Special was one of the words that frequently came up when discussing Holly Potter - the only person to survive the killing curse. As a baby, she was quiet, but her eyes were full of wonder. A special baby that was well behaved and loved to laugh. As a toddler, she was a bright and gentle. Teachers knew she was special child that would go far in the future in any path she chose. Then, she came to Hogwarts. She was the topic of many conversations from her professors to her many peers. She was the special Girl-Who-Lived. When Draco Malfoy first met her in the robe shop in Diagon Ally, special was not one of the words he would have used. When he learned of her existence on the train, different words came to mind. Shabby, uncouth, and impolite were more along the lines of how we would describe the slip of a girl. Her clothing was large and dark, and her glasses didn't fit properly at all. She didn't seem to have any manners whatsoever. In fact, his head of house frequently used the words arrogant, unintelligent, and utterly Gryffindor.
However, after the first week it became apparent that she was almost none of these things. She was quiet, curious, cautious, and painfully ordinary. Draco did agree though that she was positively Gryffindor; heart on her sleeve, speaking before she thinks, with very little ambition. She sat in the middle rows with other Gryffindors, not in the back, but not in the front. She rarely raised her hand, and preferred to watch others many times before attempting anything that proved fruitful. She was never the first person to enter and rarely the last. Her homework was always exactly the right length and she never asked questions. Yet, odd things did tend to happen around her. She had a penchant for getting into major trouble and skirting her way around minor things. The first year, she disobeyed Hooch's orders and wound up as the youngest seeker in a century. Then, she gets caught out of bed and winds up in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. She then helped the House of Lions win the House Cup. She was the special first year on the quidditch team. In their second year, people were using a whole new set of words to describe her. The Heir of Slytherin, snake speaker, evil, dark, and the list goes on. The world had turned on her as quickly as it had welcomed her. By the end of the year though, she was once again held in high regards. Rumors had it she had gone into the Chamber and rescued Ginny Weasley. She still submitted mediocre work, but was a hero again. During their third year though, Draco had a new word to describe her.
Powerful.
While she floundered in theory and had slightly above average writing skills, her grasp of practical magic and ability to think in a pinch had proven to be borderline prodigal. Charms, transfigurations, and of course the dark arts, were where she shinned. It could have been attributed to simply having a capable Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Draco had to admit Lupin was a definite improvement over the bumbling fool, Lockhart. It could have also been due to the escaped convict, Sirius Black, hunting her. Then, the Castle is on lockdown, Dumbledore is about the get fired, the Gamekeeper is set to go to Azkaban, and Holly is once again in the middle of everything. A fourth year Slytherin heard from his cousin in Ravenclaw, that a second year Hufflepuff with a brother in Gryffindor confirmed that Holly wasn't in the tower when dementors swarmed Hogwarts. Then, they were all gone, chased off by a glowing silver stag. And after that disastrous quidditch match, everyone knew that Holly Potter could produce a corporeal patronus in the shape of a stag. The rumors still floated around in the younger years.
The amazing part was that Potter seemed completely unaware of the power needed to cast a solid patronus, and have it defend against over 100 dementors. The older students and the Slytherins were now more wary of the special, unassuming girl. He was confused, but as a Malfoy he had been raised to respect power. So, he started paying more attention to her. She was a quick thinker, and while she wasn't always correct, she made split second decisions like a professional auror. Her classwork was always enough to fly just under the radar, and some part of that may have actually been her questions of logic. Why did something change in transfiguration? Why was gold so hard to create? How come house elves are bound to serve and why do they need to? Magic had little to do with reasoning. It simply was sometimes. Didn't muggleborns know that? Then, she gets entered into that blasted Tournament against three (well, Cedric didn't really count), two seventh years. She outflies a dragon, gets the Merpeople to listen to her, throws off the imperious like it's a minor annoyance, survives a duel against the Dark Lord, and still believes she isn't all that special. It was then Draco knew he needed to start reconsidering his options.
The Girl-Who-Lived-to-be-a-Pain-in-the-Arse at times, was beyond powerful. She would likely best Dumbledore if she simply applied herself more. The more he learned the more he could see why she had survived against the Dark Lord. She never boasted and wasn't arrogant. When they had the ugly pink toad as a Defense professor, Holly headed the club. Did she know how hard it was to get older students to follow someone in a younger year and respect her as a teacher? She was patient and kind and the younger students loved her. She had even managed to convince a few Slytherins to join and promote House unity. She always had time for people, and even if she wore herself ragged, she still put on a smile. He didn't know why she surprised him anymore, but she did.
For the longest time he thought she hated him, and to be honest, he hated her too. She was just so perfect and special. Even when they were young rivals, she had never been willing to cause him harm. He remembered plenty of times where he got her into trouble, but the most she ever did was glare and participate in verbal spats. In Fourth Year, he realized that he envied Weasley. He got to see her all the time and even when the red head ignored her, she would forgive him and welcome him back with open arms. Draco was positive that if that happened in Slytherin, someone would be hexed and likely end up dead in the future. They thought things through after all and had self-preservation skills next to none.
Their other peers were rather boring. Most Ravenclaws didn't mind much what she did, but like the Hufflepuffs they respected her to an extent. The Gryffindors seemed to flip from supporting her to hating her all too quickly. However, there were some, like the Weasley twins, that always stood by her side. Then there was his own house. Contrary to popular belief, they weren't all followers of the Dark Lord or supporters of Blood Supremacy. Holly saw past all of that though after Fourth Year. Whatever happened to her at the end of the Tournament gave her a new look on life. Draco sometimes missed her old impulsive self, but her mental growth was astounding. It was simply another thing that made her special.
Looking out from the Astronomy tower, Draco watched the stars. She was going to win. There was no way that someone with that much power couldn't win against the Dark and the Light. She had gained silent supporters that she wasn't even aware of in the House Elves, Centars, and some Goblins. The students in the years below and in the Defense Club would follow her anywhere. Her kindness and ability to forgive was a far cry from the vindictive nature of Voldemort and the manipulation of Dumbledore. If she continued to apply herself in her studies, she would be more powerful than any witch or wizard alive. Yes. She would come out on top and change the Wizarding World.
But would she forgive him?