The King's Cross station seemed to be far more crowded than usual in Theodore Nott's opinion. It wasn't just new first years, it seemed that a lot of adults saw it proper to come along with their children this year. Why though, he had no idea. His own father didn't come with him this time, but that was because he was busy on a mission for the Dark Lord. Well, more like kissing up to him, but that really wasn't any of his business to judge. As he pulled his trunk onto the train, he recognized the werewolf and the mad Auror shaking hands with Potter.

Must be guarding him. Fools, why would anybody attack him now in such a crowded place?

He shrugged to himself and continued down the train with his slightly lighter than usual trunk until he found a compartment with a single first year girl in it.

"Out," he said coldly, pulling out his wand and pointing it at her. "Or I'll hex you." She squeaked in terror, grabbing her trunk and cat to run out of the compartment. With a soft chuckle he entered the compartment and heaved his trunk into the luggage rack, putting his Ural Owl, Bernadette, onto the seat across from him. She was pretty old now, and he briefly wondered when she would croak. He stuck a finger into her cage and stroked her once before looking out the window in time to see a large bear-like dog chasing the train as it started to move until they turned a corner.

He gazed outside of his compartment at people who were trying to find seats. Longbottom paused in front of his compartment but a quick glower from Theodore sent him scampering into the very last carriage. He had to do this about six more times to other people, including Potter and the Weasley girl.

He laid down in his compartment and thought about his summer. It was usually quite lonely with only his father and a young inexperienced house elf as company. Though this summer was slightly different because he actually had someone writing to him. Draco Malfoy made sure to write in order to brag all about how his father was able to do all these missions for the Dark Lord and that he would be able to meet the Dark Lord for the first time soon- maybe during the following summer. Blaise Zabini actually sent one letter, complaining about Malfoy who was bragging to him as well and that Theodore was lucky that his mother didn't keep him locked up at home. Theodore only replied with "My mother's dead, you git." and that had ended Zabini's sudden desire to write to him; Malfoy had been harder to shake off. Persistent prat. Though Malfoy's letters did make him think about a few things like: While Malfoy's father seemed to keep him informed about what was going on, why hasn't Theodore's own father said anything to him about the Dark Lord or his current "occupation"? Why wasn't he allowed to meet the Dark Lord? Why did he have to sneak around his own home in order to even glimpse his father in his Death Eater attire? His father knew that he knew about everything, so why did he act like it was a secret?

Preferring not to think about his father in a negative light, he focused his thoughts elsewhere. How about the news? The Daily Prophet had been saying Harry Potter was an attention-seeking child and that Dumbledore was mad, but he knew that wasn't true. Potter was telling the truth, the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, had returned. Voldemort. He shuddering involuntarily. Dumbledore had lost quite a lot for trying to warn the Ministry, and he wasn't having any success, why did he even bo-

His thoughts halted when he noticed Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle lumbering around looking lost outside of his compartment. Honestly, without Malfoy they're even more pathetic than usual.

He sat up, stretched, and opened his compartment door. "Oy, Crabbe, Goyle, what're you doing standing there like idiots?" he asked. "Where's Malfoy?"

"Prefect," Goyle mumbled.

Theodore almost groaned. More bragging rights for Malfoy, and he was just asking for an earful of it after he decided to let Crabbe and Goyle into his compartment. Come to think of it, if Malfoy hadn't written to him about the Prefect thing, then he was probably waiting to brag in person. He sat on the seat next to Bernadette and watched the two dunderheads put away their luggage and begin to play Exploding Snap. Dying of boredom around half an hour later, he actually considered asking if he could play. Unfortunately for him, the food trolley came up and the two clumsily stuffed the cards back into their pockets in order to gorge themselves. Knowing full well that they wouldn't be keen on sharing, he bought his own load of sweets and helped himself.

The compartment door slid open almost an hour later and there stood Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Theodore grimaced when he saw they both wore prefect badges. When Malfoy caught him looking at it, he smirked at him and tapped it with one finger before sitting down on this same seat as him, Pansy following suit.

"So Nott, Crabbe, Goyle…as you can see, Pansy and I have been bestowed the honor of becoming prefects," Malfoy started. "At least, it would be an honor if they didn't give it to anyone."

"Oh, feeling modest now, are we Malfoy?" Theodore asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Malfoy ignored him. "The prefects are all a bunch of sods. They chose Granger and Weasley for Gryffindor. Though I suppose for a pathetic house you need pathetic representatives."

"Mudbloods and blood traitors, 'suppose you're right about that one." Theodore agreed, practically shoving Bernadette's cage between him and Pansy. The owl hooted indignantly and seemed to glare at him with her large eyes but he just shrugged and looked out the window. "Have you flaunted your status in Potter's face yet?"

Malfoy's eyes widened and he stood up quickly, practically throwing Pansy's hand back into her face (she had been inching it towards his) and looked at Theodore. "Merlin, Nott, I haven't! I can't believe I've forgotten." He turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "Come on you two, let's look for Potter."

Pansy scowled when they exited and seeing that there was no reason to stay, left the compartment without glancing back. Theodore noticed his owl's rustled feathers began to smooth.

"Don't relax now. Haughty Slytherins are easily distracted but they'll soon be back, and in greater numbers," Theodore said to Bernadette. "I should know, I'm one of them. At least that's how it goes down in Hogwarts, not sure if that many Slytherins could fit in this compartment though…"

Not even ten minutes later, they returned. Theodore managed to curse loudly before they opened the compartment door. It wasn't that he hated them, it's just that Malfoy was so…willing to include him into his gang, it was annoying. It was probably a friendly gesture, but he really didn't want to hang out with the same people too much, it was like making a commitment. They say "hello", they'll expect you to say "Hi" back. They write you letters, they'll expect you to write back. They give you Christmas gifts, they'll expect a gift in return. It was frustrating and he would rather not have to deal with it.

"He was hanging out with the crazy Ravenclaw girl, mighty Potter must be desperate to make friends if he's willing to consort with Loony Lovegood!" Malfoy crowed. Theodore just nodded, playing with a feather that Bernadette had lost while he cracked open The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5. He went through the first two pages as Malfoy talked about how pathetic Harry Potter was before stopping abruptly.

"Nott. Speak up, I need intelligent conversation here."

"I need someone intelligent to converse with." Theodore retorted, smirking at Malfoy's scowl.

"Has your father told you anything about the Dark Lord?"

Theodore paused from his reading and looked at him stoically. "No."

"Aren't you curious of what's going on? What your father has been doing? What the Dark Lord has been doing?" He smirked. "What I've been doing?"

His jaw twitched as he thought of what to say. "If I was wondering," he said slowly. "I would have written back to you instead of blatantly ignoring your letters and tossing them into the fire."

Malfoy let out a dignified snort. "Whatever you say, Nott. But, just so you won't be a clueless as a mountain troll, the Dark Lord is just keeping a low profile and building up his forces. Our fathers have been out gathering some rather large recruits and killing a select few who do not sympathize with our cause. There are also plans for breakouts in foreign countries before we move on the Az-"

"Malfoy." He was surprised at how cold his own voice was. Malfoy blinked and looked at him interestedly. "Are you sure you're ready to be involved in these activities?"

"Activities? What, being a Death Eater? Father says I'm too young but I th-"

"Do you hear yourself? Malfoy, this is real life. You just talked about our murderous fathers without batting an eye."

He cocked an eyebrow. "So? They've killed before in the first war."

Theodore sighed, it was obvious that what their fathers were doing hadn't sunk into Malfoy's thick skull yet. He actually felt sorry for him, it would be difficult for Malfoy to fully understand what it was his father was doing since he was, whether he knew it or not, very sheltered. Malfoy would probably have to witness a murder to get why he shouldn't talk about it so easily.

Theodore on the other hand had seen it happen about half a dozen times. He preferred to keep the number in the single digits, but it would only be a matter of time before…

He forced his thoughts to stop and just nodded at Malfoy. "Right, but I just don't think you should charge in like a thick Gryffindor."

Malfoy looked extremely insulted, but it shut him up about his summer. As the train continued on it's way, Theodore realized he was reading his book without taking in any of the words. With a snort of distaste he slammed it shut and put it away. Malfoy was talking to Crabbe and Goyle about how he planned to use and abuse his Prefect privileges and idly wondered where Pansy went. He passed the time by staring up at the darkening sky outside, thrown off slightly when he realized there was a light drizzle and it was going to be a moonless night.

The rest of the train ride went on without anything very interesting happening. Zabini came in for a while and managed to keep Malfoy from bragging for about twenty minutes. He, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle talked animatedly about Quidditch; Malfoy even grudgingly agreed that they probably wouldn't win against Gryffindor…Until Goyle reminded him that he was a Prefect. That gave Malfoy the brilliant idea to try and get Potter a detention for his games. It was only after Theodore suggested they get their robes on when Zabini went back into his own compartment.

"You'll have to supervise everyone while we get off the train." Theodore reminded Malfoy who flashed him a look of annoyance. When he left with Crabbe and Goyle, Theodore flicked his wand at his own trunk, "Locomotor trunk," and carried Bernadette's cage in his other hand, shoving past students who were scrambling out of the train.

He stepped out onto the platform and out through the station. Something seemed off as he shuffled onto the road outside with the large crowd of students. When he saw Professor Grubby-Plank was the one leading the first years, he realized that the half-giant, Hagrid, was missing. He wouldn't be missed. He looked out at the crowd to see if anything else was different, but all he saw was Hermione Granger scolding Malfoy who was replying scathingly back until the arrival of Pansy convinced Granger to leave him alone. She went off to Potter and Ron Weasley who were waiting for her near a row of coaches. Malfoy seemed to have conjured a gang of Slytherins around him as he shoved past a few second years into an unoccupied carriage.

Preferring not to spend his whole day with Malfoy, Theodore went ahead and took a carriage where a Ravenclaw, Anthony Goldstein, was sitting. He looked surprised to seem him climb aboard uninvited, but said nothing. Terry Boot and Michael Corner nearly jumped out of their skins when the entered and saw him in there, but unlike Goldstein, Boot thought it was fine to shout what he was thinking. "What are you doing here?"

"Sitting."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously, but…we don't know you and…never mind," he sighed, sitting next to him to look at Goldstein questioningly but he just shrugged. Michael Corner stuck his head out of the carriage to see if any other unexpected guests would show up, then closed the door.

Outside the window, Theodore could see the silhouettes of the skeleton horses moving steadily forward. He wasn't sure why he was the only one able to see them, but assumed it was better not to mention it incase anybody thought he was going mad. He always forgot to look them up in the library, maybe he would remember this year.

"I noticed Potter came back this year." Corner said conversationally.

"I think everybody noticed." Goldstein said, looking at his reflection in the window to flatten his hair. "Everybody was clambering over each other to get a good look at him. Honestly, he's not a zoo exhibit, and this year is O.W.L. year. Insane or not, people should worry more about school and less about Harry and whether he's gone bonkers."

"I don't think he's insane. Maybe traumatized and spouting nonsense… Maybe he's gotten over Cedric's death now, he could be normal now." Boot said.

"I want to know how Cedric died, though." Corner murmured. "He just came out of the maze with his body for crying out loud. The papers say it was a tragic accident, Potter says it was You-Know-Who… Both are just so out there. The Tournament was suppose to be safer, how could it be an accident?"

Boot's eyes widened dramatically. "You don't think Harry's the one who killed him, do you? There was so much stress for the Champions in the Tournament, it could have addled his brains a bit."

"That's what I was thinking!" Corner exclaimed and Goldstein rolled his eyes. "I just didn't want to say anything because it sounded mad…"

Theodore snorted but the sound was drowned out as their carriage went over a large rock and landed back on the ground with a loud bang. He wasn't sure whether they believed Potter or not, but was pretty sure they would be adding to the gossip which was sure to be going on at Hogwarts.

A soft jingle sounded as the carriage stopped and Theodore jumped out of the coach to avoid stepping into a puddle. To his amusement, Boot enthusiastically splashed into it, causing Goldstein to shove him unknowingly into one of the skeleton horses. Boot let out a small cry when he felt the contact and jumped away, looking around wildly, unable to see the creature he had touched; the skeleton horse shook it's head and stretched wings.

"Something wrong?" Theodore asked derisively.

"I…uh, no I was just- nothing, never mind…" Boot said, looking confused.

Theodore watched him jog after Goldstein and Corner…and pretty much every single student in Hogwarts. Strange that he had spent the last four years with a few still didn't know their names, it was quite fascinating when he thought about it. Once the Dark Lord took over, he knew that half of these kids would be killed. Any intelligent being can see that Hogwarts would be one of the first places the Dark Lord would seek to take over, right next to the Ministry. Mudbloods, blood traitors, and some half-bloods, they would all be killed… Thank Merlin he was a pure-blood, he had some protection.

"Hey! Move your keister, Nott!" Tracey Davis shouted at him from the top of the steps, jolting him out of his thoughts for the hundredth time that day. The girls around her, including Pansy, giggled at the expression on his face.

With a roll of his eyes, he went up the stone steps into the castle.

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