Disclaimer: I am a young, Australian male that has never worked hard a day in his life. Therefore I do not fit the criteria to be classified as J.K. Rowling and do not own Harry Potter (or Draco Malfoy for that matter *sighs*). All characters, items, spells, etc. that you recognise belong to her marvellous brain. Anything you don't is probably of my own poor creation.
A/N: So, this is my first attempt at fan fiction ever. Yay me! This is going to be pretty much pre-slash most of the way through, however when I get to the last couple of chapters and the epilogue, there will be some slashy-ness…hopefully. Also, it will be pretty much fluff most of the way. If there is any angst, it will probably only be light. Warnings for bad language, slightly broken!Draco and an eventual de-aging cliché. Also, I'm crap at assigning categories. They may change part way through.
Please don't maim me if my characters seem a little off. Like I said, first time writing fan fiction, so there are bound to be errors that may seem way off.
Everything is canon up until May 2nd 1998 in the book. That's when I take over :)
This first chapter is mostly descriptive and background info. As for length, I really can't tell if they will all be of similar length or if they will vary. Although I get the feeling the next one may be a tad longer.
Not even remotely sorry for anything that seems 'non British'. I feel like I've read enough to know what to do there. All names, spells and so on were checked on Harry Potter Wiki. Oh, also I don't have a beta, so there's a spot open if you wish :)
Story named based on the title of the Bruno Mars song. I feel that the song will suit my ideas for this story.
Okay, enough drivel from me, let's go.
Count On Me – Prologue
With great apprehension, Draco Malfoy passed through the magical barrier and onto Platform 9 ¾ on the first of September 1998. When there was no immediate hysteria, or cries of 'Death Eater scum!' Draco carefully and expertly weaved his way through the throngs of parents and students milling about on the platform. He hadn't brought much with him in the form of luggage – only a satchel bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm – and he had already sent his eagle owl on its way to the Owlery at Hogwarts. After quickly checking over his shoulder, he boarded the Hogwarts Express.
Now, Draco was a person who knew when to count his blessings – after all, living with the Dark Lord for a few years, and surviving, was a challenge in itself – so he was immensely relieved when he managed to find an empty compartment and slip inside without being hexed into the middle of next year. Although that's not to say he didn't spot anyone he recognised. He happened to notice Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini sharing a compartment with none other than Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Well, well Draco thought. Look who's trying to suck up to the Gryffindors.
Draco was well aware that the "eighth years" of Slytherin House would be few in number. Aside from himself, Pansy and Blaise, the only other Slytherins from his year returning to Hogwarts were Theodore Nott and Daphne Greengrass. Vince was dead, Greg was in Azkaban and Millicent was apparently in France. Aside from those few, Draco didn't particularly know, or care for that matter, what happened to the other Slytherins from his year.
After storing his bag, Draco settled down next to the window and prepared for the journey to Hogwarts. It was during this time that he reflected upon the events that had taken place within the last few months.
He had just been able to escape Azkaban by the skin of his teeth. At first he had been resigned to his fate, happy at least to be close to his father who he knew would be in Azkaban come hell or high water. However, Draco's trial had taken an unforseen turn when the courtroom door opened to admit his unexpected defence counsel. It was all he could do not to gape when Harry James Potter strode confidently into the room, stated Draco's case and then, quite easily, got him cleared of the charges that would land him in Azkaban. Draco's only sentences were house arrest and then completion of his repeated seventh year at Hogwarts, but before he could even manage a simple 'Potter', said man exited the courtroom in a flurry of robes and media reporters. Draco also found out that not only had Potter been present at both of his parents' trials, he also managed to reduce Lucius' sentence by around ten years and convince the Wizengamot to sentence his mother to house arrest for three years.
Unfortunately, both of Draco's parents barely completed a fraction of their respective sentences. Lucius was beaten to death by a group of prisoners after nearly two months in Azkaban. After receiving the news of Lucius' death, Narcissa became highly distraught, then depressed, and passed away two weeks later. Due to the terms of the house arrest on both Draco and his mother, no one outside of the Ministry was allowed on the grounds of Malfoy Manor and so Draco had to bury his parents with the help of a single wizard from some obscure department he hadn't even heard of.
With the prohibition of non-Ministry persons placed on the Manor, Draco's only form of communication was by owl. He had sent letters to Pansy, Blaise and Theo to inquire after their well-being, the state of their families' affairs and whether or not they would be returning to Hogwarts for their Eighth Year. Pansy and Blaise both sent back very formal and cold responses whereas Theo's was neutral if not the slightest bit friendly. Draco surmised from these responses that he would probably only have Theo for company throughout the next school year. While this was a little disappointing, he honestly had expected a lot worse, if not no responses at all.
Since Draco still had use of his owl, he was able to receive the Daily Prophet each day. Rumour had it that the Prophet had been completely overhauled in the wake of the Dark Lord's downfall, with a near-complete cull of staff – the most notable being Rita Skeeter. Despite the fact that a lot of the news articles were tediously dull or absurdly repetitious in number, (really, how many articles about Saint Potter does a person need?) the information that passed as news helped Draco to stay in touch with the Wizarding world and stave off boredom for at least an hour or two at a time. At one point, Draco had even taken out a subscription to The Quibbler just for a bit of variety and a possible laugh. Along with his subscriptions to other publications such as: Which Broomstick? Transfiguration Today and The Practical Potioneer, Draco did not go wanting in terms of reading material to help pass the time. He even managed to get his hands on a copy of a Wizarding magazine about Muggles and their lifestyle (conveniently titled 'Muggle Matters'); however he quickly became frustrated with their way of attempting to explain Muggle concepts and determined he would need the help of someone like Potter or Granger if he was to fully understand "electricity" and its necessity to Muggles.
Aside from reading anything he could get his hands on, Draco spent the rest of his time under house arrest wandering aimlessly around the Manor. Each day he would go to a different room and examine its contents, talk to some of the portraits on the walls, and, if he was in a really creative mood, he would try his hand at redecorating some of the smaller, less-visited rooms. While taking his daily amble about his residence, Draco also found that he had a lot of time to just think; think about his earlier years when Hogwarts seemed like forever away, think about how he acted around his parents and the house elves, think about the choices he had made for himself, think about what would happen to him when he did return to school, think about what his future held in general. He was disturbed to realise that a lot of these trains of thought managed to somehow lead him to one Harry Potter. What was even more shocking was the thought of what it would be like to be in a relationship with Potter. Now, Draco had known for a while that he was heterosexually challenged, but the fact that he was fantasising – if you could call it that – about the Golden Boy… Well, Draco didn't know what to make of that.
Draco's last coherent thought before dozing off was: Maybe I just need to get laid. Yeah, that would probably stop thoughts of Potter.
.oOo.
Harry Potter had had been quite busy since the defeat of Voldemort at the start of May. Initially, his body had practically screamed "That's it, I've had enough!" – which resulted in him passing out for three days – but after being holed up at the Burrow for a week, and attending several funerals, he decided that it was time to get to work.
The main item on the list was the rebuilding of Hogwarts. Harry took it upon himself to speak to the new Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, about setting up a task force for the project to which the Minister readily agreed. The number of people involved with the rebuild was limited due to the fact that nearly everyone would want a chance to work alongside the Great Harry Potter to rebuild Hogwarts, plus, if there was hoards of people moving about on the site, it would less productive than if there was only people who were actually working. So it was decided that the reconstruction team consisted of: Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, Hogwarts' staff and students, five teams of professional Ministry construction workers and Kingsley himself when he had a spare moment.
The reconstruction actually progressed much quicker than Harry had anticipated. The majority of the exterior reconstruction was handled by the Ministry workers, with occasional help from Harry or Ron, and was all but completed by the middle of June. While work was happening outside, the rest of the volunteers were hard at work inside restoring classrooms, repairing furniture and generally just cleaning the place up. The staff members were responsible for checking and renewing all of the enchantments within the ancient castle and applying new ones where they were required. Professor – now Headmistress – McGonagall specifically requested the help of both Harry and Hermione, to Hermione's delight. When asked about Ron, McGonagall gave them a look that said 'do you really think that is wise' and let the question go unanswered.
It was nearly one month into the rebuild, when Harry got an anonymous letter one morning at the Burrow. It was simple, no longer than four lines of writing, but the message was one of importance to Harry. The Malfoys' trials were imminent. Unsure of the more specific details, Harry did as requested and waited out by the Weasley's shed at a quarter past nine. He was only slightly startled when Kingsley himself apparated next to Harry, grabbed him by the elbow, and then whisked him away to the Ministry.
The trials themselves were fairly easily handled. Draco's was first and so Harry strode confidently into the courtroom, like Dumbledore had done for him, and efficiently provided the details and evidence necessary to save Draco from Azkaban. Narcissa's was next and that went just as easily as the previous one. However, Lucius' trial was a bit trickier. Not only had he been present during the First Wizarding War, he also played the major role in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries and hosted Voldemort in his own home. Harry himself couldn't come up with strong evidence to keep Malfoy senior from Azkaban, however, his testimony did help to reduce his sentence a small fraction. The thing that pleased Harry the most though, was the looks of pure shock and disbelief he left on all three of their faces as he exited the courtroom.
Not long after the trials had finished, and the rebuild was nearly two thirds of the way through, Ginny approached Harry early one morning to discuss their relationship – or lack thereof.
Harry had had an inkling that this conversation would be coming, but he had hoped it would have been later rather than sooner. Still, they quietly discussed what had happened after Harry had "abandoned her" during Bill's wedding and the months that had followed. Harry had explained that he wasn't sure if he could be in a stable relationship at least until the school year started back and that he wanted to remain aloof for a while and maybe experiment a bit. Ginny had understood completely and then revealed that she had been in a relationship with Neville during her previous year at Hogwarts and that she and Harry wouldn't be getting back together. Honestly, Harry had been surprised and not surprised at the same time. Surprised because Ginny did go and find someone else, and that that someone was Neville; but not surprised because being at Hogwarts last year would have been very difficult and Ginny would have needed support from someone else.
So Harry spent every day until late July rebuilding Hogwarts by day and then spending time with the Weasleys and Hermione at night. It was a comfortable routine. On occasion, Andromeda would bring Teddy over and he would get to spend some quality time with his godson. Harry's birthday was just after the completion of the reconstruction and in honour of everything that Harry, and everyone else, had accomplished over the past year; Molly went all out and engineered a magnificent birthday party. Not only was the party to celebrate Harry's birthday, but it was also the best way to celebrate the lives of those they had lost during the war. By the time the party ended, Harry was completely stuffed full of food and fairly tipsy from the amount of alcohol he had consumed. It was his favourite birthday yet and he had a good feeling that it would never be topped.
.oOo.
Ron and Hermione were sitting comfortably next to each other in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Across from them, Harry was perched on the edge of his seat, legs bouncing nervously. After about five minutes, Hermione couldn't take any more, so she spoke up.
"Harry, stop it. You're starting to get on my nerves"
"Sorry, 'Mione." Harry replied. "It's just that, for some reason, I kind of want this to go well. I don't want to foul it up. With everything that's happened, I can't help but be nervous, can I?"
Nervous was an understatement, really. Harry was very much an anxious wreck. He had been since he'd boarded the train. See, Harry had decided earlier in the day that he was going to give Draco Malfoy his wand back; the one that Harry managed to wrestle from him back at Malfoy Manor. The problem is, is that they're not exactly nice towards each other at the best of times. Sure they had saved each other's lives during the war, but Harry had a feeling that not much would have changed between them aside from that and that being in a confined space would lead to disastrous results.
Hermione interrupted his thoughts. "Honestly, Harry. I don't see what the big problem is. Yes, it's Draco Malfoy. Yes, you've been at each other for years. Yes, you were on opposite sides of the war. But for god's sake Harry, I'd like to think that you've both grown up. If you can't find a way to be in a compartment together for more than thirty seconds without hexing each other, then I will personally hex you both six ways from Sunday!" Next to her, Ron snorted a laugh. Hermione turned a glare on him. "Don't you start, Ronald Weasley. You're in the same boat. You'll be around Malfoy more often this year, so I expect you to watch your mouth and your wand. If you make any references to ferrets in front of him, I'll transfigure you into a weasel." Ron went pale at the threat and Harry couldn't help the laugh that escaped him.
"Alright, I get it," Harry said throwing up his hands in surrender. "No taunting Malfoy." He stood up and opened the compartment door. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and winked at a still pale-faced Ron, then fled.
Harry had made his way to the very last carriage of the train that held students. This took longer than anticipated since everyone who saw him pass wanted to say hello and inquire after his health, at least. At most, he got stuck talking to a fourth year Hufflepuff boy about Quidditch for nearly ten minutes. He just didn't have the heart to tell the poor boy he needed to get somewhere.
At last he reached the final compartment on the train. He's got to be in this one. Harry thought. I've gone through every carriage and there hasn't been hide or hair of him. Interesting, there aren't any privacy wards on the door. You'd think Malfoy would be the kind of guy to have his back protected. Oh well, here goes nothing. Harry approached and slid open the compartment door carefully, but stopped in his tracks when he saw the blond boy inside.
A/N: Ahahaha, does leaving the very first chapter of a story as a semi-cliffie make me evil? I'd like to think not. Maybe that's just my way of getting you to review so that I can gauge what people think? Would you like to read more? If so, review please! :)