Ravan followed their house Prefects, eyes taking in every detail of the route. They stood straight up with the poise and grace that their mother had taught them and neutral mask on their face though they couldn't quite keep the nervous gleam from their eye.

Soon, the group stopped at a large stone wall, at which point the female prefect turned to them. "To enter the common room, there is a password. It changes every fortnight; you will find it posted on the board inside the common room, should you ever forget it." With that, she turned to the walls and said, "Serpentine." The wall moved back slightly and downward, showing the Slytherin Common Room.

The common room was expansive with gold, brass, and silver accents in the green and black; 3 fireplaces were lit and warming the cold and damp air of the dungeons. A single chandelier hung in the middle of the common room with 4 floating orbs a light around it, illuminating the entirety of the common room.

The older years immediately broke off from the crowd, the first years simply waited for directions on what to do. The male prefect looked at them, assessing them all individually before speaking. "Welcome to Slytherin. Our house was founded by Salazar Slytherin and our renowned traits are cunning, self-preservation, resourcefulness, pride, and ambition. None of those means that we are evil, like many like to paint us as. So if any of you have any preconceived notions on the Slytherin House and what we are like, throw them out of the window right now and paint your own picture from your own experience here."

The female prefect took on here. "Slytherins always protect their own so if you are having any problems with the other houses, let us know and we will put a stop to it. There are 5 major rules to Slytherin.

"Protect your own, betrayal is not something we take lightly here"

"Attendance to House meetings is mandatory, unless you have a plausible reason for not attending, there will be consequences"

"1st and 2nd years are to be in the common room by 19:00 during Monday through Thursday, as well as Sunday. Saturday and Friday you are to be here by 8 PM"

"Never, NEVER, hurt a fellow snake. Disloyalty and infidelity, is abhorred in this house."

"Respect your housemates; gender, sexuality, relationships, everything. We do not bring each other down."

"I suggest you remember them now and remember them throughout your entire 7-year period at Hogwarts; unless you go and do something stupid like get yourself expelled. Then you just remembered them throughout your entire however long period at Hogwarts. Understand? Good. Now Professor Snape would like to speak you."

A man stalked forward, his robe billowing behind him like a cape; Ravan had a vague thought about the muggle comic book Batman before he began to speak. "I am your Head of House, Professor Snape. In this house, while we strive to be Slytherin, we also strive to be as clever and witty as a Ravenclaw, as loyal and hard-working as a Hufflepuff, and as brave and determined as a Gryffindor. There is a set curfew for each year; 1st year are to be their dorms by 20:00, 2nd years are 21:00, 3rd years are 21:30, 4th and 5th years 22:00, 6th and 7th years 23:00. If you are going to break any of the rules, mostly Hogwart's rules, do not get caught and if you do, you best hope if is I or one of the Slytherin prefects. Help will be given to those who ask. The male dormitories are on the left, the female dormitories to the right. Are there any questions?"

Ravan fidgeted slightly, their heart clenching nervously as they raised their hand slightly. Their foot tapped behind them as it always did when they were nervous. Professor Snapes' dark eyes landed on them, and he raised an eyebrow. "Miss Riddle?" Eyes landed on them which caused their heart to shoot through the roof. Nothing exited their mouth as they opened it, their anxiety getting the best of them. "Miss Riddle, are you ill?"

Shaking their head, Ravan took a deep breath before blurting out their pronouns, the words tumbling together. "A little slower this time?"

"I-I'm non-b-bi-er, I-I'm non-binary sir. I- erm, my pronouns are they/them. No miss, ma'am, or an-any of that." Their voice wavered slightly as Ravan examined their shoes with interest. They half expected everybody to start shouting slurs at them the way their mother and father had before their mum adopted them. Stuffing their trembling hands in their pockets, they jumped when a hand landed on their shoulder. Barely concealing a flinch, they looked up to their Head of House.

"Were you expecting us to not accept you?" Nodding wordlessly, they watched their Professor's face warily. "I assure you; nobody will make fun of you... if they do it will not fare well for them..." The entirety heard the hidden threat in his words as he spoke to Ravan, all of them knowing that anybody (including the other students) who did would be stuck in detention with Professor Snape for a very long time.

Ravan nodded, looking slightly better at the thought of not being made fun of for being non-binary. "Thank you sir."

"You are welcome. Would you prefer I call you Mx. Riddle?"

"You may. I generally go with Ravan, but you can call me that..."

Professor Snape nodded. "If you prefer Ravan then Ravan it shall be. We do not have a gender-neutral dorm room but I do believe the Hufflepuff's do. Would you mind staying with them while a room is prepared for you?"

"No sir."

"Then I will escort you to Professor Sprout and a house elf will bring you your luggage."

"Ok. Um, I'm assuming you have to inform the other teachers?"

"I do. Unless you wish to tell them yourself?"

"No, you can tell them. I don't think I would be able to tell them..." Professor Snape nods.

"Then I shall tell them." He turned back to the rest of the students and told them to go to their dormitories. "Come Ravan. I shall introduce you to Professor Sprout."

Ravan walked behind him, a light smile on their face.

-Line Break-

Draco Malfoy landed on his bed with a soft thump sound. His blonde hair that was combed back immaculately, was mussed by the sheets; not that he paid any mind to it. Pushing himself up, his grey eyes shifted to the door that opened up once more. Blaise Zabini entered with Theodore Nott in tow. Both boys nodded to him before beginning to put their stuff away.

All he did was shuffle to the shower room with his hygiene bag hanging on his shoulder. He turned on the water and stripped, once more thankful that they had oversized stalls to shower in, as opposed to a single room with no privacy barriers. Soft blue wings erupted from his shoulder blades, causing a faint ache to come from them; he still was not used to them coming out.

Only once his skin had become wrinkly did he draw himself from the water. It shut off with a wave of his hand and Draco wrapped a towel around his waist before stepping out. His wings fluttered as he cast a drying charm on them. Warm air swirled around the feathers leaving them ruffled. Pajamas zoomed toward him as he slipped on his boxers before waiting behind him. He spelled on the pants and shirt; his wings tended to rip open his clothes unless they were charmed to accommodate a creature.

Rubbing his hands together, he began to spread a green facial cream on his pale skin. Setting out his other jars, he opened 5 other jars. He began lathering a salve on his arms, doing all of it with a practiced ease. Wiping off the green cream, he applied a white cream on his face. Draco really hated that curse of the Malfoy family sometimes, the maintenance that came with it was appallingly extensive.

Wiping his arms with a damp cloth, he brushed his hair delicately. His wings stretched back before giving a soft shudder. Sighing, long slender fingers ran through the feathers causing a few to drop. Summer obviously wasn't enough time for his body to adjust to the creature. Why couldn't he have been something simpler? Like a vampire... or a siren.

His head swiveled around when the door opened, and Theodore came in. He had dropped his glamour as well, his pointy ears showing as well as his shoulder length hair. He was taller, only about 5'6 and had become slightly thinner. His once purely grey eyes were now a mixture of blue and grey. Runes dressed his arms and neck, showing exactly what kind of elf he was; A high elf... with elemental powers water he had said in his letter.

He flopped onto his bed and traced his necklace with his thumb, a longing look coming onto his face.

"Your mate gave it to you?"

Draco looked at Blaise, who nodded to his necklace. He nodded slowly, a fond smile mixing with the longing. "Yes... he gave it to me on the train."

"Did you officially bond your creatures?" He rolled his eyes at his nosy friend.

"Why is that important?" Blaise huffed and sat on his bed.

"Because you and Theo got early inheritances while I'm the only non-creature here. I need some gossip to sustain me. It gets boring quickly when your best friends are creatures. A Dark Veela and High Elf no less. Now spill, bleach head." Glaring at Blaise, he shot a stinging hex at him. The black male yelped as it hit his leg, almost dodging the spell.

"In a way, yes we did." Blaise gave him a mock glare as he rubbed his sore leg. It obviously wasn't the answer he was looking for.

Theodore looked over as he exited to bathroom and his eyes flickered to his necklace. "You already met your mate?" Surprise was evident in his voice. Nobody (at least that they knew of) was named Astaron Riddle. The 3 of them had assumed that they were homeschooled or went to Durmstrang.

Draco glowered at them and gave the necklace a small tug. "He wears a glamour. It's someone we know too."

An excited look sizzled in Blaise's eyes, the dark teen leaning forward. Draco hoped he would fall off the bed. "Who?" Theo stared at them as he stacked books onto his night table; He, too, was obviously wanting to know.

"You can't say anything to anybody," he stated sharply, "The alliance between the House of Malfoy and the Houses Nott and Zabini will be crushed if you even breathe it to anybody." The 2 nodded and proceeded to swear on their magic and honor.

Nodding in satisfaction, Draco said, "My mate is Harry Potter. He's Astaron Riddle."

Theo and Blaise went still, their faces morphing into one of pure, unfiltered, shock.

My apologises for taking so long... I split the chapter and just decided to do this. The rest of the story is being edited and those versions will be posted shortly. Some of the chapters are going to be split or shortened.