I decided to write a one-shot as a bit of a warm up, to see if I still have the power to come up with a decent story. =) I hope it turns out the way I want but it was very easy to write, since the idea has been stewing in my mind for a few days. For some reason I come up with most of my ideas at work, while packing outgoing cargo, so I end up writing down ideas on small pieces of paper that I stick in my pocket. As for now, there is quite a big heap of them next to me, complete with dirty fingerprints and coffee mug rings. Very professional, huh? =P

This originally started as a one-shot but it ended up turning much longer then I thought it would be, so I decided to split it into at least two chapters, maybe even continuing it into a full story if there is enough interest.

Disclaimer:

I don't own anything, well at least nothing connected to Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling.
Am I allowed to own my apartment?

PLEASE REMEBER THE MAGIC R's - READ & REVIEW!

Chapter 1

Draco was fuming with anger has he stomped down to the quidditch patch. A few younger students quickly got out of his way when they saw the murderous look on his face and that only made him angrier. It was that kind of attitude that had pissed him off from the start. He reached the door to the boys changing rooms, tore it open and slammed it shut behind him two seconds later. He pulled on the door to his locker and then kicked it in frustration when it did not open before he slumped down with his back against it. Why did people still threat him like he would jump them at any moment and Avada Kedavra them? Leaning his head back against the locker and closing his eyes he thought back on the day that just passed.

o

Honestly it had started as a good day as he woke up feeling refreshed and happy, got dressed and went to have breakfast. When he stepped out of the door to the dungeons and walked past the staircases leading down from the upper floor a few first year olds had come running down the stairs and one of them collided with him, before falling backwards, hitting her elbow against one of the stone pillar supporting the railing of the stairs. It was here his day had started to go wrong.

She started crying of course, since it must have hurt quite a bit, but when he reach down to help her up she quickly moved away from him, looking terrified through her tears. Her friends quickly closed in around her, comforting at the same time as they sent glares in Draco's direction, looking both scared and defiant at the same time. It was very clear that they would not let him come close to their friend, even thought he could have healed her injuries in mere seconds using the Episkey spell on her.

He sighted and continued into the Great Hall hastily making his way over to the Slytherin table before he could do any more damage. Blaise was already seated on his normal spot and Draco slipped in next to him.

"Morning" he said before tucking in on a piece of roast bread with marmalade on. Blaise, who was busy chewing a mouthful of porridge just nodded in greeting. They ate in silence and neither of them spoke until they left they had left the Great Hall and was heading back to the dungeons to grab their schoolbags before class. Blaise was whistling while they walked and the sound echoed of the bare stone walls.

"Can you please stop that?" Draco asked making an annoyed face. "You'll give me a headache."

Blaise stopped and snorted.

"Someone's in a grouchy mood today" he pointed out.

"Well yeah" Draco sneered. "First thing I do is getting run into by clumsy first years, one of them falling over and getting hurt and in the end I'll probably get the blame for it."

"Why didn't you help her out" Blaise scolded.

"Don't you think I tried?" Draco snapped. "They won't even let me get close to them you know, have you forgot that I'm the big bad Death Eater that nearly killed Dumbledore? It could be oh so dangerous to get anywhere close to me or even worse, come in physical contact with me!"

He clenched his fists when the rage welled up inside him

"Why do they treat me like I'm some kind of dangerous criminal!" he snapped. "The war is long over and still they seem to think that I'll suddenly snap and kill everyone around me. Why won't they understand that people change? I never wanted to be the Dark Lords tool in the first place, I did it so he would not kill my parents. Is that so wrong?"

Blaise sighted.

"I don't know mate, I really don't. They treat me the same, you know it. It seems we can't get rid of the image of being big bad Death Eaters, at least not in the eyes of the younger students. The older ones aren't so bad, they know the pressure of trying to protect those you love, at whatever cost it takes. "

Draco nodded. He had to agree with Blaise. Most 6th and 7th year students from the other houses were, if not friendly, polite to the few of the remaining Slytherins. They knew the perils of war exactly as well, and there was no heavier burden to carry then the knowledge that the people you loved could live or die, depending on if you did what you been told to do.

He couldn't actually say that they had forgiven him, but at least they gave him a second chance to prove that he wasn't the kind of person they thought he was, and he was grateful, he, Draco Malfoy was really grateful for it.

The problem lay in the younger students, who had heard stories from their siblings or family members about the war and the horrors it held. And they had of course heard stories about the dreadful Slytherins and their unofficial leader Draco Malfoy. Judging by the stories circling among the first years he was the next Dark Lord to be and would not hesitate a second to turn them in to a pile of dust or worse, if they so much as looked at him. Okay, in the beginning he didn't really care that the younger students ran away screaming as soon as they saw him, it left the corridors pleasantly empty and easy to move in. But over time it grew annoying and the stories grew larger, with more horrible details each day and by now it seemed that just seeing him would result in terrible things happening to you. It was getting on his nerves.

It's a hard thing to change the image that people have of you, he had read somewhere that you have about 20 seconds to make a first impression on a person, and that was it. Now the young students had had months to create their impression of him as a person and it was even wearing of on the 1st and 2nd year students in Slytherin. He was so god damn tired of people scurrying away like scared mice as soon as they saw him.

This morning had been just the same, him trying to repair the damage he accidentally cause and it ends up with the whole group of kids ganging up on him to 'protect' their friend from the dangerous Death Eater. He just wanted to shout 'Wake up, God damn it, the war is over and the Dark Lord is gone! I'm not one of his servants so stop treating me like I have the plague!' Of course he wouldn't do that, mostly since it wouldn't have any effect more then to scare the damn kids even more. He sighted again and decided not to think more about it and instead concentrate on his upcoming lessons.

o

The lessons of the day went by in the same semi boring way they always did. Draco had almost fallen asleep during the double hour of History of Magic, but that wasn't anything new since the voice of professor Binns, the ghost holding the lessons, could lull anyone into deep sleep almost faster than a severe blow to the head. Draco wondered if the little ghost ever left the classroom, or if he just stood there, day as night, maybe holding old lessons for students who left Hogwarts many many years ago.

He and Blaise were on their way back to the dungeons since they had a free period before lunch, and the food in the Great Hall would not be served for at least another hour when the next catastrophe of the day occurred. Draco honestly blamed this one on Blaise, since he, in Draco's eyes was the one who started the whole circus by stumbling in the stairs, and as he fell he just grabbed hold onto whatever his hands closed around. His left hand caught the railing of the stairs and it would have been absolutely fine if he hadn't, with his right hand, managed to grab the hem of the skirt of a 4th year girl from Ravenclaw that was just passing by. Not managing to completely stop his fall with his left hand he succeeded in yanking the poor girls skirt down to her knees before stopping. The silence that followed lasted only a few seconds before the girl overcame the shock.

"HELP! I'm getting molested by Slytherins!

Since Blaise was on his knees and hands all eyes were first turned up on Draco, standing crestfallen in the middle of the stairs with a skirt-less Ravenclaw girl in front of him that had just burst into tears. Okay, there weren't many students in the hall, but it didn't need to be. The gossip mill of the school was as efficient as ever. He carefully reached out for the girl, realizing at the same time that might not be a good idea. She stumbled back, skirt still tangled around her legs.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed trying to keep herself upright. More people came out from nearby corridors to see what the ruckus was all about and Draco didn't think it could get much worse when he heard a voice behind him.

"And what is going on here, Mr. Malfoy?"

He was almost, he had to admitted, even if it put a dent in his Malfoy pride, afraid to turn around. Behind him stood no one else then Headmistress McGonagall with a stern look on her face. Man, that woman was good at showing up when trouble occurred. She held his gazes without flinching and was clearly waiting for a response.

"Uhm..." he begun in a very no Malfoyish way. "There was an accident."

"It's true, Headmistress" Blaise supplied from the floor, where he was sitting examining a cut on his leg from where he had hit the stairs when falling. "I was clumsy and fell over and in my actions to stop my fall I happened to grab onto this girls skirt and I assure you it was not my intention." He turned to the still crying girl that was bright red out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Miss."

McGonagall looked firmly at the two boys and the young girl before nodding.

"I see no reason not to believe you" she stated. She turned to the crying Ravenclaw girl. "What is your name, young lady?"

Draco thought to himself that with that phrase she sounded just like someone's old granny.

The girl hiccupped before answering.

"Amanda Wicket" she stated in a low voice. In an even lower voice, almost drowned by the small sobs still escaping her she said. "Please, Miss Headmistress can you make them go away, I don't want them here, they scare me!"

McGonagall turned to Blaise, who now was on his feet again, and Draco.

"I think you should respect the young lady's wish" she stated in the calm serious tone she used on students when they she thought they caused a problem in some way. "But before you go I demand that you apologize to her."

Draco opened his mouth, an 'I'm sorry' almost on his lips before he shook himself.

"Why should I apologize?" he snapped, starting to get more and more annoyed with this day for every passing moment. "I didn't do anything to her, I was just standing here!"

The Headmistress made a small snorting sound.

"Well, it seems like just standing there has made this young lady burst into tears. If that is the case, Mr. Malfoy, I seriously think you should consider the way you stand around other people."

The sarcasm in her voice was clearly audible and Draco muttered something that could have passed for 'Sorry' and proceeded to go down the stairs. Blaise said a more sincere apology even if he already said it once and hurried after Draco, who already, followed by the whispers of all the present students, had reached the doors to the dungeons.
On the other side of the door it was silent and chilly and the two boys walked silently for a while before Blaise cleared his throat.

"I really doubt this will help us out of our position as two of the most loathed persons on the school."

"No kidding?" Draco snapped as they reached the stone wall that held the entrance to the Slytherin dungeons. "In a few hours the gossip mill will have turn this into how we almost raped that poor girl on the stairs!"

He angrily tapped three stones in the wall and snarling the password. Even before the stones moved completely he had stomped into the common room and threw himself onto one of the green sofas. Blaise followed him and sat down in an armchair, flinging his legs over the side. They sat in silence, Draco taking deep breaths to let his anger die down so he would not hex the first person speaking to him, mostly because that would only add onto his already deformed reputation. He waved his wand over the empty sofa table next to him, conjuring a big mug of steaming coffee. He sometimes wondered why it had been the muggle community that had come up with something as amazing as coffee and at the same time he loathed his father's stubbornness against anything muggle, since it meant he never tasted coffee until the age of seventeen. By now he was an addict and had come up with the conjuring spell himself, just to be sure to always have a fresh mug of coffee when he wanted one. A coffee machine wouldn't work in the school anyways. As he took the first sip of the coffee he wondered if the day could get any worse. He doubted it could.

o

Now, sitting against the cold door of his locker he knew he had been wrong. It got worse, indeed it did. And this time he could not blame anyone else then himself.

o

After the disaster in the stairs he and Blaise had stayed in the common room for almost the whole lunch break, not leaving until it was only ten minutes left before the next lesson, taking a detour past the kitchens for a few sandwiches and making their way to their last lesson of the day. Since it was double hour of Potions, Draco's favorite subject he decided it would brighten up his day. That was of course until he was pared up with the Golden Boy himself, whom he still didn't get along with very well. Almost six years of fighting, and him being involved in the killing of Dumbledore hadn't really made a base for a decent relationship. So they worked in silence, following the carefully written notes on the blackboard. It went well, after almost an hour their potion looked almost perfect, only beaten by Granger and her partner's potion, which didn't surprise either of them.

It would have stayed that way if Draco hadn't messed up. He didn't mean to and he blamed a part of it on professor Slughorn who had walked over and stared talking to him while he was carefully counting Wobblewilly seeds before turning to Potter and they both leaned over to examine the potion. Somewhere along those lines he lost track of counting without releasing it and when he dumped the seeds into the bubbling cauldron it, to put it simply, exploded.

Not in the 'bang-everyone-is-covered-in-goo' way, but it cascaded up in the air, forming a billowing cloud changing quickly between all the different colors of the rainbow. As fast as he could he stepped away from the hissing, spitting cauldron and tried to see something on the other side of the smoke.

"Scorgify" he muttered and the oozing liquid in the cauldron vanished. Along with it the smoke started to disappear and he could once again see the other side of the classroom. Most students were staring, but not at him and he groaned when he took in the sight before him.

In front of him was Professor Slughorn probably looking livid with rage, thought it was a hard case to judge through the different shades of green that colored his face and the front of his robes. And next to him, Harry Potter, the schools savior and the hero of the wizarding world, in a bright shade of purple. In his case it did not only affect his skin and clothes but also his hair, which had turned a bright shade of light pink. Both of them where dripping with liquid.

'He looks like a lollipop' a part of Draco's mind thought. The rest of it was busy thinking. 'Oh, gods, I'm dead. When this hit's reaches the students, and it will, it will be told as the 'Our hero Harry Potter viciously attacked by former Death Eater Draco Malfoy.'

His train of thoughts was disrupted by laughter. Both Blaise and Potters mate, the Weasel was no longer holding back their laughs. For a brief second he wondered if he also had been affected by the messed up potion and quickly glanced down on his robes. To some relief at least he was still his normal color, even if that only would help on spreading the rumor about him 'attacking' Potter. He glanced at the colorful pair again and this time he could no longer hold in a laugh. Potter had removed his glasses and was trying to clean them of and to the amusement of most of the class he still had his normal skin color around his eyes, giving him a look of a discolored panda. The laugh caught in his throat as professor Slughorn turned to him.

"You find this amusing, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked in a stern voice.

"No, sir" Draco stated, suddenly not the slightest bit entertained by the view in front of him.

"There is nothing funny about a mistake in potions" the professor said, turning to address the whole, still partly giggling class. "It could have resulted in a very serious accident. At your age you should be very aware of the dangers it holds. This time it went well, thank goodness, but next time the potion might as well turn into some kind of skin melting highly poisonous substance by a single mistake, so, and I only say this once, DON'T let there be any more mistakes!"

The last laughter died quickly at this statement. Slughorn turned to Draco.

"30 points deducted from Slytherin for careless behavior. You are dismissed from the lesson, Mr. Malfoy."

Without another word he turned back to Potter and told him to go directly to the hospital wing so that Sister Pomfrey could take a look at him. Draco put his head in his hands.

'Absolutely wonderful' he thought. 'Now he's going to walk through the school playing a human candy cane as well. The other students won't only hear the story, they will see the so called evidence of the 'attack' as well.'

"I thought I told you to leave, Mr. Malfoy."

The demanding voice of Slughorn broke through his train of thoughts and he picked up his bag and left the room. The rage inside was increasing by the minute. He had tried so hard to wipe away the picture of him as an evil Death Eater and as soon as it seem like he managed to get further away from his past something happened that made him fall right back in the old image people held of him.

He snarled and was about to punch his closed fist into the wall next to him, even if it would result in a sprained wrist, when he heard footsteps behind him. He didn't turn his head until someone called his name. The voice belonged to the last person he wanted to see or hear at this moment.

"What do you want, Potter?" he snapped as he turned around.

Potter made a face and then shrugged.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose. It wasn't really fair of Slughorn to yell at you like that."

"The last thing I need is your pity!" Draco snarled and before Potter could say anything else Draco had sprinted out of the dungeon door and out onto the school grounds.

Hope you liked the first part of my story! If you didn't, I want positive critic, not flames. And of course, I want nice reviews as well, if you think I deserve them!

/Miriam