Disclaimer: no infringement intended. Harry Potter and its characters do not belong to me and I obviously get no profit from it (I wish...)

Chapter 1 – Bonjour

Draco woke up to a loud bang that sounded suspiciously like an explosion. Opening his eyes wide, Draco sat up and looked around the room. Every single piece of furniture was in place in his rather large bedroom, evidence that whatever had happened, it had apparently not been potent enough to shake his walls. Rolling his eyes at the disturbance, he got out of bed and opened the deep blue curtains that covered his French doors, stepping onto the small balcony and gazing at the rising sun. After taking a few minutes to enjoy the warming sight, the young man started getting dressed, picking up the clothes he had left on a chair near his four-poster bed the night before. Draco washed his face quickly in the bath chamber, carefully combed his short hair and proceeded to descend the stairs and check on the noise.

Draco was almost twenty years old now and had striking features; his skin was of a pearly pallor and his hair, a platinum blond, cut neatly to reach just behind the ears. His eyes were a mixture of silver and blue flocks and had a depth to them that few understood and some feared. The young man was considerably tall and lean, walking with a natural grace few others possessed. He was strong-minded and stubborn, extremely aware of his rights and the possibilities the future held for him. Deep inside the blond knew something great was waiting around a corner for an opportunity to grab him and take him away, and he would not be stuck in this boring and lifeless place for long.

Upon arriving at the front hall of the small manor he inhabited, Draco saw a streak of thick green smoke coming from the basement. Not again... Hurrying down there he flung open the door, coughing.

'Not again, mother, don't you ever learn?'

Through the dense green mist he could barely see the woman in case – the tears forming in his eyes were hardly helping – hunched over a cauldron and fanning around her madly with an old book.

'Draco, darling, wherever you are, help me out here, will you?'

'Of course.'

After dispelling the smoke, Draco helped his mother clean her workbench, the whole while muttering 'honestly', 'I can't believe it' and 'every single time' grumpily under his breath. When they were finished, Draco turned to her.

'Why were you doing experiments even before dawn? One would think you'd want to conduct your crazy business in day light.'

Despite always calling her crazy or mad, the blond never really meant it. In all actuality, he thought his mother was a genius, even if distracted much too often for her own good.

'I couldn't sleep,' was the simple answer.

'You couldn't sleep? Why didn't you make a cup of tea, then? Read a book by candle light?' Draco exhaled a deep breath. Unbelievable. 'I swear one day you will burn the house down, mother.'

'Oh, nonsense, nonsense. This was a mere accident – harmless – you see,' she said, taking off her protection goggles, 'I forgot to add the belladonna before the asphodel and the state changed too soon, so-'

'Yes, I'm sure,' interrupted her son, 'just, please, refrain from doing it while I'm asleep.' Draco looked at his mother and smiled fondly. Her white-blond hair was in complete disarray and her cheek was smudged green, but her blue eyes never seemed brighter than when she was practicing "science", as she called it. A few years ago she would never have allowed even the slightest hair to fall out of place. Narcissa was a beautiful woman and needed little to no effort to look elegant. After his father Lucius had died, however, she had loosened up and stopped acting like a socialite to dedicate herself to her new passion, which she did at the most odd hours, and that more often than not resulted in weird concoctions or explosions.

'Are you hungry, dear? I myself could eat a horse.' Narcissa laughed at Draco's astounded expression and patted his shoulder lightly, 'Come, Draco, why don't you go make some tea and toast while I wash and change?'

They left the basement together, climbing up the steps to the hall hand in hand.

After breakfast with his mother, Draco decided to walk to the near village and give back the book he had borrowed to the librarian. The Malfoy Manor, how Draco's home was called, was built in an estate a couple of leagues away from a very little town that was his nearest source of civilization. Even so, Draco would - most of the time - rather stay at home among his numerous books, than have to meet the villagers, little people whom he considered narrow-minded and foolish, many of them illiterate of their own will, living every day like the one before. One can't have it all, it seems, he thought, while strolling towards the library, skilfully avoiding the hectic passersby and their loose animals, ignoring the whispers that always followed his back wherever he went.

The local people disliked Draco and his mother for being different and not following their provincial way of life. They did not believe that there could ever be anything beyond their little existence, more to see, more to live. Draco, for one, did not understand their obsession with marrying idiots as soon as possible for the sake of having children or snatching the prettiest bride before all others. He did not want that insignificant life. The blond wished to see and learn wonderful things, to experience great love and adventure and only settle down when he was certain all his wishes (or at least the most realistic ones) could be fulfilled.

Finally at the library's door, Draco peeked inside and, on seeing it devoid of its owner, entered and called out, 'Hello? Severus, it's me Draco, are you in?' He looked inside the door behind the counter that he knew led to a small office, but saw no one.

'Yes.'

Draco jumped when the man spoke slowly from behind him and promptly whirled round to glare at the one who had frightened him.

'Must you do this every single time? Honestly, you and mother should be friends.'

'Why should I refrain from... doing that which... amuses me so... greatly?' said Severus Snape, the owner of the single establishment Draco enjoyed visiting in the village. Snape was a tall and thin man, with dark, greasy, shoulder-length hair surrounding his face, which was dominated by a large and beaky nose. Severus had the habit of always dressing in black and speaking with long pauses within his sentences, a fact that Draco suspected was on purpose, in order to annoy the impatient and rather uncultured villagers. His black hawk-like eyes seemed to always analyze situations and judge cruelly in silence. With all sincerity, Draco thought him disagreeable most of the time, but had always respected and admired him greatly, if only for his knowledge of the world.

'Right. You're not even smiling. No matter, I've come to return this to you.' The blond gave the older man his book and proceeded to search for a new one. 'Have you got anything new?'

'Finished already? Well... this breaks your... record, I believe. What was it, twelve hours? And... no, nothing new, not since... yesterday.'

'Eight hours, actually. I couldn't put it down.' Admitted Draco. There were times, when it came to reading, in which he would lose himself in a book, neglecting food, sleep and all else. He had tons of books at the manor, of course, but he had already read those more than once and often longed for a fresh one. 'It was simply fascinating.' The young man was perched dreamily atop a ladder, staring at the distance and sporting a goofy grin.

'I see. I am glad. As soon as I have anything...new, I will... contact you.'

'Alright. Meanwhile, I'm taking this.' Draco pulled out a worn out red book from one of the shelves, showing it to the librarian. He climbed down the ladder while the other took it in hand and read the title.

'You...do realise this is the... third time you take this one?' asked Snape, as if he was trying to communicate with a stupid animal.

'Yes, it's my favourite: distant kingdoms, magical animals, daring swordfights, a prince...' Draco could not help the dreamy smile at the last part, but quickly dropped it and blushed when he saw the other smirking at his tiny slip.

'I see... Very well, then. If you... like it all that much, it is yours to keep.'

'Oh, no! I-I couldn't possibly- You're too kind, but-'on seeing Snape smiling, a rare sight in itself, he beamed back and accepted the gift. 'Thank you, I really appreciate it.'

Draco started reading it as soon as he stepped outside the library, unconsciously avoiding collisions and obstacles without ever looking away from the pages that enchanted him so immensely. Until another's hand grabbed the object of his attention to hang it over his head, that is. The young man was forced to look up, then, and instantly grimaced at the sight of his least favourite person in the whole universe.

'Bonjour, Draco, my dear, aren't you happy to see me this very fine morning?'

'Bonjour, Riddle. Please give up touching what isn't yours and give me my book back.'

'Oh, so cold so early in the day,' Riddle said in mock-hurt, turning to the book and frowning, 'how can you read such a thing? There are no images!'

The blond rolled his eyes, 'Well, I wouldn't expect you to understand, Riddle, but some people use their imagination.' Draco jumped quickly and grabbed the book back, glaring at the taller man in front of him.

Tom Riddle was the town's most influent man and the biggest brute Draco had ever had de displeasure of being acquainted with. He had a very broad and strong build and arms the size of the blonde's thighs, which made him look like a gorilla when they were resting by his sides (a fact that Draco thought very disturbing). Riddle's hair was dark brown and held in a rough plaid at the back of his neck; he always walked about with a weapon of some sort – either a crossbow or a firearm – and was followed by his even more moronic squire, Wormtail, who was never quite able to keep up and could now be seen running towards them from the end of the street.

'I-I-I am so sorry, master; I got s-stuck in a bush,' panted Wormtail when he reached them.

Riddle's attention was then on his incompetent servant and Draco took it as his cue to finally escape them. All too soon, nevertheless, the brute caught up with him, strolling alongside the blond as though they had decided to take a walk together from the very start. Annoyed, the young man stopped and schooled his features into the most gracious smile he could wear in the presence of the other.

'What is it, Tom? This is hardly the path to your cottage.'

'Oh, nothing much, Draco, dear, it's just that we enjoy each other's company so much, I couldn't deny both of us the pleasure and decided to walk you home. This is a dangerous place, you know.'

How clueless and conceited could you get? Wondered Draco. 'Oh no, I couldn't possibly abuse your good will in this manner,' he tried, 'the walk is a very long and tiresome one.' He knew that it was no use, however, by the look on Riddle's face.

'Rubbish. You know it won't be a problem for me or these,' he said, pointing at his leg muscles, 'and you are worth the trouble.' The Blond sighed and conformed to putting up with the brute's presence.

It turned out worse than he had expected. The Riddle idiot could not stop talking about his many qualities and accomplishments, according to himself, anyway. He bragged about the animals he had killed, his latest victory in a brawl – by victory meaning mercilessly beating up that scrawny boy who worked at the bakery into a bloody pulp – and badmouthed every single person in the village who did not adulate him on a daily basis, all the way back to Draco's house.

The road to the Manor was long and wiry, surrounded by thick bushes and tall trees that let only a few beams of sunlight through, so that the atmosphere was one of peace and a sort of eerie magic. Draco enjoyed quite a lot his walks through these woods whenever he needed to get out of the Manor for some reason; he could let his mind wonder as he went, weak sunlight reaching him through leaves that were the colour of copper this time of year, his feet crunching the ones that had already fallen from their branches.

Of course, he had only himself or his mother for company on those occasions, which was not the case right at this moment.

'...or a stag. What do you think, Draco?'

The blond snapped his attention back to the brute, 'about what, Tom?' He went for a sweet smile, but it came out so fake he was sure it probably looked a lot more like a grimace.

'Should I hang the head of a boar or a stag on my hut's wall, you think? Asked Riddle, looking at Draco as though he actually cared what the other hung on his wall.

'Oh, I don't know, don't you already have enough stuffed animals as it is? Maybe you should leave the poor stags or boars or whatever else it is that you hunt be,' tried Draco.

'Draco, Draco, you are so sweet, but you don't understand,' said Riddle in a condescending tone that irked the blond to his very core, 'a true dominant male must have his conquests on display, you see, so that people will see who the real man is.' He finished with a smug grin and grabbed Draco by the waist, pulling him close and leering into his ear, 'for instance, if you were in search of a real man, you would know where to look.'

Arrogant brute. Draco pulled himself out of the other's grip, pushing at his chest and said, annoyed, 'Well, I'm not searching, Tom, so you might as well go hang your own head on the wall.'

They had arrived at the gates. The blond turned to the taller man and very stiffly bid him goodbye, opening and closing the gates – with him inside – before the other could utter another word, walking towards the house without looking back.

'One day you'll beg for me, Draco, and you know it!' Shouted Riddle as the blond ran further into the Manor grounds.

Not even in your dreams, you bastard, thought Draco while closing the front doors behind him as he entered the Manor.

TBC

* There you go, chapter one! It's still a bit short, but I hope you like it; I had fun writing it :)

I tried to stay close to the Disney movie, so Tom Riddle's personality - and almost all characters', in fact - is completely different, and there will be no Lord Voldemort in this :B *