Harry Potter was terrified as he heard his name being called by the lady that called herself Professor McGonagall. He hesitantly climbed onto the stage and sat down on the stool that was provided. The sorting hat was then placed on his head.
"Well, well Mr. Potter what have we here? I see that you fit in all the houses but at the same time none of them in particular. However I do have to place you somewhere. I see that you desperately want to belong here and that you want to make friends. Despite what Mr. Weasley may have told you on the train there is no such thing as the perfect house while there are many here that share that opinion. I can see that if I place you in Gryffindor you would ultimately be friends with the Weasley boy since he has been kind to you, but I can also see that in a way he slightly annoys you going on about your scar and how evil Slytherin is and while you think that you may have made an enemy out of the young Malfoy, I disagree. I think were you to end up in Slytherin you and Mr. Malfoy would be able to mend the fence that he and you trampled early this evening. In the same instance if I put you in Ravenclaw I think that you would excel academically and make many friends there that would not find your intelligence offensive like your relatives did. Lastly were I to place you in Hufflepuff you would find the attention that you so seek however after a time the constant hugging might become too much for you or you might grow tired of some of the new more emotional first years. So the decision that I think will not only benefit you but others that do not even realize they may need your help is...Slytherin." The sorting hat finally yelled.
Professor McGonagall actually smiled even though Harry had understood her to be the Head of Gryffindor House and she indicated the Slytherin table and that he should step down. Harry headed towards the Slytherin table and sat down at the far end of the table not entirely sure who to talk to and who not to talk to. Harry nervously surveyed the Professors and tried to figure out which one might be Head of Slytherin House. He saw Professor Quirrell and deeply hoped that it wasn't him since he hadn't even wanted to touch Harry on their first encounter. To the side of Quirrell however sat a man with long black hair and he had all black robes on. He looked like a man that was hiding true feelings that he had kept to himself for some time. Harry liked this man and felt that they might have a lot in common since he himself often kept that guarded expression on his face when he didn't want his aunt or uncle to know that their words or rather their lack of words of comfort, beatings, and general mistreatment of him actually bothered him. He felt someone touch his arm and looked up to see Draco Malfoy standing in front of him. Draco had platinum blonde hair with steel gray eyes.
"Potter...I see that the hat felt that you shouldn't sort only with Gryffindors like Weasley thought you should." Draco muttered and even though he still had a strong air about him he seemed more mellowed out than before.
"Well the hat merely informed me that no house was completely good and said that I might fit in here and make friends or rather help people that might not even know they need my help." Harry replied truthfully and made sure not to act as if Draco actually frightened him even though in actuality he did that very thing.
"Well since you're in Slytherin I guess I'd be willing to give being your friend another go..." Draco offered haughtily but Harry caught the twitch in his jaw that gave away his nervousness.
"Well perhaps if you don't try to boss me around or be a total git, I suppose that I would be willing to give it a shot as well." Harry replied just as determined as Draco. For a moment Draco's eyes flared but then when he realized that Harry was not cowering to him in fear so he consented and stuck out his hand for Harry to shake, "Deal." Draco agreed. Harry shook Draco's hand and then noticed that once they had settled their differences the other first year Slytherins started over to sit at the end that Harry had chosen to sit at and avoid them until he was sure of whom he could trust.
"Let me introduce you to everyone else then; this is: Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zabini, and... wait who are you lot?" Draco questioned turning to a girl and boy who had been hanging back. Harry recognized the girl automatically; her name was Hermione Granger; she had sandy brown hair with brown cognac eyes and she had fixed his glasses on the train while looking for a boy's toad.
"My name is Hermione Granger and this is Neville Longbottom." Hermione replied pointing to a boy with jet black hair and chestnut brown eyes, as she eyed the Slytherins a tad timidly. "Granger...I don't recognize your family name. Are you a mud...muggleborn?" Pansy, a girl with chestnut brown hair that was a tad lighter than Neville's eyes and honey brown eyes, asked as she almost said another word but Millicent, a girl with ash brown hair and doe-eyed brown eyes, had elbowed her in the ribs. "Yes I am and I know that most muggleborns are not accepted among Slytherin. However I intend to prove you all wrong and show you that there is nothing wrong with being muggleborn." Hermione declared and looked to all of them to declare different. Draco looked like he was about to protest when Harry stepped forward and extended his hand to Hermione first and then second to Neville.
"Nice to meet you guys I'm Harry Potter and this is Draco Malfoy." Harry explained motioning towards Draco. Harry noticed that none of the other Slytherins found it odd that he had only introduced Draco and not them. All of the Slytherin first years seemed to sense that Draco was probably the dominant of the group and Harry was a very close tie with him but didn't want to assert himself too much over the others and definitely not over Draco at this point. Draco paused for a moment and then he extended his hand and followed Harry's suit of shaking Hermione's hand first and then Neville's next.
"Nice to meet the both of you; as Harry said I'm Draco Malfoy. The rest of this lot is: Daphne Greengrass, Theodore Nott, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Gole, and Blaise Zabini. You are right by the way Hermione most Slytherins do not like muggleborns but you seem to have a lot of spunk and I will give you a chance and treat you fairly. However I'm not sure how well the older Slytherins will take it, but I seriously doubt that Professor Snape will let any of them pick on you. He especially doesn't like the word that Pansy started to call you." Draco declared glaring warningly at Pansy. Pansy was no idiot and took the hint that she had better treat Hermione with respect or else.
"Draco's right and I will also try to restrain from saying that from now on and I'll also give you a fair chance since technically you've done nothing to offend any of us thus far." Pansy apologized and consented. The rest of the Slytherins nodded their heads in agreement with Pansy, Draco, and Harry and then shook Hermione and Neville's hands. After that had been settled they all took their seats at the urging of one of the older students who Draco said was a prefect. Draco seated himself to Harry's left and Neville seated himself to Harry's right; On Draco's other side was Vincent Crabbe, a boy with licorice black hair and walnut brown eyes, and Gregory Goyle, a boy with sable brown hair and indigo blue eyes, was beside him. Directly in front of Harry was Hermione and to her left was Pansy Parkinson and to Hermione's right was Daphne Greengrass, a girl with honey blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes; On Pansy's other side was Millicent Bulstrode then Theodore Nott, a boy with flaxen blonde hair and grass green eyes, and lastly Blaise Zabini, a colored boy with black hair that had light brown flecks in it and chartreuse eyes. Oddly the new Slytherins settled into a comfortable seating arrangement and started to chat amiably. "Which one of the Professors is Professor Snape?" Harry inquired of Draco. "He's the one beside Quirrell, which is the guy with purple turban on his head." Draco pointed to the long haired man that Harry had earlier been assessing. Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement and then ate the rest of his meal only chatting a bit here and there.