A/N (Insanity) Miss me? Well down to business. Don't worry if Draco seemed a little too nice. I've made sure to keep his attitude, otherwise he wouldn't be Draco.
Draco's POV
He sat in the compartment with Crabbe and Goyle, bored out of his mind. His head rested against the cool glass of the window as he waited for the train to start moving. Crabbe and Goyle were both big guys that weren't the brightest, but Draco was still friends with them. None of the boys really had much to talk about so they sat in silence. Yawning, he let his gaze travel to the corridor and noticed a familiar dark haired boy go by. Two red haired boys were with him, probably Weasleys judging from the hair. His father despised them, all blood traitors. Still what perked his interest was Harry Potter.
"Hey guys," He said, jabbing Goyle's beefy arm, "Come on."
The both of them gave sort of a grunt and continued to doze. Annoyed, Draco glared at them but didn't bother to persist. He got up and opened the glass door to the compartment. Stepping into the corridor he saw there were a lot of students running around. He maneuvered his way down the train without much difficulty as most students already knew who he was and stayed out of his way. Malfoy wasn't a name you could just ignore. As he walked he looked into the different compartments. Finally though he came to the one with the guy he was looking for.
". . . Ron Weasley." He heard as he opened the compartment door.
Harry and a red haired boy, presumably Ron Weasley, both looked up at him.
"Told you we'd see each other again," Draco said.
"Draco," He said, smiling slightly.
"You know him?" The red hai- Ron, he mentally corrected himself, said.
"Yes he knows me," Draco said, slightly annoyed, "We've met before, in Diagon Alley."
Ron looked at Draco with disgust, "So you're Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes." He said coolly.
They both glared at each other until Harry broke the silence, "Um, Draco, would you like to sit with us?"
He tore his gaze away from the Weasley to look at Harry, "Sure, if your red haired friend doesn't try to jinx me."
Ron snorted which Harry seemed to take for confirmation because he scooted over to make room for Draco. Sitting down, Draco stretched out his legs, just 'happening' to kick Ron.
"Oi!" Ron said, turning slightly red with anger.
"Hm?" Draco sneered.
"How was your summer?" Harry asked quickly.
Draco gave Ron one more glare but decided to drop it, "Fine, my father got me and my friends into a Quidditch game. It was spectacular to watch. Not to mention meeting with Minister of Magic himself."
"What's Quidditch?" Harry asked, glancing between both boys.
Draco started with surprise and then gaped at him, as did Ron.
"You don't know what Quidditch is?!" Ron asked, looking surprised.
He had said he was raised by Muggles, Draco recalled, maybe they weren't big on Quidditch.
"No." Harry admitted.
Ron launched into Quidditch talk, explaining about everything from National Teams to the very schematics of the game. An ugly feeling rose in Draco and he had the urge to punch Ron. As the redhead babbled on and on, Harry watching with interest, his temper got steadily worse. He didn't even know why he was pissed, he just was. After a few minutes of grinding his teeth he realized how ridiculous this all was. Why was he, Draco Malfoy, holding his temper? Especially in the presence of a filthy blood traitor? His fists unclenched and he chuckled under his breath, why was he being so tame?
"Fuck," He muttered, getting up.
Both boys looked up at him in surprise.
"It's stupid that I'm hanging around a blood traitor." Draco said rudely.
"WHAT?!" Ron snarled, getting up as well.
"You too, fucking spoiled brat," He spit at Harry.
Harry looked shocked but he didn't care. Ignoring Ron swearing at him, he left the compartment, slamming the glass door behind him. The shatter of glass didn't even make him turn his head. He was boiling inside, and didn't even know why. No, he did. It was because they ignored him, Draco Malfoy, like he was just a decoration. Some people were looking out their compartments as he stalked by. Just as he was almost to his compartment, the train lurched into movement. Took long enough, he thought bitterly.
"What happened?" Crabbe asked as he came in.
He looked at both of them, his only friends. Slowly his temper was evaporating.
"Nothing," Draco grumbled thumping into his seat across from them.
They both looked at him for a few more seconds.
"What?" He snarled.
Both of them shifted uncomfortably, mumbling 'nothing' and lapsed into silence. His temper was still bad so he just sat there simmering. Harry pissed him off, Ron pissed him off. Today his mood was out of whack. The rumble of the train was slowly calming him down though. It was pointless being so angry. He stretched out on the seat like it was a couch.
"So, has your mum gotten around her cold?" Draco asked Crabbe, making light conversation.
"Yeah." The boy replied.
After that the ice was broken and they began talking about trivial things. Draco boasted about his flying skills while the other two talked about their summer. By the time it was getting dark he was in quite a good mood. The thought of Weasley and Potter completely pushed from his mind. As they chatted he looked out the window saw a dark shape.
"Look, it's Hogwarts!" Someone from another compartment yelled.
It was a sight to see, spiralling towers lit by windows. The castle looked very old and had an air of magic to it. Instantly Draco was intrigued, the place was huge. Ten times the size of the main family manor easily. To have it built it must have cost a lot. The chatter had gotten louder as other students got up to see the castle. Crabbe and Goyle stared out the window, their mouths hanging open stupidly.
"It's so huge!"
"We're almost there! I wonder what its like inside!"
"D'ya reckon we'll get to see the Giant Squid?"
"My brother said there's ghosts there!"
Students everywhere were running around talking.
"Might as well get changed." Draco said, standing up and pulling his trunk off the self.
He unlocked it and pulled out his standard black robes. As he switched clothes he looked out the window. The massive castle got closer and closer and the sun had set all the way. Now the sky was almost black so the castle stood out even more. As the train slowed down by the castle even he was caught up in the excitement. He grinned slightly as he stared out the window, excited to finally be at Hogwarts.
Harry's POV
To say he was confused would be an understatement. One minute he was listening to Ron explains the basics of Quidditch, and the next Draco was calling him a brat. Had he done something to anger him? Harry hurriedly went over the events in his mind, searching for the trigger, but he came up short.
'Then again', he thought bitterly, 'maybe Draco just realised how much of a freak I am.'
Feeling miserable, Harry watched as Ron toed the broken glass with his sneakers. It was painfully obvious that Ron and Draco disliked each other, but Harry was curious as to why. What was so bad about the Weasleys or the Malfoys that had them hating one another before they had even met? Perhaps it was on old family rivalry, or something along those lines.
"What's a blood traitor?" Harry wondered aloud, recalling what Draco had called Ron.
Said redhead grunted, his nose scrunching up as he glared down the aisle.
"Nothing; just Malfoy being a prat," he huffed.
Giving the glass a final kick, Ron returned to his seat. He had just sat down when the train lurched forwards, its whistle causing their ears to ring. The two sat in silence, watching trees and mountains pass them by. Every once and awhile Ron would glance at Harry, opening his mouth as if to say something, but never did. Instead he would go back to staring out the window, his eyebrows knit together in concentration. Harry let him be; if he had something to say he could say it, but Harry wasn't going to pressure him into it.
It was a solid ten minutes later when Ron spoke up. He took a deep breath, as if preparing to announce something of dire importance, and then faced Harry. He wore a determined expression, and spoke in a low whisper.
"Is it true?" He asked, his gaze flitting to Harry's forehead. "Fred and George said you were the Harry Potter."
Ron's bright blue eyes widened at Harry's nod. "Blimey."
"Can I see your scar," he blurted. His face reddened as the question hung in an awkward silence.
Harry frowned, watching Ron flounder about and looking as though he thought the world was coming to an end. The brunette didn't understand what was so interesting about a scar, even one shaped so strangely. It was nothing but a painful reminder that his parents were dead.
When he was younger, Harry would dream that one day they would show up out of the blue and announce that they had simply gone on an extended vacation. They would then hug Harry and tell him how much they loved him before taking him home and away from the Dursleys forever.
However, it was only a dream. Never would he run downstairs on Christmas morning to find his parents standing beside a stack of beautifully wrapped presents, waiting for him with kind smiles and a warm cup of cocoa. He would never play cards with his father, or talk about boys with his mother. There would never be any family trips to the zoo, the one with Dudley hadn't counted, or shopping outings. Needless to say he stopped having such dreams at the age of seven; accepting that it would never be a reality for him.
Even so, sometimes he would find himself wondering if they would have loved him, oddness and all. There had never been any pictures of his parents at the Dursley's house; his Aunt didn't like to talk about her sister. That was why Harry didn't even know what his mother and father looked like, much less what kind of people they were. Hagrid had said they were both wizards, and very good ones at that, but that wasn't nearly enough to answer all of Harry's unspoken questions.
It was Ron's ramblings that brought Harry's thoughts back to the present.
"I-I mean it's fine if you don't want to- I just...I was just wondering. I'm sorry."
"No," Harry chuckled, "it's fine." Brushing his dark bangs aside, Harry forced himself to smile while Ron ogled him.
"Blimey," Ron repeated when Harry let his bangs fall back into place; once more hiding his lightning bolt shaped scar away from prying eyes.
Before either of the boys could say anything more, a voice came drifting towards them.
"Has anyone seen a toad?"
Mere seconds later, a girl with bushy brown hair and intelligent brown eyes stood at the entrance to their compartment. She was already dressed in her school robes.
"Have either of you seen a toad," she asked, sounding tired. "A boy named Neville's lost his. Oh! What happened here?"
Harry was about to explain, but Ron beat him to it. "Malfoy decided to throw a hissy fit and smashed the glass," he said, glaring in the direction Draco had stormed off in.
"Malfoy? As in Draco Malfoy? I've read about his family. They're pretty famous aren't they?" Reaching inside the folds of her robe, the girl pulled out her wand.
"Might as well fix this." Stepping back into the aisle, she raised her wand with a flourish. "Reparo."
Harry watched, fascinated, as the shards of glass flew back into place.
"Wow," he whispered as she slid the doors open and stepped back inside.
"That was nothing," she said, sitting next to Ron. "My name is Hermione Granger, and you are?"
"Ron Weasley."
"Harry." After a moment's thought, he added, "Potter."
"Oh! I've read about you, too. You're in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
Harry was worried that she would start listing off the reasons why he was supposedly a hero, but she didn't. Instead she looked over at the compartment doors.
"I've memorised most of our course material. There are so many interesting spells and charms. Have either of you tried anything," Hermione asked, glancing between Ron and Harry.
Both boys shook their head to say no. It was then that Hermione decided to launch into an explanation of some simple charms and random facts she had learned. Whereas Ron looked as though he wanted someone to put him out of his misery, Harry found it quite interesting. Whenever she stopped to breathe, he would ask her a question about something she said, earning him a glare from Ron and a smile from Hermione.
They passed the time this way until Hermione suddenly jumped to her feet. "We're almost there," she gasped, looking out the window. It was nearly pitch black outside.
"You two had best change into your robes. I need to gather my things as well." She then exited the compartment and rushed away, her head held high.
"Finally," Ron cheered, "She's gone!"
Harry raised a brow at Ron who smiled meekly. "Not that there was anything wrong with her," he said quickly. "I mean...she had an awful lot to say, right? It was just a bit long..."
Laughing softly, Harry pulled on his robes and pocketed his wand. Fifteen minutes later he and Ron, joined by the ever talkative Hermione, were off of the train and making their way over to a grinning Hagrid.
A/N (Insanity) So there ya go, the second chapter. Sorry if it took a while, laziness and being sick is a bad combo. Also Kai won't be saying anything because I am doing this without them knowing, as in posting the chapter. ^^; (I'm probably gonna be murdered . . .) Also after the Sorting it will go pretty fast. When we hit the Triwizard Tournament things will start getting serious. :3
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