They made it in time. Draco and Harry had elbowed through hoards of people to get on board, including a very Scottish family, a very angry grandmother, and a very alarming number of red hair. "Weasleys," Lucius had sniffed. They pushed themselves into an empty car and sat down, breathless. "Do you think it will be like this all the time?" Harry asked, looking a bit windswept. "I think when we are seventh years we would get the hang of it," Draco replied.
"Seventh years? That's forever!" Harry said, slumping in his chair. They were laughing and joking around when a tall boy with bright red hair timidly opened the car door.
"I'm sorry, but the other cars are full. Anyone else sitting here?" Draco, looking slightly panicked, said, "Yes, yes, someone is-"
"No. No one is sitting there." Harry gestured to the seat while giving Draco a dirty look.
"Thanks. My name is Ron Weasley and- Wait, I know you! You're a Malfoy! Oh, my father hates you, you know," Ron said.
"Well, my father said that Weasleys all have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Draco spat back, eyes blazing. Ron was about to retort when Harry jumped in.
"Guys! I don't- Can we not fight?" Ron and Draco both stared at him and said, simultaneously,
"Well, my father said-"
"Exactly! Your father this. Your father that. I don't know what's going on between your two fathers, but why does that matter?" Harry sighed. Ron and Draco mercifully stayed silent. "Is this what Hogwarts is like? Everyone picking fights with each other simply because of what his 'father said'? If it is, I want out."
"You mean, you don't know what Hogwarts is like? Didn't your parents tell you? Are you one of those muggleborns? Blimey, my father loves muggles."
"I'll have you know that this here is Harry Potter. And we are above y-"
"Harry Potter? Fred and George said they saw you on the platform. I thought it was one of their jokes. Do you really have the, you know, scar?"
"Why does it bloody matter if he has the scar or not?" Draco snapped. As Ron fell into a guilty silence and Draco fell into an arrogant one, Harry decided to take initiative.
"I think we started off weirdly. Let's start over."
"I don't think starting over will have any impact," Draco said.
"My name is Harry Potter. What are your names?"
"Harry, you know both of our names. I don't-" When he noticed Harry's glare, Draco sighed and muttered, "My name is Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."
"And I'm Ron Weasley. Now what?" As Harry scrambled for the right thing to say, he was saved by the trolley.
"Anything off the trolley?"
Ron muttered something about a sandwich and Draco said that he wasn't allowed to eat sweets while looking longingly at the cart. Harry stood up and, being entirely clueless to the variety of sweets and treats, bought as much as he could carry as Ron and Draco looked on incredulously, Ron looking back and forth from his sandwich to the pile of sweets in Harry's arms.
"Go on then, help yourself," Harry said. He realized that this was distracting the two boys from the fight and that was maybe not the best method, but he was tired of arguments and resolved to figure it out with a full stomach and slightly more amiable companions.
"Oh no, I couldn't. I have a sandwich. It's corned beef. She always forgets I hate corned beef."
"May I eat that then?" Draco asked, almost shyly. Ron looked at him in shock.
"You? You want my mother's sandwiches? They're rather dry, and they have corned beef."
"Yeah. I never had anything my mother made for me. She doesn't really cook. Does it taste different if your mother makes it for you?"
"I mean, I guess. It just feels homemade, you know?"
Ron gave Draco his sandwich, which Draco ate with an unexpected gusto. As they swapped and tasted different sweets and cards, the boy with the grandmother timidly opened the door. "Have you seen my toad?" he asked. When the three shook their heads, he said, "I'll never find him. He keeps getting away! Well, if you see him..." and left, muttering to himself.
"Why does he want to find his toad? I would love to lose Scabbers," Ron said, glaring at his rat.
"Oh, good. You heard of it. Neville's frantic, so if you find the toad, you should give it back." Harry, Ron, and Draco turned towards the speaker. She was a small girl with an impressive mane of bushy hair and huge front teeth. "My name is Hermione Granger. Who are you?"
"Ron Weasley."
"Draco Malfoy."
"Oh! You're a Malfoy. I guess you have some similarities with your father. Lucius Malfoy is your father, no? He is on the school board you know."
"Yes. I imagine I do know," Draco said with a forced smile.
"And who are you?"
"I'm Harry Potter."
"Are you? I've read about you! You are in many notable books. I've done some extra reading to prepare myself. I had to. No one is magic in my family. Now I know everything there is to know about Hogwarts and how it works." Ron muttered 'Know-it-all' and Draco coughed 'Mudblood' under his breath. Harry glared at the two of them.
"Well, I better get going. There is a toad to be found. We're getting close. You should get changed." Harry could tell that Hermione had heard their comments by how clipped her words became. He smiled apologetically as she spun away.
"I've done some extra reading? Why would anyone do anything like that? That's like doing homework on breaks!" Ron exclaimed.
"She's a mudblood too!" Draco said, his eyes widening. Ron flinched at the word, and carefully said, "Draco, no one uses that word anymore. It's outdated and, frankly, it's very cruel."
"Well, my father-" Draco started, then shook his head. "My father is very old-fashioned." At that, Harry gave himself a congratulatory fist pump and hastened to start changing into his robes.
I tried making them as similar to their character as possible, but I'm afraid that I made them a bit OOC (Out of character for those who are confused about internet abbreviations... I'm with you)... If there are any suggestions n how to make them in character, feel free to tell me!
