Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or Hogwarts, or *sigh* Draco Malfoy. If I did, I would be lying on a beach somewhere paying some gorgeous guy ridiculous sums of money just to sit around and be gorgeous xD. I do, however, own a lot of the characters in this story.

Warning: Er, Probably some violence, definitely language at some points, and rated M just in case of a slight chance for a lemon in later chapters.

A/N: So, in order for some of the content to make sense, I've altered it just slightly so that first to third years go to a separate school(though there is also one of those called Hogwarts, which is where most of these students have already attended the first three years), and therefore when they say first years, they really mean fourth years. Other than that, I tried to follow the basic structure of the schooling pretty much to the letter.

I got on the train and walked down the aisle, glancing into the compartments and trying to find an empty one. I eventually found one that was completely empty and, putting my trunk beside me, sat down by the window. I sighed and rested my head on the window, staring out at the station. I laughed, platform nine and three-quarters, what a joke. I let my thoughts wander for a minute, but I was interrupted by the sound of someone sliding open the compartment door. I turned my head to see who it was, and was met by the sight of a pretty blond girl, "Mind if sit here?"

I shrugged, "Whatever." She sat down on the other side of the compartment and I turned back to the window.

"I'm Bella." I sighed and glanced back at her. She was studying me with a curious expression.

I had read about the four Hogwarts houses, and how each house had an animal as their symbol. Slytherin's just happened to be a snake, and that was how I had decided who I would become. "Call me Asp."

She did a double take, "Are you hoping to be a Slytherin?"

"I don't really know."

"I am, although I don't know if I want the reputation that generally goes with it once you get to this level."

"Good to know," I replied without any feeling.

"Were you at Hogwarts for the beginner years? I don't remember you."

"No, I went to a wee little school in Scotland."

"Well anyway, I was a Slytherin for beginners, so I'll probably be one again, unless they actually thought I was dreadful at it and simply haven't told me."

Just then I heard a voice calling, "Anything from the trolley?" And a small witch pushing a cart packed with snacks stopped in front of our compartment, "Anything from the trolley dears?"

Bella stood and bought two boxes of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and some pumpkin pasties, cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs. She tossed some to me and I caught them with a muttered, "Thanks." We were soon switching chocolate frog cards and daring each other to try some of the weirder-coloured beans just as if we had known each other for years.

She looked out the window and then glanced at a watch on her wrist. "We should probably put our robes on soon."

I nodded noncommittally, "Sure." I reached for my trunk and opened it. I rummaged around for a minute before finally extracting my new Hogwarts robes. I pulled them on and when I straightened up I saw that Bella already had hers on. We sat in silence for a few more minutes with me staring out the window again and then I felt the train begin slowing down. I looked around the compartment to make sure I had everything, sweeping some left over snacks into my trunk and closing it firmly. The train shuddered to a stop and we both stood, holding on to the handles of our trunks. We made our way to the nearest door that would let us off the train and then struggled through the crowd toward a voice in the distance that called, "Firs' years. Firs' years o'er here."

Once we had managed to break through the crowd, Bella raised an eyebrow, "Really? That man is huge. Is it even a man?" I didn't say anything, but couldn't help but agree that the man towering before us was rather taller than normal. He must have been almost twice my height. After a sizable crowd had gathered, the man, much of whose face was obscured by a bushy tangled beard, called out, "This all o' yeh? A'righ' then, 'ere we go. No more 'an five to a boat, tha's it. E'ryone in? FORWARD!" There were a few jumps at the final roar, and the boats started to move swiftly across the black surface of the water. Bella and I sat at the back of our boat, not paying much attention to the other three, and she said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Well at least last time I was a first year there was none of this fiddling with boats. And the person collecting us at least resembled a human being."

I simply shrugged, and as a towering castle appeared in front of us, I thought vaguely that had I not been quite so cynical and unimpressed, I may have had to restrain a gasp. The thing must have been ten times the size of my school in Glasgow, and I had a feeling the grounds were even bigger. Once the boats hit the shore, we stepped out and the ginormous man ushered us a massive set of stone steps to a pair of equally mammoth double doors.

Once we were inside, we were greeted by the sight of a severe looking woman who wore glasses. "I am Professor McGonagall, and allow me to be the first to welcome you to Hogwarts. In a moment, I shall lead you into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses. Now, while you are here, your house will like your family. Teachers may award house points, but any rule breaking, and you shall lose points. Please wait here for a moment."

She disappeared for a minute and Bella took advantage of the silence to whisper to me, "Well, I suppose you haven't heard this exact speech, but since most of the people I see here were at Hogwarts for beginners, for the majority of us it's unnecessary. I expect you had something similar at your school as well. At least this woman didn't bother with a load of drivel about how these are going to be the best years of our lives though. I hated it when the greeter at beginners did that."

I was saved from having to reply when McGonagall returned carrying a three-legged stool and a frayed and patched old hat. "We're ready for you now. Please follow me." She led us through another smaller, but still large pair of double doors into a huge room where all the older students and teachers were already seated. She proceeded right to the front and set down the stool, "When I call your name, you will sit on this stool, I will place the Sorting hat on your hat, and you will be sorted into your houses. You will then join your tables according to your houses." She unrolled a long sheet of parchment and began reading off names. Close to the beginning, Bella was called and was sorted into Slytherin, and she headed down to the Slytherin table to take a seat with the applauding Slytherins. Professor McGonagall read off some more names, and then after "Malfoy, Draco," was also sorted into Slytherin, she raised an eyebrow and I thought I knew what was coming, "Miran, Z." I approached the front and sat down on the spindly stool. The hat was lowered onto my head, where it fell nearly past my eyes, and I heard a voice quite close in my ear.

"Hmmm, plenty of cunning I see, quite brave, very clever. Well here's one you don't see often: excessive bitterness. Makes it very difficult. Well, I suppose..." The voice got much louder and yelled, "SLYTHERIN." The hat was jerked off my head and I walked down to the table nearest the door where all the Slytherin sat. I slid onto the bench beside Bella. After several more names, Professor McGonagall rolled up her parchment, picked up the stool and the hat, and carried them away.

The man in the middle of the staff table stood, and instantly all conversations fell silent. "Now before we all eat, I would just like to say a few words. Blubber, nitwit, oddment, tweak." With that, he sat down and the gold plates sitting on the tables in front of us filled with food.

After the Sorting Ceremony and the feast, both of which were quite similar to what I had expected, although the feast was perhaps slightly better, the headmaster, who I had deduced was called Professor Dumbledore, gave a speech and then dismissed us to go to bed. Everyone stood and I followed suit. I was just starting to wonder where I was supposed to go when a prefect called, "First years please follow me, and I'll show you to the common room." I followed after the crowd with Bella beside me. She, as well as several other people who had been sitting at the Slytherin table, headed down into a system of dungeon-like corridors before she finally stopped in front of a bare, damp stretch of wall. I wondered what she was doing until she turned to us, "The password's Parseltoungue." As soon as she said it, a stone door concealed in the wall slid open and she stepped through. I followed her and looked around. The Slytherin common room was long with a rough stone ceiling from which hung several greenish lamps. There were several carved chairs sitting in front of a crackling fireplace, and two doors on opposite sides which I assumed led to the dormitories. "Boys dormitories are on your left, girl's on the right. You'll find that all your belongings have already been brought up."

I studied the faces of the others who looked like first or second years, "Zane?" He looked up at my face and then did a double-take.

"Wow. Is it seriously you?"

I nodded and he stood up, pulling me into a tight hug. When he released me I noticed Bella looking confused, "Asp? Do you two know each other?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Zane beat me to it, "Yeah. We met over the summer." He turned back to me, "So, Asp, is it now? How have you been? And how did you get here?"

I smiled slightly, "Yep. Mamba is long gone. And I took the train."

He frowned, "You know what I meant."

I nodded. "Yeah, but some people wouldn't. Anyway, plans changed. I didn't realize you came here though, otherwise I wouldn't have come so willingly," I teased.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah right. You know I'm awesome."

I mock grimaced and pushed him back into his chair, "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night."

Bella blinked, muttered something sounding like, "Bloody hell," and then seemed to regain her senses, "Right so, uh, I'm Bella." She extended her hand to Zane and he shook it. Once she had started it, everyone seemed to gain a little courage and started introducing themselves.

"And I'm Draco," said a voice from a shadowed corner. A boy stepped forward and took a seat beside Pansy. He was tall, thin, blonde, extremely pale, and I couldn't help but notice, incredibly attractive.

"Asp," I muttered, gorgeous guys were the ones to avoid.

"Hello Draco." It was Ally talking, and although her voice was perfectly civil, there was a faint undercurrent of hostility.

The blonde boy sighed, "Allison."

Bella turned away from them back to me rolling her eyes at the obvious melodrama, "C'mon, let's go see where we'll be sleeping." She headed through one of the doors I had noticed earlier and I followed her.