The sorting of the first years commenced, and ended a good twenty-five minutes later. Afterward, Briana had to be sorted into her house, as a new sixth year. She felt a bit odd, being sorted as a sixteen year-old, but luckily there was another new student; a fifth year boy who shared her awkwardness. She learned his name was Avery, as he let her get sorted first.

Briana walked up to the old stool amid the stares of the entire school. She looked at the four tables, each seeming to resemble each house; one red, one blue, one yellow, and one green. Letha sent her a suggestive smile from Ravenclaw's table as Kaylee did the same from the other side of the room. Next to her, Chuck threw Briana a wink, all of which made a small smile form on her lips.

Sitting down on the short wooden stool, an old witch Briana knew to be Professor McGonagall placed a hat on her brunette head that appeared to be extremely worn out. The whole school watched as Briana closed her eyes, seemingly listening to the sorting hat's wise words. She even nodded thoughtfully a couple times as students and staff alike began to wonder how much longer the ordeal would take. A second later, the brim of the patched-up old hat opened up to reveal a mouth, yelling the conclusion of "SLYTHERIN!"

Claps all around the room took place, especially from Slytherin table. Draco attempted a sort of smile while Blaise nodded repeatedly, Chuck fist-pumping and Kaylee going to the lengths of standing up as she did some sort of dance and brought her fingers to her mouth to whistle. Briana sent Letha a deep look of sympathy, to which Letha replied by making a pouting face and wiping away a fake tear before giving Kaylee the finger, showing off her perfectly manicured bright green finger nails.

Professor McGonagall removed the hat from Briana's head as she skipped to join her friends at the long wooden table adorned in green and silver. She sat between Draco and Blaise, across from Kaylee and Chuck. Briana smiled at them from across the table, also realizing that the two of them were sitting abnormally close to one another. She called no attention to it, however, because the Avery boy was already sitting down with the hat resting on his own messy black hair. The old hat took a mere four seconds to reach its decision, sending Avery to join the Slytherin's too.

The headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, began to review the many rules that the school had set in stone years ago, then he eventually proceeded to make a few announcements. During this time, Briana took a minute to notice that Draco had changed into his school uniform which she admitted to herself looked extremely attractive on him. Yet she didn't marvel at the sight of her best friend, for he seemed incapable of producing a smile at the time. He sat with his chin propped lazily on one hand as the pale fingers of his other hand ran back and forth on the same line indented onto the wooden table. There was no apparent expression on his face; he just seemed to be far away in his thoughts, with his eyes cast down.

Briana wasn't given much time to worry about him before Kaylee tapped her hand and whispered, "Ethan Bentley keeps staring at you."

Draco's now darker blue eyes flicked up to stare at Kaylee.

"Who?", like Briana could remember who that guy was; she had always been pretty bad with names the first time around.

"That guy down there," Kaylee gestured inconspicuously in a certain direction.

Briana craned her neck to find herself staring into a pair of sparkling light green eyes. When Ethan realized she was staring back at him, he raised an eyebrow, flashed a charmingly pearly-white smile then winked. Draco sent the boy a look of deep disgust and annoyance before looking for Briana's reaction which turned out to be a slight flush of the cheeks. Briana busied herself by trying to pay attention to Dumbledore as he made sure that the students knew their curfew was irrefrangible. Malfoy sent Bentley a death glare, which was eagerly returned before Draco concocted a most clever idea to pull Briana closer to him and rest his head on her shoulder.

Briana was a little startled by the sudden action, but simply smiled at her friend and asked if he was feeling alright. He nodded at her, then sent a victorious smirk at Ethan who looked the other way with a frown playing on his face. Albus had finished talking, and waved his arms over the Great Hall making various colorful and delicious-looking food appear on all the tables. The first years all gasped with delight and everyone immediately began to pile their plates high with all the nourishment they cared for.

The dark and odd feeling of the castle got to everyone, nobody really speaking much as everyone ate their fill. No matter where you looked, not one person, not even the teachers, appeared to be in very chipper moods. Staff and students alike finished their meals in near silence as the food vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. Then, Dumbledore stood abruptly, walked back to his candle-lit podium and began to speak quite somberly about a topic that easily caught everyone's attention.

"Now, as you know, each and every one of you was searched upon your arrival tonight. You have a right to know why," he began. The students stared at him, eager and ready for the explanation. "Once there was a young man who, like you, sat in this very Hall. Walked this castle's corridors. Slept beneath its roof. He seemed, to all the world, a student like any other. His name? Tom Riddle."

Many of the students began to murmur and whisper frantically while others sat stunned by the words, while still others seemed completely unaffected. The headmaster allowed them to converse a minute before he held up a grey hand to issue a silent room.

He continued, "Today, of course, the world knows him by another name. Which is why, as I stand looking out upon you all tonight, I am reminded of a sobering fact. Each day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle. But in the end, their greatest weapon remains... you."

Briana stole a glance at Draco, who noticed and hid his face in her shoulder. Briana also noticed Harry Potter staring at her best friend intently, and she began to wonder if he had suspicions about Draco.

"Just something to keep in mind," Albus finalized. "Now everybody off to bed! Pip-pip!"

The old man's words were pellucid and concise, sinking into every single person's minds as they thought about what their headmaster had told them. People murmured and began to talk among themselves, standing to head to their common rooms or wherever else they may have to go. Pansy walked over to where Draco and the others sat, tapping Chuck on the shoulder.

"Prefect duties, Solomon!", she reminded him.

"Right, right, I'm coming," he waved to his friends and followed Pansy to a door that led out of the hall, as they tried to round-up the new first years.

Blaise, Alex, Kaylee and Draco escorted Briana out of the Great Hall and to the Slytherin Common Room. Briana had read "Hogwarts: A History" before coming to the school, but she was still very curious about the old school. She constantly asked her friends questions to gain all the information she desired, such as when the hours of classes were, where all the restrooms were located, and how she ought to go about sending owls.

"Wait, so we DO eat all our meals in there, yes?", she asked them.

"Yes, Briana," Kaylee slightly rolled her eyes. "But you don't HAVE to eat every meal, your presence isn't mandatory. You can do whatever you want during meal times, even enter and leave the Great Hall whenever you desire! But I can't imagine why you'd ever want to skip a meal."

"Right," she nodded. "So what if I get lost when I'm trying to get to classes?"

"Well we get our schedules tomorrow," Alex told her.

"And you always have classes with other housemates, so I'm sure you'll have at least one of us in every subject. So we can just walk there with you," Blaise explained.

"Ah, okay. Thanks!"

They entered the silver, black an green adorned common room to find it nearly empty. The tables with the benches and chairs around them in all the corners were unoccupied, as were most of the cushioned armchairs and sofas that were placed neatly all around the room. Only a few third years sat on the black leather love seats by the entrance, playing a game of Poker. The Slytherin common room was dimly lit by various candles, leaving the room rather dark and quite cold. It sent a shiver up Briana's spine, and she shuddered a bit.

Blaise noticed and laughed, "You get used to the temperature in here."

"But I don't wanna get used to the cold," she mumbled, rubbing her arms to keep them warm.

"I suppose you won't have to quite yet," Draco told the stubborn girl and took her hand, leading her to the couch in front of the fireplace.

The rest followed and each took a seat, Alex and Blaise both choosing to sit on the floor. Draco took his cloak off and draped it over Briana in the hopes that it would provide her extra warmth. She smiled at him gratefully as Alex and Blaise exchanged knowing looks, though Kaylee remained oblivious, too distracted by trying feverishly to get a stain off her pink ballet flats. The five friends talked about the classes they hoped and knew they were going to take this term; however, neither Draco nor Alex contributed to he conversation much at all. That was normal for Alex, because he's just the shy, quiet and innocent one of the group, but Draco was just out of sorts and acting quite dark and mysterious lately. Only Briana and Blaise knew why that was, and the others were either too afraid to ask, didn't take notice, or simply didn't care.

After a short while, Chuck came bounding tiredly down stairs that lead to the boys' dormitory. He plopped heavily onto the couch between Draco and Kaylee and sighed.

"First year's are a lot of work! I can see why you gave up the job, Malfoy," Chuck said.

Draco nodded in his general direction, but said nothing, which caused a sort of frown to form on Chuck's face.

"Don't take it personally," Kaylee explained. "He's hardly spoken all night."

"I see... Speak to me later, boy," Chuck pointed at him then turned to Kaylee. "You won't ignore me, will you?"

"Of course not!", Kaylee batted her eyes at him, half-mockingly and half-serious. "How could I ignore someone as charming as you?"

"My thoughts exactly. Why haven't we talked as much before, anyway? I mean the only reason we're talking now is because of Briana."

"I dunno, you were always just the typical perverted guy I always heard about but never talked to. Why?"

"Because I'm just glad we're friends now," he smiled cheekily at her, as she smiled flirtatiously at him.

The ordeal caused the other four in the room to all exchange knowing and suspicious looks, as they all felt something between Kaylee and Chuck was on the rise. It didn't exactly come as a surprise to them, however, because both Chuck and Kaylee were quite promiscuous and certainly got around. They had the same sort of aura about them that sort of made you want to be attracted to them, which is exactly what they both would want to happen. Since they were so similar, one would think it quite inevitable that they would eventually find each other interesting and something may spark.

So it's safe to say that things are changing around here. Draco was acting odd because he had been made a teenage Death Eater, not to mention the fact that he had feelings for Briana (whether they were permanent or not was still to be determined but they were still there), Briana was responding to her best friend's unordinary actions by searching her own heart for feelings towards him, Kaylee and Chuck seemed to be flirting with each other which would surely turn into something, but would that something be just sleeping with each other or would an actual relationship come of it? Nobody could be sure, but it's safe to say that each individual was curious to find out.

The friends were all silent then, some of their eyes beginning to droop. Briana was half-asleep on the sofa when Kaylee noticed and immediately reached over Draco to wake her up.

"Don't fall asleep down here! Come on, I'll show you upstairs now," Kaylee offered as she stood up.

Briana groaned as she groggily stood as well, handing Draco his cloak back. She gave him a tired smile and said goodbye to all the boys. Kaylee exclaimed she would see them all tomorrow, to which Chuck replied by saying, "You most certainly will." The girls ascended the stairs to the girls' dormitories, leaving their friends in the common room in front of the fire. Kaylee lead her friend down a long corridor lined with several identical doors. The only thing that set them apart were the names that appeared on each door, listing who was in which dormitory.

The girls nearly reached the end of the dark hall before Kaylee stopped abruptly in front of a door, exclaiming happily, "I found your name! And mine! We're in the same room! Thank Merlin... Oh, but bloody Parkinson..."

She twisted the doorknob and opened the door as Briana read the names that were there: Briana Brightsman, Daphne Greengrass, Kaylee Nelson, Pansy Parkinson and Nigella Starr. Briana had made the acquaintance of Daphne and Pansy at the Malfoy's party, so she was glad she at least somewhat knew them. She and Daphne got along pretty well, but Pansy despised her for being such good friends with Draco. Nigella Starr, however, was a name that neither Briana nor Kaylee had ever heard before.

Kaylee and Briana entered the room to find all of their belongings in the room, each person seeming to have a designated bed already. Briana noticed her things placed neatly around and on a bed between Daphne's and Kaylee's, an arrangement she was pleased about. The three other girls were already in the room; Pansy was reading some sort of teenage witch magazine on her bed, while Daphne and Nigella were straightening their hair in the middle of the room.

Kaylee waved to them simply, then plopped onto her bed, yawning quietly. Briana sent the two girls on the floor a smile as they stood up to greet her.

"Good to see you again, Briana!", Daphne said eagerly.

"You too! I'm glad we get to share a room," she said honestly.

"Me too," Daphne smiled. "Oh, this is Nigella, by the way. I don't think you two have met."

"It's nice to meet you," Briana smiled at Nigella, who was short with bright purple hair and large brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you too," the small girl replied happily; she seemed as if she was going to explode from joy, which made Briana laugh.

"Sorry about her being a weirdo. She's kind of a big fan of yours," Daphne explained.

"Fan? Of mine? How's that?"

"I've watched all the videos of you dancing, you're so fantastic! AND I saw the commercial you did for the new dance game in America," Nigella explained. "I also watch Justin Emmerson's videos, and I saw you in two of them."

"WAIT, so are you saying you're a Justin Emmerson fan?!", Kaylee asked the girl eagerly. She nodded vigorously and Kaylee ran over to give her a big hug, stating that they're the best of friends now.

"What year are you, anyway?", Briana asked the two girls.

"Fourth years!", the exclaimed, seeming even happier than they were before.

"Brilliant! Well I'm glad we all got to meet quickly, and we get to share a dormitory," Briana sang.

Daphne squealed, "This is, like, the best dorm ever!"

"Fo sho," Kaylee agreed, as Nigella clapped her hands in content.

Pansy sat on the bed, continuing to read her magazine in silence, not saying a word to any of the other girls; just watching them and sending them glares whenever any of them made eye contact with her. They all climbed into bed, and most of the lights were out, but Briana soon thought of another question to pester her friends with.

"Psst! Kaylee!", she whisper-yelled.

Kaylee sat up abruptly, "What?!"

"What time do I have to wake up tomorrow?!"

"Here," Kaylee handed her a slightly worn-out and tattered piece of parchment. "It's a paper they give everyone in first year that you can use. It has our daily schedule on it, so it tells you how long when each class and meal starts and ends. It comes in handy the first few weeks."

"So Breakfast is from 6:30-8... Brilliant, thank you!"

"Yeah, sure, now go to sleep!", Kaylee threw a pillow at her and soon was fast asleep herself.

It took no more than ten minutes for all five of the girls to fall asleep peacefully, comforted by the warm, green silver and black beds they laid in. Briana had completely forgotten that she was even cold before. In truth, the dormitories were just as cold as the main common room, but perhaps she just felt warmer in her bedroom because she was happy and laughing.