"Bloody hell!" Draco Malfoy exclaimed quietly to himself. "It's still as busy as I remember then." It had been a month since Draco had received the letter offering him a position as potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and he was standing on the hard concrete of platform 9 and three quarters staring at the sea of excitable students and their proud family members.
Draco was carrying a large, black trunk with his full name engraved on the side in emerald green lettering. He was dressed in a black, tailored suit over the top of a dark shirt that was tight fitting and showed off his muscular torso. The top two buttons of his shirt were undone and a black cloak was clasped around his throat to shield him from the crisp weather.
As Draco tried to make his way towards the scarlet Hogwarts Express he had to push gently through a raging current of people who were bidding goodbye to their loved ones. The image before him reminded Draco of his younger years at Hogwarts when his mother would kiss him farewell as he climbed onto the train. He felt his heart pang when he thought of how he was returning to the place that held so many memories for him, most of those memories holding pain.
Draco returned to reality when a plump, motherly looking middle aged woman walked into his chest. An apologetic smile was plastered on her face when she looked up, she about to say sorry for getting in Draco's way. As soon as her eyes met his the smile fell from her lips and she immediately backed away. Draco became self-conscious and began to wonder what he had done to possibly offend this woman. After all, she was the one who bumped into him. She muttered a quick apology and scurried back the way she had come.
Draco watched after her with curiosity until he remembered something. She must have recognised him. He was, in spite of everything, an ex-Death Eater. Draco inwardly groaned. How was he even going to keep his job when it got out that an ex-Death Eater was teaching at Hogwarts? Despite the fact he had been pardoned, many parents wouldn't be happy that their children were being taught by a criminal. Draco pushed the thought to the back of his mind for the time being and boarded the Hogwarts Express.
Holding his trunk in his hand he shuffled to occupy an carriage near to the front of the train. He'd purposely come early in an attempt to sit alone in an empty carriage. He placed his trunk in the over-head compartment and turned around to shut the carriage door. He didn't want any of the students bothering him so he performed a spell that locked the door and sunk down onto a seat. His brain began to wiz as memories of this train came flooding back.
His lips formed a reminiscing smirk as he remembered the numerous arguments he'd had with the Golden Trio on this train. He recognised that he used to be cruel but he had only been a kid. He had thought he was better than everyone else and he he'd been spoilt. He was still a snobby arse but he wasn't a bully anymore.
People always say that a bully is only ever jealous, that they have issues within their own life. People couldn't be more right. Draco had been jealous of Harry Potter. He was jealous because everyone seemed to like him, because he was famous, because he had friends. Draco had always been popular, yes, but that didn't mean he was liked. The only fame he had ever received was for the wrong reasons. 'There's no such thing as bad publicity', what a lump of dragon dung! His run in with the middle aged witch outside the train was enough to disprove that saying.
With a sigh Draco stood from his seat and reached to his trunk. He dug around through his belongings until he came across what he was looking for. His hand emerged holding a dusty looking copy of a book titled 'The Art of Teaching for the Inexperienced by Eudora Trimble'. A piece of spare parchment was slotted in the book, keeping track of the page Draco was on. Putting his trunk back on the over-head compartment, Draco flopped back onto the seat and stretched his legs out, trying to get comfortable. After a couple more fidgeting movements, Draco settled down and carried on reading where he'd left off. Two minutes later the train left the station.
After about thirty minutes of uncomfortable reading, Draco put down his book. He was slightly engrossed in this volume, he was good at potions but didn't have the slightest clue how to command a class room. He was beginning to read a chapter entitled 'Patience is a Virtue' when he heard a rather loud gaggle of noises from outside his compartment. The noises were muffled because he had the door closed but the sound was irritating him and he wanted it to stop.
He looked up from his closed book and was met by a sight that scared him. Through the windows of his compartment which faced the corridor, he could see a bunch of students all dressed in their school robes. From his observations he could see that there was about five of them and they were all in Slytherin. He caught the eye of the girl standing towards the front of the group, closer to his window. He gave her his most disapproving glare he could muster, hoping this would make them go away.
To Draco's utter surprise a smirk graced her plump, pouted lips. She raised her hand and gave Draco a slight wave, wiggling her fingers, along with a seductive wink. Draco raised an eyebrow questioningly and rose from his seat.
The girls surrounding the courageous girl who'd winked at Draco started to giggle ridiculously as Draco confidently strode towards the door of his compartment. At closer inspection Draco could estimate that they were all in their last year at Hogwarts, probably aged seventeen. This made him laugh internally. They must think that he's a new student or something. He quickly unlocked the door with his wand and was hit with a cloud of sickly sweet smelling perfume. He subtly scrunched his nose at the smell. Talk about making an effort.
As soon as the door opened the girl with the pouted lips smiled sweetly at him. She pushed out her chest towards him and the girls around her stared at her with envy. She was a pretty girl but Draco could tell that she was a bitch. Her heavily mascara laden lashes fluttered at him as he smiled politely at her. Behind them were deep brown eyes that glinted with maliciousness. Her skin was dark and her hair was black, silky and splayed down her back in smooth waves. She was wearing her skirt a little higher than appropriate and a manicured finger twirled with a lock of her hair. "And how may I help you ladies?" Draco asked nonchalantly. He had no intention to play along with her little game, she was barely an adult, not to mention the fact she was now one of his students. A student and professor relationship was strictly forbidden at Hogwarts, which suited Draco just fine.
"I was just wondering if you so happened to Mr Draco Malfoy?" Her voice was husky and laced with attempted sexiness. Draco almost choked on his own saliva when he heard her speak his name. How the hell did she know who he was? "I take that response as a yes then. It's nice to meet you Draco, my name's Xanthia Fenetre. There were rumours flying around the train that a famous Malfoy was aboard." She stared at him expectantly. Draco narrowed his eyes at and smirked at her rudeness. She may know his name but she had no idea that he was here to teach, that he was now her potions master.
"Well, in usual circumstances I would have shaken your hand and said 'It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Fenetre' but since you've been disrespectful towards me, I might just shut the door." Draco reached for the handle when he felt a slim hand placed over his own.
"I'm sorry that I've offended you in any way Draco," Her voice was thick with falseness. "But I really don't know what I've done to be so rude. Would you care to enlighten me?" The seductiveness was back in her voice. Draco paused in what he was doing and turned to her. He attempted to imitate the face Severus Snape, his old potions master, would wear when he was scolding a student.
"What has offended me Miss Fenetre is that you are calling me by first name. I'm sure you wouldn't call your Defence Against the Dark Arts professor by their first name and the same rule applies to me." Xanthia looked stricken, it must have finally hit her that she was flirting, quite badly, with a teacher. Her hand shot away from his and the girls around her began to laugh. She faced them with a scowl and they immediately stopped. Draco could see who the leader was here.
Xanthia tried to regain her composure after being completely humiliated and an evil smirk fell on her face.
"Oh, I am sorry Professor Malfoy, I didn't realise you'd come back to Hogwarts to teach. I presumed that you'd come back to further your education as I didn't know they allowed ex-Death Eaters to influence the minds of young witches and wizards." Draco stiffened and he started to become angry with her. How dare she speak to him like that. He was her teacher and she had no right to insult him. Instead of raising his voice Draco counted to three.
"Oh, you are quite the comedian Miss Fenetre. Let me enlighten you on a little something. Next time you divulge private information about myself in front of your peers, I will not be as kind as I am being right now. My past has nothing to do with you, and I would appreciate it if you kept your large nose out of my business. I would really rather not take points from a house, especially my house, on the first day of term so I'm letting you off with a warning. Next time you insult me like you have done today then you'll be spending every Saturday afternoon this year, with me, in my office, serving detentions. Is that clear?" His voice was firm and commanding. Draco liked the authority of his job. It was like being a prefect, only better. The harshness in his voice, however did not have the same effect on Xanthia as he had hoped. At first she'd leaned away from him, like a coward but as he began talking about the detentions, she moved her face closer to his. He stared at her in disgust as she lowered her voice and placed a hand on his arm. As soon as she touched him Draco pushed her off but she still stayed closer than he would have liked.
"I'll be looking forward to it then Professor." She leaned back and winked at him. Draco raised an eyebrow at her and attempted to calm himself. This girl was insufferable. A shiver of disgust ran down his spine. The way she talked to him was disrespectful and even though she was only around five years younger than him, Draco felt uncomfortable with her advances. "Come on girls, let's go." She looked at Draco one last time before turning to leave. Draco sighed with relief when her back was turned and he was about to return to his carriage when he heard her shout over her shoulder. "Oh, and Professor? If you need anyone to show you around Hogwarts, you know where I am." At this she rounded and corner and was gone.
Draco slammed the door shut and stalked over to his seat. He felt humiliated. He'd tried to set her in her place but it hadn't worked. He physically shook with anger. Draco could tell that this year was going to be difficult.
