Draco felt like he was experiencing an important rite of passage, as he stepped over the threshold, into the Slytherin common room. Being sorted had been a relief, but entering the viper's den was a homecoming. He knew, without a doubt, that he was making his Malfoy and Black ancestors proud.
Even his mother's disowned blood traitor sister had been a Slytherin; to be anything else would have been an utter disgrace. He could hardly wait for the chance to earn a coveted nod of approval from Grandfather Abraxas' portrait, over the Christmas holidays.
The entire student body of Slytherin was crammed into the common room, waiting expectantly. Draco looked around, trying to see what was supposed to happen next, but he couldn't see much. Next to him, Harry was starting to breathe heavily. Draco wondered if he didn't like crowds, or if he was maybe claustrophobic.
Terrence Higgs jumped gracefully up onto the sturdy coffee table near the hearth, and held up his hands, to call for silence. Draco had to admire his natural leadership. He had heard rumors that Higgs had been offered the captaincy of the quidditch team first, but had turned it down to focus on his NEWTS and prefect duties. Draco could see how he would have been a good choice, regardless of whether those rumors were true, and even though he was glad that Marcus had gotten the title.
"Welcome to a new year in Slytherin!" Higgs announced, triggering a cacophony of cheers. "Most of you know who I am; my name is Terrence Higgs, and I am the Slytherin quidditch team's seeker, your male seventh year prefect, and your new Head Boy!"
The older year students whooped and applauded loudly at having a friend and Slytherin Head Boy for the school, while the younger years clapped politely.
"He should have said something, on the train," Draco mumbled to Harry, who was clapping and grinning, but paused long enough to offer Draco a consolatory nod.
"Slytherin is the house of cunning and ambition, and we have house rules to reflect that. Number One: never antagonize a fellow Slytherin outside of these walls. I don't expect us all to be best friends in here, our house practically wrote the book on rivalry and cutthroat competition, after all, but as far as the rest of the school is concerned, we are a single unit. Is that understood?"
The students nodded, but Draco could tell that a good portion of them were less than sincere.
"We have an interesting crop of first years, this year, and I will not tolerate us growing weak and divided in the public's eye. As the great Salazar Slytherin himself once said, 'only a fool believes that he can reach the pinnacle of his ambition, on his own.'
"Outsiders fear Slytherin. Outsiders loathe Slytherin. Outsiders misunderstand Slytherin. Outsiders have set the paradigm of Slytherin vs. the world. We know the truth, but we are happy to oblige these fantasies, when it suits us. And it suits us to be strong, united. Undivided. If you see a Slytherin being harassed in the halls, you back them up. If you see a Slytherin lost on their way to class, you point them in the right direction. If you see a Slytherin falling behind in class, you offer them tutoring, or take them to someone who can.
"We hold true to the ideals of cunning and ambition. Amongst our parents reside some of the most influential politicians, the brightest healers, the most tenacious solicitors, and the savviest investors. They did not achieve these things alone. They built up networks and partnerships to last them for a lifetime. I expect you all to do the same.
"Rule Number Two: never lose us more house points than you gain. Prefect Gibbon and I have devised a method of keeping track of points won and lost for each of you, including a breakdown of the reasons why. If you are picking unnecessary fights, stop. If you are falling behind academically, seek help. If you are getting busted breaking the school rules, follow the rules, or don't get caught."
A lot of the older students rolled their eyes at this, low grumbles breaking out within the crowd. Draco would be posturing his own dismissal Higg's latest entreaty, if it wasn't for Harry standing beside him. As it was, he was on his best behavior, and he was happy to see that Pansy, Greengrass, Greg, and Theo were, too.
Vincent had his hands balled into fists, with an obstinate look on his face. Draco knew he would start a fight with someone the first chance he got, and only hoped that the boy would stick to his agreement to leave off Harry. Zabini was looking around the room with contemptuous distain, and Draco could not figure out who it was directed against, or why. Davis just looked bored, and Bulstrode was standing so far back into the corner of the room, that Draco could not get a proper look at what she was doing. Harry, much to Draco's amusement, looked both awed an overwhelmed at the speech.
"There is no excuse for us to not get the House Cup again, this year," Higgs continued. "Finally, number three: cunning and ambition are always to be rewarded. We don't want to be good. We won't even settle for great. We want to be the best. Act like it. Strive for it. Never, under any circumstances, pressure a fellow snake away from it.
"Now, break into groups, by year, and wait for a prefect to come quiz you. No snake left behind!"
"No snake left behind!" came the echoing cheer.
Students keeps looking at Harry, as the first years huddled together. Draco tried to keep track of who was acting like a threat. He had known all along that being Harry's friend would be tricky; it would be a calculated risk. He knew that a lot of the pure blood families were unsure what to make of the Boy-Who-Lived. A lot of them admired what the Dark Lord had wanted to achieve, even if they had never gone so far as to be Marked. Even if they'd never shed blood.
Harry had disrupted a lot of people's plans for the future, and thought he should be punished.
Draco knew better, of course. He knew that being friends with Harry was an opportunity for greatness. The famous wizard of their generation had been sorted on his ambition. Draco was going to make sure that he was seen at Harry's side every step of the way. He was going to hold his own beside Harry, every step of the way.
People always teased Draco for appealing to his father's authority and influence. Soon, with Harry as his ally, he wouldn't have to. The appeal to Harry's influence could be left unspoken. Everyone would know not to mess with Draco.
"Hello again, firsties!" Gemma Farley called out, as she put up a silencing charm around them, to muffle the incessant voices filling the room. "Now, you all heard Head Boy Terrance's speech. We expect academic greatness from each of you. That doesn't mean you have to each be top of the year, in every class, but we do want to see more Es and Os than anything else, and we expect each of you to be a stand out student at something.
"With that in mind, I'm going to quiz you all on some beginner knowledge for each of your classes, and if you need it, I'll be assigning an older student as a tutor for you in whichever subject you need a helping hand. We want each of you to be not only prepared, but ahead of the curve, in your first week. Make a good impression on all of your teachers, yeah?"
Draco relaxed, even as Harry tensed beside him, as Farley began pointing out students to answer introductory questions. "You'll be fine, Teacher's Pet. No one's going to ask you to apparate across the room."
Harry scowled at him, but still answered correctly, when Farley singled him out next.
"See?"
"Shh, I'm trying to pay attention."
"Prefect's Pet."
"Shut up!"
Draco answered all of his questions with a confidant drawl, taking care to keep a bored, icy aloofness to his tone. He was a Malfoy, and these questions were baby stuff. Zabini, he noticed, had taken a similar approach, while Pansy had decided to suck up to the female prefect. Draco rolled his eyes at Harry, every time she answered in a simpering tone.
Theo answered his questions distractedly, clearly more interested in listening to what the other classes were doing than proving himself. Vince and Greg struggled with their questions, but each got a few right. Greg seemed flustered at his inability to think on his feet, while Vince looked frustrated with the entire thing. Bulstrode mumbled her answers, but seemed to get them all correct, while Davis spoke loudly and with clipped precision, but made a few mistakes. Greengrass answered politely, but without any false enthusiasm, and always added a bit more detail to her answers than strictly necessary, but thankfully in a concise enough way that it didn't feel like she was wasting everyone's time.
Harry, bless him, was flustered, shy, and nervous every single time he was called on, but he always gave great answers. Farley seemed blown away with his potions knowledge, and even Draco was surprised, when he kept answering with not only what the correct answer was, but why it was correct, and how it worked. The only thing he didn't know was when Farley asked him to demonstrate the wand movement of a Lumos charm, and Harry had explained that he had no practical experience in witnessing wand-work, and had not wanted to misinterpret the instructions, before having an expert demonstrate them properly.
Farley had immediately called over a fourth year to tutor Harry in practical wand positioning, and had grouped everyone else who had answered questions wrong by the subjects they needed the most help with, before calling over additional tutors for them.
Vince and Greg needed help in every subject, naturally, so Draco, Pansy and Greengrass had all assured Farley that they would help their lumbering classmates and make sure they didn't fall too far behind. Draco was sure he could convince Zabini to help out, too, once he got to know him a little better, and knew that Harry would also be willing to join in, once his insecurities settled down. Theo, damn him, was terrible at explaining anything to anyone. He understood things so quickly and naturally that he did not know how to break down his rapid thought process into definable steps for others to follow. He even occasionally struggled on assignments that asked students to show their work, as he tended to do multiple steps in his head, automatically. It had always been annoying.
The older students began trickling past the first years, on their way to the dorms, and Draco caught more than one snide comment about Harry's presence amongst them. He could see Harry flinch every time he overheard the antagonistic remarks, but the boy remained stalwartly focused on what his wand tutor was explaining. Draco could not decide if that was a smart move, or not. Harry could definitely not win a fight with one of the towering giants that were the upper years, but it would not be good to be seen as a pushover, either.
Zabini smirked at some of the comments, and scoffed at others. He seemed more concerned with the ingenuity and wittiness of the jibes than with their target, but it still made Draco bristle. If Zabini dared make Harry demand a re-sort, Draco would never forgive the dark-skinned boy.
Finally, the fifth-year boy prefect joined Farley, holding a tray of potion vials.
"Drink up, firsties!" Farley said, with a cockeyed smile. "Half dose of dreamless sleep for each of you, courtesy of Head of House Snape. You'll need a good night's sleep if you plan to impress your professors tomorrow."