Chapter Six: Snake in the Lion's Den

Draco, to any other student or professor at Hogwarts, looked as if he was just a confused first year absorbing the magnitude of the Gryffindor common room. While the common room was magnificent in its bright red and gold decor, Draco was busy working out how to handle his father. The last time that he was sorted, the hat didn't even touch his head before sorting him. Now he was a snake in the lion's den. His father was going to be furious.

Draco was pulled from his thoughts by a rather solid object.

"Oye! Watch it, Malfoy" an angry Ron sputtered.

Harry separated the two boys, seeing that they both were itching for a fight. Harry sighed to himself. He had to get at least Malfoy to lay off of Ron although it was clearly Ron causing the issue this time.

Draco, realizing that Harry had separated him from Ron, turned to head off to bed. He needed to get away from them right now so he could collect himself. He was a Malfoy after all.

Draco looked at his new sleeping quarters. Though he still found red and gold ghastly, this was much warmer than the dungeons. It was almost homey. He quickly flung off his robes, changing into his pajamas and throwing himself on his bed. His mother would kill him if she saw his manners, but right now he was still trying to work out how to break this to his father.

Draco scoffed. He wasn't even sure why he cared after everything his father had done to his family. Although, technically, he hadn't done them yet. Regardless, Lucius Malfoy almost caused the death of Draco's mom, Narcissa. Whenever Draco came home sixth year, he watched his mother deteriorate further with each visit. While his mother was concerned about Draco and his safety, he only cared about his mother. She was being tutored. He knew it, he could see it in her eyes. He could see the way Bellatrix watched her, waiting to go to the Dark Lord with any slip ups.

Draco paled. No, he thought, he isn't going to be my lord. I will be no one's slave this time. I won't be so stupid this time.

Sighing, he collected himself. There was no point in getting angry at himself. The only thing he could do was move forward and make the right choices this time. He would not be backed into a corner like he was when he took the mark. Though he took it willingly, he did it to avenge his father and protect his mother. While there was a small sliver of him that had hoped he was finally being seen as worthy of something, he quickly realized that this was his father's punishment. To see the Malfoy's be reduced to nothing but failures.

Draco knew he should have let Professor Snape help, but he had no idea whose side Snape was on. He couldn't risk showing weakness unless he wanted his mother to suffer more. He had tried and tried to avoid directly killing Dumbledore. They were desparate attempts, he knew this. In his mind, they bought him time while he worked on that damned vanishing cabinet.

No, he was not going to be put into that corner again. This is why he had to convince his father to not storm down to Hogwarts with the other governors and demand a re-sorting.

He knew that he could always say he met Harry Potter on the train and that they wanted to be sorted together which would work if Lucius wasn't familiar with the Sorting Ceremony and didn't know the order in which students were called. Lucius had, to put it nicely, strongly encouraged a friendship with Potter as it "aligned themselves with potentially powerful allies." While Draco knew it was best to have plans in place for self-preservation, he couldn't help but feel nauseated with his father's schemes. Always trying to gain more power until the consequences became too great.

Draco realized that Potter still may be his best angle to calm his father down. He just had to be careful with what he told his father. Lucius would take any chance he would get to manipulate Potter, not that he would be able to since they all knew about his misdeeds. However, Draco wasn't too sure that Lucius wouldn't try to lure Potter to his death after the tournament if that happens again. He would be all too proud to play that sick twisted man's game.

Draco's eyes became heavy as his tossing and turning subsided. As he drifted off to sleep, one thought kept resonating. Not this time- it will be different.

The sunlight peaked out from behind the windows, glinting over Draco's face. It was the first day of classes. He quickly threw on his robes and marched down to the Great Hall for breakfast. He knew he needed to find Granger and Potter soon. Though Potter and Draco had spent time with each other, he hadn't really spent time with Granger aside from the feast. He had no idea if she hated him for everything. Despite the do over chance, he wouldn't really blame her if she did. Though it hasn't happened yet and hopefully it won't happen, Draco could still remember her on the floor of the Manor, steadfast in protecting her friends. If he hadn't already been moving away from his father's philosophies, she would have caused him to do a 180 easily. To hold strong despite the immense toture for her friends, it was incredible. He couldn't say that he had friends that would do that for him. In fact, he would hardly say that he has friends. Goyle and Crabbe just followed him around much like their dads to his father.

After eating his fill and collecting his time table, he decided he would go find Granger to discuss the issue. She probably already has started working on a plan, knowing her. On his way to the library, he spotted Potter.

"Have you seen her?" Draco drawled.

Harry looked momentarily confused before he realized who Draco was talking about.

"She's probably in the library."

"Of co-"

Draco's response was cut off as a hurried force collided into him.

"Oh- uh- Sorry! I didn't want to be late to class" Hermione blushed and finally looked up to see that it was just the two boys she needed to find before class.

"Oh good. It's you two. We have a free period before lunch. Let's meet at the Room of Requirement. We have some things to discuss"

Hermione rushed off to her first class, still unwilling to be late as Draco and Harry processed what just happened.

"Well, better get a move on I guess."

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. I had some things that life threw at me, but we will be back on schedule from here on out. Thank you to those who have reviewed and favorited. Your support means a lot to me. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the ride so far. The next chapter will focus a little bit on Harry before moving on to some of the action from first year! Thanks :)