Harry was in panic, he didn't know how to get on the train to Hogwarts! At that moment three people passed behind him and he caught a few words they were saying.
"-packed with Muggles, of course-"
Harry swung around. The speaker was a tall boy, talking to two what looked like twins and the oldest brother. Each with had flaming red hair. ::gee, wonder who these peeps are?:: All there with trunks, just like Harry- and they had an owl. Just then a little girl and her mother came and asked the boys something.
"Now what is that platform number?" she said.
"Nine and three-quarters!" piped the small girl. "Mum, can't I go."
"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quite. All right, Percy you go first. Then you two." She said nodding to the twins. Harry stared on minute he was there the next not. It was the same with the twins.
"Excuse me," Harry said to the red headed woman.
"Hello, dear," she said. "First year at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."
She pointed to the tall boy. "Now, don't worry. You and Ron can go on the train together. First you run or walk towards the middle of the platforms. Now, don't be scared just walk straight on!" she directed.
Harry and Ron walked on through together. When they got in a short boy with white blonde hair and gray eyes, accidentally brushed past Ron. He turned around to say something, but Ron cut him off.
"God, at least say sorry!" he said furiously, obviously having a grudge with this kid.
"I was about to, if you hadn't cut me off!" he said calmly. "Now I'm sorry, good-bye."
"You think you can get away with anything don't you?" Ron asked him disgusted.
"Not another one!" Harry hear as the kid stopped dead in his tracks and retreated, "Are you mad at my father?"
"I asked you first!!" Ron said, his face getting red with anger.
"No. I can't get away with anything, I always get caught. Now you answer my question." The blonde kid said.
"Yes, he got my dad in trouble." He yelled at the kid.
"So it's Lucius you're angry at." He said keeping his cool.
"Yes" Ron said not seeing the point.
"Then stop yelling at me. We are two different people, I didn't get your dad in trouble, Lucius did. So leave me alone!" the kid said before he left.
"Who was that?" Harry asked once they were on the train compartment.
"Draco Malfoy." Ron said still steamed. "I'd bet anything he's in Slytheirn. His whole family has been in Slytheirn. His father got my dad in trouble with the Ministry."
~ At the Sorting ~
The list seemed to go on before reaching the M's. Ron and Harry made a bet, for fun. If Malfoy got into Slytheirn Ron won but, if he got in any other house Harry won. Harry wasn't sure what house he'd be in, they hadn't meet since when they were outside the train.
"Malfoy, Draco" McGonagall called.
He stepped out, looking more relaxed than anyone in the first year. He sat down and put on the hat. It took about five minutes, he and the hat were arguing with each other. Finally the hat said, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Everyone in the Great Hall gasped, all except Dumbledore who smiled, like it was a good surprise. Draco walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down at the very far end. The rest of the ceremony went on normally. Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter were all in Gryffindor.
"Are you disappointed you weren't in Slytheirn like all your little friends?" one of the twins asked Draco.
"No." Draco said. "But, all of you seem to be by the way you all bitch about it." Everyone seemed at little taken aback by his language. "I don't get why you bother to ask such a stupid, pointless, irrelevant, ass holed, question."
"You shouldn't say that!" Hermione Granger snapped at him.
"Why?" Draco asked her.
"Well, be-because there must be a rule against inappropriate language." She said matter-of-factly.
"Do I look like I really give a damn?"
"You should! Rules are around for the better!" he started to laugh at her.
"I don't see how this is funny! As a prefect.." one of the twins finished his sentence for him,
"It is your duty to bore us to death!" no one noticed Draco slip out to the library and no one saw him come back at the end of the feast, except Dumbledore.
"Now I would like to say good night to all of you and pleasant dreams!" Dumbledore said smiling.
Percy led the them all to the common room and directed them to their dormitories. Draco was at the end by the window, next to Harry, to his right was Ron, then Dean, Seamus, and Neville was by the door.
Draco woke up first and went to the library. When the rest woke up the only sign that he was ever there was a trunk and a neatly made bed. They all wondered where he went.
"Where did Malfoy go?" Dean asked looking at Draco's oddly made bed.
"Do you think he woke up already?" Seamus commented.
"Good riddance, I say! Who cares, he's an ass that should have been in Slytheirn!" Ron exclaimed.
"I'm with Ron." Neville agreed.
"We'll see him at breakfast." Harry said walking down to the common room. They all followed.
When they got down he wasn't there. Nor were Dumbledore or Snape.
~ Down in the Dungeons~
"So tell me, Severus, what is Lucius like?"
"It's his way or the highway with him." Snape told him while mixing a purple liquid.
"Do you think he will be upset that Draco wasn't in Slytheirn?"
"Albus, he'll be exploding with anger. I'd hate to be around Lucius when finds out!"
~Back to the Great Hall ~
"The first class is Potions with Slytheirn! Gag!" Dean said.
The bell rang and they all ran to get to all of their different classes. Snape started to call role. Five minutes later Draco came running in.
"Mr. Malfoy, you are late." Snape said sharply.
"Uhh, sorry." Draco said.
"Since this is your first day you are excused but, no more."
"Yes sir." He said slipping into the set to the left of Harry. The Snape turned to Harry and said, "Mr. Potter, if I added mugwort and wormwood what would I get?" he asked, eyes glinting.
"A sleeping potion. A very powerful sleeping potion!"
someone whispered in his ear."A very powerful sleeping potion." Harry spit out. Snape's mouth became a thin line.
"Where would I find a bezoar, Mr. Potter?"
"In a goat's stomach, it's a rock."
The same voice said in his ear." A goat's stomach, it's a rock." Harry said unsure. Snape sneered.
"Fine, Mr. Potter what is the difference of monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"They're the same thing!"
It was Draco! Draco had been giving him the answers."They are the same thing." He said to the professor.
"Looks like we've found the know-it-all of this class!" Pansy said loudly.
"Shove it up yours, Pansy!" Draco said even louder than her.
"What did you just say to me?" Pansy's eyes became slits.
"I told you to shove it up yours! If you weren't a girl I hit you so hard you'd have a mark on your face for a week. It'd make that poor excuse of your hideous face uglier then it is now, and that is quite a task!" Draco said just as loud as before.
"Oh, yeah!" one of the boy Slytheirn yelled.
"Yeah, pig face!" Dean yelled back at him. The kid's face really looked like a pigs', so the name was quite fitting!
Before anyone knew it they were all fist fighting. Pandemonium, fist flying one way hitting someone, anyone they could get to that was in the other house. Draco managed to get out of the mangled bodies, pulled out his wand, and yell over Professor Snape who was telling them to stop, "LAVIUMO!" all the kids were frozen, some in mind hit. Slowly, but surely, they all levitated away from each other towards the wall. It was then they all saw Professor Dumbledore standing in the middle of the steps, he had seen everything.
"What on Earth is going on here?" he asked.
Snape was speechless. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Granger, Mrs. Parkson, and Mr. Johnson (the pig face), please fallow me." He said walking up the stairs. The six first years came in complete silence, until they came to his office.
"Damn..." Draco said, it was huge!
"Mr. Malfoy, I ask that you reframe from cussing in my presence or at all if manageable." Dumbledore knew from what Severus had told him that Lucius cussed much of the time, so it was no surprise his son did as well. "I would like to discus what happened in Potions. Who would like to go first?"
Pansy and piggy did. They made up this ludicrous piece of crap! It went like this: They were all working peacefully and out of the blue Draco started to yell insults and threatening them. Draco started to laugh and then stopped all of a sudden and looked at their faces, the said, "Oh, they weren't joking were they? My mistake, it was just such a lie it was funny!"
"What is your side of it Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked him, curious to hear the truth.
"Okay. This is what happened: The Professor asked Potter three questions and Potter answered correctly."
"Get to the point!!" Pansy snapped at him.
"Pansy, you're pushing it. Now before I was so RUDELY intervened upon I was gonna say, Pansy made a snide remake. She said "Now we know who the know-it-all is." So I said, "Shove it up yours Pansy." And so on and so forth and well you saw the rest."
"Yes, I did. Now normally I would do a lot more then this but, I'll only take 50 points from each house. No detentions will be given. You are dismissed." They walked out giving each other venomous looks.
"I hope you three are pleased with yourselves!" Hermione said hotly.
"About what?" Ron asked her.
"We could have all gotten in a lot more trouble, and Draco, I'm surprised he didn't take more points off for your outrageous mouth! We could have gotten suspended or worse-expelled!"
"Oh please, we wouldn't have gotten expelled or even suspended." Harry was amazed at her over exasperation.
"We could have gotten in school suspension. We wouldn't even have gotten in trouble if it hadn't been for Pansy's unnaturally big mouth!" Draco said in distaste of Pansy.
"You're a pathetic excuse for a Malfoy, a waste of good blood." Pansy sneered at him. "You're not in Slytheirn or even Ravenclaw, you're a Gryffindor!"
"Well, since you're a Black Widow, Pansy, you can drink my blood. I sure as hell don't God damn want it!" Draco told her with a sense that he really didn't want his blood, or even to live.
"Language Mr. Malfoy!" they heard Dumbledore yell at Draco.
Draco looked like 'Will he just shut up?!' The rest of the day went normal, in other words no fist fights. All the Gryffindors were disappointed about the 50-point loss, but on the upper hand, Draco earned a little respect from the first year Gryffindors. Well, most of the Gryffindors, Ron still hated Draco, and some of the others were very hesitant.
"Look, Harry, no matter what he dose or what he says he'll still be a Malfoy," everyone had retired to the common room after classes. "and Malfoys are not welcome with me and many others. I don't get how ANYONE can forget what his parents and ancestors did." Ron tried to explain to Harry.
"So are you saying it's his fault his family is screwed up?" Harry said as he sat in one of the soft chairs.
"No, it's just the apple never falls far from the tree."
Neither of them knew that the sound from the common room would drift up to Draco in their dorms. Nor did they know that he wouldn't speak to Ron for three weeks after hearing those remarks.
When it was dinnertime things got worse. Draco didn't show up, everyone was begging to talk about him. Stuff like, "He lost us fifty points in one blow!" and "What did the hat think it was doing putting a slimy Malfoy in OUR house!" "He should go disgrace Slytheirn!" They all seemed to forget he really didn't start the fight, he was just standing up for Harry. No one cared, maybe Ron was right and no one cared what he ever did or said, maybe people here only cared about who your parents were.
A few of the first years stuck up for Draco and said he was the one that did a temporary separating charm on them. Or that he was just helping Harry defied himself. Even Hermione tried to help Draco's case, but no one listened. They just said, "Well then why isn't he here, is he scared?"
That all stopped, everything stopped when Draco entered the Great Hall and sat down (much to Ron's dismay) next to Ron.
"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Lee Jordan said.
"Did I miss something here?" Draco asked Harry.
"Oh nothing, just everyone that's not in the first year hates you." Hermione said.
"Well, I knew that. Anything else?" He said looking at bit tired.
"Not that we know of." Dean said to him.
"Oh, okay, um, you can all stop staring at me now. I don't think I grew an extra head." Draco did a mocking wave to Pansy who was staring at him. Everyone went back to eating.
"So what really happened?" Draco asked Harry once more.
"Well, uh, ya see it's, uh..." Harry wanted to tell Draco the truth but, didn't want to hurt him.
"Come on, I wanna know what people were saying about me." He could see right through Harry.
"Well, okay, they said that you should be in Slytheirn, and you blew fifty points, and you're disgraceful."
Draco shrugged, "Oh, well!" Most of the kids gave him a look. Oh well? That's all, oh well? Is he mad? That's what they were all thinking.
"What? It's no big deal, I knew people would say that when I agreed to be in this house. I knew, you knew, the world knew, and I don't give a f*cking damn! I really don't care, so if you're doing this to get a reaction from me you might as well stop." And he didn't and never would give anyone a reaction. The way he saw it was, this was the house he was meant to be in and this was the house he was in. Like it or not.
Gryffindors started to accept Draco more and more as live at Hogwarts went on. Although there were still some people that were a little backed away. Ron was trying to be nice but, Draco wouldn't talk to him.
He'd get an owl each week, not open it and burn it. Harry always asked him what was in it and Draco'd always say it was nothing.
It was about the beginning of November, and what surprised everyone was not that people in Griffendor were excepting Draco but, that it took awhile for him to except them. Especially Ron, since Draco had heard what Ron said about him, Draco hadn't really warmed up to him, at all. Not that Draco really warmed up to anyone, after awhile he'd just get use to you and you'd hang out a lot.
With most people this happened when he'd help you with homework, but with others it happened with something else. Like, with the Weasley twins, Fred and Gorge, he showed them how to play a few different pranks, and how not get caught. With Hermione it was going to the library and just reading. But, no matter the reason by the end of September he was friends with everyone in his house, but Ron. Ron being set in his ways and Draco still angry from what Ron had said about him.
Ron didn't know the truth about Draco's life until one afternoon when Dumbledore had called him and Harry to his office.
"I don't think we did anything, I mean, I don't remember doing anything." Ron was saying as the two made their way to the Professor's office.
"Well, he might just want to talk 'bout something." Harry suggested.
"Like what? 'Did you see that horrid picture of so and so in the Daily Profit Harry?'" Ron said putting on a stupid voice.
As they reached the room the doors opened for them to come in.
"How dose he know when we're coming?" Ron asked with a note of curiosity in his voice.
"Go figure."
"Welcome!" Dumbledore's voice came in over theirs. "Please do come in and have a seat."
"I would like to say, I didn't do it!" Ron declared.
"Do what?" Dumbledore asked him, they were obviously NOT in trouble.
"Um nothing!" Ron said a little too fast.
"Yes, well to get to the point, I'm just a bit concerned about Draco Malfoy. Do either of you know how he is doing?" he asked.
"Yeah, he's doing fine. Why?" Harry answered him.
"Well, surely as you've heard, his family isn't the most, ah how shall I put this?" he paused for a moment, deciding his words carefully. "Oh, yes, responsible. They have a tendency to start something, drop it, and then want it to work out after that. Draco not only shows no care for his parents but, calls them by their first name, which disturbs me. They show even less care for him." Dumbledore's eyes were heavy with sadness.
"Yeah, well he's fitting in fine and making lots of friends.." Ron's voice trailed off, sounding a bit guilty.
"Well, that is quite a relief to me. You may go, and Ron don't pull too many more pranks!" his eyes had a twinkle inside of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next week Harry saw Draco get the letter and the package, looking worse yet. He saw him looking over the package in his hand, looking almost like he wanted to open it. Instead Draco threw it into the fire.
"For your own good," Harry went up to him. "please tell me what is in the package, and why you look so horrid!"
"Every heard of withdrawal?"
"What?" he twisted his face in confusion at his friend's odd question.
"Withdrawal. It's what people get after quitting a drug they were addicted to, when you really want some kind of drug. You want it dramatically bad. So, instead of the drug or whatever you chew gum, smoke, or do something excessively." Harry couldn't tell where Draco was going.
"So, are-were you on drugs?" Harry quickly replaced are with were as to not insult him.
"I think..." Draco looked at him curiously.
"You think? Either you were or you weren't! There is no I think I took drugs and have withdrawal.'"
"Every since I was little Lucius has been giving me this damn potion thing. I don't know what the Hell it is or does," that was a lie, but he couldn't tell Harry and ruin it all. "then when I was about seven I wouldn't take it. So, he'd make me, usually slip it into my food. Now that I'm at school he can't do that, so I don't take it. An effect of that is I am know suffering withdrawal."
"Is that why you looked depressed last week?"
"That's only part of it. The other part, well- I really don't think I want to tell you." Draco shrugged and started down for dinner.
"What do you do excessively?" Harry ran to catch up.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, you said people with withdrawal do something excessively. What do you do?"
"I guess I bite my nails or chew gum. Mainly I try to keep my mind off it." Draco explained before Ron joined them.
They walked in silence all the way to the Great Hall. When the three arrived everything was perfectly normal. Everyone was talking and having a good time. Dumbledore went to the front of the Great Hall and the room silenced.
"I have just received some very bad news." Harry and Ron glanced at each other. "Death Eaters have started to attack again. We know because they use the Dark Mark afterwards. I need anyone with any information at all to report it to me, immediately." Dumbledore and Draco locked eyes for a moment. "We have a new curfew, by nine o'clock you need to be in your common room. That is all." the moment he stepped down everyone started to speak.
"What are Death Eaters and what's the Dark Mark?" Harry was unfamiliar with the terms.
"Death Eaters were what the Dark Lord's supporters call themselves." Hermione informed him and anyone else who didn't know who they were. "The Dark Mark is a signal in the air of a skull with a snake through the mouth. They also use- do use above wherever they attack. They also make a tattoo of it on the arm of a Death Eater."
"More importantly, it's what they use when they kill..." Draco's voice trailed off, his face looked dazed. "I'm not hungry anymore-I've got to go!" he got up abruptly and left.
"Wonder what's wrong with him?" Ron took a sip of pumpkin juice.
"Don't know." Harry looked at Hermione. "You know?"
"I think I might! Excuse me!" Hermione quickly dashed out of the Great Hall.
"Huh. Wonder where they went." Ron sighed. "Oh well, I'm hungry. We can find out later."
"Okay." Harry and everyone else went back to eating.
The next week dragged by. With the newly enforced curfew there were less things to do at night, making everyone restless. The Weasley twins were playing more pranks than ever; Percy was being even more obsessed with rules; Lavender had gone from showering once a day to three times; Hermione had read Hogwarts a History' so many times she was reciting it in her sleep; and Oliver was starting to patronize over Qudditch plays. No one was normal in Hogwarts.They were all on edge.
Hermione and Draco had been acting strangely.They were more often than not in some deep conversation. She always seemed fascinated, while Draco looked weary but impressed with Hermione's obvious enthusiasm. Whenever anyone got close they both stopped talking about whatever they had been discussing and started a conversation on something else. And the packages kept coming and getting thrown into the fire.
Things continued on their way until December. People got use to the curfew and started to act normally, except Draco who only got worse each passing week. Apparently he wasn't too thrilled about going home for winter break. Although, he didn't hesitate about throwing out those packages anymore, which Harry took as a good sign. The day everyone who was going home was to leave Draco had his last conversation with Hermione for two weeks, at least in person.
"Would you do me a favor?" Draco asked her, cautiously.
"Yeah, sure. What?" Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly in curiosity.
"Would you send me food over the break?"
"Of course, and I know the perfect spell to disguise it so Lucius doesn't know it's anything suspicious!" she sounded pleased with herself.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"With this one spell I found in this odd book in the library. I only remember how to do it and what it does. The spell makes it so I chose who I want to be able to see the food and the actual letter, you, and to everyone else it just looks and feels like a letter about homework!" she now glowed with pride.
"Really? That's fascinating!" Draco tried to sound as sincere as possible, and pulled it off. "Thank you very much, Hermione. I'll see you in... two weeks. Blah! Tell Harry I say good-bye. Thank you!" Draco made his way, reluctantly, onto the Hogwarts' Express.
~ At Malfoy Manor ~
"Did you just do that to make a mockery of me, boy?" Lucius screamed the moment Draco walked in the door.
"Do what?" he asked as innocently as he could, knowing it would infuriated his father.
"GRYFFINDOR! Of all the mo**er f*cking houses, you got into GRYFFINDOR! God damn it boy, what the hell were you thinking?"
"It wasn't my fault, the sorting hat made me do it. Besides, if I wanted to make a mockery of you I'd just snap some pictures of you drunk and then spread them around the Ministry of Magic. That would be making a mockery of you, I just went against your wishes and beliefs." a hand reached out and slapped Draco across the face, making him laugh our loud.
"And you haven't been taking your potions!" Lucius continued to yell for the next hour.
Draco spent three days in his room, living off the food Hermione sent and doing homework. On his first Saturday home his mother came into his room and told him about a dinner Lucius would be hosting that night at eight o'clock. When Draco asked why she was telling him this she explained that he was expect to attend, and to eat dinner with the family and the guests. And that he should wear his best dress robes. Draco knew immediately that his father had put that stupid potion in his food, so he decided right then he'd just throw up afterwards and then eat some of Hermione's food.
When seven fifty finally rolled around Draco was totally ready for the dinner party. There was one thing he wasn't ready for though, and that was the company of Pansy and her family.
~ Back at Hogwarts ~
Hermione, Harry, Ron, and the twins were the only ones in Gryffindor staying at Hogwarts that holiday. Hermione had told Ron and Harry most of why he was spending Draco food, about the potion and all. But she didn't explain what the potion did, that would make Draco uncomfortable. Why, she had no idea. It wasn't like he was a vampire or anything totally strange. Although it would be weird, and people can be cruel. Just about everyone outside of Gryffindor didn't trust Draco, so one rumor would ruin him.
As she looked out the window she wondered how Draco was doing. It was almost eight and Hermione knew she should be getting down to dinner. So she put the spell on her parcel to Draco and sent Harry's owl Hedwig on her way. Once in the common room Hermione thanked Harry once again for letting her use his owl.
"Sure Hermi, Hedwig needs the exercise. How's operation Draco going?" the trio started down to the Great Hall.
"Pretty good."
"I just hope Draco's doing all right." Ron added in, surprising both Harry and Hermione.
"Why, Ron, that's the nicest thing you've said about him all year!" Hermione beamed. "See, Draco's not a bad person, his parents, yes, but he isn't! I'm very proud to call you my friend!" she hugged him as tightly as she could until Ron couldn't breath.
"You guys are just overreacting."
For the trio the rest of the night was filled with laughter and fun, they almost forgot that Draco was in such a tight spot. Unfortunately, they had no idea what a pickle Draco was really in