Harry sighed softly as he closed the doors of the closet compartment of his new trunk. He had put all of his purchases inside it, still it the bags, when Professor Snape had taken him shopping for his school supplies, as the professor was an impatient sort of person. It had taken him hours to get everything organized inside, but at least it gave him something besides schoolwork and chores to do. He was continuing his classes until Hogwarts started, and then over the summers, but that didn't make it any easier for a just-turned-11 boy to focus on his studies all day without the encouragement he was used to getting from Fredrick. He was glad one of his chores was taking care of the garden, even if he didn't know anything about gardening. Gardening required being outside, which would have brought attention to the fact that there was a child living at Fredrick's house.
He sighed and flopped back onto his bed. It was almost as good as the one he had at Fredrick's, and much better than the pile of rags he'd collected in the cupboard that he'd slept in before he'd ran away. He sighed. His professor confused him. He'd acted as though he hated Harry, but it was obvious that he had also told him things that nobody else would have. At the bookshop, he'd wordlessly added several books that weren't on the reading list to Harry's pile, giving him a look that dared him to challenge his professor. He hadn't taken the bait. Smiling slightly, he waited for the trunk to convert back to it's usual form before touching his wand to the lock and murmuring books. When he opened it again, it spread into a bookshelf, displaying all of the books he owned, both that he'd bought in Diagon and the ones Fredrick had given him. He'd noticed that the majority of the extra books were potions and figured that this was Snape's subject, so he pulled one of the extra books, The Idiot Beginner's Guide to Potions, and sat down on his bed to peruse it. He was so absorbed in it that his aunt had to pound on the door to get his attention.
"Yes, Aunt?" he said shakily. He hadn't spaced out like that in a long time. Then again, he'd always known where Fredrick was and what he was doing, so he wasn't taken unaware when the man wanted his attention. He just hadn't realized he was that attuned to the man. This was pretty much the first time he'd relaxed since he'd been taken from Fredrick's house, so he hadn't had a chance to space out recently. His aunt frowned at him.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked suspiciously.
"Studying," he said innocently. "I've got to work hard if I'm going to keep up with my normal schooling and the Hogwarts curriculum." She winced at the mention of his mother's alma mater, but said nothing.
"You plan to continue your normal schooling then?" He nodded.
"Of course. I've gotten too far to give it up now." She pursed her lips at the reminder of how advanced he was compared to her son, but held back the derogatory comment that hovered on the edge of her lips, knowing he would report her actions to child services simply for the pleasure of seeing her Dudley taken away from her. "I'll need a ride to Kings Cross on the first, Aunt." Her jaw tightened at his casual orders, but she nodded again. He wouldn't even need to report her if she didn't get him to that school. He'd made enough of a fuss about getting a scholarship -load of crap that it was- and wanting to go to the school that his parents had gone to, that they would call her on it if he was put into the public school she had planned to send him to back before he'd disappeared. How she would love to deny him that, to force him to stay in the normal world, but she couldn't. Though, she mused, at least he was planning to continue his normal schooling. His mother hadn't even had that much respect for the world she was forced to live in.
"How are you going to continue your normal schooling at that place?" she asked suddenly. He looked at her questioningly, but answered anyway.
"On the computer. I've been taking online classes all my life. It's nothing new."
"But will it work at that place?" He shrugged.
"Professor Snape said he would provide a power source for my computer and see to it that I could access the internet," he said nonchalantly. She nodded reluctant approval. He'd always been thorough in the tasks he was set, she'd had no real reason to think it would be any different in a task he had set for himself. It would have amused her to see him at a loss for once though. It wasn't normal for a child to be so self possessed.
"Bring your laundry down to the basement if you want to have any chance of me doing it." Harry shrugged, not moving from his casual sprawl on his bed.
"I'll do it later, thank you for the offer though. I find that I'm too lazy to move right now."
"Child." Harry jumped at the voice from behind him. He twisted on the swing to look at the man standing behind him. His eyes widened at the black jeans and button-up the man was wearing, making him look completely different from his appearance in the long robes he'd worn when he last saw him.
"Sir?" He seemed to be struggling with something.
"I- merely wished to let you know-" he paused, releasing and taking a deep breath, "that if you are having a serious problem, you may come to me, even if you aren't in my house. Though I expect you to differentiate between important problems and things that that others can take care of. I will be most upset if you disturb me for anything besides the gravest of emergencies." Harry nodded.
"I understand, sir. Thank you for your concern." Snape sneered at him, but didn't deny the charge of concern. He had also agreed that he would withhold the information that Harry had been kidnapped from his home unless it became absolutely necessary for someone to be told. Harry didn't know what the man's reasons were, but he simply didn't want anyone to treat him different, especially since their concern would be misplaced.
Harry sprawled out on the seats of the train, art book held loosely in his hands. Like any normal eleven year old boy, he'd been entranced by the shiny red steam engine once he'd gotten onto the platform, nerve-wracking though it was. As he passed through the barrier Professor Snape described, he thought he'd heard a woman's voice complaining about the station being so packed with muggles, and snorted to himself. The station was always packed, it wasn't just on this one day. If they had a problem with the crowding, they should have gone somewhere else, shouldn't they?
Rolling, he pulled a pad of paper and a pencil from his trunk. He was tired of reading about it, now he wanted to draw. Flipping his sketch pad to the next blank page, starting a rough sketch of the engine that had so captivated him earlier.
"Can I sit with you? Everywhere else's full," A timid voice said from the door, and Harry shrugged.
"Do as ye will," he replied absently, not looking up from his drawing.
"Thanks. I'm Ron, Ron Weasley," the boy continued, and Harry sighed, looking up at him. He'd never been very good at interacting with kids his age, and his long isolation with Fredrick didn't make it any better.
"Harry Potter," he said, forgetting what Snape had said about his being famous. Ron gasped and his eyes flew to Harry's hair covered forehead.
"Do you really have the- you know- the scar?" Harry thought this was a rather personal question, but didn't see how it would hurt anything, so he pulled his hair back to show it to the redhead. "Wicked."
Harry flashed him a grin, then turned back to his drawing. He finally got the proportions right and pulled out a pen to start inking in the final lines.
"What'r'ya drawin'?" Ron asked after a few minutes of silence.
"The train," Harry replied absently, looking over his work critically before nodding and holding it up for the other boy to see.
"Wicked. That's really good." Harry shrugged, taking it back and starting to erase the pencil lines. The door opened, allowing a blonde shadow to slip through. Noting the absorbed look on the dark haired boy's face, he stayed quiet, listening to their conversation before he announced his presence. "How'd you learn to draw like that?"
"'A young gentleman must be well versed in all facets and skills the common man may learn in his lifetime. This is what separates him from the average man.'," Harry quoted softly, smiling as he thought of the silly face Fredrick would always make at him when he said that.
"Indeed, I'm not surprised you don't know that, Weasley," the blond sneered. "Your family always has been a bunch of uncultured blood traitors."
"And you are?" Harry asked coolly before Ron could say anything, not liking his attitude towards his possible new friend, but not wanting to get into a fight before school even started.
"My name is Draco Malfoy. I heard Harry Potter's on the train. Is that you?" Draco had obviously decided to ignore Ron unless he said something, which Harry was grateful for. He didn't want them fighting, either.
"That's right," Harry agreed. Studying the blond, he saw the wistfulness in his eyes that he used to see in Fredrick's before he moved in to keep the man company. This boy was lonely.
"Mind if I sit with you? You seem to be the only first year I've found that actually has some class."
"And it harm ye none, do as ye will," Harry repeated. Draco's eyebrow rose, but he moved to sit next to him.
"So, you're a wiran then?" he asked.
"Wiccan," Harry corrected gently. "Yes. Fredrick brought me up in it." Draco blushed at the correction.
"Sorry. Father doesn't really want me to study those weird muggle religions."
"It's may seem weird, but it really does make sense if you think about it," Harry replied, stung.
"I didn't say it didn't make sense. I don't know enough to know."
"Umm, what?" Ron interjected. Harry grinned at him, digging through his bag for his colored pencils, pulling out a bright red.
"Basically, Wiccans are people who live their life by the rule an' it harm ye none, do as ye will, and the belief that anything you do will return to you three-fold, both good and bad. Some can work magic, and when we got my letter, Fredrick said he'd get me in touch with some of the magic workers in our community. I don't know if he'll be able to do anything now though."
"Why not?" Ron asked curiously.
"He got arrested."
"What for?" Harry shrugged.
"Honestly? For taking care of me." Harry shook his head at their confusion. "Don't ask. It's not something that I'm willing to explain right now." Draco accepted that with a small nod, but Ron looked like he only accepted that because he didn't want Draco to know things about his new friend. Harry noted that Ron seemed a bit possessive of him, especially on their short acquaintance, but that didn't bother him. Fredrick considered him his child when they had first met, before they'd actually met even. Draco was more the wild card. He seemed to be unsure, depending on others' perceptions of him to know who he was.
There was silence in the compartment for a while, until the door slid open again.
"Have any of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one," A bushy-haired girl said officiously.
"I don't believe we have," Harry said politely, seeing the rude comments his companions were about to make. She nodded and spun around, only to turn back.
"We're getting close to the school. You should change into your robes."
"Thank you. I lost track of time," Harry said politely. She smiled at him as she slipped out the door.
"Why waste your time on her? She's just a stupid little mudblood." Harry gave him a cold stare as Ron jumped up, face angrily red, to protest.
"What part of do no harm did you not get? I'm not going to do anything to hurt anyone. Not even hurting their feelings if I can help it." Harry paused, head tilted. "And what do you mean, she's a 'mudblood'? What's that mean, besides obviously being a very foul name?" Draco flushed slightly at the the censorship in Harry's tone.
"It means her parent's aren't magical," Ron said tensely, glaring at Draco. "He's saying her blood is dirty because she's muggleborn."
"Well, that's stupid. Blood's blood. If someone's blood's dirty, it generally kills them. It's called blood poisoning." Draco looked shocked that someone would say something like that, especially someone he'd very quickly come to count as a friend. He'd assumed that Harry would basically believe the same as he'd been taught, but with the addition of not hurting people. To have him calmly contradicting the most basic principle he'd been taught -logically!- was bewildering. Ron looked a little put out at his calm response, though, which was comforting.
"What would you know about it?" Draco asked acerbically, trying to cover his confusion. Harry smiled sharply.
"I'm working on the same level as the average fifteen year old in my non-magical schooling. The subject came up in a science lecture Fredrick had me watch online. I looked it up afterwards."
"Blimey. Fifteen?! And you're only just 11?"
"How do you know I'm only just? For all you know I could be about to turn 12," Harry asked curiously.
"Everyone knows your birthday, mate. You're famous."
"Bloody being famous," Harry groused. He hated people knowing things about him that he hadn't told them. All the years of semi-hiding had taken a toll on his mentality, making him very secretive. Only Fredrick could see through his facade, because he'd watched and helped him build it.
"You don't want people to know about you?"
"No. I've lived in hiding since I was six. I'm not particularly happy to be leaving it now."
"And to be leaving it for a world where you're known when you weren't prepared for it's hard," Draco said understandingly. Ron gave him a strange look.
"What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously. Draco shrugged.
"I was brought up isolated in the Manor, but I always knew I'd take my place in wizarding society when I was old enough."
"But I was trying to stay hidden for as long as possible," Harry replied softly to the unspoken question. "I didn't want to leave, and Fredrick would never make me do anything I didn't want to." His voice trailed off as he looked blankly out the window, lost in his thoughts. "But then Fredrick was arrested, and it was either come here or stay with my relatives. I thought here would probably be the safer option," he murmured absently.
"Safer?" Draco said interestedly, picking up on the odd word. Harry nodded.
"My relatives don't like me too much," he explained softly. "And my cousin is an overweight bully. I'm safer far away from them. I've always been small, and they weren't good to me as a child." Unconsciously, his fists clenched. "I'm so small because they starved me when I was little." The other two looked shocked that anyone would starve a child. Harry turned to stared out the window, blindly seeking to escape their pity-filled gazes, wondering why he had trusted strangers with this information, possible friends or not. After a moment, Draco touched his shoulder.
"I have to go. Father wouldn't be pleased to hear that I spent the entire train ride with a Weasley. He's going to be angry that I've slipped my guards for as long as I have already." Harry nodded slowly.
"Ok, Draco. I'll see you when we get to the school then?" Draco nodded and slipped from the door again.
"I don't like him," Ron said as soon as he was gone. "The Malfoys think they're so much better than us."
"I feel sorry for him," Harry replied softly. "He's never been exposed to any point of view besides his fathers'. He's getting a major culture shock now. When I said that about blood poisoning, couldn't you see how much that upset his world? He expected you to disagree, and his father said your opinion didn't matter because you're family has always disagreed with his, but did you see how he expected me to agree with him? He'd never before been exposed to the idea that his father might not be right all the time. He's re-evaluating everything he's ever known now, or else he's burying his head in the sand. Only time will tell." Ron nodded, oddly looking slightly bewildered, but as though he understood what Harry was trying to say. Harry guessed that it was the thought of a Malfoy re-evaluating that confused him.
Harry sighed, curling up into a ball, burying his face in the soft sleeve of his faded blue cashmere sweater. Innocently, the two had gotten him thinking about Fredrick, and the Dursleys, and he couldn't seem to shake himself out of the morose mood those two subjects always put him in. Crossing his arm over his eyes, he cried silently. After the Dursleys, he'd never re-learned how to cry out loud, and he didn't particularly want to.
'No, please, I can't go to Slytherin', Harry pleaded.
'Child, you belong in Slytherin. Slytherin will shelter you, and yet help you build greatness of your own, and not that of a deed that occurred when you were but a babe.'
'But I'll never be able to have a normal life if I'm in Slytherin. Everyone will think I'll go evil. I'll be persecuted by the entire Wizarding World.' The hat paused as it apparently found something interesting.
'Ah, Severus. He's such a keen man. A model of his house. Yes, yes, I can respect what he said. And I certainly wouldn't want any of my children to be unhappy. Very well child. Now, remember, you must come and visit with me sometime soon. But for now, let's put you in,' "GRYFFINDOR!" Harry slumped with relief before pulling it off and handing it to Professor MacGonnagal with a small bow. As he sat at the red-bedecked table, he glanced up at Professor Snape, who nodded his satisfaction. Harry nodded back, a small grin on his face, then turned to find Draco at the Slytherin table. Draco looked upset though he covered it well for an eleven year old. Harry winked at him when he glanced over, and he rolled his eyes. Moments later, Ron dropped down beside him, and clapped him on the shoulder. Harry grinned back at him.
"I was half afraid you'd end up in Slytherin, you're that odd," Ron confided about halfway through dinner.
"Would that have been bad?" Harry asked curiously, not ready to let him know that he almost had. Ron started to say something sharp, then cut himself off, looking thoughtful.
"I was about to say yes, but really, I don't know. I know my family looks down on them, and I was always taught to do the same." Harry grinned slightly at the fact that Ron had obviously taken the 'father can't always be right' speech he'd made earlier about Draco and applied it to himself as well. "Malfoy seemed to be ok, besides being a blood purist." Harry grinned and punched him on the shoulder.
"I almost did go to Slytherin," he whispered back. "But I convinced the hat Gryffindor would be better for me." Ron slapped him on the back.
"Good for you. We get to be in the same house this way." He caught Draco's gaze from across the room, and he winked at the blond again, making him relax slightly.