Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

By Emerald Riddle

Chapter Five: Training

Do you ever think back to another time?
Does it bring you so down that you thought you lost your mind?
Do you want to lead a long trail of destruction,
And mow down any bullshit that confronts you? -Having A Blast, Green Day

Draco was a very unhappy sixteen year old. Last night at dinner he thought the rest of his summer would be smooth and easy, but his mother wrecked that thought the next morning. She announced that his training would begin that day. He knew he had to start some kind of training, but not this soon! He barely had time to congratulate himself on being so close to the Dark Lord!

Well, sort of close.

"I guess this is the price I pay for wanting revenge and power," Draco said, sighing to himself as he pulled on his dueling robes.

"I wonder how I'm going to duel when I can't use my bloody wand out of school."

"Well, you can't do it here of course," a voice behind him told him.

Draco jumped.

Narcissa smiled. "There are some places where the ministry can't detect wand usage. Unfortunately, our home is not one of them. The Dark Lord was thoughtful enough to set one up for us."

Draco blinked. This was too much information to digest at that moment and he just wanted to lie down. The only thing motivating him was Potter. Being better than Potter, humiliating Potter, hurting Potter, killing Potter.

Why doesn't he leave me alone? Ever since I was born it was "Potter" this and "Potter" that! Then I meet him and he just turns out to be a scrawny little whelp. He's average, not one ounce better than me, and it's time I showed everyone that.

Draco's gray eyes burned with hate. "Let's go, mother. I'll beat Potter even if it's the last thing I do," he muttered vehemently.

Narcissa stared at him, then nodded. If she wanted to stop his talk of Potter, then it only made sense to get rid of the boy. She personally did not care whether he lived or died; she just wanted her son back.

Hopefully, when the Potter boy dies, Draco's spirit and determination won't die with him, Narcissa thought sadly. Seeing how obsessed he is, that just might happen. I had to learn the hard way that the things you think you want aren't necessarily the things you need. Maybe Draco will figure that out before he does anything stupid.

Narcissa then stared at her hands, unable to meet her son's eyes. Who's side am I on?

Draco coughed, looking quite impatient.

I'm on his side. Draco's side. But which side is that, I wonder? The boy only seems to care about his own welfare, not the Light or Dark. Does he even know what he has gotten himself into? One false move, and he will die. My baby will die.

Draco scowled.

I hope he finds out what he is doing soon, because it might destroy him.

Narcissa picked up a mirror from her son's dresser and tapped it with her wand. "Portus."

"Grab onto your mirror on the count of three. One, two, three-"

Draco felt the familiar tug around his navel and before he knew it, he landed with a thud. The air felt thick and moist, and smelled old. He looked at his surroundings. They were in what looked like a cross between a basement and a dungeon. It wasn't as dark as one would figure, which probably was attributed to lighting charms.

Before Draco could look closer, he heard his mother call him. He glanced back at her and caught his wand just in time. Narcissa and Draco locked eyes for half a second, her blue with his gray, then she rose her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Draco gasped and tried to dodge her attack, but he was too slow. All his limbs froze and he hit the floor.

Narcissa shook her head in disgust. "I thought you would at least know a proper shielding charm by now! Ennervate."

Draco's body relaxed and he scowled. It looked like his mother was back in bitch mode. He barely got back on his feet when his mother tried to curse him again.

"Densaugeo," she enchanted lazily, apparently feeling bored already.

Draco had no time to cast a shield, so he effectively dodged it by dropping to the floor.

"Expelliarmus!" he yelled desperately.

A flicker of shock passed on Narcissa's face as her wand was wrenched out of her grasp.

Draco smirked wickedly. "Furnunculus," he said mockingly as he waved his wand in her direction.

His mother shrieked before diving out of the jinx's way. He knew she didn't want to have to deal with boils all over her face when the Parkinson's visited.

"Give me my wand, Draco," she commanded angrily.

Draco sighed and tossed it back to her.

He soon regretted that.

"Diffindo!"

Eyes wide, Draco's jerked his head to the side just in time to feel the heat of a curse skim his ear.

Silence.

Narcissa was staring at him in horror, and Draco's face reflected hers.

Warm liquid flowed from the tip of his ear and silvery blond locks of hair slowly fluttered toward the ground.

"My-my," he stuttered, touching his ear. Blood trailed down his fingertips until it formed a puddle in the palm of his hand.

"My hair!" he exclaimed in hysterical panic.

Narcissa blinked. His ear was practically sliced in half and he was worried about his hair?

But Draco's hair did indeed look horrible. While the left side of his head had long blond locks reaching his chin, his right looked only slightly longer than a buzz cut. However, the blood oozing out of the side of his head was Narcissa's primary concern.

Pain suddenly enveloped Draco. This was when he realized the full extent of what happened.

"MY EAR! OH, MY GOD! MY EAR! I'M GOING TO DIE! I'M GOING TO BLEED TO DEATH!"

Narcissa wheeled at her son's loud screams of terror. They bounced off the stone walls, making them ten times louder than they already were (which was bad enough).

"SHUT UP!" she yelled back at him, trying to think.

Draco crumpled into a ball, cradling his bleeding head and sobbing. "I'M GOING TO DIE! YOU'VE KILLED ME! YOU DRUNK WHORE, YOU'VE KILLED ME!"

Narcissa's head was aching. She needed to think! Why couldn't he just shut up for a minute?

Draco was silent for a second, but only to look at his bloody fingers and start sobbing again.

"OH, MY GOD! I'M GOING TO DIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE MY OWN MOTHER KILLED ME! I'M-"

A clenched fist connected with Draco's head and he slumped on the floor silently.

"Mobilicorpus," Narcissa said, feeling exhausted. Couldn't she do anything right?

Her son's body rose and she got them ready to leave.

Draco moaned in pain. His eyes opened to see he was back at home in his room. Almost automatically, his hands reached to grasp his head. White bandages were covering everything like some kind of morbid helmet. Near his right ear he felt a moist spot. Draco brought up his fingers to his eyes and stared at them in horror. Dry blood coated them.

Then he remembered.

Training... Voldemort... Mother... Diffindo... Hair... Ear... Blood... Blood everywhere... I was screaming... Mother got mad... She punched me... Darkness...

Draco held onto his mouth as he felt bile start to fill it. His ear was cut off! By his MOTHER! He groaned as his head gave another throb.

"I need a potion," he whined.

That was when he noticed the vials on his bedside table. Grabbing a Dreamless Sleep potion and downing it in one go, Draco fell into a peaceful sleep.

Narcissa looked down at her son. Draco slept peacefully. She felt absolutely terrible. It seemed so easy to be a mother when Lucius was around. He took care of everything so she didn't have to.

All Narcissa needed to do was stand there and be pretty; kissing Draco's "boo-boos" and singing him to sleep. Lucius was the one who knew how to take care of him. Lucius was the one who punished him, who put him in his place, who gave him someone to look up to.

Once, Narcissa didn't care about real family values. All she cared about was being respectable and filthy rich. Now, however, as she looked down at her only son... she realized that ever since she gave birth to Draco, all she wanted was to be with him. To replace everything his father did and said.

But it was too late.

She couldn't control him at all. He was nothing like she expected him to be; and no matter how much she drank or tried to be a perfect mother, she couldn't change him. Only Lucius could.

And maybe one other, she thought.

Narcissa looked down again at her sleeping son and wiped away the tears flowing from her eyes. The path he was going down would only hurt him, even a neglectful mother knew that.

She tenderly unwrapped Draco's bandages and laid them on the floor beside her feet. Her hands lingered over his butchered hair and trailed over his face. His pointed face, which was purely his father's, and his pouty lips, which were so much like her own. At last she reached his closed eyes. Her manicured nails lightly skimmed both and her heart felt as if it would burst from all the motherly love she suddenly felt.

It was like all the love she lacked before just came rushing in when she looked down at his sleeping form. Draco was so vulnerable, so delicate... like he was an infant again and she was being given a second chance at motherhood.

Chi Chi then walked in, interrupting Narcissa's precious moment with her son. Chi Chi's big, round eyes looked up at the scene. She seemed to know she should leave, but didn't.

"Chi Chi is most sorry for bothering Mistress," she apologized earnestly. "But Chi Chi is having to heal Master Draco's injuries (she indicated the potions on the dresser). Chi Chi could come back if Mistress Malfoy wishes."

"No, that is alright, Chi Chi." Narcissa wiped the lingering tears on her face. "Go ahead. I will be in my room."

Narcissa quickly strode out of the room, embarrassed that a servant saw her in such a state.

Draco opened his eyes. He felt quite cranky and just wanted to sleep. However, little hands were pushing and shoving him out of slumber. Though he tried as hard as he might, he could not hold onto the last strands of blissful ignorance.

He turned on his other side to glare at the one who dared take away one of his few forms of happiness and saw Chi Chi fussing over him anxiously.

"Master Draco must wake up! Master has got a letter from his school!"

Draco shot out of bed quickly. A letter from school? Finally! He was looking forward to buying some new school supplies (all a hundred times better than anyone else's). Each supply list seemed to be coming later and later in the summer. He was beginning to think they have forgotten to send them this year.

"Mistress Malfoy is taking Draco shopping today. She says she has a big surprise for Master Draco!" Chi Chi was beaming at him as if he just won a million galleons.

"OKAY, Chi Chi. Thank you. Tell my mother I will be out in a minute."

Chi Chi left and Draco immediately rushed over to his mirror to check his head. The bandages were off and he was glad to see his ear had grown back, which was undoubtedly to happen anyway. Malfoy's couldn't just waltz around with deformations on their bodies, that was disgusting!

But his hair looked horrid.

Tears nearly welled up in the boy's eyes at the look of his once beautiful, silky locks. Short, almost bald on one side, and long and unchanged on the other. He looked like he belonged to a wizard freak show!

"I can't go out like this! I'll be the laughing stock of Diagon Alley!" he exclaimed. If a wizard's looks were taken away, so was all his dignity. At least that was Draco's opinion. And Draco had a lot of opinions.

Deciding he was not leaving the mansion until his looks were fixed, he set off to find his mother.

The sun was beating down on Draco Malfoy's almost bald head. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and dripped into his eyes, which were scanning the various shops in Diagon Alley. No wizards or witches on the streets gave him much attention, which was unsurprising.

Narcissa Malfoy had cut the remainder of her son's hair, gave him a hair growth potion, and placed glamour charms on his head because the potion took so long to be effective. So though she and Draco were both painfully aware of his ugly hair, nobody else knew about it. Only the caster of a glamour charm and the person who has it can see how they really look.

Draco was really thankful for that, at least.

On his arm one could see bulging bags of silky, expensive robes with the Slytherin crest embroided on the chest. Also there were custom seeker robes and brand new dragon hide boots. But Draco's favorite, above them all, was his "surprise".

It was a new broom. A broom that wasn't even on the market yet. It was fast, it was light, it was sleek, and it was better than Harry Potter's. A sinister sneer formed over his face as he clutched the precious item to his chest.

No one was to know about it until his first game. Draco would just love to see the stricken face of Potter as he caught the snitch and punched him in the face with it.

Oh yes, revenge was sweet.

Something black and messy in the large crowd caught Draco's eye. He couldn't believe it. On the same day! Hurriedly, he shoved people out of his way and searched the crowd with more anticipation than he expected.

Harry Potter walked around a street corner, his robes swishing out behind him.

Draco's heart jumped into his throat as he ran after him. He knew he should not have been doing something so foolish, but his whole summer was dedicated to Potter, therefore it was only normal to want to see him. He turned the corner, expecting to have to keep running, to halt in shock.

Potter was looking up at him from the ground. His green eyes very bright, almost glowing in the shadows of the alley. Draco took a step back. Then another, then another.

Those eyes weren't the ones he remembered. They were not amused to see him in distress or curious to see him in the same alley. They were not even anticipating a fight.

They were hard. Those eyes were cold and harsh. Nothing else filled those expressive green orbs except for pure hate.

Neither boy said anything. They just continued to stare at each other before Draco regained his sense and left.

That was Harry Potter. Yet, it was not the one he was expecting. Something was wrong and it was his, Draco's, job to find out what it was.

Narcissa waited for him at the end of the street. By her expression, he knew it was time to return home. The Parkinsons were coming for another visit today and Draco had a lot of letters to write.

A/N 6/25/05: Edited today ;) I know some of you think Draco was awfully OOC in this chapter, buy I certainly don't. He's always portrayed as cool and permanently calm (or angry, depressed, love sick, ect.) in fanfiction,and that isn't the case in cannon. He's immature, he's annoying, he's snobby, he's prejudice, and he's a big ole' fraidy dragon XDDD But that's why we love him. He can also be cool and calm, but not at all times. Draco's not stupid, he isn't fluffy, and he shouldn't be automatically in love with Harry Potter or Pansy Parkinson when he doesn't act like so in the books. Fanfiction is for developing the characters to the best of our ability, not to create new ones. I know I'm not the best at this, and I over exaggerate sometimes, but I try to make them seem cannon and "normal" until I change them slowly so they're mine.