Draco Malfoy glared at newspaper in hand, his anger bubbling wildly. That damned Potter on the front page, AGAIN! It infuriated him. It wasn't his father in Azkaban, it wasn't his mother in denial, it wasn't... it wasn't... Draco looked at the picture again. The golden boy, guided by Dumbledore, looked...

Broken. Not a single thing on Potter's face said anything of what Draco had seen the past five years. All the happiness completely gone, Potter looked like he had recieved a Dementor's Kiss. That was what hit Draco hardest, until he read the article below.

"No..." Draco let out a shocked gasp.

-Sirius Black: Deceased-

The murderer, Sirius Black, has been declared deceased after the close examination of the victims of last night's Ministry raid. Sirius Black, originally believed to be guiltly of murder, is no longer the murderer Sirius Black, but instead, a man accused of a crime commited by the man he once called friend.

Draco's face betrayed him as he felt a heavy internal conflict, on one hand, Harry Potter was his lifelong enemy, on the other, the boy had lost all his family, something Draco almost felt he could relate to. "Why do I feel so conflicted," he muttered as he took a seat, "Its Potter! Better than thou Potter! Golden Boy Potter! Amazingly pretty green eyes Potter.." Draco muttered the last bit to himself, a deep red flushing his cheeks, "Ah! Of all people!"

Draco rubbed his temples quietly, "Of course, I fall for him," he muttered, "Why couldn't he have been a girl! And in Slytherin!" Draco growled, before settling down. If he was going to fall for Potter, he was going to do so on his own terms."

-Timeskip: The Feast-

Draco seated himself between Crabbe and Goyle, as usual, and looked over towards the Gryffindor table. Potter shambled in a few moments later, his face caked in dried blood, followed by the blonde Ravenclaw girl. Draco watched Harry glare over at their table and followed his eyes, catching a grinning Theodore Nott, and Draco resolved, immediately, to make Nott's life a living hell.

The feast resumed as both students sat down, and Draco resumed his conversation with the Slytherins sitting across from himself. His mind went back to the summer and his father's arrest. Snape had appeared at their house, and told Draco and his mother he had convinced the dark lord to not have Draco kill Dumbledore. Draco had merely scowled, and Snape had assumed he wanted to redeem himself and his father's house. Snape's fifteen minute lecture was cut off by Draco.

"I couldn't give a rat's arse less about my reputation, 'Professor', right now there is something else on my mind," the young Malfoy said, practically spitting, "For all I care, the dark lord can take his snake and shove it."

That had thrown Snape off and he had left relatively quickly. Draco turned to his mother, "I'm going back to school come September, and I am also not going to be attacking Potter for the sake of my father, or the sake of the dark lord. Its time I make my own decisions."

The Slytherins finally let Draco finish daydreaming, and he caught their conversation with Nott, "Tonight. Yes, thats right," nott was saying, "The dark lord believes he's found a way to stop Potter, though I think he's not going to be a challenge either way, considering how pitiful he is."

Draco, infuriated, failed to stop himself as he stood up and brought his wand to Nott's throat in an instant, "One more word, one more word, and I will gut you faster than you can say Petrificus Totalus," his glare locked onto Nott's eyes as the boy was instantly frozen in a seated position. Draco sat himself back down and let the rest of them look at him in shock, "Just because my father is gone, does not mean I can be ignored. This is MY house, and you listen to me. No one touches Potter, else you face my wrath."

The whole house went silent and he resumed eating as someone unfroze Nott. The little bastard glared at Draco, his face showing complete fury. "We do it tonight," he muttered to a nearby Slytherin as Draco ate, just quietly enough the young Malfoy didn't hear him. Or so he thought, Malfoy stood up and left to return to the common room, muttering the password and entering his room. Unlike other houses, Slytherins had their own rooms, maxing at two occupants. Draco had refused to share his, and grinned as he pulled out an Invisibility Cloak.

Later that night, Draco followed Nott out of the dungeons. Nott made his way up to the Room of Requirement, followed, evetually, by Ginny Weasley. Draco frowned, remaining silent, as the two entered the room. After a few minutes, Potter came walking up to the room, and Draco slipped in with him.

"Why did you call me here, Ginny?" the messy haired young wizard asked, voice remaining void of any emotion. Draco's heart lurched slightly, the boy was so downtrodden it was pitiful.

"I wanted to confess," Ginny said, leering at Potter. Draco had to stop himself from revealing himself to her, still unaware she was actually someone else using the Polyjuice Potion, and hexing her violently. She started to strip and Draco looked at Potter, nothing showed on the boy's face and the young witch seemed to be getting angry. "Don't you want me, Harry?"

Potter muttered, "No." The witch again glared and leaned on him pushing him into a nearby bookcase. Nott peeked out from behind a pile of varied objects, slowly reaching out as Ginny pushed herself on him. Harry still said nothing, and Draco was ready to hex he witch, red blurring his vision and hiding Nott. Draco went to rip off the cloak, before Nott's 'Stupefy' hit Potter and dropped him like a sack of rocks.

The cloak flew off and Draco instinctively knocked Ginny back with a spell. Nott grabbed Potter's face and poured a potion into his open mouth. Draco blasted the boy back about twenty feet into the air up and over a few piles, directly into a pile of statues. Draco grabbed Harry and attempted to get him to spit out the potion, to no avail.

The messy haired boy had already swallowed it and Draco stashed his wand in his pocket, picking him up. Potter was much lighter than he had anticipated. The young Malfoy carried his ex-nemesis directly to the Infirmary. He set him down on a cot and started yelling for Pomfrey.

The tired, and rather aggravated, witch stormed out of her office, "Mister Malfoy, if you don't silence your..." She stumbled to a stop, "What happened to Mister Potter?"

"The asswipe Nott poured some potion down his throat before I could stop him," Draco spat, "I'll kill him."

Pomfrey's eyes widened, "Mister Malfoy, why, may I ask, are you so concerned for Mister Potter? I was certain you two hated each other."

"He might hate me, but I don't think I really hate him," Draco said.

"Right, you head off to bed while I check on Mister Potter," the witch said a she began waving her wand over the boy.

"I will do no such thing, I am satying beside him to make sure he is okay," the blonde boy demanded.

"Fine, if you want to be that way, at least got get your head of house. I'm not getting much for the typical potions and if what you said is true, we may have a bigger isue on our hands."

Draco nodded and sprinted down to the dungeons, practically storming into Snape's quarters. "UNCLE! WE HAVE AN ISSUE!" The by yelled, and was quickly anwered by another agravated staff member storming out of his bedroom.

"Draco, this had better be beyond important or I will have you cleaning cauldrons for a week," Snape hissed.

"Yes, yes, now follow," Draco said, dragging the Potions Master to Infirmary. As they entered, they were greeted by a small group of people, Remus Lupin, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Ginny Weasley was also looking over from a nearby bed, and Draco blinked at her, slightly confused.

"You!" Draco hissed, "What the hell do you think you're doing here after waht you helped do!" He shouted at the young Weasley. She looked startled, "Doing what? I was brought here after a first year helped me get out of a broom closet where your lot, specifically Pansy Parkinson, stuffed me after hexing me!"

"Mister Malfoy, I suggest you refrain from outbursts," Dumbledore said.

"Why are you here?" Draco hissed a bit less violently.

"Miss Pomfrey called for me after the potion's effects became evident," Dumbledore said, "I felt it fit to bring Harry's friends, as well as another female to help her cope."

"Help who cope?" Draco asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Harry," Dumbledore said, stepping back to reveal the person now in Harry's bed. A rather small girl, looking relatively gaunt, lay in the bed. Her form was tiny and made her look almost like a first year. However, that wasn't what startled Draco. It was the lightning shaped scar on her forehead that hit him the most. Gaping like a fish, he watched as she sleepily sat up, her eyes opening blearily to reveal those eyes Draco adored.

"Why... Why am I in the infirmary," she asked quietly, and Draco's heart almost exploded in shock. The rest of them, excluding perhaps Dumbledore, jaw dropped.

"Well, Harry, I do believe we have a lot to discuss," the old wizard's eyes twinkled.