The meal was over before Harry and the rest of the Slytherins had even finished discussing what they thought about the other first years in the other houses. "May I have your attention, as is custom I need to give you first years a speech and remind the second through Seventh years what to beware of. First no one is permitted to enter the forbidden forest unless you have express permission from your head of house or you are serving a detention with our caretaker Mr. Filch; second to all who do not want to die a most terrible death the third floor corridor on the right hand side is off limits this year, and third you all know the rules about dueling with one another and that it is strictly prohibited." Professor Dumbledore, an older man with silver gray hair and electric blue eyes, informed the entire student body. With that the houses were dismissed and the prefects took their houses to the common rooms to await instruction from their Head of House. Draco lead the way flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, Harry was after him and he was flanked by Neville and Hermione, next came Pansy flanked by Theodore and Blaise and the rear was brought up by Millicent and Daphne. The second years were behind the first years and the formation proceeded numerically minus the fact that the Seventh year prefects were leading the way.
"Do you think that Professor Snape will be especially means toward any of us?" Neville questioned with a squeak. "Why would Professor Snape single us out Neville there are many other people in Slytherin house besides us little first years and he doesn't really even know us yet." Harry reasoned and Hermione nodded her agreement. "Well I mean because everyone says that you defeated You-Know-Who and Professor Snape was a deatheater..." Neville began to explain to Harry, but shut his mouth when Draco whirled around to face Neville angrily. "Watch it Longbottom, Professor Snape was a deatheater at a time, but then he turned spy for the light and he's a good man now. Furthermore if you think that all deatheaters are bad you are extremely wrong because, there's nothing wrong with my Dad and he only became a deatheater because he was made to by his father and his uncle who prided themselves on being loyal to You-Know-Who and another thing stop calling him You-Know-Who, I usually just call him Riddle which was his muggle surname." Draco seethed and the other first years and the rest of Slytherin House just seemed to ignore the fact that Draco was arguing with Neville and hurried after the prefects. "Sorry Draco...I didn't mean anything by it...if you say that they're good now then I believe you." Neville apologized looking very much like a whipped puppy. "Good and the rest of you would do well to remember that, not that you think he is because I heard you defend him Harry, I'm just saying no matter what you hear about him never doubt that he's a good guy." Draco elaborated and then he took after the rest of Slytherin House.
When they got to Slytherin House Harry noticed that the inside of the common room was lavishly decorated with Nephrite stone walls and black onyx marble flooring. There was a massive fireplace in the middle of the room and about five couches that were positioned in the middle of the room and around the fireplace. In every one of the corners there were tables and lamps so that the Slytherins would have plenty of room to study and work with their friends on homework assignments. The first years all lined up single file and facing with their backs towards the fireplace awaiting Professor Snape's arrival. The first year Slytherins weren't left waiting long because the next thing they knew the door to the common room swung open and Professor Snape entered with his robe billowing behind him.
"Welcome to Slytherin House, in this house you can learn how to become united and stand together against the people that would otherwise harm you because of not only who you are but because you have been sorted into Slytherin in the first place. As you all know I was once a follower of Tom Riddle and that is not something that I'm proud of however when I realized my mistake I became a spy for the light along with most of your parents. For those of you whose parents remained followers until after Riddle's demise I will not hold that against you or your parents but it is important that you know where I stand and that I will not put up with the immature and uncalled for pureblood nonsense that most purebloods think that they are better than half-bloods or muggleborns. You see I myself am I half-blood and we now have a muggleborn student in our house Ms. Hermione Granger and I will not allow any of you to torture her because of it and if I find out that any of you have then you will have a most unpleasant detention with me and if it continues you may face expulsion. Furthermore my personal rooms are just down the hall so if any of you are getting picked on you may come to me for help or if you are simply homesick or need help with your homework. I do however come almost every day of the week and help you all with any homework that you may not understand. Lastly I do punish my snakes no matter what you may hear and so be forewarned that you will not be excluded from that because I know you parents or because you feel that your parents hold some sort of power over me because I quit being a deatheater." Professor Snape explained and then he left the room as quickly as he had entered.
"Ok everyone the other thing that Professor Snape didn't tell you is that he has meetings with the first years and after that only those who truly need the meetings one night a week for the entire year. Your night to go see the Professor will be posted on the bulletin board as you come in the common room and be sure to be there on time because Professor Snape does not like to be kept waiting unless for instance you were in the hospital wing under Madame Pompfreys care." The older male prefect, who Draco told Harry was named Alfred Huxlen, explained to the first years. After that Alfred put a list of who was going to share what dorm with whom.
Since there were only seven boys the professor had decided that he would make the room arrangements a little different than usual. In Harry's room there was Draco and Neville; and in the other room there was Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore, and Blaise. All the girls were to share a room together and that left about three rooms open that didn't have to be redone for anyone. Marcus showed the boys to their dorm room and then he left them to decide who got what bed and such. In Harry's room there was one bed that was right by the window, one bed that was only exposed to a little light and one that was almost completely secluded in darkness. The boys stood there for a moment looking at one another before anyone spoke.
"Well I'll take the bed that is in complete darkness if you guys don't mind because, it's hard for me to sleep when the light suddenly hits my face." Neville admitted. "That's fine with me what about you Harry?" Draco inquired cocking his head at Harry for his response. "I'm ok with that if it's what you want Neville." Harry agreed while inside his heart did a little happy dance. Truthfully after spending almost all his life in a cupboard he was none too thrilled to sleep in complete darkness again anytime soon. Draco was also fairly happy that he didn't have to have the bed that was covered in complete darkness because truth be told from the time that he was a small child he would sometimes have nightmares about stories he had read in a book once in his dad's private library that told about what Riddle did to his followers and those that defied him. After that Draco had started having nightmares that some of the things he read about happening to not only his Papa but his Momma and himself as well. Of course as a Malfoy the only people that knew about his nightmares were his Papa, Momma, and his Head of House just in case he were to have one while at school then Professor Snape would know what was happening and how to handle it. He would have taken the bed that had all the light cast on it but he noticed fear that reflected in the pupils of Harry's eyes. Of course at a glance and maybe even a prolonged evaluation one would not notice it , but Draco had been taught how to read people more accurately then most and picked up on the well hidden fear. So rather than be a jerk and say that he wanted the bed that was closer to the light he decided to try and be the type of person that his Dad wanted him to be. "I'll take the bed that doesn't have as much light if that's ok with you Harry." Draco stated and noticed that at once Harry seemed to brighten and his anxiety almost faded away now that there was nothing to worry about. "If that's the bed that you want, Draco, that's fine with me...and thanks." Harry replied and showed in his demeanor graciousness. Harry knew that there was no way that he had been able to hide his fear from Draco because, Draco had been studying him to closely and so Harry very much appreciated that Draco was willing to let him have the bed closest to the window. With that settled the boys started unpacking and getting ready for bed.
Meanwhile in the girls dorm they had already gotten their sleeping arrangements settled and Daphne had the bed that was closest to the window on her left against the wall was Hermione and to Daphne's right was Millicent. Pansy took the bed that was closest to the door because she said that from that point if she was the first one up she could quietly sneak to the bathroom and then sneak out without waking anyone and not to mention that if any of the others woke up during the night to go to the bathroom then they wouldn't wake her. In truth and this was something that Pansy would never admit, but she wanted closest to the door in case she just couldn't get to sleep she could go to her sister's dorm that wasn't very far from hers. Hermione lay in bed listening to the other girls around her get ready for bed and then start to doze off. She was extremely glad that the other Slytherins hadn't rejected her as she had feared they would. She had been most nervous when the sorting hat had told her that she would do well in Slytherin because, she wanted to prove herself but she also knew when to sit back and observe ways to better prove herself. The sorting hats also said that it felt she could change the views of many of Slytherin House and in the process keep some of them from going down the wrong path if Riddle were to ever actually return. With that in mind Hermione turned on her side and then proceeded to fall asleep.
Professor Snape entered his chambers and saw Professor McGonagall sitting on the couch silently sipping tea.
"Severus, I heard you come in you might as well come and sit down." Professor McGonagall called and with a sigh Professor Snape kicked off his shoes and laid his robes on the back of a chair as he headed towards the living room.
"Minnie, what am I supposed to do now that I have Lily's son in my house?" Professor Snape inquired sitting down heavily beside Minnie and wrapping his arm around her.
"Oh really Sev is it that bad to have Harry in your house? You know he's actually a very sweet child and I think that you and he could become very close sweetheart if you would just let him into your heart." Professor McGonagall informed Sev gently while leaning against him and holding his hand. "I know Minnie but he's also James's son and what if he's just like James was when he was young? You know how James was always writing notes about quidditch or some prank the marauders were working on in school and never paying attention in class." Professor Snape whined looking helplessly down at Minnie.
"Sweetheart, listen to me, Lily was one of my best friends in school even if I was a year ahead of her in my studies, and there's one thing that I know for sure and that is that Harry is more like Lily than you realize. Now I know that you love me , but at a time you were madly in love with Lily just as I was before the war took Leon away. It was during our time of grief that we comforted each other and found love again. Sev it is a love that I have never known before and I feel that it's stronger than the love that I had for Leon. So believe me Sev when I say that even though you do love me a part of you still loves Lily or at least what you had with her at a time and I know that you can find it in your heart to love Harry but you have to look past the fact that he belonged to James as well besides darling when James got older he did apologize and he became a man you told me that you thought was semi-worthy of Lily as long as he treated her right. I already love Harry and he's always been such a sweet little guy. Sweetheart, promise me that you'll at least talk to him and see how he's being treated there and see if Albus has been wrong all these years or if he is in fact loved like Albus has lead us to believe." Professor McGonagall concluded gently kissing Professor Snape. At this Professor Snape's resolve faltered and he turned towards Professor McGonagall and nodded his head in agreement as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her back.