Diagon Alley was unusually busy that afternoon. The place was filled with adults mostly. Ministry of Magic must have been up to something, Draco thought.
Draco felt Harry who was still in his grip tensed. He looked at the teen, releasing his grip. Draco started to get confused by his so called archenemy. Harry had acted out of character since they resided in the Black House. It was so...un-Harry-Potterish.
The uneasy feeling started to raise alert on Draco when he noticed that Harry was tailing him the whole time they were browsing Diagon Alley. The stare people gave to both teens walking together made Harry even walking closer to Draco.
Draco thought the stupid Gryffindor was up to something. But that thought was immediately erased in Draco's mind when he checked Harry's face time to time. The Boy Who Lived was rigid as mannequin. He put cautious look on his stoic face, as if ready for a battle.
"Stupid Gryffindor," Draco muttered.
"Huh?" Harry tilted his head up to look at Draco.
Oops, did he say that out loud? Draco facepalmed mentally.
"Are you done with everything you need?" Draco had completed his shopping list. And so was Harry, now that the green irises teen had bought treats for his snowy owl which was the last line on his shopping list.
"Yeah. Let's go home now," Harry nodded and waited for Draco to step out of the Eeylops Owl Emporium and toward the nearest Apparition point.
As soon as they landed on the floor of Grimmauld Place number twelve, Draco pushed Harry against the entrance hall wall, pinning the raven haired boy with both his arms on Harry sides.
"What are you on, Potter!" Draco looked down on Harry, hissing threateningly.
"What?" Harry was genuinely confused, "What are you talking about, Malfoy?"
"You seemed like making sure that I was always on your sight the whole time. Are we playing spy here? Are you suspecting me for any random events that didn't please you and your stupid cronies? Because I swear, Potter, if y—" Draco's sentence was cut by the voice of his mother called him from the end of the hallway.
"Draco," Narcissa called in soft and calm voice. But Draco knew her well that her calm voice made him stop pinning on Harry and stepped back.
Seeing the opportunity, Harry shoved Draco weakly and ran into his bedroom.
~o~
"Stupid arrogant self-centered pompous ferret!" Harry was sulking on his bed. Chin rested between his folded knees.
He wondered why none of his friends owled him yet? And did Dumbledore managed to visit Privet Drive to get him, and after learning Harry wasn't there anymore, the headmaster sough him here? Was that why the old wizard tried to enter the Black House few weeks ago? Was he trying to persuade Harry to go back to the Dursleys' house? Yes, must be that, Harry thought. Which was why he refused to let Dumbledore in that day.
"I hate everyone," Harry murmured to the empty bedroom.
~o~
"Go away, Potter!" Draco paced faster, making a wide gap with Harry who was walking way too close to Draco's personal zone. As soon as Draco spotted Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson on the platform nine and three quarter, he walked hastily toward them and then got on the Hogwarts Express.
While Draco and his friends took the seat at the Slytherin carriage, Harry was fidgeting on one of the train's carriages. He couldn't decide whether to take a seat at the Gryffindor carriages or taking a private compartment because he didn't want to be here in the first place.
"Harry!" Hermione Granger jumped onto Harry and hugged him tight. "Oh, Harry, I'm so glad to see you! What you did during the holiday? Save that for later. Let's go to the compartment. Ron is waiting!"
And so Harry was dragged to the compartment and made reunion with his two best friends.
Ron and Hermione were talking to him almost simultaneously without pause, unable to wait to tell Harry about their summer. Harry only nodded at his friends and smiled dutifully, listening to their stories without a word.
"So how's the summer, mate?" Ron Weasley asked, finally both him and Hermione finished their summer tales.
You have no idea, Harry thought. He didn't want to talk about it at the moment.
"I...I need some air. I'll take a walk for a moment." Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak from his bag.
"Harry!" Hermione sighed dramatically. "We haven't much time. Me and Ron will be checking the students in a moment and we want to catch up on you before we arrive at Hogwarts. Oh and did you know, Malfoy was also chosen as a Prefect this year but he did none of his duty!"
"Yeah, mate. That arrogant ferret! He just sits in the Slytherin carriage and refused to do the Prefects duty!" Ron made a rude gesture with his hand.
That's news. Malfoy didn't say anything about Prefect during their stay in his house. But the blond was not obligated to tell him anyway. And Harry wasn't surprised that Ron and Hermione were chosen as Prefects.
"Right. I'll see you later." Harry stepped out of their compartment and quickly hiding his body under the Invisibility Cloak. He didn't know where to go without anyone disturbing him. After a moment of contemplation, to the Slytherin carriages he went.
~o~
Harry spotted Draco sitting in the Slytherin compartment. The Slytherin was staring at his subordinates, Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, who were bickering over a comic. Carefully, Harry walked closer to Draco's seat. The blond was sitting next to Parkinson who was currently stroking the sleek blond lock off Draco's forehead. Harry furrowed at the girl's gesture. Having keeping an eye on Draco for five years, Harry learnt that the blond treated his hair like a holy thing, not letting everyone touched it. So, to see Parkinson nonchalantly stroking that blond hair, it was uncanny.
As Draco, Parkinson and Zabini were distracted by Goyle and Crabbe, Harry, wrapping himself with his cloak, crouched onto the luggage rack at the same time the train started to move. A briefcase hit hard Harry's head in the process and he let out an involuntary gasp of pain. And then Draco looked up at the luggage rack. It was just a brief glance that Harry was sure it was just coincidence and Draco didn't know he was there.
After a long run, finally the train came to a complete halt at Hogsmeade Station in the early evening. All students started to get off of the Express in hurry, excited to see Hogwarts again.
"You go on," Draco told Parkinson and Zabini. "I want to check something."
The Slytherin carriage was now deserted, leaving Draco and Harry who was still hiding in the luggage rack alone. Draco moved over to the closed carriage door and let down the blinds so that people in the corridor could not peer in. He took out his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Without warning Draco pointed his wand at Harry, who was instantly paralyzed and fell at Draco's feet face first.
Draco reached down to the air and grabbed something silky and invincible in his touch and yanked, revealing Harry Potter with his broken nose gazed up at him.
"Potter, been spying on me here?" Draco hit Harry's shins. "What the hell do you want, Potter? Dumbledore sent you to spy on me? What are you planning? Whatever it is, I swear, Potter, if you cause any harm to my mother, you'll pay BIG time!" And then Draco released Harry from the spell and put his wand tip on Harry's neck. "I want your word not to harm Mother, Potter!"
"I— I'm not planning anything. I don't intend to harm your mother, I swear!" Harry quickly stood up and raised his arms in surrender gesture.
"Why you kept following me?" Draco was still pointing his wand at Harry.
Harry mumbled something.
"What's that? I didn't catch it," Draco tried to catch Harry's eyes who refused to make eye contact.
"Can I have my cloak back, please?" Harry reached for his Invisibility Cloak in Draco's grip.
"Don't try to change the subject," Draco hissed, jabbing his wand to Harry's neck.
"I... I just didn't want to see Ron and Hermione yet..." Harry told him in weak voice.
Draco squinted his eyes, observing Harry's face. Draco learnt many things about the bespectacled boy during his stay at Black House for a month. And one of them was that now Draco could tell when Harry was lying and when the teen said the truth. Draco wondered why Harry didn't want to be with his best friends and chose to stay with him instead. Raising his eyebrows, Draco dropped the interrogation, knowing Harry told him the truth.
"Is this the Invisibility Cloak?" Draco glanced at the cloak he was holding.
"Yes..." Harry now caught Draco's eyes.
"But how did you get it? I thought it wasn't real!" Draco raised the cloak on his eye level. It's almost translucent, but he could still point out the silvery colour on the garment. And it felt velvety soft to his touch.
"I inherited it from my father." Harry tilted his head, "What do you mean you thought it wasn't real? I thought it's a common item among wizards?"
"Yes, invisibility cloak is mass produced. But this one isn't one of them. Too perfect. Too…" Draco glanced at Harry, "Potter, do you know about the Deathly Hallows?"
"The what...um...no?" Harry grabbed his cloak and pulled it off of Draco's hand. And then he ran out of the carriage and descended to the Hogsmeade Station platform.
~o~
There was only one Hogwarts Carriage left waiting for students outside the Hogsmeade Station. Harry saw Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom already took the seat on the carriage. Harry walked toward the ride and greeted his friends.
"Ugh. I'm not sitting with those two—" Draco then spotted Harry, "Three idiots in the same carriage!"
"Would you rather walk by foot to Hogwarts?" Harry raised his eyebrow.
Draco cursed inaudibly low, then walked toward the carriage, shoving Harry to make a way for him.
"Move. I don't want to sit with you," Draco said to Neville who occupied one side of the seat. Neville, groggily moved and sat beside Luna on the other side of the seat. Draco gave a hostile stare at Neville sitting before him. Harry then took the only available seat beside Draco and then the Thestral began to pull the carriage, heading to Hogwarts.
"Would you like me to fix your nose, Harry?" Luna said behind her upside-down Quibbler magazine.
"What? Oh, um, yeah, sure. Have you done this before?" Harry was completely forgot about his broken nose. He raised his nose for the Ravenclaw girl.
"He looks nice with that crooked nose," Draco gave the snide comment to Harry. Draco was bemused when he saw Harry blushed at his comment. Stupid Gryffindor.
"I've never fixed broken nose before," Luna said calmly, then, "Episkey."
A crispy crack sound was heard.
"Ouch!" Harry unconsciously touched his nose, checking it. Beside him, Draco cringed at the crack sound of the bone being fixed to its right position. "Thanks, Luna."
"No problem." Luna smiled and returned to her magazine, reading it upside down.
A long uncomfortable silence later, they arrived at the Hogwarts gate. They climbed down the carriage and processed to be checked by Professor Flitwick who was waiting for the last four students at the gate. Draco, seeing Professor Severus Snape waiting for him by the stack of trunks being checked by Filch the school caretaker, hurried his walk toward the Head of Slytherin House.
"What's this cane here? Could be construed as an offensive weapon." Argus Filch grabbed Draco's walking stick from the stack of students' belonging.
"It's not a cane, you cretin. It's a walking stick!" Draco snatched his walking stick from Filch.
"It's all right, Mr. Filch. I can vouch for Mr. Malfoy," Snape said, then escorted Draco to the castle.