Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army

Chapter Ten: Surprise Meetings

A/N: Unfortunately for all, school has started and I am going to be past my head in homework until it ends again. Luckily it is my LAST YEAR wahoooo! I am so sorry to say that updates are going to become much, much, much more sporadic but I promise to do my best to make them worth the trouble. Oh, and give me large amounts of literary license for my new characters and what not… They are completely my own while everything else is J.K Rowling's (with my attempt to comprehend and analyze.)

Draco's foul temper was a direct reaction to his sobbing disposition. It is important to take a moment to look at Draco through many different perspectives and directions. Draco has always been an ass, if you don't mind me saying so, and is not suddenly an angel because of the tragic loss. Rather, he will probably be more inclined to be more of an ass as well as much more distant. His compassion shown to Mrs. Weasley is a temporary lapse of good judgment in his own mind and is a very special and singular case. Because of the nature of his childhood and the nature of his loss, we can presume Draco is not evil, but he is cold-hearted to a degree, and that he is unpleasant most of the time.

Again, it is a shame that Draco is all of these things (and many more not-so-nice adjectives) because poor Cara was quite taken back by his response. Cara, now an interesting character in the drama that is Draco's life, is almost to a pin the exact opposite of Draco. The only exception is that Cara is much better at hiding it. Now it is time for poor Drakie to be taken back.

"Fine. It's not like I give a damn. I only care about those that care about themselves." Cara huffed and threw Draco a glare that can only be described as Snape-ish (but since we don't want to even think about dear ol' Snape I shall describe the glare as perfectly Slytherin).

"And what is that supposed to mean? Of course I care about myself. I'm the only person worth caring about." Draco huffed right back as he stood up to face the angel-faced demon, Cara. To Draco, Cara's suggestion was utterly preposterous; Draco's single goal in life was to flaunt how much better he was than everyone else. Momentarily Draco forgot his worries, and arrogance flushed to the surface.

"If you cared then you wouldn't be blubbering in a corner then denying and sympathy or comfort. I simple came to make sure you weren't dying. Now that I see that, I suppose I shall go on." Here it is important to mention that Caralyn is an intelligent, well-groomed and well-bred Italian elite. She is all of the youth, energy, and confidence of an upper-class witch while still being an unsure, afraid and nervous teenager. The contradictions in her character simply allow her to flip moods quicker than a pregnant woman (even than this certain pre-menstrual author) while maintaining most of her confidence and composure. For example, Cara was quite nervous when meeting the D.A in the compartment before, and yet, as Harry thought, "She had a presence about her that screamed dignity, poise and warmth but she commanded the attention of the room without the arrogance of a Veela or a veela-descendent." All of these things (and many more aspects of Cara) created a visible confusion on Draco's face.

"Wait, are you serious? Oh, and I wasn't blubbering, I was merely having an allergy attack. I suppose you are too good to every have allergies." Draco drawled unconvincingly. The loss of water (in the form of allergy-induced tears) had clearly weakened his thought-process.

"No, I am just too good at potions to ever have that problem." Cara lightly shot back without missing a beat. At this point she eased herself into a fluffy overstuffed armchair across from the arrogantly posed Draco.

"Well, I haven't had the time- ugh, I don't need to explain myself to you. Who are you anyways?" His sudden realization also timed well with an ease into another chair. There was a slight twinkle to Cara's eyes at this and she smirked when saying, "Caralyn da Vinci, of the Leonardo da Vinci familia. Daughter of Lady Budoccino. And you are?" Though smirking, Cara mentioned the famous names of da Vinci and Budoccino with little notice or emphasis. It was as if being related to a world famous artist and a high level politician was a common thing. Lady Budoccino, an Italian candidate for Prime Minister of the M.M.I (Italian Ministry of Magic), was a major figure in the fight against Voldemort and the Dark Arts. She was also an enigma like Cara and had many sides and contradicting personality traits. One thing was for sure, though, and that was that Lady Budoccino was never contradicting in her policies or politics. Honesty, loyalty and strength backed up her campaign and the seat for P.M was looking favorably hers.

"Draco Malfoy, of course. Are you a first year?" Cara laughed and refused to be bothered by his clear attempt to offend her. Draco was almost memorized by her deep sparkling laugh. Her white teeth gleamed and her hair bounced with each chuckle.

"A pleasure I'm sure Signore Malfoy. And, no, I am not a first year, though you would think that would have been obvious. I am a transfer student from Bologna; this will be my final year. I assume that you are at least a fifth year, correct?" This retaliation even made Draco's smirk hint at a grin. To the upper class, being polite or nice was a sign of weakness or mockery. A conversation without a battle of the wits was a conversation between enemies. To be able to poke fun at another person showed friendship to some degree; their snide remarks gave hope to a friendship. Cara could tell that Mister Malfoy was in desperate need of friends, even if it was the distant type that the elite was used to. Maybe it would develop into a more emotional and trusting relationship, later down the road. Or, if Malfoy continued to be too much of an ass, it wouldn't.

"The please is yours. As I'm sure you know, I am a seventh year. Welcome to Hogwarts." The sun was setting as the Hogwarts express chugged through London countryside. Cara stared out the window while smiling at Draco's attempt to be clever. She was amazed at the beauty that passed her. Italy was gorgeous but that was a given. London was known for its smog, rainy days and chilling weather so to see it looking so pure and glorious was a shock. (Of course the previous statement is incredibly stereotypical but we must remember that Cara doesn't have to be p.c or even nice since she could pay off any angry'd reader) "Amazed at the scenery, eh? How cute you are."

"Oh, stuff it. Beauty is beauty and not even you can dispute that. Look outside and tell me that you are humbled by nature."

"Humbled? No. But I will admit this is the first time I've seen this view at dusk." For a moment the pair took in the countryside and just enjoyed the silence. It had felt like ages since Draco had last had a moment just to be. Since the end of the last school year Draco has been constantly in the presences of one Death Eater or another. Not a single moment passed where he could escape the pressures of family and responsibility; Responsibility to human kind, responsibility to his family and worse yet, responsibility to Lord Voldemort. Even when he was at the Weasley's, far from the Death Eaters, the noise never stopped. Now Draco would have nothing but silence; he had no responsibilities or loyalties; he had no friends or family; he simply had nothing.

Quick to escape his own tormented thoughts Draco interrupted the silence and asked, "So have you meant anyone else yet?"

"Um, I met Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Soleil some-body, Luna Something-or-another, and Neville no-last-name. Other than that I haven't had a chance to run into anyone else, sobbing or otherwise."

"Ugh, the Golden Group, eh? Well I am sure they left a wonderful impression on you and you are now one of the many followers of the Golden Trio." Draco made no attempt to hide the sarcasm and disgust in his voice. At the rate that he was going, it would take a thousand life times to make amends with the Golden Trio, or any of the Golden Group. Even then they would still blame and hate him. Draco had no intention of even beginning the monstrous ass-kissing necessary to begin those thousand lifetimes.

"They were quite wonderful. Pleasant really, much unlike my first impression of you. So what's you grudge?" Cara felt the heat in Draco's comments and was quick to realize that there was more than the usual childhood dislike between Draco and the Golden Ones.

"Oh you know nothing really. Potter puts my dad in jail, tries to kill me and witnesses some dramatic events. Granger is just inferior while being so full of herself. Oh and she's slapped me. Weasley, well, it's a shame he is a member of his family. They deserve better. The rest are simple ignorant enough to worship the ground Potter walks on."

"So what's their grudge?" Cara asks smoothly. She wasn't trying to mock him or offend him but she knew there were two sides to every story.

"I thought we covered these bases. I'm Draco Malfoy. Why wouldn't the poverty crew not hate me?" At this Draco stood and pretended to grab a book off of the shelf. He was visibly disturbed and trying to lie. Cara didn't push it further. She would hear the other side from either him later, or from the horse's mouth.

"Of course Signore Malfoy. Your greatness slipped my mind."

"Well, my Lady, I'm sure you've had envious enemies. Name, blood and money tends to place some above others… even when they don't want to be there." The last part was more of a whisper to the books. Draco still had his back turned to Cara and his body language had changed. His head was dropped, as if looking at the last shelf of books. His shoulders slumped and his back arched slightly. Cara felt it was time to change the topic of conversation. He wasn't ready to talk.

"Yes, well that is how it goes when your destiny is determined for you. But until our fate has arrived I am planning on enjoying myself. What is there to do for fun at Hogwarts?" With they sympathetic sentence and a shift in topic things went smoothly for the remainder of the trip.

The remainder of the trip back to Hogwarts proved to be uneventful for Harry and the gang. At about 10 o'clock the room suddenly shifted into dorm style with a divider down the middle. At that point a voice filled the room, "Students please make it a point to use the divider in the middle as it is intended. Boys on one side and girls on the other, please. If there are only girls or only boys in your compartment then the divider shouldn't have appeared. Members of the faculty are going to be checking every compartment."

Of course this check never occurred and Hermione, in all of her brilliance, charmed the divider away. The rest of the night was filled with laughter, wizard chess, and even a few rounds of truth or dare.

Harry sat on his bed with an ache in his heart and in his cheeks. Laughter was the poor mans cure for any sickness, even a sickness of the heart. Harry smiled outwardly but his mind raced and his head pounded. For the last six years Harry had spent his every available moment in the Wizarding world. He had anticipated returning to Hogwarts after every summer until this one. He wanted nothing more than to begin his journey and defeat Voldemort. Harry, though scared, had confidence in his friends and his destiny.

Eventually the Golden Group fell into sweet dreams and deep slumber. Harry tossed and turned as his mind raced and the drama from earlier that day plagued him. At about 3 in the morning Harry got up and made his way to the bathrooms. After relieving himself, he slowly stumbled back into the hallway that led to the compartment. What greeted him was the most shocking sight of all his 18 years.

Standing in front of Harry Potter was the very much so deceased Albus Dumbledore.

A/N: Oh the hate mail I anticipate. I promise to do what I can as quickly as I can. I was going to write more about the train but then I realized I am drawing this story out waaaayyyy too much. It is definitely time to arrive at Hogwarts and begin the search for Voldemort etc.

I hope you guys don't mind the shift in perspective… This story is developing into a Harry and Draco story, rather than just Harry as I had originally intended it… We'll see where it takes me.

Please review 