-AUTHORS NOTE-

I'm going to be away from my computer for the next few days, so I won't have time to update. Don't expect to see an update on the story until the weekend. I promise to post four chapters this weekend to make up for the delay. Sorry guys.

DISCIAMER- I wish I owned Harry Potter, but sadly I don't. Guess I'll just have to be satisfied writing fanfiction. :)

Harry awoke the next morning to find the room nearly deserted. Only Zabini and Malfoy remained. Neither of the boys were awake. Harry assumed that the others has already gone up to breakfast. He was just as glad that he didn't have to face Nott. It would have been an awkward morning.

He glanced at the clock. Seven in the morning, he had a half hour before he had to be upstairs for breakfast.

Harry pulled his shirt and jumper over his head and moved to grab a tie from the neatly stacked clothing in the drawers under the bed. He stopped, marvelling at the green and silver tie which coiled around his fingers. Slytherin colors. That was something worth smiling about.

After he had finished dressing and nudged the two boys left in the dorm awake, Harry ventured into the corridor. He made his up to the Great Hall cautiously, but nobody seemed to pay much attention to a first year slipping out of the dorm.

It was a completely different story when he reached the Great Hall. Students and teachers alike were openly gaping at him, forks held halfway to their mouths, conversations halted midsentence. It was disconcerting, but Harry was used to the attention.

By the time he reached the Slytherin table, conversation seemed to have resumed, though the topic had changed.

"There, look."

"Where?"

"…Wearing the glasses…"

"Sorted into Slytherin"

"Did you see..."

"Look at his scar!"

"He's smaller than I-"

Harry quickly took an empty seat at the table, across from Nott and beside Daphne Greengrass. As much as he wanted to avoid awkward conversations with Nott, he really didn't think he would survive sitting next to Parkinson again.

"Looky, Looky," said Greengrass sardonically, "Our own little celebrity."

Harry turned to the girl, about to tell her exactly where she could stick her toast and bacon, when he noticed the quirk of her eyebrow.

She was testing him.

Never one to back away from a challenge, Harry titled his head at the girl.

"Is that what I am to you Greengrass? If you need a personal hero, I'd be more than happy to oblige. All you need to do is ask."

"The name's Daphne, Potter, you should learn it."

"Only if you call me Harry."

If he hadn't been watching the girl Harry would have missed the way her lips almost twitched into a smile. These Slytherins were much more interesting than he ever gave them credit for.

"I'm not trying to break you two lovebirds up, but I need the pumpkin juice," Nott interjected.

Harry passed it to him across the table.

"I think you'll fit in nicely in Slytherin, Potter" Said Nott in way of thanks, "there should have been a Potter here generations ago. They're so much fun to analyse."

He should have known that Slytherins would skirt around awkward issues rather than confront them head on with Gryffindor brashness. Harry figured he was going to enjoy Slytherin.

Once their little party was joined by Malfoy and Blaise the conversation turned to their classes for the year.

"What Defence professor can't even protect themselves from a Vampire?" Daphne questioned, folding her napkin on top of her plate gracefully.

"Vampire. Hmph." said Draco. "Quirrell wouldn't even be able to defend himself against a crup. Look at him. Waste of a professor."

"Defense against the Dark Arts. What rubbish!" interjected Parkinson. "We should just be studying Dark Arts."

"If they ever let Professor Snape teach, we'd definitely learn some decent Dark Arts," Davis alluded to the rumour that Snape had been vying for the Defence position since he started as a professor.

"Father says they teach Dark Arts at Durmstrang. Mother wouldn't allow me to go there, of course." Malfoy sounded almost regretful. "Too far away from home."

Harry tried to imagine a Hogwarts without Slytherin. He was surprised to find the thought left him rather panicky. He noticed that Pansy was looking sharply at Malfoy. Apparently she didn't like the thought either. Looks like they had something in common after all…

"Where's Durmstrang?" asked Harry, simply to carry on the conversation

"You don't know?" Zabini asked sarcastically.

"Hush, Blaise. Nobody knows. It's top secret. Stop acting like you're better than us. We're all Slytherin here." Tracey criticized.

Zabini huffed, he wasn't pleased to be called out by his peers. "You sound like a Hufflepuff."

Tracey let out a small shriek, obviously insulted by the accusation.

Harry noticed that both Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle had been suspiciously absent from the conversation. He wasn't surprised by the silence from Crabbe and Goyle, there was food on the table, after all. He was surprised by Nott; the boy was much quieter than he expected.

Harry looked at Nott. He was sitting quietly, reading the morning Prophet, and seemingly ignoring those around him. Harry knew better, Slytherin's were always aware of their surroundings.

He opened his mouth to address the boy when he was interrupted by a prefect behind him.

"Schedules for the term, which one of you is Millicent Bullstrode? Vincent Crabbe?"

Silence fell over the table as they examined the sheets of paper the prefect handed to them. It was Tracey Davis who finally broke the silence.

"We managed to get most of Wednesday off." She smiled. "I can sleep in!"

"No you can't," Nott looked up from the morning paper, "You weren't listening when Higgs stopped by this morning?"

"Higgs stopped by?

"Yes." Nott raised his eyebrow.

"What did he say?" Bullstrode asked.

"You'd know if you'd gotten up earlier."

"Quit being a prat, Nott." Malfoy fixed the boy with a stare.

Nott stared back. He jutted his chin forward.

"Apparently, Professor Snape has taken a queue from the Ravenclaw. We have a study schedule we need to follow on Wednesdays."

"What?! Why?" Parkinson asked.

"Higgs didn't say." Daphne offered.

"But didn't you ask?" Tracey looked confused.

"Yes. But he didn't know." Nott set down his paper. "Anyone want the paper. It's just some rubbish about Gringotts anyway."

"Gringotts? I'll take a look." Harry specifically remembered something about the vault Hagrid had taken the Philosopher's Stone from being robbed in his first year.

Gringotts Break-In Latest

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 of July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts goblins insisted that no genuine artifacts had been taken. The vault that had been searched had in, in fact been emptied by the owner the previous day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you!" said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

Gringotts has released an official press release stating that the vault in question is vault number seven hundred and thirteen. No other assets were compromised during this break-in.

Harry paused. Vault seven hundred-thirteen. That was most definitely the vault Hagrid had removed the Philosopher's Stone from on the request of Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. At least, Harry thought they made the withdrawal on behalf of Nicholas Flamel. He wouldn't put in past Dumbledore to secretly cheat his alchemy partner for an artifact as important as the Philosopher's Stone.

And what was this about the goblins insisting no real artifact had been taken from the vault on the 31st. Harry specifically remembered Hagrid picking up a package. The vault clearly hadn't been emptied the day before by the owner as the article claimed.

Perhaps an owl to the goblins was in order to shed some light on the situation…

After breakfast that morning Harry was cornered on his way to charms class by Fred Weasley. George was suspiciously absent, which did nothing to abate his concerns over their reaction to his sorting. When one of the twins was absent, it usually meant that they were in the middle of a prank. Or Fred was snogging Angelina.

"So, legacy." Fred eyed harry up and down, "Or should I say Harry Potter…"

"I never did say my name."

"No, you didn't."

"And I am Prong's son." Harry didn't like the way that Fred was watching him.

"There's never been a Potter in Slytherin before."

"Isn't it a fabulous prank," Harry grasped for an explanation. "Think of all the insider chaos I can design."

"It's not a prank." Harry had never heard Fred so serious before. It was quite odd.

"It's not?"

Fred paused. After a long moment he continued.

"I'm telling you this because you are a Marauder's son, not because we think we can trust a Slytherin. Prankster to prankster. This stays between us. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Last year, at our sorting, George and I almost ended up with the Snakes."

Harry was shocked. The twins never told him that! It had to be a trick. "You're lying."

"Prankster's honour. I swear it on Zonko's joke shop."

"Well, why weren't you?"

"I was sorted first, F before G and all that nonsense." Fred looked at the wall behind Harry's head. "I was so scared that the hat would separate me from George that I literally begged it to put me in in Gryffindor. All Weasleys have been in Gryffindor-"

"Kinda like all Potters."

"All Potters before now." Fred smirked at him. "Once I was sorted in Gryffindor, George begged to be in the same house as me. End of story, here we are."

Harry tried to imagine a Slytherin set of Weasley twins. It was a terrifying thought. He didn't think the school would have survived.

"We still would like to work with you. Despite the Slytherin fiasco. Your father was a legend." Fred glanced at him, "Both for the pranking bit and the dying bit."

"And the illegal animagas bit," added Harry.

"Blimey? Really?!"

"Why do you think he was called Prongs?"

"Wicked."

"If you're interested there's a toilet on the third floor that's just begging for a firecracker." Harry offered the redheaded boy.

"Another time, Potter, another time. I've got to get to Transfiguration. Minnie gets rather upset if I'm late. Can't stand to be away from me for too long, that one."

Harry snickered while Fred ran off. The twins never stopped surprising him. It was the most serious conversation he'd ever had with the twins, including giving them the prize money from the Triwizard contest! He hadn't even had is hair turned purple this time.

Charms was annoying. Flitwick made them sit alphabetically by House, which left Harry sitting between a glaring Parkinson and a scowling Zabini who was still upset about breakfast.

Flitwick wasn't nearly as complementary as Harry remembered. In fact, he took away two points from Davis because she had forgotten to polish her wand before coming to class.

Worse yet, Harry was forced to watch as Neville, Seamus, and Ron laughed together across the room. Every few seconds a paper airplane would be shot between the Neville and Ron, and then they would start laughing at whatever it contained. He had never missed his friends so much.

Harry was able to sit next to Malfoy in Transfiguration, which they shared with Hufflepuff. The pair had an excellent debate about the upcoming Quidditch season. It seemed Malfoy was an avid Falcon fan while Harry remained faithful to Puddlemere. He might be getting along with the pale boy, but they would never agree about Quidditch.

"Five points from Slytherin for whispering, Potter." Harry was shocked. He couldn't remember McGonagall ever taking points from him for whispering in class. And five points? Harry only remembered Snape removing two his first day in Potions.

"Guess Professor Snape was right," Malfoy muttered once she had turned around.

"And another five from you, Malfoy. Control yourself before you receive a detention."

When Harry transfigured his match into a nearly perfect needle at the end of lesson, he was expecting a nod of approval from the professor, maybe even a few points restored. Instead he received a look of disdain.

"You've been cheating from Mr. Goyle's work I see." Goyle's match had caught on fire, leaving a charred pile of ash that was nothing like a needle, "Another point from Slytherin."

Harry was about to argue when he felt Malfoy's nails dig into his leg painfully. He turned to the boy abruptly. Malfoy was giving him a severe look that promised retribution if Harry lost their house any more points. Harry kept his mouth shut.

History proved to be as boring as Harry remembered, but it did give Harry the chance to see Hermione across the room. She was chatting animatedly about the material with Lisa Turpin and Mandy Brocklehurst. She didn't glance in Harry's direction at all throughout the lesson, but he was pleased to see she was settling well.

At least he didn't lose any more points.

After their classes for the day, the Slytherin first years made their way quickly back to their dormitory. They didn't want to be late for the pairing. Harry was particularly anxious to see which snake he would be stuck with.

According to Bullstrode, who had spoken with her older brother during the lunch break, pairing was a Slytherin tradition that went back to the time of the Founders. Their mentors would support them with advice and connections throughout their lifetime. It was a way for Slytherins to ensure that their house had advantages unavailable to the other students.

"Blaise, my love," Harry watched as Blaise was pulled into the embrace of a stunningly beautiful dark woman with high cheek bones. "You have made me so proud."

The common room teeming with people. Apparently, families were invited to the pairing. No wonder Bletchley had been so insistent that they arrive directly after classes.

A small blonde girl jumped on Daphne. Daphne began whispering things into the girl's hair.

Crabbe and Goyle both grunted back and forth with their fathers while their mothers wept into their handkerchiefs.

Nott's mother and father stood stiffly beside him.

Lucius Malfoy had a sneer on his face, but Harry noticed he looked at his son with pride. Narcissa stood quietly beside her son, hand resting delicately on his shoulder.

Harry felt very alone.

Abruptly, Harry found himself being pulled over to the Malfoy family by Draco.

"Mother, Father. This is Harry Potter."

Harry stood absolutely still, waiting for the inevitable scorn.

Narcissa lifted her eyes demurely towards Harry.

"A Potter. In Slytherin." The man looked to his wife thoughtfully before turning towards the front of the room.

"It is time to begin." Snape stood by the noticeboard.

"As is the tradition," he continued, "the first year Slytherin's have been paired with an older student by our goblin associates."

The goblins were involved in the pairing? Harry became suddenly hopeful.

"The decision of the goblins is final, though you may take your complaints up with them." He paused, "Do not bother me with your petty concerns."

Snape waved his wand and a sheet of paper appeared on the board beside him. Nobody moved. The bat-like man strode from the room purposefully.

Suddenly, there was a rush of people as both the students and their parents moved towards the notice board.

"-Higgs."

"Montague-"

"Flint-"

Harry heard names fly through the air as he waited patiently at the side. Finally, once the others had split into their families to discuss the implications of the pairings Harry moved towards the board.

In bold print at the bottom of the page were the fateful words:

Harry Potter (First Year, Slytherin). Adrian Pucey (Third Year, Slytherin).