I'm in Gryffindor and am in the same room with Potter. Nothing's suspicious as of now and well.. I miss you my lord.' he wrote, sighing and wishing he could curl up beside the other. He also missed Draco, he hadn't the chance to see him on his way up to the dorms.

Severus stopped by his own house dorm rooms to be sure everyone knew the rules and wondered if Draco would show up at his office at all. He knew he could request the other, but he didn't want to show any attentions. Probably best to wait until after classes like originally planned.

Harry shook his head, answering the first question Larus had asked, even though it was rhetorical. "No, it doesn't really matter. Whichever you want." He opened the trunk at the foot of his bed and began shuffling through it for something. "You don't have to go anywhere for your class schedule. Professor McGonagall will give them to us tomorrow morning at breakfast." He shut the trunk, not finding what he had been looking for.

Ron sat cross-legged on his bed. "So, before you went to Hogwarts, did you go to another school, mate?"

Voldemort opened the little book excitedly and smiled as he read the message. 'Excellent, Larus. You've done even better than expected in rooming with the Potter boy. I shall reward you accordingly...' He hoped the implications of his words would translate without his tone of voice to go with them, but he did intend to reward Larus in exactly the way he suspected the boy would want. He just didn't know when would be the right time to do it. It would be somewhat difficult to arrange.

As Severus surveyed the dorms, Draco struggled not to stare at him. He forced himself to divert his attention to his trunk, shifting things around and trying to make it look as though he was busy with something. He didn't want anyone to think that there was anything between himself and his Professor, though he desperately wanted to go to his office, even now. He let his eyes linger on his back as the Professor left the dormitories.

'I look forward to it my lord' Larus wrote,sighing at Ron's question."I attended only my parent's learnings. They were both teachers at a school in eastern Germany, so they were able to equivalent me enough to bring me to your year in school." He said to them, writing one more little note to his lover. 'I miss you desperately and I only wish more that I was beside you, it's so depressing being here so vulnerably. But, I'll contend. Rest well my lord, I'm going to sleep' He held his book open as he waited for another response from his lover, hoping to hear at least some small word of comfort from him while he looked up at Ron and Harry. "Can we talk tomorrow? I really just want to sleep."

Harry nodded, and Ron answered, " 'course. Sleep well. See you in the morning." Harry looked at him a moment or two longer, then climbed into bed and shut the curtains around him. He wasn't really sure what to think anymore. He was convinced, mostly, that Larus was not working for Voldemort, not really. He was doing something against his will, to protect his own life, and he probably needed help, but was too scared to ask for it. He decided to sleep on it, and think it over some more in the morning.

When Larus woke it was to Ron shaking him, awake. He blinked several times and sat up. "Oh, is it time already?" He had gone to sleep in what he'd worn the day before and frowned. "Is there some place i can change? I'm not comfortable changing in front of others..." He said, rising as he pulled out his school robes.

Ron shrugged. "Sure, there's a washroom right through the door here, but uh... we wont look or anything."

"I'm sure you wont, it's just a thing... " Larus said, waving good morning to Harry as he went to the bathroom to clean himself up. He felt he needed a bath as well but he decided he would get one later, when there wasn't any people around. He dressed, brushed his teeth, brushed his hair and then met them back out in the dorm. "All right, I'm ready."

Harry waved and smiled half-heartedly. He wasn't quite awake yet, and waited for his fuzzy eyes to adjust to the light of the dim dormitories. He watched Larus as he walked away to the wash room, but quickly began dressing himself to go down to breakfast. Today was going to be a long and boring day, he was sure. The first day usually was. And for some reason, he always seemed to have Potions on his first day, which meant he had to see Professor Snape, and their hatred for each other would flare once again. "Great, let's go then," he said and smiled, as Larus came back from the bathroom.

"Hey mate, I'll see you at breakfast in a bit, I'm meeting Hermione in the Common Room before we eat..." Ron scratched the back of his head and shuffled out of the dorms, his sweater on backwards.

Harry nodded at him and looked at Larus again. "Right, let's go get breakfast then. You'll want to have something in your stomach for today. It's going to be a long day."

Larus nodded and grabbed his school bag and made his way to the great hall where he sat at the breakfast table after being stopped by his head of house and was asked some boring questions about how he was fitting in and then he grimaced. "I think I might just skip half of this day.. how boring..." He frowned and began to eat breakfast and sought out harry. After finding him he waved. "Let's compare schedules, shall we? I have potions, transfiguration, charms, defense and then care of magical creatures then I have lunch, and then herbology...."

Harry held up his schedule and looked it over once or twice. "It looks like we've got pretty much identical schedules, I have all of that, in that order." He folded his schedule and stuck it back in the pocket of his robe. "Great, Potions first. I can't wait." He sighed and ran his fingers through his messy black hair. For a moment, he seemed to forget he was talking to a new person. He shook his head. "Sorry, Larus, I forget you're new. Professor Snape, the potions master, isn't exactly my best mate."

Ron and Hermione showed up a few moments later, and sat opposite of Harry and Larus. "Hey guys, did we miss anything?" Ron inquired sort of bemusedly, and began stuffing his face with food. Hermione rolled her eyes and ate some of her food in a completely normal and studious fashion. "Professor McGonagall dropped our schedules by the Common Room before she came here, so what have you two got for classes?" Hermione laid her schedule out on the table so that they could see it.

Larus ignored the girl, eating a pastry, not really caring what classes he had that matched her, she wasn't important to him and neither was their pig friend but soon he figured he should play nice. "Harry and I have the same schedule, look at his?" He offered, wanting to write to his lover the good news and pulled out hisbook to do so. 'I've somehow managed to get the smae exact schedule as Potter... how lucky I am...' he scribbled before he closed it. "Well, I'm going to go run around in the forbidden forest, anyone up for ditching class?"

Ron dropped his fork, and Hermione's bushy eyebrows shot up into her hair. "The Forbidden Forest? Larus, you do know that's off limits, don't you? You could get expelled for messing around in there." Hermione cautioned him in a whisper.

Harry noticed the small book that Larus pulled out, but only regarded it for a moment. He was ignoring the reactions of Ron and Hermione to what he had said, he wasn't really afraid of the Forest. If there wasn't so much attention paid to him constantly, he would probably ditch class there as well. "Look, guys, it doesn't matter that much. We don't have to ditch class with him. Here, Hermione, you can look at my schedule." He tried to placate the girl with school-related things, but it wasn't working. She frowned at him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Suddenly, Hermione turned to Ron. "Aren't you going to say something? Talk some sense into him. You three are all friends, aren't you? You can't let your friend do something that will endanger him so much. At least..." She lost some steam and slumped in her seat a little.

"What, Hermione? At least, what?" Ron prodded her verbally.

"...at least not alone..." She seemed to have been ashamed for suggesting something so disrespectful to the rules, and Harry was quite surprised she had said something like that. Hermione had been changing quite a bit recently, loosening up a little, especially on her attention to the rules and her respect for authority. It was a refreshing change. Harry looked at Larus, then at Ron and Hermione and shrugged. "I don't really want to go. Larus, do you know what you're doing?" For some reason, he trusted that Larus wouldn't get himself into any trouble at all. It was just something he felt.

"I know what I'm doing. I may be a transfer equivalent of your year, but I have a few different spells here and there up my sleeve. I don't .. really even want to be at this school." Larus said with a shrug, checking his book for a response. "Well, I'm going to go play with unicorns or something.. or whatever's out there.. so.. enjoy class guys. I'll catch you at lunch.. or you could just come with?" He rose, gathering his things.

Ron thouht a moment. "You know, all of the stuff they teach you in thefirst week is always.. recap stuff from years before.. it wouldn't hurt to miss our first classes.."

Harry looked at Ron in surprise. He hadn't expected his normally somewhat timid friend to want to go into the dangerous forest, even in the middle of the day. The memory of spiders surely would have deterred him... "Ron, if you really want to go with Larus into the Forbidden Forest..." he glanced at Hermione, whose jaw was hanging open in shock, "...then I'll go with you." He shouldered his bag and left the Great Hall after Larus. He heard Ron scramble around for his things so that he could follow as well, and Hermione's disgusted noise at Ron leaving as well.

"She's really cross, do you think she'll tell somebody?" Ron huffed as he caught up with Harry, who was just matching stride with Larus.

"Nah, she'll probably stay quiet about us because she doesn't want us to get in trouble as well. Haven't you noticed lately, Ron?" Harry looked at Ron over his shoulder as they crossed the grassy grounds.

Finally, the Dark Lord was able to answer to the irritating tingling in his pocket. He had been busy before, collecting information, and trying to distract himself from his impatience to have Potter delivered to him. Larus' message made him smile, though. 'What a happy coincidence. You have made great strides, Larus. I am still working on the arrangements for our next meeting.'

Larus smiled as he felt his own pocket give a little tinge. "Well you two decided to join me I see." He said, pulling his journal out to write in it as they walked. He scribbled a haste 'I love you, and I can't wait to see you again... I'm corrupting said Potter boy.. we're all skipping class to play in the forest...' He slipped the book back in his pocket. "Well, let's see here...." they walked into the forest and he smiled."We should go fishing"

Ron blinked several times as though stupid "Fishing? Out here mate? There's a pond in here..with fish.. but they're not normal fishes and...well I'd be careful..."

'Please don't get yourself killed,' was the Dark Lord's reply. He wouldn't yet say he loved the boy. He wasn't sure if he could love, but he cared about him, and that was a drastic difference from the way he felt about everyone else around him. He pocketed the book again, but this time with a feeling of pride that his little lover was corrupting the boy in the meantime.

Harry looked at Ron blankly, recognizing his much-anticipated fear, then asked the next logical question. "What are we going to fish with? We haven't got poles, can you conjure them?" He remembered that Larus had said he knew a few more spells than Hogwarts students might. He looked around the forest a bit, then hoped Larus knew some good defensive spells in case they got in trouble. They had gone in pretty far.

Instead of complaining some more, Ron decided to change the subject. "Okay, fine, do you think anybody has noticed we're missing yet? Or if they're looking for us? I mean, if they are, there's no way they won't come in here looking for us." He looked over his shoulder. "I'll bet they send Hagrid in after us."

Larus grinned. 'I know many things..." He said, pointing his wand at sme branches and conjuring up three fishing poles. And as for bait? Well...I suppose I can transfigure some tree bark into worms or something." He grabbed some leaves when he realized he'd have to touch the trees to do it and he knew better than to trust too many trees in these woods, he'd read enough. He conjured them some worms and a bucket to put them in. "Conjuring is my specialty.. and don't worry if anything attacks us, I'll be sure to fight them off too..." He handed them each a pole, ignoring Ron's look of bewilderment.

"How did you learn all of this?" Ron asked with his eyebrows both raised into his hairline. "I mean really... you just made something alive from something dead....how much did your parents teach you exactly?"

"Enough to be on my own." Larus said with a grin.

Harry took the pole in hand and looked it up and down. It looked like a legitimate fishing pole to him. He had to admit that he was pretty impressed by Larus' skills. "This is...pretty amazing. I hope someday I can do magic like this." Though Harry was supposed to be some sort of 'chosen one', he had no more magical prowess than any other wizard his age. He had just as much trouble with spells as every other student (except maybe Ron or Neville). "So...do you know how to catch these fish? Is there a certain way to do it?"

"Wow," Ron remarked, as he too looked over the pole in his hand. He had a few reservations about fishing from this pond, though. He had heard more than enough stories, mostly from Fred and George, about the fish that lived in that pond. They had done their fair share of reading as well, but it never occurred to him that they might be stretching the truth.

"I reallly couldn't tell you." Larus said, shrugging. He wished he could have brought Draco down there with them to catch fish, but knew better. The blonde wouldn't of come even if he begged him to. He fixed a bug on his line and went in search of a good spot. "We'll just see what we get." He said, casting out into the abnormally large lake-pond thing.

Ron followed suit after a little shrug of his own. "I guess it can't hurt to try." He said, casting out with Larus. He was waiting for something, anything to bite. "i've fished before...it's fun, but I wonder if we'll catch anything too scary. I don't want to catch a mermaid or something, we'd be in deep trouble."

Harry hadn't learned to fish until he had started spending time with the Weasleys during the summer months. The Dursleys had never wanted to teach him anything like that, anything fun. He cast his line after baiting it as well, and waited patiently for something to happen. "I hope we don't catch a mermaid too, but mostly because they're just ugly." Harry grinned and glanced at Ron, then looked out over the dark pond, beginning to get lost in thought.
~*~*~*~*~

The first potion class of the year was filling out of the room and all that was left behind was one, Draco Malfoy, and the boy certainly looked troubled. "Draco, does something trouble you?" Severus asked while he approached the worried looking figure. He didn't have a class this period so he spelled his doors shut and placed his hands on Draco's shoulders.

Draco looked over his shoulder as he heard the door close, then looked up at his Professor as hands touched his shoulders. "N-no...nothing really..." They hadn't had much of a chance to be this close for a long while, and he almost felt nervous. "I was just worried because Larus wasn't in class...I...wouldn't want something to happen to compromise his mission..." He tried to cover the worry in his voice; the truth was that he was worried for his sort-of-brother, not so much the mission.

"What sort of mission is he on?" Severus asked while holding the boy closer. He began to stroke his hair and smiled a little at the nervousness he could feel off of the blonde. "Surely he's just off creating mischief somewhere.." He let his mind wander to class.Potter and Weasly also weren't in class...

Draco sighed and let himself relax slightly, though he still felt a little uneasy being alone with his Professor so soon. He hadn't been expecting it, and he felt that something more serious might happen this time... "Yes, I suppose you're right, Professor..." He paused. "Professor Snape...should I be calling you by your formal title, or something more casual?" He looked up into Severus' dark eyes.

"Well, considering there's no one around you may call me by my name." Severus said with a small smile. "If you're comfortable with that..." He added, looking down into blue eyes that were so much brighter than the boy's father's. He gently cupped the other's chin.

"Of course, S-Severus..." Draco stuttered a little as he said his name, and blushed because of it. It was a little odd, and he felt somewhat like he was disrespecting his Professor's authority. He closed his eyes and his lower lip trembled slightly. He was anticipating what was to come next with his Professor's hand on his face. The man was just so mysterious and sensual, despite his dark and uninviting demeanor.

Severus really did want to kiss those trembling lips. He thought about it and finly leant down and lightly pressed his lips to Draco's. He went to deepen the kiss when he stopped. "Draco.. you said Larus wasn't here in class, well neither was Potter or weasley...Larus' mission doesn't have anything to do with the potter brat, does it?"

Draco's eyes flew open and he frowned. "I...don't know if I'm supposed to say anything about it..." He was rather sure he knew more about the mission than he should have known, simply because Larus was his brother. He looked away. "I honestly don't know if there's a connection between Larus missing from class, and Potter and Weasley missing as well. They're in Gryffindor, so..." He trailed off, unsure of himself.

Severus frowned and drew his wand. "Draco, wait here, I'm going to go look for them, do you have any idea where they might have gone?" He asked. "It's possible Larus has been found out and I don't know for certain but rumor's been flying about that Larus is our lord's little toy and we know how our lord doesn't like his toys misplaced."

"No, I don't have any idea. But I didn't think Larus would do something to get himself caught so easily. He seemed so much more...clever..." Draco sat at one of the empty desks in the classroom, and sighed. He hoped he hadn't gotten his brother in trouble, but he didn't care about Potter and Weasley. He was sure that Severus would get them in trouble when he found them, but he wasn't sure about Larus... He sighed again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus made his way all throughout the school and afternot finding any of the missing students he went to the grounds, including the quidditch field. After he didn't find anyone there he searched the forest and heard Larus exclaiming about catching a huge fish and the sight he stubled on relieved him but angered him. "Just what do we have here?"

Larus looked up from the fish he was unhooking and frowned. "Hello, Professor Snape."

"Detention, all of you, and 90 points from gryffindor for skipping class." The angry, cold man replied, his arms crossed. "I do hope that will teach you a lesson. I'll have you three reported to the headmaster and he can deal with whether or not to expel you all."

Ron said nothing, merely whimpered pitifully and looked at the ground. He hadn't caught any fish, and his pole lay on the ground next to him, where he had dropped it in surprise when the Professor had appeared. He immediately wanted to blame Larus for having the idea in the first place, but he could only blame himself for following along with it.

Harry visibly seethed with anger, his fists clenched at his sides. How had he managed to be caught by his least favorite person, and lose Gryffindor points, in his very first day back at school? He supposed it was really stupid to assume he would have gotten away with this, but to have been caught by Professor Snape...though only ninety points taken away was pretty generous. He glanced at Larus, then at Ron, and Ron looked at the ground in defeat. Surely they would be expelled this time.

Larus glared at the older man. "I'm not going to your stupid detention." He said, throwing the fish back to the water. "You can't boss me around, I don't need my classes, I'm here because I was told to go, if I skip class then I skip class."

Severus desperately wanted to strike Larus for his snotty demeanor. "It's best you watch your tounge, little boy." He gestured the way back. "All of you, headmaster's office, NOW."

Larus shook his head. "I'm busy."

Ron blinked incredulously at Larus. "Mate, come on, we were caught, we need to go back."

Harry gaped in shock at Larus, and looked back and forth between him and Snape. He thought he was the only one that ever mouthed off to the dark and imposing man, but apparently he was wrong. "Larus, come on. We'll be expelled. Let's just go and talk to the Headmaster..." He actually held out a little hope that Dumbledore would go easy on them, though he couldn't see why he would bother anymore. They got into trouble so often, and this time was worse than ever.

Ron just looked between the three of them and the ground. Larus wasn't listening to them, and he seemed determined to stay where he was and continue making their teacher angry.

Severus glared daggers at Larus and wondered how he could get the boy to listen to him. "I suggest you follow along. I wouldn't want you to get kicked out. What would Lucius think of your disobedience when he is the one who put your ungrateful self in this school and in your year?" He hoped the boy caught his hidden meaning of their lord being displeased with him rather than the malfoy patron.

Larus frowned and sighed. "FINE." He said, louder then he intended. He turned his pole back into a stick and stomped off towards the ground.

"He's actually staying with Malfoy? No wonder he'd got an attitude." Ron said quietly to Harry as they began to follow after Snape.

Harry just raised an eyebrow and followed after quietly, his hands in his pockets, one of them clenching around his wand reflexively. He wouldn't dare curse Professor Snape, but he sorely wanted to. He wondered why Larus was so determined to break the rules, and wondered if Malfoy really did have anything to do with it? It seemed like...if he was working for Voldemort, he would be a much better student, with intent to make himself look as innocent as possible. With his behavior, there was no way he was working for Voldemort.

In the headmaster's office, Dumbledore seemed to be expecting them. He had been looking out the window when he invited them in and didn't smile when Severus explained to him the situation. "Skipping the first day hmn? It's only natural to want toexplore what's never really been explored before. And natural to want to go play and have fun." He said, turning to look at them more with a smile in his eyes though his face showed stern reprimand. "Have you punished them?"

Severus nodded. "I took 90 points from gryffindor and gave them each a week's detention." He said, pacing the room.

"Well, my boy, you're welcome to go back to your... class." He said, shooing the other man away. When snape raised an eyebrow and left Larus sighed.

"Look, I don't think we should even be getting detention. We didn't do anything wrong and it's up to us to keep up our education, as long as we pass our classes, why can't we just have some freetime?" He asked, not at all happy aboutthe detention.

"I see your point, but,at the same time, if I allow you to go off and have fun every day of the week,the other students will see this as a good pasttime and no one will bein class to employ my teachers."

"That's not true. Mortal colleges do this sort of thing all of the time. Students are allowed to have a choice as to whether or not they come to class." Larus countered with narrowed eyes. "They have plenty of professors."

"I suppose. Well, let me put it this way, just don't get caught again..." Dumbledore said, "And I will owl professor Snape and tell him you're not getting detention. However, be more careful in the future."

Larus nodded with a satisfactory air about him. "Yes-sir."

"Good, you boys run along now."

Harry could hardly contain his happiness that Dumbledore had let them slide so easily. As they left his office, he broke out in a wide grin. "Larus, how did you do that? That was amazing! I don't think Professor Dumbledore would have done that even for me."

Ron clapped him on the shoulder in congratulations. "You really saved us there, mate! But how do you think we got found out? And why Snape, of all people?"

"Who knows. Think maybe Malfoy ratted us out somehow?" Harry stopped himself short. "Oh. Sorry, Larus. Malfoy is pretty much like your brother, isn't he?"

"I haven't talked to Draco since the train." Larus said, pouitng a little at the news."I mean, he just.. doesn't want his Slythering house mates to bother him about being friends, let alone adopted siblings with a gryffindor, bad for the image and all. So no, I don't think it was him." He sighed. "I don't know how we got found out, maybe because we were all supposed to be in the same class butwere absent sothey came looking or something." He shrugged.