Chapter 2: "Train rides are fun...mostly"
Draco couldn't believe it. Not only did his cousin insult him, but he did it in front of his worst enemy. He could feel his face flush with rage. The Griffindork would most likely get a bigger head now. He knew this would have happened. He had warned his father that proposing his cousin come to Hogwarts was a big mistake but the man had not believed him. Then he was send to Azkaban and Draco had tried speaking to his mother, but the same answer had been given. Draco know that he would suffer the most from that decision.
Reaching his compartment he sulkily flopped on one of the seats. Crabbe and Goyle were just about to sit too when the door flew open again. Everyone turned their eyes to the new comer and some felt fear creeping up their spines.
"Out, all of you." came the command and everyone, but Draco, scrambled to obey. They all had met Dimitree when they were kids and they all knew that if you did not follow Dimitree's orders, bad things happened. Dimitree and his family were the boogie men to the old pureblood families and they were never spoken about in casual conversation.
Draco had to admit that his cousin looked a bit frightening with his hair spread over his shoulders and his eyes practically sending out sparks. He, however, knew Dimitree better than the rest and knew that that was al for show. If he was really enraged, he would have just hexed him without bothering to ask people to get out. The wizard, however, was great at manipulation people with few words and the skill was something Draco greatly envied.
Once everyone was gone, Dimitree smoothed out his hair and gracefully sat across from his cousin, without saying anything. Draco snapped to attention right away. He knew that look in his eyes and that posture. Dimitree was, in not enraged, quite a bit frustrated.
"Did you really had to prove your family's idiocy?!" The voice was calm and a bit too quiet, making sure that a person had to pay attention to hear him. The pause that followed was not long enough for Draco to respond. "I understand your family's desire to humiliate themselves by insulting others' parentage to their friends, but I would have thought by now, you would have learned that babbling infamous believes and slang will close more doors than open any."
Draco was confused. He understood what Dimitree was insinuating but the fact that Dimitree and his family were supposed to be neutral and refused to choose sides made the statement more confusing than it probably was.
When Draco had seen his cousin with Potter, he had, naturally, assumed that a side had finally been chosen and it wasn't the desired one. At these words, however, he was claiming a different side. To Draco's disgust, this was all a game, as far as his cousin was concerned.
"And what exactly were you hoping to gain by talking to Potter?" Dimitree held a satisfied smirk and Draco heard warning in the back of his head.
"His friendship, of course. Just like you failed to do." The shock that Draco felt at those words was plain on his face. "Did you reallythink that I would agree to come to your school and will not befriend all of the important people here, especially your enemies?!" It was not a questions as much as a statement.
"How did you..." Finally, Draco was able to let the foremost question on his mind out, if not particularly articulate. Dimitree snorted and examined his nails.
"Please, if I didn't have ways to get every information I wanted, I wouldn't be a Zahariev, now would I?" Draco was more enraged than he had ever been at his cousin and there was only one course for that. Revenge. He would die before he let his cousin befriend his enemy. If he wasn't able to do in those years ago, then neither should Dimitree.
"Stay away from Potter!" Draco's voice was low and menacing. If looks could kill, Dimitree would be dead twice over. Dimitree, however, did not seem moved at all. Yellow bore into silver.
"You do not actually expect me to just step aside without a fight do you?" The voice was sly, the words heavy with his accent. Draco hated hearing this voice. Everything he had was always taken away from him by the person owning the voice. His hands were in fists and he was trying hard not to draw his wand.
"This time you will not win! This time I will get what I want and not you, or anyone else, will stand in my way!" The Bulgarian's eyes filled with mirth.
"Be careful, dear cousin. The line you are treading is very thin. You might find yourself in a situation..." his voice paused, obviously for emphasis and not lack of vocabulary. Draco waited for the rest of the sentence, his fists shaking, knowing full well that it was meant to bring a rise from him. Finally the blow was dealt and it was a perfect strike."...Not accepted by your relations."
"So, how was your summer?" asked Hermione after the long pause that had followed her words to Ron.
"Fine." said Harry with weariness. In fact, his summer hadn't been fine at all.
His uncle had locked him in his room half way through the summer, for being abnormal. He had been starved for a week, not allowed neither water nor restroom, which had resulted in several jars full of piss. The dehydration and malnutrition that he usually went through was nothing compared to now. By the time the week was over, Harry did not feel strong enough to even move. That is when the beatings had started.
Until this summer, all that he had received in the form of physical abuse from his uncle had been a punch or two. This time, however, he had ripped his shirt off, punched and kicked more than once. There were no broken bones, for which Harry was glad, and his face was undamaged, most likely so it would not be obvious he was beaten. The skin on his back and front, however, had been cut several times from his uncle's rings and the belt he had started using half way through. Harry had gone into unconsciousness from his weakened body and the pain and didn't come out of it until the next day at which point his aunt had left him a piece of bread and a bowl of water beside his bed. She had shaken her head when he had looked at her and told him that he deserved it, for not being refusing to be normal. Of course, he refused to believe her it was a stupid idea.
Four days later, he had gotten a beating once more, his old wounds not yet healed we opened once again, his body black and blue. Now, he had scars over his whole back and chest. Harry had spend many hours learning how to dress without showing any skin.
After the third beating, Harry had started thinking that maybe they were right. If not for him, Cedric would be alive, his godfather would be alive, hell, his parents would be alive. Now, however, they were all dead and Harry had nowhere to go, so maybe he had caused this on himself. He knew that everyone he mentioned it would have said it wasn't his fault and knew that part of that thinking had been the starvation and hallucination, but part of him still believed it. The other part of him agreed only because he felt it was his punishment for not being able to protect himself.
When Hermione had asked him about his summer he had remembered all of the 'wonderful' times he had had with the Dursleys. It had cost him a great deal not to explode and go into a rant. He knew the way they would react and knew that he could not stand to see the pity in their eyes. It was his own fault and he was going to deal with it himself.
As it turned out, Hermione had noticed the strange note in his voice but had assumed that it was because of their almost none existent letters because she started apologizing profusely and Ron even gave him a few 'sorry mate's in between.
Before the apologizing and explanations had gotten too out of hand, Harry was glad for the distraction of Dimitree coming back in. He had a secretive smile on his face and looked very pleased with himself. Moving in he bowed to Hermione, extending his hand.
"I am sorry to have run out on you like that. My name is Dimitree Zahariev." Hermione blushed and took his hand, which he turned over and kissed.
"Hermione Granger." came Hermione's squeak and Dimitree moved onto Ron who, Harry noted, was back to his 'tomato-red' state. Dimitree extended his hand, without bowing, and after a few moments, of Ron not responding, he turned around and sat beside Harry.
"So, Hermione," started Dimitree, Ron's reaction obviously not bothering him, "what do your parents do?" Hermione blushed a deeper shade of pink. There weren't many in Hogwarts that cared what her parents did, after they learned her parents were Muggle. No one cared, really, and it made Hermione a bit sad.
"They are dentists." She muttered, expecting the usual question for an explanation.
"Respectable jobs." Nodded Dimitree and Hermione's eyes widened in surprise.
"You know what that is?" Dimitree huffed in response, his voice a bit hurt.
"Of course. I might be from an old wizard family, but that doesn't mean I am illiterate." Hermione blushed again and muttered a 'sorry'. Harry winced. He had kept an eye on Ron since Dimitree's come in and with every word Ron had gotten more and more red. Harry felt it was time to intervene.
"I am going to find the snack lady. Dimitree, wanna come with?" Harry didn't wait for an answer but just dragged Dimitree out of the room by the elbow. Once outside, he straightened and rested his back to the closed door. A moment later there were yells coming from the other side of the door. Dimitree looked a bit lost as to what had just happened, but Harry once more grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him away form the compartment containing an enraged red head.
"Do you know what just happened?" Harry asked Dimitree once they were far enough from the compartment that no screaming fits were heard.
"I thought I had treated one of your friends the way she deserves and the other one I taught a valuable lesson about females." Harry stared. That was definitely not the response he expected. It was, in fact, very further from what he expected. "You disapprove?" Asked the Bulgarian after a minute, his voice the epitome of innocence. Harry wasn't particularly sure if that was supposed to be a joke, or not. Before he could answer, the snack lady, that had apparently been heading their way, interrupted them.
"Anything off the trolley dears?" Harry was about to answer, when a thought struck him. This wasn't the snack lady that had approached them the years before. She looked nothing like her, and was, in fact, younger. Her voice was very high pitched and seemed a bit squeaky. With her round face and figure, the voice didn't seem to suit her at all.
"What happened to the other lady?" He asked while picking up several chocolate frogs and sugar quills and searching for his money in the big pockets of what used to be Dudley's trousers. The lady seemed to stiffen and Harry stopped his search to stare at her. That was an odd reaction and she seemed to catch on that because her explanation was hurried and not very understandable.
"She past away two months ago." Then, hurriedly asked, "Anything else?" while grabbing the money off Harry's hands and without waiting for an answer, she pushed the cart past them with force, that did not seem possible to be coming from a little plump woman. The other students coming their way were pushed aside rudely and when they tried to stop her to buy food, she ignored them and continued on. After there were several compartments between them, she stopped and started to once again take care of her customers.
Harry stared after her. There was definitely something wrong with the woman. His thought could not get far, however, because someone hit him from behind and he stumbled forward. Panic grabbed his body and he turned around with his wand out. A glance of blond hair and then the person had disappeared in the compartment beside him, the door closed in Harry's face and the blinds shut.
"If your train rides are always this interesting, I imagine your school will be fascinating, if a bit dangerous." There was amusement in Dimitree's voice and Harry wasn't sure why. There was something peculiar about the boy, and Harry knew, it wasn't only the hair and eyes. He had been nice, so far, so he didn't see a reason not to be nice back.
"So, why is your hair green?" Asked Harry, deciding that there was a need for a topic change. Dimitree's lips curled and Harry was reminded of a version of Malfoy's smirks. Malfoy's facial expression, thought, seemed to look pale, before this one. Dimitree's lips had barely moved but he looked dangerous. A shiver ran up Harry's spine.
"Lets just say that Draco is good, but I am better." Then, with no pause in between, his smirk changed into a pleasant smile and he asked, "Are we safe to go back now, or would he still be raging?" Harry didn't think he had ever met anyone as confusing as Dimitree.
"It should be safe." He said and they headed back towards their compartment. On the way there, he glanced several times towards Dimitree, his confusion seeming to take a permanent place in his mind. One minute, Dimitree was nice and seemed like the every day guy. The next he was as snobby as Malfoy, and yet, the next he was as scary as the Weasely twins planning a horrible prank on Filch.
Reaching their compartment door, Harry paused. There were no longer any yells coming out. In fact, there was no noise. Harry reached to open the door, but right before his hand reached the handle, the door opened by itself.
"Good, you're here." She said, hastily backing out. "We need to do rounds and we didn't want to leave your things unattended." Ron was sulking in his seat. Harry sat down across Ron, noting the smile Hermione send Dimitree, and extended a hand with a chocolate frog to Ron. Looking up, his friend brightened up and took the chocolate.
"Sorry, mate, duty calls." Without looking at Dimitree, Ron said goodbye to Harry and disappeared out the door. Hermione glanced at Harry, mouthed a sorry and disappeared after, what Harry was convinced, was now her boyfriend.
"Ron has a short temper." Murmured Harry and heard a snort from the Bulgarian.
"You could say that." Laughed Dimitree and then moved from his seat beside Harry, back to his original seat, across from him. "So, what should I expect from Hogwarts?" He sounded interested and Harry decided that he might play what interested and maybe get some answers out of him.
"Many things." Harry stated and then, off handedly, asked "So, why are you here?" He winced at the way his question sounded out loud. Dimitree, however, ignored his question and instead addressed his answer.
"Many things is not exactly the explanation I had in mind." Harry didn't say anything. It felt as if Dimitree did not want to talk about it. Harry, however, had not survived as long as he had by not asking questions. It was a bit like poking a snake with a stick, he had to admit, dangerous, but you want to see what will happen if you do it again, and again. Until the snake bites you, came a little voice in his head, but he ignored it. Maybe if he phrased the question in a different way, he would be able to get the answers he wanted. That, however, seemed to not be needed at all. Dimitree answered his question.
"Uncle Lucius invited me for the school year. In fact, he had it arranged that I would spend the year in Hogwarts as an exchange student." At the next words, his eyes narrowed. "He seemed convinced that our families can become very close and useful to each other. I have to say, I disagree." Harry couldn't help himself. He knew he should probably drop the subject, since it seemed it was more personal than he thought, but something in Dimitree's words had caught his attention. From what he could gather, the elder Malfoy wanted him hear so they could turn him to Voldemort's side and use his family's power.
"Why?" He asked and almost missed the flash that went through Dimitree's eyes.
"Unlike what the Malfoys believe, there is nothing that they can offer us, that we do not already have. Being here, however, has its advantages, so a chance like that couldn't be passed that easily." He didn't even give Harry time to think about what he had just said when his face changed from intense to almost playful. "So, how does one get sorted into houses? I've heard the strangest things, but I think the rumors get mixed when traveling across the continent." Dimitree grinned. Harry felt the confusion from earlier come back. Not as strong, but there all the same. He tried his best to catch up with the subject and the now constant questions being fired at him. It was obvious, the other subject was ruthlessly dropped and since largest question had been answered, Harry decided to leave it be for now. Besides, he thought, he had known only one person that could speak as fast as the Bulgarian was doing, and that was Hermione. An uneasy image of Dimitree and Hermione dragging him, like a prisoner, towards the library and chaining him to a table crossed his mind, but he ignored it. Focusing his attention, instead, to some of the questions that he could catch into the accented jumble of words, Harry started answering.
By the time Harry had finished all of his sweets and all the questions had stopped, night had fallen. Harry knew that if it was night, they were close to the castle. Cleaning up the mess of candy and chocolate wrappers, he got up and started reaching for his trunk while advising Dimitree to put on his robes.
Not long after they had dressed, the train started slowing down. Harry headed towards the door, Dimitree following him. Opening the door, he could see students, lined in front of the compartments waiting for the train to stop. A shudder ran through his body and Harry closed the door. If there was one thing, Harry was sure he wouldn't be able to handle right now, it was a crowd of people, all moving together and bumping into each other. After a deep breath to calm his nerves, he turned around to find Dimitree looking at him like he was reading him.
"Lets wait for the crowd to clear." Harry said, in what he hoped was a nonchalant way and sat back down. Dimitree didn't comment but sat across from him, his face blank and his eyes staring into space, as if he was in deep thought.
A few minutes after the train had stopped, Harry was convinced that the hallway should be clear so he got up to leave, once again. Before he could reach the door, Dimitree beat him to it.
"Let me." He said without turning around and opened the door. Harry couldn't see anything past him and was a bit grateful. Ever since his uncle's beatings, Harry couldn't really bare be touched by someone he wasn't close to. In other words, if it wasn't Ron or Hermione, Harry knew he would probably tense up and if he was being touched while unaware, he would freak out the way he had done earlier. He didn't understand it, really. It wasn't the pain of the beatings, he had been under the cruciatus, after all. He didn't understand it but that did not stop it from happening. Just like he had practiced with hiding his scars, he had practiced slipping just out of reach from people.
Stepping out, Dimitree turned. His face was once again blank.
"Hall is clear." And without waiting for his response, he headed out. Harry fallowed him and was once again grateful, this time for the questions that Dimitree was obviously keeping to himself.
Once outside, Harry led Dimitree towards the carriages. The first years seemed to be gone and most of the rest were already in the air, being pulled by what seemed like magic. Harry knew better. The thestralls had seemed terrifying in the beginning of fifth year, but now, he saw the same gentleness in them that Hagrid and even Luna saw. Glancing at Dimitree, he couldn't figure out if he could see them or not. If he could, then this wasn't the first time he had seen them since there was no emotion on his face.
Looking through the carriages, Harry noticed Neville, Luna, and Ginny heading towards a carriage at the end. Leading the way after them, Harry had to admit that they were becoming good friends of his. While a bit weird, they were all stronger than they appeared and more accepting than the rest of the school's population. He felt comfortable around them.
"Neville, Luna, Ginny." Harry called out and waved when they turned. Neville grinned shyly, once he and Dimitree had caught up. Luna glanced at them, nodding to Dimitree, and continued reading her paper, which was obviously The Quibbler. Ginny smiled confidently at Harry and spotting Dimitree seemed a bit confused but shrugged and got into the carriage.
Once inside the carriage, Harry introduced Dimitree to the group. Neville blushed at the mention of Dimitree's last name and didn't look up for the rest of the trip. Luna didn't even glance up, but said her name, in her airy voice, and kept reading for the rest of the trip. Ginny seemed interested in Dimitree, but as it turned out from her questions, it wasn't exactly him that she was interested in, but the Quidditch players he knew and the teams he rooted for. Half way through the trip it got clear that Dimitree was, in fact, not as a big Quidditch fan as Ginny thought he was and the subject was changed to Dimitree's home country.
Dimitree's answers were polite, but short and to the point. It was, as if, he didn't like to talk about anything concerning his family. After a few topic changes, it was clear that the only time Dimitree seemed to be interested in the conversation was when it concerned Malfoy, was about magic theory, or at the mention of the Weasely twins.
Harry had asked how they were doing and Ginny had told them about their store and how popular it was becoming. Up until then, Dimitree had just been answering questions, but at the mention of the joke shop, he started asking the questions. His questions, however, weren't very usual. Harry noticed that when other people would have asked things like, 'What kind of jokes do they make?' and 'Do they have something for escaping classes?', Dimitree asked questions like 'Do they have a sponsor?', 'How are their illusionary products?', 'Do they work with magical creatures and what kind?'. It seemed as if he wasn't as concerned with the actual jokes, but with the things Fred and George were capable of. There was one thing Sirius's death had thought him, and that was not to assume anything. Harry had to admit he wasn't particularly good at fallowing his own advises or lessons, but this time he tried his best.
Once the carriage came into the view of the castle, Harry looked straight at Dimitree, waiting for the awe that every student felt at the sight. Dimitree seemed unimpressed. For a strange reason, or strange to him, Harry felt anger bubble up. He had told Dimitree that Hogwarts was a castle but Hogwarts was so much more. It was an incredible sight. A magic, that could never have been described in words, which is why he hadn't tried. Hogwarts was home, and Dimitree's unimpressed face made him incredibly mad. He didn't understand how someone could look at all that magic and not filled with awe. Harry knew he was acting as if the castle was his, but it felt like an insult to his home.
"I have to admit, this place is so full of magic it feels as if it will burst." Dimitree's voice was as blank as his face had been on the way to the carriages. The Bulgarian's face turned towards Harry. Harry's eyes widened in surprise. Dimitree's eyes were completely black. It wasn't only the iris and pupil that were black, but the whole eye. It was, as if, he had two holes in his face instead of eyes. Dimitree blinked, and his eyes were back to normal. Harry wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him or not. If if had been something like a facial expression, Harry would have believed his eyes, but people's eyes did not suddenly turn completely black just like that.
At the steps of the castle, the group was stopped by the Potions Master. Harry had been overjoyed that he wouldn't have to deal with Snape until, at least, the next day, but it seemed like his joy was premature.
Snape didn't look at Harry. In fact, he didn't even acknowledge his existence. Instead his eyes narrowed at Dimitree, who seemed unfazed by the 'great bat', as Harry thought of Snape, and instead just nodded in acknowledgment.
"Mr. Zahariev." The tone Snape spoke the name in had many things attached to it, but Harry could not understand what they were. Dimitree did not seem to have that trouble, however, because he moved towards the professor.
"See you later." Were his last words before he and the potions master were gone. The confusion was rearing its ugly head again, Luna, however, cleared it up with the word 'sorting'. Harry wanted to smack himself. Neville smiled and Ginny grinned. Why hadn't he thought of that, and instead had to wait for Luna, of all people, to fill him in. Today had been an exhausting day, he decided and headed towards the direction of the great hall, his friends fallowing.