What does it mean to be both the Only Heir of Godric Gryffindor and the Royal Descendent of Salazar Slytherin? Harry it about to find out, but which will he chose? Will he be allowed to choose? H/D, H/G, and possibly some H/Hr.

I am having a character Gender problem, here. I don't know whether either Moon or Morag MacDougal are boys or girls, so I made them both girls. I also made Blaise Zabini a girl, even though I know Blaise is make, thanks to HBP. I also had I little trouble with Snape, here. So, if you have any suggestions, please tell me.

This is a working title which I don't really like so, any suggestions?

P.S. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING PLEEEEEEASE DON'T SUE ME...weeps piteously Thank You.

Anything you recognize is probably from the first book, because I did take bits and pieces of it.

Prologue – A different beginning

"Potter, Harry" That crisp, stern voice called, and the immense Hall broke into frantic whispers.

The boy with the messy black hair and stunningly green eyes held his head high, despite the queasy feeling in his stomach. He walked proudly to the stool in the front of the Hall. In the eyes fixed on him, veiled respect at the way he commanded attention without trying was hidden behind awe. He sat regally and the Hat was placed on his head.

Well, Well, boy. Harry Potter! The hat whispered in his ear. I have been waiting for you. What a challenge. The Heir of Godric Gryffindor on your father's side and The Slytherin Prince through your mother. You'll be great one day, so…Where shall you go on your way to greatness? Hmmm…Cunning, yes, a healthy thirst to prove yourself. But so Brave and true of heart. Loyal, too. Smart definitely, but not in Ravenclaw, I don't think. No…Hufflepuff would be laughable for you…So Red or Green? Silver or Gold? Gryffindor or Slytherin?

Harry could hear murmurs out side of the hat. The stern Professor who had called him up muttered, "-Never taken this long! Could there be something wrong with it?"

Finally, the Hat straightened on his head and the hall went silent. "SLYTHERIN!" It shouted.

Everyone froze. Dumbledore stood as the Hat was remove and Harry got to his feet. He looked at the Headmaster, who beckoned him forward. He complied and stood in front of the staff table.

"Harry, my boy, what did the Hat say to you?" He said gently.

"Well…" Harry looked pointedly at the students who were all looking and listening intently. They all promptly turned away and began talking in hushed whispers. Dumbledore looked mildly impressed, while the other teachers seemed to be in shock at the easy way he silently controlled the students he didn't even know "It said the I was Heir to Godric Gryffindor on my father's side…"

"Then why on earth did it put you in Slytherin?"

"Well. It also said that I was Slytherin Prince through my mother. It said the I was cunning, loyal, um…brave…uh, oh and had a thirst to prove myself…and that I was smart but wouldn't fit in Ravenclaw."

The headmaster looked thoughtful. "Well…I guess you are in Slytherin, then. Hopefully, you'll ruin their reputation for producing evil wizards. Now…Go sit down, lad."

Harry nodded and turned to the students. He walked slowly to the Slytherin table and sat. The seat at the head of the table had been quickly vacated for him. He glanced at Ron and smiled reassuringly. Ron looked shocked. He looked next to Hermione Granger a little ways down the table, who had also been sorted into Slytherin, even though she was a muggle born. She smiled at him and he grinned back.

The rest of the sorting was uneventful. Ron went to Gryffindor, as he had wanted to, and Blaise, a pretty redheaded girl with, oddly enough, icy blue eyes, came to sit next to Harry.

Food appeared and everyone began to eat. Harry felt someone sit in each of the two empty chairs on his left. He looked up to see the pale-faced boy from Madame Malkin's to whom he had yet to be introduced and Hermione had come to sit next to him.

"So, it's true then. You're the famous Harry Potter." The boy had and air of superiority about him. Harry nodded, slightly embarrassed. "Well, I'm Draco Malfoy. Pleased to meet you."

Harry smiled and shook the boys hand. "Hello." He turned to the frizzy-haired girl. "Hey, Hermione."

She smiled back. "Hello, Harry. I see we ended up in the same House. I imagine everyone was shocked when you didn't end up in Gryffindor like your parents."

"Yeah. I guess." He shrugged. He hadn't known both his parents were in Gryffindor. How had she? "How'd you know?"

"Oh," She blushed faintly. "I, um…I read it in Great Wizards of the 21st century."

"Oh." Harry said, slightly shocked. He hadn't known he was in any books.

As the meal continued, He looked around at the group he was sure would be his close friends and smirked. They were an impressive group. Draco Malfoy who was snobbish and fragile-looking, Blaise Zabini who was fiery and kind, Hermione Granger who was clever and noble, Pansy Parkinson who was sly and pretty, Vincent Crabbe who was slightly dense, and Gregory Goyle who was also dense.

He looked up at the other tables. Every time he caught someone in his year's eye, he smiled and they smiled back, all of them. Well, almost all of them. He smiled at Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas from Gryffindor, Padma Patil, Sally-Anne Perks, and Terry Boot from Ravenclaw. Mandy Brocklehurst winked at him when he smiled in her direction, as did Lavender Brown and…oh, what was her name? Ah yes, Crystal, Crystal Moon!

Finally, Harry turned back to his own meal and began chatting with the group that surrounded him.

"How on earth did you end up in Slytherin?" Draco was asking Hermione, with slight scorn lacing his tone.

Harry frowned and tapped Draco on the shoulder. The blonde turned to him, an eyebrow raised. "Don't speak to her like that. It's rude." Harry stated calmly.

Draco's eye widened at the nerve of anyone talking like that to a Malfoy. "How dare you-"

"Oh, I dare. She's my friend and you have yet to have that honor. I protect my friends and you were being rude." Harry's lip curled into an uncharacteristic sneer.

Draco, recognizing someone stronger and more powerful then he, backed down. He gave Harry a small smile, to show his respect for Harry's protectiveness of his friends. Draco hoped in that moment that he would be considered part of Harry's inner circle. He could see that this boy was powerful and knew the he would command the school if he wanted, that much was obvious from the admiring looks he was getting from people in every year. The way he had command silence from the entire student body with one look was something the teachers had never done. Draco felt slightly awe by this young boy sitting next to him and that was no small thing, for the blonde scorned almost everyone including Dumbledore, the greatest wizard alive.

Harry turned to Hermione. "If phrased differently, that was a valid question." He said. She stared at him in mild awe; no one had ever done something like that for her before. "I would have pegged you for Ravenclaw, by the sound of it from the song."

"Yes, well…" She collected herself and grinned. "The hat said I needed to be here. I would fit and make friends more then if I was in another house."

Harry looked around at the group, who all looked to him. He smiled. "I think you found quite a few and so have I."

"Yes, Harry. You have." Blaise said from her seat on his right. She favored him with a rare, warm smile. The others nodded their agreement.

Finally, the meal ended. By that time, the small group were fast friends. Dumbledore stood and made a few perfunctory announcements, something about the forbidden Forest being forbidden. Duh, Harry thought tiredly. One comment he made, however, caught the sleepy boy's attention. The third floor corridor was out of bounds for anyone who didn't wish to die a very painful death. Dumbledore seemed to be staring right at Harry. Now, why would that be?

His tired brain was already in neutral, so he couldn't contemplate it for to long. He followed the rest of his house down to the dungeons, yawning widely.

&&&&&

The dungeon rooms were beautiful. The dorm's hard stone floor was cover with a thick green rug. The ebony four-posters, with matching ebony bedside tables, were hung with dark green velvet curtains that had shimmering sliver embroidery. The window in the corner of the room could actually be open and somehow led out onto the grounds. When the boys trooped in, a gorgeous full moon cast and eerie glow over the floor and silver-stoned walls.

Harry, Draco, Vincent, Gregory, and Theodore Nott were all to sleep in this dorm. In the girls' dorm next door, Pansy, Hermione, and Blaise were to room with a horrible looking girl named Millicent and a very pale girl with straight black hair and dark eyes name Morag MacDougal.

As soon as the boys entered the room and claimed their beds, they changed and fell into those beds immediately.

&&&&&

The next few days were the most interesting day of Harry's life. He ignored the whispers and stares that followed him and concentrated on his classes, which he found were easier the he originally thought.

As Draco had predicted, silently, that first night, Harry had the respect and deference of the entire school, from seventh year down. The teachers even gave him a minimal show of respect, impressed as they were by his immense natural talent.

He didn't see Ron until Friday, when he had his first class with his Head-of-House, Professor Snape. He only had time for a rushed 'hello' before the teacher swept in like a great, evil bat.

He gave a short speech about what he could teach them if they were the usual dunderheads he had to teach, then he took attendance.

When he came to Harry's name, he stopped as all the other professors had done. "Ah, yes," He said softly. "Harry Potter. Our new --- celebrity!" Harry stiffened, as did Hermione, Draco, Blaise, and Pansy. Theodore Nott snorted disdainfully. Harry stared the Potion's Master right in the eye as he drew closer. "Potter! What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" He sneered, thinking that Harry wouldn't know the answer.

Hermione raised her hand, but Harry put a hand on her shoulder. She lowered it and he turned back to Snape, head high. "If you added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood, you would get a sleeping draught so powerful it is sometimes referred to as the Draught of Living Death."

Snape sneered, again, as Hermione grinned proudly. "Alright, Potter, you knew that. Try again, anyway. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar? And what, Potter," He continued quickly. "Is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

"A Bezoar, Sir," Harry stressed the formal address to add scorn to it. "Is taken from a goat's stomach and will save a person from most poisons. Monkshood and Wolfsbane happen to be the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite."

"Alright." Snape said reluctantly. "Five points to Slytherin."

Finally, the lesson began. Everyone in the room knew that Snape hated Harry, although no one understood why and it was also clear that Harry reciprocated those feelings.

The next lesson was Flying with Madame Hooch. The first flying lesson was just as much of a fiasco as was expected, but for entirely different reasons. Once again, it was Slytherin paired with Gryffindor.

They stood in two lines facing each other. When Madame Hooch gave the command, they all called "UP!" Harry's broom was one of the few brooms that actually leapt into their rider's hands, His and Draco's and two or three others.

Once up in the air, Neville, a clumsy, nervous Gryffindor boy, lost control of his broom and fell, breaking his wrist. Madame Hooch herded him off to the Hospital Wing, warning the rest of the class that if they left the ground they would be leaving Hogwarts as well.

Theodore Nott seemed to be examining the ground were Neville had landed, but everyone ignored him. Harry talked quietly to Ron, who was not happy with the fact that Harry was a Slytherin and even less happy that he was friends with a Malfoy.

"Why were you put in Slytherin?" Ron asked quietly.

"I have no idea. I am happy though. I like it. It's comfortable and I have a great group of friends." Harry answered anxiously.

"Yeah, Malfoy." Ron snorted in disgust.

"Draco happens to be one of my closest friends. Kindly refrain fro insulting him!" Harry sneered. Ron shut up immediately. Behind Harry, Draco, who had heard what was said, grinned broadly. Imagine, he thought, A Potter defending a Malfoy to a Weasley! Harry's parents must be rolling over in their graves.

"Hey!" Nott called suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. "I got Longbottom's what's-it! That remembrall thing!"

Harry sniffed disapprovingly and stalked over to his housemate. "Give that to me!" He said quietly, holding out a hand for the small red ball.

Nott looked at him. "Why?" he sneered.

"Give it here, right now, Nott! I will not have you disrespect me!" Harry snarled, already secure in his position as Slytherin Prince, in charge of the entire house. Everyone in Slytherin, including the upper years, deferred to him. The teachers were amazed. They hadn't ever seen such complete in-house unity ever, even in Gryffindor.

Theodore took a step back and mounted his broom. "Come and get it!" He called as he took off.

"No! Harry, don't! You'll be expelled!" Hermione shouted to him as she tried to push through the crowd.

He ignored her and mounted his broom. Taking off he raced after Nott, who looked rather frightened by the fact the Harry could ride very, very well! Harry shot toward the other boy, who managed to roll out of the way just in time. Harry scoffed at him, "Is that the best you can do?"

Not sneered and threw the remembrall up as high as he could, "Caught it if you can, then!" He said scornfully as it began to fall.

Harry dropped gracefully into a perfect dive. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 feet, he dove. He heard screams from the watchers rush passed his ears. Finally, about a foot off the ground, he caught it. He pulled out of the dive easily and stepped off the broom onto the ground.

Everyone cheered, briefly, and then the grounds went suddenly quiet. "Potter!" a soft voice said from behind the messy haired boy. "Follow me!" Harry whirled to see a stony-faced Professor Snape already stalking back toward the castle.

Harry sighed and, smiling sadly at his friends, followed his Head-of-House. He caught sight of the gleeful look on Nott's face and vowed that if he wasn't expelled Nott would be put in his place!

They stopped outside of Professor McGonagall's classroom. Snape opened the door and asked the teacher, "Minerva, Flint please." It wasn't a request, it was a command and McGonagall complied.

Harry wondered briefly what Flint was. He thought vaguely of a steel flint used to make fire, but quickly dismissed it as ridiculous and was proven correct when a hard faced, very ugly boy came out of the classroom. Snape lead them to an unused room.

He turned to Harry, who was very confused by this time. "Potter, I don't particularly like you, and I would not so much as flinch if you were expelled. However, Charlie Weasley's youngest brother is in Gryffindor this year and I have become rather fond of keeping the Quidditch Cup in my office. I want it to stay there! So I can not take a chance on whether or not he is any good."

He turned to Flint. "Marcus, This boy" He said rapped the last word in scorn. "just pulled off one of the best dives I have seen in my life. I dislike him, but he will be the new Seeker. He is good at it, naturally, because I assume muggles don't fly brooms, so he has most likely never flown before." He turned to the door and, just before leaving, tossed over his shoulder, "Work out a schedule. I will fix it with the Headmaster."

Harry collapsed onto one of the desks. "I'm not being expelled, then?"

"No, Potter. You are the new Seeker, for the Slytherin Quidditch Team and I'm the captain." Flint looked rather stupid, in Harry's opinion, and not a little bit mean.

Flint explained to Harry exactly what Quidditch was. They worked out a schedule and Harry was finally allowed to go to Dinner. He was late, of course, and the big double doors were closed. He opened them and left them that way knowing Flint would be coming soon. He walked up the center isle, head high and smirk on his lips. He sat in what had become his usual seat at the head of the Slytherin table.

"What happened?" Draco hissed. The room was silent as everyone watched Harry.

Hermione looked worried. "You didn't get expelled, did you? Please tell me you didn't!"

Nott a few seats away down the table looked please with himself. He sneered, "Of Course. He must be in big trouble! Catching the train back to the muggles tonight, then, Potter?"

Harry smirked. "Not likely. I wasn't expelled." Harry stood, slowly. "I don't like you attitude, Nott. I don't believe you show me enough respect."

"Nott sneered again. "Why should I respect you?"

Harry's smirk took on an evil glint. "Maybe because I could incinerate from the inside out, with a flick of my wand? Or Maybe because I am both Heir to Godric Gryffindor and Royal Descendent of Salazar Slytherin? I, my dear stupid child, am the Slytherin Prince by blood. I believe that was cause you housemates to respect me. What makes you better then they are or better then I am?"

"I am a pureblood! I-" Nott began.

Harry scoffed. "My father was a pureblood. Draco here is a pureblood. What does that mean other then the fact that it is very likely that somewhere in your family history, your ancestors married their cousins? How do you think you stayed pureblood, in the first place? Why is that something to be proud of?"

Nott opened his mouth to retaliate, he was, however, cut off when three large owls swooped in and dropped a long package and a letter on the table in front of Harry. Harry opened the note.

I would advise you not to open the parcel at the table. However, I know you are going to ignore this warning and open it anyway, so it was a complete waste of ink. It contains your new Nimbus 2000. I cleared everything with the headmaster. If you tell anyone I gave you this broom, I will see to it that you fail every potions exam you ever take! I will also given a month's worth of detentions.

Professor Severus Snape

Harry grinned at the message and glanced up at the Staff table. Snape had his back to Harry, but Harry knew Snape felt him looking.

He looked at his friends and said just loud enough for the almost perfectly silent room to hear, but not loud enough to be accused of doing it on purpose, "This is what I got instead of being expelled. Hermione, I didn't get in trouble, I got a spot on the House Team. I'm the new Slytherin Seeker. Young player in a century." He opened the package and a gorgeous, polished, new broomstick rolled onto the table. The talk in the Hall suddenly tripled. Nott leapt to his feet and snarled, "You going to be in so much trouble!"

Draco snorted. "Oh Bugger off, Nott!"

"Professor!" Nott called to Little Professor Flitwick as he walked by. "Potter's been sent a broomstick."

"Yes," Flitwick smiled warmly at Harry. "Yes, I know. I was told of the special circumstances. You must be a wonderful flyer to have Severus compliment you. I can't wait until the first Slytherin match."

Nott almost fainted in shock.

"Thank you, Professor." Harry said politely. When Flitwick was gone he turned to Not. "Thanks, Nott. I owe it all to you!" Harry snickered and the group got up and left the table to try out Harry's new broom.

&&&&&

The year progressed, proving that Harry was an unbelievable flyer. Ron was distant with Harry the closer Harry grew to Draco. Soon, it was obvious that Harry was the leader of their little group and Draco and Hermione were second in command and closest to Harry.

The end of the year came, with Draco beating McGonagall's chess set and Harry beating Voldemort.

The next year came, reveling Harry to be a Parseltongue. Harry and Ron went into the Chamber of Secrets, emerging sometime later with Ginny. This more then anything cemented Ron and Harry friendship. They were close, but Draco had taken the spot Ron would have held as Harry's best friend.

Third year came and went. Fred and George, who had become friends with Harry, gave him the Marauder's Map. Sirius was saved by Harry and Hermione, though Draco ended up in the Hospital Wing because of his leg wounds.

Fourth year, however, proved very interesting. Harry and Draco both grew interested in girls that year. Harry took Pavarti to the Yule Ball, only to dump her and begin dating her sister a week later. After that, Harry went through girls like water. A new girlfriend every few weeks, which amused Draco, who was not quite so quick to drop a girl, and caused Hermione to shake her head sadly. Harry didn't discriminate Houses either, like some Slytherins. By the end of fifth year, he'd dated Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Pavarti and Padma Patil, Sally-Anne Perks, Morag MacDougal, Luna Lovegood, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lavender Brown, Lisa Turpin, and Crystal Moon from his year. Also, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, Cho Chang, Katie Bell, Marietta Something-or-Other (he had trouble remembering her last name), Abigail Fawcett, and Fleur Delacour for a short time. Just to name a few.

Also, during fourth year, Draco quietly renounced his father and pledge his allegiance to Harry, as did almost every other Slytherin. This pleased Dumbledore no end. He was sure, at the time, that Harry was going to grow up to fulfill all the promises and prophecies made. Little did he know?

And that is where our story starts, the beginning of Sixth Year.