Chapter 1-"Welcome back"

Draco sighed as the enormous castle appeared, behind the green and soaked hills. The rain poured so hard that it seemed like divine punishment to him. Thunders were striking, loudly, making an atmosphere of pure fear emerge.

This would be his sixth year at Hogwarts.

Yeah, it had passed a long time since he first attended that school.

"A long time indeed…"Draco whispered, to himself.

"Hum? What did you say?" asked a girl next to him.

"Nothing, Pansy"

She smiled and fixed her empty look on the floor.

Draco observed her, the girl who his parents thought of as the "perfect match". She was wealthy and had a huge…reputation, but she wasn't what Draco truly desired. But, then again, when was his opinion respected? If his father wanted his son to marry the obsolete figure that was sitting on the train's bench near him, there was nothing Draco could do. Not that his father could do something against Draco, since he was in prison.

A laugh, very similar to a pig's one, interrupted his thoughts. Draco looked around and saw Crabbe laughing at something Goyle was saying, probably one of his stories of beating up muggles.

Draco stared at his own reflex on the window, numb, and thought of the reason why he was surrounded by all these mundane companions.

He thought of this fake friendship and wondered if he could stand it for another year. Yes, he could just keep faking, just like them, and become an empty shell, just like them.

A year ago, these thoughts would be deeply covered by his father influential cloak and could be just forgotten. But not this year. Too much had changed in the past four months. Many feelings had invaded his mind, many doubts were troubling him. Many had changed since the Dark Lord's return was known.

The train stopped, making an agonizing sound.

Draco didn't move, still lost on his own thoughts

"Draco, aren't you coming?" asked Pansy, annoyingly interrupting the flood of questions with no answer that were airing on Draco's confused mind.

"Huh? Oh, yes! Sorry…"he said, hastily, grabbing his own trunk and getting out of the compartment.

He walked through the corridor of Hogwarts Express with a melancholic feeling of emptiness .If that was as brief as his own nights of sleep; it would be gone by dinner time.

Draco stepped out of the train, his arms firmly grabbed by Pansy's grips.

How he wished she would let him go!

Something reflected the moonlight in the darkness of the rainy night. It was…glasses.

Who wore them?

The person stepped forward. It was a tall, dark haired boy with a certain special scar on the forehead.

Draco spit onto the ground at the mere sight of him, his natural enemy.

"Potter…"he thought "I hope I'll catch you without your friends around this year!"

But the Potter boy didn't seem to notice him. He was sheltered under an umbrella, talking to the mudblood girl, Granger, and the weasel Weasley. He didn't seem as happy as he was the previous years, but Draco didn't care. Potter's sad look only made him want to mock him more.

Still, he held back, not knowing why. He just wasn't in the mood. He wanted to do it and, at the same time, he didn't.

Pansy opened the door of a carriage, letting go Draco's arm.

She entered, followed by the other three boys. The last one, Draco, looked through the window and saw that someone was starring at him, too. They looked each other in the eyes for moments that seemed like ages, before the carriage started moving.

Draco straightened up on the bench and contemplated on what had just happened. He was looking at him…No, he must have had looked at someone else. Potter wouldn't endure facing someone whose father worked under the Dark Lord's command. At least, not that peacefully. But then again, when did Draco start to understand Potter's feelings?

The carriage continued its path, which was surrounded by tall and dark trees and covered with holes; tricky holes that made the carriage shake during the entire trip.

It finally stopped in the front of the castle gates and Pansy descended of the carriage, sloppily, which made her soil herself.

"Urgh!" she muttered "Ew…my robes!"

Draco didn't find himself able to contain the laugh.

"Draco, don't laugh!" Pansy shouted, angry, her look clearly showing that she wanted to slap him.

"Oh, yeah? Then, go to the castle by yourself!" he screamed at her. Then, he crossed alone the path which led to the castle, under the heavy rain, leaving his friends behind, alone and perplexed.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Goyle wondered, not thinking too much about the question and only worrying about getting an umbrella.

*

Draco was one of the first students to arrive the Great Hall.

No-one greeted him and he greeted no-one in return .He didn't know anyone. Plus, he didn't feel like socializing. He just wanted to dine and, then, be left alone on his own bed.

Of course, that wouldn't be possible. At least, not after his explosion with Pansy and the others, few minutes ago. She would nag about it to death! He headed to the Slytherin table and sited.

Shortly after, other students appeared and, soon, all the tables were filled with happy faces, chatting with each other, telling about their summer to their friends. Pansy sited near him and pretended nothing had happened, just like Crabbe and Goyle. Draco observed Potter for a few moments. Why did he stare at him like that?

Then came the sorting ceremony and he saw other students being selected to other houses. Crabbe, Goyle and others from his table made fun of them.

Finally, the dinner started. Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy threw themselves onto the food, like a group of pigs.

Draco, however, didn't eat. God, he felt so bad! He didn't know what to do: Throw up, disappear or just go to sleep.

The food vanished and Dumbledore gave his little speech, and other crap that Draco was tired of.

So, when he found himself on the dorms, he threw himself onto the bed, exhausted. It had been a long day, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep. There were some rather exhausting thoughts on his mind.

Lying on the bed, in the darkness of the stormy night, Draco reminded Potter's look when he starred at him, at the carriage. He felt his heart heavy, like stone.

The supposed night of sleep was spent twisting and turning around in bed.

Dawn came, dragging a morning of fog and a constant threat of rain. The grey sky, almost as bright as the sleepless boy's eyes, seemed like a veil made of silk, covering the castle with a misty cloak of fear.

Draco got up and dressed up for the terrible day that he could see coming. In no time, he already had crossed the corridor towards the castle grounds. He saw the simple gamekeeper's cabin and the yard next to it, where there were pumpkins, probably cultivated there for the next Halloween.

He passed through that field and submerged into the forest, heading to the Black Lake. The trees around him were cornering him in a dark path that seemed to have no end.

At last, he saw it: The enormous Black Lake. The dark water flowed slowly and the small tide was swiping the sandy shore, in a monotonous way, as if the flow of the river was the most important and, yet, most insignificant thing in the world.

He walked towards the little wooden bridge that led to the center of the lake, enjoying the thick mist that was involving him.

"Solitude", the feeling that was striking him the most. It was in that foggy, obscured place that he could think more clearly. Being embraced by the fog gave him a rather cold comfort, a comfort which he was afraid and ashamed of.

He heard a sound. A raven had found shelter in a branch of an elm, not very far away from the place he was standing. The raven whistled; it seemed like he was laughing at him.

"Go away!" Draco shouted, resentful by the laugh.

The bird flew from the branch, with some mates that were in the nearer trees. Draco shrunk his shoulders.

"Just go to Hell! "

With a quick movement, he turned around and headed back to the castle.

*

Draco entered the classroom and kicked his satchel towards the desk. Finally realizing where he was, he looked around, scared.

"Phew…Severus' not here!" Draco whispered, then imitating his godfather«Draco, how is your father? He is doing that work? Has he gotten better from the fever? Blah, blah, blah, blah…»

"Hello, Draco!" he heard. Draco jumped, startled.

Severus Snape entered through a door behind his desk.

"Have you heard news from your father?" he asked, making clear that he didn't hear what Draco had said moments ago.

"No." Draco made a sad smile.

Other students entered the classroom and Draco sited, quickly, pretending to have not talked with Severus on that informal way.

Potter sited on the desk on the other side of the room.

"Great" Draco thought "I won't have to stare at his ugly face during class"

And, with a smirk, he started removing his material.

*

"What?! I only said that you and Ron have been hanging out together a lot!"

Draco looked towards the courtyard in front on him, where a heated scene was developing. He ran to a place where he could see it better, near a column.

Potter and Granger were arguing, surrounded by a mob of curious students. Weasley was near a tree, trying to hide himself. In the beginning, Draco tried to avert his eyes, but all the excitement of seeing his worst enemy fighting one of his best friends was overwhelming and awoke his teasing spirit.

"That's totally not true! We are just together because you don't hang out with us anymore!"

Potter seemed to control himself for a bit but, then, he shouted" Is it my fault that you leave me alone all summer, without writing, without caring at all?"

Draco leaned over the small wall near him, interested.

Granger calmed down a little, looked around, surprised to see that many people gathered.

"Harry…"She tried to grab Potter's hand, but he ran away, piercing through the mob.

Draco saw that he was heading towards the greenhouses. With a dark smirk, he told Crabbe and Goyle to go the Great Hall and followed the raven-haired boy's footsteps.

He opened the greenhouse's door. He wasn't sure of what to do, but this was a great chance to get out of that numb state he was in, by teasing Potter.

As he thought of this, something violently crashed on the wall near him. At his front was Potter, who had just thrown a pot at Draco.

"What?! Also you have something against me? "

"Oh, don't just get so full of yourself. I wouldn't get through this much trouble to just see you angry" Draco lied, still trying to recover himself from the fear he felt when the piece of pottery was thrown.

Potter walked towards Draco and only stopped when he was a meter away from him. Then, he looked into his eyes and Draco looked back.

"What's the matter? You got in a fight the girlfriend and now what to download it on me?" said Draco, carefully measuring his words so they would hurt, like needles, the angry boy before him.

The dark-haired boy suddenly grabbed Draco's neck, lifting him up above the ground.

"Oh yeah, Malfoy? You must think I'm a vermin that doesn't know its place, a bit of dirt that you must wipe out of your shinning shoes, but I must tell you, at least I'm not…"Potter seemed to hesitate in finishing the sentence.

Draco's face was turning, slowly, blue and he was desperate for air. Tears of pain were coming out of his eyes. Seeing this, Potter let him go and Draco fell on the floor. Coughing, he gasped for air.

"At least I'm not what, Potter?" Draco asked, looking at the boy's back with a mixture of curiosity and fear of being choked again.

Potter turned around, with a serious expression.

"At least, I'm not a Death Eater's son."

Saying this, he opened the door and left Draco in the filthy ground, crying at his own misery.

*

"Draco, are you ok?"

"Just scram, Goyle!" he yelled, irritated.

Crabbe and Goyle ran through the door, and Draco was soon left alone.

It was dinner time. Eating seemed… disgusting to him, right now. He was not worth it. His father was in Azkaban, right now, dying.

"And rightfully doing so… That motherfucker deserves it." Draco thought; his stomach was rumbling with hunger. He wanted to eat. He didn't want to eat.

Draco was feeling stupid and an absolute jerk. He was made fun of. Now, he knew how that felt like…

"And I'm a motherfucker, just like him" Draco kicked Crabbe's bed.

He reached out for the little basket under the bed, the basket with cakes that his mother sent, and started eating. He should eat, but didn't deserve to eat in the company of others.

As he ate the scone with cream, he was thinking of his humiliation on that afternoon, with disgust. He let his guard down and Potter managed to affect him badly. But, then again, Draco had deserved that. If Potter wasn't so nice, he would have beaten the hell out of Draco and Draco wouldn't mind, because he deserved it. It was his punishment for being a Death Eater's son and treating others like garbage.

He finished eating the last muffin and putted the basket under the bed, again. Then, he lie down on the bed and, even without putting the pyjama on, he, unexpectedly, fell asleep.