Harry Potter, Slytherin

By RocketTortoise

Chapter Two

Muffins Are The Root Of All Our Problems

You could almost hear a pin drop inside of the Great Hall as the Hogwarts student body waited for the Sorting Hat to decide which house the famous Harry Potter would spend his student life in.

Draco peered around the room. So much fuss over one boy; one boy who didn't even know he was a wizard, like, five minutes ago. When Potter had told him on the train that he had been raised by Muggles most of his life. Draco couldn't help but shudder. Draco would have had to shower for an entire week if he had to spend a day in a house with Muggles. It was funny watching the other students silently hoping to land a boy who didn't know the first thing about the wizarding world.

That being said, the Sorting Hat was taking its sweet time to sort Potter into a house. Playing up the crowd, much? Draco peered behind the Hat to the elderly man sitting on his ivory throne. If Harry Potter was famous, Albus Dumbledore was legendary. You couldn't even make one trip through Diagon Alley without hearing the tales of how Dumbledore vanquished some made-up monster in some made-up land or how he defeated the great Grindel-whatever in the duel of the millennium. Watching Dumbledore eye over Potter with that self-satisfied look on his face, Draco couldn't help but think how brilliant it would be if Potter got Sorted int—

"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat cried.

First there was a gasp, a sharp crack that seemed to suck in all the air in the room. Then, the cheers. The entire Slytherin table roared in celebration, older boys leaping up on top of the table to jeer at the other houses as they tried to process what had just happened. Oh, this was it: the reaction to end all reactions. The mix of shock and confusion, combined with a drop of despair, Draco just couldn't get enough. He looked at Dumbledore. Draco growled. He had to admit, the old man had a good poker face. Before, he was leaning forward in his seat, waiting in anticipation for the Hat's decision, but now he was leaned back in his chair, his hands entwined together on his lap. There was no sign of frustration on his face, no furrowed brow, no bitten lip. Nothing. Draco gritted his teeth. How boring.

Another burst of cheers erupted as Potter climbed off his stool and walked over to the Slytherin table. He had a bit of a concerned look on his face, probably bothered by the attention. Draco shuffled across in his seat. "Sit here, Potter." If Potter was going to be in his house from now on, Draco might as well make the best of it. Potter waddled over and sat himself next to Draco, other students at the table reaching across to slap him on the back. "Should have known you would be a Slytherin," Draco said. "I guess us meeting on the train was fate." A small smile formed on Potter's face as he nodded. Draco laughed. Oh, this is going to be a hoot.

The uproar of the feast in the Great Hall became a startling contrast to the silence of the dungeons. Shortly before the end of the feast, the house prefects gathered their respective first years and escorted them to the house common rooms. While the other houses disappeared up sets of moving stairs (to Harry's astonishment), the Slytherin first years were escorted down a set of steps into the Entrance Hall. The mammoth wooden doors had been left open, letting the chilly night air blow into the hall and envelope the students.

As the first years shivered, one of the Slytherin prefects, a girl with slick, red hair, grumbled to herself, "You've got to be joking… where the hell is Filch? I'm freezing my ass off here…" She was chewing a stick of bubble gum and as she blew it into a bubble, Harry noticed its sparkling colours, a mixture of red, orange and blue, blazing like the heart of a raging fire. As the chill rattled Harry's bones, he felt himself being drawn deeper into the flames. Just thinking about sitting around a warm, toasty fire made Harry feel weak in the knees, like he was about to crumble then fall straight through the stone floor and into whatever waited below.

"Snap out of it, Potter!" Harry felt a firm hand grab him by the shoulder and shake him awake. Harry snapped around and saw that it was Draco who had spoken. He felt like he had been sleeping for days. His head felt groggy like the fog from outside had swept in and seeped into his brain.

"Wait… what?" Harry asked, his voice slurred as if his tongue had been stung by a bee and was swollen.

"Don't stare into the gum," Draco warned. "It's designed to mesmerize you and put you into a trance. Just focus on me."

Harry nodded slowly. He stared into Draco's shiny blue eyes which stared back with a sharp vigour. As he forced his eyes to stop drifting and focus on one spot, he felt the fog lift and his mind clear. He glanced back at the prefect, whose bubble gum popped, revealing a smirk on her face. "Welcome to Hogwarts, kiddo. Consider that as a little rookie hazing." She laughed and turned to face a wooden door that seemed rather modest in comparison to the main entrance. The prefect pulled on the handle then pushed the door inward, revealing a spiral staircase that descended below the floor. As the door opened, a line of torches on the wall lit up. "Be careful not to get left behind!" she called. "You do not want to be lost on your own in the dungeons."

Together, they all filed down the staircase. The deeper down they went, the mystique and childish wonder of the Great Hall upstairs dissolved into a bone-numbing chill, as if the wind from outside had followed them into the dungeons. If the rest of the castle resembled medieval architecture, the dungeons resembled a field trip into the Dark Ages. The group passed by a number of solitary cells, each somehow more depressing than the last. While Harry was expecting all kinds of torture devices, each cell was empty, except for a single wooden stool that sat in the centre of the space. All of the cells were empty, except for one.

They heard him from a mile away, a dull sobbing the echoed through the silent corridors. Whatever quiet conversations were being had between the first year students were snuffed out in an instant. In one of the cells, they found a man sitting on the wooden stool, his back to the students. He was hunched over with his face in his hands, his sobs somehow not muffled in the slightest with his hands covering his mouth. For the most part, the students stayed well away from the cell but one boy, a rather chubby lad with a weirdly scrunched up face, got a little to close to the bars and in a flash the man sprung from his stool and threw himself against the bars.

"You, child! Do you have any idea what they are going to you down here? You don't, do you? You don't want to know! But I'm going to show you. Do not expect to sleep soundly tonight, you vile piece of filth! You're going to see everything that they are going to do to you. Be sure of that!"

The boy fell back to the floor, his lips trembling as the other students jumped out of his way. The prefect glanced back at them and blew another bubble, the pop seeming to drive the man back to his stool. "Don't mind Scary Terry. That's just what he does, he's our resident ghost. As long as he stays behind those bars, you have nothing to worry about."

Harry turned to Scary Terry then back to the prefect. "But… he's a ghost," Harry pointed out. "Can't he just go through the bars?"

The prefect paused for a moment to think, leaning against the wall. She ruffled Harry's hair and smirked again, "Just don't think about it. It'll help you sleep better at nights."

The prefect banged her fist against the stone wall twice as if she were knocking on a door. "Honey, I'm home!" she called. As if answering her call, the stone wall began to shiver, the bricks making up the wall grinding against one another as they were forced to move, opening up the passage before them. Through the short passage were a grand set of wooden doors, heavy circular handles dangling off the wood. The prefect stepped into the passage, the rest of the students following after her. "'Honey, I'm home' is the password to open up the way to the common room. Don't forget it unless you fancy keeping Scary Terry company."

The prefect stopped before the wooden doors, spinning to face them with a look that suggested she had just remembered something. "Oh yeah, I was supposed to say this in the Great Hall." She stuck her hand in her robe pocket and pulled out a crumpled-up piece of parchment. She unfurled it and raised it to her face, her eyes squinting to read her own messy handwriting. "Hello there, first year students. My name is Gemma Farley and I will be one of your prefects for this year. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to—blah blah blah…" she shoved the parchment back into her pocket. "A few quick tips to help you all survive here. If one of the older students tells you to do something, just do it. Some of the guys in here, you don't want to get on their bad sides. If anyone from another house tries to punk you, though, feel free to tell them where to shove it." She paused, chuckling to herself. "Stay away from food lying around, chances are it's been laced with something. Don't annoy the giant squid, you'll kill us all. And if you see someone sleeping on the couch, don't wake them up. That's just not cool. Any questions? No? Let's go in then."

Gemma turned back to the door, grabbing the metal handles before pushing the doors open. The students poured inside, gazing around in awe. The Slytherin common room was massive, seeming to stretch out forever, lit by lines of small greenish lamps and the roaring fireplace in the corner of the room, blazing with a brilliant green flame. The wall on the students left featured large windows that were covered up by green curtains emblazoned with the Slytherin logo. In the centre of the room was a grand spiral staircase that spun in both directions, reaching up into toward several more floors and descending down further into the floor.

Gemma skipped down a couple of steps into the common room and lay back on one of the couches that were dotted around the room. She stretched her legs out onto the table in front of her and sighed in relief, "So this is the common room where you can spend some quality time with your fellow Slytherins. Upstairs is the Slytherin personal library, if you ever get the urge to, you know, study." Gemma chuckled as she blew another bubble, this time, the bubble coloured in the Slytherin green. "The student dormitories are downstairs. Girls are on the first floor and boys are on the second floor. If any of you are tired, you can head down now and get some shut-eye, your stuff should already be unpacked for you. However…" Chuckling again, Gemma pulled her feet off the table and sat up, leaning forward towards the first years. "The other seniors and I have planned a welcoming party for you guys, it's a bit of a tradition. And any student that I find sleeping soundly in their beds during the party will get to join me on my morning exercises."

"What morning exercises?" one girl to Harry's left asked.

"Oh, just a little jog and a dip in the Black Lake," Gemma replied. "Anybody know why we call it the Black Lake?"

The first years shook their heads in unison.

"Because it is freezing all year round, no matter the season." The prefect kicked her feet up back onto the table, laughing. "Oh, and because all the school's plumbing feeds into the lake. I guess we should call it the Brown Lake then?"

The rest of Slytherin house arrived in the common room not much later. Very quickly, the cold, empty space became bustling with activity. Unruly would be the best way to describe the commotion. Harry was quickly swept up by the mob, eager to have a close look at their new famous housemate. Names and faces were flying at Harry from every direction and he had no hope to remember them all. From what he could see between the chaos, the other first years were getting similar treatment, although not with the same fervour as Harry was receiving.

He spotted Draco, who had somehow managed to escape the mob and was sitting alone in the corner of the common room. After a concerted effort of pushing and shoving, Harry was finally able to squeeze himself out of the mob and crept over to join Draco. Just like on the train, he had his pocket watch out, the metal lid open in his hands. As he walked closer, Harry could make out the engraving carved into the metal face. It appeared to be Draco's family crest, a large capital 'M' in the middle of a shield, with two winged serpents crawling up the sides. Draco was so absorbed in the pocket watch that he didn't even notice Harry approach. Harry got a glimpse of the inside of the pocket watch before Draco noticed him. He saw what appeared to be a family photo, a younger Draco sitting in between his two parents, who both sat upright and unsmiling. In that moment, Harry thought he saw the picture moving, the younger Draco turning his head from one parent to the other, a large grin on his face. That was all he saw before Draco snapped the watch shut and turned to face him, a momentary look of panic on his face.

"Geez Potter, you really shouldn't creep up on people like that," Draco gasped, shoving the watch into his robe pocket. "I'm surprised the other students let you out of there without signing autographs."

Harry let out a nervous laugh, "I'm not that famous, am I?"

"Oh, don't sell yourself short," Draco replied. "You're the one who took down the big bad monster, as a baby no less. You're the hero of the wizarding world. Everybody loves you."

Harry turned back to the crowd of students. While most were absorbed into whatever they were doing, Harry could spot a group of eyes that were locked directly with Harry's own. On the edge of the crowd, a group of students were huddled together, staring straight at Harry and Draco. The looks on their faces seemed to be less than untampered adoration.

"Well I suppose that your reputation might have gotten smudged a bit since you got sorted into this house." Draco stated.

Harry turned back to Draco. "How come?" he asked.

"Let's just say Slytherin isn't loved by the rest of this school. To them, you've just gone and joined with the bad guys."

"The bad guys?"

Draco nodded, "Oh yeah, to them, we're the worst of the worst and you're one of us now. But don't worry about that, there's nothing you can do about it." Draco rose and looked down at Harry, "Let's go, I'll introduce you to some of the others."

Harry got up and followed Draco as they delved into the mob of students. After a few moments peering through the crowd, Draco spotted something and strolled off towards it, a grin on his face. Harry followed his gaze and realized that Draco was heading towards a group of girls their age. There were three of them, huddled together amongst the crowd. One of the girls was huge, almost as tall as some of the senior boys. Her face was grimy with sweat and dirt and her fists looked like they could crush Harry's head with one squeeze. While the other two girls were talking, she stood there silently, her eyes surveying the room like a bodyguard.

As Draco waltzed up to the trio, the big girl muttered something to the others and they turned to face him. His grin widened. "What's up, Parkinson? For a moment, I forgot how ugly you were but then you just had to turn around and remind me."

One of the girls, a short, brown haired girl with fierce-looking eyes, smirked and crossed her arms. "Oh, you're here too, Draco? I didn't realise that Hogwarts accepted weasels as students now."

Draco laughed and the two fist-bumped. "Ladies, how is everyone doing? I'd like to introduce to you the famous Harry Potter." He dipped into a mocking bow as he stepped aside for Harry, who felt his ears burn from embarrassment.

The two shorter girls looked at Harry, their eyes running up and down his body as they sized him up. As the girl that Draco called Parkinson, stepped closer to him, he felt her eyes drill into his, as if she were peering straight into his soul. Eventually she smiled, or smirked, and curtsied.

"Pansy Parkinson, pleasure to make your acquaintance," she greeted.

Harry let out another quiet laugh and Draco intervened, "Quit pretending that you're a lady, Parkinson. You probably don't even know what half those words mean."

Pansy snarled at Draco and spat, "Oh shut it, Draco. Weasels can't talk, remember?" she turned back to Harry, a smile magically appearing on her face again and she gestured to the other girl, "This here is Daphne and she," she pointed to the big girl who was still peering around the room, "is Millicent. It seems like the weasel is already trying to latch onto you but if you ever need anything, the girls and I would be happy to oblige."

Before Harry could reply, Draco grabbed Harry by the arm and started pulling him away. "Let's get out of here, Harry. I'll introduce you to Crabbe and Goyle. They'll be around here somewhere."

Draco found the two climbing up the spiral staircase from the student dormitories. They were both quite large for their age, one with very short hair that was shaved almost down to the scalp and the other with slightly longer brown hair that curled slightly. Both were munching on a pair of muffins with looks of pure joy on their faces. Green icing smudged their faces and crumbs were flying everywhere as they practically inhaled the muffins before moving onto the next, reaching into a container that rested in the curly-haired boy's arms.

Draco paused for a moment, causing Harry to almost bump into him. "Crabbe! Goyle!" he called. The two froze as Draco marched up to them, looking like two robbers caught in the act. "Where'd you get those muffins, huh?"

The two looked at each other and the curly-haired boy tried to hide the container behind his back, "What muffins?" he asked, crumbs practically spilling from his lips.

"Good try, Goyle. You almost fooled me there." Draco reached around the boy and ripped the container from his hands. "Where did you find this?"

The two boys mumbled something indecipherable and Draco leaned in. "What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Your trunk…" the other boy, presumably Crabbe, replied.

"Oh really?" Draco said in fake surprise. "And who do you think made them for me?"

"Your mum…" Goyle replied.

"That's right. And do you think she made them for you?"

The two shook their heads in unison. Draco sighed in annoyance. "You two just can't keep your hands to yourselves, can you? One of these days, you'll both—"

"You're being pretty harsh over some muffins." Draco spun around and Gemma snatched the container from Draco's hands. Before he could complain, she pulled out a muffin and took a bite out of it. Her face lit up immediately, "Oh wow. This is freaking amazing. There is no way your mom made this."

Draco snarled, "What did you say?"

Gemma looked down at Draco with apparent confusion, "Huh? I mean, come on, Malfoy. You must realise that your mom probably got some house elf to make this for her. I've tried her cooking before and I must say, it isn't an experience I would like to repeat."

Draco was fuming, his fists shaking as if he were about the jump the prefect right in the middle of the common room. Before he could do anything though, Gemma turned to the rest of the students and exclaimed, "Let's get this party started! Where the hell is Finley with the Butterbeer?"

As if in response, the entrance doors opened and a group of boys marched in triumphantly, several wooden barrels rolling inside after them. The students inside the common room cheered as the lead boy pulled out his wand and with a flick, pulled a group of tables together before levitating the barrels on top. The students cheered again as they rushed to the kegs.

"About time you showed up, Finley!" Gemma cried, stomping towards the lead boy. "My throat was getting dry from waiting so long. What kind of prefect are you?"

Finley looked at her with a look of disdain and nodded towards the kegs, "Hurry up and drink, you drunken old hag."

Gemma wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek playfully, "Ah, love you too, hun."

If the commotion before was comparable to a herd of rhinos stomping through a village, the party after the arrival of the butterbeer was comparable to a nuclear weapon bombardment. Harry had a fairly firm recollection of the beginning of the party. Draco, still furious from his arguments, had decided to go to bed early. Harry tried to warn him about the punishment for leaving but Draco wasn't in the mood to listen. Harry was going to follow him soon after but Gemma intercepted him before he could escape and dragged him back to the party.

"Where are you going? The party's just getting started!" she asked, her speech a little slurred already.

"I don't really like this kind of thing," Harry explained but Gemma just laughed.

"Okay okay, I'll let you go to bed but not before you try one Butterbeer. It's a house tradition, a rite of passage for first years."

Harry's eyes widened, "Wait, what?"

A number of the older students handed him a mug of Butterbeer, the liquid a sparkling shade of gold with the foam froth barely staying inside the cup and the crowd started chanting, "Drink! Drink! Drink!" Harry could feel all the eyes in the room on him, waiting for the famous Harry Potter to take his first sip. Slowly, he lifted the glass to his lips and tipped the Butterbeer into his mouth. In an instant his body started to heat up and his mouth felt like it was on fire. He spat the Butterbeer out, coughing uncontrollably as a high-pitched scream rang from right in front of him. He opened his eyes and realised immediately his mistake. Just before him was Pansy Parkinson, her face and hair soaked from the mouthful of Butterbeer Harry had just spat out. Her eyes were wide and her body was stiff in shock. There was a moment of silence as everyone realised what had just happened, then, all at once, there was a loud united cheer from everyone except Harry, Pansy and her friends.

As Harry stared at Pansy, her eyes slowly crawled up from her feet to Harry. In that moment, a chill ran down Harry's back, something inside him sensing danger like a feral cat in the night. The chants started ringing again, "Drink, drink, drink." Slowly creeping back, allowing himself to get absorbed by the crowd, Harry gulped down the glass of Butterbeer, the crowd's cheers becoming muffled as his vision blacked out.

The next thing Harry remembered was a loud banging. His eyes shot open and immediately his head burst into pain, like a dozen needles were being plunged into his brain. His hands clawed at his skull as he writhed on the ground waiting for the banging to stop.

"Yo, first years!" Gemma cried. "Up and at 'em. It's time for morning exercises!"

Harry slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Gemma. For some reason he had fallen asleep on the floor and had somehow changed out of his robes into his pyjamas, using his school robes as a blanket instead. By the entrance to the room was Gemma, incessantly banging two metal frying pans together, each bang causing Harry to wince in pain. To his left and right he saw the other first year boys slowly crawling out of their beds, Harry now realising that he had found his way to the boys' dormitory.

To Harry's right, Draco had dragged himself out of his bed covers, grumpily yelling, "Hey! What the hell are you doing?"

Gemma paused for a moment and smiled at Draco, "Why, good morning sleepyhead. Get some nice shuteye last night? I told you, those who skip out on the festivities get to join me in the morning. Now all of you get up and get dressed for a swim."

To Harry's left, Goyle could barely get himself out of bed, while Crabbe hadn't even woken up yet. Another boy, occupying the bed closest to Gemma was sitting up straight on his mattress, glaring at Gemma with his cold, sunken eyes. "Why do we have to get up, as well?" Goyle asked, his voice still groggy from sleep.

"What are you complaining about?" Gemma asked, her voice in mock-astonishment. "Exercise is good for you. You should be thanking me, really." She walked up to Crabbe's bed where he was sleeping soundly. She lowered the two frying pans right next to his ears and started banging, even louder than before. Crabbe awoke in a cry and jerked upwards, banging his head into one of Gemma's frying pans. "Rise and shine!" she called, a smirk hanging off her face. "You're going to love this, big guy."

With Gemma hovering over their shoulders, the five boys reluctantly changed into clothes better suited for physical exercise and were quickly herded out of the dungeons and out of the castle. The morning air that greeted them as they stepped outside was cold as ice. The morning sun had barely risen, and the previous night's fog had yet to dissipate, giving Harry's surroundings a monotonous edge that put him on edge just as much as the cold. With the thick fog making visibility difficult, Gemma kept the group close together to stop them from getting separated. She led the way from the front, pulling them to a jogging pace with loud blows into a whistle.

Harry and Draco trudged behind her. Neither were particularly fit so their breathing quickly became restless as they struggled to keep up with the prefect's pace. The fifth member of the boys' dormitory followed close behind them, apparently not struggling with the jog but not trying especially hard to run quickly. Crabbe and Goyle, on the other hand, had completely fallen off the pace, only managing to keep going because of the looming threat of the older student behind them, the second prefect who Gemma had referred to as Finley. Whenever Crabbe and Goyle would slow down from fatigue and get too close to him, he would mutter some unrepeatable threat and the two would quickly pick up the pace, as if they had caught a second wind.

Finally, the Black Lake drew into sight, the dark water unnervingly calm despite the brisk morning wind. With the thick fog hovering over the water, there was no way for Harry to see the other side of the lake. All he could see were the dim shadows of what he assumed was the other side of the lake as the morning sun earnestly tried to pierce the fog wall.

Gemma took the group onto a large wooden wharf that stretched out from the shore across the water. When they had reached the end of the wharf, Gemma finally stopped and allowed the first years to catch their breaths.

"Alright kids! We have finally reached the fun part of our morning exercises: the swim!" she laughed to herself, not seeming to care that none of the first years laughed with her. "For this little exercise, I'm going to have the five of you swim t—wait," she paused abruptly, looking over the first years, quickly counting to herself. "Wasn't there five of you? Where'd the lanky kid go?"

The first years spun around, staring at each other in astonishment. Indeed, the fifth boy had disappeared into thin air. "The brat must have slipped away in the fog." Finley stated.

"Right under your nose?" Gemma asked, sounding more like a critique than a question. "That's pretty impressive, I suppose. Oh well, I still have to four of you to keep me entertained." She turned back to the four remaining first years. "As I was about to say… for your morning exercises, I'm going to have the five—well, four of you swim to the other shore. It's somewhere in that direction." She nodded her head vaguely across the water where the wall of fog awaited them.

"You can't be serious," Draco complained. "This lake is huge and we'll probably all get lost in the fog."

Gemma turned to Draco, her usual smirk replaced with a look of cold indifference. "Oh, I'm very serious, Malfoy." The way she said 'Malfoy' was drenched with disdain, as if the very utterance of the name disgusted the prefect. "If you're feeling heroic, you can take their burdens on yourself. Join me on morning exercises for the entire month and they can head back to the dungeons right now. It's up to you."

Draco hesitated. Gemma's glare softened, her smirk returning once again. "Didn't think so." She reached behind her and pulled out a small bag, a little rucksack that was opened and closed with a drawstring. "I know we've gotten off on the wrong foot, Draco, but I brought along a little gift for you, to patch things up between us." She reached into the bag, dipping her arm in all the way to the shoulder. Harry's eyes widened as Gemma reached around inside the impossible large bag. "Where is it? Ah, here it is."

She pulled her arm out of the bag and in her hand was a silver pocket watch, with the Malfoy crest engraved on the lid. Draco's eyes widened, "Wha— how do you have that?"

He lunged for the watch but Gemma tossed the watch over the side of the wharf. Pulling out her wand in a flash, she pointed it at the falling watch and muttered, "Wingardium Leviosa." The watch froze, hovering in mid-air at the end of Gemma's wand. "I noticed you spending so long last night staring into that watch that I figured it must have been important to you. Who would have thought that the son of the Malfoy family would get homesick on the first day?" She started laughing hysterically, the watch shaking perilously as her laughs shook her wand.

Draco tackled Gemma and the watch fell, hitting the water with a splash that seemed to echo in all of their ears. Draco snapped his head around to watch the watch sink, panic on his face as Finley pulled him off Gemma. "No!" he cried.

As Harry stared at the watch sinking into the black water and heard Draco's cry ringing in his ears, he felt something snap inside of him. Without thinking, he ran to the edge of the wharf and leapt, diving into the ice-cold water. He felt his glasses being swept off his face as he plunged into the lake's depths but in that moment, he barely noticed. All he was focused on was trying to find the watch in the dim light. Fortunately, the light from above reached just deep enough to allow Harry to see the vague outline of the watch, about ten metres below him. He dove down, kicking and clawing into the water to swim deeper into the water, reaching out desperately for the watch before it slipped out of his grasp forever. He felt the cold metal within his fingers and grabbed it, bringing the watch to his chest as if he were cradling a child. In that moment, even in the freezing cold waters, he felt a warmth in his chest, the warmth he felt when he saw the red-headed family at King's Cross Station, the warmth he felt when Hagrid rescued him from the Dursleys, the warmth he felt when he thought of his parents.

Harry felt the water churn above as he was surrounded by bubbles. He looked up and saw Draco diving down towards him, his blond hair sprayed out in every direction. Harry reached out with his hand and Draco grabbed it, pulling him up towards the surface. Harry kicked out… and hit something. It was soft and was sent down into the depths under Harry's foot but the screech he heard as he kicked it sent chills down his spine. He looked down and in the dark, he saw dozens of beady black eyes staring back at him. There was a large swarm of green tentacled creatures below him, their jagged teeth shining in the light as they all screeched in unison. In a moment they swam up and grabbed hold of Harry, clinging onto his legs, arms and body and began dragging him down into the black below. After grabbing him, they swarmed up and attacked Draco as well, his flailing kicks unable to stop them clinging to him as well. Harry's mouth opened inadvertently and the last reserves of air in his mouth escaped in the form of a flurry of bubbles that raced to the surface, leaving him with nothing but water flooding his mouth.

As his vision started to turn black, his mind took him back to the cupboard under the stairs, where there was nothing except for Harry and his thoughts. The same terrors that haunted him as he sat in the dark cupboard visited him once more in the lake. He could see it, a dark silhouette approaching him from above. It pointed at him and waves of heat flashed past, barely missing him. The silhouette reached him and grabbed a hold of his body. Up close, Harry could see the colour of its eyes, a fierce green that stared deep into his own. But Harry knew it couldn't be human, there as a weird cloth-like substance covering where its mouth should be and the figure's fingers and toes were webbed like that of a frog's. Harry clenched his eyes shut. Harry knew how to escape the terrors, he had learnt it long ago underneath the stairs. All he had to do was sleep, and in the morning there would be light. With that thought, Harry allowed himself to slip away and just like that, the terror disappeared.

Harry's eyes shot open and there was light. Harry took a sharp breath, sucking as much oxygen into his lungs as he could. He was no longer in the lake, that much was clear. He could feel the soft mattress underneath him and a warm, thick blanket was draped over him. He dragged himself up into a sitting position and looked around. It looked like he was in a hospital. The room was filled with white beds, most of which were empty, with light entering the room through large, tall windows that were dotted around the walls. The only other person inside the room was Draco, who was sitting in the bed directly to Harry's right. He had his pocket watch sitting open on his lap, the watch's ticking the only sound in the empty room.

Draco finally noticed that Harry was awake and flashed a smirk, "Well, well, well, so he's finally awake. Living with Muggles for so long really made you stupid, didn't it?" Draco closed the watch, the sound of the lid snapping shut echoing around the room. "Honestly, almost drowning yourself to save someone else's watch, I am seriously worried how long you're going you're going to survive at this school."

Draco flicked open the watch again, the sound of ticking resuming once more. "Look, it still works somehow. Barely made it through, just like you," Draco glanced at Harry. "Don't think of it as a compliment."

As Draco turned back to his watch, Harry asked. "How did we escape?"

Draco's nose wrinkled as if we he had just smelt something awful and he shrugged, "Who knows?" He leaned back against his bed's headboard and stared up towards the ceiling. "What a rubbish way to start school. Not even twenty-four hours and we're in the infirmary. You're a terrible influence on me, Potter."

Harry stiffened, "I'm a bad influence on you?"

Draco laughed, "Of course you are, I'm normally a model student." Harry laughed as well but Draco stopped abruptly, "Hey, what's funny about that?" The two started laughing again and Harry lay back down in bed. "I suppose it isn't all bad," Draco mused. "We get to skip our first classes and that crazy prefect is probably getting chewed out by Snape right now. Oh man, I wish I could be there to see that."

"Who's Snape?" Harry asked.

"Our head of house. Tall, grumpy-looking guy. Looks like he can stare straight into your soul. You didn't see him in the hall last night?"

Harry shrugged and Draco shook his head, "Anyway, she deserves whatever punishment Snape gives her. She almost killed us both, you know."

Harry looked at Draco, "Thanks for trying to save me."

Draco looked back at him, "No problem. You jumped in after my watch and I don't like owing people anything. Besides, that's what friends are for, right?"

Harry's eyes widened, "We're friends?"

Draco smirked, "Sure. It would be my honour to be friends with the famous Harry Potter."

Harry smiled and stared into the ceiling. His first friend.

A/N: Phew that was a long chapter. By far the longest chapter I've ever posted on this website. Shameless self-congratulating aside, I'd like to thank all of you guys and girls who followed the story, especially the two of you who reviewed. It really got me hyped up to keep write this flaming monstrosity. Next up, we have Harry's first class as a Slytherin and our first "reunion" of the trio, so look forward to that.

P.S. Harry and Draco are so wholesome right now (which I find hilarious)