Disclaimer: The usual….
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Harry awoke to Ron poking him in the shoulder, groaning he stared at Ron trying to focus.
"We're here. You'd better change into your robes." Ron told him having already changed into his and so had Hermione.
Getting his robes from his trunk he put them on over his jeans and t-shirt, then got all his things ready to get off the train. Ron and Hermione were already ready and were waiting for Harry by the door of their cabin. Harry signalled when he was ready and they left.
Coming out of his own cabin after changing into his robes, Draco made his way down to the front of the train to the exit with his trunk in tow. Just in front of him he spotted a familiar group of people. Potter and his dream team, he thought to himself. A smirk began to form on his lips but he stopped himself. He was not going to cause trouble. In fact he just wanted to exit the area as soon as possible. It was bad enough his housemates could see there was something wrong, he didn't need anyone else least of all Potter or Weasley for that matter taking advantage of this. So making his way down the train, at a speed, he decided to just ask them to move then brush past.
"Can I pass? You're blocking the way." He said.
Ron immediately turned around recognising the voice. He opened his mouth to say something, but after taking the sight in before his eyes he began hysterically laughing. Hermione and Harry tuned round to see what Ron's source of amusement was. Hermione didn't see what was so funny, Harry, however knew exactly what Ron was laughing at. He would normally have joined in Ron's laughter but found he couldn't. Ron didn't seem to care that the other two hadn't joined in, this to him was a great welcome back to Hogwarts seeing Malfoy looking as if he'd been pulled through a hedge backwards with his hair almost looking as untidy as Harry's.
Malfoy stared at Ron and glared. As much as he just wanted to walk past and not give Weasley the satisfaction of a reaction, that laughter rang in his ears, tormenting him. Draco was surprised to notice though that Potter wasn't laughing, instead he just surveyed the scene with mild curiosity, then looked away his face remaining impassive. He hadn't expected Hermione to laugh, always the sensible one, she was now behind Weasley ready to hold him back if a fight broke out. Snapping out of his thoughts Draco turned his attention back to the laughing Weasley before him.
"Find something funny, Weasley?" He drawled, glaring.
"Your hair…" Ron managed to choke out between laughs.
"There's nothing wrong with my hair thank you Weasley. At least i don't walk round looking like a luminous red traffic light." Malfoy retorted.
Ron stopped laughing abruptly and went bright red matching the colour of his hair.
Malfoy smirked to prove a point, and then brushed past quickly, leaving a fuming Ron behind glaring after him. With Ron still in a fury, the trio made their way to Hogwarts to begin a new school year.
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Harry sat at the Gryffindor table patiently watching the sorting. They'd got to the school with no further encounters with Malfoy. Harry had been shocked to see that his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, hadn't flanked him, like they usually did. He hadn't bothered to join in Ron's laughter; he didn't really feel like it. Malfoy hadn't looked like he'd needed it either; he would have just passed without a word if Ron hadn't said anything. Harry knew he should have laughed as Malfoy had laughed at him countless times the last few years, just to get his own back, but that didn't matter to Harry anymore. He found the grudge pointless. Sighing and giving a forced smile Harry clapped as another first year joined the table.
While he was waiting Harry surveyed the teacher's table. All the old teacher's were there and also their new defence against the dark arts teacher, none other than Remus Lupin. It seemed like nobody else had been brave enough to accept the placement, so it looked like Moony had returned. This was a pleasant surprise to Harry, who had managed a genuine smile for Lupin. It got him to wondering where Sirus was though…
There were only two more people left now. Harry hoped Dumbledore's speech wasn't too long he just felt like eating and then retiring to the dorms to sleep. He had a thumping headache; one that was threatening to split his head in half. Relieved that the sorting was finally over, Harry settled down for the speech.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts." Dumbledore started. "This year will hopefully be a brighter year for all of us…
It was at this point Harry just zoned out entirely. He knew Dumbledore was referring to the loss of Cedric and the rise of Voldemort. Harry was quickly reminded of the dream he had been having this morning and was soon lost in his own private thoughts, his hunger forgotten.
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On the other side of the hall Draco Malfoy was also not particularly listening to the speech, neither were most of his table. They were all just waiting for the feast to start.
"Well that's all I have to say now, except, eat and enjoy." Dumbledore finished, smiling as all the plates on the tables filled with food. Sitting down he joined the other teachers in filling his plate.
Draco also began to fill his plate; he hadn't seen a proper meal in days. His mother hadn't cooked any dinner most of the days in the holidays due to his father's absence, so she saw no need. All she did was take orders from his father all the time. Her mind had long ago been crushed by his father's domineering personality. Well Draco had decided he was not going to follow her example if he could help it. He piled his plate with chicken, roast potatoes and vegetables and began to eat. The Slytherin's around Draco were all deep in conversation, he would normally have also been engrossed bragging about his summer, but this year he didn't think he really had much to say.
"How was your summer Draco?" Pansy said to him.
He looked up from his food at her. This was a question he hadn't wanted to answer. Of course, you could always count on Pansy to say the wrong thing.
"Fine." He said abruptly, looking down again before she tried to continue the conversation.
She gave him a strange look, so did some other slytherins. Crabbe and Goyle, however, weren't particularly interested. The only thing they were interested in was their food.
After finishing his meal, Draco surveyed the hall bored. The people on the other tables seemed to be chatting happily with friends, smiling at each other. He wished he was part of something like that, but his table were the total opposite, nobody was really friends with each other and there was no chit chat.
Draco was surprised to see that Potter's group weren't particularly engrossed in conversation, well Ron and Hermione were but Potter was just staring down at his plate pushing his food around looking sorry for himself. Seemed like he wasn't the only one who was feeling out of place, but what the hell was wrong with Potter to make him feel out of place? He was almost the total opposite to Draco himself; he had spent the last 4 years envying him.
As they were dismissed to go to their dormitories, Draco shot a curious glance in Potter's direction and thought to himself, maybe things weren't quite as perfect as they seemed…
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A/N – Sorry this chapter took slightly longer to write. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed!
