Who's Your Good Friend?

After all, whether they were in Ravenclaw and Slytherin or Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, first-years were still first-years.

Although plenty of the young Gryffindor and Hufflepuff wizards had a habit of sleeping in.

With so many classes for the new students, getting up early on the first day of school was still unavoidable.

After all, to help the new students adjust to life at school, and to make everyone get up for class fairly.

Hogwarts always treated everyone equally, making every young wizard get up early for classes on the first day~

Draco, Harry, and the others were merely half an hour earlier.

If I don't lure Potter away in half an hour, and that evil weasel Weasley comes along...

No, no, look at the time. There only seem to be forty minutes left before the first class.

That evil young lady from the Weasley family is probably washing up in the bathroom already. She'll be here any moment!

No, I got up so early today and didn't even bring Crabbe and Goyle, those two lackeys. Wasn't it all to catch Potter for a meal?

If Weasley steals him away even after all that, won't I have lost out big-time?

"Stop hesitating! Why would you turn down my kindness?"

At that thought, Malfoy grabbed Harry's hand and rushed toward the Slytherin table...

"Hey, Malfoy, I'm in Ravenclaw!"

"It's fine. Anywhere's the same!"

As far as Malfoy was concerned, the Ravenclaw table wasn't safe at all!

After all, Gryffindor and Slytherin were sworn enemies. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that.

Ravenclaw seemed to get along fairly well with both Gryffindor and Slytherin...

What if Potter stays at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast and Weasley lures him away afterward?

Although I don't like Potter, I still have to consider his safety, don't I?

I can't really let that evil weasel, that disgusting red-haired fox monster, trick Potter into going with her, can I?

Harry felt Malfoy's little, rather weak hand tugging him toward the Slytherin table with all her might.

Harry, who had originally wanted to resist a little, sighed softly.

He stopped resisting and willingly followed Malfoy, running toward the Slytherin table.

Oh well.

Since I'm here, I might as well settle in.

Anyway, our first class is in the Potions classroom, and we're all having Professor Snape's class.

I might as well go with Malfoy. With five people in our dorm, it'll save the odd one out from not knowing where to sit.

If I sit with Malfoy, that'll spare my roommates any disagreements~

Right, I'm mainly thinking of my roommates. I don't actually particularly want to sit with Malfoy.

Besides, don't those Slytherin idiots love giving me unfriendly looks?

Harry had thought about the reason last night and figured Malfoy was probably behind it.

The Malfoy family's young lady, and so pretty too-who wouldn't like her?

Yet all of Malfoy's attention was focused on some Ravenclaw boy...

How could they be in a good mood or look pleased about that?

Never mind being the Boy Who Lived-even being the merciful and compassionate Merlin wouldn't help!

Of course, since that was what they thought, and they had acted on it too...

They couldn't blame Harry, then~

A glint flickered faintly behind his round lenses.

Harry put on a slightly wicked smile and plopped right down beside Miss Malfoy!

In fact, anyone with eyes could see it.

The distance between Harry and Malfoy-their bottoms were touching, and their legs were pressed together too...

Only their little paws weren't tangled together!

Why does it feel like my heart's become a tiny bit wicked since I explored those wonderful spells?

He was starting to enjoy how those Slytherins couldn't stand him but couldn't get rid of him either...

Of course, setting aside those Slytherins' unfriendly looks.

The way that young lady Draco Malfoy ate her sandwich seemed rather cute~

"What is it, Potter?"

Malfoy took a sip of pumpkin juice. Seeing Harry holding a piece of smoked bacon on his fork, his emerald eyes behind those lousy glasses fixed unblinkingly on her, she couldn't help feeling a little puzzled.

Why is he looking at my face instead of my legs?

I specifically wore black school-style stockings today. Apparently, they look nicer...

Oh, right, the glasses haven't arrived yet. Is Potter getting impatient about that?

"Nothing. You didn't wipe the corner of your mouth properly."

Only when Malfoy spoke did Harry snap out of it a little.

Oh no!

Did I just lose my composure a little?

Ahem, how strange. I clearly don't have any feelings for Malfoy or Ron, so how did I get so absorbed in looking at her that I lost my composure?

Picking an excuse at random, Harry also picked up a handkerchief for Draco and gently wiped the salad dressing from the corner of her mouth.

"I..."

As Potter wiped her mouth for her, Draco's knees turned red once again.

Potter was...

"Ahem, don't overthink it. Didn't we say we were good friends?"

"There's nothing strange about good friends helping each other out, right?"

Harry was a little embarrassed now too.

To avoid causing any messy surprises, he winked at Malfoy and offered a brief explanation.

"Hmph, who's your good friend?"

Malfoy muttered and buried her head in her plate again.

Potter was so gentle when he wiped my mouth just now. Is he always like that?

Actually, it seems rather nice?

Only...

Watching Harry continue eating with his head down without talking to her, Malfoy started feeling a little flustered again.

I...

Did what I just said hurt Potter?

He's right, we're just good friends. That was just my usual habit, really, just a habit. I wasn't trying to reject Potter. I...

"All right, I'm done. Shall we head to class?"

Harry had polished off a hearty breakfast and now felt thoroughly refreshed.

Good heavens.

A nutritious breakfast with meat, vegetables, fried eggs, and pumpkin juice-a wonderful combination Harry would never even have dared imagine back with the Dursley family!

And with a cute Malfoy beside him to tease now and then, it seemed rather fun too...

As for what Malfoy had just said?

Come on. Having read the original, how could Harry not know what a hopelessly stubborn tsundere Malfoy was?

There was no need to take it to heart.

(Don't question the author's writing speed. The dashboard records a steady output of over twenty thousand or even thirty thousand characters every day. I said I don't use AI, so naturally it's all written by hand. If you don't believe me, run it through detection software yourself.)

(Also, copying and pasting in the writing assistant doesn't count toward writing progress.)