Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter world, I just own a few stray characters.

"Why must we be here?" a sullen voice said. A girl with long, smooth, white-gold hair was frowning. She was a very pretty girl with delicate features, and she was rather petite. Her large gray eyes were looking warily at an old hag coming toward her and her father.

"I need a new pensieve, the damn Ministry confiscated the one I bought last month. I hadn't even had a chance to use it," her father replied. There was a touch of anger and resentment in his voice, but it was barely noticable.

The girl scowled. The Ministry searched her family manor at least once a year for as long as she could remember. They never found anything connected to the Dark Arts, but the Ministry always took some meaningless statues or family heirlooms from their raids. They called them "questionable items" and always returned them several weeks later. It was an excuse, her father had told her once, for them to keep searching every year. Her father was incredibly well-respected within the Ministry, but there were still those who were biased against her family.

She thought the annual raids were stupid and pointless. They never found the storage area behind the oil painting of the trolls in the library, after all. She knew it was full of Dark objects, but the items were left undiscovered, even after years of pathetic Ministry searches. She thought the whole damn Ministry was stupid. It was because of them she was currently walking on the cobblestone path through Knockturn Alley, after all. She knew her feelings of the place were shared by her father; he didn't venture into these streets more than he had to.

"I hate this place," she muttered darkly. She had an urge to stare at the ground so she wouldn't have to keep looking at all the deformed people walking around, but she kept her chin up. Malfoys never looked down. "You could have easily gotten a pensieve at Diagon Alley," she said stiffly as a cyclops passed, coming within inches of her.

"Not a pensieve of quality," her father replied as they walked into a small store.

Gabrielle Dionesia Malfoy was very bored. Her father had spent over half an hour deciding between three pensieves ("All goblin wrought by hand, fourteenth century, top quality," the smarmy salesman had said). After her father finally picked up the heavy shopping bag and gave the salesman a handful of gold coins, Gabrielle followed her father back into the streets of Knockturn Alley.

She pulled the list of books she would be needing for her sixth year at Hogwarts out of her pocket as they finally left Knockturn Alley and headed through Diagon Alley toward Flourish and Blotts. As they neared the store entrance, a boy walked out with a large bag full of books balanced in his hands. Gabrielle stopped at the same time the boy froze.

"Friend of yours, Gabrielle?" her father asked cooly, even though it was extremely clear the two teenagers were not friends and Gabrielle could tell that her father recognized the boy.

"Why ever would I want to be friends with scum," Gabrielle replied, glaring at the boy.

Aiden Potter was the most insufferable prat she had ever met. He was a Gryffindor golden boy, famous only because of his father. He lapped up attention and thought himself above all others, and was someone who always got away with his misdeeds. He was conceited and arrogant and rude, without any manners whatsoever.

Gabrielle could see him open his mouth angrily, about to respond, when a tall man called out to him.

"Got all your books, Aiden?" the man said cheerfully, holding a large ice cream cone in each of his hands. Then he turned and froze, just as Aiden had, at the sight of Gabrielle and her father.

Gabrielle could feel her heart stop beating for a brief second and stared at the man. This was Harry Potter. The Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One. The one who had defeated the Dark Lord. She had seen pictures of Mr.Potter in newspapers and sometimes saw him from a distance at various functions, but this was the first time she had seen him up close.

He had unruly black hair and oval green eyes, and she could see part of the lightening-shaped scar from under his hair. Aiden was the spitting image of his father, except without the scar and with a splash of freckles. They even had the same thin frame.

"Malfoy," Aiden's father was saying in strained politeness. Gabrielle saw his eyes travel to the black shopping bag her father was holding. "Shopping at Bourgin and Burkes, then?"

There was a note of suspiciousness in his voice, and Gabrielle immediately snapped out of her trance. She didn't care whether he killed the Dark Lord or not, he was acting just like those stupid Ministry officials. As if her father hadn't helped defeat the Dark side, as if their opinions were those shared by their ancestors. Gabrielle scowled. Prejudices in Slytherin were nothing compared to those felt by Mr. Potter and the Ministry of Magic.

"Nothing of your concern, I assure you, Potter," her father was responding in a drawl. "My daughter, Gabrielle Dionesia." He inclined his head toward Gabrielle, who frowned at Mr. Potter.

"Yes, I believe she's in the same year as my son, Aiden," Mr. Potter said, balancing both ice cream cones in one hand and placing his spare hand around Aiden's shoulders. His voice was still the same strained politeness, and when he looked at Gabrielle she could tell that Aiden must have told his father about her.

"Not only the same year," her father said in the same silky drawl. "I believe they've met on the Quidditch Pitch as well, have they not?" Gabrielle smirked, not realizing her father was doing the same. She and Aiden were both Seekers for their respective Houses, but Aiden had never been able to catch the snitch quicker than Gabrielle. She could see Aiden's eyes narrowing as his face started to turn slightly red.

"Now if you'll excuse us," her father continued in the same tone, "we have several purchases that need to be made. Come, Gabrielle."

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"So that's Gabrielle Malfoy," Harry Potter said, taking the heavy bag of books from his son and handing him an ice cream cone.

"Yea, the Slytherin princess, probably off to buy loads of books on the Dark Arts," Aiden replied bitterly.

Harry looked at his son warningly. "What did I tell you about Slytherin prejudices?"

Aiden made a face. "I don't see you being best pals with her dad, and you guys were in the same year."

"It's important that you understand this, Aiden," Harry said quietly. "It doesn't matter whether I like him or not. Don't forget, I could not have defeated Voldemort without Draco Malfoy."

Aiden snorted. "Yea, I know, I know. But he probably just helped you to save his own skin. He must be doing tons of illegal stuff, because the Ministry keeps raiding his house, don't they! Uncle Ron says he-"

"Don't listen to your Uncle Ron when it comes to these matters," Aiden's father interrupted, shaking his head. "Look, I'm not saying you have to be friends with Gabrielle and the other Slytherins-"

"Good, because that'll never happen."

"All I'm saying is don't look at them as Slytherins, look at them as people. There are good people in Slytherin, you know."

Aiden just rolled his eyes.

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"All ready?" Draco Malfoy asked, levitating the large trunk. Gabrielle lifted up the large owl cage and her broom and nodded. There was a car waiting for them outside the Malfoy Manor, and the driver quickly clammered out of his seat to open the door for Draco and his daughter.

When they arrived at King's Cross Station, Draco walked stiffly through the crowds of Muggles, pushing the cart onto which Gabrielle's trunk and owl cage rested. The Malfoys were still biased against Muggles (and perhaps they always would be), but Draco at least grudgingly respected powerful Muggleborn Witches and Wizards, and he knew Gabrielle did as well. Still, he preferred to associate with Purebloods, as that was how he was raised.

He looked down at his daughter, and there was a glaze of pride in his gray eyes. They were both in wizarding robes (as if they'd bother blending in with Muggles), and she had already pinned her Prefect badge on. Gabrielle certainly restored any honor in the Malfoy name that was lost after Lucius was put into Azkaban so many years ago. She was one of the top in her class and a Seeker who had continuously delivered the Quidditch Cup to the Slytherin House. She had also been named in the Who's Who of Upcoming Great Wizards and Witches article published by the Daily Prophet several weeks ago.

"Have a good term," Draco told her, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear when they finally arrived at the train. She gave him a slightly sad smile and hugged him.

"Remember to write," she said sternly, pulling away and looking straight into his eyes.

"Of course," he said reassuringly. "I'll be counting down the days until the Holidays."

Her smiled widened and she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before boarding the train.

Much was said about the Malfoys, but one thing that could not be denied was the love between the father and his daughter.

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"Look Ron, it's Draco Malfoy!" A woman with bushy brown hair that was pulled back was pulling on the sleeve of a tall red-headed man with freckles all over his face. "And that must be his daughter!" Ron Weasley looked over to where the woman was motioning towards and saw the familiar slicked-back white-blonde hair and the cool gray eyes.

"The Quidditch girl who can outfly Aiden?" he said in surprise. The girl looked smaller than most her age, although there was no arguing she was a Malfoy. She had the same nose and hair and gray eyes as her father. But he couldn't see her flying, much less diving around for Snitches, and he knew first hand how good Aiden was at Quidditch. "Are you sure that's her?"

"Must be," his wife replied, and they watched as the girl kissed her father on the cheek. "Look at how darling they are!" Ron had to struggle to keep from rolling his eyes. "Did you know she was in that article a few weeks ago," his wife was was saying. "The one from the Daily Prophet that Aiden was listed in, Who's Who of Upcoming Great Wizards and Witches. I only noticed because she was listed right above Aiden. They say she's one of the top students in her year."

Ron snorted and was about to respond when something tugged at his left ear. "Ow ow ow, Daddy needs his ear, Jake!" His three-year old son was sitting on his shoulders.

His wife had turned to his other two children who had just stepped off the train to say good-bye, fifth-year Benjamin and third-year Cassie. "Found seats on the train, then?" she asked as the two red-heads nodded.

"Uncle Ron! Aunt Hermione!" A boy with messy dark hair and vivid green eyes rushed towards them and they both gave him large hugs (Ron only after he put Jake down).

"It's good to see you, Aiden! Where are your parents?" Hermione asked, picking up Jake who had started whining.

"They got caught up talking to some boring Ministry fellows, but they should be here soon. Hey Ben, Cassie!" The cousins beamed at each other.

The train whistle sounded just as Aiden's parents arrived. They all quickly exchanged hugs and kisses and the train left with Hermione yelling through the window for them to behave themselves.

"As if we ever behaved ourselves while we were at Hogwarts?" Harry said with a grin.

Hermione frowned at him. "Do you know Ben got over twenty detentions last year? McGonagall even asked in one letter if I was sure he was my son!"

They all laughed, and Ginny replied, "He is related to Fred and George, after all."

"We saw Malfoy here earlier," Ron said, glancing around at the emptying platform, but unable to spot him. "He was here with his daughter."

"Gabrielle," Ginny said, nodding as the four began to walk toward the gate. "You should have heard Aiden ranting about how she beat him in the Quidditch Final, he wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks."

"Oh, stop it!" Hermione said, for both Ron and Harry had grimaced. "I think it's good there's someone beating him at Quidditch. It'll keep him grounded, something he needs with parents as famous as the two of you."

"So you're saying the Malfoy girl doesn't need to be grounded, eh?" Ron said bitterly.

Ginny, ignoring Ron, said, "If I didn't know better I could've sworn Aiden even had a crush on the girl." Both Ron and Harry blanched.

"He's a Gryffindor, Ginny," Ron said in a pained voice. "And Malfoys are about as Slytherin as they get!"

Ginny and Hermione exchanged looks but nothing more about the subject was said.