Harry Potter walked along the edge of the lake searching for his glove. It had slipped out of his pocket earlier and now his hand was paying dearly for his negligence. The mud along the bank was sticky and he walked with his eyes turned towards his boots, which was why he didn't realize he was heading towards a small cat until he almost stepped on it.
As the cat suddenly appeared in Harry's line of sight, he jumped out of the way, gasping, then tripping over himself and planting his rear firmly in the mud. He made a gargled noise of disgust and pulled himself up out of the mess. The cat, momentarily forgotten, made a piteous mew, drawing Harry's attention away from his extremely dirty robes.
He squatted next to the cat and peered through his glasses at the small creature. It was grey and had black speckles along its head and back. It looked fully grown, just very small. The first thing Harry noticed about it though was the congealed blood mingling with the mud coating the animal's back leg.
Harry knelt in the mud (giving up on keeping his trousers clean) and leaned closer to get a better look at the cat. As he did he heard a familiar stuck up voice behind him, "Having trouble keeping your balance, Potter?" followed by the sneering laugh of Draco Malfoy.
"Shove off Malfoy, I haven't got time for you" Harry said angrily, not bothering to turn around.
"What's so important you can't even think up a good come back?"
"Nothing you'd be interested in" Harry replied.
This gave Draco pause. He had been walking down to the lake so he could read a letter his mother had sent him, when he had seen Potter fall in the mud and decided the opportunity to taunt him was too great to decline. Now though, it appeared that Potter was up to something. And when he was up to something, it usually meant trouble for Draco.
"Where are your stupid friends?" He asked suspiciously, "And what's that you're hiding?"
"I told you Malfoy, its nothing a hateful person like you would be interested in." Harry said angrily, finally turning around to glare at the silver-eyed Slytherin behind him.
Draco's smirk dropped off of his face as he saw the cat wriggling in the mud next to Potter's knees. "What's wrong with it?" He asked softly.
Harry's frown lost some of its rigidity as he saw the other boy was as affected by the sight as he was. "I think it got stuck in the mud and then something attacked it. It looks like its leg's broken."
"What are you going to do?" Draco asked.
"I'm going to try and clean it off so I can see what's wrong." He said as he gently scooped up the tiny animal. He walked with it out of the mud and up into the damp grass under a bare tree, his lost glove completely forgotten.
Draco followed several steps behind and stood stiffly watching as Harry cast aguamente… or tried to cast it anyway. After three frustrated attempts, Draco strode forward and pushed the Gryfindor's wand away, "Here, let me." He said, ignoring the grumbled complaints Harry set up.
He cast the spell successfully on the first go, letting the water pour over the cat's wound. The animal started writhing as the water hit it. "Hold it still or it's going to hurt itself!" He cried as the cat put up a surprisingly large fuss.
Harry quickly held the small creature down as he stroked its head and murmured soothingly to it. Draco finished bathing the wound and tugged his fine leather gloves off with his teeth. He fumbled around in his pockets, pulling out an embroidered handkerchief.
As Harry watched and soothed the cat, Draco began to gently wipe away the crusted mud and blood, occasionally re-wetting the wound. "How come your handkerchief isn't dirty?" Harry asked a few minutes into this process.
"I charmed to always stay clean" Draco replied.
"Really?" asked Harry, impressed despite himself.
"Yes, Mother taught it to me before school started. She said it would save me some trouble, not having to worry about my clothes being dirty before laundry day"
Harry, who had that exact problem at this moment asked, "Could you show me how to do it to my clothes?" There was a pause and then, "later, of course" Harry hastily tacked on.
Draco looked up in surprise. Was The Boy Who Lived really asking him for help? His cheeks flushed pink as he mumbled, "Sure, I mean, it's not that hard…"
"Great" Harry replied happily. They smiled hesitantly at each other for a moment, before turning their attention back to the cat.
Now that the wound was clean, it was easy to see that it was very deep and definitely beyond their very limited abilities as healers. The end of Draco's scarf trailed in the wet grass as he bent down and carefully picked up the tiny cat. "What should we do with it?" Harry asked him as he stood.
"Let's take it to Madam Pomfrey. She might be able to heal it" He replied.
Harry nodded at the wisdom of this plan and both boys turned and started trudging up the hill towards the castle. Seeing as this was a long walk and the both of them were only eleven, they only made it about a quarter of the way before Draco broke the silence.
"So, you're on the quidditch team now?" He asked, with no small amount of jealousy.
Harry frowned and tugged at the bangs covering his famous scar. "Yeah I guess, but I'm not sure if I'm going to stay on."
This was not the answer Draco had been expecting. He had been anticipating some very cocky bragging and possibly some antagonistic remarks about the fact that Draco hadn't been chosen. After all, that's probably what he would've done. "Why on earth not?" he asked, quite astounded.
Harry looked down shyly and said, "it's just, I get so much attention already, I'm not sure I want to bring more on myself by being the youngest seeker in a century."
"But-don't you like attention?" Draco asked hesitantly.
"No, I hate it! I didn't even know magic existed before this year, and now I'm suddenly being called 'The Boy Who Lived' by everyone, and expected to do 'Great Things.' I don't even remember doing anything and yet people act as though I purposefully defeated Vol-You Know Who." At the end of his little rant, Harry's cheeks were flushed and he and Draco had paused and stood facing each other. "I didn't ask for this" he finished quietly, "I just want to be normal."
Draco pondered this for several moments as he stared at the green-eyed boy in front of him. He just wanted to be normal? That was ridiculous! No one wanted to be normal. Except, he supposed, for those who weren't ever normal. He looked down at the cat as he turned and started back up the hill. "But, wouldn't it, perhaps, be better to be known for something you did do? Like quidditch?"
Harry looked at him with his mouth open for a second, not realizing how much it made him resembled a sparrow. "That's… that's true." He said.
"You know, I never really thought about someone just wanting to be 'normal'" Draco said, his eyebrows pulling together in thought. "I suppose it's different for you, I mean, most people are just born normal, so we all want to stand out and be different. But you, you were born different, so you just want the opposite. You want to be like everyone else."
Harry wondered at the fact that the poncy, stuck up, git he had come to known, was actually seeing things from his side. "Exactly" he replied.
They reached the front doors and Harry heaved one of them open for Draco, and slipped in after him. As they passed the noisy great hall, filled with students eating lunch, and started up the grand stair case, Draco said, "I think you should stay on as seeker."
"Why" Harry asked flatly.
"So I can laugh when Slytherin kicks your arse" Draco said with a slight smile.
Harry laughed, surprised, as he realized that the other boy was teasing him. "Fat chance that'll happen" Harry replied with a grin, "Have you seen the Slytherin beaters? Both so round they can hardly stay on their brooms!"
Draco joined grinned back at him and they both started laughing. "You're right," Draco said between giggles, "We haven't a chance against you fearsome Gryffindors." This set them both off into another round of giggles, until Draco tripped and nearly sent the poor cat flying over the stair rail.
With their laughter subdued, the two first years continued chatting about quidditch until they reached the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey glanced at the cat and healed it with a single spell. She then scooped it up and held it under her arm while she frowned at the two boys.
"Now, I know you've missed lunch because of this, but I don't want you to miss any of your classes." She stared at them for a few seconds (apparently believing that was all the instruction they needed) before exclaiming, "Go! I don't want you to stand about in here all day; your cat is right as rain and I'll set him loose once I've fed him. Now for Merlin's sake, get to class!"
The two boys scrambled to get out of the way of the irritated healer as she marched back into her office. They looked at each other and snickered. "Looks like we've got ourselves a cat, Potter," Draco said, smirking.
"Harry," Harry said, sticking out his hand in a very professional way for an eleven year old, "Call me Harry."
"Well let's not get too chummy…but you can call me Draco." Draco said a little shyly as he shook Harry's proffered hand.
"Right, well I'll see you around Draco" Harry said as he started walking towards Gryffindor Tower and his book bag.
"Yeah, see you around…Harry." Draco said softly. He watched Harry leaving and he stood there for several minutes after he'd gone, thinking rather deep thoughts for a first year. Eventually, he headed down to the dungeons to collect his book bag and then to go to herbology.
That wasn't the last time Harry and Draco saw each other on good terms though. That was the beginning of a surprisingly thick friendship between the two very different boys. Also, the cat they saved became the treasure of the first years and became ridiculously fat.