Disclaimer: If i owned HP pigs would fly and the sun would rise in the west. I own nothing. HP belongs to JK Rowling and i'm just borrowing some of her characters coz i love her stories.

Chapter 7

"Slyherin!" the hat called out as an unnatural silence befell the room. Harry sighed wondering what his parents would think of this; it seemed that no one had thought that the 'Boy who lived' would end up in the serpent house.

Just before he could get up and remove the hat, it shouted again, "Gryffindor!", if everyone had been surprised before, they were now completely stunned. It was a well known fact that the Potter's had always been Gryffindors and Gryffindor had always been considered the essential opposite of Slytherin. Unlike the other houses, these two houses were usually exclusively associated with either light wizards or dark wizards respectively. To have a dual sorting into two that were the exact opposite of each other was a highly unusual phenomenon. The last dual sorting to occur had been half a century ago involving Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, which arguably were much more similar.

As he took the hat off his head Harry squirmed in his seat. It was very uncomfortable having everyone in the room stare at him as if he had suddenly grown two heads.

"Well, now that you know which houses you belong too, I'll have the Head of Houses escort you back to your respective dormitories," Professor Dumbledore said, recovering quicker from the shock than the others. "Mr. Potter, please stay behind," he said in a rather solemn tone.

Harry watched in dismay as the rest of the students filed out the room following their respective Head of Houses. 'Why did things always happen to him?'

"Well Harry I have to say that this is highly unusual. We have not had a dual sorting at Hogwarts since half a century ago and then it did not involve two such controversial houses. Considering the circumstances, you are officially a member of both houses," noticing Harry's rather anxious expression he was quick to reassure him. "It's nothing to worry about, Harry. It is rare to have a dual sorting, and usually only occurs when the hat finds that the person has equal characteristics from both houses. You are rather privileged to be able to benefit from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. After all, no one is purely a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. They are just sorted into the house that best reflects most of their characteristics and would help bring out their inner potential. It seems that you are a rather multi-talented person."

Harry just nodded mutely not sure what to say to that. He wasn't feeling very privileged at all.

"Well now, I think Professor's Snape and McGonagall are back and they should be able to show you to your rooms, the Professor said as the two Head of Houses stepped into his office. "Since you belong in two houses, you will be having your own living quarters with access to both the Slytherin and Gryffindor common rooms. You are free to enter both houses but it would be best to not share the passwords with members of the opposing house at it would be rather unfair. Run along, now."

Harry didn't know what to think about the incident. He had hardly expected anything like this. If Malfoy and Weasley were anything to go by, he had no idea how he was going to be able to cope with the infamous house rivalry.

That aside, his rooms were really quite nice. He had been shown to a rather elegantly furnished room decorated in blue and silver with a touch of gold. The bed was rather large and two plush armchairs sat beside the window overlooking the grounds. He was rather disappointed that he still had to share bathrooms with the other boys although he supposed he was rather glad that the room had not been done in the red and green of the two houses. It would have been too gaudy for his tastes, somewhat bringing into mind the image of Christmas decorations.

Professor McGonagall pointed out a solid door on his right as leading to the Gryffindor common rooms and the one he had just come through was from the Slytherin house. It was a rather good idea really since he could easily get to and from the two houses.

"You should set a password at both doors and you are not allowed to let members of the different houses into each others common rooms," Professor Snape said firmly.

"You may unpack and get yourself settled in. All meals will be served at the Great Hall." Professor McGonagall added before as the two Professors left his rooms.

As the excitement from the sorting set in, he wondered with a sinking sensation, what his parents would think of the turn of events. He vaguely remembered all the harsh comments and snide remarks that his father and Uncle Sirius had said about Slyhterin.

"Now Harry, you know never to trust a Slytherin. The whole house is full of sneaky liars."

"There was never a dark wizard that did not come from that house!"

Even though, he was technically half of each house, he wondered if his dad would be disappointed in him for being in the Serpent house as they liked to call it. He couldn't bear it if his uncles and father would not play with him and treat him as one of their own anymore. After all he had always wanted to be just like the marauders. He was almost tempted to go back to Dumbledore and beg him to let him be resorted. Although he didn't think it would be much use.

Finding no way around his problem, he resigned himself to unpacking and getting settled into his room. At least he didn't need to share his room with anyone else. Although he doubted that it would be a very good idea to sleep with the other boys when he wasn't sure how they would treat him.

……

Harry had finished unpacking his trunk and rearranged everything in his room at least three times. He figured that there was no point delaying the inevitable. Taking a deep breath, he chose the Gryffindor door since they were likely to be easier to tackle and walked into their common room. He noticed several students sitting around the fireplace playing wizard's chess or reading a book. Others were moving around talking to each other and cracking jokes in a jovial mood. Suddenly feeling very out of place he froze on the spot, unsure of what to do.

"Hey Harry!" a voice called him. He looked up to see Ron coming down the stairs from the boys' dorm. "Glad to see that you got sorted into Gryffindor. How are you feeling, mate? You gave us quite a scare on the train when the deatheater cursed you."

"Thanks for your concern, Ron. I'm feeling much better actually," feeling rather relived to have someone that he knew. He suddenly realized that he knew no one in his year since he had not been around during the welcoming feast when everyone had been sorted into their houses and no doubt made acquaintances and friends.

"Would you like me to show you the first year dorms? I haven't seen your stuff here though so I'm not sure where you'll be sleeping but it won't hurt to go up and take a look," offered Ron not quite realizing how uncomfortable he was making Harry feel.

"Actually, Ron," Harry hesitated, unsure how to break the news to his new friend. "I've been sorted into both Gryffindor and Slytherin," he said.

Ron just stared at him. "You can't be serious! How can anyone be sorted into two houses?"

"I don't really know what happened but the sorting hat just called out two names consecutively and here I am. Its supposed to be pretty rare though," he said with a bit of a frown.

"I'm so sorry for you, mate. But don't worry, I'll still be your friend and I'm sure the other guys won't mind. Come on up, I'll introduce you to them!" he said with a grin.

Harry nodded feeling slightly more relieved and cheered up although he didn't really think that being in Slytherin was something to be sorry about. He ended having a rather good afternoon with the other boys talking and playing exploding snap. They were all quite friendly and tried to make him feel better for not being a pure Gryffindor. He learned that Neville Longbottom actually had the same birthday as he did and that it didn't take more than a few drinks to get Seamus Finnagan drunk.

Feeling rather contented that night he sat down to write a letter to his parents detailing all that had happened. They had left earlier in the day and had yet to hear about his sorting. A few crumpled parchments later and a borrowed ribbon from one of the Gryffindor girls, the letter was safely sealed and on its way to Godric's Hollow.

………………

Silver blue eyes seemed to peer into his soul. A lullaby was hummed softly in a tongue that was unknown to him, spiraling around him and drawing him into a dark cocoon of safety and warmth. He knew the person and yet he did not. A bright flash of light appeared and it was all gone.

The scene was replaced by a dark dank room. Light seemed to be scarce but he could vaguely make out a dark figure resting on a huge throne, an aura of evil emanating from every corner of the room. Tendrils of black wrapped around his vision, and yet he did not feel afraid. The darkness seemed to spread and suddenly was combing through the castle at breakneck speed moving through all the nooks and crannies. Spiders were scuttling everywhere running down the walls to his feet and suddenly he felt many little feet all over him. He tried to hold back the shiver and get away from them but they were too many and swept over him in a wave of tangled darkness, gloom and chill causing him to scream and thrash helplessly to get rid of them.

Harry awoke with a start from his dream, his body covered in cold sweat. He didn't remember much except that he had felt a comforting presence before being enveloped by an oppressive darkness. Pondering over the matter, he absentmindedly fingered the charm around his neck. It was made of an unusual dark metal that he had never seen before and embedded in the centre was a small emerald stone surrounded by even smaller diamonds. He did not remember how he got it and his parents had just passed it off saying that some long lost relative had given it to him when he was younger. He kept it hidden within his robes most of the time since he had found that he could not remove it even when he wanted to.

Looking at his alarm clock he realized he still had quite some time to spare. Since he couldn't get back to sleep anyway he decided to get ready for the day. Classes would be starting later in the day since they had had a few days off due to the incident with the train.

Bemoaning the lack of an ensuite bathroom, he quietly opened the door on his left and headed towards the Slytherin bathrooms. He had been to the Gryffindor ones but he liked the Slytherin ones better. They were large and spacious with several large ornately carved silver mirrors hanging in front of the washbasins. They also had the privilege of a few large bathtubs. He couldn't wait to have a nice long soak in one of them. There was hardly anyone up at this time or so he thought until he caught sight of a glint of silver in front of one of the mirrors.

Draco Malfoy was standing in front of the mirror trying to get his hair to fall perfectly into place. He didn't seem to be doing very well too as he was applying a horrendous amount of gel into his hair only to have it go in the wrong direction. He definitely looked much less imperious when he was dressed only in forest green pajamas carrying, what was that a small silver stuffed dragon peeking out from under his towel?

Suddeny realizing that there was someone else in the bathroom; Malfoy spun around and spotted Harry at the entrance. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his cheeks flushed slightly in embarrassment.

Harry just grinned and said "I belong to this house. What's wrong with me using the showers?" Deciding that he didn't really want to make enemies with Malfoy though, since he hadn't really done anything to him, he said "So what are you doing here so early?"

"Just getting ready for the day." he answered shortly.

"Looks like you're having some trouble with your hair. I have trouble with mine too since it always sticks up everywhere and I can never get it to stay in one place. I think you'd look much better without the gel though," Harry said conversationally.

Malfoy just gave him a look that seem to say 'why don't you just go away?' but was met by Harry's expectant look and when no amount of glaring could get rid of him decided to answer him. "I've always slicked my hair back even if it is a hassle. My parents think that it is much more appropriate."

"I suppose, since you're used to it. You better fix the right side though. Your hair's sticking up," Harry said before heading for one of the showers. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't tell anyone that I saw your pet dragon," he said with a impish grin, leaving a gaping Draco Malfoy behind.

……………

AN: Thank you so much for reviews and so many different opinions. Thanks to hy-nguyen, lady sakura cosmos, Smittened By Marauders, DestinyEntwinements (I remember seeing you guys/gals before and i'm really glad you're still with me!), Fallen Dragon, Shania Maxwell,brzwoskinia, hermione21, animegurl088. As you may have realised i kinda decided on a dual sorting in the end. I did consider Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff but i find that i just can't write those two houses. And considering that his original parents were Slytherin and his current ones were Gryffindor it kinda makes sense to have both. I hope that i'll be able to keep track of the two though. I already find it a bit hectic trying to keep track of all my story threads that i can't imagine having him in any more houses :p. Hope you liked it!