DISCLAIMER: All canon characters and the Harry Potter-verse belongs to J K Rowling, and all "Malfoy Ambition" related things belong to Goddess Blue. Everything else belongs to me.

WARNINGS: Female Harry, Draco/Harry pairing, spoilers from possibly all the Harry Potter books, slight OOCness, cliches, and a bit of coarse language that will appear here and there.

A/N: See, I told y'all that I'll update soon, didn't I? (Yes, people, an update within 48 hours counts as a fast one in my books, so don't complain. ;P)

Also a shout-out to all those anonymous reviewers I haven't been able to get back to: THANK YOU, people!! Know that I read and appreciate all your comments and I love you all even if I can't reply, K?

That goes especially to one "-soaring high-", whose review made my entire night and bestowed more compliments than I deserve, I'm sure. XD ::hugs::

CHAPTER SIX: LIONS AND SNAKES CAN BE ... FRIENDS?

'Not a word, Zabini,' Draco growled warningly, 'not one word.'

Blaise chuckled in amusement, but thankfully did not comment on that little 'moment' Draco had just had with Potter. But knowing Blaise Zabini, his silence on the topic would not last forever; Draco would have to face the questions and/or comments later on and there would be no turning them away. Blaise was extremely ... persuasive.

Draco hugged his cloak closer about his body as he hurried towards the school carriages, trying to force his own mind not to dwell on what had just taken place. Of all the people that could have fallen on top of him, it just had to be Potter against all odds! Not that he knew why he was feeling so bothered about that; Potter fell on him, he put her down, he walked away, end of story. So, why were those few, but seemingly long moments lingering on in his mind? It was not like he even liked her at all!

Only, during that time when he had seen those jade green eyes of hers so close, he had completely forgotten about hating her. Her eyes had been so mesmerising. A thousand emeralds on fire – those were the only words that could describe those enchanting orbs of Hariah Potter. Even through the very obvious surprise and embarrassment in her eyes, he had been able to see her fiery, charismatic nature in them, along with a haunted innocence that seemed to speak of uncountable terrors that had plagued a pure heart. Such a hypnotizing, enigmatic gaze she had and Draco had almost drowned in it – until the onlooking crowd had interrupted the moment. He was not sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

'We're here,' said Blaise, pulling Draco out of his thoughts. With a shake of his head, Draco pushed away all thoughts of Harry Potter out of his mind and tried to concentrate on the present. He realised that they had finally reached the carriages. Spying an empty one, he made to lead Blaise to it when he suddenly noticed what was pulling it and stopped dead. The half-Italian behind him barely managed to halt his steps to prevent walking right into the Malfoy heir.

'What is it, Draco?' Blaise asked, looking puzzled.

Draco was silent for several seconds before he whispered, 'So, that's what they look like!'

'What's "they"?'

Draco did not answer this time, but continued to stare straight ahead at the creature that was harnessed to the carriage he had been about to enter. For the very first time, Draco Malfoy was seeing a Thestral.

It was strange to look at what with the flesh-less black skin clinging to every bone of the horse-like body, yet the creature was hauntingly beautiful at second glance; the pupil-less eyes glowed white in the darkness, the strong wings were folded close about its body and the tail and mane were of messy black hair that gleamed in the moonlight ... much like the messy black hair of a certain seventh year Gryffindor that had just taken a nasty fall on top of Draco...

'It's a Thestral, am I right?' Blaise's voice shook him from his thoughts.

Draco gave his head a light shake before nodding mutely.

'You can see them now?' his friend asked quietly.

'I saw the former Muggle Studies teacher being murdered by the Dark Lord,' Draco answered shortly.

Blaise looked at him expressionlessly,but did not answer. What did one say to another's declaration of witnessing a murder?

Draco sighed. 'Let's go,' he muttered and stepped into the carriage, tearing his eyes away from the magical creature. Blaise followed in silence.

As the carriage began to move, the blond leaned his head back against the carriage wall and allowed his eyes to close, willing away all unpleasant memories from his mind. At the present, Draco Malfoy only wanted to concentrate on making his life take a turn for the better – such as finally finding his elusive fiancée.

Where could she be?

'Whoa, am I hearing this right?' Neville exclaimed. 'You got his ring? Malfoy's ring? Malfoy's engagement ring?!'

'Geez, Neville, why don't you climb to the top of the North Tower and shout a little louder?' suggested Harry in a sarcastic hiss as they climbed the steps to the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. Not surprisingly, the whole engagement deal had been revealed to Neville and Luna during the carriage ride to Hogwarts; Ginny, Harry had discovered, had a staggeringly big mouth when she was in the mood.

'Sorry,' mumbled Neville, flushing slightly, 'but, it's just that ... well, I know how those weird rings work, finding the person you want and everything ... but how in the world did you get Malfoy's ring? '

'Neville, mate,' Ron said seriously, slinging a confidential arm around the other boy's shoulder, 'that's what we'd all like to know.'

'Oh, honestly, you two!' said Hermione as they entered the Hall. 'It's not the end of the world! In fact, I think it's rather cute.'

Harry, who had been busy gazing around the Entrance Hall which looked the same as it ever did without any signs of the damage caused in the battle that had taken place inside it just months ago, took a few seconds to fully register what Hermione had just said. 'Cute?' Harry stared at the bushy-haired girl in mild surprise. 'What do you mean "cute"?'

Hermione flushed slightly. She had obviously not meant for Harry to hear those words. 'Oh, nothing.'

'Hermione ...' Harry looked at her with narrowed eyes. Hermione looked back at her innocently with a demure smile on her face.

Ginny exchanged a glance with the brown-eyed girl and began to giggle suddenly.

'Oh, I give up!' Ron, who had been watching with raised eyebrows, threw up his hands and almost knocked over a passing third year. 'I'll never understand girls! What the bloody hell are you two talking about?'

'Nothing,' Ginny and Hermione giggled again.

Harry stared at them, nonplussed. To be honest, she was more concerned about Hermione's behaviour than what her words meant; giggling girlishly and saying the word "cute" was about as un-Hermione-like as one could get.

'Are you alright?' she asked uncertainly.

'And what's cute?' added Neville with a frown. Even Luna, who had been trying to swat away invisible Blubbering Humdingers the entire time, had begun to look interested in their conversation.

'Nothing!'

Harry sighed. 'I don't think I even want to know,' she muttered before heading to the large doors that opened into the magnificent Great Hall which was lit, as usual, by thousands of floating candles. Her friends followed, Hermione and Ginny still giggling like love struck schoolgirls much to her chagrin.

Heads turned to follow Harry and her present company as they made their way to the Gryffindor table on the far side of the Hall. She ignored the hushed whispers and clamours that broke out in her wake and gave her Gryffindor friends a brilliant smile when she got to the table. With a vague wave, Luna broke away from them to join her fellow Ravenclaws.

'Hey, guys,' a sandy-haired boy grinned at them, 'it's great to see you back here!'

'Thanks Seamus,' Ron answered before plopping down on Harry's other side as she sat down beside the Irishman.

Seamus immediately turned to his best friend, Dean Thomas, who was seated next to him. 'They came! Pay up, man.'

The dark-skinned Londoner grimaced before reluctantly handing over a considerable amount of silver Sickles to the Irishman. Harry, Neville and the two Weasleys watched the exchange with amusement while Hermione pursed her lips in disapproval.

'You were betting on whether we would come back or not?' Ron asked with a grin as Ginny laughed.

'Yup,' Seamus grinned while Dean frowned irately at him. 'Since all three of you are big heroes now and everything, we wondered if you'd come back to your little friends.' He winked good-humouredly at them.

With an amused shake of her head, Harry turned away from him to observe the High Table. The sight of familiar faces greeted her: Professors Flitwick, Vector, Sinistra, Slughorn, even Trelawney was present, as well as others whose names she still did not know. So was Professor McGonagall, only she was seated in the very centre. The sight startled Harry slightly before she remembered that McGonagall was the headmistress now. She frowned slightly; it was peculiar to see her Transfiguration teacher sitting in the headmistress' chair and it made her chest clench painfully when she reminded herself that she would never again see the majestic figure of Albus Dumbledore sitting in the centre of the High Table.

Emotional pain shot through her heart at the thought. Harry had seen Dumbledore being thrown off the Astronomy Tower with her own eyes and she had attended his funeral; but it was the picture of McGonagall in the chair that Dumbledore used to occupy that truly seemed to make his death feel real.

He's really gone.

She was shaken from her gloomy thoughts and memories by the sound of the doors being opened. Turning her head, Harry saw the new batch of first years being lead into the Great Hall by the Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout. A quick glance showed her that Professor Flitwick had already set the three-legged stool with the old, patched and dirty-looking Sorting Hat on it before the High Table, and that Hagrid, the first friend she had ever made, was sitting down in his chair; obviously his job of escorting the newcomers to the school over the lake had been completed. With a smile, Harry waved at his giant form and he waved back enthusiastically when he saw her, winking at her at the same time.

In next to no time, the new first years were assembled before the Sorting Hat; the looks on their faces varied from nervous to 'Oh-my-God-I'm-going-to-die'. Silence reigned in the Great Hall for a few seconds as every eye focussed on the frayed Hat on the little stool; and then, a mouth opened near the brim of the Hat and it began to sing.

Harry would never remember the exact words of the song for her brain felt as if it had been stunned into paralysis when the Hat had finished, such was her surprise; but she would never forget the message the song had given.

The Hat unabashedly sang of their recent victory over the Dark and about the many lives lost. It sang in detail about the battle that had taken place right inside the walls of Hogwarts and how the fall of Voldemort had been brought about (Harry was extremely glad that the Hat did not mention her name; however, many students turned to look at her during that part of the song). Then it sang of the qualities of the four houses, the brave and courageous lions, the loyal and faithful badgers, the wise and intellectual ravens, and the cunning and ambitious snakes. However, it was the next part of the song that surprised most of the students into silence.

The Hat sang of how each and every student in the Hall were exactly the same despite their differences; that they were all equal to one another in every aspect of the word; how every wizard and witch were human and in no way were superior to another; how unity was the only way to overcome evil; and finally, it sang of the importance of friendship to exist between the Houses, emphasising that Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin were nothing but names that were indications of their abilities, but not of who they were. 'Stand united, my friends,' the Hat sang exuberantly, 'and peace shall never end.'

The silence that followed the song was one of the longest in all of Hogwarts' history. The students only began to applaud when the teachers started, and even they looked more than a little taken aback at the topic of the song and the bluntness with which the Hat had sung it.

'Overkill,' Ron muttered as he clapped slowly, still staring at the Sorting Hat.

The rest of his friends murmured their agreement except for Harry who was lost in thought. She was thinking about the part of the song where the Hat had sung about their Houses being only an indication of their abilities, but not of who they were. The words brought back a memory from long ago, back when she had been in second year and had saved Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets; she remembered with vivid clarity the words Albus Dumbledore had said to her in his office that frightful night: 'It's not our abilities that show what we truly are; it is our choices.'

Harry shook her head slightly. Only now, after having made many hard choices and witnessing others doing the same, could she appreciate the wisdom and truth of those words. People had been led to believe that the brave and courageous Gryffindors were the ultimate good guys while the cunning and ambitious Slytherins were the big bad snakes. And yet, look at Peter Pettigrew, who had been in Gryffindor but had had the cold heart to betray his best friends to Voldemort, all for power and protection. And look at Regulus Black, a Slytherin, who had tried to stop Voldemort at the cost of his own life. In the end, it had been their choices that had shown their true colours.

Gryffindor and Slytherin, along with other two, were only just names, Harry realised; they were nothing to judge a person with.

And it took me seven long years to finally see it, Harry thought rather sorrowfully, recalling the scorn and mistrust with which she had treated Slytherins for a very long time.

'So, should we get all matey-matey with the snakes?' Seamus suddenly asked with a shit-eating grin on his face as he gazed at the Slytherin table, which noticeably had the fewest number of students present.

Harry turned back to her friends.

'What?' spluttered Ron, shocked. 'Are you serious?'

Seamus shrugged, still leering at the Slytherins. 'The Hat said so, didn't it?'

'I think it's a good idea,' Hermione said crisply. 'We could do with some inter-house unity around here. All this anger and fights just because we have some absurd idea that all Slytherins are bad and them hating us in return because of a millennium old grudge is pointless! We should all try to accept a person for what they are and be friends without judging them first.'

'Hermione –!' Ron began to protest but the girl cut him off.

'Honestly, Ronald, face it! Every time a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin comes up, someone gets hurt! Just because that person happened to be a Slytherin or a Gryffindor! And to think that Quidditch games were introduced to Hogwarts for the sole reason of encouraging friendly relations between Houses! Seems kind of pointless when you consider the fact that Quidditch only seems to encourage rivalry between the Houses, don't you think?'

Ron scowled, but her words rang with too much truth for him to argue back.

'She's right,' Ginny murmured thoughtfully. 'In fact, I think that if the rest of the Houses hadn't shunned Slytherin so much before, maybe we might not have lost so many Slytherins to the Dark Side during the War. Maybe a lot of them might have been on our side.'

'I guess,' muttered Dean, watching the table on the other side of the Hall keenly. Neville nodded in agreement.

Ron was still frowning. Apparently, the idea of being all buddy-buddy with Slytherin snakes was not something easy for him to get used to.

'Harry, what do you think?' he finally asked, looking around at Harry desperately.

The raven-haired girl looked down at the table, tracing the outline of her golden goblet with a finger. It was a long moment before she finally spoke, 'I think that, after the war, we've found out that not all Slytherins are bad, just like not all Gryffindors or Ravenclaws or even Hufflepuffs are good.'

Ron's eyes widened. 'So you agree with them? We should be chums with the Slytherins?'

Hermione rolled her eyes at the red-head, but made no comment.

There was another moment of silence as Harry continued to finger her goblet thoughtfully. 'We should stop fighting with them, at least,' she muttered finally. 'I guess they could be useful allies if we befriend them ... even they deserve a chance.'

'Well said!' Grinning, Seamus nudged Harry with his elbow.

Ron still looked slightly skeptical, but Hermione leaned over and breathed in his ear, loud enough for Harry to hear, 'Think of it this way, Ron, being friends with Slytherins can be a really good thing right now.'

Ron frowned. 'How?'

Hermione looked pointedly at Harry and Harry looked back at her, puzzled. Ron looked between them for a few seconds with a confused look on his face before he understood.

'Oh, I get it! Yeah, it's because Harry is Malfoy's fian - !'

Harry's eyes widened when she realised what her best friend was about to say and smacked him upside the head to shut him up. 'Not so loud, Ron, damn it!'

'Sorry,' he whispered, rubbing the back of his head tenderly.

'And don't call me his fiancée,' she added in a rather petulant voice.

'Take it easy, mate.'

Harry shook her head irritably at him before scowling at Hermione. 'And what do you mean that being friendly with the snakes will be a good thing now?'

Hermione smiled prettily at her. 'I meant, what with you being Malfoy's ... you-know-what' – Harry narrowed her eyes at her best friend warningly – 'it would be much better and easier for us if we were on good terms with the Slytherins if ... you know ...'

Harry stared at her in disbelief. 'You mean ... if I end up ... married to him?'

'Exactly,' Hermione grinned, looking relieved that her friend had understood immediately. 'That way, there will be no hostility between us all and it wouldn't feel awkward to have Malfoy around and you being Mrs Malfoy and – '

'Hermione,' Harry hissed angrily, ignoring Ron who looked positively sick at the idea of his best friend being "Mrs Malfoy", 'that is not going to happen!'

'You never know, Harry, you can never know.'

The green-eyed girl was about to open her mouth to retort when the plates before them filled with food and drink. She blinked in surprise, distracted from the mild argument as she stared at the delicacies in front of her. Beside her, Ron and Hermione were in similar states.

'What – what happened to the Sorting?' Ron stammered.

Seamus peeked around Harry at the red-head. 'What are you talking about, mate? It's over!'

Ron blinked. 'Over?'

Hermione chuckled amusedly. 'I guess we got so caught up in our conversation that we didn't even notice the Sorting taking place.'

Seamus leered at them. 'That must have been one intense conversation then!'

Harry flushed slightly, thinking about what she, Ron and Hermione had been talking about. Intense, hn.

Beside her, Seamus laughed. 'I can't believe you missed the entire thing! I mean, yeah even we' – he gestured at Dean, Neville, Ginny and himself – 'missed the first half, but to miss the whole Sorting – !'

'We had a lot of important things to discuss, Seamus,' Hermione cut in smoothly as she helped herself to mashed potatoes.

The Irishman raised his eyebrows at her. 'Hermione, the War is over! Normal life has started! How can there still be "important things to discuss" anymore?'

As Hermione answered her year-mate, Harry tuned out the conversation and frowned down at her plate of food. Normal life? Harry Potter's life was anything but normal.

And it doesn't look like that's about to change anytime soon, she thought gloomily to herself as she glanced at her hand where the ring was hidden underneath the black glove. In fact, her life was so not-normal that the not-normal things that incessantly happened to her could actually be considered "normal". She laughed drily at the irony of that thought, ignoring the questioning looks her friends shot at her.

Oh, yes, what a normal life I have!

'They want the Houses to be united?' Blaise raised his dark eyebrows as the Hat's song faded away into silence, and then applause. 'That is easier said than done.'

Draco merely grunted in reply.

'It could still be achieved though,' went on Blaise, ignoring his friend. 'Yes, there could be unity ...'

'Excuse me?' Draco finally looked around at the half-Italian, vaguely aware that the Sorting Ceremony had begun. 'Do you honestly believe that to be possible, Blaise? Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are already friends, but do you really think that Slytherin will be accepted by any of the other houses?'

'Well, why not?' the other shot at him challengingly.

The blond raised an eyebrow at his housemate. 'Ever since the time of Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor, there has been nothing but rivalry between the two houses, Blaise; and Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw always side with Gryffindor. That has been the way of things for nearly a thousand years.'

'Well,' Blaise smirked as his eyes strayed towards the Gryffindors, 'maybe it's about time that we changed that little tradition.'

Draco looked curiously at Blaise. 'And how do you plan on doing that? Are you going to go up to those lions and say "Let's all be best friends from now on"? Oh, yes, that certainly is going to work!'

'Don't be absurd, Drake,' drawled the brunet, ignoring Draco's sarcasm.

'Don't call me that, Zabini!'

'What I have in mind is a much better and easier approach,' he went on as if there had been no interruption.

'Oh? And what may that be? Friendships can't be earned overnight.'

'Exactly; which is why we start simple: we should stop being hostile to them.'

There was a pause during which Draco raised an eyebrow slowly at his friend who looked back with a perfectly straight face; and then, 'Stop being hostile to them ... that is your brilliant plan?' The blond asked sardonically.

Blaise rolled his eyes exasperatedly. 'Honestly, the subtle beauty of these plans is lost on Malfoys whose minds are so practical that they cannot appreciate master schemers at work even if they came along and poked said Malfoys in their pretty eyes!'

A dangerous vein throbbed on Draco's left temple. 'Well, then, O' Master Schemer,' he ground out through clenched teeth, losing patience rapidly, 'why don't you do the honours and elaborate your "subtle" schemes for me?'

The other Slytherin grinned in an annoyingly condescending manner. 'Well, you see, Drake,' – Draco repressed the urge to just let go of his cool composure and turn his friend into a makeshift trampoline – 'the Houses are prejudiced against us because they have been blindly led to believe that we are the notorious bad wizards, ever since the old rivalry between Godric and Salazar like you said. Now, the real problem is that no Slytherin has ever bothered to prove them otherwise. We have never taken the trouble to show the other Houses that we are not evil. In fact, most of us, angered at their beliefs and grudges, have even encouraged those prejudices by joining the Dark Side one time or another. Some joined just to spite other wizards because of what they believe. Very few of us have stuck to the Light. And because of that, their thinking that all Slytherins are Dark Wizards has been strengthened over the centuries.'

Draco frowned at Blaise's blunt speech, but did not argue. His words rang with truth. Many a Slytherin had been seduced by the irresistible allure of the dark side of power and ambition. The Malfoys, who had been so easily deceived by the Dark Lord's promises of power and status, were living proof of that.

'Now, what we need to do,' Blaise continued cheerfully, 'is take the first step and show the world that even a Slytherin deserves the trust of the Wizarding World. And the perfect place to start is right here in Hogwarts where the prejudices against us are the strongest.'

'And we can break those prejudices by ... not being hostile to the other Houses?' Draco said wryly.

'That is the first step,' Blaise said with a dazzling smile that almost caused a fourth year girl in front of him to swoon and faint. 'The other Houses have been hostile towards us and we have been hostile towards them in turn. But if we start being friendly towards them – '

'Then they will all probably get heart attacks from the very shock of it and drop dead before you can say "friends",' Draco finished dryly as he poked his chicken with a fork.

Blaise snickered at his friend's sadistic attitude. 'They'll get over it. In fact, if we are civil to them, they'll start being civil to us. It might take some time, but in the end, friendship can exist between all of us.'

'Hmm.' Draco gazed around the Great Hall with keen eyes, pointedly ignoring a sixth year girl who was seated diagonally across from him and was gazing eagerly at his engagement ring, 'we stop fighting with them, and they stop fighting with us; we drop our hostility, and they become civil to us; we all stand on neutral grounds and there is mutual acceptance of each other; and finally, a tentative bond between us and the other Houses forms ...'

'... Which will evolve into friendship,' Blaise finished for him with a proud grin.

'Hn. As much as I hate to say it, Blaise, that plan doesn't sound half so bad.'

The half-Italian merely smirked arrogantly.

'But,' Draco turned to his friend with a sneer, glad to have found a flaw in his oh-so-brilliant plan, 'how are you going to ensure that the "first step" works? Only the two of us know of this ... "plan". Do you really expect the rest of our housemates to just suddenly drop the grudges against the other Houses? How are you going to make them act friendly towards the rest?'

He was fully expecting the conceited smirk on Blaise's face to fade away into a disappointed frown. What he had not been anticipating was for the smirk to turn into a wolfish grin before Blaise shot him an almost comical I'm-very-disappointed-in-you look.

'And I thought you were an intelligent man, Malfoy.'

Draco's eyes narrowed into slits. 'What are you trying to say, Zabini?'

Blaise shook his head with a roll of his eyes. 'Honestly, Draco, do you really not know the influence you hold over the rest of the House?'

The blond aristocrat blinked. 'What?'

'Don't pull that with me; you know very well what I'm talking about. You are the unofficial Prince of Slytherin! Surely you must have noticed how the rest of our House practically worships you! To them, your word is law.'

Draco stared at Blaise with an openly confused expression on his face. 'And this is helpful how?'

Blaise shot him a look of mild irritation. 'It's very simple, Draco. As soon as you start being friendly towards the rest of Hogwarts, the rest of the Slytherins will follow suit; no questions asked! You're their Prince. Whatever you do, they'll follow. You know this.'

The blond looked amused. He had known that a lot of his housemates imitated him but still – Prince of Slytherin? He had never even thought of giving himself such a title before. 'Is that right?' he drawled. 'But, what if they don't like my being nice to the others? What if they decide to ... mutiny?' He smirked at Blaise.

'They won't,' the other answered with supreme confidence. 'We snakes may be sly and cunning, but we are loyal and we stick together. They won't betray you. As soon as you start being civil to the others, they will too. After they get over the shock, of course,' Blaise added with a sadistic smile.

Draco snorted before turning back to his food.

'So,' Blaise continued, a manic glint entering his dark eyes, 'are we ready to start befriending the lions, badgers and ravens?'

The aristocrat looked amusedly at him with a raised eyebrow. 'Enthusiastic, aren't you?'

The dark-haired teen shrugged. 'We don't need any more wars around here,' he said simply. 'Besides,' he added with a scary smile, 'I like a challenge.'

'Well, then, you should get started on the Gryffindors,' Draco said wryly. 'I don't think befriending the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws will be too hard. But the lions, they won't be so accepting of us.'

'No, they won't,' agreed a madly grinning Blaise, 'which is why I really want to show them just how nice a Slytherin can be. Can you imagine their disbelief?'

'Oh Merlin, he just put the words "Slytherin" and "nice" into the same sentence! What is the world coming to?!'

'Enough with the mocking, Draco; I am really looking forward to this.'

'I can see that,' he remarked as he glanced over at the Gryffindor table. After a few moments of keen observation, Draco chuckled. 'You should get together with Leprechaun Boy, Blaise.'

'What?'

Draco gestured with his head towards a certain Seamus Finnegan. 'That idiot has the exact same shit-eating grin on his face as you do. I don't know for sure, but he's looking at our table so I'm guessing that he's as eager as you to become "friends".'

'You don't say,' Blaise leered. 'Hmm, maybe I should have a few words with him.'

'Zabini and Finnegan putting their heads together to plan on how to get the lions and the snakes to be friends,' Draco said in a mock-horror tone. 'If I didn't know better, I'd say that the end of the world has come.'

'Don't be such a drama queen,' Blaise said and ignored Draco's angry protest at the words. 'This friendship and unity between the Houses is a serious issue; we have been divided for far too long.'

'I know that, Zabini, but,' Draco glanced back at the Gryffindor table. His eyes roved over Finnegan and his friends before turning to Potter, Weasley and Granger who were deep in conversation. His eyes lingered on the raven-haired girl for long moments.

'But what?' Blaise prompted.

Draco tore his eyes away from the girl. 'But I can't really see myself being friends with ... say, Potter or the Weasel!'

Blaise rolled his eyes. 'Perhaps if you tried ...?'

Draco snorted. 'Like Potter would ever accept me as a friend!'

'Well, she already saved your family from prison. Why should friendship be so difficult?' Blaise grinned at him.

'I don't particularly want to be her friend.'

Blaise gave him a look. 'Does this mean that you won't even try to start a friendship with Gryffindor? Because you don't like her just because she merely chose Weasley over you, which, by the way, happened seven years ago?'

Draco scowled at him, angry at his words. He did not want to be reminded of how hurt and furious he had been when Hariah Potter had turned him down and chosen to befriend the Weasel instead. 'Fine, I'll be civil, then. But don't expect me to stoop so low as to worship the ground she walks on!'

Blaise shook his head. 'All this hatred you have towards her ... is it just because she refused to be your friend?'

Draco glared down at his plate, but did not answer. There were other deeper reasons, but he was not willing to share them. Not with Blaise; not with anybody.

'Well, getting back to the topic we were originally discussing ...'

'I know, Blaise, I know; be nice to others. I get it.'

'So, you will do this with me?'

'Sure,' Draco muttered. 'My mother wanted me to be civil to the lions, anyway; she told me this morning. So, I see no harm in going along with your so-called plan.'

'Good; and as soon as you start, the rest of the Slytherins will start, too.'

Draco sighed. 'This better not be a waste of time.'

'Oh, it won't be, Draco, it won't be.'

'That was good eating,' grinned Ron as they made their way out of the Great Hall after the banquet. Headmistress McGonagall had dismissed them very soon. She had not made an extravagant speech, but had spoken normally and not made any references to the past battle. Not that she had needed to after that blunt song the Sorting Hat had sung.

Harry stifled a yawn as they trudged across the Entrance Hall towards the marble staircase. She was tired and all she yearned now was to crawl into her bed and go to sleep. She was about to stifle another yawn when Ginny suddenly nudged her in the ribs.

'What?' she grunted.

Ginny smirked at her before nodding her head in the general direction of the dungeons. Harry followed her gaze and her eyes locked on a familiar white-blond head. She scowled at Malfoy's retreating back before raising her eyebrows at Ginny coolly.

'Well, Harry,' the red-haired girl smiled coyly at her, 'aren't you going to give your husband-to-be a goodnight kiss?'

Harry spluttered as she blushed from head to toe. Ron and Hermione, who were beside her and had overheard the comment, reacted differently; while Ron went red in the face and hissed at his sister to "shut the bloody hell up", Hermione just giggled in a very uncharacteristic manner.

'What's going on?' Seamus, Neville and Dean came up behind them.

'Oh, nothing,' Ginny said innocently. 'We were just wondering how we can obey the Sorting Hat's wishes and be friendly to the Slytherins.' She smiled sweetly at Harry who glared threateningly at her.

'Oh, that,' Seamus grinned widely before turning to face the entrance to the dungeons. 'Yeah, that'll be a real challenge. I can't wait to get started! Ooh, those snakes won't know what hit them!'

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville stared at the sandy-haired teen.

'Brace yourselves,' Dean said, deadpanned. 'Chaos are about to ensue in Hogwarts, courtesy of this moron over here.' He pointed at his best friend.

Seamus merely cackled as rubbed his hands in glee, eyes glinting maniacally. 'Ooh, this is going to be fun!'

A/N: Hell yeah, it's gonna be fun, alright! XD

But I have a little request for you guys: if you could please leave me some ideas (coughCRAZYIDEAScough) about some lion-snake-friendshippy stunts that Seamus could pull off in the future? I do have a few in mind, but I'm not so sure about them, so I'd really love to hear your suggestions if you have any. Pretty please? ::puppy-dog eyes:: No obligations, though. :)

Just so you know, the next chapter might take a little while, so don't get your hopes up that I'll update as soon as I did this time, hm? But you know ... feedback gives me a lot of inspiration and can make me type like crazy ... Hah, yes, I'm shamelessly dropping hints! XD

UP NEXT: CHAPTER SEVEN - Perverts, Potions and Partners