Daria was still picking gravel out of her palms the next day as she packed for school. The Hogwarts Express was leaving that evening and she abhorred the idea of having to see that audacious little ferret again.

She glared at her suitcase as she packed, trying to come up with a sufficient form of public humiliation to inflict on Draco. She contemplated setting him on fire.

Daria felt the flame burning inside of her as she wondered how anyone could be so callous and apathetic. He seemed to be so inhuman, not caring about anyone or anything. There was no reason for him to be so cruel to her. He may have been destined to hate her solely due to her choice of friends, but she had never done anything to personally insult him. She didn't particularly like him due to how he treated Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but she occasionally engaged in casual conversation with him, when her friends weren't around for him to berate.

He had never been nice to Daria, but to bully and humiliate her was a new low, even for him, and she hated him for it.

She shoved the last of her belongings into her trunk and sat on the lid so she could close it.

Daria went to King's Cross Station alone and grabbed an empty compartment. Soon Harry joined her, taking the seat across from her.

"Have you seen Ron and Hermione?" he asked as he looked out the window at the platform, which was clear of students.

"I haven't," she replied, "I'm sure they'll show up. They may have just found another compartment."

Daria felt the train start vibrating below her feet as it started moving and she watched out the window as they pulled out of the station. She could hear the hallway slowly growing quieter as latecomers make their way to their compartments, but one voice stood out from the rest and caught her attention.

"Well, I have my own private compartment at the end of the train. I'd be more than happy to share it with you lovely ladies."

Daria's head immediately shot to the open doorway in time to see Draco pass by, trailed by three giggling 5th-year girls. He shot her an overconfident smirk before disappeared from her sight.

Daria could feel the adrenaline begin to flow at the sight of him and she instantly decided how she would enact her revenge.

"Harry, I need your invisibility cloak. Now," she ordered as she climbed up on the seat next to him and pulled his bag off the rack.

"What?" he frowned, looking perplexed as Daria dug through his suitcase, "Why?"

"Just trust me," she assured him. Her fingers found the smooth fabric of the cloak and she draped it over her shoulders, "You won't regret it."

"I'll be back soon!" she called as she pulled the hood over her head and hurried out into the empty hallway.

"Don't get expelled!" she heard Harry call after her with a hint of amusement in his voice, making her smile to herself.

Daria slowed her pace as she neared the end of the train, softening her footfall. She could vaguely hear the giggling of the 5th year girls over the conversations going on in the compartments around her.

She peered inside when she got to the last compartment on the train and spotted Draco. Luckily he had left his door open so she would be able to sneak in undetected.

Daria took a moment to observe him. He was sitting with a girl on each side and one across from him. She was relieved to see that Crab and Goyle were absent, but she was sure they weren't far.

An evil grin found it's way to her lips; this was going to be easier than she could have hoped for.

Daria carefully crept inside and crouched down in front of the vacant window seat, next to the lone girl across from Draco, who was glaring jealously at her giddy friends.

She slid her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at Draco's leg. She waited for the next wave of giggles to drown out her voice before she muttered the incantation.

A small spot of water appeared on Draco's inner thigh and quickly grew.

The girl nearest the door noticed it first. "Eww! Oh my god!" she shrieked, as she jumped out of her seat, blocking the exit. Daria started yelling very nasty words at the girl inside her head. She needed to get out of this compartment now before Draco realized what was happening.

He finally noticed the wet spot on his pants and cursed under his breath as the other two girls put on looks of disgust. He glared around the compartment sharply, looking for her.

"That's so gross," one of the other girls sneered and all three of them headed out the door. Draco jumped up to try to stop them.

"Wait! It's not what it looks like," he called after them, "Someone's screwing with me!"

"Damnit," he hissed when he realized they weren't coming back and performed a drying spell on his pants.

He slowly slid the door closed and calmly turned around to face the inside of the compartment, wand raised. A small smirk hung on his lips but his eyes were menacing

"I know you're in here McVey," he hissed, "So why don't you go ahead and reveal yourself so we can cut to the chase?"

Daria didn't budge.

"Alright then. I've got all evening," his smirk widened as he slid down the door and took a seat on the floor in front of it, twirling his wand idly between his fingers.

"I have got to admit, I did not see that one coming," he started, amusement starting to replace the anger in his eyes. "I hadn't considered you would change the rules and open the doors to public humiliation, but I can see that I've vastly underestimated you."

"I was just having a little fun," he continued innocently, but she could tell it wasn't sincere. "Honestly, I think you are taking it a little too personally. I was merely trying to teach you important life lessons, like to carry your own crap and watch where you are going. But I guess with Pothead worshiping the very ground you walk on, he'll always be there to catch you and lug your stuff around."

Daria didn't like the idea of Draco talking down to her and not even being able to defend herself. She drew her wand in case he decided to hex her and pulled off Harry's cloak.

"You know, just for a second, I thought you might actually be a decent human being," she hissed. "I guess I was wrong for giving you the benefit of the doubt, even for an instant, that you could actually have some manners. I guess that's what I get for engaging in conversations with an egotistic death eater."

"I am not a death eater," he snapped; his eyes narrowing into slits.

"Not yet, Draco," she growled, "But you will be. You're just like your pathetic excuse for a father."

Draco stood up so he could glare straight into her eyes with his icy grey ones. She couldn't place the emotion behind them. At first, all she could see was his anger, but the longer his eyes bore into hers, the more dejected they appeared.

Daria kept her wand pointed at his chest but he didn't bother to raise his. She was beginning to grow fearful, despite being the armed one. She could tell her comment had cut deep, but she wasn't sure why. She knew Draco worshipped his father, for him to be so vexed by her comment was not what she had anticipated.

After a long moment, he finally spoke, but his voice was so vindictive that it was barely more than a whisper, "I will never be like my father."

His response caught her off guard. She had expected him to yell at her for insulting his father and perhaps call her a few dirty names because of her blood.

Wordlessly he turned to open the door and motioned her out with his hand. She picked up the invisibility cloak and complied, still thrown by his response. As soon as she was out the door she heard him slam it closed behind her.