Soon, I learned what a confusing place the Hogwarts castle could be. The staircases moved, walls pretended to be portraits, and such other things made maneuvering around the place difficult. Part of me was expecting I would get lost and trapped somewhere pretty soon. But other than the off occasion that caused me to take the wrong turn, I was enjoying the school. Everyone in Slytherin was being friendly enough, or at least pretending to be. But with all the focus being on Potter, I had hardly heard my name. Part of me felt bad for him; I knew what it was like to be the unwanted center of attention.

"Hurry up! If you stay there too long, the staircase will move again" Draco called, as we made our way down to the Potions room. Loudspoken, borderline obnoxious as usual, Draco liked to pretend to be domineering. A bully though he may act, he always looked as cuddly as a puffskein to me.

"I'm going" I groaned back to him, but rushed a bit to meet his side.

I had heard from some of the older students, some of which included Fred and George, that Professor Snape was one of the more strict professors. But it had also been mentioned that he favored his house, which in this instance could turn beneficial in my favor. Although, so far I had done fairly well in my classes. Failure wasn't in my father's vocabulary, and he expected nothing less than exemplary behavior, or at least the appearance of it. Even so, Draco had already accused me of cheating, although I'm not sure how he thought I was doing that.

As expected, Professor Snape seemed quiet yet his very presence seemed to demand attention. The class stayed quiet, waiting for him to begin the lesson. Looking around the room, I saw some Gryffindor students mixed into our group. Not that they were interacting with each other, in fact, I doubted many would be in the same had they not been made to by our curriculum. Among them was the big-haired girl I had met on the train, Hermione Granger. I didn't have any family pride associated with Slytherin, or any of the other houses, so I didn't see an issue with interacting with the other students. She was pleasant enough, and it could be useful to have connections outside of my own house. Having looked a little longer than I thought I would have, Hermione caught me glancing in her direction. I gave her a smile and waved politely. That caught her a bit off guard, and though a bit surprised she waved back.

"Well, well, look who it is" Draco mumbled to the boys sitting across from us.

I glanced in the direction he was muttering to see Harry Potter walking through the door, alongside him Ronald Weasley. They seemed to be getting along. The two shuffled their way into the classroom, moving to the seat next to Hermione. Making it just barely on time, they sat down just as Professor Snape began his class. Beginning the class with a simple roll call, he paused as he got to Potter's name. From the sound of it, the professor didn't sound like he was very fond of him. He gave him some mocking praise, to the enjoyment of a few Slytherins in particular, giving them quite a laugh. I gave Draco a swift kick under the table and turned with a look. He returned my look but stopped his chuckling.

Professor Snape went on to explain that, while we weren't using the kind of magic that required a wand, Potions was still a very useful skill to have. I wholeheartedly agreed with that. Since I was little, I had always been especially interested in potions. It was an admirable skill, being able to do powerful magic without the need of a wand. Being an underrated form of magic, it required the knowledge of not just incantations and gestures, but the general knowledge of ingredients, their interactions, and the reactions they have together. The whole thing was a balancing act. And after a few more words of explanation, he started us off on our first brew.

We began working on simple potions in pairs and, as we did, Professor Snape began to walk around the room, analyzing everyone's work. This was clearly an opportunity to scrutinize his new students, but as he passed by our table, he was rather nice to Draco and I. Some of the other's weren't as lucky, or in good graces. The Round-Faced boy, whose name I had found out to be something Longbottom, had somehow managed to brew a potion that burned through fabric, burning holes on some students' shoes. It wasn't the best first impression with our professor, as many students were forced to stand on their stools to avoid being damaged by his concoction. As the class ended, and most Gryffindors ended up scolded and with a loss of points, the Slytherin house was a little more than pleased with Professor Snape.

"Did you see the look on Potter's face? Snape knocked him down a few notches, didn't he" Draco chuckled to the others as we walked out of the dungeon. Some of the others laughed alongside him, apparently having the same sense of humor he did. But I didn't particularly care for these jokes of his so instead I gave him a sigh, a poke on his cheek, and walked a ways away.

I head Draco call after me, but I lost his voice after I started climbing up the stairs. The boy was a little rough around the edges, but since we had gotten to school, he had been pushing into this behavior more than he normally did. Normally I tried to be understanding of his difficult nature, but patience wasn't one of my virtues, so I usually just walked away. It gave him something to think about, at the very least.

Being given the afternoon off, I decided to take the time to explore a little more of the castle. It was one thing to have the little details of the school explained to you, and it was a whole other thing to be able to experience it. Mainly focusing on the west wing, from the Great Hall to the study room, I ended up walking through the courtyard. Being so early in September, it wasn't very cold out yet, and it wasn't the worst thing having a bit of sun on my face. Throwing my things down on the grass, I leaned myself back against my hands and closed my eyes. I stayed there a few minutes until I heard two familiar voices calling my attention.

"Hey, well if it isn't our mystery girl!" I opened my eyes to see Fred and George walking in my direction. "You really like being off by yourself, don't you. How've you been, love?"

"Good" I smiled back as my only greeting. I still couldn't tell which it was that I was speaking to, so I didn't attempt to name one. I watched as they sat down beside me. In the sun, their hair looked brighter and redder than usual. "I just felt like getting some fresh air is all."

"All those cold-blooded snakes treating you alright?" whichever the other was asked. I frowned a little, being bothered that I couldn't tell them apart. I had just met them, and they were identical, but it was still annoying me. They interpreted that to mean something else, and because of it, tried to backtrack a moment. "No offense or anything."

"That is your emblem animal" the other added, as a defense.

"None taken, and I never did favor snakes or anything" I gave the two a small smile back. "It's been good so far. They've all been nice enough to me."

"I don't see why they wouldn't be, Miss Volkov" he mentioned with a particular look. I nodded and looked down for a moment.

"About that—" I began, but they interrupted.

"You know, you look nothing like your father" one mentioned, while the other one smiled by his side.

"You've met?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"Once" he nodded slowly, with that look of subtle fear my father usually caused. Yes, they had certainly met. "You are not nearly as terrifying as he is."

"I find that personally offensive" I mentioned, and they gave me a laugh.

"You shouldn't."

"You're very cute, Kitty" one gave me a grin, as I unintentionally gave them a small frown back.

"Kitty?" I asked. The two smirked back.

"Yeah, you said it was Katerina, right?" he asked to clarify. I gave them a small nod. "That seemed like a really long name, for such a tiny girl—"

"So we decided on Kitty for short."

"Is that alright with you?" the other asked, giving me a concerned look.

"Yeah, it's alright" I answered, letting out a small chuckle and gave them a nod. It wasn't a common occurrence but I did have someone call me before. When we were children he acted a lot cuter than he does now, but Draco hadn't called me that in a very long time. "I just remembered an old friend who used to call me the same thing."

"You know, you don't act like the other snakes in your house" one mentioned, smiling down at me. I gave them a smile back.

I doubted they had talked to many Slytherins enough to actually say that for a fact. Still, I thought they would treat me the same way they did the rest, but that didn't seem to be the case. And they knew my father, which I was sure would be enough reason for them to stop talking to me. If that wasn't the case, it must have been a small meeting. And they weren't being too friendly, as some tried to do to get on my good side. My smile got a little bigger; I was beginning to like them more and more.

A couple of the other students threw funny looks at us as they passed by. From the few days I had been at the castle, I knew it wasn't the most common sight to see Gryffindor and Slytherin students spending their free time together, especially by choice. With a particular smile on his face, one of the two smiled at the other.

"You okay there, Georgie?" Fred, I assumed, whispered, leaning over to his brother. George swatted at his brother, and the other gave him a shove back. The two went back and forth for a moment before something caught George's attention.

"They friends of yours?" he asked me, looking over before frowning a bit. I followed his glance to see what was making him have that look. Draco was standing around, staring at us. Next to him, the two other boys he'd seemed to make friends with were standing by. I recognized them, but always forgot their names. I gave the boys a wave, refocusing Draco's attention from the twins to me. He gave me a glare, like he had with them, before huffing and walking away.

"One of them is, yes" I answered with a smile as they shuffled away; he really didn't like to share. Still, I didn't appreciate the little look he gave me. Dusting my skirt off, I stood up. "I should actually get going. But it was nice seeing you two."

Not looking too thrilled to see me go, the Fred and George said their goodbyes and mentioned I should meet them after breakfast next, so we could talk some more. I agreed, seeing as I had nothing else planned, before grabbing my things, and headed for the castle. I moved to the Slytherin Dungeon, which I assumed is where Draco had gone to mope to. I'm sure he was upset that I was spending time with other people, not to mention they were Gryffindors, and Weasleys. That kind of thing bothered him a lot more than it bothered me. But I didn't like the little look he gave me.

After walking around a moment around the common room, I decided to check his dormitory. He always did like to mope in his room. Before I reached the stairs I noticed Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass, two of my roommates, sitting on one of the seats nearby. It couldn't hurt to ask. I walked over to them, pausing a moment to exchange hello's.

"Have either of you seen Draco Malfoy?"

"I think I saw him go up to his room" Daphne answered me, as Pansy made a face next to her. Part of me wondered if she had something against him. That didn't surprise me, he did have a habit of rubbing people the wrong way. But I ignored it.

"Alright, thank" I gave Daphne a smile before turning to the boys' dormitories. Draco had shown me where his room was, just in case I needed to reach him. Now it was coming in handy. But before I could step too far, Pansy stood quickly from her seat, blocking my way. "Yes?"

"Why do you need Draco?" she asked, seeming almost bothered by the fact.

"It's kind of private" I said with a small frown.

There wasn't anything specific I was trying to hide, but I didn't see a reason to tell her all my doings either. She paused, looking like she wanted to argue, but decided against it. My guess was that she couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to stop me. Maybe Pansy disliked him, or maybe she disliked me. Either way, I ignored her a moment and moved up the staircase, and as I did, Pansy reluctantly walked back towards Daphne.

The closer I got to Draco's dormitory, the more looks I seemed to get. I didn't think it would draw that much attention for a girl to be near the boys' dormitories. It wasn't unheard of; a couple of the older students had mentioned it was possible, and just boys couldn't climb up the girls' stairs. Still, as I passed, I caught a few uncertain looks and some I couldn't quite place. But I ignored their faces, making my way up to the first year's dormitory. I reached the door, stopping a moment to listen at the door. From what I remembered, Draco was sharing his room with four other boys now. Surprisingly there wasn't the usual noise I would expect from a room filled with boys. Nobody seemed to be around, still, I knocked just in case.

"I thought I told you guys to get out!" I heard Draco's grumpy voice scream. At least now I knew he was definitely in there. Grumbling to himself, I heard him shuffle to the door before yanking it open. He looked like he wanted to yell some more, but paused noting it was me in front of the door. His expression softened for a moment before his anger took over again.

"Hi" I smiled, waving at his annoyed looking face. Taking a look inside, I saw he was the only one in the room. "Wanted some alone time, did you?"

"Shouldn't you be talking to your new boyfriends?" Draco hissed in response. I'm sure he thought that made him sound threatening, but he was too cute to take seriously sometimes. I smiled a bit more at that, but that didn't seem to help his mood. "Why don't you go back to those muggle-loving—"

"Don't" I interrupted with a look of warning. Draco frowned at me, but stopped.

He knew I hated it when he used those kinds of insults. Liking a muggle shouldn't be the sole reason to hate someone. But the boy had too much pride to apologize, so he wouldn't. Draco looked at me a second more before stepping away from the door. I followed him inside, closing the door behind us. Taking a hold of his arm, I leaned closer to him before sitting on a nearby bed.

"So why are you moping?"

"I'm not moping" he frowned next to me, looking down at the sheets next to him.

"Liar" I called back, placing my head on his shoulder. "What is it that's bothering you?"

"Why were you talking to them?" he mumbled, not looking at me.

"What, I'm not allowed to make friends?" I asked jokingly, but he frowned even more. I knew that wasn't the reason, not entirely at least. Whatever was going on in his head, something was bothering him, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't pry it out of him. And the easiest way to get that from Draco, as always, was to annoy him into spilling the truth. "Or is it because they're Gryffindors? If I had been sorted into Gryffindor, would you be treating me this way?"

"It's not just because they're Gryffindors" Draco complained, pulling his arm out of my grip. "And don't compare yourself to them. They're below you."

"Technically, they're above me. They're in a tower; we're the ones in a dungeon" I noted, making him roll his eyes at me. He was still acting the tough guy. "Look, Deedee—"

"I told you to stop calling me that" he snarled at me, making me be the one to roll my eyes this time. Older though he may be, he still acted like the child I had met all those years ago. So, I ignored him.

"I know you're grumpy, and I know you don't want to share, but I can make other friends if I want—"

"I'm not a child, don't talk to me like one" he argued, but I ignored it.

"But no matter how many friends I have, I will always love you—"

"Stop."

"You and your pretty face, and those rosy cheeks—"

"Stop!"

Giggling a bit, I watched his cheeks blush. It was a habit of his to get a red face whenever I told him I loved him. I hadn't said it in a while, but it was reassuring to see it was still easy to say to him. He was adorable. Grabbing his arm once more, I sat close to him. Even if he made me angry, even though we had that fight…

"Why are you such a pain?" Draco groaned at my side. I gave him a smile and settled back against his side.

"You love me too, don't lie. You missed me admit it" I smiled, hugging onto his arm. I almost forgot what it was like to be around him. He could be brash and pompous but he was a sweet boy. There were just those moments, those few times, where he let his impulses get the better of him. He said things he didn't mean. Or if he did mean them, he said it without thinking of what effect his words could cause. "I missed you, I did, but if you ever say that to me again…"

"I won't," Draco gave me a small nod, knowing what I was going to say before I even said it, "and I missed you too. Katerina..."

I gave him a smile and leaned in to kiss his cheek just as the door to his dormitory flew open. Two of his roommates, along with Pansy, stood near the entrance. Realizing someone was watching, Draco quickly took his arm away from me. His face got a little redder than it already was, and his expression a little more annoyed, thanks to the interruption. He stood up from the bed with a huff and turned to frown at the door.

"I told you I wanted to be left alone" Draco complained, standing in front of me, blocking my view. I frowned too. He was getting into his bad habits again, pouting when he didn't get his way. I rolled my eyes at him, as one of his roommates spoke up.

"You don't look alone to me, Malfoy" he called, nodding his head at me. Peaking around Draco standing in front of me, I waved a small hello, and he gave me a smirk back.

"Get out" Draco insisted, moving to block me again.

"You know, that's not a great way to make friends, Deedee" I called quietly, but loud enough so he would hear me. Draco spun around to glare at me, as I just smiled back.

"We gave you some time; this is our room too, you know" the other one called in a tired voice, taking a step inside. He stopped at the foot of the bed and looked down at me a moment. "You're Katerina Volkov, right? I'm Theodore Nott. You're on my bed."

"Yes, nice to meet you. I think our families have met" I nodded, and shook his outstretched hand. After, I pushed myself off the bed and moved to stand next to Draco. For a moment no one said anything, we just stood silently for a moment. I gave a nod, to no one in particular, before turning to him. "I should get going, just wanted to make sure you were done with your latest fit."

"It wasn't a fit—"

"It was nice to meet you Theodore and…" I let my interrupting sentence hang, waiting for him to answer.

"Zabini. Blaise Zabini" he called, still giving me a smirk. I nodded and gave him a smile back.

"Nice to meet you two."

Waving to them, I walked over to the door. I knew Draco, and I knew how he acted, and now that other people had joined us he was going to start acting up again. He didn't like showing certain sides of himself to other people, not that I could say I wasn't the same. Still, it was my time to go. As I passed by I gave a poke to his cheek, making his pout frown into a small smile, before I reached the exit. Pansy was still standing by the door, looking at the three of us inside. She let me pass but lingered under the threshold. Giving one last goodbye to the boys, and ignoring the fact she was acting strange, I went back down to the common room, then back up towards the girls' dormitories.

When I walked into my room, I was the only one there. That was an odd thought to have. I was used to having more than enough space to myself, never having to share a room with anyone. Now I had roommates. I made a face to myself before grabbing a book to read and sitting on my bed. I had just gotten a few pages in when Pansy, Daphne, and Millicent walked in. They didn't knock, though they didn't have to, it was their room too. I heard them whispering to each other, but chose to ignore it. It almost sounded like they were talking about me, maybe they weren't, but I didn't really much care. I was used to people acting that way.

"So I heard you found Draco" Daphne called, tilting down to meet my eyes. I looked up long enough to nod at her before turning back down to flip to my next page. She sat down on her bed, the one next to mine, before continuing. "You two seem close. Do you like him?"

"I suppose" I answered, looking up for a moment. He was obnoxious sometimes but we got along, and he was a good friend when he tried. "Our families have known each other since when we were younger. I haven't seen him in a bit, but we get along alright."

"That's… not what I meant" she giggled a bit.

"Then what did you mean?" I frowned a little, not following. She opened her mouth to answer but paused, inevitably deciding against it.

"Nothing, you just seem close" Daphne shook her head and smiled. She glanced a moment at where Pansy and Millicent sat, then giggles to herself again. "He sure seems popular."

I mumbled a reply before turning back down to my book. Daphne laughed to herself, at whatever she thought was so funny. She got up and went to join Pansy and Millicent in whatever they were whispering about. Pansy seemed to have a problem with me. Not sure why, but I wasn't about to argue with her. Millicent seemed to not have an original idea. Daphne, while the nosiest of the three, was the one I seemed to get along with the most. Not the group I would have chosen to room with, but it could have been worse.