AUTHOR'S NOTE: Obviously, I do not own any content from the Harry Potter series and franchise (sadly). However, the rest of this work is my original writing and ideas, so please do not use or redistribute it in any way. You can find my works on AO3 and Wattpad under the same username (alexanderavery998). If you find my works somewhere other than these three websites, please let me know, because that means that they have been stolen and reposted without my permission.

A QUICK HEADS-UP: any dialogue that comes from the Harry Potter series will be marked by special quotation marks called guillemets (« »). All credit for that dialogue goes to J.K. Rowling, of course.

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PART ONE

{Year One}

"Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy."

— Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 143

~ CHAPTER ONE: MALFOY MANOR ~

Excited about the day ahead, Draco lay in bed wide awake as light seeped into the edges of the sky. He considered rolling over and going back to sleep, but it quickly became apparent that this would not work. Instead, he climbed out of his huge four-post canopy bed and threw open the curtains. The tall hedges that lined the walk up to the mansion were still shrouded in shadows, but far off in the distant rolling hills, the sun was rising. Only the house-elves would be awake at this hour, so he had some time to himself before his parents were ready to leave. That meant he could practice Quidditch — not that he needed to. He already knew he would be the best flyer of all the first years.

Draco changed, grabbed his broom, and hurried down the corridor, leaving his room for Dobby to tidy up. The Manor was one of the grandest wizarding properties in all of Britain, so the Malfoys had an entire staff of house-elves, including their main house-elf, Dobby. Draco had never had to clean up after himself a day in his life.

When he reached the stairs, Draco mounted his broom and kicked off from the floor. He let out a whoop of laughter as he zoomed down the curved staircase. When he neared the landing, he pulled up sharply and shot up towards the main hall's cavernous ceiling. He flew two loops round the chandelier before landing, a smile gracing his normally sour face. Flying gave him joy that few other things could. He couldn't wait to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team as soon as he was allowed.

"Draco, dear?"

Draco turned to see his mother descending the stairs. Narcissa Malfoy was tall, slim, and pale, with long, blonde hair drawn up in an elaborate plait and eyes the colour of the sky. Behind her was Draco's father, dressed in sweeping black robes that billowed behind him when he strode in. Lucius Malfoy was even taller and paler than his wife, with a pointed but handsome face, shoulder-length white-blond hair, and grey eyes.

Draco's heart swelled; he loved his mother and father more than anything else in the world. His mother was fiercely protective of him and his father, as well as loving and faithful to those she held dear. Draco was definitely his mother's son at heart.

However, his father was his ultimate hero. Not only did Lucius come from a powerful pure-blood family with prestige and wealth beyond imagination, but he was also resourceful, proud, and cunning, with a healthy thirst for power. Lucius had connections to the Minister of Magic himself, but he also told Draco stories about being the Dark Lord's second-in-command. Draco could only imagine how powerful his father was to have held such a position for the Dark Lord while continuing close relations with the Ministry. His father was harsh on him sometimes, but Draco knew it was only because he wanted the best for him.

Draco wanted to be just like his father when he grew up.

"Draco, dear," his mother repeated, stifling a yawn, "what are you doing up so early? You need your beauty sleep!"

She fussed about him, straightening the collar of his robes and smoothing back his hair, the same white-blond as his father's.

"Ah, leave him be, the boy's just excited," said his father, planting a firm hand on Draco's shoulder. "After all, today is the first step in his journey to becoming a respected and powerful wizard."

Draco felt a surge of happiness at the glint of pride in his father's eyes. Then the moment was lost as Lucius turned away, absentmindedly running his thumb across the silver snake head on his walking stick.

"I still would have preferred to send him off to Durmstrang," his father said, shooting a glance at his wife, who was now lovingly ruffling Draco's hair despite his protests that it would mess up his hair gel. "You know what I think of that crackpot, Dumbledore."

"Lucius, we talked about this," Narcissa said, putting a protective arm around her boy. "It's too far away from home — Hogwarts is much closer. Besides, it's already been set." She let go of Draco. "Go put your broom away, alright, sweetheart? Then come back down for breakfast."

"Aw, Mother, just a few more minutes!" Draco protested, although he already knew the answer to his pleas. His mother gave him almost everything he ever asked for. "I wanted to fly round the garden."

Narcissa let out a deep sigh, glancing at her husband before meeting her son's eager gaze. "Oh, alright, but just a few minutes. Then I want you in the dining room for breakfast."

Draco grinned triumphantly. Broomstick clutched tightly in hand, he bounded across the main hall, out the door, and down the stone steps into the garden.

The garden was one of Draco's favourite things about the Manor. Dark green hedges lined the wide gravel walk up to the entrance. On either side of the walk, there was an enclosed garden of evergreens, clipped bushes, and an old stone fountain. The pattern of mini enclosed gardens continued around the perimeter of the mansion. The gently rolling hills of the Wiltshire countryside, covered in swatches of trees and hazy fog, were barely visible past the neat maze of rectangular hedges. Draco was extremely proud of the land and the mansion. There was not one home in all of England that could put Malfoy Manor to shame.

A high-pitched screech startled Draco out of his admiration of the Manor. He whipped round, only to be greeted by a majestic albino peacock strutting towards him from behind a tall garden hedge.

"Stupid Albert, you big lump, you startled me," Draco snapped, although in reality he was only slightly annoyed.

Albert squawked in reply and ruffled his feathers. The peacock was snowy-white from beak to tail, while atop his head he sported a crown of feathers that bounced every time he bobbed his head. He was Draco's favourite of the Malfoy peafowl, and Draco was Albert's favourite. The arrogant peacock was only willing to be petted by Draco and loved to scare away visitors by chasing them around the property.

Albert squawked again and bent his head towards Draco's robes. It suddenly dawned on Draco what Albert wanted.

"Oh, you want some of this, don't you?"

Draco pulled a chunk of bread out of his pocket, and Albert made a joyful noise in the back of his throat. Draco tossed him the bread as Victoria and Elizabeth strutted around the garden hedge to join them. As soon as Albert swallowed the treat, he hopped towards the two peahens and unleashed his snowy plume of tail feathers with a loud squawk. Draco rolled his eyes and left Albert to his attempt to impress the ladies.

Draco straddled his broom and pushed off into the air. He laughed as the wind whipped in his face and the world grew smaller below him. Nothing was quite like flying. His lifelong dream was to become a famous Quidditch player. He didn't really care which team he played for, so long as they were a winning one. However, Draco also wanted to be just like his father. At any rate, he knew that with how wealthy his family was, he would never have to work a day in his life. Sometimes it sounded like a lovely future, but other days it sounded like quite a bore.

Another thing Draco enjoyed about flying was that it was a solitary activity, one where he could get away from his parents and the house-elves and take some time to breathe. The fresh air of the Wiltshire countryside brought much-needed colour to his pale cheeks, and flying far above everything else gave him time to think.

Sometimes he imagined that he was a world-renowned Seeker diving for the Golden Snitch to win the game, or that he was fighting a dragon to the screams of an adoring crowd afraid of losing its hero. Other days, Draco wondered what Hogwarts was like. His parents spoke fondly of Hogwarts when he asked them about their time there. They described the Slytherin house in all its glory, reminisced about falling in love, and insulted the other houses. As he flew, Draco imagined becoming a prefect, a famous Slytherin Seeker, and someone whom his peers feared and teachers loved. He couldn't wait to bring honour and glory to Slytherin and fame for himself, of course.

All too soon, Draco heard his mother calling and landed reluctantly for breakfast. His only consolation was that they were about to visit Diagon Alley for his school supplies. As he ate, sitting with his mother and father and being waited on by house-elves, Draco felt his excitement growing. His future at Hogwarts was finally becoming real.

After what felt like an eternity, Lucius rose from the table and walked to the fireplace. The fireplace had a beautifully-carved marble mantelpiece. Above it hung an intricate gilded mirror. Narcissa joined her husband, and Draco followed her as Lucius lifted an ornate jar off the mantelpiece and opened it to reveal Floo Powder.

"Are we going straight to Diagon Alley?" Draco asked earnestly.

Part of him hoped that they were, but the other part of him wanted to see where his father always disappeared off to during their shopping trips.

"Today we are, yes," Lucius replied with a glint in his eye, not oblivious to his son's intentions. "However, someday I will take you with me elsewhere. Diagon Alley is not the only place in England to buy and sell wizarding goods."

Lucius threw a pinch of Floo Powder into the fire, turning it bright green.

"Diagon Alley!" he said, before stepping into the flames and vanishing from sight.

Narcissa took Draco's hand protectively. "Ready?"

At his nod, she threw another pinch of Floo Powder into the fireplace.

"Diagon Alley!"

Then they stepped into the fireplace and were engulfed in green flames, spinning their way towards wizarding London.