Wow, I'm on a crazy writing binge right now. Well, I hope you enjoy. Please review!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The characters, setting, and majority of the plot belong to JK Rowling.
The next morning was a rush, and Harry could hardly remember any of it afterwards. It seemed that one moment he was watching Hagrid hurriedly darting around their room at the Leaky Cauldron, collecting all of his and Harry's things into his pockets and Harry's suitcase respectively, and the next he was alone at King's Cross station, looking for platform nine and three quarters.
He was almost positive that such a platform didn't exist, until he stumbled across an out of place group of redheads. It consisted of four boys, two of which seemed to be identical twins, an older woman, and a small girl.
Harry watched from afar as one by one the first three boys disappeared into the wall between platforms nine and ten. Just before the fourth boy was about to begin running, Harry hurried over to the woman, presumably, their mother.
"Excuse me." He said politely. Being polite made him think of Hufflepuff. The lump threatened to return to his throat.
"Can you tell me-" Harry was interrupted by the overly helpful woman.
"How to get onto the platform?" She asked with a smile. "It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts, too."
Harry turned to the boy that had been about to run. He gave him a small smile. Ron smiled back, his ears beginning to turn pink.
"Here." The redheaded woman directed him so he was directly facing the wall in between platforms nine and ten.
"Just run straight at the wall. We'll meet you on the other side." Harry would've been skeptical, or perhaps not have followed the woman's instructions, if he hadn't just witnessed the three older boys do it first.
He ran at the wall, and straight through to the other side. He felt proud of the small feat. It was one of the first magical tasks he had accomplished on purpose.
Ron, his mother, and the little girl all came through behind Harry.
"Good job. Do you need some help with your trunk?"
Harry tried to refuse the offer, but the woman was already calling over the twins that Harry had seen earlier.
"Fred! George! Help this young man with his trunk!"
The two hurried over and did what their mother said. Harry followed along, and together they found an empty compartment to put his things in.
"All good?" One twin asked. Harry couldn't tell if it was Fred or George.
He nodded silently. The twins smiled at him, and hurried off.
Harry sighed. He was starting to feel overwhelmed. At least he could finally be alone.
All good things must come to an end, and for Harry, it was sooner than expected. Just as the train began to roll away from the platform, the door to his compartment slid open. The redhead boy that was around Harry's age stood awkwardly looking in.
"Do you mind? Everywhere else is full." Harry did mind, but, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to try and make another friend.
"Not at all."
As it turned out, Harry and Ron got along quite well. Ron was the first person that treated Harry like a he was a human, and not some sort of legend. Over the course of the ride, they bonded. Harry felt accepted by Ron, and hoped that they'd be in the same house.
When the ride finally came to a stop, Harry was reunited with Hagrid. He was glad to see him. Harry felt as though he was adjusting well.
They all clamored into rickety row boats, and began their ride across the lake. Harry shared a boat with Ron, as well as two other Familiar faces.
The ride across the lake was quiet and uneventful, save for a few raised eyebrow glances from Draco, directed at Ron. To these Harry gave him a quizzical look and shrugged. He didn't know what Draco's problem with Ron was. He had been hoping they could all be friends.
They arrived at the great hall a little bit wetter, and were ushered into a small room to have the sorting explained to them.
A tall, thin woman, with wire frame glasses and a pointed hat told them the same thing Hagrid had explained back at the Leaky Cauldron. There were four houses. Each one had different traits. They would be our family.
Most of the other first years looked nervous. Harry was glad, he didn't want to be the only one.
As the woman was finishing her speech, Draco walked over to Harry, with two larger boys in tow.
"Hello, Potter. Long time, no see." He smiled slyly.
Harry drew his eyebrows together in confusion. It had only been yesterday that they'd met at Madam Malkin's.
Draco threw an arm around Harry's shoulder, pushing Ron from his side.
"Look , Harry, I understand that you're not accustomed to wizarding society yet, so I'll help you out. There are some sorts if wizards that you don't want to go befriending."
He shot a glance at Ron who glared back.
"Come with me, and I'll teach you everything you need to know." He stretched out his hand.
Harry looked over at Ron, then back to Draco.
I'm sorry, he mouthed, as he took Draco's hand. He didn't see the daggers that Ron glared at him, as Draco pulled him away.
They were all ushered into a giant room with a number of candles floating around the seemingly non-existent ceiling. A loud girl was explaining how it was bewitched to look like the sky. Draco was quietly mocking her behind her back.
Four long tables were set up. Harry knew these must be the houses.
The sorting began with a girl named Hannah Abbot, who was sorted into Hufflepuff. All she had had to do was put a wrinkled, old hat on her head, and it shouted out the house they were for. Harry thought that sounded simple enough.
But, the closer to Harry's name that they got, the more nervous he felt. What if the sorting hat didn't say anything, and just sat on his head, completely silent?
Malfoy, Draco.
Draco left Harry's side and stepped up to the sorting hat. The hat hardly had to touch his head to yell out, Slytherin! Draco looked quite pleased.
Before Harry knew it, it was his turn to be sorted. He didn't feel ready, and was half considering simply running from the great hall to live out his life in the forest that surrounded the castle.
He gave in to reason and took the stand. He put the hat over his fringe of black hair. Immediately, it started to talk, almost as though it was whispering in his ear.
"Hmmm, yes, you have many qualities. A good mind, brave, hmmmm. Cunning, yes, ambitious. You will do great things."
Slytherin. Harry whispered in his mind. Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin.
"Alright then, better be, SLYTHERIN!"
Once again, I hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to review and I will be updating as soon as I can :)