Draco Malfoy looked at Harry Potter with eyes that looked somber beyond his years. "You realize, Potter, that hearing about my childhood is not at all like yours would probably have been..."

Harry Potter's owl-like gaze looked back at Draco Malfoy, as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's not like my parents set out for me to be an only child. Your mum would probably have had at least a few children. It wouldn't have been just you." Malfoy remembered the look on his mother's face when the Greengrasses came over - it was jealousy, pure and simple. Slytherins tended to recognize avarice in others.

"Yeah," Harry said, looking down as he snudged his toes in the ground, before looking steadily at Malfoy, "But, I've seen pictures of my mum and da. I know what - who - they were. They existed. I've never seen these mythical brothers or sisters. Couldn't really wrap my head around them." Harry's soft, small smile was wistful, almost...

In a loud and grandiose voice, Harry deliberately broke the morose mood, "So by all means, tell on!"

"Ah! I just thought of a game I used to love to play." Draco's mouth was smiling - he looked all of seven, as he continued, conspiratorally, "I called it Pounce. All's you've got to do is suspend a wand up a ways - off a balcony works fine, off a chandelier even better. Cast a quiet lumos, and just a snifter of wind, and you've got a spot, dancing all over the place."

"I can almost see it."

"Well, the game's about catching the spot, you see. It's a quick little bugger and you have to be quicker to catch it." Malfoy said, smiling a Cheshire grin.

"I wish I had got to play games like that..." Harry said, and if he sounded a bit too wistful - was that possible? Malfoy knew better than to remark on it.

"Alright, fair's fair. You remember the game where I caught the snitch in less than five minutes?" Harry continued.

"Yeah, what of it?" Draco responded cautiously.

"You wouldn't believe how scared I was that Snape was going to do something."

"In front of everyone? Not very Slytherin that, surely?"

"Not if he did something overt, sure. Slytherin's known as the sneaky house for a reason, isn't it?"

"Oh, sure, but he wouldn't be reffing if he was going to do something."

"I thought he hated me enough that he might take any opportunity he could - until I learned that Dumbledore was going to be there. He may hate me, but it's not worth his job, is it?"

"You must have been thinking, 'who'd hire him, otherwise?'"

"Exactly, right?" Harry gave Draco a wild grin.

Draco looked back levelly, "My father'd hire him in a heartbeat. He may not be the most levelheaded teacher you've ever seen."

Harry snorted and muttered, "that's an understatement."

"But he does know potions, dead."

"I think you meant to say poisons."

"Those too, though I wasn't to mention it." Draco gave a crafty smile, "so of course, the reckless Gryffindor had to."

"After the game, I saw Snape stalk off towards the Forbidden Forest." Harry said, looking quiet as all traces of mirth disappeared from Draco's face. "I flew after him - wanted to see what he was up to, and - on a broomstick - I figured I was quicker than any beast."

"Not quicker than an arrow" Malfoy shot back, and Potter winced.

"I know that now, yes. Children have a distinct tendency to think themselves immortal, as Snape keeps on spitting in my general direction." Harry said with some chagrin, missing the momentary look of confusion on Malfoy's face.

"They were talking about the Philosopher's Stone, about wanting to obtain it - I thought they meant steal it. Snape was looming over Quirrel, like he was trying to intimidate him." Harry shook his head, "And me? I didn't even know what the Philosopher's Stone was!" Draco's response was a tight grin. "I managed to get out of there without being caught, of course - you'd have heard the yelling from the stands, otherwise."

"Obviously" Draco said, while internally frowning to himself. How much had he missed, living in the dungeons? He hadn't expected to be hearing, well, this much.

[a/n: Sorry if this is somewhat repeating the books. There'll be drama around the corner, I promise. Well, maybe a few corners.

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