Chapter 15: Draco or Malfoy?
Harry, Hermione and Ron had boarded the Hogwarts Express. They had searched everywhere except the Slytherins' compartments for Draco. Hermione was looking out of the window, not hearing a word of what Harry was saying. "Hermione" Harry said tapping her shoulder. "The food trolley has come, you want anything?" Hermione shook her head and continued to stare out of the window. After eating, Harry got up and started pulling out his invisibility cloak from his trunk. "Where're you going?" Ron asked. "I'm going to look for him in the Slytherins' compartment" Harry replied, throwing the cloak on.
Harry waited patiently outside the Slytherin compartment for a chance to enter unnoticed. Blaise was entering the compartment, Harry managed to slip inside. The scene which greeted him momentarily froze him, but he quickly pulled himself onto the luggage rack. Draco was there, coolly sitting with Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. He leaned downwards to catch snippets of their conversation. "Next year, I may not come back" Draco was saying. "What do you mean, Drakie?" Pansy said looking concerned. "Well, there will be other things and studies won't matter anymore."
The Hogwarts Express came to a halt. They started collecting their things. Draco, however, was still seated. "Are you coming?" Blaise asked. "You go ahead, I need to check something." Draco closed the door and pulled the shutter down. "Petrificus Totalus" Draco yelled, pointing his wand at the luggage rack. Harry fell from the rack, his cloak slipped away. "Well, well Potter" he sneered. Draco stamped on his nose, causing it to break and spurting blood on his face. Draco covered Harry with the invisibility cloak and left.
Fazed, Harry entered the Great Hall. His face still had blood on it. "Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked as she cleaned the blood off his face. One word escaped Harry's lips "Draco". "It can't be" Hermione said, looking over at the Slytherin table. Draco was laughing, laughing with Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione's eyes filled with tears and she left the Great Hall in a rush. "Git" Ron scowled at him.
Draco was lying awake in his bed. He knew what he had done, but couldn't understand why he had done it. It had felt as if someone else was controlling his body. He had felt a sharp pain in that arm. He wondered if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was making him do it. But how? It couldn't be just a simple imperious curse. What foul magic had he branded him with? He was Draco; their friend. He had kicked away his Malfoy lineage, had stopped acting like one. He was Draco, no longer the cruel Malfoy they had once known. Wasn't he?