Slytherin's Turn

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form so if you think I'm

Summery: A year after losing Hermione to Oliver, Draco Malfoy finds himself moving slowly towards the lighter side of the war. Still secretly passing along information, he's finding out more and more about himself daily. He and his best friend Blaise Zabini find themselves intrigued when fraternal twins Taylor and Carli transfer to Hogwarts from America and open a whole new can of worms.

Draco: 6th year (16 yrs. old)Crabbe and Goyle: 6th year (16yrs. old)

Hermione: 6th year (16 yrs. old) Ron: 6th year (16 yrs. old)

Harry: 6th year (16 yrs. Old) Lavender: 6th year (16 yrs. old)

Oliver: 7th year (17 yrs. Old) Alicia: 7th year (17 yrs. old)

Fred & George: 7th year (17 yrs. Old)Katie: 7th year (17 yrs. old)

Ginny: 4th year (15 yrs. Old)

Chapter 1

He swept through the halls of Hogwarts in robes of silken green and black, the haughtiness he'd inherited evident by his swagger. He watched as other students scurried around him like mice. It had been this way ever since he could remember, students fearing him; except for the few who were able to see past his scowling and snarling nature.

Too bad one of them had to be Harry bloody Potter. As surprising as it was, he didn't hate Harry. Dislike yes, hate no. He supposed he'd never hated Harry but the temptation and pressure to hate the one who caused the fall of the Dark Lord was hard to resist. So he put on a show. A hell of a show it was too.

"Draco," Blaise Zabini said casually as Draco swept pass him on his way to the Great Hall. Draco nodded in acknowledgement and suppressed a smile.

Draco had known Blaise for years, however, this summer they finally seemed to click. Their mutual knowledge of Voldemort's inevitable demise seemed to help cement their relationship by proving to one another that they were capable of thinking for themselves whereas their classmates thought what their parents wanted them to.

Draco honestly believed that he and Zabini were probably the only two out of their entire house who knew that Voldemort's glory days were over and that it was only a matter of time until he fell at Potter's hands.

The two of them walked into the great hall, their very presence causing a stir in most of the female community. They were a handsome pair and the fact that they were the friends made them even more desirable. Females always loved the hot bad boys.

Blaise's Italian roots always seemed to shine through. His dark curly mop of hair stopped just under his ears, his bangs brushed slightly across his grey eyes, and his bright white smile sent females into a melting frenzy. His body was lean and taut but Blaise never admitted to working out. He constantly bragged that his physique was "natural".

Draco's own hair was platinum blonde and, although he was famous for wearing it slicked back, he'd recently begun wearing it naturally. The now soft, silken strands fell just below his brow and he constantly found himself having to push it out of his way. His body lean and muscular from seeker training was nothing to laugh at either. All in all, Draco and Blaise were two of the most lusted after. That is, if you didn't mind them being Slytherins.

Out of the corner of his eye Draco caught Hermione's. She smiled slightly at him as not to be noticed and he raised an eyebrow. To an outsider it seemed as though Hermione was trying to be civil while Draco was blowing her off. In reality they were merely saying hi to one another. Their own form of body language formed towards the end of last year.

"Come on Blaise," Draco said looking lazily around the great hall. "Let's go have a seat. I'm starved." Blaise merely nodded and followed his friend to their table where they automatically distanced themselves from the other Slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle immediately came over and sat on either side of Draco while Blaise chose a seat opposite his newfound friend. Draco rolled his eyes at Goyle and Crabbe's actions and Blaise suppressed a smirk.

"Boys," Draco said conversationally. "Why don't you go show a few of the new first years how things work around here?" Immediately, the two boys grinned stupidly and managed to disappear from Draco's sight, presumably to go torture some unsuspecting first year.

"Come now, Draco," Blaise said taking a drink from his goblet. "That wasn't very gentleman like."

"I can't say I care Zabini. They annoy me and if sending them off to torture some poor, unsuspecting soul gets them away from me, then they're going to be torturing a lot of poor, unsuspecting souls." Blaise laughed and Draco smirked. He liked having Blaise around, although he'd never admit it. The other boy made Draco believe he wasn't so alone anymore.

It was only a week into his sixth year and Draco already felt like a new person. Last year he'd revealed so much of himself to a girl he loved and found himself in a very odd position. Draco found himself caught in-between sides. He could either support his overbearing, yet sniveling, father or follow St. Potter.

As much as Harry was his rival, Draco wasn't stupid. Harry was strong, he was brave, and, as much as Draco hated to admit it, he was smart. Potter only grew in ability the older he got. By the time he faced the Dark Lord for the final showdown there would be no contest. Voldemort would fall.

"Students! Students!" Dumbledore's voice sounded throughout the hall and brought Draco from his thoughts.

The old man was standing in the in front of the teachers table wearing bright purple robes with silver stars and a matching wizard's hat. His half-moon spectacles twinkled merrily in the sunlit room. Next to him were two girls Draco had never seen before. "Although, I'm sure this is quite embarrassing, I would like to introduce you to Taylor and Carli Williams from America. They will be joining us for breakfast as well as the rest of the year." There was a polite sprinkle of clapping and Draco took in the appearances of the girls.

One was tall (although she was probably still a good head shorter than Draco) and slim with short, black hair clinging to her head. With some disgust, Draco noticed the red and gold robes that adorned her body. She had full lips, brown skin, and brown eyes. She had a haughty look about her that suggested attitude.

The other girl was slightly shorter and curvier. Her hair ran down to her shoulders in thick, black spirals that moved invitingly every time she moved her head. She looked a bit like the girl next to her with her brown skin, full lips, and the same haughty look about her. Her eyes were green and Draco noticed with mild interest that she wore Slytherin's colors.

"Taylor," Dumbledore announced. "Will be joining Gryffindor in their sixth year class." Again there was the sprinkling of clapping. "Carli will be joining Slytherin in their sixth year." The rest of the school repeated their earlier actions but the Slytherin students didn't move. It was not their nature to celebrate such trivial things as new additions to their house. "That is all and you may all return to your breakfasts."

Dumbledore nodded to each girl and they gracefully moved towards their respective tables. Draco, bored with their presence already, turned his attention back to his table. The newfound students didn't interest him at all.

Hermione watched both anxiously and warily as Taylor walked over to their table. She and her sister had split without speaking and that sort of struck Hermione as odd but she just shrugged it off. Taylor reached their table and Hermione noticed with some amusement that both Fred and George had managed to make space for her between them and right across from Hermione. Taylor sat down with a grateful smile at both boys before turning her attention to the others in their group.

"Hello," Taylor smiled warmly at the students surrounding her as she sat down at the table.

"Hi," Hermione smiled back at her, hoping the new girl would take warmly to their group of friends. "I'm Hermione Granger." The girl smiled back at Hermione, mirroring the offer of friendship Hermione showed her.

"How do you do," she smiled reaching across the table to take Hermione's hand. "Hello, I'm Ginny Weasley," Ginny smiled at the girl also and got the same treatment.

"Oliver Wood." A handsome brown haired boy said. He was sitting next to Hermione and Taylor noticed that his arm was wrapped possessively around her shoulders.

"Lavender Brown."

"Ron Weasley." A redhead said loudly from his spot beside Lavender. He held her hand tenderly in his, leaving behind no question of their relationship.

"Fred Weasley."

"George Weasley."

"Well," Taylor said with a light laugh. "There appears to be a whole family in this house." Ginny laughed.

"Tell me about it. Oh, this is my boyfriend Harry Potter." Harry smiled at Taylor and waited for the typical gawking and barrage of uncomfortable questions but was pleasantly surprised and relieved when it never came.

"It's very nice to meet you all," Taylor smiled at them. They each returned her smile before turning back to their food giving Taylor a chance to look across the hall and check on her sister without causing too much attention. Carli was sitting next to a blonde boy and meeting her sister's eye with an unmistakable meaning.

Taylor raised an eyebrow before smiling slightly at Carli. Carli mimicked her sister's actions and watched as she turned away, effectively cutting off the rest of their communication for the time being.

"May I sit here?" Draco heard a female say quietly. He looked up uninterestedly and saw that it was the new girl Carli.

"Help yourself," he said coolly before looking across the table and catching Blaise's eye. The other boy raised an eyebrow at Draco who shrugged it off. He had no idea what Zabini was thinking and he was rather sure he didn't need to know.

"So," Carli said once she had sat down. "What's your name?" 'As if I don't already know,' she thought with a sigh. Malfoy looked over at her in amusement and stared at her appraisingly for a while as if trying to determine if he should waste anymore words on her.

"Draco Malfoy," he said suddenly. Carli smiled slightly before looking across the table at his friend expectantly.

"Blaise Zabini."

"Well, it's very nice to meet both you boys." Draco almost choked at the word "boys".

"Boys?" he asked incredulously. Carli nodded.

"Um, yea."

"Boys?" Blaise repeated. Carli looked across the table at him and noticed that he was in the same state of shock as Draco.

"I could've sworn I just said yes," she told them both with a hint of attitude.

"Look, I'm not sure what constitutes as a 'boy' in that lovely land of America of yours but here in England we do not," Blaise explained smoothly as he gestured between himself and Draco. Carli merely looked at the both of them before laughing at the two insulted faces.

"Wow, okay somebody needs to calm down. Okay, how about this, I'll stop calling you guys boys if you help me learn the ropes around here."

Draco looked over to Blaise in consideration of the deal. To be honest, he wasn't even sure why he was bothering with the girl. She was pretty, there was no doubt about that, but she wasn't his type. However, from the look Blaise was throwing him, they'd more than likely be helping her 'learn the ropes' as she'd so quaintly put it.

"Deal," Blaise told her easily before Draco even had a chance to respond. Draco, not in the least shocked, just mimed his agitation with Blaise by roughly stabbing the pancake on his plate.

By that afternoon Draco still wasn't sure if he liked Carli. She was different from the other students in Slytherin. So far she had managed to alienate all of Slytherin, excluding himself and Blaise of course, by mingling merrily with students from other houses. Something very unbecoming a Slytherin student.

He smirked inwardly as he entered the potions classroom. Blaise had offered to show Carli around after lunch until class had started. Draco hadn't argued. He just nodded to the both of them as he got up to head to class early, knowing Hermione would already be there.

She was there, he noticed happily once he'd entered the room. Already unpacking her supplies and preparing herself for a double dose of Snape's abuse. He shook his head, he never understood why she didn't just transfigure the man into a bug and step on him. She was more than capable.

"Hello Hermione," he greeted her quietly as he went to his table in the back of the room and began setting up his things also. To anyone passing by, they seemed as if they were two students eager to earn Snape's good favor. Two rival students.

Hermione looked up with wide eyes before settling them on Draco's form. She smiled, "Hello Draco. How are you?"

"I'm okay," Draco lied as he pulled parchment from his bag. How could he tell her he still loved her even though he knew good and well that she was in love with Oliver? How could he tell her that he was no where near over her? "How are you…and Oliver?" Hermione smiled again, oblivious to the war waging inside of Draco's heart.

"I…he's...we're good. Thank you Draco," she said suddenly staring at him intensely.

"For what?"

"Oliver told me what you did. That was a very nice thing to do. It was also very selfless and brave. I'm very proud of you." Draco smiled and Hermione got a teasing glint in her eye. "We'll make a Gryffindor out of you yet."

"Hermione? Hermione, you in here?" a feminine voice called as its owner entered the potions room. Draco, tore his eyes away from Hermione as she answered the call and Taylor entered the room.

"I'm here. I was just…getting ready for class." Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco but he didn't see it as his back was to her.

Draco frowned inwardly at his response to the girl standing before him. He had seen her that morning and a few times in the hallway but he had to admit that when her attention was focused on you, or someone close to you, she positively glowed. Her smile seemed to light the room and Draco could only find himself thinking one thing…'Beautiful'.