The Hogwarts Express

The summer had been hard. To put it simply, Father had been less than satisfied at my inability to kill Dumbledore. My entire time had been devoted to perfecting spells, hexes, and the Dark Arts all in order to ensure that I would be able to reestablish the Dark Lord's favor. I knew that the entire Malfoy line relied on my redemption. Returning to Hogwarts this year was definitely a welcoming idea. Even the thought of those bothersome Gryffindors was almost like sweet release. Almost, that is…

Waking me from my thoughts, I heard the blare of a whistle, announcing the last boarding call for the Hogwarts Express. Slowly, I looked back at my parents. Mother looked horrid; the bags under her eyes were dark and made her look groggy while her usually shiny hair had lost its shimmery luster. I looked away as I felt my father's glare and with a curt nod, I headed towards the locomotive. My muscles strained under the weight of the luggage that I was carrying and while I knew I could have easily levitated the trunks, I felt an imminent need to feel the tension running up my arms, as if to prove I was really there.

People swarmed around me as the numerous faces rushed past me. It was easy to tell who the first years were, they seemed either reluctant to leave their parents or were bustling with joy, laughter, and excitement. If I hadn't known better, it felt like another year, another normal year at Hogwarts.

As I stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, I relaxed among the familiar smells that were so different from the Malfoy Manor. The scents were strong, rich, and full of life, entirely unlike the manor, which was exactly what I needed right now. Walking past the various compartments, I heard the whispers of "It's Malfoy," and "I can't believe he's even thinking of coming back after trying to kill Dumbledore." Those words hit me like a bludger; hard, fast, and unforgiving. But I was born a Malfoy, and the first thing we were taught was to control our emotions. Thank God.

After walking for quite a distance, I finally found an empty compartment and slid in. Quickly brushing a blond lock from my eyes, I assessed my reflection in the small mirror I had just conjured up. In my reflection, I saw the same strikingly handsome features as usual: steel gray eyes, wispy white-blond hair, high cheekbones, everything looked in place. However, with closer scrutinizing, I saw the summer's affects on me. There was that tiny scar above my left brow, an unfortunate accident really. Father had sent a vase soaring my way and while I had dodged it, the blasted thing smashed, sending glass everywhere. Delicately running my left hand down my cheek, I stared into the mirror…really, how much did I change over the summer?

"Ogling yourself again, Malfoy? I didn't know you were gay."

The mirror shattered on the wooden floor of the compartment as I whipped my head around. Glowering at the compartment entrance, I muttered, "Merlin Blaise! You scared me."

Blaise's voice could really only be called seductive and now it oozed with sarcasm as he uttered, "Now now, Draco, I thought Malfoys' never got scared. Your father would be disappointed; you're shaming your family name." That dramatic bastard, lucky for him he took after his mother.

"Shut up Zabini, you should hardly be talking. After all, I'm not the one who was so worried about being labeled a bad snog." I laughed as I saw Blaise turn bright red. The chap was haughty, arrogant, cunning, and sometimes a git, but he was my best mate and I couldn't help but tease him.

Before Blaise's lips could even open in a retort about one of my embarrassing moments, he was cut off by a blob of black, green, and silver. In a single blink, the pig-tailed blur managed to launch itself at me, pushing Blaise to the ground in the process.

"Oh, Draco! I missed you so much! Snape sent me out to find you…he's been yelling at every Slytherin in sight. How has your summer been?" the blob said. I blinked again and my vision cleared. The figure sitting on my lap was none other than Miss Pansy Parkinson. Merlin, she was heavy!

I looked at her smiling face and responded rather tentatively, "Hey Pansy. Summer's been fine--"

She interrupted me and started her endless talking, " I'm trying out this new look, you see I've gotten rid of that horrendous bob," she let out a long sigh and threw a glance at me and Blaise then continued, " I think it's much better. Mother surely agreed with me. Father said that I'd better not take more than three boys at a time," she giggled at that and paused, obviously waiting for a response.

Blaise saved me the trouble and grinned at her as he flirted, " Pansy, you look stunning! Would put any of those witches in Wizard Weekly to shame!"

Pansy took a slight bounce on my lap as she grinned in excitement at Blaise. I let out a small grunt as the wind was slightly knocked out of me, but still managed to roll my eyes at Blaise. It was amazing rather, he was the biggest flirt in our year, besides me, but the girls still flocked to him whenever he showed the slightest sign of interest. The girls flocking to me, well...that's understandable.

I ignored the looks Blaise was throwing at Pansy and her little movements as she shifted on me with each compliment Blaise showered her with. Their conversation was of no interest to me, an aimless flirting that I was more than used to when in Blaise's company. Letting out an exasperated sigh that neither of them noticed, I was starting to become annoyed.

My frustration escalated and Pansy's weight was numbing my legs, irritated I cut into their conversation, "Pansy--"

"Yes, Draco?"

Fixing her with a glare, I continued "Pansy, did you know--"

"That I'm extremely gorgeous?" she batted her eyelashes as she said this, letting out a laugh. Pansy could be a huge pain at times, and this was not her most provocative position ever. She looked even more like a pug with her partial pout, and even the Mudblood would have looked better doing it. Ha, imagining Granger doing anything remotely close to flirting would be a laugh. How that shapeless lump could even remotely be appealing is lost to me, figures the Weasel fancies her, his taste is the equivalent to a hippogriff's.

"No, I was trying to say that you're extremely heavy. So, get off!" Even to myself, I sounded viscous as the words left my mouth and by the look on Pansy's face as she slid off, my threatening tone could come in handy later on. Settling back into my seat, I contemplated Pansy's words. Why would Snape want to see me?

Unfortunately within a few seconds, I heard Snape's voice booming down the aisle. Our new headmaster was not happy and by his shouts of "Where in the bloody world is that boy?! I'll…I'll…Lucius will not be happy to hear this! His son…raised with such a lack of discipline. Malfoy. Find Malfoy! Move! Find Malfoy or else all four houses can start the year off with negative 1000 in house points!" I was in for a long train ride.

Fan-bloody-tastic.