Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from J. . The story line and some characters are mine though. Enjoy!
He had never cared about anyone but himself. He had been born into an aristocratic family, with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. His birth had only marked the continuation of his family line and nothing more. His parents, mostly absent, had entrusted his care and education to a squadron of highly paid nannies to cater to his every whim. Most of his life had been spent exceeding everyone around him. Better toys, better clothes, better friends...he had enjoyed rubbing it into the faces of those less fortunate. While possessing a sharp mind, he had breezed through school based on his family name out of pure laziness, bullied everyone he could and scorned those he could not. His so called friends, lifelong acquaintances arranged by his parents since infancy, were as arrogant and as obnoxious as he had been. The only thing he had ever loved was riding. He had been taking lessons for as long as he could remember because his father insisted, in one of the rare times he was home, that it is a sport every young heir to a good family should learn.
Luckily he took to it like a duck to water and when he was eleven, his father bought him his very first horse, Storm. With time he outgrew Storm in both skill and size and his father gifted him a priceless pure blooded stallion with a name as dark as the midnight color of his shiny coat, Nightmare. He loved Nightmare who played the role of friend and confident for the young man who would spend hours on end riding across the family estate. And then tragedy struck. Six months before his 21st birthday he went out riding and was caught in a horrible storm. Due to the pouring water and darkening sky he could not see the way and Nightmare's hooves slipped on the slimy mud into a ditch. He could not remember much until he woke up in a hospital wing and was told that Nightmare had to be put down due to his injuries. It was the very first time he could remember crying. He had barely recovered from the traumatic experience of losing his first and only friend and had never ridden another horse since.
Now 23 he was about to board a train which would take him to his family's estate in the south of France where he would spend the summer. In fall he would go to Hogwarts, an elite university where he would start his Master's degree studies. That was one experience he was dreading because it would bring him one step closer to taking over the family business, a step which he was reluctant to take. But his father was starting to pressure him into making a decision and he had only barely managed to convince him to get some more time to think. Entering the train he made his way towards the back where he knew he would find an empty compartment. Motioning to his driver to pick one and put the bags away, he took a seat by the window and halfheartedly waved goodbye to him.
Leaning his forehead against the cool glass he put in the headphones to his brand new mp3 player and let himself be lulled to sleep by the rocking motion of the train being set in motion. He would get over these three months like he always did...because he had to...because he was Draco Malfoy, scion to the Malfoy family and heir to the greatest fortune in the United Kingdom. As he fell asleep he had no idea how life-changing the next three months would be...