Harry Potter and the School for Pureblood Wizards

Summary: Before Harry Potter ever had a chance to go to school, Voldemort had taken over. Tauntingly, a cruel joke had been played as Harry received his first letter from Hogwarts. To make things worse, he catches the eye of the 'Prince' amongst pureblood wizards.

Chapter rating: K, I think there's a tiny bit of malexmale attraction if you squint, and there is reference to a malexmale couple, so rated for slightly controversial themes

Pairing: DMxHP with minor SBxRL

Warning: slash, fluff, lemon, power differentials (this story will contain gay relationships, so if you don't understand the implications, please refrain from reading).

Type: AU, romance, drama

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Raincoast Books and others.

Chapter 3, Part A: A Hat Away from Doom

"What House do you think you'll be in?" Ron asked as they followed Sirius Black across the cold stone floor.

"House?" Harry echoed. "What do you mean?"

"You don't know?" Ron's voice rose. Several annoyed eyes turned in his direction before he flushed and began whispering again. "The four Houses of Hogwarts, you know? We get sorted into four Houses, and we'll be -"

"Ah, Professor McGonagall, or should I call you Minerva now?" They heard Black's voice echo down past the ranks of tittering students. Harry stood on tip toes to see over the crowds.

A tall black witch in emerald-green robes had appeared at the head of their party. Without his glasses, the witch's features were a blurry mound of vague outlines in the dark. For a moment, Harry swore she caught his eyes and quickly ducked. The stern woman didn't look like someone to cross.

"Thank you, Sirius, I'll take them from here," the witch said shortly. Then she paused, and looked up at the man disapprovingly. "I suggest you change out of your Gamekeeper clothes before the ceremony."

"Will do." Black turned back to the first years and bowed. "This will be a first for both of us, students. May the best wizard survive."

"What's he talking about?" Ron wondered. "What first?"

Harry shook his head. In front, Professor McGonagall was ushering them into a small empty chamber off the hall. Harry's teeth tightened. The magic and reality of the situation had never felt so heavy. Unconsciously, he huddled closer to Ron and Hermione, blinking at the Professor nervously as she closed the door behind them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "Within moments, you will join the older students in the start-of-term banquet. However, you will first be sorted into your houses. This would be a critical moment in your life here because your house will become your family. You will sleep, study and unfortunately, create mischief with the rest of your house."

"We're not that bad," Ron whispered. "She's assuming all of us will be trouble makers."

Harry nodded dumbly, not able to reply. How were they to be sorted? A chill ran down his back and he quickly turned around to see someone staring at him. Harry blinked several times, trying to clear his vision. He thought it was Malfoy, but couldn't say for sure.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin," Professor McGonagall continued. "Each house has its own noble history, and has each produced outstanding witches and wizards. I hope you will work hard to contribute to whichever house you belong to. Your triumphs will earn your house points, while rule-breaking will lose them. At the end of the year, the house cup is awarded to the house with most points. May the best house win."

A hint of anger entered her voice, and Harry swallowed. "Ron, which house is Ma… are the purebloods all in?"

"What?" Ron looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I suspect Malfoy will be in Slytherin," Hermione whispered to him, as if reading his mind. "You-Know-Who was from Slytherin too, you know? I'll bet Professor McGonagall looked angry just now because Slytherin's been winning the house cup unfairly. It happens, you know?"

While they were speaking, the witch had left, leaving the first years whispering in the dark. Harry swallowed. "How exactly do they sort us into houses?"

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Hermione made a disbelieving sound and Harry's heart skipped a beat.

"A test?" he breathed. He didn't know any magic. He wasn't even sure if he could do magic. And instead of finding out slowly and relatively painlessly, he would be tested in front of everyone, where his failings would be seen by the whole school. Including Draco Malfoy. The thought made him nauseous. He'd never been so nervous. If he were to fail so miserably that they threw him out, where would he go? The brief glimpse at acceptance he had received from Ron and Hermione, the Weasleys and Black the Gamekeeper, had made him feel more alive than he ever remembered being. Now he stood on the brink of losing the best thing that ever happened to him. Harry was aware of the hollow ache inside him.

"Not a test," Hermione said confidently. "That would be unfair to the ones born of normal parents."

Harry only felt dread. "Hermione," he said slowly. "Did you find this a society that's fair to muggleborn?"

For once Hermione had nothing to say. "Still," she muttered. "I don't think that's it. Really…"

"Fascinating." Harry jumped about a foot in the air. Turning around, he found Malfoy's face unsettlingly close. He backed away, one fear replaced by another. Being sorted into the same house as Malfoy was almost as bad as not being sorted at all. Both would probably make him miserable for the next few years of his life.

"So Potter," Malfoy stepped closer to him, pointedly ignored Ron and Hermione. "Which house do you want to be in?"

"What's it to you?" Harry retorted, turning to grab Hermione's and Ron's arms, fully intending to walk away.

"Mere curiosity," Malfoy shrugged. His body guards, the two huge rock-like boys from before lumbered up behind him. Ron gulped.

"Professor McGonagall is going to be back any moment," he said. "You leave Harry and the rest of us alone."

Malfoy just laughed. "What is she going to do? After all. We were just talking, weren't we, Harry?" His gaze shifted to Hermione for a moment and he frowned. "What are you looking at, Mudblood?"

Ron let out an indignant growl, but Harry looked at his other friend. All the while, Hermione's eyes were glittering, as if some puzzle was hidden in Malfoy's face. She straightened and her face grew blank.

"We want to be sorted into Slytherin of course," she said briskly. "I've asked around and it sounds by far the best. You have first pick for classes and more privileges and everything. It's the logical choice."

Ignoring Ron's disbelieving look, she turned to Harry. "Right, Harry?"

She was up to something. Hermione's eyes were too bright, as if she knew a secret that no one else did. Harry hesitated. Slytherin was somewhere Harry definitely did not want to be.

"Yeah… Slytherin, I guess," he said. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Malfoy's grin grow wider.

"I see," the blond boy drawled. "Well, I'll leave your little party alone. Have a nice day."

As Malfoy left, Ron rounded on Hermione. "Slytherin? You're nuts. They're nothing but vicious, sneaky -"

"People like the Draco Malfoy and the Dark Lord," Hermione finished for him. "I know. I wasn't serious, but he wouldn't have left us alone if I hadn't said that. You were going to get in a fight or something. You'll be in trouble before school even starts."

"There's more, isn't there?" Harry asked before Ron could retort.

Hermione seems surprised. "Of course, didn't you notice? What houses do you two want to be in?"

Harry didn't know, but Ron thought for a moment. "All my family's been in Gryffindor," he said finally. "After You-Know-Who took over, Percy complained about being disadvantaged as a Gryffindor and wanted to in Ravenclaw or something, but he's stupid anyway."

"So Gryffindor," Hermione nodded. "Sounds good to me. I heard Dumbledore himself was one. You too, Harry?"

Something in her words bothered Harry, but before he could ask, Professor McGonagall had returned. "Move along now," she said sharply. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. For a line and follow me."

Even before entering the hall, Harry could hear the dim roar of voices through the main door. The rest of the school must already be seated. Thinking of the millions of eyes that would be looking upon his failure in the room made his legs tremble. Harry followed behind Ron and Hermione, who were looking equally nervous. His anxiety only worsened when he realized Malfoy had fallen into step behind him.

They entered the Great Hall through a pair of towering double doors and the students stopped in their tracts. Professor McGonagall didn't stop walking until the students were standing in front of the teachers, facing the vast assembly of students gazing up at them.

Harry tried to squint, but couldn't recognize any faces among the sea of blurriness. He was almost glad he had lost his glasses at the moment; he didn't want to see all the staring eyes.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a stool in front of the first years. There was something on top of it but Harry's vision was too blurry for him to make out what it was.

"A hat," Hermione whispered, seeing his squint. "There's a wizard's hat on the stool."

"If you can call that a hat," Ron said dubiously. "It's in tatters."

Maybe they were expected to pull a rabbit from it. That sounded like a wizardly thing to do. Harry had no idea how he would go about doing that, and he could hear his breathing growing panicked.

The lump on the stool twitched, and to Harry's astonishment, began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter…"

Something cold crept down Harry's back; something that was distinctly not his nervous mind playing tricks on him. Harry gasped, jerking around to glance over his shoulders. He caught a glimpse of a small orange and black head before it vanished again down his robes.

Snake… Harry had no doubt who was to blame for his present predicament. As the creature resurfaced, he realized to his horror that, the snake did not have just one head, but three. Three pairs of eyes leered at him before one slowly slithered across his shoulder and around his throat.

"Malfoy-" Harry choked, turning to the blond boy beside him, who was trying hard to hold back laughter.

"You set your pet on me," Malfoy hissed, obviously enjoying himself. "It's only fair that I do the same."

Beside him, Ron had noticed something was wrong, but when he turned to Harry, the three headed snake vanished beneath his robes again.

"What's wrong?" He asked, eyes darting from Harry's overly pale face to Malfoy's grin.

"Mind your own business, Weasley," Malfoy said.

Harry couldn't stand it anymore. Frantically, he reached a hand behind him and into his robes, heart thudding wildly. The snake hissed in annoyance and Harry's fingers paused.

"Careful," Malfoy whispered. "He bites."

"Bites?" Ron echoed, voice louder. Fortunately, the other students were too engrossed in the hat's song to notice. "What bites?"

"Harry, the left head," a wispy voice rang in Harry's ear. He frowned as he neither Ron nor Malfoy reacted. "Only you can hear me, Harry, grab the left head." The voice sounded suspiciously like Black's, and Harry swerved around to see the gamekeeper in the High Table behind him. One leg was propped on the table and Black winked at Harry before returning his gaze to the sorting hat.

The left head? Harry thought. How was he supposed to know which was the left head? Swallowing, he closed his fingers around a slender snake throat and hoped. When no biting came, he slowly drew the creature out of his robes.

He could've sworn the head he was holding talked as he dragged the snake past his ear.

"Hey, help, you two! Are you going to just let me be man-handled like this?" The left head snarled.

The other two heads stayed silent, and Harry could practically feel amusement flowing from them. Ron's eyes were wide as saucers as the snake coiled around Harry's arm and the lone left head tried to dislodge itself.

He thrust the snake back at Malfoy, almost hissing himself. "Keep your pets to yourself, Malfoy."

"…I'm a Thinking Cap!"

As if on cue, the hat finished its song and the whole hall burst into applause. The hat did a small bobbing motion before becoming still again.

"We missed the song," Ron said, disappointed. He pulled Harry to stand further away from Malfoy as they both glared at him angrily.

"How did you-" Malfoy himself looked surprised. With a huff, he stroked the three headed snake before letting it slip up his sleeve, where it gingerly wrapped itself around Malfoy's arm before the robe sleeves covered it.

Making an effort to ignore his tormentor, Harry turned to Hermione, who had been too focused on the hat's song to notice their skirmish. She now looked at them oddly.

"Sorry, what happened?" Harry asked, glad his voice was steady.

Hermione seemed about to ask the same thing before she changed her mind. "The hat, the Sorting Hat, introduced the four houses again, and it'll sort us when we put it on."

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered in relief. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry smiled weakly. That sounded a lot better than any magic test. After the brief struggle with Malfoy's snake, he didn't feel up to any more brave or clever deeds for the night.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. She cleared her voice and stared disapprovingly at Black's propped up feet before she began. "When I call you names, you will come up to the stool and put the hat on. Abbott, Hannah!"

And the Sorting began. Harry's heart grew heavier as student after student was sorted into Slytherin, and the largest table at the back grew larger still. He noticed that the Hat began segregating the Slytherin House. "Upper Slytherin!" It would shout for some students, while for others "Lower Slytherin!"

The applause from the large green-decked table at the back was always louder for 'Upper Slytherins.'

When Hermione's name was called, she patted Harry's shoulder and smiled reassuringly before running to the stool and jamming the hat on with the eagerness of a child at a candy store. There was a brief pause before the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Ron grinned as Hermione joined the smallest table on their right, face beaming with triumph. "Well that's one of us," he whispered. "Look at Malfoy, he can't believe Hermione lied to him."

Indeed Malfoy was frowning. Harry could practically hear the gears turning in the other boy's head as his expression grew thoughtful.

Then it was Malfoy's turn. The Great Hall grew silent as his name was called. Harry heard whispers from around them.

"The Dark Lord's heir…"

"Slytherin, definitely Slytherin."

"He looks like a prince, you know?"

"I dare you to insult him."

"No way."

Malfoy swaggered forward. Not even bothering to sit on the stool, he yanked the hat up and got his wish at once. Harry could've sworn the hat had not touched his head before it screamed "UPPER SLYTHERIN!"

The back table erupted in loud whooping cheers. The Slytherins stamped the ground, whistling and shouting. The thundering applause seemed to parade Malfoy towards his house mates, where the head of table opened up and a large plate was passed to the space in front of him. Malfoy settled back, looking used to the treatment.

There weren't many people left now. A couple more people were sorted into Slytherin and Ravenclaw. At last, Harry's heart stopped as Professor McGonagall called out his name. "Potter, Harry!"

Whispers suddenly broke out of the crowds like the rustling of leaves.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"I read about him! He defeated the Dark Lord the first time!"

"Quiet, you! Don't let the Slytherins hear you say that!"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the students peering at him, as if unsure of how he should be viewed. He was relieved to note that most of them were not malicious, merely curious.

It was dark inside the hat, and Harry waited nervously for it to pass judgment.

"Hm…" the small voice said in his ear. "You're a difficult one, aren't you? Plenty of courage, I see. Clever and talented, and oh my, what's this? You've a nice thirst to prove yourself. Very interesting. Where should I put you?"

Gripping the edges of the stool, Harry thought frantically. "Not Slytherin, please not Slytherin."

"Not Slytherin?" the voice echoed. "Oh but I've had a request from one of the earlier students to put a certain Harry Potter in Slytherin. Are you quite sure? I think you'd do quite well in Slytherin. No? Well then, GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted out loud, and he was shaking as he took off the hat and walked towards his table. He had been so close, just a hat away from Malfoy and utter doom.

He was so relieved that he hardly noticed the cheers he was getting. It started quiet at first, as if nobody could decide whether to cheer or not, but then the Weasley twins began drumming the table and shouting "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

And soon, his cheers were as loud as Draco Malfoy's. Malfoy was scowling, eyes glittering dangerously, but Harry saw none of it.

Closer to the Gryffindor table, Harry finally recognized familiar faces from the train. He sank into the chair next to Hermione and wordlessly handed the twins the white box with Lee Jordan's taranchula in it. Across from him, a sandy haired boy reached a hand forward and shook his.

"Seamus Finnigan, Harry," he said. "Don't worry about the Slytherins. I think it's really brave of you to come to this school."

Harry grinned sheepishly and explained that he didn't know anything before hand. Seamus' eyes grew wide.

"That's awfully cruel of them." another Gryffindor said.

Soon, Ron joined them after his own sorting and the last student, Blaise Zabini became Slytherin as well. Harry recognized him as the boy from the train that always sat at Malfoy's right.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Harry suddenly realized how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since sharing pumpkin pastries with the Weasleys and Hermione on the train.

At the High Table, a blurry figure stood. Harry saw vast amounts of glowing white beard and realized with a thrill that this must be Dumbledore, the kindly man from his card. The old man's arms opened wide and he began to speak.

"Welcome!" He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" Harry could hear a happy ring in his old voice. "Before we all dig into the food, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

And when the food began appearing on the dishes, Harry promptly forgot anything else that existed in the world except his hunger, the delicious food, and the perfection of his life at that moment.

Chapter 3, Part B: Harry the Mailman

After stuffing himself, Harry felt an easy drowsiness come over him. He leaned back in his chair, basking in the incredible warmth of the hall and the people around him. Ron and Hermione were arguing about whether classes ought to be hard or not. Fred and George, on Harry's other side, were talking in low voices and snickering.

Suddenly, Harry remembered.

"Fred," he sat up and squinted towards the High Table. "Which one is Professor Lupin?"

The twins paused for a moment, Ron and Hermione leaned in too.

"Ah," Fred said. "Sweet old Professor Lupin, our favorite teacher, you know?"

"That one right there, the short one." George pointed. Harry squinted in the direction of the finger, and saw a blurry form sitting between two taller robed figures.

"The blond one?" Harry asked.

"Actually, it's more light brown than blond," Fred said. Or at least, Harry thought it was Fred.

"Wrong, so very wrong. It's more blond than brown," George punched his twin on the shoulder.

"Are you quite sure?" Hermione asked, frowning.

"But that's a-" Ron was equally confused.

"Yup," George said. "That's Lupin."

"Oh," Ron said blankly, then after a few seconds, he brightened. "Oh!"

Harry had no idea what was going on, but he was reluctant to state his ignorance. For once Hermione didn't catch on to his confusion. She was looking quizzically at the High Table.

"Really?"

"Yes Hermione," Fred let out a long suffered sigh. "Really. I swear on my honor." He placed a hand on his chest and raised the other one palm outwards.

"Besides," George added. "Do you see anyone else more suitable?"

"I guess not, I can't see Professor Black with anyone else." Hermione scanned the High Table thoroughly before turning to Percy across the table. "Who teaches Transfigurations?"

When Fred and George had heard of Black's request to him, they had snatched the letter with the intensity of hungry wolves. Harry watched worriedly as they tore open the folds and scanned the simple lines printed.

"This won't do," Fred said after reading it, disappointed. "This proves nothing. Just when I thought they'd finally messed up!"

"We've been trying to find proof that Lupin and Black are together for years," George explained. "They are together, everyone knows it, but nobody's ever seen anything, or gotten their hands on anything concrete. They're too sneaky."

As students around them finished their meals, the food began to vanish. Professor Dumbledore stood once more and addressed the crowd.

"Now that we're all satiated and too lazy to complain, I'm going to give you the good and bad news this year. Good news first. I am happy to inform you that the School governors have finally agreed to let us resume teaching a much missed class. In addition to the Dark Arts taught by Professor Snape, we will once again be teaching Defense against the Dark Arts."

Professor Dumbledore tilted his head at the titters of his students. "Who is it taught by? Why, none other than our beloved gamekeeper, now Professor Sirius Black."

The applause was thunderous. It seemed that every table was cheering as Black climbed on the table and executed an elegant bow. The man magnified his own voice before speaking.

"Thank you," he boomed. "I would just like to say a few words." A pause. "Yes Minerva, I'm perfectly aware that I'm not supposed to make a speech. I will anyways.

"As Professor Dumbledore had said, Hogwarts now teaches both Dark Arts and Defense against the Dark Arts," Black said. "As some might've suspected, there is a bit of rivalry between Snape and I. I solemnly vow that this will be the year I finally prove my superiority."

"Snape's fuming," George commented happily. "Look at him, he's dying of anger."

"So as Ialways say," Black's sharp gaze swept over the crowds. "May the best wizard win!"

Harry's ears were buzzing with cheers when the banquet dispersed. Fred and George had reluctantly handed the letter back to him and pointed him in the direction of Lupin's office. It was on the second floor, they said, quite close to the Gryffindor dorms. They had followed Percy and the other first years until the second floor, though it seemed they had climbed a dozen flights of stairs.

Then, with all the subtlety of sneaking from the cupboard for food, Harry slipped away from the other first years. Ron and Hermione had wanted to tag along, but Percy had been reluctant to drop his conversation with Hermione on Transfigurations. Ron was caught sneaking after Harry and Percy sternly ordered him back.

"By the mountain painting," Harry blinked. He was walking very close to the wall, determined not to miss the office despite his blurry eyesight. Finally, he found himself facing a door beside a large bronze framed painting of the mountain next to Hogwarts.

Steeling his nerve, Harry knocked. "Professor Lupin?"

The door slipped open silently and a robed figure appeared behind it. Harry blinked. From afar Professor Lupin's slim build and longish hair could've been a girl's, but up close, he was definitely a man.

"Yes Harry?" The voice was mild, and Harry's mind blanked. What in the world was going on? The shock was so great that he didn't wonder how the man knew his name.

"Erm… sorry, maybe I have the wrong room. I'm looking for a Professor Lupin." Harry flushed. The man must be offended, even without his glasses, Harry should've seen that he wasn't a woman.

"Unfortunately, I am the only Professor Lupin at Hogwarts," the man smiled. He looked young, with a slender face framed by silky locks of light brown hair. There was a brightness in his eyes that Harry liked immediately. "Is something the matter?"

"Mr… I mean, Professor Black asked me to deliver this," Harry dug the letter from his robe pocket. "I'm sorry, I just thought that you were… that you were…" His face flushed. "A woman. Not that you look like one, it's just that…"

"I see," Professor Lupin said, raising an eyebrow. "I won't say that's something I hear every day, but if you've been talking to Professor Black, I can see where the confusion may have come from. He's never been particularly exact in his speech."

Wordlessly, Harry handed the letter over. The paper was crinkled from his pocket and Harry felt the twinge of embarrassment die down as Professor Lupin smiled again.

"It was a surprise that he's going to teach, he never told me anything beforehand," the man commented idly. "I hope things work out for him. He's not the teaching type."

Professor Lupin folded the letter and turned to Harry again. "I'd better meet up with him before he gets annoyed. Was there anything else, Harry?"

"Actually," Harry said hastily. "I was going to ask, are you… are you and Professor Black…"

Lupin laughed. "No, Harry, it's not that easy. With so much bets and money riding on this, it would hardly be fair. Besides, I don't approve of gambling, I'm not going to say anything."

"Oh," Harry said. "Um… can you thank Professor Black for me? He helped me twice tonight, and I didn't get a chance to thank him."

"Of course," Professor Lupin shrugged on a thick outer robe before stepping out into the hallway and sliding the door shut behind him. "But it's always good to thank someone personally."

"I will." Harry promised. "I'll see him in class, right? I'll tell him then."

The man nodded, turning to stare at the painting outside his room for a moment, then smiled. "Do you need directions to your dorm, Harry? It seems you lost your year mates."

Harry shook his head. "No thank you, I should be able to find it. It's just behind the portrait, down the hall, right?"

"Then I'll see you in class tomorrow, Harry."

Feeling warm and sleepy with satisfaction, Harry made his way down the hall after Lupin left. The portraits were quietly talking inside their frames, and the hallway was quiet and cozy. Harry smiled at how idiotically happy he was. He had been at the castle for a couple hours, and already it felt more like home than the Dursley's ever felt.

"What happened to Slytherin being the logical choice?" A cold voice asked from behind him. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

Harry swerved around and saw the blurry form of Malfoy silently approaching him. His body guards were nowhere in sight. Heart beating faster, Harry despaired at how close he was to his own dormitory. If he could just slip past the portrait and he'd be with his friends again.

"The hat put me in Gryffindor," Harry's fists clenched. "Look, I've never offended you and I don't understand why you hate me so much. Isn't it better to go back to your own dorm and be waited on? I've got my own dorm to return to."

Malfoy's gaze was icier than it had ever been before. "You'll regret being put in Gryffindor, Harry Potter. Mark my words, you will. Today was just a start. It'll get worse. You'll be begging me to stop before this year's over."

All the good feelings had vanished. Harry glared at the boy before him. Bad enough he'd been invited to the school as a cruel joke, he'd earned the hate of the next Lord of the Wizarding World for absolutely no reason at all.

"I'm going to sleep," he said as calmly as he could manage. He was aware of Malfoy's eyes on him as he approached the Fat Lady's portrait that led to the Gryffindor dorms.

"Password?" she said quietly. "Don't worry about the Slytherin, dear. Unfortunately, he's allowed to know the passwords to all the rooms in the school. It won't make a difference if he hears."

"Caput Draconis," Harry said, tasting the words. "Caput Draconis."

Draco watched as the boy vanished behind the portrait. He was more furious than he'd ever remembered being. That insolent little half-blood! He could care less if his mudblood friends went to Gryffindor, but Potter!

He just had to calm down. It didn't matter if Potter went into Gryffindor. He was still the Dark Lord's heir. He was still in charge. He'd get Potter sooner or later.

He slept that night dreaming of angry green eyes and the moment when they first bumped into each other on Platform Nine and three quarters.

"Moony, stop laughing! What in the world is so funny?"

"One question Sirius, why did Harry think I was a girl?"

"… I didn't put him up to it, if that's what you mean."

"Really."

"What? Don't you trust me?"

"…"

"Don't answer that."

Author's Note:

Three months. I didn't think that was too, too long a wait compared to the first time. I'm having some trouble finding the balance between Draco being a jerk and Draco showing interest in someone. This chapter made their relationship a lot worse than simple 'boy picking on crush,' and I'm actually not quite sure how that happened.

Most of part one was lifted straight from the books, with minor alteration and additions, which makes me feel really cheap… -.-' but it can't be helped. I hope I succeeded, just by the overlapping scenes, to make this part at least believable and as close to canon as AU can be.

I'm sorry if there was very little fluffiness and Draco/Harry interaction in this chapter. The next one should be better and Draco will return to being the non-seriously-pissed version of himself.

The three headed snake is a Runespoor. It said that it was a favorite pet of Dark Wizards, so why not? That one's obviously still juvenile, cuz they grow to be 5 to 6 feet long or something.

A cookie to anyone that guesses what Remus teaches! Muahahaha!

A lot of reviews asked about the length of the fic… and truthfully, this story didn't start with much planning behind it, so I have absolutely no idea how long it's going to last. I suppose I'll try to figure it out as I write.

I'm actually having a lot of trouble over Godfather Crisis… and though I planned to update that story before this one, it didn't work out. ; Hopefully the new chapter of that would be out soon too.

Short author's note because it's late.

ChiKoiDoji: Well… Harry's not in Slytherin. I would feel too sorry for him if he had to live with Draco. You'll see, it'll be bad enough that they live on the same continent together, as far as Harry's concerned. And yes, I plan to follow a lot of the events in the books, with Quidditch and whatnot. It's just going to be the ultra-condensed form. Oh and the most important thing, yes, this is HD, and hopefully it'll be believable and somewhat in character. -.-'

Imperfection Is A Bliss: Ah, if only we all had your optimism. Thank you for reviewing! Hopefully, it'll keep on being interesting.

Wolfstar: I shall update this march 13, and godfather crisis will come in three years. No! I'm kidding, I don't know when I'll be done the next chapter, but hopefully it'll be soon.

Gary-stu: Your name reminds me of gravy stew… yum… but don't mind me, I relate everything to food. See? "Butt-muncher" … erm… that's disturbing. Anyways, I'm not sure about in character… I tried, but since it's AU, I couldn't be sure. Thank you!

DrOwNiNg In EbOnY: Sorry, no Draco/Harry glomping for a long time. As you can see things aren't going well between them. And you might have to wait forever for Remmy/Siri. Like the twins said, they're sneaky.

Elize: Sorry for making you wait so long! Thank you so much!

Acr: Heh… dear old Voldie, for someone who won everything, he's going to be relatively unimportant in the story. Here's more for you to read.

Duchessa: Draco's not so sweet or so sensual in this chapter. I think rejection went to his head, even in Harry being sorted into Gryffindor wasn't exactly an outright rejection. Poor sensitive fool. And Sirius is Harry's godfather. Remus/Sirius will explain it all next chapter and stuff. Dumbledore is still Headmaster, but it'll be a while before it's explained what deal he struck with Voldemort.

Erm… I am guilty of loving many crying blubbering Harry fics. He's not going to be doing that in this one, but hey, after this fic, I found that I am a romanticist at heart. Yay!

FlamencoPenguin: Aw, I don't like tarantulas either, but if Ron's even more scared of them than I am, they must be included. Heh… I don't know if I'm going to do all seven years; I might stop after the relationship works out. Some things from the book are just not doable… The department of mysteries is a BIG no-no. I'm not touching that part of the books with a hundred foot pole. … It wasn't that long, was it?

Srreadsalot: Thank you! I hope this chapter's shiny enough to light up a bad day (though I doubt it, it was too… evil-dracoish)

Gertrude Abbernathy: Well, my thought was that since philosopher's stone is a key to immortality, Voldemort might want it whether he's in power or not. Anyways, I'm actually not sure how long it's going to be. After the first month or so at Hogwarts, things are going to start moving really fast, cuz I'm can't come up with seven years of interesting events like JKRowling had. (Sighs and feels extremely inferior). I hope to keep the distance from the original story about the same though, so cross your fingers!

Triola: I have come to the conclusion that we are all very sadistic. ; Harry being picked on and suffering is a major source of amusement. Hm… should I really make Draco pass that law?

Vanakuvixen: Merry belated Christmas! Thank you for reviewing! Hohohohohoho! Enjoy! (Oh, and happy belated new years too!) Three cheers for holiday spirits!

Kurri-chan: Thank you so much!

Enchantress of the Dark: Hm… I guess… but I'd never been much good at writing fiery girls. laughs, so I hope I'm up to the challenge. Is that Draco's birthday? I never got around to researching it, but anyways, it'll be amusing when Draco tries to order teachers around. Buahahaha. Which article was that? The pureblood and grandparents one? I couldn't find it, but it sounds interesting! Thanx!

Nicki L: Here's the third chapter, but… evidently it didn't come very soon. Sorry. Thank you for reviewing!

Dairygirl: ; Draco doesn't seem to realize he's not the ultimate authority at Hogwarts. It'll come as a rude shock, his 11-year old brain won't be able to comprehend it at first. I actually think the possibility of Harry being happy in this environment is very likely. I support war for the right causes, but I'd have to say life is always worst during war times, which is why Harry has it so hard in the books. Cheers!

TeeDee: The first day of school will be like a war for Harry. Draco will come in with full ammunition, so to speak. Don't worry, it's all in good fun (Draco's fun at least), and I won't let it get too out of hand. Thank you!

Mikril-dey