Rating: Eventually M.

Pairings: Eventually Riley/Draco and Riley/others.

Author's Note: I'm not completely pleased with this but as it's just to set the scene of Riley's arrival at Hogwarts, I'll deal with it. For the purposes of this fanfiction, Riley is British and not yet a vampire (though he may well be in later chapters). I don't own any of these characters.

Starting at a new school is always scary, especially when everyone else has already been there for a few years. If my parents had let me come to Hogwarts when I'd first got my letter, I could probably have coped much better in knowing that my classmates were in the same boat. Now in my sixth year, everyone's had plenty of time to get settled, make friends and whatnot. I don't know anyone.

When I first arrive in September, I'm told to wait in Professor McGonagall's office while the Sorting Ceremony takes place. Professor Dumbledore correctly assumed that I wouldn't want to be sorted with the first years and so when they've all been sorted, the Deputy Headmistress arrives with the Sorting Hat. After a short greeting, she drops the hat onto my head and it announces me a Slytherin.

"That's all there is to it," she tells me, before leading me off to the Great Hall, directing me towards the Slytherin table and reclaiming her seat beside the Headmaster. I find myself sitting next to a blond boy who I assume is my age. He introduces himself as Draco Malfoy and wastes no time pointing out that I'm the new kid though I obviously already know this.

"Yeah, Riley Biers," I reply with a smile. The girl sitting opposite us bursts into laughter.

"Get in there Draco, he's clearly into you," she tells him, clearly mocking me and clearly not caring that I'm sitting right here.

"What's the matter Pansy, can't handle a little competition?" I decide that I don't like Pansy. Her tone makes it very obvious that she doesn't appreciate me being there and that she thinks she's better than me. "Besides, he's not even gay, are you Riley?" I laugh nervously. Though I hadn't intended to hide this from anybody, I hadn't been expecting everyone to know from day one.

"Err, yes actually," I reply, prompting a second outburst from the poisonous girl. Draco, on the other hand, is completely the same as he was before I spoke. Though I had never met the boy before, I'd got the impression from what my parents had told me about some of the students that Malfoy wasn't a particularly pleasant person. He seemed to be civil at the very least, for the time being anyway.

"Don't worry about it. Send anyone that takes the piss my way and I'll sort them out," Draco tells me. Pansy opens her mouth to say something but decides against it, presumably because of the grey eyes staring intently at her. If looks could kill, I'd be in a million pieces by now. Before anyone has a chance to say anything else, Dumbledore is standing up and starts making a speech. Draco notices my confusion and explains to me that he does this every year before the feast.

I don't hear another word from Pansy but I can feel her eyes on me as I talk to Draco through the feast. He asks about my family, what I'm interested in, what subjects I'm looking forward to and why I've only now come to Hogwarts. I answer each question as quickly as I can before he throws another at me. At this rate, he could write my biography and have it published for Christmas without ever needing to speak to me again. After what seems like no time at all, the hall begins to empty and I take this to mean that the feast is essentially over. Pansy is one of the first to leave and in a moment's break between Draco's interview, I notice that we're among the last handful of students still in the hall.

"Ignore Pansy, she's like that to everyone," Draco assures me. His kindness is somewhat confusing to me but I don't object. "If you're finished, we can go back to the dormitories and I'll show you where everything is." I look back down at my plate, which I haven't eaten from for several minutes now, and find that it has disappeared. In fact, all of the plates on all of the tables have disappeared.

"That'd be great. And thanks, by the way. It's nice to know I've got a friend here." Draco simply smiles at me and we leave the hall.