Chapter Three:

Believe In Nothing

A/N: I know (thanks PeruvianDarkness) that Beauxbatons is a co-ed school, but for the sake of this story it's an all-female school and Durmstrang is an all-male one. This is because if it wasn't as such, Harry would have so obviously gone to Beauxbatons as it would have been greatly safer than Durmstrang - and what fun would that be? So I realized Durmstrang is actually called Durmstrang Institute, not Academy. I apologize for the earlier mistakes in the first two chapters, I will abide by this name from here on in. Also, I think I got the uniforms right in this chapter. Fur, fur, and more fur! Hehe ^_^

Thanks a million to my wonderful Beta PeruvianDarkness! I owe her so much -sniffles-

Ooooh school is going to be so exciting and dark for these boys, I'm thrilled for their bad luck, heh. This song is by All That Remains.

Into a strange new world, into the after

All your tears might find you've fallen too far

Take another look, take another ride

Can't we make them leave the hate behind?

And I still believe in nothing

Will we ever see the shape of tomorrow?

Into the empty storm, into the formless loss of hope,

Where we can forget the game.

Harry pressed his forehead against the thick glass, peering outwards at the scenery which slowly rolled by as the train began to pick up speed. He was headed in the complete opposite direction of Hogwarts, and the mere thought of it was depressing. How able was he going to be to make a new home at this school, away from his only friends? Not to mention being on constant alert due to the general population of the school wanting to see Harry dead. He sighed, looking across the seat at his caged, snowy white owl who was fast asleep.

"Hedwig, you're all I've got now," he whispered sorrowfully. Of course, there were always letters to write to Sirius, Remus, Hermione and Ron, but would that really do any difference? It would all feel just the same as it did at the Dursley's, shut off from everybody else with no news of anything or anybody. Apparantly Owl Post was still too dangerous and most likely being monitored by the Ministry for Magic and Death Eaters alike, so all letters had to be written in code.

Everything seemed so much more dower at Durmstrang and Harry wasn't even there yet- he was basing this opinion off of their uniforms. All sleek black cloaks, tightly clasped together with the school crest of a double-headed eagle. The compartment door suddenly slid open with a click, revealing three grinning boys bearing their beady eyes down at Harry who quickly regained himself and glared at them the best he could. Then, remembering these were going to be his new classmates, softened his expression in hopes they meant no harm, though he kept his hand on his wand in his pocket just in case.

"It seems to me that you are currently sitting in our compartment," the first boy sneered. He looked Harry's age if not older- he was built tall and stalky with fierce, brown eyes and dark blonde hair. Harry immediately pegged him by his tone as a hostile, so he continued his earlier icy glare.

"Funny, I didn't see anybody's name on it," Harry shrugged, gripping his wand tighter in his pocket. He didn't want to have to get expelled for using underage wizardry again before he even got to his new school. Then where would he go, considering Beauxbatons was a female academy?

"Are you questioning us? Who do you think you are?" a shorter, but fitter boy behind the lead one snapped through clenched teeth, narrowing his hazel eyes at Harry. They looked ready to pounce, like a herd of useless hyena's looking for prey. They kind-of reminded Harry of Malfoy and his goons.

"The question is," a familiar, silken voice sneered, "Who do you think you are, Rosenburg?"

All three of the boys stiffened up and turned towards the new speaker, who was leaning nonchalantly against the doorway of the empty compartment opposite of Harry's. He held in place that familiar, alluring smirk as he crossed his arms, his index finger adorning the Malfoy family signet crest.

Harry stood up from his seat with his fists balled at his side, "Get lost, Malfoy," he growled ferociously.

Draco smirked and pushed himself off of the compartment door, his intense silver eyes pierced Harry's heated emerald ones with a startling, amused expression. Harry was stilled as Draco adressed the three boys. "I suggest you and your dogs run along now, Rosenburg,"

"Who says I've got to listen to you, Draconis?" the boy proudly crossed his arms, and being taller than Draco he used this to his advantage and looked down his nose at him.

"Nyle, c'mon. Let's leave him alone," mumbled the one who hadn't spoken yet.

"Listen to Parkinson. You wouldn't want your Daddy to know you have been shoving your nose into things that don't concern you,now do we?" Draco threatened lightly, smirking larger at the flash of fear that crossed Nyle Rosenburg's eyes.

"You better watch your back, Malfoy. Whatever you're playing here won't get passed me," he snarled, "C'mon boys," he lead them out of the compartment, down the corridor of the train fuming.

Harry was still staring at Draco with anger, but it softened as he was slightly appreciative of being rid of those other boys. "Shut your mouth. You look like a goldfish," Draco said with a sneer, but with a small teasing smirk. It took Harry a minute to recover from that, as he had never had Malfoy of all people tease him playfully like a friend would.

Draco slid down into the seat beside Hedwig, admiring the white owl in its slumber momentarily before crossing his legs and turning his attention back to Harry who was now glaring at him again. "What? I didn't know this seat had your name on it," Draco sneered, countering what he had said earlier.

Sighing, Harry dropped down into the seat across from the tall, striking blonde as he kept his wand steadily in his grip. "Who were those people and how come they listened to you?" Harry asked finally.

Chuckling bemusedly, Draco shook his head causing small strands to fall before his eyes, "Sixth Years, Death Eater sons. Westen Rooch, Nyle Rosenburg and Hector Parkinson,"

"Pansy has a brother?" Harry inquired curiously.

"Oh no, cousins," Draco explained, "The only one you have to watch out for Potter, is Rosenburg. His Father is high up in the ranks and he was never a forgiving bastard, and considering what your parents did to his...well, lets say he will have a grudge for you,"

"What my parents-" Harry began and then shook his head, he shouldn't be sitting there having any kind of information session with Malfoy, it could all be some sort of elaborate ploy to get him to reveal explicit information about the location of the Order of The Pheonix or such things.

Not noticing his discomfort, Draco continued, "The most important people at Durmstrang to keep your eyes on are Igor Karkaroff, considering he is still an active Death Eater and the Headteacher. Greyback is the Dark Arts Professor... I think you may have heard of him before, and then there's a couple of Seventh Years whom I am led to believe are officially initiated Death Eaters themselves. There are a few of my own cousins from my Father's side I believe you should be thoroughly weary of as well, I will point them out at the Feast tomorrow evening," Draco explained almost flippantly, afterwards he took a relaxing breath and fluttered his eyes shut, stifling a yawn and getting more comfortale in his seat.

Harry was glaring at him coldly now, "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing Malfoy? Coming here and telling me all these people I've gotta watch my back around when you're the most likely person to be up to something," he accused.

Draco slowly cocked open his eyes, "Am I, now? I may be up to something, Potter, but perhaps that something is highly beneficial to you," he smirked at the look of confusion on Harry's face.

Harry suddenly felt the want to slap that smirk off his classmates face, he thoroughly restrained himself from doing so, "Besides, if anything...dismal happens to you, I'll be dead. Quite literally. So you need not worry, now if you don't mind this train ride is over a day long and I would like to get my beauty rest," Draco grinned at how wide Harry's emerald eyes were, how his mouth was agape at his words and his brows furrowed in absolute confusion. He kept that amusing image in his mind as he drifted off into a light sleep, keeping constantly cautious with his hand on his own wand in his cloak pocket.

Harry's mind was reeling; what the hell did all that mean? He watched Draco until his breathing regulated and it was definite he was asleep, he then quietly maneuvered to find his trunk and pull out a couple pieces of parchment and a quill to write to Sirius. He needed to know if he understood anything of what Draco had said to him. Why would he die if anything bad happened to Harry? It made no sense.

Quickly jotting down the events on the train, as well as the names of the boys who earlier had bothered him wanting more information on their parents standings and history, Harry wrote int he best code he could manage to Padfoot signing it with his initials. He quietly proded Hedwig awake, careful not to wake the sleeping ex-Slytherin, and gave her the letter and instructions of whom to give it to. She glared her amber eyes at him, not happy with being woken, but flew out of the compartment window which he quickly closed afterwards.

Taking out the list of 'volatile' students that attended Dumstrang Institute and were considered to be Death Eater sons or Voldemort followers, Harry began to skim the names for reference. He attempted to memorize them all so that when he met them, he could be cautious right away instead of being weary of everybody which would get too exhausting.

Not wanting to sleep in the presence of Malfoy, Harry tried hard to keep his mind focused on the names, but the hum on the steam train and the wind rattling softly against the window pane made the words on the parchment begin to blur, he yawned heavily and didn't even remember falling asleep.

XXXX

The body was cold. Hard. Those eyes, once so alive with excitement, were dulled and empty. The lids lazily fell halfway across them. His limbs were heavy and limp, his chest didn't rise and fall as it should anymore.

The cool air of the night hissed around Harry's skin, he shivered as a sob raked through his entire body. "No, No, nooo...Cedric!" he cried, clinging to the chest of the fallen boy. But he didn't have the time to cling, or to be sorrowful over the boy because Lord Voldemort, in the arms of Peter Pettigrew, was approaching with a rasied wand.

Yet, in this dream version of the TriWizard Tournament events, Harry didn't let go of Cedric. He held onto his cold, dead body and cried his name out to the night in the lonely graveyard. He sobbed and shook with anger at himself for dragging him along to this place, wherever it was. If Harry hadn't asked him to take the cup with him at the sametime, he would've been safe and only Harry would've died. He would be alive, he would still be breathing.

"No, no, Cedric, please don't die...Cedric!"

"Potter, bloody hell! Wake up!" Draco was shaking Harry vigorously, looking down with angry silver eyes with a flash of concern in them.

Harry jumped awake, his breathing heavy and his eyes wide and fearful. He knew the nightmare he awoke from, and he knew it wasn't one he usually kept to himself. "Are you alright, Potter?"

"M'fine," he mumbled, angry at himself for being shown as even remotely weak in front of Draco. Silence fell around them and Harry felt Draco's eyes burning into him. He saw from the corner of his eye an odd look of curiousity that made him flush, his fists clenched as he stared hard at the compartment floor. He heard Draco slide into the seat opposite from him and he braced himself for mockery or questions, but they didn't come.

It felt like hours before a small tapping rapped the window, Harry finally looked up from the ground and heavily avoided Malfoy's stone gaze which was still lazily set on him, watching him unnervingly, and saw Hedwig flapping beside the moving train. He let her in with a small smile.

"Hey, girl," he whispered lightly adoringly, attempting to ignore Malfoy's existance as he untied the letter on her talon. She hooted tiredly and flapped back into her cage after Harry petted her gently.

"More fan mail?" Draco sneered, but when Harry looked up to shoot a glare he realized Malfoy was smirking bemusedly and it caught him off guard.

"Er, no, I...it's none of your business," he hardened up and cleared his throat, turning his attention to the small letter. Harry opened it up and saw only the smallest four words, scribbled hastily upon the parchment. He frowned down at Sirius' handwriting; Keep Your Eyes Open.

He stuffed it in his pocket. Why had the man even bothered to send such a short response? Did something perhaps go wrong? Malfoy observed the face of confusion and he found himself chuckling lowly.

"Problems with the Weasel? He's not going to breakup with you now that you've gone off to Dark Durmstrang, is he?" he mocked, crossing his arms and sticking his nose up.

Ah. And there's the Malfoy I live to hate. "Sod off," Harry growled in response.

Once again, to Harry's surprise, Malfoy went silent. It was eerie, sharing a compartment with him on the way to Durmstrang, it was eerie that even if he did insult Harry it was more playful than it used to be. Before Malfoy had done it with the intent on hurting Harry, but now...now there was just playful amusement behind his words, and something mirthful in his eyes when he said it. It really shook Harry up and confused him more about everything else. He definitely had to keep his sights on Malfoy that term.

Sun had fallen beneath the now charcoal clouds, the stars barely shone through. Harry shivered in his seat, looking across as Hedwig slowly woke from her slumber. Still avoiding Malfoy, who was content sitting quietly staring out the window lost in thought. But that damn smirk was never gone, not in all those silent hours it still rested on his thin lips.

"See something you like, Potter?" Draco drawled, his eyes never leaving the half-moon in the sky.

"I-" Harry stuttered but then shut his mouth, turning his attention back to Hedwig. He leaned forward to reach into the cage and pet her softly. She cooed and pushed into his hand, he smiled.

"The train ride is long. I will be retiring now, for we have till tomorrow noon until we arrive at Durmstrang,"

"It takes that long?" Harry gawked, he had known the Institute was far from Kings Cross but...that far on train?

"It's in the mountains, so quite cold," Draco commented, slowly laying down on the seat and shutting his eyes. "Goodnight, Potter. Oh, and try not to wake me again," he said, smirking once again.

Harry glared at the sleeping body, but once he saw the blonde's chest rise and fall steadily it fell. He observed the sleeping boy for awhile, before his own eyes began to tire. But it was perplexing, just how comfortable Malfoy was to be able to fall asleep in front of him, alone in a compartment. Harry could curse him, hex him. How was he so automatically trusting?

Harry sighed and decided to follow the others advice, he didn't want his first day to be more befuddling than it already would be.

XXXX

"Potter"

"Potter"

"Potter," Malfoy whispered. He was kneeling in front of the brunette, jabbing him lightly with the end of his wand in his abdomen. "Oh, for fucks sake," he groaned and finally shook him hard, "Harry, get up!" Draco bellowed in his ear.

Harry woke to a start, he was up with his wand out quicker than Draco had seen anybody, he backed up immediately and put up his hands.

"Are you always this touchy in the morning?" he smirked. Harry blinked a few times, blushed and shoved his wand back into his pocket. He didn't say anything as he turned to look out the window. The scenery had greatly changed, and there most definitely had to be a warming charm put on the entire train because it didn't look as hot outside. Snow blanketed the ground everywhere, all the trees were barren. Dead. He didn't like this place already, wherever he was. But when he looked across at Draco who was also looking outside now, he held a distinguished expression of adoration.

"Best put on our robes. Should be there in an hour at most," Draco said, breaking the silence. He turned to look back at Harry but that expression didn't fade.

Harry faltered slightly, "You like it here? Place looks too cold," he shivered at the thought of all that snow. Even at Hogwarts they didn't get weather like that in the midst of winter.

"I have always liked the cold," he smiled softly, and then stood up. Without another word he left the compartment, or looking back.

'What is with Malfoy? What in Merlin's name is he plotting here? Once I'm at school, I should stay as faraway from him as possible, keep an eye on him from a distance. Him and that Rosenburg guy,' Harry vowed to himself.

A few minutes later, Draco came back inside in his new school uniform. The thick black cloak, lined with wolf's fur inside and on the rim, clung to him. He must have gotten it hemmed, for Harry knew his cloaks didn't fit quite like that. His frail, lean figure was still visible through even the large, fur capped boats. In his hand he had the trademark Durmstrang hat, clenched in his pale white hand. For some reason, Harry couldn't help but think that Draco looked much more appropriate in this uniform than he did at Hogwarts.

Harry realized he had been staring at Draco as the blonde slide back into his seat to admire the scenery once again as the train continuing slowly climbing the steep mountain they were trekking upwards. He averted his gaze and silently cursed his damned luck.

This was going to be one hell of a term.

And I still believe in nothing

Will we ever see the cure for our sorrow

Nothing is sacred when no one is saved

Nothing's forever so count your days

Nothing is final and no one is real

Pray for tomorrow and find you're empty still.

Nothing.