Disclaimer: Standard - I own nothing.

-Brave New World-

When Harry made it to the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning, Draco was telling a story to a pair of exited Slytherin classmates. He had not slept well at all the night before, plagued with nightmares he couldn't remember. Harry nodded a greeting to all of them, not wanting to disrupt his friend's narrative, and too grouchy to want to say anything. He had already heard this tale, but Nott and Goyle were enjoying it for the first time.

"She grabbed my hand and pulled me aside." Draco shook his head to toss some strands of his blond bangs out of his eye. "Then she told me how she had been feeling something for me since first year and jumped right on me! It was right there behind the Herbology Green…" his eyes moved to Hannah Abbot who had just entered the Great Hall.

He gave her an evil grin and winked. Abbot blushed as all the Slytherins' that surrounded Malfoy laughed. She looked away tearfully and rushed back out the door. Harry smiled and shook his head; the girl was going to regret her moment of fire-whisky induced lust. Everyone in the school already knew and it had just happened upon their return from Hogsmeade the previous weekend.

"Naïve Hufflepuffs," Nott smiled. "They're not even a conquest!"

"If she wasn't so hot I'd feel embarrassed at having been assaulted by that simpleton," Draco said smirking.

Harry's smile deepened as he noticed the two Gryffindors, who had been walking with Abbot, give the Slytherin boys a dirty look. Hermione Granger, the arrogant muggle-born prefect, and Ginny Weasley, the runt of the Weasley litter. Harry wasn't listening to the rest of Draco's story. His eyes followed Granger as she sat down with Ariel McKinnon, and a few seats away he heard Ronald Weasley laugh.

Ronald Weasley had been the constant butt of Draco's jokes for a couple of years, right from the moment they had got off Hogwart's Express. Harry never paid the boy much attention, and truthfully, he rather pitied him. From Weasley's pathetic Quidditch tryout (where he failed miserably) to his constant blunders in Transfiguration (not like he did much better in anything else) he was a complete and utter failure. He also had a temper from hell, which made him such a constant target he was easy to get a rise of.

Harry, though, had developed a strange bitterness towards Weasley. During their second year at Hogwarts Ronald could count four siblings in school with him, always laughing and harassing each other. Now, blessed be, only Ronald and the runt remained. This summer during their trip to Diagon Alley to purchase their school supplies for sixth year, Harry had become conscious of the fact that, as irrational as it was, he felt envy towards Weasley.

"I don't know why he even bothers to say he'll show up," Draco complained as they walked out of Gringotts.

This year the new Firebolt was out and he and Draco had been promised the state of the art brooms. Nott was supposed to meet them there, but he was late - as usual.

"Are you ready, Sirs?" Dolbis, the Squib servant in Malfoy Manor, had asked. He was the one who had taken them shopping for their Hogwarts supplies the past two years.

Draco replied by handing the man a couple of packages dismissively, and carried on walking ahead, pushing right through a group of three kids that looked like second years. One of them was about to say something, but closed his mouth when he met Harry's eye. Harry cocked an eyebrow at him, putting the boy back firmly in his place.

"Hey Pansy!" Draco waved at a girl who was amidst a crowd of three others; Millicent Bulstrode, Marina Moon and Janice Lestrange.

The girls made their way over to them.

"Nott is going to hex himself for missing this one," Draco whispered over to Harry.

Harry kept his eyes on Janice. The girl gave him the faintest hint of a smile and Harry knew he had her. Janice did not smile, and nor did she socialise. Her long blonde hair was dyed a shocking shade of blue-black, making her fair pale skin look as if she was at deaths door. She wore a black leather chocker and tall, lace up black boots. Her red lipstick was magically charmed to keep her lips looking wet and supple… like a vampire who had just fed, Harry thought wickedly. He wasn't particularly drawn to the girl, she was just an enigma, a challenge. Janice seemed different so she interested him, more than say the other two Slytherins.

"We're heading to get our robes, want to join us?" Pansy asked.

"Sounds good," Harry nodded.

"Have you guys seen Blaise?" Pansy asked.

"You don't need Blaise now that you have me around," Draco smiled and winked at her.

Pansy laughed, but looked away. She was one of the only few girls who did not fall for Malfoy's game. Not because she was immune, but because the two had been there and done that during fourth year. Pansy wasn't big on recycling her men.

'Too many boys, too little time,' she had told Harry one night after attempting to kiss him.

Inside Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, Harry saw the Weasleys. The five Slytherins grew silent at the sight of four Gryffindors and their parents. The store was pretty empty, just a few last minute shoppers.

"Wow, Weasley's father must be blind," Malfoy stated.

The small group laughed. Malfoy had spoke soft enough to keep his comment within the group only. Their laughter, however, caught the attention of Ronald and Ginny Weasley.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter," Alexius, an assistant to the storekeeper, smiled a greeting. "Should I show you our new line of robes?"

Madam Malkin approached the girls and led them to another section of the shop. Harry's eyes glanced at the Weasleys, while Alexius fitted them with newly imported Italian robes. The one he had on felt nice, it was lined with silk inside for comfort.

Ronald met Harry's eyes once and blushed, while his mother was eagerly telling him that she knew a spell which would get the stain off the second hand robe he had just tried on.

"Oh, it's not my fault that you're more heavily set than George and Fred, and can't have some of their robes," his mother started.

Harry's eyes went to the Weasley girl, she was looking at a pair of beautiful robe clasps that were kept behind magical glass. She could reach in and touch them, but could not lift them off their setting.

Three more redheads walked in then, and from the greeting Harry surmised it was the older brothers.

"Some day, when you turn into a real boy, you will be able to fit nicely into Percy's robes," the oldest one joked.

"I will be keeping my robes, thank you," Percy interjected.

Harry shook his head. That guy had been the most pompous little prick the whole time he had been at Hogwarts. He could still hear the prat chanting: 'excuse me, prefect coming through!'. Harry wondered if that was the highlight of the jerk's career.

"I'm already bigger than Perce," Ronald stated as the group headed towards the front to pay.

'That's the truth,' Harry thought to himself, avidly agreeing with Ron's comment.

"Ginny is bigger than him," Fred or George confirmed. Harry had never bothered to figure out a way of keeping them straight.

The group laughed.

"Dad's already got us a table, hurry up," the third arrival confirmed. "I'm starving."

The eldest picked up his younger sister and threw her over his shoulder.

"Bill!" Ginny squealed as the boys laughed.

"Oh, for goodness sakes, Bill, put your sister down," their mother ordered in a gentle tone as she paid.

"Everyone stand back, you stirred up a dragon's nest!" another brother cautioned.

Ginny was placed gently back on the ground and the first thing she did was glance at Harry, red faced. Harry was taken back, then he realised he was staring and looked away immediately. He had been completely absorbed in their actions and conversations. Feeling embarrassed, he admonished himself for taking pleasure in the daily activities of the Weasleys. Harry shrugged and chucked it to being inquisitive, like one of those Wild-Kingdom animal watchers - not like Malfoy would get the reference.

Harry glanced over at Malfoy, but he hadn't even noticed. Harry was grateful that the git was so incredibly self-centred he never really noticed anything around him, unless of course it interfered with his self-adoration. Harry smiled and shook his head. Draco, for lack of a better word, was interesting. He was likewise a good friend, he had always backed Harry up, even when it meant getting himself in trouble also. They were like an old married couple, fighting, ignoring each other and finally somehow coming back together. Harry guessed it happened when two people as strong willed as they were became close.

What truly kept them together was how they complimented each other. Draco was loud, Harry was quiet. Draco was rash, while Harry was deliberate. Harry was mercurial, passionate by nature, he could rage a storm one instant and be cold and collected the next. Malfoy surveyed the world through his cold, detached glare. There was always something of a smirk on his face, and there was no mistaking it for a smile. The smirk was wicked and arrogant. He walked as if surrounded by servants, not friends. Harry shook his head, thinking of the nickname he had heard girls call Malfoy, Adonis.

What a laugh.

The Weasleys walked out, their packages in hand.

"God, you'd figure someone would have taught them to act like civilised wizards," Draco mumbled.

"Honestly Draco, look at what you're saying," Harry mumbled back, trying to hide how interested he had been in the Weasleys and how being caught unnerved him. "They have almost a dozen kids. Who would ever teach them anything?"

"They're embarrassing," Draco hissed.

"Just be grateful they're not your family," Harry agreed and ran his hand over his new robe, appreciating the way it felt against his skin.

"Blessed be," Draco nodded.

The Weasleys began on foot up the street, amidst much laughter and chatter. Harry knew he'd go home tonight to a silent Manor and a lonely meal. It didn't matter though, he told himself, as he heard the Weasleys laugh outside, as he saw Fred or George pull away from their mother's loving embrace.

"Lets go get those Firebolts," Harry insisted. "I want everyone to see what we got."

Malfoy smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"You guys look great," Janice said from behind them.

The two boys turned around.

"Thanks."

"We'll meet you girls at the Leaky Cauldron," Draco told her.

The Firebolt felt light in his hand as the two entered the smoky pub. The place was filled to the brim with not only returning students, but their families too. All the tables were taken, and making their way through the crowd with their brooms proved to be a bit of a task.

"Potter, Malfoy," someone called. "Over here!"

"Hey, Nott, you found them," Malfoy smiled as they made their way to the table where Janice, Pansy, Millicent and Marina sat.

"Oh, wow! You guys got the Firebolts?" Millicent cried.

"I'll be getting one too," Nott mumbled, but couldn't help reaching out to touch the brooms Potter and Malfoy had laid on the table.

"Slytherin is going to be invincible this year!" Crabbe came up behind them.

"You can bet on that," Harry told him, sitting himself next to Pansy.

"Those are nice brooms," April Longbottom walked up with two of her soon-to-be fourth year friends.

"We're planning to unseat Gryffindor," Draco smiled and glanced over at Ronald, who was walking by with a couple of mugs of butterbeer.

Ronald looked at the brooms. "Those are nice," he mumbled, unable to help himself.

"You want a ride, Weasley?" Draco asked, leaving the table to order drinks. "I'll have my charity work done for the week then," he added as he walked away with Millicent. The small group that stood by them snickered.

Ronald, for once, did not have a comeback. His eyes moved from the brooms he was admiring, to April who didn't even notice him, to the robes Harry wore and then to Harry's face.

"Must be nice," he said bitterly, resentment in his voice.

"It is," Harry replied with venom in his.

He tried to look as condescending as possible, and he was succeeding until Mrs. Weasley came up. "Oh, Ronald dear, you're going to spill them… hello, who are your friends, Ronald?"

Harry was taken aback by the plump woman's kind smile.

"They're not…" Ron mumbled, trying to lead his mother away.

Harry was grateful Draco was not around.

"These are Malfoy's friends, mom," Ronald managed.

"Oh, I see," she nodded, her smile fading somewhat. "Well, have a good year at Hogwarts all of you."

The three girls at the table laughed at her when she turned away.

"Goddess, did you see her robe? It was all patched up!" Pansy exclaimed when the woman was out of earshot.

Harry winced as if someone had just kicked a puppy. He was grateful the girls did not go on bashing the lady, who seemed so incredibly soft and caring. His eyes followed Ronald to the Weasley's table, where there were three other people that did not sport red-hair. It was ridiculous for him to be jealous of them… of him.

He wondered what their holidays were like. Harry liked to remind himself of how poor they were, of how little they had and of how incompetent of a wizard Ronald was. It didn't help though, because Ronald had what Harry had always wished he did - a real family.

Harry's mother worked as a Healer at St. Mungos, and she worked very long shifts. In the muggle world she would have been termed a "workaholic". Sirius ran Black Enterprises, requiring long hours and tons of travel. Sid would spend most of his time at Merlin's Prep School and on holidays he would go to Muggle summer camp. His little brother, however, did not seem to be half as lonely as Harry was.

Harry would spend his holidays from Hogwarts roaming the halls of Black manor alone, coming up with fake excuses to summon the house-elves, just so he could feel there was someone else in the house with him. His only relief came from house parties he threw and when he would go to Malfoy Manor. Malfoy, though, wasn't like him in that resect at all. Draco's only ambition was to outdo his father, to live up to the Malfoy name. Harry, on the other hand, wanted to at least get his father to notice him. Draco was an only child, the focus of both his mother and father. Harry was the lasting remnant of a failed relationship. Harry, more than anything, just wished to fit in. He had spent his early child hood away from this world and now was doing all he could to settle in it, to become a real wizard.

Harry snapped back from his memory as Draco finished his story, and Zabini took the seat Goyle had vacated. Zabini, a Slytherin prefect, began to discuss a Potions assignment with Nott. Harry's vision again went to the Gryffindor table, this time however, he locked eyes with his worse nightmare, Neville Longbottom. No longer in front of a rapt audience, Draco followed Harry's line of sight.

"Longbottom, Longbottom," Draco spat viciously. "Pureblood Wizarding family, perfect grades, perfect life."

Harry sighed and nodded his agreement. Longbottom's father was ahead of Malfoy's in the polls. Lucius' re-election campaign was finally being truly contested. Frank Longbottom had an impeccable record as one of the Ministry's top Aurors. Neville came from a powerful wizarding family, his grandmother was a legend and his little sister, April, was the hottest Ravenclaw this side of the Wizarding community. He was also the Gryffindor seeker (who had beat them out of the Quidditch cup three years in a row now), had some of the best grades in his classes and he was a prefect.

Longbottom looked away, nonchalantly. The most obnoxious thing about him was his calm and cool demeanour. Longbottom was the reason Slytherin had lost so many points the previous years, making them look pathetic at the end of the year house-cup presentation. Mr. Perfect had a knack for inducing Slytherin's into trying their luck against him, and in the end they would always get caught and make the house look inferior.

Just last year he had cost Slytherin fifty points, when Longbottom had mentioned, very loudly if one may add, that they were heading out to capture Sparks of Life. Apparently every few years small flashes of fiery waves were emitted by the Forbidden Forest as it cleansed itself. Placing your wand in a container that held Sparks cleansed it and made it more powerful.

Well, how was Harry to know that there was a herd of Thestrals standing by Draco, Theodore and himself? Those things were bloody invisible! How was he to know that their movements had sent them rampaging across the grounds, destroying everything in sight? How was he to know that Longbottom and his little friends were going to hide underneath an invisibility cloak when Professor Hagrid came roaring at them? The three of them had stood about like idiots wondering what was going on around them.

Not like Professor Hagrid believed their story: the Gryffindors had told us to do it. Yeah, it had been a stretch of the truth, but the Gryffindors had come up with the plan. Professor Hagrid had an obvious and very blatant bias towards Gryffindor. He hated all Slytherins for no good reason. He had made them set the Sparks free, given them a weeks worth of detention and summoned the Headmaster. They were told they should be grateful to be alive, the stampeding Thestrals had just barely missed hitting them.

He had demanded an invisibility cloak after that. That's when he found out his father had meant to give him his on his thirteenth birthday, but his mother hadn't allowed it. Sirius had attempted to plead with his mother, telling her that during their time they had used the cloak themselves, but she was adamant.

'Harry is going to Hogwarts to learn, not to be a troublemaker.'

Yeah, well what if he wanted to be a troublemaker? What if that's all he was good for? She had no right to keep his father's present from him. She had already taken his father from him, period. Harry had threatened to call James and move in with him, but realised his father was away at a game and would not be back for weeks.

'Harry, you have to focus on your education so you can become a Healer, or maybe even the Minister of Magic some day,' she had told him.

'Well, what if I just want to be an Auror, or a Quidditch player like my father? What if what you want for me is not what I want for myself? What if I don't want to be the stupid Minister of Magic or an overworked Healer?'

'You can be more than an Auror, Harry. That's not the lifestyle I want for my son,' his mother had told him, after he had confided what his career aspirations were.

Harry grit his teeth, because deep down inside Longbottom had lived the Hogwarts experience he had hoped for himself. Next year, surely, he would be chosen to be the school's Champion. He was probably even going to win the Tri-wizard tournament too, be Head Boy, become the next Minister of Magic, for Merlin's sake, he might become Merlin himself… Neville laughed at something Ron had said.

"At least there are bigger losers in the school," Harry mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Zabini asked.

"Nothing," Harry snapped. "Lets get to Transfiguration."

"What's wrong with him?" Zabini shot Harry a nod as he spoke to Malfoy.

"He's not sleeping well," Draco announced, teasing his friend. "I think that curse Janice threatened him with might be working."

"That's what you get for leaving such a hot girl," Zabini replied, raised his eyebrows suggestively and glancing at the raven-haired goth-chick.

"Hot? She's a freak," Nott stated. "You're mad to have gotten involved with that nutter."

"She's enticing though, isn't she Harry?" Zabini asked.

"Go find out for yourself, Blaise," Harry stood up with a bored sigh. "Please, be my guest."

"See you guys in class," Zabini laughed.

… … … …

"Come to me," the voice called to him.

"Where are you?" Harry looked around the misty hallway.

"Come to me, my heir, returned."

Harry stopped, no longer feeling comfortable, he reached for his wand. He heard a hissing sound.

"You will not need that."

"Call me crazy, but it makes me feel better," Harry called out defiantly.

He turned and crashed into a tall, pale man with shining green eyes. Harry froze in terror. "You will not need that," he hissed, his tongue forked like a snake.

Harry sat up in his bed with a jolt, sweating again. He laid back down, catching his breath. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He had had a nightmare every night that week. They weren't normal nightmares either, they made his whole body feel drained and shaky. He was starting to believe what Malfoy had said; that Janice had indeed cursed him. No matter how ridiculous it sounded, he was going to have to confront Janice tomorrow. This couldn't go on.

… … … …