A/N: I'm back! So sorry; I am super busy with college. It is nothing like community college, here you actually have to do shit constantly (mostly essays for me because I am a lit major.) On top of that, I have literally twenty books to read for my four classes and I am also on the Quidditch team; very fun but I broke my glasses (and my nose) in the tournament (some dumbass was about five feet in front of me as I was helping the keeper defend the goals and threw the quaffle as hard as he could in my face.) So anyway, very busy, but I did find the time to write the next two chapters; now I just have to find the time to type them. Happy Thanksgiving.

I don't think I have ever remembered to put a disclaimer in any chapter in this story, but, yeah, not mine (Leanne is unfortunately the only one I own.)

Chapter 7

Once they were in the corridor, the three children looked at each other. "My God!" Harry breathed. "What an idiot!"

"Is she always like that, Neville?" Hermione asked.

The boy shrugged. "I've only met her a few times, but I think so, though she has the press under her little finger." Neville smirked. "This is actually the only thing Gran and I actually agree on. We call her the Bitch-Who-Lived." Even Hermione gave a shocked little laugh at that.

"Move!" A loud voice suddenly said from behind them as four boys shoved past the three.

Harry and his friends looked at the other boys. Two of them were large and thick, one was tall and slender, and the fourth was of average size and very blond. The tall boy looked down at the other first years with a look of disgust. "Well, look who it is. Longbottom, the first squib to be enrolled in Hogwarts."

His companions snickered, though the blond one looked uncomfortable. The tall boy continued. "And of course, he has to follow in his worthless parents footsteps. You'd think that a pureblood, a child of an ancient and noble house none the less, would know to make better acquaintances than two Mudbloods."

Three of the four boys laughed as Harry and Neville glared at them furiously. Hermione didn't exactly know what that word meant but it was obviously a slur. Just as it appeared that things were about to get physical, another voice joined in.

"Oi! What is …"

"Going on here? Did you firsties really …"

"Just say what we think you lot said?"

"Oh, I think they did, Fred."

"I thought so too, George. Definitely Slytherins, these four."

"Right you are, my dear brother. You three best avoid this lot. Nothing good can come from them."

At this point, all the first years were gawking at the set of third year twins. Finally the tallest one sneered at the identical gingers. "No worries, Weasley's. We were just going to greet the savior of the Wizarding World herself. Not our fault we ran into her fan club."

With that, the four boys left the trio with the twins, who grinned at them before exchanging a look. "We best accompany you lot to your compartment."

"Lead the way!" The boy closest to Neville said.

With an awkward look at each other, the children lead the strange twins to their compartment. Once inside, Harry made to close the door on the boys, but Holly jumped out of his arms and blocked to door, purring at the twins feet. Shrugging, he gestured to the twins to come in. One of them looked at the cat. "Half Kneazle?"

Harry smiled. "Yep. I was raised by my Muggle aunt and uncle who didn't approve of magic, so when I had any questions I would go to my neighbor's house. She's a squib, you see, and explained what was happening when I first did accidental magic. Holly was originally her cat, but we formed a familiar bond when I was about 6 or 7, so she let me take her to Hogwarts."

The other one nodded. "Wicked. By the way, I'm George and this is Fred."

The younger children introduced themselves to the twins and were shocked to learn that they were Ron's older brothers. "But," Hermione exclaimed in disbelief. "You're both so nice!"

Fred laughed. "Thank you! You may be the first to say such a thing!"

George snickered before turning back to the topic of their younger brother. "We don't know if Ron is really that bad or if he is trying to impress Leanne."

"He always seems worse when Leanne is at our house." Fred added.

Neville frowned. "What do you think about her?"

They both shuddered and said in unison. "Oh, Merlin! She's dreadful!"

"I know!" Harry exclaimed. "We chased Neville's toad into their compartment and she gave us each a signed –"

"Headshot." The twins groaned together. "Mr. Potter looked mortified the first time she gave our family one."

"One for everyone." Fred added.

Hermione gave them a strange look. "When you said the first time …"

George pulled a face. "She needs to work on her penmanship and we're the test subjects."

Neville shook his head. "We used to play together when we were much younger, before she was old enough to talk to reporters and the fame got to her head. She doesn't even remember me now. The headshot she gave me was made out to 'Nathanial'!"

The twins laughed. "Bloody hell! She's so stupid!"

Harry grinned. "And full of herself too! You should have seen her face when I tore up my headshot!"

While the children were laughing, the door to their compartment opened. All five of them scowled at the blond boy, and were stunned when Holly jumped off Hermione's lap and circled the boy's legs, purring loudly. By now, they all knew the Siamese-Kneazle was a brilliant judge of character, but the twins still looked uneasy.

Harry stood up and faced the other boy. "Hi, Draco right?"

The blond gave the dark haired boy an almost shy smile. "Yes. Hey Harry. Er, mind if I join you?"

Harry looked at his companions, who all shrugged except for the twins. "We have to go, anyway." Fred said coldly as he and George shoved past Draco.

"Keep an eye on him, Holly." George added, bending down to rub the cat behind the ears.

Once the door closed behind the twins, the blond looked rather awkward. "I-I would like to apologize for earlier."

Hermione glared at him. "You mean with your friends?" She clarified.

"They aren't my friends." Draco said quickly. "My father is friends with their father's. he basically set me up with them, but I hate them and can't figure out how to get away from them."

There was silence as the other children thought about what the blond had said. Neville understood that this was how many pure-blood families acted; especially those who followed (or once followed) You-Know-Who. The question was, could Draco really be trusted?

Hermione remembered what her parents had always told her; people don't change, they just show their true selves. This boy standing before them claimed he was trying to break away from his father's shadow. But ten minutes ago, the same boy stood by and let them get bullied. Any form of bullying does not sit well with her, but where does Draco fall into this, bully or victim? Which is his true self?

Harry relied on what he already knew about Draco Malfoy. In Madam Malkins, the boy had been somewhat distant, but kind. The two had shared a descent conversation and at the best were acquaintances. The boy in the hallway behaved the same way except for one thing, he didn't want to be there with those other three boys. Was that enough?

"Alright," Harry said. "So, what does this have to do with us?"

Draco turned pink. "Like I said, I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened. It's just … I don't know what to do about them. And, well, if I do manage to get away, could I possibly, I don't know, hang out with you?"

By now, Neville and Hermione even felt pity for the uncomfortable pure-blood. The three exchanged a look before nodding at the blond.

Draco spent another moment in the compartment with the other, nicer first years. After settling how they would communicate (they decided to use the school owls because both Draco and Harry had owls that would stand out) he turned to leave. "I told the others I was going to the lavatory." He explained. "Oh, and you lot should change into your uniforms. We should be there soon and you'll get in trouble for being out of uniform, even in your first year."

The children thanked the blond as he left, followed by Hermione. At Draco's strange look, the girl blushed. "Which way to the lavatory?"

By now, Hagrid barely noticed the staring first years. After nearly four decades, the half-giant almost found it amusing. "Four ter a boat, now. Come on, yer all gonna see yer friends at meals and in classes. Meybe more if yer in the same house."

"How do we get sorted, anyway?" A child asked, knowing it was no use. By now, most students knew it was a tradition to keep incoming students guessing.

"It's just a talking hat!" Leanne shouted as she shoved her way to the front, determined to be the first on the boats and to show off her superior knowledge.

About one hundred students yelled at the heavy red head, even Hagrid struggled to suppress his anger. To him, the highlight of the Sorting was watching the awed look of the first year's faces when they first saw the hat. Now that was ruined for them. She might as well go to a Muggle daycare and tell the children that Santa isn't real! (A/N: SPOILER ALERT!)

"Oh, shut it!" The ginger yelled. "My uncle's the Headmaster, you know."

"If the Headmaster's yer uncle, then yer'd know that it's tradition to keep the hat a secret!" The grounds keeper snapped, helping the first students onto the boats.

Leanne sniffed. "But I'm the Girl-Who-Lived!"

Harry turned around and shouted, "Well, we don't care!" His comment was met with a mixture of laughter, cheers, and shocked gasps.

As Hagrid helped Harry onto the boat with Neville, Hermione, and another girl, the half-giant winked in the boy's general direction; he couldn't really make out his face in the dark.

The first years entered the Great Hall in pairs, before crowding around the large teachers table. Many older students looked disappointed and almost saddened by the lack of reaction from the younger children when the hat began to sing. Most stared at the hat, while some let their eyes wander around the magnificent hall. It wasn't until Professor McGonagall began calling names that the hat had their undivided attention.

Harry paid little attention to the first few students, still preferring to study the occupants of the hall. Eventually, McGonagall called out "Hermione Granger!" and the dark haired boy finally tore his eyes away from the ghosts drifting over the four tables.

Everyone watched the pale girl slowly make her way to the aged teacher and sit on the stool. To her shock, the Hat spoke to her, asking the occasional question and responding to her every comment. "Now," the Hat silently asked her. "You would do very well in Ravenclaw, there's no doubting that. But something is telling me that you just wouldn't fit. No, no. You would do much better in … GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry stretched out to give his friend a high-five as she made her way to the Gryffindor table to sit with Lavender Brown, who happened to be the girl who had joined them on the boat ride to the castle. Before he knew it, Harry's name was being called. As the small boy made his way to the front, he noticed the teachers were all muttering among each other. Unsettled, Harry sat on the stool and waited until McGonagall snapped to attention and put the Hat on his head.

It gasped. That's the only way Harry could describe it. "What?" he asked silently. "What's going on?"

The Hat seemed at a loss for words. "Well, this is difficult. I can't say much; that is for your guardians or most likely Mrs. Figg to tell you. Don't worry about it, everything will come to light soon enough, I hope. The only thing I can say is that not everything is what it seems. Now, on to your sorting!" the Hat quickly changed the subject. "You wouldn't do well in Hufflepuff; while you are loyal, you are much too out going to feel comfortable in such a quiet house. You're smart, but not quite enough for Ravenclaw. Slytherin is a good possibility, but something is telling me to put you in GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry beamed and ran to the loudly cheering table, but he did notice some children and many teachers talking amongst themselves. The boy felt uncomfortable; during the other sorting's there had only been cheers for the student. As he sat down beside Hermione, she leaned over to whisper to him. "You were up there for over two minutes."

"The longest I've seen in my five years," added a red-headed boy who was clearly related to Ron and the twins.

Harry sat in deep thought until he was nudged by Hermione when Neville was called. The poor boy sat trembling under the Hat for a moment until it finally announced he was a Gryffindor. The chubby child grinned at his friends as he sat in the space between Harry and the red- headed fifth-year.

As Neville took his seat, Draco Malfoy was called. Harry glanced at the Slytherin table, where he saw the two larger boys who had accosted him and his friends on the train. The dark haired boy turned to the blonde and saw the frightened look on his face.

"Ah, yes. The Malfoy Heir." The Hat whispered in Draco's ear.

The boy sighed. "Oh, just do it already. Put me in Slytherin."

The Hat, well, it didn't exactly shake its head, but somehow Draco knew it was. "Ah, that's the problem child. Yes, that is where your family wants you to go, but I have the final say."

Draco was horrified. "What? But I have to…"

"Yes," the Hat interrupted the boy. "You say you have to, but tell me Draco, do you want to?"

"My parents…"

"I'm not asking what your parents want." The Hat sounded shockingly patient. "You see, I'm split between two houses; you will do well in both, yet you will face similar issues in each. All I need you to do is give me a simple yes or no answer and I can decide. So Draco Malfoy, do you want to be a Slytherin?"

To his surprise, the answer came easily. "No, I don't."

Draco's heart was racing as the Hat called out his house. "GRYFFINDOR!"

All hell broke loose; that's the only way Harry could describe what happened in the Great Hall after the blonde was sorted into Gryffindor. He couldn't tell which house was more pissed; the Gryffindor's and Slytherin's were all yelling at poor Draco. Harry watched as his friend took a few nervous steps behind McGonagall and stood up.

The shouting stopped as Harry made his way to the front of the Hall, followed by the Weasley twins who seemed to know what the first year had in mind. As the three boys approached, McGonagall tried to shield her newest Lion. "Please Professor," Fred began.

"We just want to walk him to the table." George finished as Harry gestured for Draco to follow him.

Shocked by these sudden events, the old woman gently nudged the frightened blonde towards Harry. With a reassuring smile, the dark haired boy led Draco to the table with a twin on either side of him.

After another prolonged silence, McGonagall called the attention back to herself and the Hat. Of course, she knew it would be too much to ask for this to end quickly. "Leanne Potter," she called with a sigh as the students began to talk amongst themselves, again. Ignoring them the best she could, McGonagall placed the Hat on the heavy girl's head.

The Hat seemed to groan as it was placed on the famous girl's head. It had known she was coming for years now and was dreading it. "Alright Miss Potter, I know your no Hufflepuff and certainly you don't belong in Ravenclaw."

"Nor in Slytherin!" She mentally exclaimed, oblivious to the insult the Hat had given her. "I'm no evil snake! I'm a hero!"

The Hat made no comment. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Girl-Who-Lived gave a dramatic bow to the cheering three tables.

A/N: Okay, wow, that took a while. Sorry if the first author's note is disjointed, I was too lazy to change what I have written last week when I typed the first half of the story. I'll be home for a week so I should be able to get the next chapter up soon. If it's not up by Saturday, my classes end about mid-December, so it would be up by then. I swear, it won't be a three month wait this time, the next chapter is written already.

Also, I know that Draco is clearly out of character. I was thinking about the sixth book/movie where he was still arrogant, but he was clearly unhappy. I know there have been stories where the author speculates what would have happened if Harry accepted Draco's offer of friendship, so I thought 'what if it was Harry who offered friendship and Draco accepted?' As for the sorting Hat (I capitalize it because I watch too much Starkid to not consider it a character) the Hat took Harry's opinion into consideration, I can only assume it would or should treat the other children the same way. I also thought the Hat sorted Draco way too fast in canon, it gave everyone else at least a few seconds before they were sorted, yet it barely touched Draco before sending him to Slytherin.

Anyway, sorry for the wait and review.