He slipped out of the common room dressed in his duelling robes at a quarter to four in the morning. He had to be careful because students were technically not supposed to be out of the common room before six am.
A couple of weeks had passed since Hogwarts' classes began. He had managed to create a fairly consistent daily routine during that time.
Everyday he started the day by going to morning training with Gaara, which he happened to be on his way to now, in the empty classroom they had found about halfway between their common rooms. They usually trained together for an hour and a half so they could get back to the common rooms before six so he could sneak back into the common room while the other Slytherins still slept. The charmed parchment that Sirius had given him, which he had remembered a few days earlier, was helpful in letting him know if anyone was inside the common room. It had only happened once that someone was there because most Slytherins who woke up early spent a large portion of the morning ensuring their appearance lived up to their exacting standards. The rest of the Slytherins who didn't care as much about appearances took the opportunity to sleep in so they could still go down to breakfast with their more image conscious friends.
He was fortunate that most of his dorm mates tended to be asleep when he would get back at five thirty since morning classes began at nine-thirty and breakfast wasn't served until eight. Though he did worry that Draco would become very image conscious once puberty hit so he was already planning ways around Draco realizing he left the dorm every morning. By the time the other boys woke up he was showered and usually reading over the chapters that their classes would be covering that day. Getting to use the showers while everyone else slept was great for hiding the seal on his stomach which lifted some of the anxiety he had originally had. When the others were finally ready then he would go with them for breakfast and classes. If the class was with Hufflepuff he would sit with Gaara, otherwise he stayed firmly on the Slytherin side of the room which his housemates appreciated. They had only made an exception for Gaara because he had been so adamant about their close connection. It wasn't that he needed their approval but why cause conflict when he didn't need to?
After a few days the rudimentary map had documented all of his main routes to training and classes but he hadn't yet had much desire to explore too far beyond his go to paths. What time he didn't spend training he spent reading ahead. On the days his clone went to herbology he would go to the training room and usually create more shadow clones to practise with alone. He just had to be careful not to use too much chakra or risk dispelling the clone in herbology which meant he mostly stuck to taijutsu on those occasions.
After classes he would meet Gaara, the Hufflepuff first years, and Neville Longbottom in the library for their study group. Neville had ended up as his potions partner. Theodore had called dibs on Draco who was apparently Snape's favourite, then because of the uneven numbers there had to be one group of three and the outlying trio of Slytherin girls (Millicent, Lily, and Tracy) decided to be the group of three, Vincent and Gregory of course paired up leaving him no choice but to pair with the outcast Gryffindor. He didn't actually have a problem with Neville, he was very weak willed which allowed him to be won over fairly quickly. He was also very good at following directions in potions due to his fear of what Snape would do should he make a mistake. Snape still hated him but he made sure to study very well before each class to make sure there was very little Snape could criticize. Mostly the professor just sneered at him while making snide comments that were less about potions and more about what Snape considered his bad breeding. It was appallingly petty for any teacher. If they had been in the Hidden Leaf the man would have been recruited to Anbu and sent on a suicide mission before he was ever let near children, not that he could have ever made it as a shinobi.
After study group he would go to dinner, followed by a study session with the Slytherin first years who still refused to join his after class study group. He and Pansy had even managed to develop a sort of friendship between them. She loved gossip, the Hufflepuffs loved gossip, and he was the bridge between the two keeping her up to date on all the latest news the network had to offer. Even Neville occasionally let slip a bit of Gryffindor drama he could pass on. Overall, after a difficult first day he was now quite pleased with his mostly ordinary school life.
In a few minutes he arrived at the door to the training room. The wards let him through but anyone who was not supposed to be there would have been hit with the strongest stinging hex he was currently able to produce as soon as they touched the door. He knew it wouldn't stop a teacher or any of the upper years but it was there more for the practise in casting wards than actual protection. There was no reason for anyone to be anywhere near the room and if the amount of dust they had needed to clean away was any indication no one had been to the room in centuries so the chances of anyone stumbling across it were very unlikely.
Inside he could already see Gaara waiting for him with tendrils of sand floating around him like a nest of snakes. After they had come to the wizarding world they had discovered that the sand's seeming autonomy was caused by Gaara's accidental magic protecting him. Gaara had been working hard to have his sand controlled subconsciously so he could focus on other things during a fight. Unfortunately for him, Gaara had become quite good at controlling his sand without having to move as his taijutsu was weak and he didn't feel he needed to work on it because he was now a retired shinobi. But having to fight Gaara's sand was helping to keep him in shape so he didn't really complain about it too often.
He opened his mouth to greet Gaara but as soon as Gaara noticed him the sand rushed forward to attack him. Just as he had dodged the first tendril another was taking its place giving him no time to get his bearings or counter attack. It was like he was fighting multiple opponents instead of just one boy. Eventually, one of the tendrils made it past his guard and he was sent crashing into the wall with enough force that anyone who didn't reinforce their bodies with chakra would have likely had some serious internal injuries along side the inevitable broken bones.
"I wasn't ready," he panted as he got to his feet.
"A real enemy wouldn't wait. I will not go easy on you," Gaara told him expressionlessly.
He had taken his role of training partner very seriously. The only reason Gaara was training was for his sake so he couldn't even be mad about how harsh he could be. He figured it was just Gaara's way of worrying about his safety once he was on his own.
"Fine," he agreed making the hand signs for his trump card.
He hadn't really had a chance to practise the adamantine sealing chains since Kurama had abandoned him before the chūnin exams started. His eventual goal was to be able to use the chains similarly to how Gaara used his sand tendrils to fight, though his control wasn't nearly as good as it needed to be yet. Even if he could never get the chains to work like Gaara's sand as long as he was able to get them around his opponent the chains would seal their chakra and movement making it his win. The only problem was that when facing a trained and talented shinobi they could defend against the chains he sent their way so being able to continuously attack with the chains would greatly increase his chances of success.
As he finished the hand signs he felt his chakra surge as the chains burst from his back toward Gaara. He had the satisfaction of seeing Gaara's eyes widen before he managed to dodge the chains. It was close though as he could see a small tear in Gaara's robe sleeve. He had never attempted to use the chains against Gaara before so he was kind of upset that his surprise attack didn't actually succeed. He wouldn't get the element of surprise a second time.
The spar devolved after that as they both fought to win. Gaara met each of his clumsy chain attacks with his sand forcing him to constantly need to dodge sand while trying to control the chains. At five am the alarm spell they had set went off signalling the end of that days training. By the time the alarm sounded they were both panting heavily from their seats on the ground. He had to concede that he had completely lost the spar but felt pretty good about the progress he had made in controlling the chains.
He waited until his breathing settled before attempting to speak, "Have you heard back from Sirius yet?"
He glanced at Gaara who shook his head too tired to use his words.
He felt a nervous twist in his stomach at the idea that he would not be allowed to return to Black Manor when the summer came. With a troubled sigh he pulled himself to his feet.
"I'll see you later," he smiled tiredly at Gaara as he left the training room.
He stepped out of the bathroom just in time for the other Slytherin boys to start waking up.
"How do you manage to get up so early," Draco complained as he passed him on his way into the bathroom.
Draco had horrible bed head in the morning. His hair was so fine that it seemed to float around his head with a mind of its own. He could understand why he put so much gel in his hair to keep it flat even if he privately thought the gelled back hair was just a little less worse.
"I'm not lazy and I go to bed at a decent time unlike some others," he said giving the blond boy a significant look.
With a role of his eyes Draco ignored him in favour of his own shower.
He pulled out one of the books he had taken from the library. He lounged on his bed reading while he waited for the others to get ready to go down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Over the past two weeks he had come to trust his roommates a little more. He wouldn't allow himself to be blinded by their current friendly behaviour because there was always a chance they would turn on him later. It was easy to be friends during peaceful days. It would be when they were together in a stressful situation that the truth of their friendship would show. It was in a stressful situation, for example, that Sasuke had proven his friendship by putting his life on the line for him even though it would mean giving up his revenge. He wondered if any of the Slytherins were capable of such a thing. He felt his chest tighten as he realized that they probably weren't.
When the others were ready he put his book aside and followed them down to breakfast. They had Herbology first thing so he would have a little time to himself to study his interests. After the training session he'd had that morning he didn't really feel up to a second session with just his clones. He was also worried by how much chakra controlling the chains had used. It was better to be safe and take a day off from his solo training.
"It really isn't fair of them to make us have Herbology as the first lesson of the day," Pansy complained like she did every Monday and Tuesday.
"So you have said, every time we've had Herbology," he said not even looking up from his breakfast.
"Well then, someone should have done something about it by now," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Like what?" Daphne asked from beside her.
"If I knew I wouldn't still be complaining about it," Pansy told her exasperated.
"Have you tried talking to Professor Snape?" Theodore asked from his spot on the other side of Draco.
Pansy scoffed at him, "Why don't you try that and let me know how that works for you."
He was glad to note that he wasn't the only one who saw Snape as an unreasonable, unreliable, untrustworthy, and unhelpful professor. He nodded in agreement with Pansy who smiled at him.
"Maybe I'll ask uncle sev- I mean Professor Snape if there is anything he can do," Draco said importantly.
He wasn't sure whatever relationship Draco had with Snape would be of much use. He didn't think it was Snape who made the schedules but if it made Draco happy to think he was special he wouldn't be the one to ruin it for him.
Just then the sound of hundreds of wings flapping filled the room as the morning mail owls arrived. He saw Hedwig shining white among the flock of dull brown owls. His heart jumped into his throat as he watched her glide toward him. He could feel his pulse pounding as a rush of adrenaline filled his veins. He was beyond grateful that he could read his father's response to his letter in privacy once he had sent the clone to Herbology. He didn't want anyone around if it wasn't the good news he hoped for. With his history it was most likely not good news.
He was very careful not to let anyone see the slight tremble in his hand as he took the letter from Hedwig's leg before feeding her some of the bacon on his plate. He slipped the letter into the inner pocket of his robes to open once he was alone. He glanced over at Gaara to see that he had also gotten a letter. He recognized the owl from when they had been at Black Manor that summer. Once Gaara had taken the letter the bird took a small treat and flew out of the hall. He didn't know what to feel about not getting a letter but he hoped that Gaara's letter wasn't about disowning him. He would need to make time to ask Gaara about the letter. Luckily, they had history of magic and transfiguration together in the afternoon.
He let the conversations of his peers flow around him only half listening until the end of breakfast. As he had just excused himself to go to the toilet to create his clone he was stopped by Snape. The others looked on curiously as the Professor looked at him like it was painful to even have to acknowledge his existence.
"Mr. Potter, you will be meeting with the Headmaster tonight at six o'clock. Do not be late or embarrass Slytherin with your conduct," Snape sneered as he shoved a note in his hand before he swept from the Great Hall with his robes billowing.
"What did you do?" Theodore asked.
He turned his glare on the other boy, "Nothing."
He hurried away before he lost the chance to swap out for his clone. He'd read the letters once he reached the dorms.