Draco and Harry stopped and waited for Severus. He put an arm around both of them and said softly, "I just want to let you know that I'm very proud of both of you. Harry, I'm proud of you and Draco for accepting Mr. Thomas into your group of friends and Harry for deciding to break tradition and all sit together.
Draco, I'm proud of you for seeing that Miss Bulstrode needed support and inviting her to be part of your group of friends."
"Thanks, Dad. We're going to be studying in the library until curfew in case you need me or Draco for anything."
"Thank you for letting me know, Harry. If I do not see you, sleep well and I will see you at breakfast tomorrow morning," Severus replied giving Harry a hug. "Draco, I will see you at curfew."
"Parkinson's a snobby bully," Draco told Harry as they walked out of the Great Hall. "She thinks she's the queen of Slytherin House!"
"I'm sure dad will talk to her about it if he hasn't already," Harry said. "Dad hates bullies."
The next morning Harry and his friends met for breakfast and decided to eat at the Hufflepuff table.
Pansy Parkinson walked into the Great Hall with a mutinous expression on her face with Severus following her.
Harry nudged Draco and nodded in Pansy's direction. Draco turned around in his seat to look at her and grinned. "It looks like Uncle Severus had a talk with her."
Pansy stormed over to the Hufflepuff table and stood in front of Millie. "Professor Snape says I owe you an apology for how I've been treating you so I apologize."
Severus rolled his eyes and shook his head. That wasn't what he'd meant, but he supposed that was the best he would get from the brat.
"Thank you, Pansy and I accept you're apology," Millie replied gravely.
Pansy nodded, stamped back over the Slytherin table and sat down.
Ron and Seamus walked in and Ron stopped short when he saw Dean sitting at the Hufflepuff table. They had seen him sitting at the Ravenclaw table last night and wondered why he was sitting with Potter and his friends.
Ron marched over and stood at the end of the table where Harry and his friends were seated. "Hey Thomas, how come you're sitting with this bunch of losers with a loser house?" He demanded.
"They're not losers, Ron. They're my friends," Dean answered quietly.
Vince rose from his seat, fists clenched. "And our house doesn't have any losers, Weasley."
Ron laughed. "Likely story, Crabbe. Everybody knows you get sorted into the 'Puffs when no other house wants you."
Professor Sprout had come up behind Ron and cleared her throat and said loudly, "Mr. Weasley."
Ron jumped about a foot at the sound of her voice.
"Ten points from Gryffindor and a week's detention with me for attempting to start trouble."
"Another ten points from Gryffindor and another a week of detention with me also for attempting to start trouble, Mr. Weasley," Professor McGonagall added. "Now go and sit down. That goes for you too, Mr. Finnigan."
Minerva and Pomona smiled at the children as they went back to the head table. Severus walked up and sat down beside Minerva. "More trouble with Weasley?"
"I can't for the life of me figure out why that child's being such a brat," Minerva said with a shake of her head. "I expect he probably feels overshadowed by all those brothers he has and wants to people to notice him, but he'd definitely doing it in the wrong way."
"I would say your assumptions are probably correct, Minerva."
Once they were done with breakfast Harry and his friends started for their class. Dean looked longingly at his friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Harry frowned. He wished they could all be in the same class
"Don't worry about Dean. I'll look after him," Draco said. "Uncle Severus paired him with Theo Nott in Potions and he's a good guy." He nodded at a tall, thin boy with light brown hair who was just leaving the Great Hall. "He's quiet and studious like Dean is."
"Who did Weasley get paired with?" Harry asked.
Draco grinned. "Pansy. He'll never hear the end of it if he goofs up.
Harry grinned too. "Do you suppose my dad did that one on purpose?"
"It wouldn't surprise me," Draco replied. "He paired Millie with Parvati Patil so they should work together okay." He waved at Harry and then cut off for the Charms corridor yelling, "Hey Dean, wait up!"
Harry and the rest of his friends headed for Transfiguration. Harry was pleased that he finally managed to turn his match into a needle.
Albus sat in his office sucking on a lemon drop as he thought about the 'Harry Potter Situation'. Nothing was going the way he had planned and all because Severus had decided to interfere! Ron Weasley was not playing his part either. He was supposed to be Harry's not too bright, faithful sidekick and confident not become his worst enemy! Perhaps he should owl Molly? One Howler from his mum might set him on the right track again, but no …alas it would probably make him hate Harry even more.
Harry wasn't supposed to be friends with Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe or Gregory Goyle who despite being sorted into Hufflepuff were still Slytherins through and through. The main problem of course was Severus – there was no way he was getting to Harry with Severus blocking his every attempt. He tried letting Sirius know what was going on, but tact and diplomacy had never been Sirius' strong suite so he blew his only chance of getting to know Harry. Remus, despite his quiet ways, he suspected, knew what he was up to and would be another block in his way.
Maybe he should joke about the Marauders more at the monthly staff meetings and praise them for their ingenuity in their pranks. That would certainly embarrass Severus and make him mad as he was the victim of most of their pranks in which James Potter was the lead tormentor. Perhaps it would be enough to turn him against Harry.