Harry's older self had very few friends even after starting Hogwarts. There were Ron and Hermione, of course, but nobody else. Oh, he used to be on friendly terms with most of the students and felt even a bit closer to his Gryffindor classmates, but he couldn't consider any of them as a friend. He had Quidditch teammates who were friendly and supportive enough and he even dated a few girls before starting the quest. Now, given a second chance, he thought he could gain a few more friends. Besides, this might possibly help prevent the pitfalls that led to the future they were trying to prevent.
While the idea of making friends was nice, turning it into action proved a bit of a problem. First – who should be considered? Among his dorm mates, only Neville proved strong enough, as far as he remembered, leading the DA in his absence. He thought that Neville deserved to gain his friendship, if only he could overcome his shyness.
He also thought that having friends from other houses could also be beneficial. It could also be fun, he was sure. Whom should he consider? Well, he knew who joined the DA that his older self led. For some reason, two Hufflepuff girls stood out: Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. Both were coming from light families and were almost inseparable friends.
He couldn't recall anybody his age from Ravenclaw, nobody who stood out, at least. He remembered Cho Chang, but she wanted compensation for losing Cedric Diggory. He hoped that the changes done so far would prevent that loss and many more.
He then considered the Slytherins. None of them would join the DA. With Malfoy and his ilk setting the tone there, no Slytherin was brave enough to openly stand against them. Yet one girl stood out in his older self's memories. Daphne Greengrass had never joined the other Slytherins in harassing and ridiculing others. She always seemed aloof, as if she was above all the petty behaviour of her housemates. There were a few more, but not as obvious. Maybe he could try and befriend her?
As always, he consulted with Hermione about the new friendships he was planning to seek. "Neville could really benefit from some friends and I'm sure he'd become a very loyal friend. Susan and Hannah are Hufflepuff, so loyalty is natural for them. I think Daphne may also prove a good choice. She's smart and studious, but she also has a wicked sense of humour, when she lets it out. I think that she barely tolerates her housemates and would have gladly chosen another house, if she could. Her close friend, Tracey, could also be considered, but I think she's going to move to America before next year."
"But how can we befriend any of the girls?" Harry had no experience at gaining friends. Dudley had made sure of that.
"I'm not the best person to advise about that, you know. I didn't have many friends either," she reminded him. She then gave it some additional thought. "We can invite Neville to study with us, I believe. We can actually ask the girls to join us too. I'm not sure how Daphne would take it. Maybe I should sit at her side during DADA and see how it goes…"
Hermione's idea worked well. Neville was glad to join the two for homework. He needed mainly a boost of his confidence, since he was quite good a student otherwise. He also contributed at Herbology, at which he was indisputably the best in their year, maybe even in the whole school.
The Hufflepuff girls were quite glad to join too. Harry suspected that they wanted to get to know The-Boy-Who-Lived, but were also glad to gain more friends. When they first met for homework, he was glad to notice that they lost interest in his fame within a few minutes and treated him as they treated other children. He was glad to be "just Harry" for them.
As expected, befriending Daphne was more difficult. It took Hermione several tries before the Slytherin even talked to her, unless it was needed for the lesson. But once she let Hermione in, she proved to be quite nice.
When she met Harry the first time, she got cautious again. "What interest does The-Boy-Who-Lived have in a Slytherin?"
Harry sighed internally but explained as persuasively as he could. "Before I came to Hogwarts, I had no friends. My cousin would beat anybody who showed the slightest interest in becoming my friend. Now I'd like to have as many friends as I can, but only ones I can really have things in common with. I've seen you studying seriously, as Hermione and I are doing. I thought that if you became our friend and studied with us, it could help us all get better grades. I like having friends and I think it would be nice to be friends with you."
Daphne stayed stoic. "Who else is your friend? I've seen you close to Weasley, and that's not a great recommendation. He's not taking his studies seriously. He doesn't even engage his mind before talking, most of the time."
Harry cringed internally, but couldn't contradict her, as much as he wanted to say something on behalf of Ron. "He's been the first friend I got, and he can be quite fun to hang around, as long as you don't have any serious expectations. I'm now looking for higher quality friends, who I can fully trust."
She raised a brow. "Would you, a Gryffindor, trust a Slytherin?"
"I'd trust my friends, regardless of their sorting," he said, hoping it would convince her.
She finally smiled. "I think it could be fun becoming your friend. Who else is your friend, besides Granger?"
"I asked Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. I hope you'll get along with them."
"Neville? Can he keep up to the others?" she wondered.
"He's more than good enough when Snape's not around, and I think he's already at Master level in Herbology," Harry said sincerely.
Daphne's smile widened. "Alright. I may not be able to join you each day, but I'll join you as many times as I can. It would be nice to leave the snake pit for a while."
\/\/\/
The library was evidently not suitable for such a study group to meet. Even the whispered conversation that Harry and Hermione needed when there got quite a few frowns from the librarian. A larger group would not be able to keep quiet enough for the library and still be effective, that was sure.
Another place that came to his mind was the ROR. It could provide the best suitable room for their needs each time and even supply books, yet it seemed too much of a hassle to use it for merely school stuff. Besides, it was quite distant from both Hufflepuff and Slytherin dorms, making it less than ideal.
"We may also like to keep it secret, since we may need it for other purposes in the future," Hermione commented.
That helped him decide. "We'll find an unused classroom, not too far from the Great Hall. We can even use some charms to protect it from eavesdropping or to even hide its existence while in use."
"And how will you explain knowing such charms?" she asked.
He shrugged with a mischievous smile. "We've found some books in an unused room that we couldn't find again later. Didn't we?"
Hermione smiled and slapped his arm playfully. "That may work, although…" She turned more serious. "...I don't like lying to our friends, but we simply can't tell them the truth, can we?"
Harry nodded. "Some things should better be kept secret for life."
\/\/\/
The first meeting of the group took place a few days later in an unused classroom on a side corridor. Harry and Hermione had found it by chance a few weeks earlier and now had a use for it. The entrance to the corridor was hidden behind a tapestry. Hermione had leaned on it to try and remove a small stone that got into her shoe, and almost fell through, finding that there was no wall behind the tapestry. Both children decided to check that place and found several large classrooms, mostly empty and well kept.
"I think that the house-elves use these rooms for temporary storage of class furniture," Harry said.
Indeed, there was a stack of desks near the back wall and a stack of chairs, although a few desks and chairs were also scattered on the floor.
"That also explains the lack of cobwebs and dust," Hermione noted.
For their meeting, Harry chose a room that was farther from the main corridor and only held three desks and a few chairs. They rearranged the furniture to make a U-shaped desk and moved the chairs near it. Some spells made the room cleaner and a few more spells assured the privacy of those within. It was safer to cast them in advance and raise fewer questions.
Later, after dinner, the three Gryffindors waited near the tapestry. They were soon joined by the Hufflepuff girls.
"I think it's better if we move in and only one of us stays here to help Daphne find us," Hermione suggested.
"I'll wait. You may go in," Susan volunteered.
She didn't need to wait long. A few seconds after the others disappeared behind the tapestry, Daphne came forward.
"I forgot to ask Potter for some discretion, but it looks like he thought of it independently." Daphne sounded relieved.
Susan shrugged. "We don't know much about him, and the childhood books, along with the gossip, seem to have nothing real in them. It may turn interesting to get to know the real boy behind those stories."
They joined the group at the table. Hermione cast a locking charm on the door, explaining, "It's better that nobody finds about us before we're ready. If we keep the door locked, anybody who looks for a room would go to another, unlocked one instead."
Although this was just a simple locking charm that was in their first-year books, they all noticed how easily she cast it and how precisely, as if she'd been using it for years.
"You're very good at charms, I see," Hannah noted.
Hermione shrugged. "I read all my books in advance and tried all the spells during our first few weeks at Hogwarts. I tend to pay attention to details, unlike many children our age, and that helped me. You see, the pronunciation and the wand movement are very important…"
It turned into a discussion about the right ways to cast various spells, some that they had not yet learned in class, yet it wasn't like Hermione was tutoring the others. Each child contributed to the discussion, either by mentioning useful spells, telling anecdotes about some spells they'd seen or used and even teaching some spells that others didn't yet know.
About two hours later, when they needed to hurry back to their respective dorms, all the children felt they learned quite a bit and also became closer with other members of the group. Daphne seemed the happiest about it. "I can finally spend some time with people who are fun to be around and who can help me enjoy my time at school, unlike most of my house-mates. It's like finally breathing fresh air. When can we meet again?"
Harry didn't hesitate. "We can meet each day after dinner if you want, but… wouldn't it attract unwelcome attention? Perhaps we should vary our meeting time? Maybe even find some more places and move around?"
"You don't need to go to all that trouble for me," Daphne said.
Harry shrugged. "We're all friends now, at least I feel that way. Why should we put you at risk with your house-mates if we can prevent it?"
Daphne smiled thankfully. "Tomorrow, the last two periods before dinner are free for me. If they're also free for you, we can meet then."
Hermione nodded approvingly. Susan and Hannah needed a bit longer to realize they also had that time free before nodding.
"I suggest we bring our homework with us, so we can really help each other with that," Harry said. "We should also look for other appropriate places to use, mainly for Daphne's sake. We don't want her to suffer due to associating with 'the wrong type,' do we?"
They all chuckled, knowing perfectly well whom Harry was referring to. Daphne then left first, The others waited a short while longer before also leaving the room. Harry felt that this was a huge step forward, for him, and possibly for the others too.