AN: Sorry this took so long to post. I got my first review from my fellow students in the creative writing class. He commented on chapter one, exactly as I posted it here. And, he did not like it, not even a little bit. It took the heart out of my desire to write anything which anyone else would read. My daughter pointed out my stupidity. (She is brilliant like that!) I have proof that at least a few people like what I wrote. So, instead of waiting for my heart to be in it again, I will start writing what I have outlined and see if I can find my heart along the way.

Standard disclaimer: Nope. I am not JKR writing under an absurd pen name. Nor am I anyone who could successfully claim in a court of law that I own even the tiniest piece of JKRs fictional universe. The sandbox is entirely hers. She is just nice enough to allow us to build sandcastles on her beach.

Chapter 3

Paper Tiger

"Oh crap!" Draco's thoughts raced. He took a deep breath to gain a moment before responding. He wanted to set Harry up as a power block, for his personal benefit. He needed Harry to be strong, proud, and regal even. Accepting Harry's offer would do all of that and more! Yet, it would also place obligations upon Draco… and since Harry offered it to "the scion and heir presumptive of the Ancient House of Malfoy" accepting would also have serious and far reaching obligations for House Malfoy, so he could not accept. But, if he didn't accept, then he would be seriously weakening Harry's position in the Wizarding world and in Hogwarts. And all this before they even got off the blasted train!

Standing with a perfect posture only countless hours of 'finishing' can provide, Draco pushed the first pebble which might lead to the avalanche which would destroy him politically. "The Ancient House of Malfoy recognizes the protection offered to Draco Malfoy, scion and heir presumptive, by the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. I, Draco Malfoy, ask Harry Potter, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, to hold this most appreciated offer of protection in abeyance until the merits of the case against myself are determined and I have the opportunity to discuss this with my Head of House, Lucius Malfoy." Draco waited, still as a statue, not daring to breathe, hoping Harry would realize he had screwed up and this was the safest course forward!

Harry listened intently as Draco replied, trying to apply the lessons Draco was trying to teach him. He needed more time! Harry thought furiously, "Draco said most of the time people would help you 'fake it'. So do little and let them read into it what they thought he knew, when he actually knew almost nothing… and what the hell does 'abeyance' mean? From the context it seemed like 'held in case of need', but surely that couldn't be it. Well, will just have to assume it is something close to that and muddle on. Draco didn't take the offer, but he didn't reject it either. So he is taking a neutral stance. So, I should do likewise! Damn, politics makes my head hurt!"

While Harry was deciding the correct course of action, based on the very limited instruction by Draco and his many years of learning to read body language or suffer, Ronald Weasley remained unconscious and oblivious to the world as he was completely ignored.

Percy Weasley was wondering what the hell had just happened here! Ron apparently laid hands on Harry Potter, THE Harry Potter. Head of House or not, that is more trouble than Percy was ready to deal with without a Professor to back him up.

Harry looked at Draco and gave the most regal nod he could, trying to imitate the royalty he glimpsed now and then on TV. Turning to Percy, Harry attempted to channel his uncle, "Why are you are still here. Get out and take that…" pausing for effect and to perfect his sneer, "… boy… with you."

Percy looked down, remembering Ron at last. He reached down and slapped the back of Ron's head a few times as Ronald slowly rejoined the conscious world. "Get up." Percy began man-handling Ron out the door, closing it behind him, before pushing Ron down the passageway. The last Draco and Harry heard was Ron whining, "But Harry is still in there! We have to…"

Blessed silence reigned as Harry turned to Draco, "So, how badly did I screw up?"

The rest of Harry's train ride was uninterrupted as Draco tried to teach him … everything.

Draco continued, "Harry, remember, EVERYTHING you do has consequences you will be unlikely to predict. Think of it as ripples in a lake. Every time you do anything, you are throwing a rock in the lake. Imagine it is night and only a part of the lake is visible. If you know what you are doing, then you are throwing rocks in the part you can see and watching the ripples. If you are good at politics, you are throwing rocks in the lit part and then throwing rocks in other parts, deliberately causing certain waves to cancel each other out, while other waves are magnified, all right where you want them."

Curiosity getting the better of him, Harry interrupted, "What if you are really good at politics?"

Draco grinned, "Then you plan the waves where you can't see and don't bother to throw the stones, since someone will just happen to do exactly what you want, when you want, entirely coincidentally."

Harry thought for a moment, "Ok, that's scary."

Draco's grin broadened, "Yes, yes it is. Very few people will ever reach that level of power. It is as much luck as connections at that point. But there are many people with the power to make things happen with a word in the right ear, a heavy sigh at dinner followed by 'I wish I could, but my attention is being diverted by these accursed zoning laws. As soon as I get that taken care of, I will help you with your problem'. By the way, that is a blunt and crass example. But that person might suddenly find his zoning issues resolve. See the point?"

Harry nodded, "Power. It is all about power."

Draco nodded, "Indeed. And there are all types of power."

Harry closed his eyes in thought for a moment saying, "Like the brute force of my cousin or that redhead who tried to pull me out. Like the power to incite your adversary to act against his best interest, like you did with Weasley." Harry opened his eyes looking at Draco intently.

Draco laughed, "Exactly! So, why did I provoke Weasley? Can you tell me?"

Harry smiled, "It was a lesson, a practical demonstration of what you told me earlier. Don't let people see you angry. If you do, they will use it against you. You let him attack you as a lesson to me." Harry frowned. "That was not necessary."

Draco saw a hint of the man Harry would one day become. He would be a power to be reckoned with, eventually. But not today.

Draco shrugged, "I had to make sure you never forgot that lesson. It is far too important. By the way, you did very well with your response to my request for more time. How did you decide on what to do?"

Harry smiled evilly, "I figured this was another test, that I had screwed up and this was a chance to correct it. I remembered your lesson about everyone helping you fake what you don't know, so I decided to do as little as possible and allow them to read as much as they wanted into it." Harry's smile was now rather smug.

Draco laughed, "I wish you had known what you were doing. It would have been so much funnier! Ok, here is what they saw. You asserted yourself as Head of House and acted within that remit to provide protection to another House. They will see this as a strong indication Potter and Malfoy will become friendly and might eventually become allies. I guarantee, before they walked into this compartment, neither Weasley would have placed a bet on that happening, no matter the odds you gave them!"

Draco continued, "THEN you accused Ronald Weasley of attempted kidnapping of a Head of House. The penalties for that are severe! You could have House Weasley in fealty to House Potter if you wanted. It was obvious Ronald was clueless, but Percy knew exactly what his brother had done and how much trouble he had caused, all before he even stepped off the train!"

Draco face became solemn, "Harry, you need to know this. You are a paper tiger."

Harry looked confused.

Draco explained, "Yes, you are the Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. You are THE Potter of Potter. You have a seat on the Wizengamot, (which you should not even consider taking yet!) You are a Lord, both in the magical world and the muggle world. But… you are a house of one. When you offered me protection, you put all of House Potter in defense of me. All of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter is you. You effectively told Weasley you would stand as my sword and shield against the entire world, if the need arose. If I thought you knew what you were doing, I would be touched. Knowing you are absolutely clueless, made it funny… in a very dark, morbid, 'let the world burn around my ears while I fiddle' sort of humor. If I had rebuffed you openly, it would have diminished your claim as Head of House. We are trying to set you up as a politically desirable ally for everyone. So I could not refuse your offer. But if I had accepted… that would have been worse. As heir of House Malfoy, I can enter into agreements of this type, which bind my entire House. My father could abolish the agreement, but only by disowning me. Since I am my father's only son, that would have been unlikely. More likely, you would have had an 'accident', thereby maintaining the Honor of House Malfoy and removing any inconvenient entanglements."

Harry's eyes had grown steadily larger as Draco told him just how badly he had screwed up.

Draco leaned over and clasped one hand on Harry's shoulder, "Don't worry so much. You are going to make mistakes. You are going to make a lot of mistakes. The key point is to make sure you recognize and correct them as quickly as you did today. Keep that up for the next hundred years or so and you can retire without worrying about who is trying to kill you."

Harry shook his head rapidly, "So, if I am extremely lucky, never lose my edge and always pay attention to everything at once, in a hundred years I can retire without someone trying to kill me in my retirement. That seems… harsh."

Draco laughed, "That is not what I said. I said if you do all those things you won't have to worry about who is trying to kill you. You will know who is trying to kill you. And since you need to repopulate the Potter line, hopefully you will live to have hundreds of grandchildren and the pleasure of hearing that all your enemies have died in terrible and highly improbable accidents which cannot be connected to you."

Harry couldn't help it and started laughing. Between gasping breaths he managed to say, "You seem… to have put… some… thought into this…" still unable to catch his breath.

Draco just smiled and nodded. "It is one of my most pleasant fantasies."

Draco gently slaps Harry on the face, "Come, come. We have much left to discuss. I have told you a little about politics and the Wizarding world, now we have to discuss Hogwarts itself. I wish we had more time…"

The trip from the train to the castle was uneventful, although Weasley glared at Harry and Draco from another boat. So many whispers carried over the water. New students trying to guess what House they would be in or how they would be sorted. Who was the idiot who said they had to wrestle a troll? Some people will believe anything! Fortunately Draco had told him how the sorting worked, even though it was supposed to be a secret. Draco seemed to know a lot of secrets.

Professor McGonagall attempted to intimidate the new students while they lined up outside the great hall, but she was a pale imitation of Aunt Petunia. Since Harry was pretty sure McGonagall would not lock him in a boot closet, he was not really impressed, instead spending his time looking at the ghosts who happened through.

As the firsties filed in, Draco gave Harry a reassuring nod and a discrete thumbs up.

Draco was sorted into Slytherin, just as he said he would be. The bushy haired girl went to Ravenclaw.

As McGonagall prepared to call Harry's name, she heard herself say quite clearly, "Lord Harry Potter". The Professor looked around in shock as Harry confidently stepped forward to the stool and hat. Dumbledore looked at Harry, then Minerva with a questioning look, which she answered with a shrug and a minute shake of her head. Dumbledore sighed before he nodded for his assistant to continue. 'This would cause complications,' he thought.

Harry sat on the stool, back erect as he closed his eyes and waited as Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on his head. As he waited, his left hand reached under the stool seat to palm the sickle Draco had stuck there when he had his turn.

"Yes, at last 'Lord' Potter. Clever trick. The Headmaster is already confused and annoyed and you are not even sorted yet. Even the twins waited until after the first feast. Well done!"

Harry's eyes flashed open at 'hearing' the hat in his mind, before closing them once more. "I did nothing."

"Yes, and a pretty bit of nothing she was too. Ah, here it is… you are getting advice from Draco Malfoy. That explains much, including how you knew which third year Slytherin has a near perfected impersonation of McGonagall's voice. Clever boy. Well, let's see where we shall place you, shall we? Brave enough to pull Dumbledore's beard the first night. Impressive. You could do well in Gryffindor."

Harry shook his head, "No. That Weasley kid is going to Gryffindor. All the Weasleys go there. I don't want to be in his house. Not Gryffindor"

"Very well. I see Draco has been teaching you. Oh so many things and you learned them all so quickly. Yes, you could do well in Ravenclaw too."

Harry responded slower this time, "Ravenclaw would not be a bad house, but I think another might be better for me. Don't you?"

The sorting hat chuckled, "Indeed. You are very cunning and resourceful. Hmmm… what is this? Oh… Dursleys… Don't worry. I won't tell anyone what I see. I can't. It is part of my enchantment. But I see clearly why you are so cunning and resourceful. The Dursleys could hardly have produced anything else. So, I guess we know where you belong…"

The sorting hat announced loudly, "Better Be…"

"WAIT" Harry thought as loudly as he could. "There is another option, one I would prefer."

The hat's laughter echoed through Harry's mind.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

*crickets*

Harry pulled off the hat, placed it on the stool and bowed politely to it, "Thank you."

Walking to the firstie end of the Hufflepuff table, there was not a sound. No one clapped. Not a single breath was heard.

Until, from the head table, Pomona Sprout squeaked, "We got Potter?"

And with those three words, the silence was broken. Polite clapping from the Ravenclaws. Groans of disbelief from Gryffindor. Welcoming calls and smiles from Hufflepuff, greeting their newest (and most famous) house mate.

And from Slytherin… silence, broken only by Draco's incredulous, "WHAT?"

AN: Ok, writing this was fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. I will try to post a new chapter between 2,000 and 4,000 words, weekly. Let me know what you think.