Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warnings: SLASH (male-male relationships), eventual violence, really (really, really) bad Lucius. I can't think of anything else, but I'll add on if something comes up.

So... this is it.


"-remember, if anything happens, you call me, even if-"

"Yes, mother," Draco drawled, long past being bored with the conversation. His mother had been rambling nonstop since he woke up, a tell-tale sign of her nervousness with him starting a new school. It was starting to get irritating. "We've gone over this a thousand times."

His mother deflated and he instantly felt bad. She was only trying to help. Before he could apologize, however, she spoke, "I'm sorry, Draco. I'm just worried."

Draco sighed and pulled his mother into a hug. "I know," he said. "But thing are going to be different here. He's not here to mess things up for us."

His mother didn't say anything, as she always did whenever Draco spoke ill of his father. She only patted his back and pulled away, giving him a small smile. "You should go," she said softly. "You don't want to be late."

Draco studied his mother for a moment. She seemed tired-she had dark bags under her eyes that normally would have been covered by makeup, but wasn't, and he knew she didn't sleep at night. He could hear her pacing her room at night, and sometimes crying. But he knew she would not appreciate him mentioning it-no matter how much he wanted to. So he kissed her cheek, grabbed his bag, and walked out of the door, cursing his father once again for doing this to them.

Draco stepped out of his car and cast a look around at his new school. It was a plain, stone brick building that would have been completely unassuming before, but was like a breath of fresh air now. Draco could see a football field off to the left, and what appeared to be a running track further back. People milled about by their cars, waiting until the last minute to go to class and glanced at him curiously. He refused to show how uncomfortable it made him.

He made his way toward the front office after locking his car. He held his head high, as he had been taught, and kept his back straight. He would not let their stared affect him.

"May I help you?" the secretary asked as soon as he walked into the office. She was an older lady with greying hair and laugh lines around her eyes. She seemed nice enough.

"I'm the new transfer student?" he said. "Draco Malfoy?"

"Oh, yes!" she said, turning to her computer and beginning to type. "I was told that you would be coming today. Let me pull up your schedule…"

Draco waited, somewhat impatiently as she hummed to herself and typed away. Finally, she clicked something and the printer beside her whirred to life. "Here you go," she said, handing him two pieces of paper. "The first is a form I need you to get all of your teachers to sign. You'll need to bring it back to me at the end of the day. The second is your schedule. If you have a question about where a class is, ask a teacher or a student; they'll be glad to help. We also have maps of the campus and inside the school posted in the hallways, so you can always refer to them if you need to find something. Do you have any questions?"

Draco shook his head mutely and the woman beamed at him. "Excellent!"

It took him a while to find his first period class, but when he found it, he was practically tackled by an overenthusiastic, scrawny girl with a nose that disturbingly resembled a pug's, named Pansy Parkinson. She had drug him to the back of the class to sit with her and her friend Blaize Zabini. She had then proceeded to talk his ear off about who was who at Greenfield and who he should stay away from.

Draco exhaled as he finally shook Pansy off and began to make his way to his next class. He didn't know what to think of pansy. She was kind of stuck up and seemed to think she was better than everyone else, but she seemed nice enough, even if she was a little overbearing at times.

Draco smiled when he saw what his next class was. Chemistry. He could do Chemistry. Chemistry had been by far his best subject at his old school.

He walked into the room marked 601 and made his way to the teacher's desk, where a fairly young man with brown hair sat. "Excuse me, Mr… Starfield?" Draco said, caught a little off-guard at the strange last name.

Starfield looked up and gave Draco a welcoming smile, "Yes, may I help you?"

"I'm the new student? Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes!" Starfield grinned.

"The woman in the front office told me to get you to sign this," Draco said, holding out the paper he'd been given.

Starfield took the paper and signed it, "I'm afraid we only have one extra seat, and that's beside Mr. Potter. If you'll go have a seat I'll get you your book and we'll get you started. You'll have to be patient with Mr. Potter, though. He doesn't talk much."

Potter started and watched warily as when Draco cautiously sat down beside him. He was skinny, Draco noticed, with pitch black hair and startling, bright green eyes that were covered by round, wire-framed glasses. It took Draco a moment to find his voice.

"Hello," he said, softly. Potter was still watching him with those bright green eyes. It unnerved him. "My name is Draco-I just transferred here from a different school. Mr. Starfield told me that I would be your lab partner for the rest of the year."

Draco was acutely aware of the other students' stares aimed at him and Potter, though he wasn't sure that it was just because he was a new student. Potter was also staring at him still, and Draco was starting to wonder if he would answer, but then Harry turned and pulled out a small dry erase board and marker from his bag.

Hi. I'm Harry, he wrote. It's nice to meet you.

Draco raised an eyebrow and thought back to what Starfield had said. He doesn't talk much. "It's nice to meet you."

Harry gave him a small smile and turned back to whatever it was he had been doing before. Draco watched him for a minute and was about to say something when Starfield walked up to the front of the class, so he-and everyone who had been staring-was forced to turn their attention to the front of the class.

"Hello, everyone!" Mr. Starfield said. "I trust you had an eventful weekend? Yes, I'm sure. Now, judging by all your gawking, you have noticed that we have a new student. His name is Draco Malfoy and I'm sure he's nervous so I expect you all to make him feel welcome."

Draco would have been mortified, but he saw Harry give him a small smile, and that made it better for some reason. Even though everyone had turned to look at him again.

Don't worry. They'll lose interest, he saw Harry write. They always do.

Later at lunch, Draco walked into the lunch room with Pansy draped over his arm again (it was just his luck that they had the same class right before lunch). "Come sit with us, Dray!" Pansy said, ignoring his plea not to call him that, and began dragging him away to a table in the middle of the room.

Pansy and her friends were in the middle of a lively conversation about something Draco knew nothing and cared nothing about when Harry walked into the cafeteria. Draco was immediately enraptured. Harry moved with a lightness about him that seemed to suggest he was experienced in sneaking around and with caution, like he was afraid someone would hit him.

Draco watched, horrified, as someone's foot shot out in front of Harry and Harry fell face-first into the ground, and his bag lunch busted and scattered around him.

The boy who tripped him and the table around him erupted into roaring laughter, and someone snatched up his lunch. Harry picked himself up, face red and looking suspiciously tearful and practically ran from the room.

Draco was filled with a boiling rage that he couldn't explain and whirled around to complain to Pansy and Blaise when he noticed that everyone at his table was either sniggering or outright laughing at what had happened. It infuriated him.

"What is wrong with you people?" he exploded. "There's nothing funny about what just happened!" He snatched up his own untouched lunch and stormed out of the cafeteria in search of Harry.

It took a while, but he finally found harry sitting at the base of an oak tree outside, his knees drawn up to his chest. He didn't notice Draco walk up.

"Hi," Draco said, lowering himself to the ground beside Harry.

Harry started slightly, but smiled when he noticed it was Draco, and fished his dry-erase board from his bad. Hi.

"Here," Draco said, holding his lunch out to Harry. "I thought you might want something to eat."

Harry took it, frowning, and quickly scribbled, Don't you want it?

Draco shook his head, "I'm not hungry." And he wasn't. What he'd seen in the cafeteria made him feel sick.

Harry gave him a smile of thanks and tucked into the sandwich Draco had packed that morning. They sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, Harry eating and Draco thinking, before he said, "Does that happen often?"

Harry stilled and looked down. He didn't answer for so long that Draco was about to say something else, but then Harry gave a small nod of his head. Draco exhaled and scowled, "Why do you let them treat you that way? Why do treat you that way?"

Harry looked at him for a moment and then began to write. The second one is easy. It's because I'm different. I don't talk.

Draco wanted so badly to ask why Harry didn't talk, but he knew Harry probably wouldn't answer, so he asked, "Why do you let them treat you like that?"

Harry shrugged, I live with the guy who tripped me. He's my cousin.

Draco frowned, "You live with him?"

Harry looked down, I live with my aunt and uncle. My parents died when I was a baby.

Draco immediately felt bad for asking Harry looked forlorn and sad now; it was an expression Draco didn't ever want to see on Harry's face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have asked."

Harry gave him an odd look, It's not like you knew.

"Does your cousin do things like that to you at your house?"

Harry nodded.

"Why don't you tell you aunt and uncle about it?" Draco asked. "Let them take care of it?"

Harry snorted in what Draco assumed was some kind of irony he didn't know about and didn't answer.

Before Draco could ask what that meant, they heard the bell ring inside. Draco sighed in disappointment and stood, "What class do you have next?"

Literature.

"Me too!" Draco held out his hand for Harry to take. "C'mon. You can show me where it is."

Harry smiled and took his hand.


Eh, it's not my best, but I hope you enjoyed! Review! Please?