Chapter 2
Slytherin House wasn't really as bad as everyone made it out to be.
Sure, it was pretty much every day that Harry had to sidestep snarky, prejudiced comments, and even more frequently that his ears were pricked to the word 'mudblood'. But with his new friend Draco Malfoy by his side, the strange atmosphere surrounding his wizarding education suddenly didn't seem so confusing. Though it was often Malfoy sneering about the irritating but harmless seeming 'mudblood' in their Potions class and flicking owl droppings and bits of parchment at Ron Weasley (who Malfoy had explained to Harry came from the biggest family of blood traitors wizard-kind had probably ever seen), Harry rarely said anything about these matters because he enjoyed having Malfoy as a friend so much. And as he often thought about his new companion, the good in him was clear- and it outweighed the bad.
It was only on his second week of classes that he learned the story of his new and only friend. He was still at the young age of 11, however, and had yet to learn that stories are always worthier of listening to when told by the owner themselves.
He was walking across the manicured grounds of Hogwarts, accompanied by Ron Weasley (whom he rather liked despite Malfoy's sarcastic and frequent judgements). And it was then that he learned that the judgement went both ways.
"So I see you're hanging around Draco Malfoy a lot," Ron said with an air of faking casualness.
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ron cut him off before the words got a chance to prove themselves.
"You want to be careful. Draco Malfoy… that's Lucius Malfoy's son. I suppose you don't know much about Mr Malfoy yet… Anyways. In the times of You-Know-Who" he nodded at Harry's scar- "He and Lucius Malfoy were… I don't think you can call them friends, as You-Know-Who never really seemed to care for anyone. But Lucius was right in his inner circle. The Muggle-Borns and the blood traitors disgusted him. He despised him so much, in fact, that he was willing to place himself- and his whole family- in a position of constant danger at the hands of his master. Mr. Malfoy did terrible things at the snap of You-Know-Who's fingers. He made pretty good gold off of it, too. That is until you came along. The downfall of You-Know-Who was the downfall of all of his servants. Some were relieved that the danger was gone from their lives- as you might have noticed, Slytherins aren't well known for their bravery, and they were pretty much all Slytherins. Some of them even felt guilt for what they had done. But the Malfoys? I'll eat Scabbers if I ever found out that the destruction of You-Know-Who had their mindset changed."
Harry met this lengthy speech with silence for a second, mulling it over in his mind. He was slightly confused- he did not see where Draco Malfoy came into the picture at any point in the story.
Finally he responded with "Have you ever met my relatives?"
"No. But I've heard a lot about them. I've heard that they're- er- not the nicest." Ron looked curious and suspicious, as if he was wondering where Harry was going with this.
"That's an understatement," said Harry, smiling wryly. "My relatives are probably the worst people I know."
Ron remained silent, watching Harry with his brows knitted.
"But what about me?"
"I dunno, what about you?" Ron answered automatically, though Harry knew that Ron knew full well what Harry was talking about.
"I mean, I turned out okay, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but that's different, right? You hate those Muggles."
Harry looked sideways at Ron. At first he felt a slight irritation, but it was covered with a smile without Harry knowing it.
"I have Charms.' He adjusted the straps of his backpack uncomfortably and made to walk away.
Ron looked extremely confused… and Harry realized that maybe a little understanding might benefit this conversation. He turned around.
"You might want to remember that you can love someone and not necessarily agree with them."
And still grinning, he walked into the tiny Charms classroom, where the blonde boy was standing in the doorway waiting.