A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and favorites and follows! This chapter is a bit shorter, but I felt that I had to end it where I did.

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Harry was glad when the Welcoming Feast was finally over. He had spent a good deal of the time keeping an eye on Quirrell and pretending to be as excited about classes as Draco, Pansy, and Blaise. The brunette still had no idea what he could do about the Defense Professor, but he definitely had to do something to stop him before Neville faced him at the end of the school year. The Gryffindor wouldn't stand a chance against Voldemort. He wasn't even able to levitate two feet off of the ground on a broomstick.

Draco walked beside Harry when the group of Slytherin first years was taken to their dormitories. Harry vaguely remembered the way to the Slytherin common room from his espionage under the influence of Polyjuice Potion during his second year. He didn't really remember much about the room, though, since he had been too busy trying to figure out who the Heir of Slytherin was to look around.

The group finally reached the Slytherin dorms, and Harry was in awe. It was more spacious than the Gryffindor common room, which had always made him slightly claustrophobic. He knew that he had been the only one in his House bothered by the tight quarters, and now that he was in Slytherin he knew why. He much preferred his own space and some privacy, neither of which the Gryffindor common room had offered in the slightest.

The whole room was decorated in dark green, silver, and black. There were several tables scattered throughout the room, and all along the walls were alcoves that provided some privacy for those who wanted to meet in bigger groups. The ceiling was lower than in Gryffindor, and the whole room was illuminated by a single magnificent fireplace and a multitude of candles scattered on the various tables. There were sofas and loveseats in front of the fire and in alcoves by two of the corners of the huge room. To the far right were the stairs that descended to the boys' dormitories, to the left those that led to the girls'.

The seventh years occupied the bottom level of the dorms. They had a magnificent view of the bottom of the lake through enchanted windows in their rooms. The first years had the very first level below the common room. Their rooms also had windows enchanted to see into the water outside of the castle.

Harry was pleased to see that all of the Slytherins had private bedrooms. That was another thing he had not liked about the Gryffindor dorms; he hated having to share one room with a handful of boys. Each door on the hall had a plaque with the last name of one of the first year Slytherins on it. Harry was pleased to see that he was directly across the hall from Draco. He nodded at the blonde and entered his room; they could spend more time together later. Both were eager to see their bedrooms and unpack their things.

He smirked as he looked around his room, thinking about how he should have just let the Sorting Hat place him in Slytherin to start with. The window was most definitely the highlight of the room, but the furniture itself was much more elegant than that in Gryffindor. All of the furniture was black. The floor was carpeted in a thick green. His bedsheets were silver and green.

The brunette began unpacking his luggage, which had been transported by House Elves from the Hogwarts Express to his room. Merlin began traipsing around the room, inspecting the new surroundings as soon as Harry let him out of his carrier. When Harry placed his pet blanket on the bed, the lanky kitten waisted no time in jumping up on the bed and curling up. Harry shook his head at the cat. He did not know how anything could sleep so much; Merlin had been spelled asleep to make the train commute bearable, and now he had already fallen asleep within minutes of being out of his cage.

Harry pulled out his wand and decided to give his magic a try with his new wand. He had not, after all, had the opportunity to practice any sort of magic all summer. He felt his magic swirl around him when he grasped his wand. Harry could feel it bending to his will, shaping itself into something that would do as he pleased. He focused on unpacking, and with a flick of his wand, his things had begun moving into their spots in Harry's new dressers and on his bookshelves. He grinned when everything finished and all of the movement stopped. He could still feel his wand buzzing slightly in his palm. He stared at the wood, already preferring it over his old wand.

A knock on his door drew his attention.

"Yes?"

"It's me," the voice of a familiar blonde called.

"Come in." Draco entered Harry's room and looked around.

"You unpacked already?" He was amused.

"With the help of magic," Harry grinned.

Draco rolled his eyes at the brunette, "Well, Professor Snape wants to address the whole House before we retire for the night."

Harry nodded. He had forgotten about Snape. The last time he had seen him, the Potions Master had been lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood, giving Harry his most treasured memories. Harry shuddered. He did not know if he could keep his emotions and thoughts hidden from the master Legilimens and Occlumens, but he knew that somehow he must.

The two made their way up into the common room, where most of the House was already waiting. The last few students trickled in, and Severus Snape strode to the front of the group.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. To those of you who have just joined out House tonight, I am your Head of House, Severus Snape. I teach Potions. Should you find yourselves in any number of unpleasant situations, feel free to come to me," he drawled in his rich voice. His eyes scanned the group of students before continuing.

"We are hated by most of the other students in this school. We are seen as evil and as aspiring Dark Lords," he sneered at them. "We will not allow the rest of Hogwarts to break us, so you will not react to any taunts. You will remain calm, even when faced with bigotry. You represent Slytherin House, and in that respect, me. I will not allow you to dirty my name or disgrace the name of this house."

Harry had never bothered to think about the effects of the other Houses' aversion to the Slytherins until that moment. He felt ashamed and vowed to do as much as he could to end the needless rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and to lesser extents Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"If any of you have issues that you cannot resolve on your own, do not hesitate to come to me. Whether it's a trivial quarrel between you and another member of this House, or something more serious, my door is open."

Without another word, Harry's new Head of House strode off with a swirl of his robes.

"I think I'm going to head to bed," Harry quickly turned to the blonde. He had a lot to think about before he could actually sleep, though. Like the fact that Quirrell was going to try to steal the Philosopher's Stone in just a few months. And that Severus Snape was alive and Harry felt like he should eventually warn the man about his untimely death.

Draco stopped him. "We have a few things to talk about."

Harry raised an eyebrow, but nodded, gesturing to one of the many empty seats in the common room. Draco shook his head and made his way to the stairs that led to the dorms.

"I don't think you want to talk about this in public." Harry was most definitely intrigued now. What on earth could the blonde want so early in the school year that required privacy to discuss?

When the two reached the privacy of Harry's dorm, Draco closed the door behind them and turned to the brunette.

"Do we need any Silencing Wards?" Harry joked.

"The rooms already have them, as well as countless other privacy wards." Harry's eyebrows shot up. He had only been joking, but was relieved that he would truly be safe and alone in his rooms.

"So what is it that you needed to discuss?"

"I noticed that you weren't particularly paying attention to Pansy, Blaise, and me on the Hogwarts Express earlier today. And you seemed to be in a much darker mood than the rest of us. Considering that we were on our way here, you should have been excited, not gloomy."

Harry hadn't realized that the other boy had been paying him that much attention. He would have to learn to be more careful with his facial expressions in public. But then again, Draco was his friend, so maybe it was okay to let his guard down just a little bit in front of him. The brunette did not have any idea what to tell his friend. How much of the truth should he reveal, if any of it? It would be beneficial to have somebody on his side when he needed help fighting Voldemort. He also knew that the young Malfoy Heir had not chosen a Darker path yet. Harry still had many years to change that path to a more neutral one. He had no impossible fantasies of his new friend ever treading a Light path.

Deciding that he needed to show some trust in the blonde for him to show some in return.

"I don't know how to feel about the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. There's something off about him."

"Why were you thinking about him before we even saw him at the Welcoming Feast?" Draco eyed him curiously.

Shit, Harry thought. How should he explain that? Stick close to the truth and try to let Draco feel like he was leading the conversation.

"I met him at the Leaky Cauldron when I went shopping for my Hogwarts supplies." Yeah, close to the truth.

"Oh. What was off about him?" Success. Draco had taken the bait.

"The way he walked, it was like he was trying to avoid turning his back to anyone. He never moved his neck either, just held it stiffly. And I don't know why a single man has to have such a huge turban."

Draco pondered what Harry had said. "Maybe there's an easy explanation. Perhaps he sustained a neck injury at some point? Or maybe he's just paranoid about being hexed from behind"

"Maybe. I just have a feeling it's more than that." Harry knew that it was, in fact, much more than just that.

"We can keep an eye on him in class."

Harry nodded. "Alright, I guess I'll head to bed now."

Draco made his way to the door left Harry with a friendly 'Good night!'

Harry needed to convince Draco that Quirrell was hiding something important. He needed the blonde to be willing to work with him to get Quirrell sacked or reveal that he had Voldemort latched to the back of his head like a leech. He sighed. This was going to be a long school year, and it certainly wasn't an easy start.

He stayed up another hour contemplating what he could do about the Professor before finally lying down in bed. Still his mind raced. What could be done? He might just have to wait until he saw an opportunity to tear the turban off of the man's head with magic or otherwise. He did need to stay hidden, so that no one could question him as to how he knew that the Dark Lord was attached to Quirrell's head. Worst case scenario, Harry could always stalk the new Golden Trio when they finally learned that the Stone was going to be stolen at the end of the school year. He sighed again, indecisive. At least he had several months to make a move.

.

Draco and Harry met up in the common room the next morning and headed to breakfast when Pansy and Blaise finally joined them several minutes later. Schedules were distributed as soon as the whole House was present. Snape came up to the group of four Slytherins but spoke only to Draco.

"Let me know if any of the Gryffindors," he spat the name disdainfully, "give you any trouble, Draco."

"Yes, godfather." Draco met the man's obsidian eyes with a small smile.

Harry had almost forgotten that Draco was Professor Snape's godson. Maybe the blonde would be his foot in the door with the Professor. He did not know if his father James had terrorized the Potions Master in this past or if that had been Neville's father this time. Maybe the professor would drop a hint about it. Harry made a note to go and speak with Snape as soon as he had a valid excuse to do so, most likely with Draco at his side.

The dark-haired man turned and walked away with his trademark billowing robes. Perhaps the fact that he had refrained from making a derogatory comment about James Potter was a good sign that it had been Neville's father that abused Snape.

Draco and Harry looked over their schedules and the blonde groaned. They had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Gryffindorks, as Draco liked to call them, first thing today.

.

Harry was glad that Draco sat next to him instead of Pansy or Blaise during their first Defense class with Quirrell. The blonde's Slytherin demeanor made it easier for Harry to mimic his façade and keep his dark thoughts far from the surface of his mind and expression. The brunette had no idea how to reveal Voldemort on the back of his Professor's head without raising questions as to how he knew about it.

He watched the man's every move. He still stuttered and walked just as stiffly as Harry remembered. He had to fight a shudder as he thought of the man basically dissolving in his hands at the end of his first year. Well, first first year.

The whole class had to hide their snickers as their joke of a Professor stumbled and stuttered over class rules and what they would be covering this school year. If only his peers knew the danger lurking on the back of that man's head. Harry began to wonder in earnest why Dumbledore had even hired him in the first place. Surely there had been a better candidate for the position. Severus Snape would have made a much better Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, but Harry understood now why he had never gotten the position. As a double spy, he had to be careful, and being the Defense Professor would put him in a position to "accidentally" harm the Boy-Who-Lived and start teaching Hogwarts students actual Dark Arts without anyone ever knowing until it was too late.

Draco and Harry were the last to leave the Defense classroom. The brunette had never expected to run into Headmaster Dumbledore speaking with his old friends, Ron and Hermione. Longing coursed through his veins; he would give almost anything to be able to go back to the friendship he had had with them.

His thoughts were interrupted by the Headmaster's words.

"Have you succeeded in befriending Neville?" The red-head and the bushy haired girl nodded enthusiastically.

"He took to us immediately on the Hogwarts Express," Hermione said, smiling.

The three of them stopped talking when they noticed they were not alone any longer.

Harry saw red. He avoided their eyes, grabbed Draco by the arm and dragged him off.

"What was that about?" Draco hissed when they turned the corner of the corridor. Harry shook his head, breathing heavy, trying to rein in his temper.

"Harry?" Draco sounded slightly worried.

"I'm okay." His tone was clipped but he managed to take a deep breath and force a smile. "Let's get to our next class before we're late."

Draco let it go for now, but was going to need answers later that day. Harry knew it, too.

.

The rest of the day's classes went well. After dinner, Harry and Draco made their way back to the common room. It was too crowded for Harry's taste, and he suggested that they go to one of their rooms to talk. Draco nodded and followed his friend.

"So what was that about earlier, after Defense?" Draco began speaking as soon as Harry's door was shut behind them.

Harry sighed and looked away from his friend. What should he tell him? Again, he didn't need to tell a blatant lie, he needed to stay as close to the truth as possible. He knew that revealing the truth about Harry's situation would be the wrong way to go. Draco would never believe him this early in their friendship.

"Dumbledore ordered Weasley and Granger to be his friends. It was their mission to befriend the Chosen One," Harry's voice was low and dangerous, venomous. His green eyes simmered with half-hidden anger.

"Why does it matter?" Draco didn't understand.

"What if your father had ordered me to befriend you and you found out about it?"

Draco thought on it. "I would be furious and never speak with you again. I just don't understand why you got so angry over the Boy-Who-Lived."

Harry shrugged. Time to change the subject. They were straying into semi-dangerous territory, way too close to the truth for Harry's comfort.

"So what about that clown of a Defense Professor, Quirrell?" Draco narrowed his eyes, not fooled by Harry's change of topic. He took the hint that Harry didn't want to talk about it anymore, though, and let it go – for now. Again.

"Yeah, he's such a joke. What on earth could he possibly teach us? My godfather deserved that position more than that dimwit Quirrell."

.

Draco said goodnight two hours later. The two had talked and laughed and groaned about their classes that day and what the school year would consist of for the two of them. Harry smiled at the blonde as he shut the door to go back to his own room across the hall. The smile lingered, catching Harry by surprise. He was glad that he had been able to befriend the Malfoy. Maybe he would be able to steer him off of the path he had been on the first time. He didn't know if he wanted to think about having to handle his new friend becoming a Death Eater.

Harry sighed when he thought about his past. Eventually, he knew that he would have to tell the blonde. Sooner or later, the blonde would get too suspicious to let topics like tonight slide so easily, and when that time came, Harry needed to be ready to either lie or tell him the truth. Part of him wanted to lie to Draco, but he knew that the Gryffindor in him would never let the ensuing guilt die. That would end up destroying their friendship. No, Draco would need to know the truth.

With a flick of his wand, he turned the lights out in his room. Now the only light came from the moonlight filtering through the lake water and shining in through his window. He changed into his pajamas and crawled into bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. It had been a long first day of classes spent fuming over the betrayal of his – now Neville's – best friends.

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