Hey Everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well, here is Chapter Two, where Harry settles further into Hogwarts and sees some familiar faces.

Please Check out the bio on my twitter, wasteman77, where Chapter 3 of this story is already posted.

Remember to drink more water!

More Life,

The curious hall remained silent for a few moments before the Slytherin table started cheering. They hollered loudly, as the famous Black heir was now theirs. Taunts and insults were tossed to the other Houses who remained silent or politely clapped.

Harry looked around the hall. The professors all clapped politely but some of them held grim faces. Dumbledore's face was completely frozen but he too clapped politely. Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table where the scowls and glares appeared. The fact that he was selected to Slytherin already fuelling the prejudice against him.

Harry's robes changed to the green colours of snakes, and Harry looked down at them, it felt weird, and unfamiliar but it strangely felt right.

Harry quickly made his way over to Cedric who moved over so that Harry was able to sit down next to him. "That took nearly ten minutes, the longest I've ever seen." Cedric said.

Harry looked at his new housemates, to the left was Draco, and then Crabbe and Goyle, in front of him sat Nott, Parkinson, and Davis, then to his right were Greengrass and Zabini. Harry was only vaguely familiar with a few of these snakes, but he recognized their faces. Draco spoke up first, "you're the Black heir? You took my inheritance from me!" he said obnoxiously. It was rather difficult to look at Draco and not feel the urge to kill him, in his previous life Malfoy had bullied him for years, but when Voldemort took over Malfoy singled out Harry to be the one he would torture and harm. Harry's occlumency shields were in full effect.

Cedric rolled his eyes from next to Harry, "Draco, you tried to claim the ring multiple times and it never worked. It was never your inheritance."

"Shut up Diggory, I wasn't speaking to you." Draco quickly retorted.

"Yeah, well, I didn't fucking ask for you to speak either." Harry replied, shooting a glare at Draco, defending his friend.

Draco's anger was visible as he clenched his fists, he went to retort with some type of bullshit, when Blaise spoke up. "Shut up Malfoy, your point is shit." Blaise then looked at Harry, "Blaise Zabini, heir to House Zabini, a pleasure." Blaise was darker skinned, Italian, if Harry remembered correctly, he stuck his hand out for Harry to shake, which Harry easily accepted.

Harry made to reply, but Dumbledore started speaking again, his speech being listened to by all the students. It was his normal madness, so Harry tuned it out, instead focussing on his mental shields and staying composed in front of so many future Death Eaters who did vile things to him and his friends.

By the time Dumbledore had finished his waffling, the table around him exploded with questions. Pansy Parkinson chimed in immediately, her curiosity obvious, "are you really the Black heir? Why should we believe you?"

Harry furrowed his eyebrows at her, Dumbledore had literally just confirmed it. "I'm going to do this once, just so all of your curiosities are sated." he spoke to the table. Harry flashed the Heirship ring, most of the people at the table have their own so they would be able to know it was legitimate. News of the ring rippled up the table and students from the Hufflepuff table spotted it too, the rumours already starting.

"Theodore Nott, heir of the Ancient and Noble House Nott," A tall black haired, block headed snake introduced himself, Harry remembered him from before, he was a Pureblood purist and allied with the dark. "Were you homeschooled?"

Harry looked to Cedric, unsure how to respond. "Uhm, not formally no."

Nott's eyes pinched together, "then how are you in third year? They're letting you skip grades?"

Harry sighed, "they're letting me skip grades because I am better at magic then you are." Speaking plainly and with certainty.

The table around him all took on faces of mild confusion, some of them schooling their features. Harry noticed Cedric's shoulders silently shaking in laughter next to him. This time Tracey spoke up, "how would you know that? You don't know how good we are."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the pretty brunette, silently asking for her name. She was certainly attractive, her brown hair and green eyes were hypnotizing, add in her aquiline nose and her high cheeks and she was a beauty. She blushed, "Tracey Davis, of House Davis." She said simply.

Harry smiled charmingly at her, "well, Miss Davis, let's just say I'm hedging my bets."

There was a slight lull in the conversation, so Harry made himself a plate. He looked around and noticed that despite his silence nearly everyone was still looking at him, they're curiosities were obviously not yet sated and Harry knew he was a new unknown entity that could shake their routines.

Draco then spoke up again, "given you were sorted into Slytherin, let me give you some advice, there are some Houses that are better than others, you should remember that or else you fall in with the wrong people."

Harry had certainly heard that statement before. "Should I be thanking you for that advice? It sounds ominous."

Draco smirked devilishly, "make of it what you will."

"Good, I'll take your advice and make sure I align myself very closely with your sister. Seeing as House Malfoy is better than others, I would wish to be held in high esteem with such a rich, powerful, influential House." Harry replied with a smirk, he could see the others at the table struggling to hold in laughter, shaking shoulders and pursed lips all around. It seemed they liked seeing Draco humbled.

Draco looked at him dryly, "that's not what I meant." he said in anger. Pansy then spoke up, her catty voice defending Draco. "You are antagonizing him for no reason! Leave Draco alone."

Harry looked over to Pansy in bewilderment, "he disrespected me first, are you deaf? Or do you just have selective hearing?"

Pansy's eyebrows clenched in annoyance, "when did he disrespect you? He was supposed to be the Black heir!"

Harry snorted, "he called me an asshole when I helped the Thestral pulling the carriage earlier, he insulted my status as heir, he disrespected Cedric, then gave me some of the worst advice i have ever heard. All of this on my first day."

Blaise snorted, and spoke up, "probably best just ignoring Draco and his little bootlickers."

Pansy immediately shot to Draco's defence again, "Shut up Blaise!"

Harry snorted, "defending your boyfriend because he can't defend himself?"

Pansy then blushed, she looked sweetly over to Draco, "not boyfriend, betrothed." Draco was still fuming, his anger focussed on Harry.

Harry simply raised a challenging eyebrow at Draco, letting his good looks and his confidence do the talking.

A melodic voice that was appealing to Harry's ears spoke up, the Blonde with blue eyes sitting to his right asked, "how are you related to House Black? From what everyone understood Draco was to be the heir once Sirius passed." She asked simply.

Harry looked over to her and was taken aback by how gorgeous she was. Her and Tracey were both extremely attractive, they would certainly have all the guys crushing.

Harry was uncertain how to answer the question, so he made something up, "I'm Sirius' bastard. That's all I know as I obviously did not grow up with the Black family, Miss?" Fishing for the Blondes name.

"Daphne Greengrass, heiress of the Noble House Greengrass." She said simply, Her blue eyes stared into his green and they held for a moment. Her baby blues were polarizing.

"A pleasure," Harry replied politely.

Daphne then spoke up again, "you were with Cedric earlier, how do you two know each other?"

"We met a while ago," Harry shrugged, purposely leaving the answer very vague.

Cedric then chimed in, "alright guys, enough questions for now, let Harry eat." He had his hands raised and spoke to the table. Harry gave Cedric a polite smile in thanks, putting an end to what rather ended up feeling like an interrogation.

If there was one thing that Harry missed about Hogwarts it was the food. Making up a plate for himself and digging in was something he sorely missed during those lonely days.

After that the conversation between the group neutered, and they were being led back to their dorms. By the Slytherin prefects, Harry walked next to Cedric, the two of them sticking together in the group of snakes who migrated to their new rooms. Tracey and Daphne walked in front of them, while Blaise and Theodore stayed behind, Draco and his group were directly at the front, wanting to suck up to the prefects. It was good to see who were friends and who weren't.

The Slytherin dorms were the same as before, dark wooden interior with dark furniture and snake decor. It was a large common room with multiple different hallways leading from it. The prefects then had everyone gather together. It was a little bit crowded so Harry pushed Cedric to the back wall, so that they could lean against it and have a little bit of space. Surprisingly, Daphne and Tracey followed Harry's lead and the four of them grouped up against the back wall.

A big burly looking guy stood in front of the others and began speaking loudly, "my name is Felix Drake, i'm your seventh year prefect for this school year. We are going to lay some ground rules here and now for all you first years and new students." Felix looked over to Harry when he said new, acknowledging Harry's newness to Hogwarts and Slytherin.

"Drake?" Harry whispered to Cedric, but Tracey whispered back, "he's a half-blood, talented wizard, dumb as a brick though."

Harry laughed at her description, and went to reply, but he was interrupted by Felix, "Black! Pay attention!" he called out, seeing him whispering with Tracey. "First off, what happens in Slytherin, Stays in Slytherin!" he boomed, "this is the most important rule, we snakes must stick together, no secrets get out, no rumours are spread, what happens in these dorms, stays here. We must present a united front at all times! Got it!"

The crowd gave a hesitant affirmation, so Felix continued, "Next, Slytherin will accept nothing but your best! Marks are important but we wish to see your best in everything that you do, if that's Quidditch, Duelling, or any other activity we expect you to excel!"

Cedric spoke, whispering, "high expectations."

Harry knew what he was referring too obviously, this was a Death Eater training camp, Felix was ensuring that they had trained the students to be the best of the best. "Rule number 3, you must never ever be caught alone or unaware!" Felix continued to call out, "our house is looked down upon by the other Houses! Other students would not hesitate to take advantage of you if you are caught unprepared. You must always be ready!" This really was fucking Death Eater training.

"Lastly, Slytherin House is the house of the cunning, you need to prove you are cunning. You need to prove you are manipulative and you need to prove you are devious. But whatever you do, don't get caught!" Felix yelled the last part out, making sure his point got across.

Harry side-eyed Cedric, "that's an invitation for chaos if I've ever heard one."

Cedric simply nodded, not taking his eyes off of Felix, who continued to speak, "Now, first years are in the first hallway, your names are on the doors. Everyone else should know where to go already."

The first years eagerly set off, prompting everyone else to get moving, but as Harry moved from the wall alongside Cedric, Felix called out, "Black!" Harry looked over to him and Felix waved him over. Harry walked up to them, Felix had a couple of other seventh years with him, guys Harry did not recognize. They were more than likely Death Eaters in his past life but Harry remained stone faced. "Yes?" he asked simply.

"Just because you're hot shit, doesn't mean you don't have to follow our rules and directions." Felix said menacingly, it was a tactic by him, he was trying to intimidate Harry. Little did he know, Harry had faced Voldemort and his armies, some dumb fuck seventh year was never going to faze him.

"And if I disagree with some of the rules?" Harry replied, not exactly challenging him but not blindly obeying either.

Felix took a direct step towards Harry, trying to make him seem larger. "You will abide by them, or else we will personally make your life a living hell." he said angrily, "either you fall into line and obey or you'll have a painful year, Black."

Harry snorted out loud, taking the threat for what it was, a joke. "Yeah, alright." he said sarcastically, turning towards where Cedric was waiting. As he walked away, Felix called out "I'm watching you Black! Don't think I won't make an example of you!" Harry kept walking, not even bothering to look back, watching as Cedric smirked.

The pair of them walked down a hallway to where the rooms were, "he's gonna be so mad when you embarrass him." Cedric said through a snicker.

Harry laughed, and Cedric gestured to the room next to them, "This one is yours, I'm two doors down."

Confused, Harry pushed the door open, a private room with a desk, a chest, a single bed and a wardrobe were inside. "Wait? I get my own room?" Harry asked.

Cedric shook his head, "Yeah, I never understood why Slytherin got their own rooms when all the other Houses have to share." he groaned, "Gryffindor was the worst, I hated living with four others in the same room as me."

They walked in, and Harry put a privacy ward on the door. "How many did Hufflepuff have?"

Cedric shrugged, "it was just you and another, wasn't too bad. It should be illegal to cram so many people into such a tiny room like they do at Gryffindor."

Harry sighed, this was his room now, it felt good to actually have a place to settle and just belong. It had been so long since he had been comfortable, this seemed like a good place to be. Harry took his wand out and spread his magic outwards, pushing the walls of the room out, making it five times the size of what it was. Cedric moved away from him, "woah," he said in surprise. Harry looked over his shoulder smugly, "watch this."

Harry then transfigured his bed to be king size, making the comfiest possible sleeping arrangement for himself. He pushed the bed against the back wall, and shifted the desk to one wall while he put the wardrobe to the other. There was a large gap in the middle of the room, so Harry called out. "Kreacher!" and the old elf popped in.

Kreacher grumpily replied, "young master calls me for unimportant stupid work?" he asked.

Harry shot a light stunner at the elf which he swiftly dodged, "disrespect will not be tolerated Kreacher, i'll charm a permanent blanket over your precious portraits if you don't shape up."

Kreacher rolled his eyes but then bowed dramatically, "Master Harry, how could Kreacher possibly be of service?"

"Bring some furniture over from Grimmauld Place, clean it and make a home of this place." Harry ordered.

Kreacher nodded before popping away. Harry turned to look at Cedric who was stunned. "What?" he asked.

Cedric shook his head, "you're really powerful, I mean, I knew you would be good, but the magic that came off you while transfiguring was a lot."

Harry shrugged, "I told you I was powerful." Harry looked around, the room was way bigger, and the big bed looked nice but it was still rather barren. He didn't want to be here to see Kreacher make it look nice. "Ok, now what?"

Cedric gestured to the door, "I still have to go to my room," he said, "aaaaand we should probably talk about Slytherin traditions."

Harry followed Cedric into the hallway, Cedric went to speak but Harry gestured for him to be quiet, he didn't want anyone to overhear any of the words they were about to say.

Cedric's room was the exact same as Harry's, he didn't bother to change anything about it, just pulled the desk chair out to sit on while Harry put his privacy charm up. "traditions?" Harry asked.

Cedric sighed, "it's some vile shit, they call it hazing, but it sickens my stomach what they put the younger students through to train them to fight."

Harry nodded, "we'll be putting a stop to that." flipping his wand between his fingers, Harry paced back and forth, "I need to see how powerful you really are, we should train later."

Cedric nodded, so Harry continued, "what do they do for this hazing?" Harry asked.

Cracking his knuckles, Cedric spoke dejectedly, "they literally terrorize them, they take turns keeping them awake, they steal their things, they hit them with stunners if they think they aren't paying attention, they don't give them a moment to themselves, to just relax."

Harry shuddered, he knew the feeling. "Sounds awful for someone acclimating to a new school, a new society."

Cedric nodded, "they're terrible, i'm not even counting the sexual undertones behind it all, they break into rooms all the time, guys or girls, no matter what time. The amount of times they've done shit while someone was changing clothes or underdressed is horrid."

Shaking his head, Harry rolled his eyes, "why does it not surprise me that Death Eaters will go this far to train their children?" he said, knowing the evils they commit to submit to Voldemort.

Harry hated how much they were going to have to deal with to succeed. There were so many layers, so many variables that Harry and Cedric needed to figure out, it was as if they had a million things to do and no matter what they would never finish the list.

Harry pushed through the door, leading out into the hallway, he strode forward and heard Cedric fall into step behind him when he paused. "I should probably let you lead." He whispered, and Cedric smirked. "Somewhere we can train."

Cedric shrugged and then walked in front of Harry, he went into the Slytherin common room, but did not head for the exit, instead he went down a different hallway. Confused, Harry paid close attention as Cedric pushed a door open which led to a massive training area. There were duelling lanes, training dummies, and some gym equipment.

Harry blanched, and looked at Cedric in shock, Cedric shook his head, "yeah, it seems like all the school's funding goes to Slytherin."

Annoyed at the obvious favouritism and corruption within the school's board, Harry took his robe off and took his wand out of his pocket; he would need to find a holster soon.

Harry then got lost within his magic, working on multiple things while spraying spells at the training dummies provided. The wand still felt good in his hand despite it's intimidating look, it was not as if it was blocking his magic, so Harry was fine with it.

Cedric spoke up, "are you going to be done anytime soon?"

Harry didn't pause his stunners, "it's barely been 15 minutes."

"Harry, it's been nearly two hours."

Pausing, Harry looked over to Cedric who looked tired. "What?"

"You've been at it for two hours." Cedric replied.

Hmm, he had a lot more energy now then he did in his last life, that was something he had forgotten about. This new youthful energy with the power he had could be a huge advantage in long lasting duels, he could simply outlast opponents.

"Alright, we'll call it here." He said, smirking at a relieved looking Cedric.

As the pair of them walked out, they passed through the common room the same time Daphne was exiting a different hallway. "Isn't that the first year dorms?," Harry asked politely.

Daphne was defensive immediately. "Yes, why?" She said quickly, suspiciously.

Harry raised his hands, showing her his palms, "I meant nothing by it, I'm just trying to familiarize myself with the dorm."

Daphne's frown lightened but her eyebrows remained pinched. Harry was getting distracted from her words as he thought she looked beautiful when she was angry. Cedric spoke up, "Relax, Daphne, we had some anxious energy so we were training, we want nothing to do with Astoria."

Cedric's words calmed Daphne, but her hard demeanor did not change. "Who is Astoria?" Harry asked, playing dumb.

Daphne replied simply, "my sister."

Cedric then teased, "someone didn't pay attention to the sorting."

Harry gave Cedric the finger, "am I supposed to know every 1st year and where they get sorted?" Replying sarcastically.

Cedric smiled while Daphne's eyebrow raised minutely, "is it a good or bad thing that you don't know of my family?" Daphne asked.

Harry shrugged, "names don't matter much to me, I'll treat you how you treat me. No strings attached."

Daphne looked even more puzzled, "that's awfully naive."

Harry grinned, "I'd say that I see the best in people."

Daphne shook her head, "that's not a very Slytherin way to live."

Harry took a quick look around, the room around them was empty, it was well past curfew, so Harry quickly threw a privacy charm around the three of them. Daphne's eyes opened in shock, but she listened as Harry spoke "The Slytherin way is a lie, a hoax, why should some hat, some colours and the place I live dictate my behaviour? It is all a suggestion, I may have those qualities but that does not mean I do not have any others." Harry replied.

Daphne returned to her regular resting face, which when she did she just looked annoyed. "Fair point, but that does not mean that the way we live is wrong. Just because you may not like that life does not mean we are the same as you."

Harry smirked at her, "we're all different in our own ways, Daphne, and that's a good thing." Harry then walked off, speaking sweetly as he walked by, "good night, Miss Greengrass."

Cedric smiled at him as they got out of Daphne's line of sight. "We're going to sleep?"

Harry shrugged, "may as well."

The Great Hall wasn't nearly as busy early in the morning for breakfast as it was for the opening feast yesterday. Only about a handful of students were in the large hall. Harry and Cedric had already gotten a physical and a magical workout in, the pair of them putting Slytherin's training room to use.

Walking into the hall, Harry spotted Cassandra sitting alone at the Ravenclaw table and stopped to speak to her. "Good morning Cassandra," Harry said kindly.

Cassandra looked up from her meal, her eyebrows quickly furrowing seeing their disheveled state. "Did you two get in a fight this morning?" She asked.

Cedric snorted, while Harry smirked, "yeah, we beat the shit out of Draco after he tried to stun me from behind."

Cassandra's jaw dropped and she turned angry, Harry and Cedric remained stone faced for a few seconds before they both smiled, letting Cassandra know it was a joke. "Why did I almost believe you?"

"Gullible?" Cedric asked.

"Not really no, I just believe that Draco may have actually done something that stupid." Cassandra said with a shake of her head. "What were you actually doing?" she asked.

Harry replied quickly, "training, you can never get too much practice in."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "training? You're going to be tired."

Harry shrugged, he didn't care much for the small talk so he thought he would break the ice. "On the train, you turned defensive when I asked about your house, is that because your brother is extremely stupid?"

Cassandra blanched at Harry's blunt question, before she took a stuttered breath. "First off, my brother is not stupid." She said defensively, "second, my Father made him to be that way, I was raised more by my Mother."

Harry nodded, "Narcissa Malfoy formerly Black, right?"

Cassandra replied blankly, "yes. Why?"

Harry shrugged, "I am the heir and soon to be head of House Black, it only makes sense that I become familiar with who is in my family."

Cassandra slowly nodded, she looked unsure, Harry knew that she knew he was right, but Lucius would do anything possible to ensure Harry would have no power over the Malfoy family. "I guess that makes sense, but Harry, do not expect to simply lead the Black family and all of its allies, there is a lot of politics involved and a lot of backhanded deals I am certain you know nothing of."

Cassandra made a good point and actually gave Harry an idea. It would be a bit of a stretch, but if he was able to pull it off then he would be sorted. "When did I say anything about that? I just wished to become familiar with my relatives."

Cassandra raised a pointed eyebrow, "Draco is a relative of yours."

Harry scoffed, "relatives that are not lacking sense." quickly realizing, Harry continued, "if you're Draco's sister, aren't you related to me as well?"

There was a bit of an awkward silence, and Harry had no idea what he said that made it awkward. "Uhm, did I say something wrong?"

Cedric put a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Cassandra is not Narcissa's." he said simply.

Cassandra had dipped her head a little bit, hiding her face. "Oh." Harry said. She was rather obviously a bastard of Lucius' and by the way it was an awkward subject; it was a sore spot in her family. No wonder she was a Ravenclaw and not a Slytherin. They were in the middle of the Great Hall, so Harry did not wish to speak much about it here but he leaned closer to Cassandra and whispered, "Hey, i'm not going to treat you any differently alright? I'm a bastard too."

Cassandra's eyes shot up, she was fighting tears, "You mean you don't care?" she asked.

Harry shrugged, "why would I?" he said with a smile, "all i see is a beautiful girl in front of me, who has been nothing but kind and respectful, why would I let her birth determine how I should treat her?"

Cassandra looked torn between being embarrassed, relieved and happy. Her eyes were happy but she was still fighting tears. "You mean that?" she asked seriously.

"Of course. I swear it on my heirship ring." Harry replied, with his most sincere smile.

Cassandra scoffed but had a watery smile, "you're not much of a Slytherin." she said, much happier than before.

Harry smirked and he heard Cedric let out a laugh behind him. "Doesn't matter much to me."

Cassandra took a couple of deep breaths before she replied again, it was rather nice seeing her compose herself from the momentary upset. Her eyes were definitely brighter then when they had first started speaking. "I would like to speak to you at some point, just me and you, we can go over everything within our families." Harry asked.

Cassandra smiled, "Of course, Harry, I'd love that." She then looked over to the Professors table, where the professor that Harry felt was familiar had just taken a seat. Cassandra held a smile, "I think you should go introduce yourself to her." she nodded in the professor's direction, "she is someone you should speak to."

Confused, Harry looked to Cedric, then over to the Professor. Cedric held a sly smile, but did not say anything, Harry looked at Cassandra again, "thanks, i'll…." Harry hesitated because he felt like he was being set-up, but if it was anything nefarious then Cedric would have warned him. "Go speak to her."

Cassandra smirked, "good luck." she said softly.

Confused, Harry made his way to the front of the hall, the professor's table was mostly empty, so he made his way to the woman. She was faced away from him, running through some papers in her bag. She had long black hair that was curly, but looked well put together. She had on a business-like outfit, with a pencil skirt and a dress shirt, her robe hung on the chair she had been sitting on. Her physique was quite nice, and Harry did not feel guilty about taking a good look at her perky ass.

Harry felt like he had seen this woman before, it confused him, there was such a familiarity to her that he felt it, but just could not put his finger on it. Just by the way she moved, he could sense he knew her.

"Uhm," he said, as he approached the table, "excuse me," he asked.

The professor did not turn around, "yes?" she said sweetly.

Harry felt a massive sense of familiarity again, her voice was extremely familiar, and it was annoying Harry now that he could not figure out who it was. "Cassandra Malfoy told me to introduce myself to you."

Still she did not turn around, her focus entirely on the papers in her hand. "Why would Cassandra tell you that?" she asked, her voice perfectly clipped and polite.

Harry looked over his shoulder, Cedric had moved to the Slytherin table and was smirking at him smugly. Harry raised an eyebrow at him, looking over to Cassandra, she was looking at him with a smile, it was funny seeing the difference between the two. "Apparently you are someone I should be in contact with, or be familiar with?"

"I am?" she said easily.

Harry was getting rather annoyed at this point. "Yes."

"And why would that be?" she asked teasingly.

"I was speaking to Cassandra because she is a Malfoy and an ally of House Black." Harry finished.

The woman sighed out loud, before she turned completely around, she had an eyebrow raised and a small smirk on her face that just felt extremely her. Harry's heart dropped and his stomach did a somersault, out of all the people that this could possibly be, never did he think it would be her.

"My name is Professor Lestrange, but I do prefer Bella or Bellatrix."