Chapter Two: The House of Slytherin

Draco smiled broadly. "Why don't you follow us back to our compartment down there." He glowered at Ron. "Leave the weasel here by himself."

Crabbe and Goyle snickered at their leader's snarky comment while Draco led them out of the compartment. Harry cringed not when Goyle snatched most of Ron's leftover treats and stuffed them into his pockets but when Crabbe spat an enormous loogie at Ron's cheek. The amount of empathy Harry held for the ginger was of more quantity than the yellowish spittle that oozed down the ginger's cheek, onto his shirt.

Harry followed behind either bully, whispering, "See you, Ron," on his way out. As bad as he felt inside, he knew there was no going back now. Harry planned to approach Ron again at a later time to apologize and ask to pursue a friendship with him, although he was iffy as to whether or not he would be so forgiving, heck, after what Crabbe had done to him…

"Malfoy's bleeding rich, more so than you, myself and Goyle combined," Crabbe told Harry in a husky drawl.

"I presumed as much," Harry replied with a grimace. Crabbe's breath had smelt strongly of what Harry could only discern to be stale eggs, garlic, and what may or may not have been rum.

"What were ya doin' in there with the blood traitor, Potter?" Goyle asked Harry from over his shoulder as the four of them proceeded down the aisle.

'Blood traitor?' Harry mused, oblivious to what he meant by that.

"Quiet, Goyle," said Draco. "Ginger freak was probably trying to brainwash him...It's a bloody good thing we came along in time, isn't that right, Potter?"

"Erm...yes," Harry gave, though he was not being entirely truthful, for he still did respect this 'blood traitor.'

At the very end of the train, the boys stopped and slipped into a vacant compartment. Draco sat across from Crabbe and Goyle, and when Harry intended to take his seat next to Draco, Draco stretched his legs out over the majority of the seat, landing Harry his seat squeezed next to his new bulky friend, Crabbe.

"So what's it like, Potter? Being what society deems you, you know, the Chosen One?" Draco casually asked Harry once he made himself comfortable in his lazy position.

Harry's stomach flopped in uncertainty. "Um...well, i-it's er, cool...yeah, it's a nice feeling."

"I'd wager," Draco replied, looking out the window. "Basking in all that glory...What a life, to be famous and known among millions...That would be bloody cool."

Crabbe and Goyle nodded in agreement while Harry sat in abashed flattery. For the first time in his life people were paying him attention and actually willingly speaking to him. They were a cold to the core bunch, yes, but this was splendid on some level...

"Father's a Governor for Hogwart's Educational system, Potter. He has free reign over some things...you ever get into some trouble or need a certain something...Father can assist," Draco offered. "Of course, you two already understand this applies for both your arses as well?"

Crabbe and Goyle nodded, reminding Harry of two henchman who shared a brain. They were so alike.

"Who raised you, Potter? Not that savagely oaf Haggar or whatever his name is, right?" Draco asked with a hint of disgust toward the end there.

"Oh, no, I was brought up by my aunt and uncle," he replied.

"Are they like us?" Draco pressed on with notable suspicion.

"...No," Harry answered with awkward honesty. With the flustered expression Draco returned, he chose to further elucidate himself. "They are both positively awful, I'll have you all know. My Uncle Vernon is a great obese git who works for a drill company. Don't bother even asking what that is; it's like a tool company, and they cheat people out of their money. He's forty-seven, roughly three hundred and fifty pounds, more or less, is always purple in the face and he devours bacon and brandy like his life depends on it. Oh, and he along with my dreadful aunt kept me locked away in the cupboard underneath our stairs since I can remember."

He paused to study their befuddled miens and listened to Goyle's enthusiastic exclamation of "Damn!" before carrying on.

"Don't even get me started on my blasted Aunt Petunia...For starters, her physical appearance opposes Vernon's altogether. She is quite slim and bony and she's pretty tall, like 5'9" or so. She bitter and has only gifted me used extra large socks and underwear over the holidays, while my cousin, Dudley, averages nearly forty gifts on his every birthday and Christmas. Dudley is rotund himself, and I bet he'll be even larger than my uncle by the time he is his age, if he even makes it to his age. Frankly, I'm surprised Vernon hasn't contracted heart disease or chronic diabetes yet at his size...If you all would see him...phew, he would squash a mallet flat if he sat on one."

The three listeners snickered, brightening up Harry's mood and ego. It felt incredible to finally speak of his joke of a family in such a jeering fashion. After all this time, he no longer had to keep these pent-up frustrations to himself. Lord! He could freely boast!

"Those inbred bastards...pure filth, the lot of them," Draco declared, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Had I been taken under such brutal wing I'd have probably killed myself years ago...You've got some great nerve, Potter."

Harry blushed. "Yeah, I do."

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Harry could see the monstrous gamekeeper from his stance at the end of the crowd of first years. He thought briefly to smile and wave at him, but wisely went against it with these guys around him. They may have disowned him for such a gesture for such an 'oaf.' He was glad that Hagrid failed to spot him.

"FORST YERS, FOLLER ME! THIS WAY TO THE BOATS!"

"Forst yers? Foller? This dufus hasn't even mastered the English tongue, has he?" Draco scoffed, rousing giggles from Crabbe and Goyle while Harry kept silent.

Apprehension just about ate Harry whole when they arrived to the docks, the same apprehension he suffered when he got into that beaten old row boat before he and the Dursleys sailed out to sea. Draco settled into the small boat first, taking his seat in the front thwart, Goyle to follow, then Crabbe. Harry shivered and felt lightheaded at seeing the boat sink slightly and tilt back and forth as the two heavy kids adjusted themselves to their preference in the middle thwart. Harry kept his fingers crossed that his weight in the back thwart would even the total weight out so that the boat wouldn't flip over or drown. He knew he might have been overly heedful about this, but heightened caution had been long instilled in him thanks to his guardians, curse them to the pits of hell.

Steadily, he stepped down and took his place, the boat hardly moving a fraction of an inch as he did so with his measly seventy-eight pounds. Automatically, the boat took off down the water. This experience on water overruled the last by a tremendous extent, especially when they rounded the turn revealing the lit up castle. Harry gasped in awe along with Crabbe and Goyle at the magnificent sight before them. Harry had never even seen pictures of anything so gorgeous. He fawned at the fact that he'd be taking to what vast halls, classrooms and miscellaneous areas this property had to provide.

Brilliant orange light shone through the many windows and sizable boulders surrounded the structure just beautifully in Harry's eyes. Stone towers were mounted to the sky all around, thoroughly exciting the boy with hopes that he would be able to venture this school's entirety.

"This is glorious!" Harry said, happily breaking the silence. The boys in front of him nodded as usual. Harry was beginning to consider them mostly mute.

Once they were inside the school, Harry about stumbled over his own feet, his wide eyes glued every which way, whether at the peaking ceiling or the wall-aligned statues and pillars. He laughed internally, remembering that Dudders was attending boring and plain Smeltings...Oh, if he could only see this gem. The envy would probably stop his heart.

Up several broad, stone flights, a sternly faced, elderly witch awaited them, her lithe fingers thrumming the railing aside. Looking up at her to see just how serious her expression was, Harry cowered a bit and drew his gaze to his feet. He'd gotten the gist she was strict before she even spoke.

"Welcome to Hogwarts! Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats, you must be Sorted into your Houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

Draco budged Harry and Goyle's arms, smiling and nodding after that last word.

"Now while you're here, your House will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, and any rule breaking will decrease points from your assigned House. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup-"

"TREVOR!" a round-faced brunet boy suddenly broke in, rushing forward to seize his lost toad from the top step. The professor gave him an impatient look until he rose and mumbled an awkward "sorry."

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily…" she finished curtly before turning from them to disappear into the door ahead.

"Alright, chances are, all four of us are going to be Sorted into Slytherin," Draco said to his three mates. "Assuming she calls us by our surnames alphabetically, Crabbe will be first. Crabbe, once you're seated, be sure to leave room for Goyle, then myself, then Potter, got it? Anybody else tries to sit by you, you shoo them away."

Crabbe gave his common nod in fathoming.

"But, what if we're not all in Slytherin?" Harry asked.

Draco shot him a glare. "We all should be. Whomever's not shall not be a part of the quad. It shall be a shame for them."

"Yeah, Slyths rule out all the other lame Houses," Goyle threw in, getting Draco and Crabbe to nod fervently just as the old witch returned.

"We're ready for you now. Follow me," she announced, taking the lead for the high doors.

While all the other students walked down the Great Hall awestruck and mystified, Harry fixated over Draco's words. It was Harry's prime goal to not make any enemies while here at this phenomenal school of witchcraft and wizardry.

'What if I'm in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? Will Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle truly shun me out?'

He was pulled from his thoughts when he caught Hagrid waving amiably at him from his seat at the far left end of the staff's table. He gave a curt wave back while his mates weren't paying him any attention.

"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the Sorting Hat upon your head and you will be Sorted into your House." She held up a scroll, announcing the first name, and then going down the list, one student after the last.

As Draco had promised, Crabbe and Goyle had indeed landed themselves in Slytherin. The Hat hadn't spent a great deal of time on either of their heads either, and when Draco was called up, the Hat hadn't even touched his head before he was tossed into that very House. Harry perspired profusely, fretting over his upcoming result.

"Harry Potter!"

'Hell,' his mind hissed as he nervously approached the stool. Not a sound echoed through the entire hall with Harry, for everyone, staff and students alike, had anticipated his placement.

"Mm...difficult, very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either...There's talent, and a first to prove yourself...but where to put you?..." the Hat drawled.

Harry glanced over toward the Slytherin table to see an open space aside Draco, just as planned. He knew he HAD to wind up in that seat!

'Slytherin! Please, I'd like to be in Slytherin!' he thought clearly, and the Hat did hear him.

"Slytherin? Ah, yes, you could be great in that particular House...I seek much success of you and it will help you on the way to greatness! Yes...okay, SLYTHERIN!"

His designated table exploded into applause while the rest of the room was cricket silent, apparently appalled at his outcome. However, Harry sighed in relief and skipped over to his table to proudly take his seat beside Draco. Draco patted his shoulder, giving his congratulations.

…

Bile rose in Harry's gullet at seeing how much food Crabbe and Goyle could put away. Funnily, pigging out at his first great feast had been on his mind since the night Hagrid gave him the outrageous news, but he fast lost his appetite about when globs of gravy dribbled off of Crabbe's chubby second chin. Harry's nibbled drumstick stayed on his dinner plate for the remainder of supper.

Draco jabbed his side just minutes before bedtime. "Ya see, Potter? I knew we'd all make it in," he said reassuringly.

Harry grinned and nodded. "Yeah, you were right," Harry confessed.

At that moment, a roaring belch erupted all conversation in the proximity temporarily. Draco and Harry glowered over at their pal, Crabbe, who continued to stuff his face with blueberry scones. They shook their heads in disbelief.

"Fat arse…" Draco mumbled.

Harry peered over at the Gryffindor table, recalling that Ron had been sorted into that House. Ron's back was turned to him and he appeared to be speaking to an older student next to him, another redhead. He huffed to himself, hoping that Ron didn't endure too much trauma from that hot saliva assault his left cheek had succumb to.

Simultaneously, Harry had to plot just how and when he was going to re-approach him and try to maintain of friendship of sorts. He valued Ron's kindness, even if he was a 'blood traitor' or a 'brainwasher'. He also wanted to branch out and make as many friends as he could, from any House. He varied from his three current mates in this aspect. He didn't judge others for their differences or irksome traits. He didn't pity them either. He accepted them for whom they were.

…

"Salazar," said the Slytherin prefect before a extensive rock wall in the dungeon. The children took in breaths of bewilderment as the wall separated in a rather captivating manner, providing plentiful leeway for them to walk into their common room.

Their common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling, from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them.

While most of the first years around him wore pleased expressions at their domain, Harry thought the place a tad too gloomy and eerie. In fact, he found all of the dungeon to be too dark, spooky and uncanny. The cold ambiance made him feel uneasy…

"We're home, gentlemen," Draco sighed delightfully, again taking the lead down the cemented steps that led further into the room.

'He is kind of right about that,' Harry decided. 'This place, chilly and creepy as it is, is still pure heaven compared to the hell-hold back on Privet Drive...'

The Slyths moseyed about the whole of their private quarters until Draco suggested that they retire to their dormitory. Down a hallway at the end of the common room beheld their dorm. They would be sharing their bedroom with fellow first year, Blaise Zabini. Inside, there were five ancient four-posters with green and silk hangings and bedspreads embroidered with silver thread. Medieval tapestries depicting the adventures of illustrious Slytherins hung from the walls. Their sole light source came from silver lanterns strung from the ceiling.

Though Harry wasn't loving all the green and silver, he had to relish in the actuality that he'd be granted more sleeping space than ever before, and he even speculated that the mattress would be of much more comfort than his one at home.

Taking in the sight had Harry in a euphoric daze of sorts. He felt that his long-suffering had finally ceased and he was yielded his innermost wishes, the very ones he had come to believe he would never achieve. He was so mesmerized by his surroundings that he missed Draco's question.

"Cat got your tongue, Potter?" the blond asked in a rude tone.

"U-um, I beg your pardon?" Harry stammered.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Which bed do you want? Blaise's is over there so that one's off limits. You can have that one there or-"

"I CALL DIBS ON THE END ONE!" Crabbe howled, trotting over to said bed and leaping onto it—a sickening creak to follow.

"Heyyyyy, I want that one, Vince!" Goyle complained, heading over to the very bed Crabbe was wriggling on like a hyper fish.

"Cretins…" Draco scoffed, wheeling his luggage over to a bed in the middle when Harry was too slow to speak up on which bed he'd like, though he didn't exactly mind what bed he'd end up with anyhow. Chuckling at the childish quarrel between Goyle and Crabbe two beds away, Harry plopped down and relaxed, sprawling out over the expanse of his bed and eyeing the deep green canopy above and around him. This was exquisite.

As Crabbe and Goyle's argument turned physical, a tall dark-skinned boy came into the dorm, a book in his hand and a quizzical look on his face upon noticing the skirmish at the bed in the dorm's end corner.

"Quit your blasted fighting, you buffoons!" Draco ordered, losing his patience. He retrieved a galleon from his robe's pocket and tossed it toward them. "Flip that. Heads, Crabbe gets it, tails, Goyle does, alright?" When they gave their customary nod, Draco turned his attention to the boy who'd just entered. "Zabini," he greeted, taking a stand, "I'd like you to meet-"

"Harry Potter," Blaise finished for him, looking at the thin boy with glasses, his expression quite stoic and detached.

Harry rose and walked up to meet him, holding out his right hand. "Hi. Blaise, right?" he asked.

The much taller boy nodded, placing his own hand into Harry's. Harry grinned sweetly at him, again eager to make yet another new mate, however, Blaise didn't reciprocate the gesture, let alone the notion. He gave off an indifferent vibe, to Harry anyway.

The handshake itself was frigid, stiff and cut to the chase. It seemed too, he wasn't sure, professional, maybe, like it was obligatory and forced. Oddly, as was his handshake with Malfoy...This friendship had blossomed on a pact, it felt.

Yet, Harry disregarded this inkling and harshly reminded himself to be grateful for his new buddies. He had his opportunity, and he didn't miss it. Perhaps building on faith and companionship would be a process, but Harry wouldn't complain.

Down the road slithered adventurous experiences. Harry couldn't wait.

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a/n: Thanks to those who followed/faved. Thank you m. for reviewing. Longer chapters to come. Express your thoughts. Let me know what ya think :)