Okay, here's the deal. This is my first Harry Potter fic, as well as my first slash. I'm still in all those advanced classes, so updates will be scarce. However, I've literally been writing this in my sleep, so I need to wear out the plot bunnies somewhere.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of his associates. If I did, Draco and Harry would have been locked in a broom closet ages ago.

"Speech"
Flashback
'Thought'
/Parsletongue/
XXXXXXXX- scene change


Harry sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, idly poking at his food. He was already bored out of his mind after only a month of school. Of course, the fact that he already knew most of the material being taught so far could be part of the problem.

A lot had happened over the summer, the least of which had been his little bout of self-discovery. Through means he would rather not remember (involving catching his cousin participating in a crude activity with a friend that was so boorish that it would even cause McGonagall to blush), Harry had discovered that he "swung the other way." He had also thought a lot about the incident at the Department of Mysteries, and had come to the conclusion that things would have turned out differently if he had listened to his Slytherin side. Because of this, he promised himself that he would stop repressing that part of his personality.

Harry had been told that he was to receive special training to defeat the Dark Lord. In a secret location that was Unplottable and didn't reveal the use of magic, Dumbledore himself had trained the Boy-Who-Lived in everything he could in the allotted amount of time. Harry was now skilled in the Dark Arts, Defense Against the Dark Arts, sparring, archery, hand-to-hand combat, and Potions (it seemed that, without Snape breathing down his neck, Harry had a gift for the subject). He had also discovered Ron's true feelings the hard way.


Harry and Ron sat in a tense silence in their room at 12 Grimmauld Place during one of the few breaks in Harry's training. He didn't know why, but Ron had been mad at him since he'd arrived. His Gryffindor side wanted him to let the matter go and avoid a fight, but his Slytherin side was screaming for him to find out what was wrong. Deciding to listen to his Slytherin side, Harry relented. Shutting his book with a snap, he locked eyes with his best friend.

"Ron, what's wrong? And don't say 'nothing' because I can tell that something's up."

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?! I'll tell you what's wrong! You almost lead me to my death every year and every time you expect me to come crawling back. Well, this is the last time! I'm not your friend anymore!"

Ron stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind him. About five minutes later, Hermione and Ginny came in. Hermione sat next to Harry on the bed and gave him a brief hug, while Ginny stood in front of the door so she would hear anyone approaching. Harry looked up, his face expressionless.

"I guess you heard?" he asked in a calm voice. Hermione and Ginny shared a glance before nodding simultaneously.

"Are you alright?"

Harry grinned at the ginger-headed girl. "I'm fine. He's just freaked out right now; I'm sure he'll come around."

Hermione stared at him, puzzled. "Are you sure you're okay? You'd normally be really angry after a fight like that."

"Yes, I'm sure Hermione. I've just decided to stop repressing my Slytherin side. It's keeping me calm and thinking clearly while my Gryffindor side is indignant but certain that Ron will return." Upon seeing the girls' confused looks, he sighed. "It's hard to explain."

After a few minutes, Hermione and Ginny went back to their room, leaving Harry to his studies.

XXXXXXXX

After that, Ginny took Ron's place in the Trio. Ron resented this, but they figured that this pseudo-exile was his own fault. For his sixteenth birthday, Ginny and Hermione took Harry shopping. He now had a whole new wardrobe, as well as a few other additions the girls were unaware of. On the way back to Grimmauld Place, they came across an Aesculapian snake on the sidewalk.

/Hello/ Harry hissed at it in Parsletongue while his companions stood slightly behind him. The snake looked at him in shock.

/You speak/ she asked in surprise. Harry nodded.

/Yes. My name is Harry Potter. What's yours/

/I am Aurum. You wouldn't happen to know where I am, would you/

/You're in London. Why? Is that a problem/

Aurum nodded a strange sight to any passerby. /My kind doesn't fare well in cities, I'm afraid. /

Harry looked down in thought for a moment before inspiration struck. He looked back at the girls, wanting their opinions.

" Hermione, Ginny? Do you think anyone would mind if I brought home a snake?"

Hermione looked shocked while Ginny smirked. "What they don't know won't hurt 'em, right?"

Harry nodded and, grinning, turned back to the snake. /Aurum, would you like to live with me/

She nodded shortly and slithered up the arm Harry extended to her. Once she was settled, Harry stood and the three continued on their way.


Harry grinned slightly as he remembered this, absently stroking the head of the serpent tucked away under the sleeve of his robe. Giving his breakfast one last dejected shove, he turned to the girls sitting across from him.

"Are you guys done yet?" he asked after a moment. The girls glanced at each other for confirmation and nodded. Just as they were about to rise, Dumbledore approached the podium.

"Good morning, students! As you are well aware, we have been at this wonderful educational institution for a month. I'm sure most of you are bored out of your minds." This comment earned a few chuckles from the student body.

"Some of the professors and I have come up with a plan to relieve you of this problem. As you may have noticed, house unity is at an all-time low. We have planned a series of lessons and projects that will take place in Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Herbology, as well as the occasional lesson in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Gryffindors will, of course, have these classes with the Slytherins."

Dumbledore paused to allow for the eruption that would follow. Sure enough, there were angry mutterings at the Slytherin table and cries of outrage from most of the Gryffindors. Three people, however, remained silent. Finally, Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"Will you all just SHUT UP?! It's not the end of the world!"

This little outburst caused a stunned silence to fall over the Great Hall, a silence that persisted as he sat down again. He received glares of betrayal and shock from the Lions, and looks of curiosity from the Snakes.

Dumbledore, blue eyes twinkling, continued, "Obviously, this means that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw will share classes. I expect you all to be on your best behavior and pay attention; you just might learn something."

As Dumbledore seated himself, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione rose and walked out of the Great Hall, not noticing a pair of cool blue-gray eyes watching the Boy-Who-Lived in curiosity.


Author's Notes: Well, here's the first chapter. Hopefully it isn't too bad. Now, I have a question. If Harry was an animagus, what would be his animal form and why? This question also applies to Ron, Hermione, and Draco. Include your answers in the review (of which I'm sure there will be many).