Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, spells, places, etc., because I do not own Harry Potter - only J. K. Rowling does, therefore I do not make any money out of this fanfiction. I am writing this only for fun.

Rating: M (characters will potentially have a bad mouth, and will potentially have sex so I think it's better for me to play safe by using this rating instead of the others)

Pairing: Draco/Hermione. No idea how long it will take, but they will be together. I've always wanted to write a fic about them!

Warning number one: This is fic is completely AU (alternate universe, if you didn't know), and is based on one single question that popped in my mind few days ago: what if Harry had grabbed Draco's hand? If you remember well, before they entered the Great Hall for the very first time, Draco gives his hand to Harry, offering him his "advices" about who he should be friend with and who he should not, along with his own friendship. In the actual version, Harry declines, therefore chosing to be Ron's friend instead of Draco, and leading Draco to be his enemy inside of Hogwarts. But what if he had taken Draco's hand, and had become his best friend instead of Ron's? After all, back there, Harry didn't know much about the magic world, and could've easily taken a bad decision, so how would they affect each other's destiny? I bet that never crossed your mind... ;)

Warning number two: English is not my mothertongue (French is), but since people seem to be happy about my English skills when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh fanfictions, I thought it should be all right in the Harry Potter universe too ^^ I will do my very best to make sure there are not mistakes in my chapters, and that I do not use the wrong name for characters or spells or you-name-it that are different in French and in English. However, if you see any mistake like that, or a weird sentence, please tell me in a review or in a PM: it will be my pleasure to change it as soon as possible, thus improving the quality of my writing ^^ thanks in advance.

Grab my hand
Chapter 1: The choice

"You will quickly learn who should be among your friends, and who should not. I'll help you."

Malfoy gave Harry a smile as he offered him his hand. Who should be among my friends? Harry frowned. Was this boy right? Was it true that he was supposed to stay away from some people? Possibly... after all, wizards were probably like everyone. Some people were good, some people were bad. Harry slightly turned his head towards the red-haired boy he had met on the Hogwarts Express. Ron was looking at the floor, and his pale face was emotionless. He seemed like a nice person, but... what if Malfoy was right? What if it was truly not good for him to be around him?

His green eyes moved back on Malfoy's pale hand, then up on his confident face. He seemed to know what he was talking about, and obviously knew much more about this world than Harry did. After all, he had been raised in the magic community. He was the kind of person Potter needed as a guide. Harry gave him a timid smile, and shook his hand.

"Thank you," he said without noticing Ron's disgusted look. "I will surely need your help."

Draco smiled, and then walked away from Ronald with Harry. People were already whispering about them, wondering what the hell he, Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was around Draco Malfoy, son of a Death Eater. But, after all, it was none of their business, was it? So no one spoke, even though McGonagall herself raised her eyebrows very high when she saw Harry next to Draco as she explained how the ceremony would work.

Harry had no idea it would be that long. Why did they have to watch at everyone? He noticed that the Sorting Hat took much more time with some students than he did with the others. What did that mean?

"Granger, Hermione!"

She was the girl in the train that interrupted them because she was trying to help some guy named Neville to retrieve his pet. She had also managed to repair his glasses. The hat remained silent for a short while, and then finally sent her to Gryffindor.

"Malfoy, Draco," McGonagall said while holding the very old hat.

The young boy walked towards her and sat on the chair, waiting for her to put the Sorting Hat on his head. She didn't need to do it, though: as soon as it touched Draco's pale hair, it yelled its choice very clearly:

"SLYTHERIN!"

Draco smiled, and headed straight for the Slytherin table. Many other people were sent to different houses, and, finally, McGonagall called his name:

"Potter, Harry!"

Everyone started to whisper as he sat on the chair, wondering where he would go, but she shot the students such a cold glare that everyone decided that being silent was a much better option.

"HA!" the Sorting Hat said as he was put on Harry's head, covering his eyes. " I've been waiting for this, my boy, trust me. Well, well, what do we have here... a very strong will... yes, a very strong will indeed... mmh... you know, you would feel perfect in the Slytherin house, I'm quite sure... yes, yes, you could do great things among Salazar's disciples... but you could also..."
"I wanna be Slytherin," the boy thought with all his strength.

His new friend had just been sent there, so he figured that it was the best place for him to be too. Harry truly hoped that the Sorting Hat would listen to his prayer.

"Really? I thought you would... well, then, so be it. SLYTHERIN!" he yelled to the people in the Great Hall.

There was a short silence, but then everyone that was sitting at the Slytherin table started to applause and cheer very loud.

"We got Potter!" they chanted. "We got Potter!"

Slightly blushing, he walked towards this table, muttering "Thank you" whenever someone congratulated him, and he finally managed to reach Draco and sit next to him.

"Welcome to the best house in this school. The only house that is worth it, actually," Draco said.
"Really?" Harry asked with an uncertain voice.
"Sure thing," he replied while looking at the Gryffindor table with a disgusted look on his face. "Gryffindors are incredibly stupid, Hufflepuffs are weak and useless, and I guess Ravenclaws wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so boring and Know-It-All. Plus, these houses take anyone in, it's absolutely disgusting."
"Anyone? What do you mean?"

Tons of food had just appeared on the table, but Harry was barely able to react, because Draco gave him an odd look after his question.

"Well, I mean they don't care if their students are real wizards or not."
"Real wizards?"
"Pure Blood, Potter," a girl called Pansy said. "Those who do not have any Muggle or Mudblood in their family."

She stared at him.

"You don't, do you?"

Harry scratched his head.

"Well I don't know... I mean I've never known my parents... And I don't even know what a Mudblood is..."
"A Mudblood," Draco said with a very condescending tone, "Is a second-class wizard or witch with no wizard in his or her family. Weird mistakes of nature if you ask me."
"Well... I don't know..."

He was getting confused. Aunt Petunia was obviously not a witch. She hated the magic world so much... did that mean his mother was a Mudblood, like Malfoy said? Did that mean he was not as good as a wizard as Draco and the others around him? Did that mean his new friend would push him away? He cleared his throat.

"I was raised by my mother's sister, and she was a Muggle... I don't know the rest of my family or any of the Potter, so I don't know about my father... I mean, I'm sure he was a wizard, the way my aunt was speaking about him, she said my mother met him here, so she was a witch too, but-"
"The Potter were a family of Pure Blood," Draco commented with that slow voice that seemed to be his normal voice. "As for your mother, I'm guessing she was a Mudblood, which makes you a Half-Blood."

Harry blinked. Half-Blood? Now, he was starting to get pretty nervous about this blood purity story. He had never imagined it would be like that. Did that mean he was only half of a wizard, even if both of his parents were wizards? Did that mean he would never be as good as his friend?

"Is that... bad? To be a Half-Blood, I mean?" he finally asked with an hesitant voice.
"Well," Pansy said as she poured herself a drink. "Being a Half-Blood is ok, especially if the Sorting Hat put you here. I mean most of the wizard don't have the chance to have a pure family tree. I mean of course it's not as good as being a Pure Blood like us, but it's ok. It's much better than being a Muggle or a Mudblood. Just don't go yelling that around in the common room, and take my advice: never speak about your Mudblood mother ever again. Unless you want enemies in your own house. Act like a Pure Blood and if anyone asks you, say that it is none of their business."

Harry sighed with relief.

"Thanks. I'll try to keep that in mind. I'm sorry about my questions, I didn't have the chance to be raised in this world. I just learned I was a wizard... it was quite a shock, but it sort of explained lots of things. Like, how I was able to speak to that snake in the zoo and set him free, and how my hair-"
"You spoke to a snake?" Draco said, cutting him in the middle of his sentence.
"Well... yeah. He spoke to me, too."

Again, Harry started to worry.

"What? It's not normal? You mean that never happened to you?"
"It's... uncommon," Pansy replied after staring at him for a while in shock. "Being able to understand the Parseltongue... I would keep that to myself too, if I were you. Many people relate this ability to the Dark Lord, because he was the most famous Parselmouth. I'm not sure you want to be related to him."

Harry nodded, still a bit scared. He was not supposed to speak about his mother, nor was he supposed to speak about this ability. He sighed, a bit disappointed. He thought this world would be different, that he wouldn't have to hide things anymore... but he was obviously wrong. Apparently, even though these people seemed just like him, they were not. He was brought back to reality when Draco pushed his shoulder very lightly.

"Oh, come on, be happier! You still managed to make it to Slytherin, and that is what truly matters! If the Sorting Hat said you were good enough for Slytherin, then you are: end of the story."

Harry forced his lips to smile, doing his best not to look at the red-haired boy on the other side of the room. Had he made the wrong decision by chosing Malfoy's friendship instead of Weasley? It was impossible to tell, at least right now. He sighed very lightly, and decided to enjoy his first meal at Hogwarts with his new friends.

End of the chapter: There you go, first chapter's done! Please let me know what you think about it in a review! :D I know it is a bit short but I prefer (especially in English) writing shorter chapters that I publish more often, rather than longer chapters that would be published less often. Plus, this is only the beginning, the most interesting stuff is yet to come!