A/N: I'M BACKKKK!!!

Yep! That's right! I managed to finish all the 10 chapters for this part, though it was much later than I would have liked. I've moved to uni, so it was really hard to find time to write between classes and studies and tests and blah, blah, blah...

But I think I've gotten a pretty good hang of it now, good enough that I can spare a few hours for writing every day and have even more chapters ready so that there isn't a two month long break like this one.

Moving onto some important stuff: There's one major thing I've changed in the last two chapters, and that is the fate of the diary and Lucius.

In this newer version, Dobby doesn't get away with the diary, and Lucius gets arrested. If you want to read it, it's added in chapter 9, but you don't *have to* read it because, you know, I've already mentioned what happens.

In chapter 10, there's a scene where Harry and Ginny talk in her room about Dobby. I've cut that out since it's no longer relevant. Also, I changed up the interlude a bit, but the main content discussed remains mostly the same. The only thing that is added in that conversation is Lucius asking Tom to get him out of prison, and Tom agrees to do it later.

Other than that, nothing except for the location changes.

I'm super excited to be back though! Hopefully y'all enjoy this chapter, and the following ones that cover the first year!

《••••••••••••••••••••》

"SLYTHERIN!"

It took him a moment to process the word, and he felt as if his whole world would crumble when it was clear that this wasn't some joke. Slytherin!? Really? Of all the four houses, the Sorting Hat put him in Slytherin!?

Harry couldn't hear the applause that usually followed the sorting of a student, so he took the hat off and stood up, but Professor McGonagall stopped him before he could run away… somewhere, anywhere. She tapped his robes with her wand and turned them into the Slytherin uniform.

This, more than anything else, made it clear that his sorting was final.

Everyone was staring at him as though they'd never seen anything more shocking. He sought out Ginny's eyes, hoping for some comfort, but she, too, was staring at him with her mouth agape. He looked away before she got a chance to cover it up.

Making his way over to the Slytherin table, he sat down away from everyone else and just hoped this Sorting would be over soon. He couldn't wrap his head around what had happened, couldn't believe it had even happened, but the dozens of green ties staring back at him said otherwise.

"A good mind, and quite unafraid," the Hat had said. "You'd do well in Slytherin. You might even become the very spark that House needs."

He'd tried protesting, but the Hat was adamant in its choice. Somehow thinking that Harry would finally change the way that the rest of the Houses, and even the ones within the House itself, viewed Slytherin and its members. He hadn't wanted this, but the Hat deemed it appropriate anyway.

He should have known something like this would end up happening, but he'd been having so much fun these past weeks, so very consumed by happiness, that he hadn't evern thought it a possibility that they might be separated here.

He could feel eyes on him, but he didn't look up from the table. Why should he? He didn't even care anymore. A dumb, talking piece of fucking leather might have pretty much ruined his friendship with the one and only person who understood him. Ever since he'd met her, it was as if a bright ray of sunshine had entered his otherwise bleak and cold world; a ray of sunshine that probably wouldn't be with him anymore.

A soft rustle of robes made him aware of the fact that someone had taken a seat across from him. He looked up and saw a blond boy with grey eyes staring at him with a friendly smile, offering him a hand to shake. Harry wasn't in the mood to talk, so he quickly shook the boy's hand, hoping he wouldn't ask a question or initiate conversation.

"Hello," the boy said. "My name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Harry's head snapped up in disbelief, his thoughts momentarily forgotten. "Malfoy?"

"Ah, so you've heard of my family, then?"

"I have," Harry replied stiffly. "Your dad got arrested for possession of an illegal object, didn't he?"

Malfoy blinked, an unsurprised expression on his face. He was about to speak, but before he could say anything, Harry heard Professor McGonagall call Ginny up for her Sorting. Harry looked at her, and when she caught his eye, she gave him a nervous smile, one that he tried his best to return, but he wasn't certain whether it came across as a grimace or not.

Whatever it was, it made Ginny smile wider. A wave of relief swept through Harry as he watched her sit down, a determined, blazing look on her face. At least she didn't hate him.

'Good luck,' he mouthed at her, hoping it would help her a bit. She gave him a nod and took a deep breath before McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on her head.

Harry had thought that she would instantly be sorted into Gryffindor, but he was wrong. Her sorting took longer than it did for most students- almost as long as it did for him, actually- but eventually, the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

He clapped for her along with the rest of the Houses, but Ginny seemed disappointed at her Sorting for some reason. She gave him a sad look before slouching over to the Gryffindor table next to Neville. Ron followed his sister in Gryffindor.

A part of Harry felt an ugly pang of jealousy. He wanted to be there at the Gryffindor table with his best friend- and she was his best friend- talking, laughing and doing whatever it was that people his age did.

Instead, he was stuck here with Draco Malfoy, who looked like a ferret and talked through his nose.

"Don't tell me Weasley told you about my father's arrest," Draco replied, scoffing. "That lot can't be trusted. They've always been jealous of what the other families like the Malfoys have. Father will get out soon, you'll see." He shook his head in disgust while Harry resisted the urge to throttle the boy into the table.

"Anyway, it is a pleasure to meet you, finally," Draco was saying now. "Mother has told me so many stories about you, it's hard to believe you're here."

"None of the stories are real," Harry replied, his voice turning into a growl near the end. "What do you want, anyway?"

"You can consider me a friend- " Draco said.

"Not happening," Harry said. He didn't want a new friend. Malfoy would be lucky to be half as good of a friend as Ginny was.

Was…

"But you must have questions," Draco said. "No one to answer them, either. Not to mention show you around."

"Show me around?" He raised an eyebrow. It didn't escape his notice that Draco hadn't actually answered his question, but Harry chose not to call him out on it.

"Yes, well, I imagine it's quite a shock to be sorted here," Draco said. "Especially with everything they say about this house in Diagon Alley."

Harry immediately sat up straighter. "How do you know I stayed in Diagon Alley?" He asked quickly, his mind racing. There was no one else there that knew about him being who he was, other than the Weasleys and Dumbledore and the owner, of course.

"I… didn't," said Draco. "I only assumed you'd have met people because of who you are. Nobe of the… common folk, like Slytherin."

There was something about his tone that Harry didn't like, almost as though he thought that everyone else was beneath him, which wasn't that much of a surprise. He was a Malfoy, after all.

"I just stayed there for a few days," Harry said with a shrug. He decided to turn the tables. "Aren't you a first year as well? How do you think you'll show me around?"

Draco laughed. "I am a first year, but this isn't my first time at Hogwarts," he said with a wink. "I know quite a few passages around the castle."

Harry hummed, ignoring the smug tone in his voice. Dumbledore stood up and gave a few instructions, mostly about not going into the Forbidden Forest, which Harry thought had a name that was a bit on the nose.

Sometime during the instructions, Harry looked at the rest of the Professors, and his eyes locked with Professor Quirrell. His scar suddenly began feeling heavy, and when he wondered at the reason, he felt a small pressure in his head that quickly turned into an ache. He suddenly felt quite frightened, but he had no idea why.

"Are you alright?" He heard Draco ask, and looked away from Quirrell. The ache quickly subsided.

"I am," Harry said, trying to sound calm. "It's just been a long day."

Draco seemed satisfied with that answer and turned back to the Headmaster's speech. Harry, however, was more concerned with whatever the hell it was that set this episode off. Did Quirrell do something to him?

His thoughts were cut off when Dumbledore said the words, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" which caused several plates filled with food to appear on the empty tables, much to Harry's surprise.

"Anyway," Draco said, rolling his eyes at the astonished expressions everyone had dawned, and standing up. "If you want help in Slytherin, just know that I'll be more than happy to oblige."

Harry gave a noncommittal nod, and Draco returned to what Harry assumed was his previous seat, in between two big boys that looked like they could eat the whole table for breakfast.

He looked over to the Gryffindor table, and saw that Ginny was similarly stunned at the food. He caught her eye, and she pointed down at the food, giving a chef's kiss. The weight in his stomach lessened slightly, and he was able to smile back at her. She definitely didn't hate him, he thought, immediately feeling a bit better.

After dinner, the Head Boy and Head Girl as well as the Prefects led the First Years out of the Great Hall and towards the Central Hall, where they were made to stand in rows. The Head Girl started rambling on about House points and the House Cup, and it was all so mind numbingly boring that Harry almost felt like falling asleep where he was standing.

Harry's attention was diverted, however, when he heard a familiar voice whisper, "Merlin, this is such a bore."

Harry almost smiled, but managed not to give himself away this time. "You're telling me," he whispered back. He didn't know how she managed to get here from the opposite side of the hall, but he was glad that she did. "I can't believe you haven't fallen asleep yet."

"Well, I did grow up with Percy." She shrugged. "You get used to it."

As good as it felt, having her beside him for the duration of that boring speech, it was also mildly troublesome, because Ginny kept making rather accurate and hilarious impressions of the Head students, causing him and a few of the others around them to laugh. They somehow managed to not get in trouble, though.

"Think you'll be alright?" Ginny asked him when the Head Boy began talking about directions to the classes for tomorrow.

He knew what Ginny meant, but truth be told, he had no idea what was going to happen so he responded with a shrug. "I hope I am," he replied.

"Well, if anything goes south, you've got me on your side," she assured him with a nod to emphasise her point. He couldn't describe how good it felt to her those words.

"Let me guess, I'm the distraction again?" He asked.

"Naturally," she said as though it was the most obvious answer. He chuckled. It reminded Harry of the times when the two of them would chat endlessly about random nonsense that they saw around the alley. Those times felt like a lifetime ago, yet so close at the same time.

"I tried getting into Slytherin, you know," she whispered a few minutes later.

"What?" Harry asked incredulously, snapping his head towards her. She was staring straight ahead, a frown on her face.

"Yeah," she replied as Harry mimicked her position. "I even tried bribing the Sorting Hat. Just so you know, if you're thinking of threatening it by throwing it into a pit of cockroaches, it won't work."

"Right," Harry replied slowly. He understood why she was upset about her sorting now. "And why would you want to get sorted into Slytherin, again?"

"Because you're my best friend, you dummy," she told him. "I had to try, at least."

And just like that, just with those few words, he felt his anxiety and his fears melt away. A warm glow seemed to have settled in his chest, and he felt himself tear up. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd cried, but he was sure that it wasn't in such happy circumstances.

He did feel infinitely better now, though, but a surge of guilt also made itself known. He should have known better than to doubt her… known better than to assume that she would abandon him, but life had always been so very cruel to him…

"Oh, but it doesn't matter anyway," she said miserably. "That stupid piece of cloth didn't listen and now we're stuck in different Houses, and -"

He interrupted her by taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Thanks," he said with a smile and let go. He was sure that if he was in her place he would have done the same thing, or at least tried to. "You're my best friend too. Just so you know."

She grinned at him, and her eyes lit up in the way they did when she was particularly happy about something. "Well," she said, bumping her shoulder against his. "Lucky you, then."

He barely managed to cover up his snort with a cough.

After the Head students finished their unnecessarily long and drawn out speech, the Slytherin perfects- Adrian Pucey and Flora Carrow- led them down to where the Slytherin common rooms were supposed to be. On the way, he could hear several whispered mutterings of his name, but he paid them no mind.

Soon, they were standing in front of an empty wall with a staircase to the left and a suit of armour to their right. There was a pattern on the floor that looked like a Celtic knot of some sort, only it was made out of something that looked like snake skin. The same thing was used as a border along the sides of the floor.

"Alright," Adrian said. "Stand in a row."

Harry furrowed his brow but walked until he was next to Draco, who nodded at him as if saying hello. It seemed like he was the only one that didn't look at him with anger or hate, something Harry would have appreciated more if it was anyone but a Malfoy.

"I'll keep this short," Adrian continued. "I don't want to see us losing any House Points. We've been winning the House Cup for three consecutive years now, and none of you will jeopardise that by acting like… well, like First years."

"We've worked hard for this," Flora picked up, glaring at each and every one of them. "Any of you mess it up, you'll pay. Understand?"

Everyone other than Harry and Draco meekly nodded, and the prefects seemed satisfied. "The common room will have a password," Flora said. "I will only say this once: the password is Parseltongue."

When she said that word, the snake-like pattern along the edge of the floor started moving and slithered forward, slowly rising up, and forming an archway and revealing a door as it went. Harry raised his eyebrows in fascination as many of the first years gasped.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Flora asked rhetorically. "Well, it's nothing compared to the common room, I assure you." Adrian opened the door and they were led into a small room with a statue of a mermaid right across from them.

The prefects lead them down a spiral staircase to the right. On the way down, they were met with tapestries of several underwater creatures, including the Giant Squid, mermaids, sirens, and a leviathan, according to Flora.

Harry didn't exactly find the Slytherin prefects warm and fuzzy, but they were right about the Slytherin common room. It was absolutely beautiful with several large windows looking into the Black Lake, and a fireplace with several couches around it. The whole room seemed to be decorated primarily in green, but there were other colours as well.

From there, Harry and the rest of the first years made their way up to the dorms. Each student had a separate room, which Harry appreciated because he'd rather not live with people that hated him.

The rooms they were given were pretty good as well. While not the most extravagant, it was a step up from the Dursleys'. With a regular fireplace, a wardrobe, a single bed and a nightstand next to the bed, Harry felt that it was pretty similar to his room at the Leaky as well. The main exceptions being the small window behind the bed that looked into the Black Lake, and the green and silver colour scheme.

On seeing the bed, he felt the day's exhaustion catch up with him, and it didn't take long for him to get ready for bed. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

《••••••••••••••••••••》

"There, look."

"Where?"

"With that Weasley girl."

"Did you see his face?"

"Did you see his scar?"

"I can't believe he got sorted in Slytherin."

"That says a lot about him though, don't you think?"

These were the types of whispers that were following Harry from the moment he entered the Great Hall the morning after the sorting. She could tell that he hated it, and she couldn't blame him; she did too.

A whole day had passed since this started, and Ginny wished they could just put a stop to it soon, because she and Harry were much too late for their Transfiguration class, and they weren't helping. Besides, as much as she didn't want to say it… "We're probably lost."

Harry sighed in frustration, running a hand through his already messy hair. "Why can't we get a map, or signs even?"

Either of those two options would be lifesavers right now. Hogwarts was far too big for her to navigate on memory alone, and the ghosts weren't any help either. A few of them purposely put themselves in Harry's path so that he would walk through them, something that would cause him to feel cold all over.

Just then, Harry- who was walking a few steps ahead- groaned. She caught up to him, turning the corner, and couldn't help but groan herself. They'd reached another dead end.

"Wee Firsties lost, are we?" A voice asked from behind them.

Turning around, Ginny caught sight of a figure rising up through the ground. It looked like a little man with wickedly slanted, orange eyes, dressed in loud, outlandish clothes including a bell-covered hat and an orange bow tie. He had black hair and compared to the Hogwarts ghosts, he was solid-looking, not pearly white and transparent.

"Who are you?" Ginny asked

"The name's Peeves." He bowed, and let out a giggle. "Peeves the Poltergeist."

Ginny furrowed her brow. She had heard the name before, but she couldn't remember from whom. Before she could think on it though, Harry opened his mouth.

"Could you tell us how to get to the Transfiguration classroom?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Peeves replied, giggling again. "All you have to do, is head down to the Library, and take the staircase to the right side of the Central Hall, and climb up to the Third Floor corridor -"

"E- enough, Pe- eves," someone said.

She and Harry turned around, and she saw his eyes widen in surprise and recognition. "Professor Quirrell?"

She remembered the man from the sorting ceremony last night, but she wasn't sure why Harry seemed to know him better than that. "I will l- lead you both t- to the Transfiguration classr- room. Peeves, I will b- be informing the Headm- master abou -"

They'd never know what Quirrell was going to say next, because Peeves flew right into the older man's face and blew a raspberry, causing the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor to shriek and frantically bat him away with his hands. He tripped on his own feet and fell.

"H- have a fu- u- u- un fi- first day, FIRSTIES!" Peeves' cackles echoed throughout the hallway as he flew away. She looked at Harry, and saw him looking as bewildered as she felt.

A whimper drew her attention, and she glanced down at Professor Quirrell, who was now laying on the ground. If this was their Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor, she wondered if he'd actually be able to teach them anything, or if they'd have to learn for themselves by doing exactly the opposite of whatever he did.

He got up just after a few moments, and dusted himself off as though he hadn't just fallen over in fear of a Poltergeist. "A- are you both al- alright?" He asked.

"Are you?" She replied.

"Oh, o- of course." He waved a hand dismissively. "Not e- even a scratch. Thank you f- for asking."

"Sure," Harry said slowly. "Anyway, it was nice seeing you, Professor." He took her arm and practically dragged him away from the scene.

"Wait!" Professor Quirrell called out. He caught up to them, huffing and puffing. "D- don't you want a- an escort to t- the Transfiguration classr- room?"

"Not really, no," Harry said quickly before Ginny could say yes. "I think we can find it ourselves. Right, Ginny?"

"Yeah, of course," she said. She wasn't sure what was going on, but Harry clearly seemed agitated, and wanted nothing more than to get out of here.

"The T- transfiguration c-classroom is o- on the Second Floor from the s- staircase to the l- left," Quirrell provided as Harry and Ginny began walking away.

"Thank you," she and Harry said at the same time and Harry began speed walking away. She just barely caught up to him, out of Quirrell's line of sight, when he began running.

"Wait!" She called after him. "What's wrong?"

Harry slowed down a little and it didn't take long for her to catch up. "It's Quirrell," he said, peeking behind her shoulder but not stopping. "I don't trust him."

Ginny furrowed her brow, and then he began explaining how it was Professor Quirrell that had sent him to the Sting for the book on Wandless Magic, and how he'd felt a sharp ache in his head everytime he met Quirrell's eyes.

"I think he did something to me," Harry said, swallowing. "Or maybe he knows something."

"Harry, I believe you, but…" she trailed off, and Harry glanced at her questioningly. "But wasn't Quirrell appointed by Professor Dumbledore? Surely he would have known?"

She could tell that it made sense to him. "Yes, but," he paused, seemingly lost in thought. "I don't know, Gin, it always seems to happen when he's around."

"Gin?" She asked, smiling. If it was literally anyone else, she would have Hexed them back to Merlin's time, but coming from him… she didn't mind it.

"Sorry?"

"You called me that just now…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Er… right," Harry said, looking panicked. "Sorry I -"

"I like it -" she said at the same time. She blushed again (ugh). Why was this so embarresing?

"I'll… I'll keep it in mind," he said, smiling slightly as his cheeks turned pink.

"Anyway," she said, quickly bringing the conversation back on track. "You said you first saw him in Diagon Alley, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, furrowing his brow. Suddenly, he groaned and clutched his head again.

"Harry?" She put a hand on his shoulder when his face crumpled in pain.

"M'fine," he replied, shaking his head. She dropped her hand. She looked around for Quirrell, but he wasn't here so it couldn't have been because of him.

"What happened?"

"Headache."

"Quirrell isn't here, though," she said.

He shook his head. "This wasn't a Quirrell headache," he said. "This has been happening ever since…" he trailed off because the bell rang just then. They would be late for Transfiguration! "I'll tell you later."

She agreed and they ran towards where Quirrell had told them the Transfiguration classroom was. On the way, a painting confirmed Quirrell's directions, and they began running even faster.

They still managed to be late, and Professor McGonagall wasn't pleased with either of them. Thankfully, she didn't take any points off, but they did get a warning.

Transfiguration was cool, but also quite weird. McGonagall had explained how it would work, and gave them a demonstration by Transfiguring a desk into a pig, and then back again, but they'd been made to Transfigure a matchstick into a needle, of all things.

Truthfully, she couldn't recall the last time she needed a needle, and she didn't even know if there would be a time where she would need one. She didn't dare tell this to Professor McGonagall, though.

Still, she tried her hardest, mostly because Harry was trying his hardest, which made sense because he loved everything to do with Magic, even the useless stuff. She also didn't want to be known as the Girl-Who-Was-Lazy.

By the end of the class, however, no one had managed a full Transfiguration. McGonagall didn't seem that surprised. There were only a handful of students who could do it in the first class apparently.

Charms, however… Oh, that was where the real fun was. If in some twisted, warped reality, she ever thought of becoming a teacher, she hoped she would be like little Professor Flitwick.

They were taught the most basic version of a Levitation Charm: Levioso, which caused an object to levitate in place for a while. Everyone was able to get it within a few minutes. Neville was so enthusiastic about it that he managed to accidentally levitate the book Professor Flitwick was standing on.

As fun as it was, though, there were a fair share of bad things as well. For starters, seeing Harry Potter in the classroom did absolutely nothing to stop the gossip, some flattering, others… not so much. Unfortunately, Harry's mind seemed to be stuck on the negative side of the gossip. Some people didn't even bother to hide their disdain as they passed him in the hallways.

"I hate this house," Harry said, moments after a Cormac McLaggen tried to bump into him. "I hate ballsack McLaggen. I hate that Draco still wants to be friends with me for some reason. And I hate that everyone stares at me like I'm a fucking ZOO ANIMAL!"

He snarled the last part at a group of happy looking first year Ravenclaws that pointed at him. She winced as said group scurried away in fright upon seeing the glare he levelled at them.

"Mr. Potter!" The scandalised voice of Professor McGonagall sounded behind them, and they whirled around in surprised. "Explain yourselves! Both of you!"

"Ask them," Harry waved his arm at everyone else, causing them to quickly walk away, "to stop staring at me for no reason."

Professor McGonagall's face softened a little bit. "I understand how difficult this must be for you," she said. Harry grunted and folded his arms. "I do," she insisted. "But that is no reason to take your anger out on others. That only makes things worse, trust me."

Harry just looked at the ground. "Can we go now?" He asked. Professor McGonagall sighed through her nostrils, her lips pursed into a thin line.

"He won't do it again, Professor," Ginny quickly replied before Harry could dig himself further into a hole. She put on her best confident smile. Thank you, Fred and George. "Right, Harry?"

To his credit, Harry gave a contrite nod. "See that you don't," Professor McGonagall said, nodding. "I will have to take ten points from Slytherin, and it will be more unless you get a hold of that temper." They watched McGonagall walk out of hearing range before he spoke again.

"I still hate this house."

"It's not all bad," she said in an attempt to cheer him up. He seemed absolutely baffled at her words. "Don't get me wrong, it's horrible what happened, and it's horrible that everyone keeps staring at you, that you were put into Slytherin, and don't even get me started on the fact that you have to live in an underground, crazy apocalypse bunker- "

"It's not an apocalypse bunker." Harry rolled his eyes. "It's actually very pretty- how do you know what an apocalypse bunker is anyway?"

"Dad told us," Ginny said. "But, see, there are some good things."

"You just called it an apocalypse bunker!"

"My point still stands, though."

"Alright," Harry replied, turning so that he was facing her fully. "Let's hear it, what else is so good about me being in Slytherin?"

"We'll have access to the Dungeons," she pointed out. She thought he'd realise how big of a deal that was, because even Fred and George didn't have access to the Dungeons. That, and they were actual Dungeons.

"And?" He asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

"And Fred and George told me stories about them," Ginny explained in a conspiratorial whisper. "Apparently there's loads of scary stuff there."

His interest was piqued now, she could tell. "Scary stuff?" He whispered in the same tone. Ginny nodded slowly, seeming glad that it had dawned on him.

"I shivered when I first heard about it," she said, performing a fake, exaggerated attempt at one to accentuate her point.

"You weren't scared?"

"Of course not. I don't get scared."

"Right. So, it wasn't you that screamed at the sight of a cockroach- "

"Yeah, let's not talk about that ever again," Ginny quickly interrupted him. Her heart soared when she heard Harry laugh for the first time that day. "Besides, it was a whole group of cockroaches," she couldn't help but add. She had to defend her pride, after all. Harry laughed again.

Potions, their last class for the day, was the complete opposite. The Dungeons were cold, and the lingering smells of Potion fumes disgusting. The whole thing was only made worse by the presence of the oily skinned, greasy haired Dungeon bat: the head of the Slytherin house, Severus Snape.

He seemed to hate Harry, and even her for some reason.

She couldn't understand it, so she resorted to calling him ugly nicknames when he wasn't looking. She knew that he took points from the Twins for no reason, and even Percy didn't have a kind word to say about him, but this was ridiculous.

Harry mostly managed to ignore him (she was seriously considering asking him to teach her that too) so he moved on to Neville and Ron. The amount of points he took from them were worrying, really. He took them from her too, but not as much. Harry, however, had lost none.

"I wish Professor McGonagall was biased like Snape," Ginny grumbled. "Can you imagine the amount of points Gryffindor would get?"

"I can also imagine her ripping into me for the smallest of reasons," Harry replied, clearing his throat. "Mr. Potter, five points from Slytherin for that horrible attempt at Transfiguration."

Ginny laughed. "You'd make a good Snape," she told him. "But I reckon he'd take points off you for it."

"Only if he ever found out," Harry said, shrugging. "Besides, I think he's biased enough that he'd just end up taking points off you instead."

"What? Like this? Miss Weasley," she began, doing her impression of Snape. "Ten points from Gryffindor for talking too loud."

He smiled, biting his lip. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for breathing too loud."

"A hundred for having red hair."

"Three hundred for wearing size one shoes."

"I don't have size one shoes, you donut," she pursed her lips.

"No?" He cocked his head. "Well, you're so little, I thought -"

"Little!?" She exclaimed in an outraged whisper.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said as he walked by. "For talking louder than necessary."

Her anger practically evaporated as she fought to hold her laugh in. Never, in all her life, did she have to try this hard to do it. It wasn't easy either, and looking at Harry certainly didn't help.

"You know," Harry began a few minutes later. "I think it could be a fun experiment, seeing how much I can rile Snape up before he finally takes points from me."

Her jaw dropped open. "Oh, that would be perfect!" She exclaimed in a whisper.

"Do enlighten us," Professor Snape said, stepping in front this time. How on earth did he do that!? "What would be so perfect?"

"Following the instructions on the board," Harry said immediately.

Snape blinked. "Were you not doing so before? Are you so arrogant as to believe you can brew a potion without -"

"Well it's a bit hard to see the board, isn't it?" Harry interrupted him, shrugging. "What with all this smoke here. So we thought we'd use the book, but it isn't turning out like we want it to." They hadn't actually used the book, but she thought it was a genius lie.

"Indeed," Snape said, peeking into their cauldron. "What is this monstrosity you've created? This must be one of the worst attempts -"

He was interrupted by a loud boom as their Potion flew straight up out of the cauldron like a pillar of liquid, coating the ceiling above in a dark, lilac colour. It surprisingly didn't fall down. She looked down from the ceiling to see a livid bat- er, Snape glaring at them.

"FIFTY POINTS!" Snape said, his breath coming in harsh pants.

"Thank you, sir," Harry muttered. She bit her lips shut. Was he trying to get himself murdered in his sleep?

"Excuse me?" Snape muttered in an icy tone.

"What?" He raised his eyebrows, the poster of boy of innocence.

Snape somehow grew redder as he took a step towards them and leaned over their desk, looking menacing. Ginny thought that a vein in his forehead would actually burst. The effect was cut short when a glob of thick, lilac sludge fell on top of Snape with a soft squelch.

The silence in the room was loud. She could hear the low flickering of flames under the Cauldron, the sound of people breathing, and the tiny sploshing sounds as the lilac sludge dripped down from the ceiling, all the while Snape seemed to be panting even harder. She felt as though she was witnessing the calm before the storm.

"Napkin, Professor?" Harry offered. Those words shattered the calm like glass.

"OUTSIDE!" Snape snarled. "ALL OF YOU! GET OUT!"

She and Harry wasted no time in getting out, and the moment they were outside, Harry burst out laughing and she joined in as the two of them ran as far as they could.

"Napkin!?" She gasped out. "How did you even think of that?"

"I always wanted to do something like this to Vernon," he said when he was calm enough, and laughed again. "I've been planning this for ages."

"Who's Vernon?"

His laughter stopped, and for a moment, his eyes went slightly wide. "Just my old Math teacher at the Muggle school." He shrugged. "He was worse than Snape."

Harry was lying, she could tell. She wanted to know why- she didn't think they were the kind of friends to lie to one another. But then, maybe being a good friend meant trusting he'd tell her eventually. Besides, he was in a better mood than he had been in all day, and she didn't want to ruin it, which was why she let it go.

She supposed it was a good thing she did, because his good mood carried on throughout the rest of the week. The whispers and the Slytherins were still annoying, and Snape being even more unfair, but he managed to not let it get to him. It helped that the two of them managed to make a joke out of it all.

The only new bad news they'd discovered was that out of their seven classes, Gryffindors and Slytherins only shared four: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Defence Against the Dark Arts. Every other lesson was exhausting to get through.

At the end of the first week at Hogwarts, there was a notice for a flying class at Hogwarts. Ginny didn't think there was a single student that wasn't excited at the idea, and a lot of the children raised in magical families began boasting about how they'd been flying on brooms since the ages of six or seven or eight, depending on who was telling the story.

Ron told them about 'that one time' he flew so high that he almost ran into a Muggle helicopter. The twins almost called him out on his lie, but Ginny didn't let them, instead relishing the look on people's faces when she, Ron and Harry explained what a helicopter was.

To her relief, Gryffindors and Slytherins shared the flying class. It sounded like a recipe for disaster, really, but it also meant that she and Harry would have a front row seat for the drama. Seeing as she already knew how to fly, this wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining otherwise.

The morning of the flying class, the Gryffindors and Slytherins were all made to report straight to the Quidditch Pitch. There were several brooms lined up on a rack, and Ginny raced to grab two of the best ones she could find: a Nimbus 1870, and a Stormshaft III, the latter of which was an ancient broom that had released a century before she was born, which was also the reason she wanted to try it out.

Their instructor was a hawk-like woman with yellow eyes named Madam Hooch, who seemed like she knew her stuff. She told them all to line up, place their brooms to the side and say, "Up!"

Ginny furrowed her brow. This was different to how she'd learned to fly, but she complied anyway. Several brooms simply rolled over, as did hers, but Harry was the first one to get into his hand.

He gave her a mischievous smirk, which made her suspect that he'd used Wandless Magic. Sure enough, when she followed her suspicions and mouthed, 'Magic?' he seemed a step away from bursting out laughing.

She huffed, and got back to work, managing to do it in two more tries. Hooch then instructed them how to levitate in place, and those who had a good handle on it were allowed to go back and forth, and then fly around the pitch.

Harry immediately sped off, and Ginny raced to catch up with him. Despite being ancient, the Stormshaft was quite a fast broom, so she didn't have any trouble there.

"Cheater!" She yelled over the sound of the wind. Harry just laughed in response. "How long till I can do that?"

"I'll tell you when you can levitate a feather for a minute -"

"I can already do that!"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed. "You can barely do half a minute," he told her.

"Feels like a bloody minute," she muttered, and it was true. Harry had failed to mention exactly how taxing Wandless Magic was. But Ginny Weasley wasn't a quitter, most of the time.

"I get it," he told her. "It took me a while to get it too," he said for the… was it the 6th, or the 8th time? She'd lost count.

"Harry," she said, "if I hear you say that one more time -"

"Alright, alright." He laughed. He opened his mouth again, but they were cut off by a piercing whistle. Madam Hooch was calling everyone down.

Neville had ended up falling from a high place and had broken his arm. Madam Hooch was taking him to the hospital wing and she had told them all not to fly without her supervision.

There was a silence on the pitch as everyone watched Hooch go away with Neville in tow, sniffing. The moment she was out of hearing range, however, someone started cackling.

"Did you see his face, that great lump?" A nasally voice asked, and Ginny turned to see the rest of the Slytherin first years, except Draco Malfoy, surprisingly, crack up again.

The nasally voice seemed to belong to Pansy Parkinson, who had a small glass ball in her hand. "That's Neville's Remembrall!" Ron cried. "Give it back!"

"Ooooh, what will Weasley do?" Parkinson tossed the ball up and down in her hand. Harry made an annoyed sound beside her and she looked at him to see his hand open below his waist.

"Are you trying to summon the Remembrall away from her?" She asked, and Harry nodded. She realised that he must not have known how to summon a moving object.

Ron charged Parkinson, but Crabbe and Goyle blocked his way and pushed him on his back, laughing. A boiling hot burst of anger gripped her, and she began walking forward before she was even aware of what she was doing.

"Hey!" She shouted, drawing her Wand out. She shot two Stinging Jinxes, one each at Crabbe and Goyle's feet, causing them to yowl and jump away.

She stopped when she reached Parkinson, holding her hand out for the Remembrall. "Give. It," she intoned.

Parkinson seemed dumbfounded but she quickly regained her composure. "Take it, then." She held it out, but just as Ginny reached for it, Parkinson tossed it away to Harry, who caught it deftly. "Come on, Potter, loosen up a bit."

Ginny burst out laughing.

He inspected the Remembrall, pocketed it, and began walking away to the edge of the pitch. She shook her head and began making her way towards him. Parkinson seemed beyond livid as the Gryffindors began laughing along.

Harry heaved a happy sigh as he returned Parkinson's glare with a two fingered salute. "I think I found my purpose in Slytherin."

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A/N: Soooooo? How was it? I'd love to hear what y'all thought about this chapter in the comments! Thanks for reading!