[This story is incomplete and unlikely to be finished in its current form, a rewrite is possible but basic plot threads are included at the end regardless.]

-=S-S=-

Harry departed the train alone, the students already on the station platform affording him a wide berth and allowing him to pass unmolested. The guard at the exit from platform nine and three-quarters gave shot him an odd look, an interesting blend of equal parts fear and disgust. He found it deeply ironic that he was going to be almost glad to be back amongst muggles; at least they wouldn't stare at him for anything other than his poor clothing and general scruffiness.

It didn't take him long to locate his Aunt and Uncle; his uncle and Dudley especially stood out like sore thumbs purely for their immense size. They had apparently noticed that a lot of the people on the platform were eying their nephew with as much fear as they themselves held for him, if their expressions were anything to go by.

"You ready, boy?" Vernon remained as pleasant as ever, purple-faced and furious at Harry for simply existing.

"Yes." Harry's reply was mostly unnecessary as the man had already begun marching away from him at a brisk pace, practically fleeing from his presence. Harry smirked slightly at their reactions, finding himself exceptionally glad that his 'family' were oblivious to the fact that he was not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts.

-=S-S=-

Time passed at a relatively steady pace for Harry on Privet Drive, his relatives had been instilled with a renewed sense of fear of him upon seeing the general reaction to him at King's Cross. They had apparently taken the furtive glances and avoidance of his peers as being inspired by fear, and as such they were doing their very best to pretend he did not exist. The few times he had invaded their bubble of delusions they had tried their very best to avoid angering him, it had proved amusing at meal times at the very least.

That morning his Uncle had, in his politest and most strained business voice, asked him to spend the night in his room. Apparently the 'Masons' would be coming for dinner and a rather large business deal could potentially result. He had no real objections to spending the night in his room; it was pretty much what he was planning anyway, so he had readily agreed.

Harry had simply spent his day reading through his first year materials once again and it was well after midday before Harry even remembered that today was his Birthday. He dismissed the knowledge almost as soon as it came to him as completely insignificant; there wasn't exactly anyone who would be concerned about his birthday within the household, and it would be years before anything changed legality wise.

Seven-thirty arrived much sooner than he would like, and with it came the screeching of his Aunt. "Harry!" Her shrill tone cut through the silence that otherwise occupied the house. "Get down here! Hurry up!"

Harry descended the stairs and entered the kitchen to find himself greeted by a magnificent feast composed of a single slice of stale feeling bread and a slice of cheese. He looked at the 'meal' and shook his head with distaste. He briefly considered complaining to see if he could exploit her recent change of attitude and 'persuade' her to give him something more substantial but quickly dismissed the idea as trivial and wolfed down the pitiful meal the Dursleys had provided him.

The moment he was finished Petunia grabbed his plate and urged him out the door "Upstairs! Come on, Quickly now!"

Harry had only just reached the landing when the doorbell rang; glancing down the stairs he caught sight of Vernon glaring at him, as if daring him to attempt to head back down. Chuckling softly Harry headed into his room and was quite startled when he found he was not alone.

-=S-S=-

Harry glared at the creature currently perched upon his bed. It was a humanoid little thing bearing a comically large head and a pair of gigantic bulging eyes. He distantly thought that it looked like some kind of caricature of a children's character gone horribly wrong.

The low bow it greeted him with did little to endear the pillow case wearing creature to him.

Deciding that if it had managed to get into his house undetected it was likely at least somewhat magical; he chose to treat it as politely as possible.

"Hello." Harry greeted the creature in a mildly confused tone.

"Harry Potter!" The creature's high pitched voice penetrated his ears painfully and he distantly wondered if it might be carrying downstairs to his "family's" guests, the creature stared at him in awe briefly before continuing in an excited voice. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir! Such an honour it is…"

Harry stared blankly at 'Dobby' debating how to interact with the being, "Well then, I'm pleased to meet you Dobby." He smiled and offered his hand to the creature and was horrified to find his greeting met by it bursting into tears. "Uh… Dobby?" The creature sniffed loudly and simply stood staring at him. Somewhat unnerved he pushed on, asking the creature "Have I offended you in some way?"

He was answered with an increased intensity in the elf's sobbing, "S-such kindness! To treat but a lowly house elf with such r-respect!" Harry ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He was completely at a loss at how to talk to a house elf, the closest frame of reference he had were his brief interactions with the Goblins, and even then he was only aware that they needed to be respected, which was clearly not going to work with Dobby if his wailings were anything to go by.

Taking a glance at the creature's rather filthy looking clothing he decided on a different tactic, he summoned up his best tone of snobbery and returned his attention to the creature. "Why are you here, House Elf?"

Dobby looked briefly startled before seeming to become more at ease than he hadbeen during the entire encounter, "Dobby is here to deliver a message Sir! A warning!" fear shone clearly in his eyes at his own words.

Harry regarded Dobby quizzically "A warning?" he brought his head level with Dobby's and looked him directly in the eyes "A warning about what?"

Dobby shrank back slightly but kept his eyes in contact with Harry's "Harry potter must not go back to Hogwarts!"

Harry tilted his head at the creature wondering to himself if it was being serious. The grave expression coupled with the fact its eyes had somehow grew even larger seemed to confirm this was in fact the case. Deciding to see what information he could get out of Dobby, and assuming anything subtle would probably have negative results he assumed his most commandeering tone once again and simply asked, "Why?

The house elf's eyes began watering and his body trembling. "There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to cause most terrible things to happen at Hogwarts! Harry Potter must not put himself in danger. He is too important, Sir!"

Harry's eyes narrowed at the response. "What are these 'terrible things' Dobby? Who's behind them?"

Harry was momentarily stunned when Dobby's response was to mouth silently for a few moments before choking himself and smashing his head into the wall rather violently, quickly collecting himself Harry once again commanded the elf, "Dobby, be quiet."

The creature turned to him mumbling incoherently to itself about masters and being a 'bad elf'.

Harry sighed and tried addressing the creature again "Dobby, shut up." The creature stared up at him fearfully. "I want you to simply nod or shake your head to what I'm about to ask. No talking, no self-harm." He briefly gave the elf a look over the creature ensuring he had its continued attentions "Can you do this for me?"

Dobby's only response was a vigorous nod; Harry supposed it was taking its instructions to heart.

"Can you tell me who's doing the 'plotting'?" A shake of the head answered. "Can you tell me what the 'plot' is?" Another shake of the head followed. "Can you tell me any details about the dangers I need to avoid at all?" Further head shaking answered, deciding on a final question Harry asked, "Can you tell me when it the plot begins?" Another negative response answered.

Harry sighed exasperatedly at the complete lack of information. "What exactly do you want from me then?" Dobby answered by waving his arms animatedly making incomprehensible signs with his oversized hands in silence. Harry rubbed his temples in annoyance and let out yet another sigh. "You can speak now, Dobby."

Dobby's entire face lit up at being once again permitted to speak. "Oh thank you sir!" The glee quickly faded from the creatures face when he remembered he'd been asked a question "Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts!"

Harry looked at Dobby accepting that he would get nothing more from the bizarre creature in his room "Sure Dobby, I won't go back to Hogwarts." His words came out slow, as if talking to a misbehaving puppy.

He watched mildly amused as happiness flooded onto Dobby's face at his words. "Thank you, Sir! Thank you!" The creature was bowing in an almost frenzied manner, his pillow case robe swishing loudly at the sheer speed of the bowing. "You shan't regret this, Sir! I is so glad I could helping the great Harry Potter!" and with a final flurry of bows he popped loudly out of his room.

Harry simply stood staring at the spot Dobby had vanished from pondering its words and general craziness. The distant tittering of his Aunt's fake laughter floating up from downstairs brought him back to reality rather sharply. Slumping down on his bed he pulled a random text book from his trunk and muttered to himself. "At least the Dursleys didn't see Dobby, crazy little elf…"

-=S-S=-

August rolled around without any real changes within Harry's home life. He was rather pleased to find that Dobby never bothered contacting him again, apparently having believed his declaration of not returning to Hogwarts. He was genuinely curious as to who had arranged for the Elf to harass him. Dobby hadn't exactly been very successful - at least not outside of its own head - and he really didn't see the creature randomly deciding to 'assist' him by smashing its head into a wall and shouting a lot. Then again, maybe he was just overestimating house elves and they were all that crazy. Harry hoped dearly this wasn't the case, a race of magical creatures composed entirely of Dobby was possibly the most frightening thing he could imagine.

Being locked up in his relative's house had finally started to get to Harry, so he decided to stay the remainder of the holidays in Diagon Alley. He had to admit that the conversation with his uncle arranging that with his 'family' had went a lot smoother than he'd ever expected….

Uncle Vernon was lazing around watching TV, it had been a week since the Masons had visited and he had been in disgustingly giddy mood since, clearly he had decided the entire night had went wonderfully.

"Uncle Vernon." Harry said as he approached the man.

Fear briefly flickered across his Uncle's face at the sound of Harry's voice, Harry briefly wondered if having his entire family living in fear of him would stop being amusing. "What is it, boy?" His tone was venomous and his face was a disgusting mix of anger, fear and a sickly purple colour.

"Could you take me to London tomorrow?" Tomorrow was a Saturday, the 8th of August, three weeks remained before he'd have to head back to Hogwarts.

A long glare answered him, he watched interestedly as his Uncles face pulsated rhythmically. "If I must, Boy, are you going to want to be coming back?" Harry could almost taste the desperate hope in the man's words.

Harry smiled at the man serenely. "Not until next June, I hope."

The change in his uncle was quite sudden, the anger and fear were gone replaced with a look of disappointment. It took the man several long seconds to realise that although he would not be permanently rid of the child, he would be almost a year without him, the man's disappointment was quickly replaced with a devilish grin. "Of course I'll take you to London, Boy!" the smile briefly faltered "But don't expect to any money from this family. No you've taken quite enough from us, Boy!"

Harry simply kept his smile fixed in place, he hadn't expected a single penny from the Dursleys, they horded their money like a pack of goblins. "Of course not, Uncle Vernon." He turned and left his uncle whistling happily to himself.

He was pleasantly surprised when his uncle had simply dropped him off near the Leaky Cauldron, he had proceeded to check himself in for the final three weeks of the summer holiday, it was surprisingly cheap lodging for being so close to Diagon. He had found it was a much nicer way to spend his time in Diagon than in the Dursleys, he'd ended up spending the majority of his time simply sat outside of Flourish and Blotts reading various books.

He'd asked the manager of the branch for a list of the last four years' worth of defence against the dark arts text books with any recommendations into which was the best for learning practical defence rather than theory, he had a decent collection of more advanced works already stowed at Hogwarts but they were hardly consistent complexity wise. He was handed a copy of a book entitled "Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use against the Dark Arts" which had some wonderfully useful full colour moving diagrams and the book "A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter Actions." along with the list he had requested.

The books were rather nice and he found himself wishing he'd had access to them over the rather pitiful theoretical material that Quirrell had assigned for his first year, it made him curious if he would have to suffer another year of the man's teaching or if he would finally quit. He'd been gradually growing gaunter and sicklier looking as the year had dragged on, he certainly seemed to want to interact with him less by June.

The only downside to his time spent on the alley, outside of the general public's occasional bad reaction to him, was the complete lack of practical magic use. Although he had expected it, he'd certainly heard more than enough warnings about not using magic from the Hogwarts staff, full time immersion in the magical world made his own lack of casting all that more grating. He longed to hex the idiots who chose to point and stare.

Within a week of arriving he received a copy of his Hogwarts letter informing him that he needed a copy of "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2" along with a number of books by one Gilderoy Lockhart. He'd seen rather obnoxious adverts up in Flourish and Blotts during his numerous return trips and from some skim reading of his books had decided the man was mostly a sensationalist, he doubted he actually had the skills to back up the various claims within his books, even if they did seem to be pretty accurate in the methods used when cross referenced.

Having finally received his letter he found himself incredibly disappointed in the materials he would be requiring, he already had grabbed the first four grades worth of "The Standard Book of Spells" and so felt almost resentful as he left his relatively comfortable room in the Leaky Cauldron to visit Flourish and Blotts, solely with the intention of buying Gilderoy Lockhart's narcissistic collection.

-=S-S=-

Not much happened during the last two weeks of the holidays excepting a minor confrontation between the Weasley and Malfoy families. Apparently the Malfoy elder had made some rather offensive comments about the Weasleys associating with so-called 'Mud-bloods' and Ron Weasley's father, Arthur he had read, had simply thrown caution to the wind and slugged him one. He couldn't help but feel the patriarch of the Malfoy family had likely deserved it.

Other than the mild excitement of the fight, there was the ridiculous signing event in Flourish and Blotts. Lockhart had proudly announced his appointment as Hogwarts' Defence Against the Dark Arts professor with his trademark dazzling smile firmly in place and brighter than ever. The news had left Harry of two minds; on one side the man seemed to have a solid history in defence, on the other… He was a gigantic ponce.

He simply hoped that the man would at least prove a competent instructor where Quirrell had not.

-=S-S=-

September the first rolled around and Harry arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters feeling rather unenthusiastic about the year ahead. His first year within the magical community had hardly left much of a positive impression of the magical community on him. Sure it was still better than the Dursleys, and he at least seemed to have a decent amount of money in his coffers… But that was not really saying much, considering he was basically an unwanted orphan boy before Hagrid had revealed his paternity.

It had turned out that the general wizarding public took to hating him like a fish to water after a couple of defamatory articles over the last year. He hadn't had too much of an issue while staying at Diagon, but he had a sneaking suspicion that was mostly due to Tom and the manager of Flourish and Blotts either diverting attention or outright instructing people to ignore him.

Dismissing his bitter thoughts Harry busied himself with boarding the Hogwarts' Express, he had deliberately arrived over two hours early in order to guarantee himself an empty compartment, it was certainly a better option than arriving on time and suffering through attempting to find a group willing to accept someone so reviled into their midst.

It had worked out well enough. He had claimed the rearmost compartment upon finding that it was completely empty - hardly surprising given how early he was - and had settled himself in, leaving Hedwig in her cage on the table in front of him. Feeling comfortable enough he pulled out one of the various defence books he had purchased during him time at Diagon and busied himself with its contents.

He found himself rather disappointed when nothing at all happened within the two hours before the train started departing but just as the train begun pulling away, a girl with waist-length blond hair, a rather ridiculous looking pair of earrings and her wand pinned behind her ear had entered his compartment.

He gave her an assessing glance over, expecting her to simply leave as soon as she realised who he was. He was mildly surprised when she simply smiled brightly at him and slumped down in the seat opposite him. He was quite amused when he silent girl pulled out a copy of a magazine called 'The Quibbler' and turned it upside before starting to read. He was amused right up until the moment she had seemingly realised who she was in a compartment with and had settled down to simply stare at him. She reminded him of distantly of Dobby, it was rather unsettling to say the least.

A few minutes passed, each feeling like an eternity to Harry before the odd girl finally spoke, "You're Harry Potter." She seemed exceptionally pleased at her announcement.

Harry was momentarily stunned into inaction but quickly gathered his wits about him "Yes, I'm Harry Potter." He paused briefly before adding in as polite a tone as he could muster, "Who are you?"

The girl's unfaltering smile widened "I'm Luna Lovegood." She paused momentarily "Are you really a 'Dark Lord in Training'?" She squinted at him expectantly.

Harry stared at the girl for a few seconds, and seeing her expression remained as radiant as ever let out a low chuckle "I'm not sure, I don't feel much like one."

"You're not sure? Hmm, well, that doesn't sound very dark of you." She paused tilting her head thoughtfully at him. "I'd think you'd know if you were Dark, I imagine it feels a lot like indigestion." She shot him another piercing stare "Do you feel indigestion?"

Harry chuckled again "I can't say I do Luna." He paused momentarily, trying to look thoughtful. "Does this mean I'm not going to be a Dark Lord?" He didn't bother to fight his emerging grin as he addressed the girl, feeling rather sure it wouldn't make a difference.

Luna looked genuinely thoughtful at the question "I'm not entirely sure." She admitted, looking him up and down as if checking him for any evident darkness. "I might be wrong." She flipped a page in her copy of The Quibbler idly. "Maybe it feels more like a migraine?" she added thoughtfully lifting her.

Harry snorted at the girl. "Tell you what Luna," She looked up at him quizzically "If I ever become the next Dark Lord, I'll write you a letter telling you what it feels like."

"Oh, please do!" She clapped her hands together in delight, flashing him a bright and genuine smile. "That would be just wonderful, Harry!" She idly brushed her fingers through her hair, only managing to make it messier than previously. "Maybe daddy could write an article on it…" She fixed him under her stare once again. "What do you think?" She was almost quivering in eagerness.

Harry simply raised an eyebrow at the girl. "An article in what exactly?"

The girl gestured widely at the magazine in her hands sending one of the books Harry had left on the table between them tumbling onto the floor with a loud clunk. Luna gasped loudly looking fearfully at the book, before suddenly realising she hadn't answered Harry's question and snapping her attention back to him. "Why, 'The Quibbler', of course! My father's the editor, you know."

Harry shook his head at the odd girl's antics. It seemed he was destined to interact with crazies recently. "Sure Luna, if I turn out to be the next You-Know-Who you'll get the first interview."

She looked giddy at the prospect "Oh thank you, Harry!"

He wasn't sure if she genuinely believed he would turn out dark, or if she was just happy he'd agreed to anything at all. "No problem, Luna." He smiled at the girl brightly. She was certainly a breath of fresh air in comparison to his recent social interactions. "No problem at all".

Their compartment settled into an easy silence with Luna alternating between staring owlishly at Harry and reading her copy of "The Quibbler".

The journey passed and the silence was only broken by Luna's voice ringing out dreamily. "Oh my…" Harry stopped reading and turned to watch the girl, waiting for her to continue. Her face was scrunched up in concentration, as if attempting to work out the solution an extremely complex puzzle. "We're almost there, aren't we?" The question didn't seem to be addressed at him so he didn't bother responding. She nodded to herself and continued, "I suppose I should start changing then…" He didn't get a chance to respond to her observation as she had immediately started pulling off her top. Freezing momentarily, Harry stood briefly transfixed as the topless girl rummaged in her own trunk before a loud screech from Hedwig caused him to gather his wits and flee the compartment.

He stumbled into the next compartment along in the train to find it full of redheads and himself immediately greeted by one of the Weasley twins. "Why if it isn't You-Know-Who-Two!" The twin who had jumped up swung an arm around his neck and guided him towards the seat he had just vacated, sandwiching him between himself and the other half of the duo. "Such an honour it is to have you here my Lord!"

Harry groaned at the twins' antics. He liked the pair well enough, they hadn't taken the various rumours about him that had ended up floating around at all seriously; they had even helped him through some bad times in his last year. He still he wasn't sure if the constant jokes about being 'The Littlest Dark Lord' and 'You-Know-Who-Two' were either alienating him further or endearing him to the rest of the Gryffindors. "Hey Fred, George" he nodded at each of the twins entirely expecting the next line out of their mouth.

"You wound me, My Lord! I'm Fred!" The older boy grinned at Harry, entirely aware of how sick the boy was of their shtick after enduring it so many times.

Harry simply sighed in response. "Whatever, guys." He turned to look at the third redhead within the compartment and was mildly surprised to see that the twins were seemingly spending the trip with their younger sister. The girl currently seemed to be trying to shrink as far away from him as possible while still staring at him wide eyed. He met her eyes and was amused to see them widen even further. "Ginny, right?"

A frantic nodding and what may have been a squeak were his only answer before the twins rounded on him again, he wasn't sure if it was for his or Ginny's benefit.

"Don't worry about young Ginevra here!" George pulled him towards him using the arm still wrapped around him rather awkwardly, upon his finishing Fred grabbed him and yanked him away from George towards him. "She's just not used to being around such regal company, My Lord!" The twins loosened their grips on him slightly "So, young Harry, what got you rushing into here in such a hurry?" George's tone had become mildly serious, "Your Slytherin serfs rebelling again?"

Harry gave the pair of twins an odd look, here they were genuinely worried when he had just been fleeing from Luna, Harry couldn't help it and burst out into laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.

The twins gave him a pair of rather startled looks at this reaction. "Alright there, Harry?" Fred's tone was genuinely curious.

"Nothing quite so serious, Fred." Harry continued chuckling lightly, "Apparently the girl who stumbled into my compartment, Luna Lovegood, doesn't know to not start changing into her robes in front of a boy."

The twins' faces lit up in glee and Harry groaned at himself stupidly giving them ammunition to use against him, George grinned at him redoubling his grip around his neck "Scared of girls, Harry?" Fred leant closer into him continuing where George left off "The one true weakness of the new Dark Lord? I'm sure the papers would pay well for this, George!" Fred rubbed his chin as if pondering "At least a hundred Galleons I reckon, then again, maybe we could auction it off to the Aurors instead?"

Harry couldn't let out an exasperated sigh. "Could you just drop this?"

The twins looked at each other and instantly fell into two mock bows and as one chanted "As you wish, My Lord."

Harry rubbed his temples in irritation at the duo. "Why are you in here anyway? I didn't expect the full overprotective brother act from you two." He gestured at Ginny who still seemed to be trying to sink into her seat and paused grinning slightly "I'd expect it from Percy, actually."

The brothers both looked quite horrified at his insinuation and in declared in tandem "How dare you compare us to Percy!"

Harry chuckled lightly at their reaction before untangling himself from the twins and addressing Ginny again "Hey Ginny, could you go see if Luna's finished changing for me?" He smiled at her and was amused to see her blush crimson before nodding and jumping up to check into his compartment.

George grinned wickedly watching his sister jump to Harry's bidding "Ah another disciple for the Dark Lord!" Fred joined in immediately "You make us proud, Ginevra!" the pair locked into an embrace awkward embrace over Harry's lap, sobbing into each other's shoulders theatrically.

Ginny flashed them a fierce glare and shouted a brief "Shut up!" at the pair before fully vanishing

Harry chortled to himself after she had left "You know, that's the first thing she's said since I got in here."

Fred grinned wickedly at him "Well you are quite the charmer, Harry!" George immediately took over "More charisma than Lockhart himself!" Fred resumed "Clearly our dearest sister was shocked into silence at your angelic form!"

Harry just sighed and was rather thankful when Ginny returned giggling slightly "She's changed." She shook her head in amusement retaking her seat. "Said she thought the 'Wrackspurts' had got to you."

Harry raised a quizzical eyebrow at her "'Wrackspurts'?" Ginny's only response was renewed giggling to which he simply shook his head and stood up "Thanks Ginny," he was rewarded with another blush but was amused to see that the brief respite from his presence had helped her compose herself, he turned and addressed the compartment as a whole "I'll see you lot around, yea?" He was greeted with murmurs of agreement from the Weasleys within and returned to his own compartment.

Within he found Luna sitting happily in the seat he had been occupying until he had fled from her, with a shrug he slumped down opposite her and finding his book still on the table resumed from where he had been before having to flee.

-=S-S=-

The Hogwarts express pulled into Hogwarts and Harry separated from Luna and was mildly surprised when she gave him a brief hug before running off towards Hagrid without a word. Just as with his own first year Hagrid was striding through the crowds of students bellowing loudly for the 'Firs' Years'. Harry caught the giant's eye and smiled at him brightly, Hagrid returned it jovially and waved at him before ushering the first years away down the narrow path to the lake.

Harry swiftly climbed aboard one of the numerous carriages that took all other years to the castle and was promptly joined by several of the higher year students. He didn't know the names of any of the students and judging by the fact they spent the entire trip to the castle in complete silence, pointedly avoiding looking at him, he imagined he wasn't going to learn them any time soon.

The castle looked as impressive as ever, light flooded out of the many windows lighting it up beautifully. Harry was immensely thankful to be back. Even though the general student population didn't seem to have warmed to him at all during the summer, his love of practicing magic easily overrode any upset caused by their hostility.

Soon enough they arrived at the castle proper and the group of students that had been in the compartment with Harry quickly separated from him. He was left to head into the great hall alone. He entered paying special attention to the staff table and was amused to find that Lockhart seemed to be harassing Professor Snape, while the other lecturers looked on with expressions ranging from outright amusement on Flitwick to outright disgust on Snape's behalf.

Harry was not looking forward to the man's defence instruction, he'd read through the 'textbooks' they had been issued and had noticed a distinct lack of actual spells. Mostly the books were simply several hundred pages of glorifying his feats with the occasional reference to various obscure spells he did not go into the technical aspects of. Granted when Harry had looked them up himself their effects had in fact matched up with their usage in the book, but he was still worried that the man would somehow end up worse than Quirrell, a feat he had previously thought impossible.

The sorting began without much fuss. The first years were all led in by McGonagall and the sorting hat placed within the centre of the great hall. Just as with his year the hat immediately burst into song. He noted with mild interest that it was not singing the same song as it had the previous year, but assumed that as a sentient hat it mustn't really have that much to do outside of writing songs.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly regaining the attention of the first years from the Sorting Hat. "When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool until it sorts you." She explained to the first years. "When the hat announces your House, stand up and immediately take a seat at the appropriate table." There was a brief pause as she read the first name on the list.

"Anders, Sarah!" The tiny girl stepped forth trembling almost comically as she approached the hat. He really was amazed at how intimidating the hat seemed initially, he was quickly shown by the students of Hogwarts there were far scarier things within the castle walls than a fate deciding hat.

The rip on the hat opened wide and let out a shrill chant of "Hufflepuff!" A round of applause rose and the girl scarpered across to the Hufflepuff table, the occupants of which immediately moved to allow her a seat.

Harry watched the procession of students mostly in silence only really noticing a boy named Colin Creevey who toppled off the stool upon the hat screaming "Gryffindor!" and the girl Luna, from the train, being sorted into Ravenclaw. The end of the sorting drew upon them with McGonagall's shout of "Weasley, Ginevra!" Harry found himself smirking when the girl seemed to forget her fear of the hat simply to glare at McGonagall.

Harry had stopped paying attention as soon as the girl had stood, assuming that it was a foregone conclusion for the girl to end up in Gryffindor with the rest of the Weasleys. He only took note of what was happening with the girl when the silence in the hall dragged on for several minutes. Harry was genuinely intrigued at this, the only other person he knew of who had taken so long to be sorted was himself.

Several more minutes dragged on and murmurings started to rise around the hall, from the mutterings Harry discovered he was not the only one who had matched up his own sorting and Ginny's. A loud cough from the staff table emanating from a stern faced Dumbledore silenced the Hall after the mutterings had begun to grow too loud.

Harry had taken to watching the Weasley girl's expression, it was rather telling of the discussion going on within her head. Expressions of fear, anger and pride flashed across the girls face, synching up with the mental conversation going on within her head. Rather abruptly her face paled and she looked as if she was about to be ill, Harry took this to mean the conversation was reaching a conclusion she was not going to be fond of. He could relate all too clearly to this and found himself worried on the girl's behalf for what was about to happen.

The hat's brim opened wide and screamed "Slytherin!" The hall instantly plunged into silence and tears began to cascade down the girl's face. Harry couldn't help but be disgusted at the all too familiar reaction. He supposed a Weasley in the house of the snakes was almost as scandalous as the Boy-Who-Lived's presence within Slytherin.

There was a distinct lack of action from anyone within the hall; everyone simply stared transfixed at the now openly sobbing Weasley girl. Growling in disgust Harry stood and strode across the hall, gathering the attention of the entire room in the process, took the girl by the hand and guided her to the seat next to his own all while glaring at those gazing at him with their ridiculous slack jawed expressions.

Dumbledore, seemingly gathering his wits, stood and with magically enhanced volume cleared his throat causing everyone's attention to snap to him. "Welcome!" The man's grandfatherly tone felt distinctly at odds with the atmosphere within the Hall. "Welcome, to a new year at Hogwarts!" He smiled warmly around the hall, "Please excuse me from so delaying your meal," An extravagant wave filled the plates around the hall with mountains of food. "Tuck in!"

And tuck in they did. They just also stared at Harry and the girl now sobbing into his shoulder. He matched the stares sent in their direction with a glare of his own, causing most who fell under it to look away. The feast passed in a flurry of whispered conversations and pointed fingers, Harry was not surprised in slightest, but couldn't help but be filled with renewed disgust at the general attitude of the Hall's populace.

He could only pick out a half dozen or so Gryffindors who were not joining in with the gossiping and gawking, the other Weasley family members were amongst them, as were Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. The twins in particular were sending him meaningful glances that told him they would want to speak after the feast. Percy simply stared sadly across at Ginny, occasionally voicing harsh words to the various groups gossip-mongering at the Gryffindor table.

Ron looked simply distraught; Harry suspected he was suddenly looking at his abandonment of Harry the previous year in a very different light right now. He could understand the boy's reasoning for what he had done, or rather failed to do, but their potential friendship was a bridge that had been very thoroughly burnt by this point.

The rest of the feast passed in mostly the same manner with Dumbledore giving his standard speech about the forbidden forest and reminded them of Filch's ban on joy, as well as stating Quidditch trials would be taking place next week. Harry was simply thankful that he hadn't attempted to start a rendition of the 'school song'.

Ginny had barely managed to eat a few mouthfuls of food during the entire feast and was looking rather pale when the house filtered out. Upon a Slytherin prefect's call for first years she made to follow and was promptly stopped by Harry's hand taking hold of hers.

"You don't want to do that." Harry's tone was deadly serious "I very much doubt you'll get much of a warm welcome in our dorms." Ginny simply stared wide eyed and fearfully at him. "I believe your brothers want a word too." Harry gestured at the twins who were making a beeline for them through the departing crowds.

"Harry." The twins were unusually solemn in tone, he completely understood why.

"Don't worry." He knew what they wanted "I was going to do it anyway." He looked disgustedly around the hall and the pair of twins simply gave him a respectful nod and promptly left for their own dormitories.

Ginny fixed Harry with a shockingly potent glare, "What were you going to do anyway?"

Harry was amused at her sudden show of bravery, "Give you my protection."

The simple statement caused an expression of fury to well up on the small girl's face "What? I don't need your protection."

Harry fixed her with a glare of his own "Yes, you do." He saw her attempt to continue her ranting and promptly brought out his wand and cut her off with a Silencio. The fury on her face grew several magnitudes and he couldn't help but be mildly impressed by her determination. "Listen, Ginny," he started walking out of the hall gesturing at her to follow, she didn't even notice that he wasn't immediately following the other Slytherins.

Ensuring she was in fact following he continued "Slytherin is not a nice house, as soon as you set foot within the walls of the common room you will be preyed upon." Ginny's footsteps faltered slightly at the revelation but her expression remained fierce "The simple fact is, you are a Weasley." He stopped promptly in the hallway, leaning against a wall next to a rather ugly painting of a goblin. "You are a mud-blood lover and a blood traitor. You are a target for anyone who has anti-muggle sentiments or anyone who wishes to impress those with them." Harry paused and met her eyes "That's pretty much every member of our wonderfully noble house, excluding myself and select others." He didn't go into any details about the 'others'.

Harry muttered a spell to remove the silencing charm on the girl and continued, "You basically have two choices here." He held up a single finger to illustrate his point, "You can be under my protection and spend most of your time actively avoiding your house mates." he paused raising the other finger "Or you can attempt to find another member of the house who would offer to protect you." He brushed his hands through his hair as if collecting himself "It is extremely unlikely that any of the others offering you 'protection' will not want something in exchange."

Ginny interrupted him quite suddenly "And you don't expect anything from me?"

Harry grinned at the girl "Well, I am a Slytherin." His face turned serious "I'll never ask for anything you are unwilling to give or do." His face grew stern "The other Slytherins would not be so kind, especially in years to come."

Ginny looked at him somewhat confused "What do you mean?"

Harry simply sighed at the naivety of the girl, so like his own upon entering the house of the snakes. "You are a girl, Ginevra" he chuckled at the angry blush that appeared on her face upon his use of her given name. "Boys and girls do certain things when they get older."

Harry had to admit he felt rather ridiculous lecturing this girl on something he himself had no clue about a year ago. It was taking all his will power to fight his own blush over the subject matter. "Some of the boys who would help you would be simply delighted to make a lovely little blood traitor like you do various things with them."

Ginny's face had become rather pale, she didn't understand the full implications of his words but she had certainly caught his emphasis on the word 'make'. "I… I see." She took a deep breath and looked at him, "And what do you want from me in return for your…" She paused, distaste clear upon her face "Protection?"

Harry simply smiled benevolently. "Train with me for one," his smile grew somewhat wicked "Extort your brothers for another." He dropped the smile "Other things. Nothing too bad, I promise you that much."

Ginny simply eyed him thoughtfully "I don't really have a choice do I?" She slumped down onto the floor against the wall next to him, she stayed like that for several long minutes before starting speaking again, "I'm going to be toy to some Slytherin regardless of what I do." She looked up at him blushing slightly, "I'd rather be the Boy-Who-Lived's than some other bland snake's toy."

Harry simply chuckled extending a hand to help her up which she accepted graciously falling in step behind him as he led her to the dungeons. A thought entered Ginny's mind upon realising they had been separated from the other Slytherins "We don't have the password." She had heard enough from her brothers to know forgetting the password to the common rooms was a grave mistake.

Harry looked at her blankly. "Some of the articles you'll have seen on me are more accurate than you'd think."

She tilted her head at him slightly "You're really the Heir of Slytherin?"

Harry laughed at her question much to her chagrin, "No, not quite, but I am a Parselmouth"

Ginny frowned not really seeing what he was getting at, "How does that help us?" Harry felt glad she hadn't recoiled in horror at the revelation.

"Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth; pretty much anything within the dungeons will listen to a command in Parseltongue." He smirked to himself slightly "It's rather helpful."

Ginny went rather wide eyed at the implications, suddenly understanding why her brothers must have wanted to ensure Harry was going to help her. She frowned at her line of thought. "Did you arrange this with my brothers last year?"

Harry's answer was immediate "Yes." Noticing her rather confused look he continued "The twins joked about it, the great Dark Lord Potter taking on their little sister as his 'evil wench', when she inevitably ended up in Slytherin." Seeing the rather murderous look on the girl's face at the term 'evil wench' he hastily added. "Their words, not mine." Clearly the twins had been quite the educators to the young girl in derogatory terminology.

They stopped rather suddenly at a blank stretch of wall and Ginny was momentarily shocked to hear a long string of hissing emanating from Harry, though she quickly collected herself. The wall promptly shifted revealing a long stone room with numerous green lanterns hanging from the ceiling and a large fire crackling under an extravagant mantelpiece.

Harry led them into the room gesturing briefly for her to be silent. It didn't take her long to see why; numerous Slytherins were glaring at the pair murderously. She immediately noted that it was mainly the male populace doing so and felt bile rising in her throat when she realised the truth behind Harry's earlier words and edged closer to Harry until she was literally pressed against his side.

They crossed most of the common room without fuss before a snobbish voice rung out from the silence "Claimed yourself a Weasley whore have you, Potter?" Draco Malfoy stood in an archway leading away from the main common room area flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. Ginny felt Harry tense next to her at the boy's words. Malfoy continued, "I suppose you got her on the cheap, I doubt her filthy mud-blood loving parents could afford to be picky about who got their daughter."

Harry turned to face the insult flinging Malfoy heir and smiled at him "Hello Draco, it's been a while." He paused having lazily drawn his wand from his pocket. "It seems you've forgotten how things work in here." An evil smirk appeared on his face and his tone became rather hostile "Shall I remind you?"

Fear flooded Malfoy's face as Harry hissed out an indecipherable command to the room. Ginny was rather startled to see several stone serpents uncoil from the archway above Malfoy and wrap themselves around the two brutes guarding him, Draco himself had been sensible enough to dodge away from the stone constructs and was eying them absolutely terrified.

Harry strode towards the frightened boy totally bypassing the Crabbe and Goyle who had frozen up completely upon contact with the stone serpents. Harry levelled his gaze upon Draco "This is my domain Draco. You may very well all hate me, but you would do well to remember just who the Praselmouth is." The statement was directed at the common room at large as well Draco. "You all had your fun last year but now," he gestured meaningfully at the magical serpents that had answered his commands "Now, I know what I can do here."

He stood and returned to Ginny silently leading her towards a rather large painting of the Slytherin crest opposite the hallway in which Draco stood cowering. Harry idly hissed back into the main room, recalling the serpent constructs to their resting places. Satisfied he then focused on the painting in front of him, starting a conversation with the snake within.

"Greetings, Derleth." The words came out as but a hiss to Ginny, who was stood fearfully behind him watching the common room as a whole, she felt dirty under their gazes and longed to leave already.

"And to you, Harry." The serpent uncoiled in its frame "I see you have been having fun with your housemates" Derleth's tone was one of immense amusement.

Harry met the statement with a chuckle "Indeed I have." Harry turned checking on Ginny who was clinging to his robes with a single hand, he was almost sure she had no idea she was doing it "Derleth, I have a request." He glanced back at the girl clinging to him once again assuring himself that she was fine. "I need you to allow access to your rooms for the girl behind me whenever she requests it."

Derleth hissed slyly in response "Taking a mate so soon? How… Improper." Harry mouthed silently, grasping for a response, the serpent hissed out a low chuckleat the boy's antics "Tell her to speak the word 'copperhead' in her own tongue whenever she wishes to enter, this will not work for any but her." The serpent paused and asked Harry "Do you want to give her access to all the areas you can access?" at his affirmative nod the painted serpent paused for a few seconds, coiling around itself idly as it worked its own brand of magic, a brief glow encompassed the portrait and Derleth hissed "The word will open any Slytherin door for her."

Harry grinned at the creature in thanks. Ginny having full access to the Slytherin quarters, regardless of what the password was set to, could avoid numerous potential issues in the future. The prefects had certainly delighted in getting him locked outside during his first year. Harry hissed out a final "Thank you," and taking Ginny's hand in his spoke to the painting again, "Open." The painting swung open revealing a rather large, extravagant bedroom into which Harry led Ginny.

Harry instantly felt more relaxed within his private sanctuary and smirked mischievously at Ginny. "It's a good thing your brothers aren't in Slytherin; I doubt they'd approve of me taking you straight to my bedchambers."

Ginny didn't even register the comment, widened eyes taking in the room before her. An exceptionally large double bed acted as the centrepiece of the room, being fitted in a set of luxurious looking green bedding. A large trunk lay near the bed which she assumed belonged to Harry. The edges of the room were mostly littered with bookshelves which seemed to be rather sparse with the exception of those closest to the bed. Unlike the main common room there were several rather large sofas in place of the high-backed chairs and a rather large table. Two large doors led off into side rooms at least one of which she assumed was a bathroom.

Harry glanced back at her while heading to his trunk and busying himself emptying it. "Right, you have two options." He began stacking books on the shelf nearest the large bed. "You can either share my room, or you can risk staying with the female Slytherins." Ginny looked at Harry fearfully and he let out a sigh, "I'm not going to do anything to you, Ginny." He paused for a second, "The Slytherin girls however…"

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and answered him rather hesitantly "I… I think I'll share with you." He had been helpful thus far, and she suspected he was correct about the other girls, this along with the respect her brothers had showed him left her feeling as if she had little reason not to trust him.

Harry nodded at her "You'll have to go and get your trunk, Hogwarts seems to know where I stay but your things will be in the Girl's dormitory." He pulled out his wand and turned on her "The female dorms themselves are warded against the opposite gender so I can't escort you…" he flicked his wand in her direction while chanting 'Serpensortia'. A rather large black serpent automatically coiled itself around her neck leaving her frozen and pale.

Harry simply chuckled at the girl and hissed at the serpent. "Strike anyone who tries to harm her," he paused as if considering "No lethal bites."

The summoned snake simply did the closest thing it could to a bow and hissed out a "Yes, master"

Harry looked at the fear struck Ginny and sighed, clicking his fingers in front of her face to regain her attention. "Hey."

Ginny stared back and mumbled back a "Hey." in a slight stupor.

"The snake will attack anyone who attempts to hurt you, head down the right hallway where Malfoy was," He paused, "You know who Malfoy is, right?" She nodded once in response so he continued, "Assuming the female dormitories are the same as the male ones, which they likely are, there should be a door marked for first years. Your trunk should be in there, pick it up and head straight back here. The password 'copperhead' should open any magically locked doors you encounter"

The girl nodded and with a look of determination departed out the painting. Harry smiled to himself, the girl needed less work than he had expected. He busied himself with unpacking his things while he awaited her return.

It did not take her long to collect her things and she had returned without issue within ten minutes. Apparently the display with Malfoy had terrified the first years and with Ginny apparently having Harry's favour, the girls in the dorms had literally fled from her presence. It didn't exactly bode well for the future classes she'd be having with them but it had worked in her favour for the time being.

Seeing her enter again Harry turned to her "You can use anything over there for your stuff" he gestured to a chest of drawers in a desk and various nearby bookshelves. "The bathroom is in the room on the left there, training room's on the right." He nodded in the direction of the doors.

Ginny looked up at him expectantly "You mentioned training me earlier…"

Harry nodded and walked towards the heavy door on the right tapping it with his wand. The door lit up brightly, an intricate pattern of runes spreading across its wooden surface before swinging open. The room within was extremely simple, nothing but rough stone walls and a plain tiled floor. "The room's heavily warded against spell damage." He led them in and, door clicking closed behind them, turned wand drawn to the far end of the room and bellowed "Expulso!" a loud explosion sounded at the end of the room sending dust flying towards the pair at the doorway. Ginny immediately noticed the walls had lit up in the same way the door had upon Harry's touch.

"It's practically impossible to damage any of the walls or have a spell escape the room as long as the door is shut and the wards active." Harry gestured vaguely at the rippling runes upon the impact point of the spell. Ginny simply nodded looking rather impressed at his display of spell work.

"Within the Slytherin dorms you will be relatively safe, most of the more ornate looking carvings and statues are actually magically enchanted to respond to a Parselmouth. This room apparently was the original head of house bedroom," He paused smirking "Apparently Salazar decided anyone without the ability to talk to snakes was unworthy of entrance, so Snape has his own room separated from the students. I imagine he prefers it that way." Ending his brief tangent he returned to the original subject "Outside of the dorms you are rather vulnerable." He led them out of the training room and back to one of the sofas in his main chambers. "If you aren't in the direct care of a teacher you are a target for most houses."

Ginny looked rather confused at his words "Most houses?" she had never really heard of any fights outside of those between the Slytherins and Gryffindors.

Harry let out a snort "You're a Slytherin, a snake. The other houses basically consider Slytherins as a united faction," his tone turned rather severe "you will be an easy outlet for any anti-Slytherin sentiments amongst the other students." He snorted "And don't worry, there's plenty of students who are anti-Slytherin. You are of course, in the unique position of being a Slytherin Weasley." He looked her directly in the eyes "You are not going to have much fun here, I'm afraid."

Ginny slumped in her seat lowering her head into her hands, clearly seeing the truth in his words. "Great…" It was but a moment before she regained her confidence and looked up at him fire burning in her eyes "When can we start training?"

Harry chuckled lightly at the girl's enthusiasm. She hadn't even started her formal magic training and already wanted to play at duellist with him. "Tomorrow." The words came out more enthusiastic than he had expected.

The girl smiled at him radiantly. "Great! I can't wait to start!." Harry noticed that she was eagerly fingering her wand. And examined it briefly, it was rather scruffy looking matching much of her luggage.

He looked up at her worriedly "Is that a new wand?" his question came out much harsher than he intended.

Ginny blushed scarlet and hid the wand in her robe pocket "No, I well… I couldn't afford one after all the Lockhart books" She looked thoroughly ashamed at her confession "It was my great gran's".

Harry frowned; it was rather unlikely she would be able to reach her full potential without a wand that had chosen her. He briefly pondered his options. "I'll buy you a wand." The girl looked up at him startled and immediately started into a tirade about not being a charity case before being promptly hit by a silencing spell.

Harry glared at the girl, he knew she wouldn't like charity but he was hardly going to let her go crippled. "You're getting a wand Ginny, if you don't have your own wand you'll spend half your time struggling against that one." He observed some of the anger fade from her face but saw she was still clearly furious. "If you really want to, you can pay me back after Hogwarts, or whenever you have the money. It doesn't matter really." He paused briefly, "I'll talk to Snape and attempt to arrange a trip to Diagon Alley this weekend." He noticed she had a clearly raised eyebrow at the idea of asking Snape for anything and he couldn't help but laugh, "Snape may be a bit of a wanker," She giggled silently at his words mouthing the words 'a bit?' at him causing him to chortle slightly before continuing, "but he's good to his own house."

She seemed to accept his words and briefly think on them before attempting to ask him a question. Naturally nothing came out of her mouth due to the silencing spell still being in place. Seeing her gesturing at her mouth angrily, Harry lifted the spell from her following it with a hastily muttered "Sorry..."

"Can I still start training with you tomorrow without a wand?" The girl's hopeful expression caused Harry to smile brightly at her.

"Of course," He said cheerfully, "Anything you master with that wand should be much easier when you get your own." He briefly glanced at the large clock stood nearby. "We should get to bed," he stood up walking towards his drawers next to his bed and took out some sheets which he tossed at her, hitting her rather inelegantly in the face. Harry let out a snort at the girl's angry sputtering. "You can get changed in the bathroom, take any of the sofas you want." He paused and glanced at her before heading into the bathroom and calling out "Or use the floor if you really want to."

Ginny watched the boy's retreating back thinking upon the day's events. Apparently Harry Potter was a lot nicer than the image painted in the Daily Prophet, even if he was still a bit of a prat at times. Ginny smiled to herself, it seemed she would survive being in Slytherin at least. Even so, she cringed at the thoughts of the inevitable drama that would come from her mother hearing the news her only daughter was a snake. She smiled to herself silently and began to arrange her bedding to allow her to get some sleep.

-=S-S=-

Updated:
03/02/11 19:30 GMT

Revised entire chapter, no plot changes, lots of formatting and errors corrected. I have to admit I am pretty disappointed in myself for not noticing a 'past' in place of a 'pass' in the very first paragraph of the story, hardly beginning on a high note, was I?

Author's Note:

I feel I may have overdone the initial veiling of Harry's house alignment and underdone the actual revelation of his house, but otherwise it turned out alright if longer than I had anticipated. I am aware Ginny is not the awkward blushing mess of canon but in this she has been subject to a significant amount of anti-Harry slander through various sources, it would be quite the crush killer. I considered utilising "§" or some other non-standard character to indicate Parseltongue, but decided against it in the end, I may go back and change this if I feel the need.

As always reviews, alerts and favourites are greatly appreciated. Please don't hesitate to leave comments about things I need to fix or overlooked.