AN: Hello everyone. This a fic I am writing with Nemiriel (on AO3), who recently had their account activated. This will be a Joseph Duskgem (my oc)/ Harry fic. For those who read or following my other works, you know who Joseph is.

Do not be alarmed, those of you who are following my other fics. Since I am writing this with Nemiriel, this will not take up too much of my time, and distract me from the other fics.

We both hope you'll all enjoy this fic as much as we enjoy writing it.

Harry entered the library, hating that he had to do his work without either Ron or Hermione. He couldn't really blame them since they were prefects.

Ron; a prefect. Harry snorted at the thought and sighed. This was exactly the attitude that made Ron, Hermione, and practically everyone else avoid him. Ever since his encounter with Voldemort, he's been having these strange mood swings. One moment he could have a perfectly normal conversation but then something would set him off, and like how Snape could turn nasty from just condescending with a few words, his mood would take a sharp turn. He would get angry and irritated with zero patience and sometimes he could swear it felt almost alien, as if the emotions weren't his to begin with. Of course it didn't help that Dumbledore was avoiding him, or that the number of teachers he hated at the school had increased to two, or that everyone else was either avoiding him or calling him a lunatic. Let's not forget the fact that he, who had saved the school from disaster several times now, apparently wasn't good enough to be a prefect this year either.

Sighing, he stopped in front of a shelf. The book he wanted was two shelves up and when he reached out his open hand, the book barely moved. He tried again, and nothing happened. Getting annoyed, he brought out his wand and casted a Summoning charm on the book, but it only made the large tome shake.

"Accio book!" Harry yelled.

The book finally flew into Harry's hand, but it took four others with it.

"Really? Someone who can't get a book out properly faced the Dark Lord three times and survived?" Someone said.

Harry turned to see a male seated beside the wall looking at him. He was tall, fit, and pale. He had short black hair, which was combed neatly to one side, amber eyes that hid behind silver, rectangular glasses, and his pointed face was expressionless. What Harry noticed next was the Slytherin crest on the other person's robes and he sneered.

"What do you care?" Harry asked as he began picking up the books.

"Just curious." The other male admitted as he stood, walking towards Harry. "If you can't do everyday tasks properly, it's amazing that you faced You-Know-Who three times, and lived to tell the tale."

Harry looked up and glared at the Slytherin, who still was looking at him with the same emotionless expression. They stared at each other for a while before the Slytherin took out his wand and waved it, making all the books, except the one Harry wanted, return to the shelf. Harry stood and kept his gaze on the taller raven. He looked to be an inch and a half taller. What he found confusing about this person, however, was that he had not insulted him or called him a liar. In fact, he said that he believed him, indirectly. Watching warily, Harry thanked the Slytherin and took the seat next on the opposite wall. He opened the book and began reading about moonstone, grumbling, complaining, and groaning every few minutes.

"If it's not too much of a bother, could you read more quietly?" A voice asked so suddenly it made Harry jump.

He turned to see Slytherin standing next to him. He wondered how he got so close without him noticing.

"Do you have superhuman hearing?" Harry asked.

"We're in the row that borders the Forbidden Section." The Slytherin pointed out. "It's near the end of the library, no one really comes here, and it's our, fifth years' free period on a Friday. Do you really think there'd be a lot of people in the library?"

"Well, it's not like you own the library." Harry said.

"Neither do you." The Slytherin returned. "So if you can't keep yourself from making noise and disturbing those of us who came to read in peace, then it would be appreciated if you just borrowed that book and left."

"It must be nice having the strictest teacher who handles the hardest subject favour your house." Harry spat. He had no real reason to be angry at the Slytherin, but he just was. It was yet again one of those moments when his patience suddenly vanished and he found it increasingly difficult to remain polite.

"It wouldn't be hard for you if you just paid attention and not talk to your friend during class." The taller raven pointed out. "All that favour does for us is keeping house points deducted during his class. In fact he expects more success from us than anyone else. If anyone has a right to complain about Potions, its us, but we don't because we know that Snape being strict on us will help us in the long run. The rest of you just don't know how to listen."

"Well how do you expect me to listen to someone who keeps insulting me?"

"Well, why do you give him more reasons to insult you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Majority of the time he insults you or calls you out on your mistakes, he compares you to your father, how he was so arrogant that he didn't pay attention in class, relying on his friends to help complete his work. That's what Snape sees when you don't pay attention in class. It gives him ammunition, especially since he knows your parents are a touchy subject."

"So what, do I start paying attention to him, even if I don't understand a single word he's saying?"

"All you have to do to understand what's going on is to read, pay attention, and listen. Do well in class and prove Snape wrong. That'll shut him up."

Harry took in a deep breath to stop his mouth from blurting anything too offensive. Then his mind finally registered the said words and he stared at the Slytherin. He was right; the thing that'll probably shut Snape up and put him in the foulest mood possible was to do well in the subject he taught.

"Thanks, I suppose." Harry said with a stiff nod.

"No problem." The taller male said. "You should stop associating the subject with the one teaching it. My father always thought I'd end up competing with Lily Evans's child for the top place in Potions class."

"Your dad knew my mom?" Harry asked, his irritation vaning.

"They were only in class together." The other male answered. "Since the first day, they competed to be the best. That competition only intensified once they were in their N.E.W.T. level class."

"I doubt I'll be able to get into the N.E.W.T. level classes if I can't even finish this essay." Harry sighed.

The Slytherin moved closer and scanned the page Harry was reading. Harry was confused when the other teen took a seat and started writing on a piece of parchment.

"Here." He said as he handed the parchment to Harry. "Those are the moonstone's main properties, what its most commonly used for, and which ingredients it works best with, and which one's it'll have a negative reaction to."

"Thanks, but why are you helping me?" Harry asked, now even more confused.

"Well, as much as I respect Professor Snape, I'd like to see what it looks like when he's proven wrong." The Slytherin answered with a smirk, making Harry smile slightly.

"You're in the same year as I am?" Harry asked and the other teen nodded. "Sorry, but I don't know your name."

"It's Joseph Duskgem." The taller male replied. "And don't worry about it. One of the perks of going unnoticed is that people tend to talk about secrets near you."

"Really, like what?" Harry asked.

"You didn't hear this from me." Joseph said. "But Susan Bones said that Ernie Macmillan saw Justin Finch-Fletchley go into one of the old, classrooms on the fifth floor with Michael Corner, and left ten minutes later sweaty, their hair disheveled, and looking like they put their clothes on in a hurry."

Harry chuckled, his good mood returning. That wasn't really surprising information. Ever since their second year and after Justin apologised for accusing Harry of being behind the attacks, the two had become friends. Harry eventually figured out that Justin was gay, and seeing him staring at Cedric proved him right.

"Well, I better get back to my common room." Joseph said as he stood. "Try not to displace any more books."

"Not making any promises." Harry said with a small smile. Perhaps tolerable Slytherins existed anyway.

Joseph nodded before leaving. Thanks to Joseph's help, he finished his essay within the hour and he spent the rest of his day in a great mood.

Potions class was underway the next Monday. As the students worked on the assigned Potion for the day, Snape began handing out the essays, which he graded the first ten minutes of the class. As expected, he praised the Slytherins when he handed their papers back and insulted nearly every Gryffindor except Hermione, who he merely sneered at. Then the greasy-haired Potions Master stopped in front of Harry's and Ron's workstations.

"As expected, even with two days Weasley, you couldn't learn that moonstone would cause an explosion when mixed with dragon's blood, which is common knowledge. And you, Potter." Snape stared at Harry after handing Ron his paper.

Snape looked like he didn't know whether to sneer, smirk, or glare at Harry. After a few more seconds, Snape handed him his essay and Harry was surprised and pleased to see a grade of Exceeds Expectations.

"I suppose everyone can get lucky once in a while." Snape said. "Your father was lucky he had that leech Slughorn teaching him."

With that, Snape moved to the next station. If that was the best Snape could think of, the rest of class would probably be smooth sailing. Harry turned and saw Joseph being attentive to his potion. He was next to Malfoy, who looked as equally focused on his work. Harry returned to his work, focused, read the instructions on the board and his book and at the end of the class, all Snape could do was sneer at his bottled potion. Joseph was right behind him and he gave the Gryffindor a small nod and a smirk before handing in his finished product.

For the rest of the day, Harry was in a great mood. He didn't utter a single word in Umbridge's class. At dinner he even had a pleasant conversation with Ron and Hermione that didn't involve any of the usual rows about Harry and his problems. Having finished their meal, Ron and Hermione went to do their rounds and Harry headed for the library. Partly because of his assignments but mostly because he liked that quiet, unassuming place where not many people would bother him. Maybe he also thought he'd run into Joseph again or whatever. He didn't know if it was from wanting to thank him, to see if he had any other ideas to rile Snape up, or just to talk to him. That last reason made him think; he wanted to talk to someone from Slytherin. Yup, he's finally loosing it. Granted, Joseph wasn't exactly a git and didn't actually insult Harry. But still, you could never be too careful where the Slytherins are concerned. He always thought that most of them would turn out to be just like Malfoy. Then he realised that it was Ron who told him that, which was probably the only reason he didn't want to be put in Slytherin.

As soon as Harry entered the library, he headed towards the back and stopped at the aisle bordering the Forbidden Section.

"If you're here for help again, you're out of luck." Joseph said from his seat.

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"You won't always be able to rely on others' expertise." Joseph pointed out. "You should learn to do things by yourself."

"Well, I do have work, but I don't need that much help in them." Harry said, taking the seat next to the Slytherin.

"Then why are you here?" Joseph asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I'm here to study." Harry replied matter-of-factly and Joseph gave him a 'no shit' look. "And your company is more tolerable than that of someone who thinks I'm a liar or a lunatic."

Harry began working on his assignments while Joseph read a book, answering Harry's questions. Harry didn't need much help since his assignments were on Charms and Transfiguration, the two subjects he liked the most.

"So, why do you believe me?" Harry asked. "It's not like you have any reason to."

"But I also don't have a reason not to." Joseph replied. "Let's look at it logically; the Ministry is doing everything it can to stop any talk of You-Know-Who, be it by slandering your and Dumbledore's names in the papers, kicking out Dumbledore from the ICW and Wizengamot, sending one of their employees to teach here, and holding a criminal trial for a case of underage magic. Fudge is investing too much time and resources for it to be a lie. Besides, you don't look like the person who'd lie about something as serious as that just to be in the spotlight."

Harry appreciated the Slytherin saying that.

"You don't think I like the spotlight?" Harry asked.

"Draco's been making out like you do." Joseph said. "But I doubt it. The reason you were in the spotlight to begin with was because of something tragic. Besides, I think Draco's just jealous because the spotlight's not on him."

Any cheerfulness present in Harry evaporated at that moment. His expression contorted into a sneer but it passed quickly and settled into a frown. "So, you're close to Malfoy?" Harry asked and Joseph nodded. ''You're friends with Malfoy, figures… Do your parents...have the same..."

"I'm a pure-blood and my first name is Joseph." The taller raven stated. "So no, none of my family members are blood purists."

"What side were they on in the first war?" Harry asked bluntly.

"Neither." Joseph replied and Harry raised an eyebrow. "People think that in a civil war, there are only two sides fighting. But there are those who are fighting to make sure that the war doesn't destroy everything in our world."

"Alright, but I don't think they could've stayed neutral." Harry said, watching Joseph carefully.

"They were inducted as Death Eaters, but they had different loyalties from the start. They're masters at playing both sides. They gave information to You-Know-Who that seemed important, but wouldn't give him too much of an advantage. And they gave critical information to the Order."

"So, what do your parents do?"

"My mother is a member of the Wizengamot, and my father is a healer at St. Mungo's."

Harry returned to his assignments, noticing that the Slytherin looked a little uncomfortable. Although he might have been a little too straight forward, he wouldn't take the words back. He and Joseph have only talked twice, after all. One does not go blindly trusting others, Harry learnt that at least. A few minutes after he finished, Madame Pince approached them and reminded them of curfew. The corridors were abandoned, so the two had no problem walking together, but they walked in a tense silence.

"Did I touch a sensitive topic earlier?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but it's not that I have a bad relationship with my parents." Joseph answered. "I have a great relationship with them. I just don't like talking about what they did in the war, because it will eventually lead to me talking about…what they were forced to do."

"I apologise." Harry said

"You don't have to, you didn't know." Joseph said. "Besides, no one brings it up anymore except for the people who hate Slytherins for no logical reason."

"Well, it was nice talking to you." Harry said and Joseph nodded. "See you around."

Joseph stared at Harry and just when the Gryffindor thought he'd say something back, the Slytherin only nodded again. He bade Harry good night before continuing down the staircase.