Not long after his uncle's departure, Draco also walked out of the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey jokingly told him to stop visiting her so often, and Draco found himself wishing for the same. His steps were still a little bit wobbly when he arrived at the entrance of the Great Hall. Lunch was supposed to start soon.

Draco entered the Great Hall and spotted Ron and Hermione already seated at the Gryffindor table, eating and chatting quietly. Harry was nowhere to be seen. He walked up to them and sat in his usual spot.

"Draco, how are you feeling?" Hermione asked as the pair of friends both eyed him with concern in their eyes.

Draco shrugged and helped himself to a big portion of fried chicken. "I'm feeling alright, I should be perfectly fine in a bit. What happened during the rest of the meeting?" he asked.

"It was mad," Ron offered. "A lot of older students challenged Harry, but he defeated them all without any trouble," he said and paused. His face was rather pale.

"Is that all?" Draco asked, glancing at both Ron and Hermione.

Ron gulped. "Honestly, Draco… I'm kind of happy that he isn't here."

"Who?" Draco asked.

"Harry," Hermione offered and Ron nodded, not meeting Draco's eyes.

"He's scary, Draco," the red-haired boy admitted. "At the end of the meeting, he was duelling three seventh-years at once. Everyone could see that they didn't stand a chance, he was toying with them and seemed to be enjoying it," he continued. "I don't care if he's the boy who lived, no first-year should have that sort of power…"

Draco eyed his two friends curiously. Of course Harry is so powerful, he's a Dark Lord after all.

"I think we should talk to someone," Hermione said after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked.

"Don't you think this is all very suspicious? Harry can't possibly be so powerful, there's must be something more to it! We should talk to Professor McGonagall or even the Headmaster himself—"

"Chocolate Frogs," the amplified voice of the Headmaster silenced everyone, even Hermione. The ancient wizard eyed the students with a smile. "Truly delicious," he continued to the puzzled faces of everyone, professors included. "It is such a shame that I can't enjoy them anymore. Unfortunately, as soon as I open the package, they tend to run away and I'm simply too old and weak to catch them," Dumbledore said with a comically sad expression.

"I don't think we should talk to him," Ron whispered and Draco chuckled. Hermione looked both scandalised at the notion of laughing at the Headmaster, and ready to agree with Ron.

"Truly a tragedy, that is," Dumbledore continued. "But enough of that, I don't wish to bore you all with the difficulties of being an old man. It has come to my attention that many of you were hurt yesterday and needed to stay in the Hospital Wing. Under normal circumstances, it would be quite worrying, but as I've been told, you were all injured in the name of training and pursuing your abilities," he said and nodded to himself. "Therefore, your injuries made me nothing but happy and proud," Dumbledore continued jovially.

Professor McGonagall looked ready to injure the Headmaster.

"However, since so many of you decided that I should be made aware of this 'Harry's ARMY' student club, I will attend the next meeting in-person to ensure the safety of my students," the Headmaster announced, and excited whispers again erupted in the Great Hall. "That is all," he said, finishing his bizarre speech.

The following day, Draco was walking slowly to the Gryffindor common room. His thoughts were occupied by the Dark Lord. Draco couldn't help but feel sad. Harry didn't hang out with them at all, seemingly too busy with whatever it was that he was doing. Without the black-haired boy, Draco didn't find much enjoyment in the company of Hermione and Ron. They were nice, but they just weren't quite as interesting as Harry.

Draco sighed. Well, maybe that's the sort of company I deserve? I'm also just a normal first-year student, the Dark Lord doesn't have time for people like us.

His musings were interrupted by someone smacking into his shoulder. Surprisingly, it was the Dark Lord himself. The two boys stared at each other in silence for a moment, but a flicker of hope for friendship appeared back in Draco's mind.

"Are you okay?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," he said sheepishly.

Draco smiled. "It's alright, I also should've been more careful."

An awkward silence fell across the pair once more, both first-years not knowing how to continue the conversation.

Draco took a deep breath. "Do you want to hang out for a bit?" he asked with a hint of hope in his voice. "We didn't talk much for the past few days, you're never with us…"

Harry sighed sadly. "I'm really sorry Draco, but I'm very busy now, with the classes and the ARMY's meetings. I have to prepare everything, it takes a lot of time," he explained.

Draco nodded sadly. "It's alright, sorry for bothering you, Harry. Anyway, you were very impressive back there, I really look up to you."

Harry scratched his head, looking quite embarrassed. "Err, thank you, Draco. I'm sorry, I really need to go," he said and ran off into the corridor.

"... Bye," Draco said, but the boy who lived was already gone. Draco slowly continued his walk to the common room, his posture hunched in a very un-Malfoyish manner.

As he arrived in the dormitory, he found the chubby form of Neville Longbottom sitting near the window, looking quite lost in thought. The boy noticed Draco entering and took in the miserable state of the blond wizard.

"Hey Draco," he offered.

Draco smiled sadly. "Hi Neville."

"Why the long face?" the chubby boy asked.

"Why the long bottom?"

Neville raised his eyebrows. "That was really lame."

Draco grimaced. "I know, I'm sorry, I'm in a bad mood," he said as he sat down onto his bed.

"Are you bored?" Neville asked, not looking at Draco anymore, instead eyeing the Forbidden Forest through the window.

"Among other things, yes." Draco glanced at the chubby boy curiously. They didn't interact much before.

"I have a mission for you," Neville declared suddenly.

Draco perked up at that. "A mission?"

"More-or-less. I need your help with something. But be warned, this mission is of great importance and could prove very dangerous and difficult. Are you okay with that?"

Draco didn't need much time to think. He needed something to do so he could forget about the sadness of being rejected by the Dark Lord himself. "I'm in."