A/N: Disclaimers first chapter. A certain blond finally makes an appearance! ;)


Underestimated

The Morning After

Something was poking him.

Harry tried valiantly to dredge up some reason why something would be poking him.

He was very comfy and cosy, and when he moved his arm to swat away the assailant it proved to be quite a complicated action. His limbs were heavy with sleep.

"Oh for Merlin's sake Potter, wake up!"

That wasn't Ron.

Harry pulled himself off the thick pillow and shook his head to clear the fuzz that had gathered overnight. Once his glasses were found and successfully positioned on his face, Harry was met with a very familiar sneer.

"Malfoy?" He croaked, hoping that his voice hadn't sounded as stupid as he thought it had.

"You missed breakfast and classes are in…" Malfoy checked his watch flamboyantly, "…Ten minutes. Might I suggest that you make yourself more presentable in the time you have."

Harry stared at Malfoy who viewed him with distaste, trying to work out where the Hell he was and what was going on.

"What?"

Okay that had definitely sounded stupid.

Malfoy growled impatiently and muttered something that Harry didn't quite catch. He then moved his wand through the air in what Harry suspected was a well-practised movement, to conjure a mirror in front of him. Malfoy turned it so that the black haired boy could view himself clearly.

"Oh."

Harry's hair stuck up at more un-godly angles than usual, his cheeks were still rosy from sleep and his robes were severely crinkled after spending the night in them. Plus there was the fact that he still didn't have his Slytherin badge.

Harry glanced at Malfoy and felt somewhat out-of-place. The boy was immaculately dressed, as usual: hair tamed, skin flawless, robes crinkle-free with not a mark in sight. He seemed to notice Harry's gaze on him, and narrowed his eyes, before spotting something on the floor.

"Bedtime reading Potter?" Malfoy asked with a smirk.

Harry glanced down in the direction the blond was indicating only to see the battered cover of Coping With Loss staring up at him. He felt a flush creeping across his face, partly through embarrassment but mostly due to anger.

"Snape." He muttered in reply, hauling himself off the bed as memories from last night threw themselves full force back into his head.

He made to what he presumed was the bathroom, and grabbed some robes randomly out of his case. Malfoy made a point of sniffing loudly.

"What?" Harry snapped, stopping on his march to the bathroom.

Malfoy was critically studying the robes Harry held under his arm.

After several moment's consideration he asked, "You're not going to wear those are you?"

Harry stared at him incredulously.

"And why on earth not?"

Malfoy wrinkled up his face and waved his arm carelessly at the robes, clearly expecting Harry to understand his meaning. When Harry gave no response to this, he shook his head and scowled, folding his arms.

"No reason..."

"Good." Harry said firmly, ending all possible further conversation centred around his appearance. He disappeared into the large bathroom and shut the door soundly behind him.

Well now, this was… surprising. The bathroom he had entered was a lot more spacious than the one in the Gryffindor tower, and although he hated to admit it, looked a lot more comfortable too.

The towels were equally shared between the three room members: dark green and thick, hanging over old (but immaculate) silver rails. The showers were large enough to fit two people - Harry didn't spend too long considering the history of these showers - and the bath in the corner looked more like a Jacuzzi.

Deciding to spend more time exploring the Slytherin dormitories later, Harry slipped into his robe and freshened up, hoping that by the time he was done Malfoy would have disappeared.

Unfortunately when he opened the door the blond was still present, sitting on what Harry presumed was Malfoy's own bed. He didn't look very happy.

"We're already seven minutes late for class and we haven't even left the dormitories yet!" He snapped.

"Well I'm sorry Malfoy, but I didn't ask you to wait for me, did I?" Harry replied, irritation growing.

"No, but Snape bloody well did! I'm your… minder until you get settled in." Draco looked severely put-out as he said this.

"My what?" Harry yelled angrily, "I don't need a minder!"

Malfoy smirked at Harry's outburst.

"If you keep behaving like that then I'll just be here all the longer. Slytherin's don't get so upset over things in public, Potter - it's unseemly. The sooner you learn that the sooner I can go back to ignoring you."

"We're not in public," Harry hissed, "And since when did I do what you say? Why did Snape make you of all people, my minder?"

"Potter," Malfoy sighed, "If you can't work that out then you certainly don't deserve to be in this house, never mind my company."

Harry gritted his teeth and glared at the smug boy in front of him. He didn't care what Snape thought, he was not about to take orders from some little stuck-up, upper-class idiot like Draco Malfoy.

"Are we going to class, or not?" Harry finally managed to ask.

"I suppose," Malfoy replied casually, "Snape's not going to like it that you made me fifteen minutes late to the first class of the year…"

Harry grumbled and made for the door. He had already come to that conclusion several minutes before.

He made his way swiftly through the common room and out of the hidden entrance, and was storming up the corridor before he realised that he didn't have a clue where he was going. He turned around, green eyes spotting Malfoy grinning at his indecision. The blonde waved a piece of parchment at him.

"Timetables Potter - ingenious things."

The blond caught up with him and continued with a smirk, "We're in Transfiguration. McGonagall will be most pleased at our tardiness don't you think?"

Harry's mood sunk lower. The head of Gryffindor house would most certainly not be pleased. Especially since Harry was now a Slytherin, and not protected by his position within her house. Plus there was the fact of his company in the matter. He knew for a fact that the Transfiguration teacher did not think highly of Malfoy at all.

Harry sighed, making to follow Malfoy as he swaggered up the cold corridor. He drew his cloak around him tighter in order to salvage some extra warmth from the material. One of Malfoy's backward glances must have noticed this because he slowed down.

"Cotton?" the blond boy asked.

"What?" Harry asked impatiently – he couldn't keep up with the taller boy's ever-shifting conversation topics.

"What material is your robe made from?" Malfoy asked again, sounding irritated himself.

"I don't know… I suppose it is cotton…" Harry replied, wondering where this was going.

Malfoy gave a smirk, "I knew it. That's no good if you're going to be living down here."

"It's good enough for every other house." Harry said hotly, getting angered by Malfoy's constant air of superiority.

"In case you hadn't noticed, this isn't every other house, Potter. Most Slytherins know to buy proper robes. They're expensive of course, but necessary, and if I do say so," Malfoy stroked the arm of his robe slowly, "Rather comfortable."

"There's nothing wrong with my robes," Harry snapped back, "They're comfortable enough as they are."

"Is that why you're shivering?" Malfoy asked, smug look firmly in place.

Harry didn't reply and the blond gave a last satisfied nod before striding back along the corridor. Harry growled and followed once again. After checking his watch he gathered that they were now twenty-five minutes late – it was getting ridiculous.

Then it hit him.

Malfoy was incredibly keen to get him looking proper and Harry didn't think he could face McGonagall's reaction when they walked in this late. Not to mention Snape's reaction when he found out about it.

"Malfoy?" He asked innocently.

The blond stopped again and turned sharply.

"What?" He replied carefully, realising something was up.

"What if," Harry weighed his words cautiously, "We don't go to Transfiguration at all?"

The pale boy narrowed his eyes, "What?"

Harry allowed himself a mental smirk at Malfoy's suspicion. He swallowed his pride before continuing,

"Well, like you said – I don't exactly look… presentable as I am. What if we take this period and go sort it out?"

The question floated on the air for several seconds before Malfoy stated,

"You're too scared to arrive this late."

"I'm not scared," Harry replied huffily, "I just don't think it's wise to start off the school term like that."

"McGonagall would speak to Snape…" Malfoy told him.

Harry knew this and unconsciously rubbed his wrist. Malfoy watched him questioningly. Here came the decider-

"You could speak to him first."

Blue eyes met green.

"You expect me to lie to my head of house for you?" He sneered.

"Not lie," Harry held Malfoy's gaze, "Inform."

The taller Slytherin narrowed his eyes once again and Harry could tell he was weighing up his choices. Be late for class and be seen with Harry dressed as he was, or not appear to class at all, sort Harry out and explain to Snape his reasoning for missing Transfiguration.

Harry couldn't believe what he was actually suggesting. Bloody Slytherins.

"Fine."

The answer caught Harry off guard.

"You're saying yes? You'll do it?" He asked in surprise.

"I'm saying we'll do it, Potter. But don't think for one minute I'm doing this for you. I wouldn't be doing it at all if it wasn't completely necessary."

As he said this, Malfoy looked Harry up and down with a disgusted expression. Harry began to wonder if it was such a good idea after all.

"Follow me." Malfoy ordered.

Harry decided not to argue in case the blond boy changed his mind.

Much sooner than Harry had hoped they arrived in front of the Potions classroom. To his further discomfort it sounded like Snape had a class, his angry voice audible through the thick wooden door.

Malfoy didn't seem to care as he thumped loudly, exchanging a last confident glance with Harry before the door was opened with a swoosh.

Snape stood there filling the doorway. Harry felt rather sick as the tall man studied him darkly.

"Shouldn't you both be in class?" He asked, tone dangerously low.

"I decided it was necessary for Potter to take first period off, Sir. He seemed to be rather ignorant as to how he's supposed to behave as a Slytherin and I believed that I had reason to… sort him out."

Snape didn't say a word, but Malfoy held his ground.

"I didn't think you'd want him acting, or looking as he was, whilst in Transfiguration."

Steady on, Harry thought shooting Malfoy a glare.

The Potion's Master's gaze turned on Harry and he said, "And you decided to tell me this half an hour into first period? Why not at the start of the lesson?"

It was Malfoy who replied promptly, "I thought you'd be enjoying your first lesson of term, Sir."

The blond said this with a smirk and Harry waited for Snape to react.

"It's as incredibly stimulating as usual Draco." Snape said dryly.

Okay. Harry thought in shock, was that a joke? The dark haired man's next comment only stunned him further.

"I'll send a note to Professor McGonagall on account of your absence, but don't expect me to do this again." He looked down his nose at Harry with a sneer, "And make sure you do something with his hair."

Draco snorted as Harry's mouth fell open, but Snape had closed the door with a slam before he could make his angry retort.

Snape was hardly one to talk to Harry about hair. It was clear that it was Snape's favouritism that had swayed his decision. Draco might be annoying, but he had just saved Harry from the trauma of both McGonagall and the Slytherin head of house. Green eyes were shadowed by a scowl which was kept firmly in place until both boys were back in their room.

"Stop scowling Potter, it does nothing for your appearance."

"Bugger off Malfoy."

Harry was decidedly less keen on this plan of action now that he was actually going through with it.

"Do you want my help or not?" Malfoy growled, sifting through a suitcase which Harry realised did not belong to either of them.

"Whose stuff's that?" He asked, suddenly defensive.

"Relax hero, it's Blaise's stuff, he's more your size. My robes are too long and besides," Malfoy looked up, "I don't want you touching any of my things."

"Likewise," Harry muttered, dreading what would happen if Malfoy took his invisibility cloak or found his 'special' map, "Why do I have to wear his stuff? Why can't I get my own?"

"For one, it takes a few days for your order to be made up at the tailors, and secondly, I want to see what Blaise does when he realises what you're wearing."

Malfoy stood up with some pressed black robes and a Slytherin green and silver tie. He held them out to Harry who took them reluctantly.

"Well hurry up and change, I'm not missing the next class no matter what you look like."

Several moments later Harry emerged from the bathrooms in the Slytherin robes. Surprisingly, they were really comfortable and felt rather light despite the apparent thickness of the material. They were also, Harry noticed with a frown, a lot warmer and he no longer felt compelled to hug himself to keep warm.

"The green goes with your eyes sweetie," Malfoy smirked from his seat on the bed, "A born Slytherin."

Harry didn't reply and studied himself in the mirror not sure what to think of it all. He felt very... proper.

"There's still the hair though…" Malfoy said thoughtfully.

"I'm not changing my hair Malfoy." Harry growled.

What would his Gryffindor friends think of him now? It was bad enough wearing the robes, never mind if he changed his hair too-

"Aack!" He yelled angrily, swatting at his head where Malfoy had just smeared some gel or other, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Sorting your hair Potter," Malfoy grinned, "I would rub that in if I were you."

Harry glanced at his hair in the reflection which now sported a blob of goo. He angrily rubbed it in, trying to keep it to the ends of his hair so that he didn't resemble Malfoy too similarly. Much to his annoyance he found that the goop actually had helped tame the unruly locks that had tormented him since before he could remember. They didn't look as perfect as Malfoy's, thank Merlin, but they looked more… controlled. Controlled mess, he decided with a grin - rough and ready but with class.

Malfoy moved alongside him and nodded in appreciation. Harry quickly smothered his smile and replaced his frown, pointing a threatening finger at the blond,

"Don't ever touch me again."

Malfoy just smirked, "Whatever you say Potter."


Aren't they just adorable? ;) Like choosing between white chocolate or dark chocolate… Hope you're enjoying, thanx for all reactions and reviews so far – always a pleasure peeps! x x x