A/N: Boy, my Soulies, I'll tell you, I've had a tough time lately. With some negative reviews and just some road blocks, it hasn't been an easy time with writing. But I am hoping to get out of this funk soon. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

XoXo,

Elle.

Enemies and Friends

Draco woke early the next morning with a headache blooming behind his eyes and a stiff neck. Today was the first day of classes, but he was more worried about when his father would arrive. He hoped it was before classes started; he didn't want to miss anything on his first day.

He pulled the curtains back on his four-poster bed and blinked away the brightness of the sun streaming through the window. He could see that the Longbottom boy was already up and gone from the dormitory, as well as Finnigan and Thomas. So that left him with Potter and Weasley, which meant he needed to get up and out as quickly as possible.

But as he stood to get dressed, the redhead stirred. Draco sighed, shoving his legs into his trousers and pulling on the crisp white oxford shirt. He tried not to draw any attention to himself—he knew this day would be bad enough as it was. "Look what the hippogriff dragged in. Guess you decided you couldn't avoid us forever, then?"

Don't take the bait. Draco thought to himself, repeating it in his head like a mantra as he pulled on his tie, quickly performing the knot. "How did you handle sleeping in the same room as a muggleborn? Sleep alright? Or did you fear for your life? Do you feel dirty now?" Weasley's annoying voice was closer.

Draco closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to keep the mantra going. But when he felt Ron's chest against his shoulder, his breath against his ear, he bristled. Verbally taunting him was one thing, but to physically touch him was another. He turned and shoved the gangly boy in the chest, watching as he fell back into the railing that circled the stove that warmed the room.

"Stay away from me if you know what's good for you, Weasley," Draco snarled at him. He snatched up his wand and his robes, practically running from the dorm and down the stairs to the common room. His breathing was erratic, his heart was pounding in his chest and he was sure his eyes were wide as saucers.

That was his first brush with bullying. Before school, he'd always been around Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. Occasionally Blaise and Theo came over, and to be honest, he preferred the latter.

"Everything okay, Draco?" He looked up into the eyes of Oliver Wood and nodded.

"Yeah, just going to take some time to adjust is all."

Wood looked as if he understood and nodded sympathetically, "I can only imagine. I think it's safe to say that I, as well as yourself and most of the school, were shocked when you weren't sorted into Slytherin. That will definitely require some adjusting." Draco sighed, running his hand over his hair, making sure it was slicked into place.

"Have you seen Hermione?" He asked, hoping he hadn't missed her already. But when Wood gave him an apologetic look, he knew that he had.

"Yeah, mate, she just left to go down about ten minutes ago. You want to walk down with me? I was about to leave." Draco didn't know whether to be grateful or balk at the invitation. While he had no valid reason to suspect the older wizard of ulterior motives, he had been raised to never trust a Gryffindor. But then again, he was one now, having been literally thrown into the lion's den by the Sorting Hat.

"Sure. Let's go." He adjusted his book bag on his shoulder and moved to climb out of the portrait hole. He couldn't help but think that the portrait hole was very inconvenient. The two unlikely companions walked side by side through the corridors until they reached the bottom of the grand staircase, where Blaise and Theo were waiting for him. Wood gave him a nod and left him with his friends.

"Hey." Draco said, unsure what else to say.

"Mate, what the hell happened?" Blaise asked, his eyes showing some concern.

Draco shrugged, looking between his two friends. "I have no idea, I just…" His eyes trailed to the doors of the Great Hall, it was as if he could feel Hermione in there, laughing with someone.

Theo's eyes followed his and he asked, "Crabbe said you were sitting with some girl on the train. Is it the girl you were sitting by at the Gryffindor table last night?"

Draco felt a sudden defensive flare in his chest at the mention of Hermione. "Yeah, what about it?" he snapped.

Theo held up his hands, "It was just a question, mate. But you seemed rather friendly with her. I heard she was a mudblood." Something in Draco snapped at the derogatory slur. He moved faster than he thought he could, his wand pointed at his friend, "Don't you dare call her that. She was adopted by muggles, but she is not a muggleborn. Got it?"

He felt Blaise trying to pull him off, but Draco wouldn't be moved, not until Theo nodded his head. Then he let go of his friend, pocketing his wand back into his robes. He watched unapologetically as Theo rubbed the red spot on his neck. "I think that Sorting Hat did your head in, mate. You've gone off your rocker."

Theo stormed off into the Great Hall, his ears red in anger. Blaise looked at him, his brows raised, "Draco, mate, your dad is going to be pissed as is. If he finds you being all friendly with that girl, adopted or not, she was still raised by muggles, he'll flip his lid."

Draco sagged, feeling defeated. "There's no need to point out the obvious, Blaise. But you wouldn't understand it, mate. The first time I ever saw Hermione was in Malkins'.

"And the moment our eyes met there was this pull. Her Ministry representative yanked her out of the shop before we could properly meet. So when she came into my compartment on the train, I couldn't turn her away. I didn't want to. Blaise, I don't understand it any more than you do, mate, but I think she's the reason I am in Gryffindor. Not that she was directly involved. No one can manipulate the hat, but I think my desire to be near her is what put me in the lion's den."

Blaise looked at him like he was contemplating everything he just said, the wheels obviously turning in his mind. "Draco, I'm not going to pretend to understand this. But if your dad does show up here today, I'd suggest you keep that information to yourself. For now at least." Draco sighed and nodded at his friend. "I plan on it, mate. C'mon, we better go and eat before we run out of time."

They walked into the Great Hall together, only separating when they moved to their separate tables. Draco shot Theo an apologetic stare, which he accepted with a nod. He turned his attention to the Gryffindor table, searching for Hermione. It still amazed him how easily he could find her, even in a crowd.

A smile spread across his face as he walked over to her and sat down in the space she had made. "Good morning, Hermione."

She leaned over and kissed his cheek with a smile, "Good morning, Draco. Sleep well?"

He nodded, a flashback of this morning flitting across his mind. "I did, though this morning wasn't exactly fun."

Hermione frowned at him, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Weasley was trying to goad a reaction out of me. I tried not to react, I did. But when he came up on me and touched me, I pushed him away. Left the dormitory as fast as I could, then came down here." The frown was still visible on her forehead and Draco reached forward, smoothing the frown away with his fingers.

"That's awful. He didn't seem to be the bullying type when we rode over in the boats. I'm sorry, Draco. Oh look, the mail's here," she finished, looking up to the ceiling. Draco wasn't really expecting anything, since he knew that his father would likely be here soon. So it surprised him when Bubo Bubo came flying towards him, accompanied by his mother's owl. He freed the large package from his mother's owl, giving the bird a snack. Then he turned to give Bubo Bubo some affection, untying the letter from his leg. "What did you bring me, Bubo Bubo?"

"He's so cute, Draco! Is that your owl?" Hermione asked, leaning over and rubbing Bubo's head, just exactly how he liked. Draco nodded as he broke the seal, unfurled the parchment and began to read.

Draco,

Your mother and I wanted to say how proud we are of you. I know you were probably expecting me to visit personally and throw a fit. But your mother, in her way, talked me down. You know how scary she can be when she starts threatening to hex. While I would have preferred you to continue the Malfoy tradition, your mother said something that made a whole lot of sense. While I protested that the Sorting Hat is off its nutter and defective, she pointed out that it was enchanted by four of the brightest witches and wizards Britain has ever seen and it isn't likely to make a mistake. So, I want you to know, that we are proud of you and we love you, son. I was also instructed to send along some cakes from the kitchen. Share them with your friends.

Our love,

Father and Mother.

Draco stared at the letter in disbelief. He was so in shock that he read through it several more times, unable to digest exactly what it was saying. He swallowed thickly, blinking until the words became wavy.

He felt Hermione lean in next to him. "Draco, are you okay?"

He shook his head and handed her the parchment. "Read this and tell me what it says. Because I don't think I read it right."

She took the parchment from him and read silently, he watched as her eyes moved back and forth and her lips formed the words. When she was finished, she looked over at him in awe, "He's not coming to the school and that they are proud of you and they love you. Draco, this is a good thing! He's not as mad as you thought!"

Draco just shook his head. "Oh no, he was mad alright, likely still is. But he was right, my mother can be bloody scary when she starts threatening to hex you." He didn't know what to do now. He'd been so prepared for a yelling match, not necessarily between his father and himself. But most definitely between his father and Professor Dumbledore.

He absently filled his plate, buttering his toast and then adding jam when Hermione interrupted his thoughts. "Aren't you going to open the cakes?"

He had actually forgotten about the cakes. He unwrapped them with a smile, they were his favorite chocolate cakes from the kitchen. "Oh, Hermione, you have to try these." He quickly cut up the cakes, handing her a piece while getting one for himself.

When he looked across the way, he saw his roommate, Dean Thomas sitting there, the muggleborn. If he was going to be in Gryffindor, he was going to have to overcome years of indoctrinated beliefs and quickly. He met the eyes of the boy, unaware that Weasley had just walked in. "Would you like a piece as well?" Dean looked surprised to be addressed by Draco, no doubt having been told all about the Malfoy family by Weasley.

"Yeah, sure. Thank you. I'm Dean by the way, Dean Thomas."

The boy held out his hand and Draco, after passing across a piece of cake, extended his hand, "I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. It's nice to meet you."

Behind him, Weasley scowled, his face reddening in anger as he stormed off farther down the table and sat down. Draco passed around the rest of the cake to surrounding people, waving Blaise and Theo over to come and snag a couple of pieces. Though he had ulterior motives, it was time they met Hermione.

"Blaise, Theo, this is Hermione." Hermione smiled at them, her hand shooting out in the air between them. "It's so nice to be able to meet some of Draco's childhood friends." She said as she waited for them to shake her hand. When she started to get a crestfallen look, Draco glared at the boys. They snapped to, both shaking her hand quickly. It had seemed as if they were just shocked by how forward she was. Blaise was the one to speak. "It's nice to meet you too, Hermione."

Theo's eyes wandered back to the Slytherin table and he nudged Blaise, "Snape's handing out the schedules. We better head back. Later, Draco." Theo left without waiting for a reply, leaving Hermione looking a bit bewildered. Blaise nodded at Draco and gave Hermione another puzzled look before leaving as well.

"They didn't seem to like me very much," she said sadly.

Draco rubbed her arm, turning his attention to her and away from his retreating friends. "They'll come around. You just have to remember, to them you're still technically a muggleborn. Since you were raised by muggles. Oh, here comes McGonagall with our schedules. I wonder what our first class will be."

McGonagall handed them both their schedules, smiling down at Hermione. Draco looked at his schedule and grinned. "Our first lesson is Potions. Excellent."

Hermione turned to look at him questioningly, "Why is that so good?" Draco's grin widened as he looked at Hermione and, like it explained everything in the world, said, "Because Snape is my godfather."

A/N: So, what did you guys think? I hope that he stays friends with Blaise and Theo, even if they are in different houses. And what about Ron's behavior? How about Draco offering cake to Dean? Please, review! Love you my Soulies!

XoXo,

Elle.