Draco likes to count. When his father got angry and shoved his head under in the bath, Draco counted the seconds until he could breathe again, even as his throat burned from the water forced down it, and his heart beat in his ears, and he felt that odd pinpricking sensation in his nose. Seventy-two. After Lucius left, he stared at the water swirl down the drain, saw the soap bubbles gather under the faucet and counted the minutes until the cat came in to lick the bottom of the tub. Five.

When they rode the train to Hogwarts, Draco counted all the lakes and all the oak trees. Twenty-seven and two hundred forty-nine. He beat his fingers against the foggy glass in rhythm. One. Twothree. Four. One. He fixed his hair on the slight refection of the window and sighed, tracing his fingers in the marks of condensed water. He wrote his name in elegant letters, wrote his father's name, his mother's name. And Harry Potter's name, before erasing it smoothly with his thumb.

He counted the new students in his year. Slytherins, two girls. Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson. Three boys. Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle. Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors - he couldn't be bothered. And Harry Potter.

In class, Draco counts. The freckles on the back of Weasley's neck. Three hundred ninety-two, though he can't be sure that's exact, Weasley kept moving. How many times Goyle said when he tried to answer a simple question. Fifty-six. How many times Granger turned to glance at Harry, as though she were afraid he might disappear, or burst in flames if she didn't. Nineteen. The number to times he'd written Harry Potter on the margins of his potion notes without meaning to. Twenty. He tore the parchment to bits, and on his way to the rubbish bin, he glanced at the parchment Potter absent-mindedly scribbled on. Harry chewed his lips when he thought.

Draco Malfoy written among Harry's stick figures. Twenty-two times. On his way to the dungeons, Draco counted the stones on the damp floors. After fifty-seven, he noticed he was still smiling.