A/N: There was a guest review that we couldn't PM to about a comment they gave us, so we want to ask what they meant, and if they could send us the story or author they think we're plagiarizing from AO3. Neither of us want to be that kind of creator, nor do we want to be accused of being such one.
Their time with Hagrid was interesting. They arrived on the dot at 3 pm, and Hagrid had a shifty time getting them into his home because of his dog, Fang. He lived in a one room hut where everything was displayed for them to see; from the kitchen to the living room (what little there was of one), to his bedroom. Still, he chatted with them happily, even though he and Draco had been hesitant of each other in the beginning, and fed them rock cakes - which were about as edible as they sounded.
They left a long while later, with rock cakes weighing down their pockets, and a bit of slobber on each of their cloaks. When they entered Hogwarts, Draco parted from them. Not that it was surprising, he did have his own house to go to. Now that Harry thought about it, he wondered if they were allowed to walk into each others common rooms. He hadn't seen anything that said they couldn't, but nothing said they could.
The rest of that evening and weekend was boring. Sure they had homework, but nothing that a little reading and Hermione couldn't fix. The most exciting thing that happened that weekend was that Ron introduced Hermione and Harry to wizarding chess, or as Hermione called it, Barbarian Chess. Most of the time was spent outside or scoping out the rest of the castle, and there was a lot of each.
Draco never sat at the table with them after that Friday. In fact, if anything, he seemed more distant than before. In classes he was great, and he still boasted whenever he got points or gifts, but he didn't seem too enthusiastic to hang out with the three Gryffindor's. Hermione mentioned it was probably because he lost a house point for a Gryffindor, and that put him on the Slytherin hit list for a while. It made Harry sad to think Draco was punished for helping him, so he never pushed it when Draco didn't hang out with them outside of class.
On Thursday there was buzz between the Slytherin table and Gryffindor table. It was the first flying lesson for them, and it seemed to be all any of them could talk about. That and the sport it plays, Quidditch. Ron and Seamus were over the moon for quidditch, while Dean was more into soccer, and Harry was confused how Dean knew about soccer. Turns out he had a muggle TV at home, and it was a passtime for him and his dad to watch soccer.
Harry looked forwards to flying, but learned Neville and Hermione definitely were not. Neville's grandmother had kept Neville away from all forms of flying that could get him hurt, and Hermione couldn't learn to fly by reading books and was very out of her element in this setting. She lectured all of them about the etiquette to Quidditch and flying from "Quidditch Through the Ages", which Neville clung to like it would save his life. Considering how many times Harry, Hermione, and Draco had had to catch him thus far in and out of class, it was a valid concern.
Draco was confident in flying, and people all the way across the room were able to hear about his daring displays on a broom, and his grumbles that he couldn't be on the team this year. While Harry understood the want to be in a sport, he personally agreed with the staff. Such a game with "Quaffles" and "Bludgers" was no game for eleven year olds.
At breakfast Thursday morning Neville got a gift from his grandmother. It was a small orb with white smoke in it, and he called it a Remembrall.
"Gran knows I forget things," Neville explains once he'd identified the object. "It tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red -oh..."
The Remembrall turned red, and the company stared at it.
"You forgot something..." Hermione said unhelpfully. She looked unhappy that she couldn't help.
"Problem is, I don't know what I forgot." Neville responded.
A pale hand flashed in front of Neville, and his new Remembrall was gone from his grasp. They turned to see who had taken it, and found Draco held it carefully in his own hands. The ball of smoke turned back to white as he looked it over. Draco looked between the ball and Neville with a confused expression.
"When did you get this?" Draco asked curiously.
"J-just now... My gran sent it." Neville answered. Draco tilted his head and looked at the ball again.
"What'd you forget?" He asked. Neville shrugged.
"I don't know. It only tells me I forgot something, not what." Neville said.
Draco looked at Neville for a long moment, and then looked around him. He hummed and aahed for a few seconds and then he smirked triumphantly.
"You forgot your cloak!" Draco told them. Hermione and Harry looked at Neville's clothes and found- yes, he was missing them. They hadn't noticed because his uniform was also black.
"I did? I did! Thank you Draco." Neville said as he got up. He snatched the Remembrall out of Draco's hand, which stunned the blond, and the normally clumsy boy began the long trek back to his dorm before first class. Draco looked between Harry, Hermione, and Neville, and then took off to follow the Gryffindor with a 'wait, don't go alone!'.
Hermione and Harry watched them go until they could no longer see them, and then they turned back to their breakfast. They talked about Herbology and the newest lesson, the fundamentals of fire making spells. A dangerous spell in Harry's opinion, but an absolutely fascinating one in Hermione's. They got into the wonders of how such a spell could work in a cold situation when Neville came back alone. Neither child questioned where Draco was, but they did notice how solemn Neville was once he had returned.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. Neville stared at the table for a bit before he responded.
"Draco's housemates didn't like that he went in with me. I think it's not allowed." Neville answered quietly.
"You let Draco into the common room?" Hermione whispered, so as to not alert the older Gryffindors.
"H-he followed to make sure I was safe. I thought it would be ok." Neville replied.
"Aren't where our rooms are located supposed to be a secret?" Dean asked from across the table. The three looked up at him and Seamus, who had been listening in.
"I'd never heard that." Harry said.
"Our entrance is in the middle of a busy staircase, there's no way we could remain hidden if that was the case." Hermione said.
"I hope not." Neville whispered, mostly to himself. The five Gryffindor's looked about themselves for a bit, and then dropped the topic, because they couldn't figure it out without asking someone. Which could raise questions. Best to leave it silent.
The day continued normally after that; Charms and Transfiguration with Ravenclaws, lunch, and Herbology with Hufflepuffs. Immediately after the group of all the first year Gryffindor's walked to the quidditch field where their first flying lesson was. Neville had already lost his Remembrall, and couldn't remember the last time he'd seen it after that morning, but it was now something to worry about after he'd survived flying.
They arrived to the quidditch pitch where the Slytherin's already waited. The house of green stood off to one side while the house of red stood off to the other. The green house whispered to itself, and that concerned the house of red.
A few minutes before class started Draco broke from the Slytherin group and walked towards the Gryffindors. In his hand, which he tossed carelessly now, was Neville's remembrall. He swaggered to the Gryffindors, and at the front of the group was Neville, who had walked forwards to take the remembrall back. Draco didn't give it back though, he continued to toss it in midair.
"C-can I have that back?" Neville asked hesitantly. Draco smiled cheekily, and tossed the glass ball back and forth between his fingers.
"You want it back?" Draco asked as cheekily as his grin. Neville nodded slowly, because he couldn't figure why Draco was acting so... Bullish. Draco had never acted like a bully though, not even way back in the beginning - even if that was just last week - of their friendship.
Draco tossed the ball up in the air, higher and higher, and that told Neville what he was planning on doing. Neville began to sweat from worry that Draco would actually throw it. Draco continued to stare at Neville and toss the ball, but he never quite went through with throwing it. The minutes stretched as Draco continued to tease, until Madam Hooch approached.
"Alright, focus on me!" Madam Hooch ordered the two groups. In an instant everyone but Draco focused on her. Draco moved quickly, and suddenly, and dashed his hand forwards to place the Remembrall in Neville's pocket. Neville jumped from the Slytherin's move, and looked over at the snake. Draco leaned in close to explain.
"My housemates wanted me to tease you by destroying your Remembrall. I didn't want too." Draco explained in a rush as the two houses got closer together by orders of Madam Hooch.
"Thank you." Neville whispered back.
The two houses converged into one as Madam Hooch taught them the ropes. Draco once more stood near the Gryffindor's of his choice, and helped Hermione and Neville fly where he could. When Neville began to fly too high Draco pushed up with his own broom and rose up to help Neville down. The class watched from the ground as Draco and Neville floated, and Draco slowly helped Neville get in control of his broom.
Once Draco had successfully helped Neville stop floating up, he helped him start floating down. It was a slow process with what appeared to be a lot of talking between the two boys, though the rest of the class below couldn't hear any of it. At fifteen feet from the ground Professor McGonagall came out. She marched right over to Madam Hooch and asked with the witch hadn't gotten on her own broom to bring Neville down.
"Not that simple. The broom listens to Mr. Longbottom's magic, if I go near him he might shoot off into the sun. Mr. Malfoy has it under control, and I'm watching from here." Madam Hooch responded. That last part was definitely not what Professor McGonagall wanted to hear. She turned up to the sky where the two eleven year olds floated ten feet.
It looked like Professor McGonagall was going to speak, but then she stopped, and watched the two interact. It was definitely a slow descent, but Professor McGonagall could see Neville's face now. It was terrified, and he stared unblinkingly as Draco slowly lowered them.
At eight feet from the ground Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch were able to jump up and grab Neville's broomstick. As soon as Neville was off the broom Draco jumped from his, and then immediately placed his broom on the ground and stepped back from it. It was like he knew Professor McGonagall would round on him, as she did exactly that not a few seconds later once she knew Neville was safe.
"Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall began. She stared at the Slytherin first year for a long moment. "That was a very brave thing to do, to help a classmate with his rogue broom. Ten points to Slytherin for your fast reaction."
Draco's face did a weird mix of surprise and joy. Professor McGonagall's face never slighted in her stern expression, but her words were enough.
"Thank you, Professor." Draco said finally.
"Don't do it again." Professor McGonagall ordered. Draco schooled his face and nodded, though in the back of his mind he wanted to point out that had he not helped Neville he could have hurt himself.
He slipped back to his housemates, who clapped him on the back for what he'd done. It took Madam Hooch a while before she got the first years under control and back to practicing. Minus Neville, who was effectively banned from riding them. Not that he minded.
After the almost incident with Neville, Madam Hooch was more vigilant with the class. No more rogue brooms, and no one needed a trip to the medic ward. Dinner followed the flying lesson. Draco wasn't with them when they walked in because Professor McGonagall had him leave with her at the end of class, and that left a few of the first years worried. Had he actually gotten in trouble? Would he be expelled?
"If he's expelled it's my fault." Neville whispered to Harry and Hermione once thirty minutes had passed. They tried to comfort them as they could, but there was little to say. It would be, technically, Neville's fault, and they couldn't say Draco wasn't expelled.
"You had no control of the broom," Hermione finally pointed out. "Had he not helped you might have fallen. And you were really high up."
"I think I'd rather break a wrist than have the Malfoy heir expelled." Neville responded.
On one hand Harry agreed with Neville, but on the other hand he thought that Neville was forgetting that Draco had chosen to go up and help. He didn't have to, he could have stayed on the ground and remained with his house. It had been Draco's choice to help Neville, not Neville's choice for Draco to help him.
By that rule, no matter what Neville had done, if he had gotten on the broom, Draco would have helped him. It was one of those things that would have happened no matter what, because it had been Draco's choice. It was like Harry's ability: definite.
"It'll be ok." Harry said. He had found that to be true, no matter what. If something was bound to happen, things would be ok afterwards, even if it took a while.
As if on cue the Grand Hall doors opened and Draco walked in with an airy smile. Professor Snape walked behind him like a dark cloud, but that didn't seem to affect the Slytherin blond. He swaggered his way down the aisles with Professor Snape until he got with his classmates and was sat down. Like a pack of hounds they surrounded Draco with questions. In no time, the entire table made noises of celebration. It wasn't long before everyone knew what had happened.
Draco was allowed on the reserves for the Quidditch team, if they ever needed him. He wasn't allowed on the team yet, Professor Snape thought he was too young still, but if no one else could, he was allowed to play. It made his house go wild, they were the first house in decades to allow a first year on the team.
Harry, Hermione, and Neville walked over to the Slytherin table to congratulate Draco before they left with their house. Draco smiled when he saw them coming his way, but wasn't able to fully turn around because his housemates were bunched together. That didn't stop the four of them though.
"I-I'm glad you didn't get expelled." Neville said first. Draco pulled a sour face at the thought.
"I thought I was when I saw Professor Snape... It would have been ok though," Draco answered. Neville glowed under his words even if he still grimaced at the thought. A few of the Slytherin's bristled around him, which Draco saw. He continued, "Private tutors would be much better than this school."
"It's only been two weeks." Hermione scoffed, affronted by Draco's blase reaction. Neville and Harry saw through the act though, because they weren't as adamant about edumacation.
"I already feel my brain drying up here." Draco responded.
"Quidditch will probably make it worse than." Harry introduced the topic casually. Draco shrugged, because that was the least of his worries with Quidditch.
"At least it's better than sitting between classes." Draco answered. The three to one stared at each other for a moment.
"Congratulations." Hermione said, and the other two nodded as if to back her up. Draco smiled and preened under the comment.
"Thank you." Draco replied. He turned back to the table and silently dismissed the three. They stood there a bit longer, and then they walked out of the hall to go to their common room and start on their homework.
Along the way back Ron saddled up beside them.
"I bet Draco is being nice to be your friend." Ron said to Harry helpfully. Harry jumped at the noise, because he hadn't seen Ron before he spoke.
"Why would he do that?" Harry asked. He felt like he knew Draco had at one point, because he'd been too eager to be friends in the beginning, but that had to of changed. Draco didn't need to be nice to Hermione or help Neville to be friends with Harry.
"Because you're Harry Potter. You're the Boy-Who-Lived. That's a good friend to have in his mind." Ron explained. Harry tilted his head. The group stopped before the Fat Lady. While Hermione gave the password, Harry responded.
"I'm just a kid. I didn't even do anything." He said. Ron looked insulted for Harry, even though it had been Harry who said it.
"You lived. After You-Know-Who came for you." Ron explained. They climbed through the portrait and into the common room. Neville closed the door behind them.
"That doesn't say anything about me." Harry said once more. Ron shrugged, like that ended that. It didn't though.
"It made you famous. What's better except a famous friend. He could go anywhere with you. Same for his family." Ron explained.
"It seems like you're the one that thinks this and not Draco." Hermione said. Ron looked over at her finally, and then he flushed red to his hair.
"I'm trying to be helpful. I don't want any of that." Ron replied.
"Thank you, Ron... But I think I can figure out who the wrong sort are." Harry replied.
Blooper:
A few minutes before class started Draco broke from the Slytherin group and walked towards the Gryffindors. In his hand, which he tossed carelessly now, was Neville's remembrall. He swaggered to the Gryffindors, and at the front of the group was Neville, who had walked forwards to take the remembrall back. Draco didn't give it back though, he continued to toss it in midair.
"C-can I have that back?" Neville asked hesitantly. Draco smiled cheekily, and tossed the glass ball back and forth between his fingers. The smoke in the ball began turning red as Draco stopped smiling and he stopped tossing the ball.
"Uhh," Draco said, causing the cast to collectively groan. "What am I supposed to say again?"
"You're supposed to ask me if I want it back," Neville provided helpfully. "You're not going to forget again, are you?" he teased.
Draco shook his head fiercely and walked back to his starting position at the director's word.
A few minutes before class started Draco broke from the Slytherin group and walked towards the Gryffindors. In his hand, which he tossed carelessly now, was Neville's remembrall. He swaggered to the Gryffindors, and at the front of the group was Neville, who had walked forwards to take the remembrall back. Draco didn't give it back though, he continued to toss it in midair.
"C-can I have that back?" Neville asked hesitantly. Draco smiled cheekily, and tossed the glass ball back and forth between his fingers. The smoke in the ball began turning red as Draco stopped smiling and he stopped tossing the ball. Draco sighed with the rest of them.