Disclaimer: Hello. ::Wave:: Please don't sue me. I don't own any of them. They all belong to the brilliant muse of Ms. JK Rowling. ::Bows down to her:: This is going to end up being slash. If you don't like it, the back button is that way I am not implying that any of the characters created by JK Rowling are gay. KthnxBii.
Oh, yes. Italics are flashbacks. In case some of you are a little slow on the uptake. Har-har!
Chapter One: A Truce of Sorts
An angelic figure was curled up on a cold, wet floor. The only source of light came from a small torch on the wall. To Draco Malfoy, that light was a symbol of hope. Every hour, the flame shrank, leaving him to fear the darkness that was inevitably approaching. He shivered. The dungeons were meant for torture, but not usually for a person living in the very same house. It was usually reserved for unwanted visitors. Draco was just special, he reasoned sarcastically. He knew what fate waited for anyone who was carelessly thrown into these small cells. He shook his head vigorously, trying not to think about it. He tried not to imagine what sort of pain he was going to have to endure. He didn't want to imagine the cold, clammy hands running up and down his flesh, or the violation that he would have to withstand. Draco Malfoy was at his breaking point after years of pretending to be made of the very same stone that this awful place was built from.
A cold hand collided with his face with a tremendous amount of force. The child kept an icy, unemotional expression upon his bruising features. Tears threatened to fall, but he knew what the consequences of that would be.
"How dare you disobey me? What about the Dark Lord? It is impossible that I raised such an awful excuse for a son." The boy responded with an eerie sort of silence. "You're a coward, Draco. Do you know what they do with cowards? Do you know what happens to people who betray their master?" Stone colored eyes battled each other in a staring contest in the dim light. "You, my dear son, are PATHETIC, and I will make sure that you get what you've had coming to you for all of these years that you have dishonored me." Another blow was cast upon the teenager's porcelain skin. His smirk didn't falter.
"At least I'm brave enough to think for myself." He knew that would be a mistake, as his father raised his wand angrily. His punishment would have to wait. Lucius smirked as the sound of footsteps approached this touching father/son moment.
He boarded the Hogwarts Express on his own. Alone was the boy's middle name. Everything he did, he did it solo.
That wasn't entirely true. In fact, his best friend had been there through most of his more significant moments in his life. Today, however, Blaise Zabini was nowhere in sight. In fact, he hadn't been there for the whole summer. He had no idea what was going on in Draco's tortured life, and that worried the blonde boy. It scared him, even if his eyes shielded his true emotions about the matter. He needed someone. He needed to talk to somebody about what had happened.
Draco sighed when he came to the 5th compartment in a row to find it occupied with some snotty little first years. He thought back to the way he had been when he had been their age. He shook his head in shame. He had been the splitting image of Lucius, inside and out. He no longer had the ability to call that man his father. It was far too painful to think about, let alone to hear himself say it out loud. No, to him, that man would always be Lucius Malfoy. And Draco? Well, he preferred just "Draco". Last names were overrated, anyway, right?
He furrowed his brow in thought as he continued along the corridor. Number 9 had been full as well. What great luck he had. How many first years could there be, anyway? Had there been a baby boom that he had been unaware of? Through all his concentration on his somewhat scatterbrained thoughts, he neglected to see three people whom he had not prepared himself for. Not yet, anyway. He had been looking at the floor in front of him, with thoughts running wild through his mind when it happened.
"Oi! Watch it, ferret boy!" Ron snarled sarcastically. Draco felt the overwhelming urge to retaliate. He may have changed his ways, but Ronald Weasley is Ronald Weasley. He just needs to be set straight every once in a while, the stupid git.
Draco held his tongue. He bent down to scoop up the papers that had been in Hermione's hands when the collision took place. Harry knelt down to help as well, but Hermione just stood there with her mouth gaping open like some sort of ape. Draco dusted himself off and held out the papers to the girl.
"T-thanks, Malfoy," she said cautiously. Draco visibly shivered as his last name was announced. Hermione cocked her head to the side slightly and narrowed her eyes. After all, she did have a tendency to know just about everything.
By now, Harry was perplexed by the Slytherin Prince's actions as well. Draco had simply nodded at the trio and snaked his way past, obviously continuing his task of finding an empty compartment. Harry silently looked to Hermione. They nodded knowingly at each other simultaneously. Ron simply looked confused and scanned both faces for some sort of inlet to what exactly it was that they were thinking. Ron was always left out. Harry and Hermione spun on their heels and headed in the direction of Malfoy, with an alarmed Ron Weasley following on their heels.
Draco made his way to the back of the train. One would think that with it being a train created by wizards, there would never be the problem of finding a compartment. To his relief, the very last compartment shined invitingly at him. With a sigh, the tired boy sat down. Finally, he had peace and quiet for the first time in many months.
It had been nice for the 2.4 minutes that it had lasted. The door slid open quickly, and in stepped Granger. She was not someone that he had been planning on having a little visit from. Being alone when a Slytherin came to teach him a lesson would be one thing, but to be stormed in on while having a little chat with Hermione Granger and her little friends would make excruciating pain a done deal for Draco. When did his life take a turn for the worst?
Ah, yes. That's right. His first day at Hogwarts was when it all began. No, no that can't have been it. His torture had started way before he had known any of these three. Hogwarts had just intensified the situation, he supposed. He sighed dramatically and looked out the window, trying to forget about the 6 eyes that were currently eating through him. Finally, he turned.
"Yes?" Simple enough, he supposed. Not friendly, but not his old malicious self. Perfect, Draco. Good job.
Hermione gave Harry and Ron glares as if to say, "Go away. You're not sensitive enough for this." Ron rolled his eyes and Harry looked hurt. Slowly, they rose and made their way out of the apartment. For some reason, Draco had to fight extremely hard to hold back tears. He turned back towards the window.
"Draco." He rolled his eyes. Good start, Granger. It will only take twenty years to understand what you want at this rate.
"Yes?" He said again, staring unblinking into her eyes. What was it that he saw? Sadness? Worry? No. That couldn't have been it. Nobody cared for Draco. Nobody except for Blaise, Pansy and Severus, actually.
"Are you- are you alright?" she asked, tentatively. Draco nodded. "Are you sure?" Another nod. "You seem rather- distant." He shrugged. By now Hermione was losing hope of opening him up. "If you want to talk about anything, anything at all, I'll be around. It's just, Draco, you seem so upset. It's not like you. Is it possible that you've changed?" Another nod. Hermione smiled. Now they were getting somewhere.
Draco and Hermione didn't say much after their initial conversation on the train. That is, if you could even really call it a conversation. Most would say it was one-sided. For the rest of the ride, the two teens, who were soon joined by Ron and Harry, rode in a comfortable silence. Astoundingly, no surprise visits awaited Draco by his fellow housemates.
Draco found the silence comfortable, at least. Harry, on the other hand, was battling with his own mind. He had always had a fixation of sorts with the devilish boy. Initially, he believed that it was simply a matter of jealousy. The boy was rich, had a father who loved him and gave him anything and everything that he had ever dreamed of, he was a great student, and his housemates basically bowed down to him. Over time, however, Harry realized that Draco's life could not have been all that it seemed. Every once in a while, the raven haired boy would see Draco's smirk falter, or the light leave his eyes for a split second. It was almost too quick to notice, but Harry knew there was something behind the mask that Draco Malfoy wore.
Yet, even when this realization occurred to Harry, his fascination with Draco continued. This time, he figured it was because the boy was so mysterious. He simply wanted to get inside his head. Then he rationalized it with the fact that Draco was certainly going to follow in his father's footsteps and become a Death Eater, as well as Voldemort's right-hand man, or as Harry saw it, his personal slave. Now, though, Harry even began to question that excuse. So here he was, staring at Draco Malfoy, without a peep of protest from the Ice Prince. Deep down, Harry knew his reason for staring so contently at the boy. Draco was flawless. Even a straight man would admit that readily. Harry snapped out of his daze when Hermione squealed with delight.
"Oh, isn't this exciting? Sixth year! And it's all about to begin!" To illustrate her point, the pointed out the window excitedly at the mammoth castle in the distance. To anyone who did not understand the history of Hogwarts, it would be unfeasible to think that muggles could not see it.
The train came to a stop and the three of them jumped up readily. Hermione calmed down immediately when she saw that Draco was not nearly as excited as the other three. In fact, he was still slouched in his seat with his head resting on his hand and he was staring intently out the window. Hermione held out her hand. After a moment's hesitation, Draco nodded and took it, allowing the girl to help him to his feet. After a small smile was exchanged between the two, the walked out of the compartment, side by side behind Harry and Ron. They understood their truce, even if the other two hadn't.
Actually, Harry had understood the budding friendship between the two. At least, he thought he had. It was clear to him that Hermione had the same feelings that he had for Draco. Jealousy was unavoidable in this situation. He shook his head sadly and continued on with a still-confused Ron by his side. 'That's one good thing about having a clueless friend,' he thought. 'You never have to worry about him breaking your heart in one way or another.'
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