Your brother had been right.

Partially, at least. Hogwarts was big, even more so than the large, palace-like estate that you called your home, and you knew that in comparison to any normal witches' house, it was gigantic. And loud. Lots of unsavory voices surrounded you, turning what could have been a quiet and serene setting into a noisy and annoying prison. Would these idiots ever shut up?

"[name] Malfoy, please step up to the sorting hat so you can be sorted into one of the four houses." Your nose scrunched up as they called your name, all eyes in the cavernous great hall turning on you. A wry smile tugged at your lips. This was just how you liked it- all of the attention was on you, everyone was waiting to see which house you were going to be spending the next seven years in.

[e/c] eyes forward, you stepped up and sat down in the throne-like chair, waiting for them to place the old and raggedy talking hat on top of your head. You scowled slightly. It looked dirty, very badly-worn, like someone had been abusing it nonstop for the last decade. As far as you knew, it had been used on every single Hogwarts student since the school was founded- which meant that it probably was infested with lice or some kind of other unsavory parasite, from touching the heads of so many unkempt children. You didn't want any disgusting insects in your hair, you were too clean, too… elegant for such a thing.

Closing your eyes, you felt the soft weight of the hat rest upon the top of your head. It was light, not even heavy enough to push your hair down in any visible manner. Maybe that was because it was magical. But then again, a lot of things were magical.

"Hmm, an interesting mind, a tough decision...you have the brain to be a Ravenclaw, that's sure enough about you, but your ambitions… we wouldn't want those getting into the hands of the wrong people, now, would we…? You're cunning, intelligent, but not particularly brave..." That line made you hiss in anger, with a few peals of laughter coming from the students cloaked in red and gold- most likely the Gryffindors that your brother had warned you about. It irked you for the stupid hat to say such a thing, but you knew not to retort. If you retorted, it could anger the wretched thing, and you might end up placed in Gryffindor out of spite… or even worse, Hufflepuff. A low growl escaped your lips at the thought of being forced into that group of fools. Your father had always had some negative things to say about the students that were in Hufflepuff… many were mudbloods, unintelligent, uncreative, lacking perspective… it would be hell if you were trapped with people so far below your preferred caliber of peers.

"I think we'll have to go with… Slytherin!" A delighted gasp left your lips and you could see the table at the far left, most of the occupants cloaked in green, begin to cheer. A little further down, and you could see Draco, grinning and waving in your direction. You let out a sigh of relief. You were going to be in the house with your elder brother, and he would be able to guide you through everything that was to happen. At least, you hoped he would. Draco had always been rather protective of you, though not overly affectionate. So it was right of you to assume that he would protect you, should something go wrong.

Right?

(A/N: It would seem that the first time I posted this chapter, something went awry with the bbcode (or whatever the code for text formats on here is) and made it impossible to read... Nearly, anyways. So I'm re-uploading it. It seems to be okay now... Anyways, sorry for the wait. The next chapter should come within a month.)