Author's Note: This note is pretty much to set the stage for the story. This will begin when Harry is about to get sorted into his house; oh and in my story Harry and Draco have never met up until now, so no Madam Malkin's and no handshake before the sorting ceremony. Anyway hope you guys enjoy the story; oh I almost forgot my disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter and this is a non-profit work of fiction; however, if I did own HP the story would have probably ended up like this...

Chapter 1

"Draco Malfoy," Professor McGonagall called aloud.

Draco sauntered up to the hat and sat in the stool confidently. The hat barely touched his head when it called out, "Slytherin!"

A few more people were called out one by one as Harry patiently waited his turn. After what felt like an eternity he eventually heard his name called as he cautiously made his way toward the stool. He could help but to notice all of the people around him were staring with intensity.

'Why do they all keep staring at me like that?' Harry wondered to himself.

He sat in the stool and immediately felt the warm presence on his head; he almost jumped when he heard the voice of the clever cap in his mind.

'Hmmm...Interesting...' the cap whispered slowly in his mind.

'What's interesting?' Harry cautiously asked the hat in return.

'What's interesting is that you would do well in almost any house,' the hat said carefully.

'Yes...there's lots of cunning and talent, oh I know now...you would do great in Slytherin,' the hat continued not waiting for a response.

'They have been telling me that's where bad wizards go,' Harry asked his thoughts full of confusion.

'The people who said that are incorrect Mr. Potter," the hat started, 'Each house is neither inherently good nor bad. In fact, many talented wizards come from Slytherin House.'

'Oh, well it's probably not for me then;' Harry thought dejectedly, 'because I'm not anyone special.'

'Mr. Potter, let me tell you I have only met one other wizard with your type of mind, and he became one of the most well-known wizards in the world,' the hat told the sorrowful brunette.

'Really?!' Harry asked full of interest, 'If you think I belong there then I trust you.'

'Well, then Mr. Potter...' the hat whispered one final time.

"better be Slytherin!" the hat shouted joyously for all to hear.

The first thing Harry heard was the loud cheers from the table at the far end. He slowly made his way to the end table trying to focus on his feet the whole time, for he was trying to ignore all of the awful expressions everyone else was giving him.

'The hat said no house was really bad, and only great wizards were in Slytherin,' Harry thought trying to remember the eventful encounter with the thinking cap, ' but why are they still looking at me like this?'

Harry had just finished his thought when he heard someone speak to him.

"Potter, why don't you come sit by me?" the blonde boy called out openly patting the seat beside him.

"Okay," Harry said as he timidly sat next to the calm looking blonde.

"My name's Draco, Draco Malfoy," the blonde said confidently holding out his hand.

"I remember, you were only a couple of people before me," Harry cautiously spoke as he took the blonde's hand in friendship, " you can call me Harry if you want."

"Hey don't let those looks get to you, they all look like that at us," Draco quietly said to the brunette boy observing his demeanor.

"We here in Slytherin take pride in not showing them any emotion, and your one of us now, so sit up and don't give them any satisfaction in seeing your emotions." a petite, long-haired brunette sitting across from Draco added.

Harry followed their instructions as best as he could and quickly smiled to himself when he heard praise.

"That's exactly right, good job," an olive-skinned boy who was sitting across from him congratulated.

As the last person to be sorted finished, McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took her place amongst the rest of the faculty, and it was at this moment Harry finally noticed the raised table at the head of the room. He noticed that here too most of the teachers were giving him dirty looks, so he focused on the two at the very end who both had a look of indifference on their face. He recognized Professor Quirrell amongst those two and was surprised at how that particular teacher wasn't shaking vigorously. The other teacher was staring back directly at Harry. He noted the teacher had a rather long hooked nose and semi-long black hair.

"That's Professor Snape," Draco whispered noticing where Harry was looking, "He's our head of house."

Harry quickly nodded and suddenly found his attention drawn to an extremely old man who was rising from his place at the center of the table.

"Welcome all to another year at Hogwarts," the twinkly-eyed man began, "I just wanted to say a few words before the feast; Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank You!"

"Hmph...what a joke," Draco said to his friends with a scowl on his face.

Harry did his best to hide his surprise and keep his face calm like the ones surrounding him when suddenly food appeared at the table.

He reached for his silver goblet and inhaled the sweet autumn scented beverage before he gulped it down. He began to fill his plate quickly with all sorts of things when he heard someone admonish him.

"Harry, the food's not going anywhere, so there's no need to rush, okay?" the petite brunette began, "Oh, my name's Pansy Parkinson by the way."

"Oh, yeah...right, I'm sorry," Harry blushed and tried to laugh off his faux-pas.

"Nice to meet you, Pansy," he quickly added as he slowed his eating to mirror those around him.

"And I'm Blaise Zabini," the olive-skinned boy added after Harry.

"Blaise," Harry said nodding in his direction.

"Wow, this is really good. I've never had this before," Harry exclaimed as he savored his sausage and potatoes.

He was so focused on his food that he didn't notice Draco's eyebrows furrow at the declaration. Harry was completely full by the time dinner was over; he had never felt full like this before in any of his years with Dursleys. Harry found his gaze once again upon the rising headmaster.

"Just a few more words as we are now fed," the old man began with a smile.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils," Twinkles flashing in every direction.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch to remind you all that no magick should be used between classes. And, finally, I must tell you this year, the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is off limits for all those who do not wish to suffer a grave fate...Well, off you trot." He finished the long speech happily nodding to each house as he took his seat once more.

Harry wasn't sure what would happen next until he saw a tall black-haired girl stand up the end of his table.

"Slytherin House line up! First years up front," said the authoritative head girl from the far end of the table.

Harry was surprised too when he was yanked up out of his spot by none other than his blonde-haired new friend, Draco.

"We want to be up at the very front Harry," Draco explained as he made his way with Harry to the front of the line with Pansy and Blaise following quickly behind him.

"Alright everyone try to keep up!" the authoritative voice commanded as she led the students out of the Great Hall.

"Who is she?" Harry whispered quietly to Draco.

"That's one of our prefects; I believe her name is Gemma Farley," Draco whispered in response.

"Where is she taking us?" Harry asked as they started descending stairs.

"Duh Harry, she's taking us to the dorms." Pansy pointed out rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yeah...of course," Harry quickly laughed off nonchalantly.

Harry was once again too focused on his surroundings to notice Draco's brow furrow yet again. After what seemed an enormous amount of time they finally reached a dead end.

'A dead end?! Why would she lead us to a dead end!?' Harry thought to himself; after his latest slip up he did not want to seem foolish to his new housemates.

"Alright first years listen carefully; I'm about to say the password," Gemma Farley spoke as she stood in front of the giant stone wall.

"Always Pure," she recited very clearly and loud enough for those who were present to hear it.

The stone wall shimmered away from existence leaving a large oaken door in its place.

"Everyone, quickly now, inside," the head girl said as she held the great wooden door open.

What Harry saw as he entered the common room was more magnificent than the Great Hall by far. Green orbs of light floated like a chandelier in the middle of the vaulted stone ceiling. Lush tapestries of green and silver were hung along the walls. A grand stone fireplace in the shape of serpent's head was the focus of the room.

"This is more beautiful than father described," Draco said standing by the stone fireplace.

"Yes it really is lovely isn't it," Blaise said nodding in agreement.

As the final students made their way into the common room, Gemma closed and sealed the entrance door.

"Alright first years, gather round we have a few things to go over," she said as she made her way to the center of the room.

There were 9 new Slytherins in all: Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Harry Potter. They all gathered around in the center of the room surrounded by all of the older year Slytherins.

"Firstly, welcome all to Slytherin," Gemma recited the opening of the yearly speech, " We are the best house by far. This is not an opinion it is a fact; every member of Slytherin house has risen to be great witches and wizards in their respective fields."

"There are a few rules that we must go over as they are all for your safety and benefit," she continued, "Our curfew starts at 21:00 be back in here by that time. Next, never go anywhere outside of this common room by yourself; always go in a group of at least three."

"You see the looks the other houses give us," she said voice filled with disgust, "just think what they would try to do if you were all by yourself. Thirdly, never fight amongst yourselves outside of the common room, we are our only allies in this school. On occasion, we have been able to count on a select few from Ravenclaw, but that is never a certainty; the only faculty member we can trust is Professor Snape."

"This brings me to the final rule if you ever have a problem come to one of our prefects first," she said pointing towards her own badge.

"Then if we cannot solve your problem we will bring you to Professor Snape, but never under any circumstance go to that old fool of a headmaster. He is the worst of them all and should never be trusted." She finished with contempt radiating from her very being.

"And, on that note, I am finished; oh, one more thing, the girls' dorms are on the left, and the boys' dorms are on the right," she finished signaling the end of the meeting.

Now usually when a meeting is finished people tend to disperse and go about their own business; however, this was not one of those instances. After the meeting, Harry once again noticed people had started staring at him once more. Now, these eyes were not the same ones full of contempt for being a Slytherin; no, these were gazes full of curiosity.

Still not being used to these looks Harry began looking at his shoes first, then he started to slowly back away from the stares; until he jumped when he felt someone place their arm over his shoulder.

"Well Harry, I don't know about you, but I think it has been a rather long day. I was going to head up to our dorms. Would you like to come with me and Blaise?" Draco announced having seen Harry's expression and change in mood from the stares he was receiving.

Harry quickly nodded at Draco and mouthed 'thank you' very quickly so only Draco would see. Draco led the group towards the stares as the people surrounding them parted a path for them.

"Oh Pansy," Draco said stopping briefly, "Be ready for 7 o'clock tomorrow if you want to walk with us to breakfast."

The trio made their way up the stairs and down a long stone corridor.

"Ah, here we are," Draco said spotting the names on the door.

Harry noticed that they were in front of a green wooden door with three nameplates next to it. Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, and Blaise Zabini were the names on the plates. He looked around and noticed all of the doors were like that in the hallway.

"I'm glad Slytherin has only 3 per dorm room; could you imagine if we were in another house and had to share one big room?" Blaise said with a scoff as he, Draco, and Harry entered their room.

The dorm was laid out in a circular pattern; much like the common room, green orbs of light floated in the ceiling giving a nice glow to everything. Each four-poster bed was black like onyx with silver and green satin sheets lining the bed and canopy respectively. Adjacent to each bed was a jet black desk for the students to study, and in front of each bed were their trunks from home.

After a few moments of taking in the scenery, Harry composed himself and thanked his new found friend once more.

"Thanks again, Draco, for helping me out back there," Harry said thankful to have someone help him out like that.

"It was nothing, Harry," Draco responded smirking at the brunette.

"You'd think after a while you'd get used accustomed to that kind of looks wouldn't you Harry?" Blaise mused aloud sitting in his lush bed.

"Well I guess after a while you would, but up until recently I've never had people look at me like that," Harry answered truthfully shrugging his shoulders as he sat at the foot of his bed.

"Really? Not even from your own family? I mean everyone thinks of you as the Savior-to-the-Wizarding-World, so it stands to reason they would treat you like royalty or something?" Blaise pondered confused by his response. Blaise and everyone else knew Harry was practically worshiped like one of the gods it was practically common knowledge.

"Hmph," Harry replied all emotion was void from his voice, " especially not them. I didn't even know I was a wizard until a couple of days ago."

*THUD*

"What?!" Draco said joining the conversation having dropped his trunk on the ground.

"Yeah, it's true," Harry began after recovering from the loud and sudden noise of the falling trunk, "They tried to keep my letter away from me, and it wasn't until that groundskeeper came to get me I found out I was a wizard."

Thinking of the groundskeeper reminded Harry of all those looks of disappointment from the faculty at the large table.

"I guess it makes sense now," Harry continued to himself, "that's why they kept calling me a freak because they don't have magick at all; their just plain people."

It took a considerable amount of control on both Blaise's and Draco's part to blurt out something in response to this new revelation. They looked at each other and had a silent conversation. Blaise eventually nodded at Draco in agreement to the unspoken words.

"Harry," Draco began snapping Harry out of his own thoughts, "You should probably read the first two chapters of the potions book and the herbology book for tomorrow's class."

"I believe we have Professor Snape tomorrow and he likes his serpents to be well versed in the material ahead of time as well as the ingredients," Draco continued as he made his way towards the door.

"Alright I will look it over now then; where are you going?" Harry asked curiously as he retrieved his books from his trunk and headed towards his desk.

"Oh, well it turns out, I forgot my book at my house," Draco said smoothly, "I have to go send a letter to my father and ask him to send it first thing tomorrow."

"Okay," Harry nodded in acceptance placing the books on his desk.

Blaise also got his textbooks, and the two began studying into the night. It was sometime later that Draco had finally returned. Blaise had already gone to sleep and Harry had just finished studying when Draco returned to the room.

"Draco, your back," Harry said placing his textbooks and his notes away.

"Yep, my book should be here by tomorrow," Draco said making his way towards his own bed.

"You can use my books to study if you need to," Harry offered as he was beginning to lie down in his bed.

"That's alright, I studied plenty yesterday," Draco said as he got in his bed.

"Okay," Harry confirmed as he took off his glasses.

Harry had never felt a bed as comfortable and as large as the one he was in now. Whether it was the stress of the day or the coziness of the bed he was in; he quickly found himself drifting off into sleep.