Summary of the last chapter:

One evening after exiting the library, the three friends are chased by Peeves, who throws raw eggs at them. They flee and try to shake him off, and accidentally land in the forbidden room on the third floor. They are shocked to come face to face with Fluffy, who Harry remembers is Hagrid's three-headed dog, who likes music. Later, when safely back in their beds, Tom tells Harry that the Cerberus was guarding a trapdoor. Harry marvels how Tom always manages to keep his cool in situations, and Tom thinks it's because he's rather dispassionate for some reason.

A/N: Thank you, Ari and Amber for your suggestions! I have found the perfect Patronus for Harry and Tom, and I think you will be pleased. Also thanks to Frank! BTY, I totally agree with Admiral Gorshkov in this. This problems, regrettably, are ongoing.

Socializing with Snakes

Time flew by and Harry realized that he and Tom had been at Hogwarts for almost two months now. They knew where all the classrooms were, which staircases led to them on a given day, and which steps to avoid while climbing them. They knew most of their classmates' names and blood status (something that still vexed Harry, but it was hard not to know when it was deemed so important by his housemates) and what was for dinner every second Friday.

They had found a certain rhythm which allowed them a bit more leisure time – although that was something Tom ascribed to their organisation skills, as not everybody seemed to profit from it. Neville still struggled with having all of his homework ready bythe time it was due – not because he was lazy, but because he was a bit disorganized and forgetful. Hermione had finally drawn up colour-coded schedules for him, which Neville greatly appreciated and followed religiously. He was much less stressed out after that and got better grades on his assignments, too.

Harry was happy to hang out with the two kids whose acquaintance he had made on the train. Hermione especially shared his interests in reading, learning and discussing his findings, and Neville was just kind and good-natured and generally nice to hang out with. He introduced them to Hagrid, Fang and Marvolo (all of whom had intimidated Neville greatly at first, but he eventually warmed up to them). Often after lessons, they went down to Hagrid's hut for a cup of tea and a rock cake (which always had to be soaked to become edible).

Harry was happy to share time with his three companions, but Tom insisted he should try and make friends within his own house as well, or at least socialize with them. It was not something Harry was really keen on doing – he had always been self-sufficient, especially since he had Tom and didn't feel like he needed anybody else.

But Tom pointed out that it was important to have allies, especially since Harry still didn't understand what forces had steered his life up to now, and why. If he wanted to become independent and take control (at least to the degree possible while he was still a child), he needed power, and beside knowledge, that meant a network. He would have to live with the people in his house for the next seven years, and Tom found it important that he knew about their strengths and weaknesses.

It seemed like a politician's approach, and if there was one thing Harry certainly didn't want to become, it was that. But Tom seemed to have ambitions. Provided he ever found himself in his own body, he wanted to replace Dumbledore as headmaster and make this school a more secure, competent and efficient learning environment. So Harry obliged him by trying to get to know his fellow housemates, though Tom didn't fully agree with his methods.

Harry approached them with openness, revealing things about himself to get them to respond in a similar manner. Tom thought it was like presenting his belly to potential scavengers and not something anyone with half a sense of self-preservation should do. According to the distrustful boy in his head, Harry wasn't subtle enough in his approach, not at all cunning in the way he dealt with his fellow Slytherins. But Harry had no idea how to be cunning and subtle – it was Tom who had wanted to be in Slytherin and who probably fit in there. Harry would probably have fitted much better in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.

The only one who seemed intrigued by his approach rather than being wary of it was Blaise Zabini. The half Italian boy had introduced Harry to wizarding chess. Harry and Tom, who had both never played chess before, were fascinated by the game itself and by the animated chess pieces, who would often give unsolicited advice. At first, Harry listened to them, but soon found out that the pieces had no idea about the game in general and no interest in the common aim, which was winning. They only sought to be moved as often as possible during the game, as each deemed itself the most important piece on the board, but they didn't like being put in peril. Blaise was very good at the game, but more importantly, he was also a good and patient instructor. They got into the habit of playing chess every evening in the common room, and soon the duration of their games increased, as Harry wasn't defeated within mere minutes anymore. He still always lost, but he also learned quite a bit during every game, as Blaise always pointed out the mistakes he had made and suggested better alternatives to his moves.

They didn't talk about anything but the game, but it was a pleasant pastime and Harry felt comfortable with Blaise. His other housemates (and that was to say the first years, as he had no contact at all with the older ones) seemed confused about his 'unslytherinness.' They mistrusted his honesty, not daring to take it at face value. They kept searching for hidden motives, but kept coming up empty-handed. Harry thought it might have been much easier to make friends with them if he could give them something that pointed to a hidden agenda, just so they could rest in the assurance that they had him pegged.

Draco was the most difficult to deal with. He had a very high opinion of himself and claimed a leading position among the Slytherin first years. It wasn't like Harry contested his role, he just failed to see why they needed a spokesperson in the first place and therefore refused to behave like a minion. He was happy to let everybody just do their thing, as long as it didn't interfere with his own freedom. His unwillingness to establish himself as a leader while at the same time not really recognizing Draco in this role had the Malfoy heir at a loss at how to deal with him. Basically, he had opted to tread with caution, swaying between trying to make an ally out of Harry and trying to isolate him from others.

Making friends with Draco – or at least being on amiable terms with him, which was basically what Harry was trying to do – wasn't easy though. He was so full of himself, always bragged about his family's money and influence and often spouted vitriol about Muggleborns. When Harry inquired what exactly it was he objected to and why, Draco didn't really have an answer and descended into vagueness, spouting baseless prejudices and generalities that people often repeated but never ever questioned. Given that he had no arguments to support some of the nonsense he carelessly threw out there, he never looked good when Harry put him on the spot and forced him to defend his position. Like having him explain why Hermione Granger was at the top of all her classes when she supposedly was an inferior witch with weak magic. Or how Muggles had managed to land on the moon if they were so backwards and incompetent as Draco claimed.

Tom found great amusement in these discussions with Draco and provided valuable arguments. Draco, however, didn't like that at all, which at least made him more careful about what he said in Harry's presence, especially as far as Hermione was concerned.

"You know, Draco might be wrong about why Hermione Granger is insufferable, but she really is," remarked Tom after another transfiguration class which they shared with the Ravenclaws. "Why does she always have to show off in such annoying fashion – waving her hand in the air at every question and almost jumping out of her seat? It's off-putting and doesn't even gain her sympathy with the teachers. Snape looks at her like he just ate lemons whenever he sees her in the hallways."

"That's how he looks at everyone."

"He calls her an insufferable know-it-all. It's all over Hogwarts."

Tom was right, Hermione hadn't made any friends aside from Harry and Neville, the good-natured, gentle boy who was nice to everybody. Ron Weasley was especially vocal in his dislike of her, which put him right at the top of Harry's shit list. After having been (however politely) rebuffed by Harry in Potions, Ron seemed to have taken a dislike to Harry as well. Well, he had probably not endeared himself to Ron by introducing himself as James Bond that first evening at Hogwarts – it had been meant as a joke, but he might have taken it wrongly and thought Harry had wanted to ridicule him. Besides, Harry was a Slytherin and Ron seemed to dislike those by default. The fact that Hermione often hung out with him might have played a role in making her a target for his disdain as well.

On Halloween, she unfortunately overheard a particularly nasty remark Ron had made behind her back after she had corrected him in Charms, and had run away in haste – and, as Harry suspected, in tears. He grew concerned when she didn't turn up for the last class of the day, which he again shared with the Ravenclaws.

"Where is Hermione?" he asked Padme, who he knew shared her dorm. The Halloween feast was to begin shortly, and Hermione surely didn't want to miss it?

"Hiding in the girls' loo on the third floor and wanting to be left alone. Or at least that's what she quite rudely told me when I happened upon her there."

Harry knew that Hermione was not close to her dorm mates and thus wasn't surprised that she hadn't confided in Padme. And honestly, most Ravenclaws, from what Harry had witnessed, weren't the most comforting type of people. They tended to narrow in and analyse a problem and then engage in discussions about potential solutions, but simply offering a silent ear or expressing sympathy was not something one could expect from a Ravenclaw.

As he considered himself her friend, Harry set off to the third floor girls' bathroom, which luckily was empty – apart from the closed door in the cubicle the furthest away from the door, from where the occasional sob could be heard.

"Hermione?" he asked tentatively. "It's Harry. You really have me worried now, you've been in here for hours. Won't you at least come to the library with me instead of sitting here in the loo? It can't be comfortable."

"Madame Pince will kick me out of there with all the noise I'm making," sniffled Hermione, but at least opened the door. She looked pitiful, her eyes red and swollen, her hair even more in disarray than usual, and her tie askew. The sleeve that she had apparently been using to wipe her tears was wet. Her lap was covered with paper towels she had wiped her nose with. She stood up shamefaced and dropped them in the toilet.

Harry wanted to say something helpful and comforting, but drew a blank. "Care to help me out here?" he asked Tom, who had been suspiciously silent since Harry had started his mission.

"Don't ask me, I have no more idea how to deal with crying girls than you do. She's your friend."

Harry sighed. Looked like he was alone in this.

"Go and wash your face, you'll feel better after that," he suggested, remembering that he had always wished for a bucket of cold water after an especially bad bout of crying in his closet.

"I look a right fright," Hermione said when she stood in front of the mirror. "Just like the harridan they say I am."

"You're not a harridan. You're just … resolute, frighteningly competent and hard not to notice," Harry offered. "Ron has a problem with jealousy. He was just upset that you managed to float your feather so easily while he struggled."

"I only meant to help," said Hermione, tears again forming in her eyes. "What did I do wrong?"

Harry sighed. Looked like he had to go all Ravenclaw on her despite his best intentions, but she had asked. "It's not what you do, but how it comes across," he tried to explain. "Ron probably felt belittled and feared to look incompetent the way you pointed out his mistake. People don't react kindly to that. Maybe you should just wait until people ask for your help, and not offer advice that is unsolicited."

"He might not even have noticed that he needed advice. He kept saying it wrong."

"Even so. Your telling him called attention to his mistake, making him feel ashamed. That's why he felt the need to lash out and reestablish his dignity." At least, that's how Tom had interpreted what had happened in Charms, and Harry found it convincing. "I'm not saying it was right, or even successful. But you often rub people the wrong way because you sort of blatantly display your often better knowledge."

Hermione was silent but she seemed to acknowledge his words and think about what Harry had said.

"The same applies to your hand-raising in class," Harry added, reluctantly. He didn't mean to offend her, but she really seemed oblivious to how it came across, and it was causing her troubles not only with Slytherins. "It makes others feel and look stupid if you can answer every question without even having to think about it for a moment. It's kind of frustrating, too. And some people seem to think you do it on purpose – demonstrating how superior you feel."

"But that's not what I feel at all!" protested Hermione. "Quite the contrary! I work so hard to be able to keep up with everybody else. Most of our classmates have lived in the wizarding world their entire lives! I thought they must already know most of the things the professors ask us anyway."

"But wouldn't they raise their hands if that was the case?" asked Harry, confused by her apparent lack of logic.

"I thought the questions were just beneath their dignity, too trivial to even deem them with an answer."

"But why would the teachers ask us questions so simple that everybody knows the answer already?"

"Well, not everybody, just those not raised in the wizarding world. I just wanted to show that I'm making an effort to keep up."

Harry shook his head in astonishment and disbelief. "Hermione – I'm sure that's not at all what's happening. I'm reading a little ahead in all my lessons, and I still can't answer all the questions the professors raise in class. Sometimes, however, those questions allow me to make connections or to deduce something because I've read something similar. They make me think and are helpful to put me on the right path of thinking. But I need time to make these connection, to recall things I read and put that in context. It's not something people just shake out of their sleeves, like you seem to be able to. You're not behind anybody. You're obviously leagues ahead."

Hermione looked at him like she had just had an epiphany. "Really?" she asked, wanting to confirm the idea she had obviously not ever entertained before. "But in all the books I read it was subtly hinted at – if not openly implied – that Muggleborns struggle with magic that comes easy to pure-bloods."

"Well, If you ask me, that's a load of bullshit. On average, they might take longer to grasp some things, as they are totally new to them. But obviously, many things are new to kids from wizarding families as well, otherwise Ron wouldn't be struggling with his levitation charm, and Neville wouldn't botch up his potions. You know, I'm always using you as an example to shut up Malfoy when he starts this pure-blood supremacy nonsense. He doesn't know how to counter that."

Hermione smiled despite her still somewhat misty eyes. "Thank you, Harry. I really had never considered this as a possibility. I see what you mean, though. And I'll try to tone down my participation in class, though it might be hard. I have a strong urge to answer if I'm asked a question …"

Harry grinned. "So I'd noticed."

Hermione washed her face and tried to put her hair back into a semblance of order. "I'm actually quite hungry now. Is it time for dinner yet?"

"If we go down now, we'll make it just in time for the Halloween feast."