AN: Just so you know this is my first ever fanfic. I've never really written anything before but this idea just wouldn't get out of my head! I hope you like it and please tell me if you have any advice on how to improve anything :) Review and tell me what you think! - Lizzie x
(Italics- thoughts)
He had nobody. No true family, no friends he could talk to, nobody who knew what it was like to be him. And he was sick of it. He was sick of being the 'Slytherin prince'- the brooding and arrogant, mysterious pureblood. He hated it all, but mostly he hated his father; for he was the reason that everything was like it was. He had beaten into his son how to behave like a respectable wizard, superior to others because of their lineage and loyalty to The Dark Lord. Lucius had thrown unimaginable curses at his son since he was a baby to make sure he acted how he was expected; like a Malfoy. Draco loathed his name like he loathed his father because to be a Malfoy he had to be like Lucius, which he could not-would not- do.
Draco never fully lived up to the Malfoy name and this displeased his father greatly. He was ashamed by how Draco acted and constantly reminded him about it. However the final straw came when Draco refused to pledge his loyalty to Voldermort and become a Deatheater. Draco was disgusted at how his father worshipped this so-called 'lord'. He didn't respect Voldermort one little bit and didn't desire to follow in his father's footsteps and become one of his mindless slaves. Draco strongly believed that he was his own person and nobody would control him, which was enforced by the futile attempts that his father made to dictate to him what he could and couldn't do.
Lucius was quickly discovering that there was no way he could make Draco follow The Dark Lord and, for the time being settled with making him feel bad about himself. Not that he would let his father know but it was working. Draco felt extremely isolated. All his emotions were bottle up inside of him, which was nothing new really- he kept them well hidden by the perfect mask he had created throughout the years of trying to please his father. But they were threatening to break through and Draco thought that if he didn't talk to someone soon he would explode. But that was just it- he didn't have anybody to talk to. Nobody to vent his feelings to and it was eating him away inside. His facade of arrogance and pride was slipping away and with all of the things he was feeling Merlin knows what would happen next!
All of this was swirling through his mind as he sat alone in one of the compartments of the Hogwarts Express on his way back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his sixth year. He knew somewhere in the back of his mind that Blaise and Pansy were nearby but he couldn't be bothered to fill awkward silences with mindless chit-chat and he couldn't deal with Pansy drooling over him at this particular time. Although he got on with Blaise really well and thought he was quite a nice guy, he couldn't share all of his problems with him because he just wouldn't understand. Blaise's family was different to Draco's completely. Although they were both purebloods Blaise's family were neutral in the war and didn't support either side. They didn't detest muggles only tolerated them but were able to coexist peacefully. Draco envied Blaise and his family but his friendship with him was not taken kindly by Lucius; he said that they were a disgrace to the wizarding world and that he "should not acquaint oneself with the likes of a Zambini" which Draco thought was utter bullshit.
He wasn't looking forward to going back to Hogwarts and with it being a new year he would have to put up with the annoying first years running around and getting in his way. He swore that he was never that annoying when he was a first year, but that was back when he was trying to live up to the Malfoy name. How naive he was. The wizarding world was in uproar at the discovery that he-who-must-not-be-named was back thanks to Harry bloody Potter and his possy. Everyone was on red alert so this should be an interesting year. No doubt the ministry would want to muscle in again and make sure Dumbledore wasn't corrupting his students. He was a crazy old man but Draco did admire him, despite what his father thought. He didn't want to go back to being pushed around by stupid teachers and having his every move scrutinised by Professor Snape. But now his father had pretty much disowned him for refusing to take the Dark Mark and his mother was powerless against her 'loving' husband, so staying at home was impossible. He had nowhere else to go so he might as well go back to Hogwarts.
He was interrupted by some over excited first years bursting into his compartment talking about which house they would be in. They were so wrapped up in their extremely high-pitched conversation that they failed to spot the very annoyed wizard glaring at them from the corner of the room. It wasn't until said wizard cleared his throat rather loudly and continued to glare icily at the intruders did their squeaky conversation stop and they ran hurriedly from the room apologizing profusely. Draco smirked; he hadn't quite lost his touch then. It was good to know that he could still be intimidating despite what was going on inside his head.
She was currently making her third round of the train searching for an empty compartment to sit in. She didn't want to sit with anyone else because they were strangers and it would just be awkward trying to make conversation. Plus she was a big believer in 'stranger danger' and all that thanks to her muggle dad being a cop. Bless him, he freaked when her mum told him she was a witch and so was their daughter. He wasn't very happy either when her mum got transferred from the Australian ministry of magic and uprooted their family to help out with the situation in England. They all weren't happy about it though for that matter. Why can't this so-called 'dark wizard' just back off? And surely he couldn't be that bad that the British ministry of magic needed reinforcements to deal with him.
When it became obvious that all the compartments were occupied she opted for one with the fewest people in (less people to talk to). She remembered seeing one with only one other person in near the back of the train and trudged back there. 'Maybe they went to sit with their friends instead' she thought hopefully. She knew she should have got here earlier, but it wasn't her fault "Stupid London traffic" she muttered under her breath. She still hadn't gotten used to living in England yet but it had only been three months. It was proving difficult to adapt to the freezing weather that was supposedly the norm for Britain- but with her trunk packed with thick jumpers to wear under her robes she hopefully wouldn't freeze to death at Hogwarts. 'Weird name for a school' she mused 'but then again this is England' she conceded.
Finally she had reached the back of the train and found the compartment she was looking for. Much to her dismay the person was still sat on their own staring out of the window. He had platinum blonde hair and was wearing a tight black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. She couldn't see his face as he wasn't looking her way. Although the t-shirt highlighted his toned chest and arms she thought that it was hardly the weather for it and suspected that he must be freezing. He probably wanted to show off his manliness by not being affected by the cold, like other men felt the need to. But then she realised that she was judging a book by its cover which was something she always tried not to do. She hated it when people made opinions about others before they knew anything about them and cursed herself for doing it now.
After a few minutes of building up her courage she finally opened the door, just when the train jolted, and literally fell into the room; not so gracefully landing on the boy.
"Ow! Um... oh my god I'm so sorry. The train erm... are you okay?" she apologized blushing at her own clumsiness. What a brilliant first impression. 'You klutz!' she thought as she felt herself go bright red.
"I'm fine." He replied in a clipped voice. He sounded mad at her. 'Of course he's mad- you just fell on him you idiot!' This was definitely near the top of the most embarrassing things she's ever done list- even though it was a very long list.
"I'm really sorry I –
"Did you want something?" he cut her off rather harshly.
"Err, I, um..." she spluttered. She couldn't stay there having made a complete fool out herself. 'But there's nowhere else to go' she argued with herself.
"Yes?" he asked putting her on the spot.
"They're no empty compartments, so I thought maybe I could sit in here?" she blurted out in a rush. 'No going back now' she thought as she waited for his answer.
After an aggravated sigh he sneered "Fine. But try not to fall on me again."
Ouch. That was a bit harsh. "Thank you. And I am sorry about that" she tried to apologize again.
"Just forget it." He replied sternly.
And then they fell into a very awkward silence. The minutes dragged on and on as she sat there staring at the floor and he resulted back to staring out of the window. From the glances she stole at him he appeared to be quite handsome but the awkwardness of the situation and the embarrassment of their encounter clouded her judgment. Eventually it became unbearable and she had to say something or she would go insane.
"Erm, I'm Lucy by the way..." she trailed off as he glared at her. But she wouldn't back down just yet.
"Who are you?" she continued in a small voice, hoping that he wouldn't bite her head off again.
It seemed like forever until he answered her but finally he said;
"I'm Draco Malfoy."