Chapter One

Disclaimer: This is the only one I'll make for the whole story. I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money off of this story.

Draco packed the last of his things in his trunk, then did a quick sweep through his room to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. Satisfied, he closed his trunk and walked out of his room to head down to breakfast, confident that the House Elves would take care of getting his things to the Hogwarts Express. In about an hour and a half, he'd be on his way back to Hogwarts for a do over year. Because of the events of the war last year, the Ministry strongly encouraged everyone to return to earn a completed education.

In all truthfulness, Draco wasn't in the least bit excited to be going back. In fact, had the decision been up to him, he wouldn't be going at all. However, it was one of the stipulations of his probation from his hearing in June and also an almost direct order from his parents. They believed that this would be the best course of action in an effort to start rebuilding their family name. Though he understood where they were coming from, Draco highly doubted that the Malfoy name would ever come out of the pit they'd dug it into themselves.

He arrived in the dining hall, kissed his mother on the cheek in greeting, gave a nod to his father whom returned it, and settled in at his place to Lucius' left. Once he had sat, everyone began eating in a slightly uncomfortable silence. It was always a silent affair the day before he'd returned to school in the past with his mother trying very hard not to cry, but this time there was a slight nervousness in the air as the Malfoy family honestly had no idea what would be in store for them this year. If the sneers, whispers, and degrading looks in public were anything to go by, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Halfway through the meal, a house elf delivered a letter to Draco, then disappeared with a pop once Draco took it and gave him a polite nod. He scanned the contents, noticing that it was from his friend Blaise, then folded it and put it beside his plate. Feeling eyes on him, he looked up noticing that his parents were staring at him, his mother with a slightly hopeful look and his father's more of curiosity. He put down his fork and sighed.

"No, it wasn't a forgotten letter from the Headmistress. It was just Blaise telling me that he may be slightly later than we agreed on since he's coming from his father's villa in Italy" he answered their unspoken question. His father nodded and went back to his meal, though there was now a slight frown on his features. His mother however let out a deep sigh.

"I can't understand why you weren't offered the position. You've been at the top of your class since your very first year" she said in a dejected tone. She was referring to the Head Boy position. It had been a tradition in the Malfoy family for the last five generations for the heir to receive the position upon returning for their last year at school. It had been done away with in the chaos of the previous year, though Draco wouldn't have been able to do his duties if he wanted to due to the demands of the Dark Lord.

"It shouldn't be this much of a shock. After all, why would they give it to a murderous Death Eater?" Draco muttered sullenly.

"Draco" his father said in warning, shooting a slight worried look at his wife who had tried and failed to stifle a sharp intake of breath at her son's words. The stress of the past few years and aftermath of the war had caught up with her and she'd been prone to strong migraines if she got too upset.

"Well it's true" Draco snapped, dropping his fork to the plate with a clatter. His parents had been confused when he hadn't gotten an accompanying Head Boy letter along with the usual Hogwarts letter sent at the beginning of August. His mother had tried remaining optimistic, saying that maybe they'd just forgotten or would send it later. He of course had known better, though he hadn't said anything until now.

"Draco" his mother said softly, her eyes staring beseechingly at her only child. "You are not now, nor were you ever a murderer."

His temper taking over, he gave a sarcastic snort. "No, just a Death Eater which is so much better. And scum. Oh and let's not forget my personal favorite, spineless sniveling cow-"

"Enough!" His father cut him off in a sharp tone and fixed his son with a stern look. Lowering his voice slightly, he continued "It will not do any good to dwell on the past, so that is where you will leave it. I do not want to hear another word on the subject, is that clear?"

The young blonde released a steady stream of air out his nose, but nodded nonetheless. His father was right, it would do him no good to dwell on the past, but he had seen the papers and heard the words that the public threw his way. He was well aware of the names they called him as well as the horrible things they said about his family. Never mind the fact that he didn't kill former Headmaster Dumbledore that night, or anyone over the course of the entire war. Never mind that his entire family had been forced to serve the Dark Lord under threat of torture and death, or that the lie his mother told for Potter that night in the forest was how the Order had more or less won the war. In their eyes, they were guilty no matter what and many had been outraged that they weren't all immediately thrown into Azkaban.

Though the Malfoys were relieved that they hadn't been sentenced, that didn't mean they'd gotten off lightly. Draco and his mother were placed on strict probation, while his father was put under house arrest. Lucius could not set one foot off the property of the manner or he'd be whisked away to Azkaban quicker than he could blink, and even the suspicion of foul play on the other two Malfoy's part would result in the same fate. The fines they'd had to pay had been large and many, though Draco was positive the Ministry had added some bogus offenses and overcharged them just out of spite. Had the Malfoy fortune not been so vast along with that of the Black fortune from his mother's side, he was sure they'd have gone bankrupt. They were subjected to monthly random searches from the Aurors and the Minister's secretary brat Percy Weasley, who claimed they were just making sure nothing suspicious was going on. However, these searches always came at the most inopportune times such as the middle of the night or ungodly hours in the morning with the Aurors being as loud and reckless as they could possibly be. Floors were scraped up, curtains torn, priceless artifacts smashed, furniture overturned, and family heirlooms taken in to be 'inspected' and still not returned. These had led to his mother's more severe migraines as his father had glared at those who were defiling his home, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

Still, the Malfoys took their punishments in stride, knowing that they had a debt to pay to the Wizarding Society. They never commented on the nasty stories published in the Daily Prophet by the dreadful Rita Skeeter, nor did they respond when someone decided to publicly taunt them on the rare occasions that Draco and his mother had gone into Diagon Alley since the end of the war. They considered themselves lucky that they'd come out of the war with their whole family intact and just hoped that if they stuck to this new 'good behavior' as much as possible then one day all the animosity directed towards them would blow over.

Breakfast was finished in silence, the only sound being the scraping of silverware against plates. Once he'd finished, Draco returned to his room to grab his robes and uniform which he would change into once they were close to Hogwarts. As he was coming out of his closet with his clothes over his arm, he looked up to see his father standing in his bedroom and staring off seemingly in thought. Once he caught sight of Draco, he straightened slightly and cleared his throat. "I wanted to speak with you privately before you go."

Draco let out a sigh. "Have I given mother another migraine" he asked in a tone of repentfulness, though one wouldn't have been able to detect it if they did not know him well. He was regretful for snapping at his mother the way he had and didn't want to leave on bad terms with his parents.

Lucius shook his head. "No, she's fine. Although you do owe her an apology before you leave" he said in a serious tone with a pointed look in his son's direction. Draco acquiesced with a nod, and his father seemed satisfied with it. He walked over to his only child and heir and put one hand on his shoulder.

"Draco" he said with a sigh, suddenly seeming much older than his forty-two years. "I know this year is not going to be easy on you, nor am I going to pretend to understand what you're going through. I do however want to express how deeply sorry I am for getting you into this mess." Here Lucius swallowed uncomfortably, but kept eye contact with him. "But I know you're strong son, and I know you'll come out of this even stronger. If there's one thing we Malfoy's are good at, it's surviving and to survive now we can't hide." Draco nodded, understanding his father completely. Though he wasn't looking forward to going back, he wasn't going to cower away.

"One more thing" Lucius said, squeezing his shoulder a little harder. "There will be those at school who want nothing more than to see you fail and will do everything in their power to see it happen. No matter what, promise me that you won't rise to their taunts and do anything that would risk violating the terms of your probation." Draco was about to protest, but Lucius put a hand up to stop him. "I mean it Draco. It would break your mother's heart if you were to be imprisoned and all of our suffering now will have been for nothing. Promise me that you won't give into their challenges unless the situation absolutely calls for it."

Draco knew he was using his mother as leverage against him, but he could see the worried look in his father's eyes and understood the logic behind his words. "Alright father, I promise" he finally consented.

Lucius nodded, gave him a tight half smirk (the only form of a smile he could come up with) and squeezed Draco's shoulder once more. "Good. Now come along. It's almost time for your departure and you know how your mother tends to drag out her goodbyes."

They both made their way to the front parlor where his mother was waiting for him and looking as though she was trying to hold back tears. Draco walked up to her and allowed himself to be pulled into her embrace. She was one of the few people in his life that he allowed to see his emotions, making him feel worse for snapping at her this morning, He whispered a sincere apology in her ear, but she waved it off and brought her hands up to cup his face and make him look into her eyes.

"Don't let their words affect you" she told him with a determined look on her features. "You're better than them Draco. Don't allow yourself to become the monster they say you are." He gave her a nod and let her fuss over him for a minute longer before shaking his father's hand and disappearing on the spot.

He arrived at King's Cross station and immediately stepped through the barrier and onto the platform before quickly heading off to the side and to a spot behind one of the pillars where he and his friends had agreed to meet. The platform was crowded as students ranging from eleven to eighteen were hustling and bustling about along with the parents of first years trying to make sure their young ones were prepared before sending them off. The commotion around him allowed Draco to slip through the crowd unnoticed despite his tall stature, though he moved quickly behind the pillars knowing that his hair would be a dead giveaway. Upon arrival, he noticed that his longtime friend Theodore Nott was already there, though no one else was. Looking up at a clock a little ways away, he saw that they had less than five minutes before the train would be pulling out of the station. He hoped that the other Slytherins they were waiting on were close.

Theo looked up and greeted him, but gave him a confused look. "Where's Blaise? I thought he was coming with you?"

Draco shook his head. "He spent the summer at his dad's and sent me an owl this morning telling me that he was just going to come straight from there. He said he might be a little late, but I hope he's not too much longer. Where are the girls?"

Theo dropped eye contact and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…they were on their way, but…Daphne sent me a note about an hour ago telling me that Pansy's had another relapse. She said she was going to do her best to get her out of it, but…" Theo's voice trailed off at the end, but Draco didn't need him to continue. They both knew what had happened a few months back right before the end of the war and it was an unspoken rule amongst their friends that they wouldn't talk about it.

Blaise arrived a moment later and greeted the other two while filling them in on his summer in Italy. Blaise's parents had been divorced since before he was born and he'd only seen his father a few times over the course of his childhood. His mother had been killed during the war and surprisingly to everyone including him, his father had been there for his trial and invited him to spend the summer with him. Blaise had immediately accepted and from the stories he was retelling, it seemed that he and his father had worked out whatever issues they'd had in the past.

The train let off a whistle signaling that it would be leaving in exactly one minute and many students scrambled to get onboard and find compartments. Draco began to get anxious thinking that something bad may have happened to the girls, but Theo called out a greeting and Draco turned around to see three Slytherins approaching.

Daphne led the way, her long blonde hair falling around her back and shoulders almost to her waist. Her younger sister Astoria, who was like the younger sister to all of them, was close behind, her hand firmly on the middle back of the last girl, making it appear that she was guiding her along.

Pansy Parkinson, shuffled her feet as though each step she took was harder than the last. The pretty young Slytherin was a shell of her once confident self and hadn't spoken a word to anyone in months. Her long black hair was simply pulled back into a ponytail and she wasn't wearing any makeup, looking as though she had just rolled out of bed, which she very well may have. Her eyes were downcast and vacant, her face a blank expressionless mask. The sight of her broke her friends' hearts. She'd been staying with her best friend Daphne over the summer, but no matter how hard the blonde tried, she couldn't get her to open up.

Daphne reached them first and immediately went to greet her boyfriend, Theo, with a kiss on the cheek. They'd had a mutual attraction to each other for years, but had only been together since June.

"Sorry we're late" she offered apologetically once she'd greeted the others.

"Not a problem, you're here now" Theo replied cheerily.

Draco looked over at Pansy, wishing he could help her but not knowing what to do. "Hey Pans" he tried. "You're looking…well."

Everyone carefully watched her, hoping for some sign of the girl she was before, but there was none. She didn't say anything, nor did she lift her eyes from the ground, but she did give a slight nod with her head to acknowledge that she'd at least heard Draco.

Daphne let out a sigh, then looked over at the train. "Well, I guess it's now or never" she said as optimistically as she could. The six made their way through the much less crowded platform, not missing the sneers and indignant looks sent their way by the parents and patrons that had come to see their kids off, including the Weasleys. Draco noticed that Percy was with them and had to fight down the urge to send a hex his way. The last time their home had been raided, he'd taken it upon himself to personally search Draco's room and go through his things. He'd taken a few priceless artifacts left to him by his now deceased grandparents, claiming that they could contain all sorts of vile dark magic, though they both knew that wasn't true. He doubted he'd ever see them again.

Just as Draco stepped on the train, the doors closed behind them and the train began to move. Noticing the almost deafening silence around them, he looked up to see that he and the other five were on the receiving end of some very menacing glares from the few students who were not already in compartments. He scowled at them and gave Astoria a little push to try and get them moving and away from all these tossers. As they passed, whispers started though they could hear everything being said.

"…nothing but scum…"

"…cowards…"

"…death eater bastards…"

"...why the ministry thought they should be allowed back…"

"…evil…"

"…vile…"

"…should all be locked up in Azkaban…"

The list went on and on and Draco had to grind his teeth together to keep himself from spitting a few insults back. He'd made a promise to his father and he wasn't going to break it after only a couple of hours.

All of the compartments they'd passed so far were full, but finally they came upon one that had only one occupant, their fellow housemate Gregory Goyle. Theo, who had been leading the way, opened the door and ushered the girls in as fast as he could as though trying to shield them from the insults which were getting much worse. Draco brought up the last of the group and slammed the door shut behind them, his temper starting to flair. What right did they have to judge him? To judge any of them for that matter? They had no idea what they'd been through, nor the circumstances that led them to being on the wrong side of the war. They couldn't possibly fathom what it was like to stand before the darkest wizard of all time with the fear of losing everything they held dear hanging over them if they refused to do his bidding.

The group all took seats and made themselves comfortable and began talking about what they'd been up to since the last time they'd seen each other, trying to act as though this were a normal year like any other. The trolley came by once they'd reached the halfway point and everyone except Pansy bought something. She had remained quiet and still, staring at the compartment floor and only eating with Daphne and Astoria gently coaxing her, though it wasn't much.

Aside from the insults when they'd first boarded, no further instance had occurred and Draco was beginning to relax until he was startled by the compartment door suddenly flying open.

"What the-"he started, but before he could finish, two objects were thrown into their compartment and the door was quickly pulled shut just as fast as it had been opened. Draco looked down and immediately recognized the objects, but before he could shout a warning at his friends, two loud BANGs could be heard and the compartment was suddenly filled with smoke and a foul stench that permeated through the air. Draco pulled his shirt over his nose, the smell making him gag, and tried to open the door, but was shocked to find that it wouldn't budge. Someone was either holding it from the outside, or it was spelled closed.

Someone had thrown stink bombs into their compartment from the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes store. These stink bombs weren't like normal ones however, they were much worse. They odor was spelled to seep into the skin and clothes of the person it was targeted at, and the horrible smell could last for up to a week.

The smoke finally cleared and the Slytherins each had a look of outrage, indignation, or shock on their faces. Even Pansy's eyes had begun to fill with tears. From the outside they heard laughter and the sound of footsteps retreating, meaning that someone had been holding the compartment door shut.

Theo jumped to his feet, wand in front of him, and a fierce look on his face. "I'll kill them" he growled stalking to the compartment door, intending to make good on his threat. Before he could wrench it open, Daphne hurriedly grabbed his arm.

"No, Theo don't! You're only going to make it worse on yourself" she pleaded with him. He turned to give her a disbelieving look.

"What? Am I supposed to just let them get away with it?" he asked indignantly.

"Yes" she answered, her eyes watering though Draco couldn't tell if it was from tears or the smell. Theo scoffed and tried to shake her off, but she held tighter. "Please Theo" she begged, sounding as though she were on the verge of hysterics. "This is what they want, to rile us up. They know that if we retaliate, we'll be the ones to pay for it, not them. You heard the judge at our trials. One slip up, and they'll throw us in Azkaban."

Her words seemed to penetrate his thinking, though he still held his wand out in front of him. He was debating with himself on what to do.

"Don't do it" she pleaded, a few tears actually escaping her eyes this time. "Please just let it go."

"She's right Theo" Draco said, looking over at his friend. "We can't afford to screw up this year, and they know that." Finally Theo sighed and nodded, putting his wand back in his robes and allowing Daphne to pull him back to their seats. She shot Draco an appreciative look.

For his part, Draco was thoroughly pissed. He wanted nothing more than to go with Theo and give the wankers who'd thrown the bombs a lesson they'd never forget. But he couldn't, and it was killing him. He walked back over to his seat and flung himself down, staring angrily out the window. The smell in the air was still atrocious, and they were now going to smell like hippogriff dung for at least a few days, especially since it had gotten on their uniforms. As he continued to watch the scenery roll by, he knew keeping his promise to his father was going to be much harder than he thought.

Please Review!