Chapter two: Letter [Draco POV]

Saturday, September 1, 1998

My seventh year at Hogwarts was anything but simple. The man I had despised all my years at that school had, to my pleasant surprise, saved my life twice during the Battle at Hogwarts.

I hate to admit to admit this, but if it weren't for Harry Potter, I would be dead.

* * * * *

I was lying awake in my bed the morning after my quite perplexing dream when a knock came at my bedroom door. The door opened and my mothers' head poked in. I sat up. The relationship between my mother and I had grown since the Battle-especially when my father had gone missing two weeks later. The first week of his disappearance my mother was hysterical, but after another week she knew that he was just a coward-something I came to realize long before. It had been almost five months since he first vanished. Whether he is dead or not matters not to me any longer.

"Good morning Draco." She said as she walked in. She was holding an envelope in her right hand.

"Morning, mum. What's that?" I said, gesturing to the envelope.

"Well why don't you find out? It's from Hogwarts." She gave the package to me and when I just stared at it she continued. "Well, come on now. Open it."

I opened the envelope and extracted a folded piece of parchment. It read:

Draco Malfoy,

The headquarters here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is pleased to announce the new program that will, with the help of a select few, ensure the utmost safety and success of each Hogwarts student coming to this school for their first time. These select few we call "advisors" will be paired with two more advisors and will be assigned a group of twelve (12) students from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. The advisors job is to make sure each student in his or her group makes it to each class and meal on time, answer any school related question a student might have, and to help the students succeed in all of their assignments and exams.

You, Draco Malfoy, have been selected of the many outstanding students that graduated last year to be one of our advisors for the upcoming year. If you wish to accept, which would be our honor, please meet in the Great Hall on September 3 at no later than 11:00:00 AM for training and preparation. School for students begins September 7.

With hope of your acceptance,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

As soon as I finished reading the letter aloud, my mother snatched it from my hand and scanned it over quickly. Her expression was unreadable. Then a huge grin spread across her face and she said, "This is fabulous, Draco! I'm so happy and proud of you. This is exactly what you need. You can help other students and be-"

"Well hold on a minute!" I interrupted her. There was still a grin on her face. "I never said I wanted to go."

The smile vanished. "What? What do you mean? This could be really good for you."

"Well if I remember correctly, I don't have many good memories from that school. Why would I want to go back there just to help some kids? We did it alone and we're all alive and well." That was an overstatement. "Okay, no, that's not true. But things are different now-the Dark Lord is dead. Besides, looking at the past-at all the things that have happened, I really don't think I'm the right person to ask."

"Well, the Headmistress thinks you are. McGonagall is a very smart woman. Don't underestimate her. Just because you didn't excel in any of your classes as well as you could if you tried doesn't mean anything. What matters is who you are now. You've changed-and a lot, I might add."

"Right." I muttered.

"Really, Draco. Don't say no yet. Think about it, will you?"

I looked up at her and shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

Her smile returned. "Good. Breakfast will be ready in about ten minutes." She stood and walked back towards my door. Before she opened it I said, "Mum, I'm actually not that hungry. I think I'll just take a shower and…be down in a bit."

A puzzled look glanced upon her face before she smiled gently, said "okay" and walked out.

"There's no way in Hell I'm going back to that pathetic school." I muttered as I stalked to the bathroom. Living in the Manor had its ups and downs. Mostly just ups though. I liked to be left alone as much as possible. I usually just sat at my window seat and stared out at the sky or read books. The Manor was so big five people could live in it without knowing anyone one else even existed. That was my favorite part. My room was my sanctuary. It was quite large. The wall opposite of that which my bed was against was made of mostly just glass-a huge window looking out to the giant garden landscape. I made that change to it not one month after my fathers' disappearance. I often saw a peacock roam around near the fountain but since the Dark Lord kept his Death Eaters here just months ago, most of them seemed to disappear.

I walked into my closet and grabbed fresh attire. No sooner was I in the shower that I heard a high-pitched giggle from behind me. "Draco…" The female voiced lured. I whipped around to see none other than Moaning Myrtle the ghost from the Hogwarts second floor girls' bathroom floating in my shower. With me.

I snatched the shower curtain and pulled it in front of me to block her sight.

"Myrtle! What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" I somewhat quietly exclaimed.

Her ghastly smile quickly turned to an angry frown. "Well that's no way to treat a lady-even if I am dead. A simple 'hello' would have been nice."

"But y-you're in my shower! And if you couldn't tell I'm kind of naked!"

"Oh deary me! I didn't even…notice." She said with a smirk on her face. She quickly flew past me to face my back. I turned, following her movements, pulling the curtain with me which, in turn fell on top of me including the rod which hit me in the head on its way down as I fell to the shower floor. I fought with the curtain trying to untangle my self. I almost forgot I wasn't alone.

Myrtle's laughter became hysterical as she watched me. "Ah, haven't changed much have we, Draco?"

I then heard a knock at my bedroom door and my mothers' voice, "Draco? Are you alright? What's going on in there?"

"Yes mum, I'm fine-it's nothing."

She hesitated. "Okay." She said warily.

I waited ten seconds for her to leave. I stood up wrapping the shower curtain awkwardly around my waist. I looked up at Myrtle who had a disdainful look on her face. Her arms were crossed and her foot was tapping the air below her.

"Well what is that look for?" I asked snootily.

"Y'know it's not good to lie to your parents." She said matter-of-factly.

"What was I supposed to say 'Oh it's okay, mum, there's just a female ghost showering with me. Not to worry'?"

"Well-"

"Don't answer that." I said interrupting her. "But for the love of Merlin, what are you doing here?"

She sighed, "Fine, fine." She took a deep breath. "Draco Malfoy, I think you'll be interested in returning to Hogwarts this year as an advisor." She had a sly smile on her face.

"Is that so?" I asked with bitter sarcasm. Then I realized, "How did you know about my letter anyway?"

She sighed again, "I've lived in Hogwarts four times longer than you've been alive-I know everything. Anyway, I hear a certain someone hasn't let go of the past. The fact that you and your precious family got away with everything when they thought you all deserved to die. This certain someone has some unfinished business with you."

I thought about the past year. My family had escaped Azkaban with mere pleading and luck with my fathers' past with the Ministry. I could think of many people who thought we all deserved to rot in jail. But one person stuck out in my mind the most… "You don't mean…"

"Oh yes."

I understood. "Potter" I spat with disgust written all over my face.

"Ah and not only Potter but his other friends too."

"You mean Weasel and that filthy mudblood are coming back too? Why would you think I would want come back if they were going?"

"Because, you've always liked a good fight. And that's what they're looking for. Plus, you should have heard the things they said about you when you were gone. Even about your father. They say he ran away because your mother kept causing problems with the marriage. Y'know, like cheating on him and other whore-ish things."

"My mother is no whore!" I yelled. I then hoped that my mother was not close enough to hear my sudden outburst and wondered how I would explain what I just said. Luckily, I heard no footsteps or knocks on the door. I sighed with relief.

"Like I said, Draco; this is between you and Potter." She continued. "Just go back to Hogwarts, fight him and show him that you're better than he can ever dream of being. I mean, just look at who you're master used to be…"

"We're not talking about that, Myrtle. It's over."

"Right. Yes, sorry"

I again realized that I was wrapped up in a shower curtain. I convinced Myrtle to stay outside of my bathroom while I dressed and did so. When I came out and into my room, Myrtle was looking at books on my bookshelf. She noticed my presence and said, "Just so you know I'm not leaving until you promise me that you're coming back to Hogwarts." She smirked.

We bickered back and forth until I finally gave up. The temptation to fight Harry Potter and potentially hurt him was just too great to resist.

"Fine, I'll go back to Hogwarts. Now get out of my house." And with that she giggled and flew out through my wall.

I walked back over to the sink and parted my hair to one side. I turned on the cold water, filled up my cupped hands and splashed in on my face. When I opened my eyes and saw what was in front of me, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Myrtle was back. In my sink. She snickered at my reaction.

"Merlin! Must you do that? I thought you were leaving."

"I am, I just forgot something."

I opened my mouth to say something but she cut me off and continued, "Have you, dearest Draco, had any strange dreams lately about, oh, I don't know… Hermione Granger?"

My mouth dropped open. How did she know? I surely hadn't told anyone about the dream, but somehow Myrtle knew.

She giggled. "Ah, Draco. You talk in your sleep." And then she sank back through my wall leaving me staring at my shocked expression in the mirror.

Damn. I'd been trying not to think of that dream I'd had. But of course damn Myrtle had to bring it up. I tried not to think of it again… The unfamiliar man, the frightened look on Hermione's beautiful face…

Wait. WHAT? Did I just call Hermione beautiful? My stomach growled. Ugh. I need food.