"SLYTHERIN!"

Silence reigned. Not a mutter to be heard. Wide, unblinking eyes stared at the first Weasley in history to be sorted into a different house. Fred, for all his usual confidence and charisma, only stood from the stool after a not-so-gentle nudge by the stern woman who should have been his Head of House.

As Fred stepped towards the green and silver table in a trance, one first year snake proved to be braver than the rest; standing up to applaud their newest member. It was then that House Slytherin remembered their loyalties, clapping and cheering for their housemate. The rest of the houses stayed silent, not that anyone ever clapped for Slytherin anyways.

"Adrian Pucey." The boy introduced himself as Fred sat beside him, "A pleasure. Welcome to the house of cunning and ambition, where we use any means to achieve our ends."

"Do you always speak as if you are reciting from a textbook?" Fred, despite his shock at not being sorted into Gryffindor, managed to at least retain a sliver of his humor.

Adrian snorted, "Not necessarily. I just needed to clarify what our house actually symbolizes, lest your Gryffindor family tell you otherwise."

"Too late for that." The elder Weasley twin muttered.

"George Weasley!" McGonagall called.

Fred, from his spot drowning in a sea of green, exchanged panicked looks with his twin on stage. The hat was on his head for only a few moments before calling out with a deafening roar, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The red table cheered for their newest member, as Fred sighed. He knew that there was very little chance for his brother to be sorted with him. George was as Gryffindor as one could possibly be.

"Your twin brother?" Pucey asked, noticing the identical features of the newest lion and the surprising snake.

"Yeah. George and I are inseparable. Always have been."

"Well, you better get used to separation, because no Gryffindor in his right mind would let one of their housemates cohort with a Slytherin, twin or not."

Sparing a look at his brothers table, Fred was not surprised to find that all three of his brothers were staring at him. Fred swallowed a gulp, he just knew that one of them was going to tell his mother, most likely Percy. Charlie, who was surprisingly Head Boy, was staring at Fred sympathetically, as if already choosing the flowers for his funeral procession.

Fred and Adrian followed their fellow first-years down into the dungeons, which, according to their prefects, was where their common room and dorms were located. The prankster carefully noted every main landmark they passed, it would do him no good to get lost in this massive castle. Soon enough, the large group reached a random damp wall, far beneath the Black Sea.

The female prefect, a gorgeous, but strict fifth year named Melody, turned towards the children, "This is the entrance to our common room. It's location is known only to other Slytherins, not even the professors, bar Snape, know where this is. Tell anyone, and I will personally make sure the cruciatus curse seems like a tickling jinx by the time I'm through with you."

Freds eyes widened in disbelief. Turning to look at his fellow classmates, he was relived to find that they all seemed to react the same way. Melody continued on, as if she never threatened a bunch of kids, "In order to get through into the common room, you must speak the password, which changes every two weeks. Don't forget it, or you might find yourself locked out. Currently, the password is Salazar."

As she spoke the name, the wall opened, revealing a gloomy, yet large stone room that glowed green. Elaborate carvings decorated the room, with grand windows that showed the Black Lake, where multiple sea creatures could be seen passing by. A beautiful crackling fireplace took up the majority of the east wall, with regal couches and ornate chairs surrounding it. It was no where as close to homie as Bill and Charlie described the Gryffindor common room to be, but Fred supposed that this room had a majesty of its own. He could, regrettably, see himself quite comfortable in this room for the next seven years. Banishing his traitorous thoughts, he returned his attention back to his prefects. The male prefect, a quite chap named Devion, took a seat in one of the carved chairs, his piercing gaze never straying from the first years.

Melody let the first years take in the sight of their new home for a minute, before pulling the focus back on her, "This is our common room. As many of you have already guessed, we are so far down in the dungeons that we actually go under the Black Sea. Our gothic furniture is a nod to our traditional viewpoints, and we strive to uphold all of our achievements. Now, let us discuss the importance of Slytherin. We are the house of the cunning, the ambitious. You are all sorted into this house because of your greatness and your will to do anything to achieve your goal. Every member of Slytherin is destined for greatness, for we are truly the house of winners. Why, even Merlin himself was a Slytherin!"

She paused for a moment to let the statement sink in, proving herself to be a true performer, "Unfortunately, with greatness, comes our reputation. To the others, we are a house of evil, a house of dark mages. Every house has produced a few dark wizards, they just don't like to admit it. We are the ones who must deal with the ire of the rest, so here comes the most important House Rule: Slytherins will always stick up for each other. I don't care what happens in this common room, argue until your faces are blue for all I care, but outside these walls we must put up a united front. We wouldn't survive otherwise."

The first years all shared a look at that. It was easy to notice the distaste pouring from the rest of the houses during the sorting ceremony. In order to survive, they all had to stick together. Fred and Adrian shared a nod. Despite his personal misgivings about his sorting, Fred knew he would never be able to switch, and the best way to thrive in Slytherin was to find some allies.

The prefect Devion continued the welcoming speech, "We are Slytherin. We play to win. We do not tolerate reckless fools, such as those annoying lions. We are snakes: flexible, adaptable, cunning. With our reputation, everyone fears us, and for good reason. We are the best of the best, and everybody knows it. Even our house ghost, the Bloody Baron, is feared amongst the rest. Befriend him, for his acquaintanceship might become very useful in your coming years of Hogwarts. Like Melody said, we stick together. So if you have any questions, direct them towards any of the elder students, or even our Head of House, Professor Snape."

Fred had heard a lot of Snape, mostly from Bill who found the elder man to be a complete and utter git. Apparently, he hated all Gryffindor's, while extremely favoring his own house. Devion continued with a smirk, "Snape is widely feared amongst all other houses, but to us, he's the only Professor who cares. Every teacher in this place will take one look at the snake emblem on your robes, and will proceed to judge you. Even the great Dumbledore himself. You can trust no one outside of Slytherin."

Melody decided to take over, "That's enough chit chat for today. There are two staircases at the end of the hallway in the back of the room. The staircase of the left leads down to the boys dorms, while the right goes down to the girls. Now, we as a house don't necessarily have any rules about which dorm you can or cannot enter, as long as you respect peoples privacy and don't touch anyone's stuff. The first floor down belongs to you runts, while as you descend lower, the year increases. The last floor down belongs to seventh years. I'll take the girls down, while you boys follow Devion."

Fred's bed was much larger than the one he had at home. Ancient four-poster beds with green silk hangings took up the room, five of them in total. Devion announced earlier that there were fewer students in their year than any other, due to them being born during the height of war. Fred took up the one at the end of the room, with Adrian taking the one beside him. The walls were decorated with medieval tapestries, depicting the adventures of famous Slytherins. It was much nicer than anything Bill described Gryffindor dorm to be.

Fred paused for a moment. Perhaps it was unhealthy for him to constantly compare Slytherin to what he knew the house of Lions to be. It was common knowledge that the two houses were as different as night and day.

He blamed it on the guilt. By being sorted into the house of Serpents, he had abandoned his family, his very own twin. For a fleeting moment, his traitorous mind reminded him that it wasn't exactly his fault that the house chose Slytherin, but the years of growing up in a Gryffindor family quickly shut it up. He wasn't a snake. Not really. But he wasn't a lion either.

"The blood traitor is sorted into Slytherin, who knew?" One of his newest dorm mates announced, taking up the bed directly across from his. He was blond, with startling blue eyes that stared Fred down in a condescending manner.

"Shut it Wash." Pucey commanded, "No one cares about your blood ideals. Weasley is as every bit Pureblood and Slytherin as the rest of us, don't you forget it."

Fred was quickly coming to the realization that pretty much every Slytherin was already acquainted. There weren't too many pureblood households, so the children mostly seemed to have already met. The blond, Wash, shot Adrian a look of contempt, "Sticking up for the Weasley, are we?"

Another boy, a brunette across the room, answered, "He shouldn't have to Jackson. You heard the prefects, Slytherins stick together. And whether you like it or not, Weasley is a Slytherin. Act like it."

Jackson Wash. Fred made sure to commit the name to memory. With all these people defending him, Fred felt as though it was time to make his own name in Slytherin. He was stuck here for the next seven years. The damn sorting hat thought that Fred was cunning and adaptable. He'd show them exactly why he was the first Weasley in Slytherin. With an arrogant drawl, Fred spoke, "My family might be full of Gryffindors. My very own twin might be a Gryffindor. But don't make the mistake of confusing us. I'm every much a Slytherin as the rest of you."

Jackson raised a brow, "Oh? Do tell."

Fred gave an evil smirk, "I've been told that I'm quite the prankster. Let's test that theory against the Hufflepuffs tomorrow."

Adrian patted him on the back, "Welcome to Slytherin, Fred Weasley."