Disclaimer: Don't own and don't make any money but just like to have fun.

Summary: Lucius Malfoy, at the urging of his son, found the young man standing out by the lake. "Harry, my son wishes to enter into a bonding contract with you." Harry looked at him with sorrowful eyes and stated, "I am sorry, sir; I don't know if my owner will allow it."

Meddling in the Affairs of Wizards

Posted 27 June 2010

Chapter 11: Sorting and Settling In

"Ah," the hat startled Harry, "now where to put you."

"How do you pick what house we go into?" Harry asked the hat.

"It's all here, in your head, but where to place you. Your parents were Gryffindor, a fine house that is."

"But someone in Gryffindor betrayed my parents."

"Yes, but not everyone is like that. Ravenclaw is the house of study and knowledge."

"I like to learn, but that is what school is for, I don't need Ravenclaw for that."

"Hmmmm, well Hufflepuff is the house of loyalty, which could be a good place for you."

"But I may go unchallenged and that would not help me advance."

"The house of Slytherin would help you to greatness; yes it's all here in your head."

"But Voldemort and many of his followers are from there and may want to harm me."

"Yes, so where do you think you should go?"

"Aren't you supposed to answer that question?" Harry queried, getting worried there was no place for him.

"Ah, well the house of snakes takes care of their own and will help you develop a good strong mind. A snake speaker, too, so you should go to…

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry sighed in relief as the hat finally made its decision. No one else had taken that long to sort and he was starting to get nervous. As he got off the stool, he noticed the silence in the Great Hall as he slowly made his way to the Slytherin table. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest, he was sure everyone else could hear it. The click of the heels of his shoes against the stone floor, sounded like a cacophony against the silence of the room. Finally he reached the table and sat next to Draco who had cleared a seat for him. It was not until he arrived at the table, that the next name was, at last, called out breaking the deafening quiet.

The rest of the evening went by uneventfully as Dumbledore made his announcements. No one was to go to the Dark Forest, and no one was to go to the third floor corridor. When the food came everyone turned their attention away from Harry and started their meal. The raven haired first year was then able to calm and he serve himself a healthy helping of vegetables and chicken.

When they finally were in the common room, whose door was guarded by Salazar Slytherin, Harry met some of his other house mates. Many of them he had met on the train, but there were others he hadn't.

When they were eventually shown to their dormitories, they found their trunks already by their assigned beds. Draco and Harry's beds were three apart so Draco immediately had the other boy move so he and Harry could be together. Since Draco was his first friend on the train, and was related to his Godfather, Harry was happy and he felt safer and not quite so alone.

Harry finally got settled and put up some of his things. But when it came time to get into bed, he pulled his trunk into the bed with him and dug out something and set it up. Draco, who was watching the whole procedure was puzzled as Harry drew the curtains closed around his bed with his trunk still inside. He wondered how Harry was going to sleep with that big old trunk taking up half the room. When he tried to open the curtains, they were stuck shut, so he shrugged and went to sleep.

The next morning, he again tried to open the curtains, but while he was pulling on them, Harry stepped out, hair still a little damp as if he just came from a shower and he was wearing his uniform to start the school day.

"Harry, when did you get up?" Draco looked at the boy amazed.

"About half an hour ago," he replied. "Are you ready to go to breakfast?"

"Sure" Draco said still puzzled at what he was seeing. He knew Harry had not been in the bathroom and he looked like he slept fine so he must have been able to sleep around his trunk, which was still sitting on the bed.

After they sat down Hedwig swooped in and landed next to his plate. She had been a birthday present from his uncles, Sirius and Remus, the day they went to Diagon Alley. Uncle Sirius said it was because he was not allowed to have a broom at school yet. Harry attached two different letters, telling Hedwig to deliver the one for Uncle Remus first. It wouldn't do for anyone to see his letter with Sirius'.

It wasn't until Friday that they had their first double potions class with the Gryffindors. Professor Snape had so far ignored Harry in his house and occasionally snarled at him. He was a little apprehensive about the class, but he knew he loved potions and knew he would do well.

When Professor Snape called the roll, he paused over Harry's name and sneered, "Mr. Potter, our new celebrity." A few of the Gryffindors sniggered, but for the most part Harry was able to ignore it.

"Potter, what would I get if I added asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry immediately got up to stand at attention next to his chair. "The Draft of Living Death, sir."

"What are you doing, Potter?"

"Standing at attention to answer your question with the proper respect, Sir."

"Where did you learn this?" again the Gryffindors giggled.

"From my previous instructors, Sir."

"I see, you must have gone to a fine school then, and yet," Snape came to the desk and picked up Harry's text book, "your book is about twenty years old. Tell me Potter; didn't you get new text books?"

"No sir."

"And, why did you not obtain new text books?" Snape snarled. "Why did you find it necessary to buy used ones?"

"I didn't buy used ones, Sir. My text books were my mother's and they are among the few things I have left of her. I chose to use them after making sure that the texts have not changed or updating the ones that had."

Snape looked thoughtful, but said nothing as he, almost reverently, put the book back down and went back to the front of the class. He didn't say another word directly to Harry.

It wasn't until three days later, Draco found out Harry's secret. Harry was living in a tent that was erected on his bed. Draco was shocked when Harry showed him the inside.

"Harry, you can't have this here. And you have house elves. You are not allowed personal house elves at Hogwarts!"

"The code says you are not allowed personal house elves in Hogwarts. They are not in Hogwarts, they are in my tent. The codes allow for some personal items, and do not specifically say you may not have tents."

"But why did you need all this room?"

"It has my personal library and the elves live in it. It gives me plenty of quiet study room. I don't need to go to the library when I can use the books I have here. It is more convenient. Also, the elves are here to protect me and can do so while I sleep."

"But there is no safer place than Hogwarts."

"Draco, I am reported to have killed the Dark Lord when I was fifteen months old. No where is safe for me. I have to take my own precautions. In any strategic battle maneuver it is best to pick your high ground and stay. Don't make yourself a target by roaming through enemy territory."

"Potter, you are one strange kid, do you know that?"

"I'm Harry Potter; I thought everyone knew I was strange. They keep looking at me like I am."

Draco grinned and nodded. He acceded that Harry was correct. In fact, he wished he had thought of this. It was way more comfortable and they could have private conversations without being overheard.

"Harry, father sent me a letter explaining what happened when we shook hands. Do you want to read it?" Draco asked.

Dear Draco,

It is not common for two wizards to have a jolt of recognition when shaking hands or touching in some way, but it does happen. It means that your magic is sympathetic to each other. Some say it is a sign of being soulmates, but this is not always true.

You will have to wait a few years to really be sure of what it may mean, but I would assume you will be good friends in any case. You would do well to encourage each other in your studies at this time.

Love,

Father

Halloween came and Quirrell ran into the Great Hall screaming about a troll. Harry overheard Ron and his friends saying the Know-It-All was in the girl's bathroom. Harry immediately told the Prefect, who in turn told Snape, who told McGonagall. They got her out of there while Harry and Draco made their way to their common room with their fellow Slytherins.

When Draco wanted to follow Ron and his little Gryffindors around to find out what they were doing, it was Harry that talked him out of it.

"It is more than my life is worth to have Gibbennook angry with me for getting into trouble. We have a potions class tomorrow and should go over the instructions of what we will be brewing next." They retired to Harry's 'extra rooms' and went to study.

"Who's Gibbennook?" Draco asked.

"My caretaker."

For Christmas, Harry went to his Uncle Sirius' house. His Uncle Remus was there and the three of them had a nice visit together. They even visited the Malfoy family one day. The Black library was very extensive so Harry borrowed some of the books and worked on his assignments. He was surprised when a delivery came from Hogwarts and he was given his father's invisibility cloak.

By the middle of the term, Draco and Harry had top marks, in spite of the Gryffindor Know-It-All trying to be better. The others in the dorm wanted to know how they did it, so they were shown the secret. They started a study group; Blaise, Theodore, Vincent and Greg were all getting better marks than before.

One day when the group was walking in the halls just before curfew, they saw Quirrell going to the third floor. They rushed to let Professor Snape know about it and he and the other Professors took care of him.

When the summer holidays began, Harry made his way back on the train with his new friends. He knew he could not visit anyone during the summer and he had to tell them he was not allowed owls either. He blamed it on his muggle relatives and they were all sympathetic about no magic during the holidays. He didn't say anything more about his home life. Gibbennook had told him not to.

Uncle Remus came to pick him up and they made their way to Gringotts Bank. Stagnook put them through the same thing he did Sirius when he wanted back into the village. After all these years, it wouldn't do to get careless now.

Harry's birthday was still devoid of human friends, but his goblin and elf friends were there when he was presented with his new Nimbus 2001. He loved flying and loved the way his broom handled so much better than his old one. This year he was allowed to -bring a broom to school and try out for Quidditch. When he tested out his new broom and did a few loops, Stagnook almost had a heart attack while fussing about safety. Yes, he would make a good seeker.

At the start of term after the summer holidays, Harry had a new pet he found when in the forest camping with his Uncles. His new pet was a snake that came to him because he was a speaker. Remus and Sirius had already known about the parseltonge, but they were surprised that the magical snake wanted to be his familiar. Sirius made arrangements to get the proper cage and food for the thing and, Harry was simply in heaven with his new pet. He couldn't wait to show his friends.

On the train ride back to school for his second year, Harry and Draco and their other study friends were catching up on the events of the summer and actually comparing the summer homework assignments to see if they missed anything. It was while Harry was showing something to Draco that the Granger girl slid open the compartment door and asked if she could sit down.

The last thing the boys wanted was to be pestered by the Gryffindor Know-It-All, but they didn't immediately shove her back out the door, wondering what she wanted.

"I was wondering if you were doing your assignments now and if you needed help," she said as she took the seat next to Theo.

"We are not doing our assignments, we are going over our assignments, and there is a difference." Harry said back to the girl. 'Why was she interrupting them?' Harry wondered.

"So do you need help?"

"Not really, we just like to be prepared," Draco responded.

"We formed a study group and like to get ideas from the others."

"I have noticed that you have good marks, can I join your study group?" Granger asked.

Harry didn't know what the girl was up to, but he had enough of this. "It won't be possible; we meet in our dorm room and have study sessions there where it is quiet. No girls allowed, school rules."

"But we could meet in the library and the books there will help." Granger was almost whining at this point.

"We have our own library and very seldom need anything from the school's library. There are too many people there to study," Harry answered. He was the main one that didn't like being gawked at and whispered about.

"Well, think about it. We could help each other out." Granger said before she left.

"What was that about?" asked Vince after she left the compartment.

Harry just shook his head, "More fans of the Boy-Who-Lived."

Granger stomped off back to the other compartment where she had originally come from, "They said their study group meets in their dorm room." She looked at Ron and Dean, "There is no way you are getting in there to prank anyone."

"Don't worry, we'll find a way." Ron assured her.