[Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter's universe.]

Chapter 3 – Déjà vu

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!"

In response to the cheery call, Draco emitted something that was between a throaty groan and a sigh before he turned over to hide his face under his puffy pillow. The Malfoy heir was so not a morning person. He tried for just a second to forget the world's toughest truth: it was Monday, first day of school. Unfortunately, his roommate and friend (though, at this precise moment, he had the hardest time figuring why Blaise was his friend in the first place) was not going to let him keep his blissful illusion. Before poor Draco could do anything, his merciless friend pulled on the warm duvet, taking it away from him. Draco, in his pyjamas bottom, quivered in the dungeon's coolness.

"Arg! What in the gods name did I do to deserve sharing a room with you?" Draco groaned, his voice still hoarse with sleepiness.

"Just lucky, I guess. And would you stop complaining! You are very lucky indeed that I can manage to pull your sorry ass out of your bed every morning. If it wasn't for me, you would have been late for class for the last six years! So now, Lord Malfoy, you move that cute butt of yours out of that bed and go doll yourself up. It's the first day, you wouldn't want to make a bad impression, would you, Draco dear?" Stated Blaise playfully before he gave him back his blanket and returned to his trunk.

"Why do you have to be such a morning person? No, wait, it's worst. You're a cheerful morning person!" accused Draco moodily. Still, he crawled out of bed and finally side-smiled at his dark-haired roommate. "And I'll have you know that I do not need to doll myself up. I mean, look at me! I'm already ravishing, and I'm not even trying!" His hand waved at his own body, like it was statement enough.

Blaise snorted, managing to make it elegant, and throw a pillow, not as elegantly, at the pretentious blond Slytherin.

"Shut up, Malfoy! You know, one day, you'll have to admit I am more handsome than you!" responded Blaise, already walking through the door.

Once he was alone, Draco could let himself remember last night's dream. Try to remember, more like. He had that strange feeling you get when you can almost remember a dream, but not quite. Looking at the mess he had made of his bed, he could tell it had been one frenetic dream. Weird, considering he usually was a still-sleeper. He frowned, feeling tired. A whole eight hours of sleep, and he felt like he hadn't slept at all. Great, just great! he thought, getting dressed.

Then he made his way out of the bedroom, into the common room. Again, he realised by the looks he was getting that many of his housemates were better informed than the rest of the student body about last year's events. He felt the tension rise between his shoulder blades. In a matter of seconds, he measured their reactions. Many looked scared, some looked mostly curious. His judgement told him none of them really knew the whole truth. It was in their eyes. Uncertainty. It would be easy to deal with the scared ones. As for the curious, well, that was going to need some serious juggling. Decided not to deal with them before he even had breakfast, he simply hold their gaze, daring them to hold his. It was efficient enough. Only one person held his ground. Theodore Nott.

Draco had known Theo for years. Their parents evolved in the same social circles, which means that they had been introduced as kids, invited over for birthday parties, and such. Moreover, the boy had been on the Quidditch team since last year. It had been a great surprise when the weedy-looking student had tried out. The surprise had been even greater when the blond captain had discovered the agility and strength hidden behind that slim frame. He was an excellent chaser. However, the truth was that Draco didn't really know Theo. He suspected nobody did. Theodore was very much a loner. Not because there was anything wrong with him. In fact, Nott was civil with nearly everyone. For as long as he could remember, Draco had found that there was something about him that simply said Don't mess with me and I'll return the favour. He just didn't need to gang with anyone. But here he was, with challenging yet utterly neutral eyes and a sharp intelligence coming through. Right this second, Draco knew he was going to have to walk a very thin edge with this one. With their respective secretiveness, the both of them were too much alike for Draco's peace of mind. Trusting issues, Draco? Surely not!

With that in mind, he got out of the Slytherin common room and took the dark stone stairs out of the dungeon. Soon enough, he found himself in the Great Hall, walking toward his friends at the Slytherin table. Pansy looked up at him from her plate, smiling.

"Good morning, Mr. Grumpy! So, tell me. Is it safe to talk to you yet or are we taking a chance to get ourselves avada-kedavra-ed?" she asked good-naturedly.

As a response, she got an elegant raise of eyebrow. Draco sat beside Pansy, facing Blaise, his back to the room.

"Come on, Pansy, let him be. He had a rough night" defended Blaise.

Draco questioned his friend with a look.

"You turned and turned again in your bed all night, groaning and whining. I don't know what you were dreaming about, but man! That must have been one hell of a dream" He waved his eyebrows suggestively, smiling wickedly. Then he took a fake outraged look. "As a matter of fact, I should be the grumpy one this morning. I slept only half of the night because of all your racket, while you were visibly having some mind-blowing wet dream. This is so very unfair! So now… mind to share the dirty details?" He grinned broadly.

Draco sighed.

"I wish I could, really. But I can't remember anything about that dream. Not a single detail. All I know is that I woke up still tired and having a strange feeling about it. And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I seriously doubt there was anything erotic about that dream." He gave the other boy a knowing look. "I know that because usually I don't have any problem remembering those."

The two friends shared a laugh that was all too masculine. Suddenly, Blaise looked behind Draco, smiling a little dreamily.

"What is it?" Draco asked.

"An enchanting vision, that's what it is"

Pansy and Draco looked around to find what their friend was so enthralled with. Probably something to do with a girl or another, Draco thought. The boy was hopeless. He was not far from the truth. Making their way to the Gryffindor table, Pavarti Patil and Ginevra Weasley had just entered the Great Hall. The girls were laughing at some joke that had probably occurred outside the hall.

Draco fixed his gaze on the smallest girl. She was still smiling broadly. It felt so familiar somehow. Intimately familiar. A feeling of déjà vu, and yet not. This was so frustrating. It was there, the same strange feeling that had come with his dream. He could touch the memory with the tip of his finger but was unable to grab it. Reluctantly, he took away his eyes from the petite redhead.

Facing Blaise again, Draco realise the other boy was still looking hungrily behind him. He frowned, suspicious. For some unknown reason, he didn't like his friend looking at Ginny like she was a delicious cake he'd like to bite into.

"Blaise, does your vision include Pavarti or Ginny?" he finally asked.

The boy smiled slowly. "Hmmm… both".

The sound of an altercation at the opposite extremity of the table prevented him of further comment. A small girl who Draco remembered had been sorted in their house the night before was on the floor. She had clearly been pushed and was on the edge of tears. Graham Pritchard, a fourth year Slytherin, towered over her, speaking cruelly.

"You'll have to learn you can't just sit anywhere, stupid! In Slytherin, we respect hierarchy. You, girlie, are at the very bottom of it. So now, you can go sit with the other first year twits!" And he sat in the place the young girl had been occupying earlier.

While the boy was talking, Draco had risen from his seat and gone toward the little morning drama, his eyebrows in a deep frown. Once behind the bully, he loudly cleared his throat, making the younger boy look around and up at him.

"Tell me what just happened, Pritchard" he simply required, arms crossed over his chest.

"It's just…" Graham started.

"You stand when you're talking to me!" his voice quiet but stern.

Draco's height was only a little over average and he wasn't particularly broad shouldered but the boy did as he was told by the seventh year prefect without being asked twice. However, there was still that stubborn look to him. Ah, to be young again!

"Simple. This is my seat and that girl…" he pointed at her on floor "… was sitting on it. Among the Slytherin house, we have to earn our place. I was merely teaching her just that"

Draco kept a neutral face.

"Really?" he started on a calm tone. "What about you? Did you earn your place?"

"Of course!"

"I see. Clearly, to bully, insult and scare an eleven-year-old girl are considered actions worthy of respect, right?"

For a second, Graham looked a little embarrassed. But only for a second. Seeking in that arrogance that was so typically Slytherin, he looked up at Draco again, a hint of challenge in his eyes.

"I don't remember you being so concerned about the welfare of the weaklings. But maybe those nice principles don't apply to you, do they?"

"First, she's not weak, just small and young. Second, she is Slytherin, one of our housemates. I, for one, have never harassed a fellow Slytherin around." The sternness was back in his voice. "You're right about some things, though. When I was your age, I was a little pretentious prick and there was nobody to kick my ass hard enough to make me see reason. You, my young friend, have that chance" he said, smiling. It was not a pleasant smile. He stayed silent a second and went on. "So, you said that in our house we have to earn our place, prove ourselves. Well, I agree with that. Logically, it's to the highest ranks you have to prove yourself to. In your case, buddy, that means me. Now, I'm asking you: do you think that I've been impressed by your earlier performance?"

"No" Graham mumbled, looking away.

"Funny, I don't think I'm impressed either!" Draco said, the sarcasm clear in his voice. "You've always been a pain in the ass, Pritchard, and you don't seem to be getting any better. Now, I'm warning you for the last time. You better start to show some respect and pray I never see you treat one of your housemates like that ever again, or I swear you'll be very sorry. Understood?" The threat behind the words was palpable.

Not waiting for him to say anything else, Draco turned toward the young girl. God, she was minuscule! And looked terrified. Getting bullied by her own housemate before even her first class was so not a good way to start her scholarship. He helped her up.

"You're alright there, kiddo?" She simply nodded. "What's your name?" For the life of him he couldn't remember. He hadn't been paying very close attention to the sorting the previous night.

"I'm Cassandra. Cassandra Wilkes. Everybody calls me Cassie" she answered with a shy smile, but there was something about her that told him she only needed a couple of days to acquaint herself with this new place and those new people, and she wouldn't be shy anymore. A good thing too, for to be a shy bird among the Slytherins was to be anyone's meat.

He vaguely recalled Wilkes being one of his father's relations, but he didn't remember the man having a daughter. He gave out his large hand to shake her small one.

"Draco Malfoy" he replied, and they shook hands. He crouched down a little. "I'm a seventh year prefect, so if you have a problem of any kind you just come to me, or any other prefect, and we'll see what we can do". He pointed in his friends' direction. "You see that girl who's sitting in front of the tall black-haired guy? Her name's Pansy Parkinson. She's my friend and also a prefect, so you can go to her if you're in trouble. You're going to be ok?" he asked, still bending.

Her smile widened, and she surprised the hell out of him by throwing her short arms around his neck and hugging him. "Thank you, Draco" she whispered.

The young man was so shocked, he almost panicked. To say he never had been much of a hugger was the year's greatest understatement. Then, realising it would be silly to overreact for such a small thing, he patted her awkwardly on the back until she let go. Almost afraid Cassie would pulled something else equally embarrassing, he quickly went back to sit with his friends.

"Another crisis settled by the righteous Slytherin prince!" Pansy declared, a hand on her heart.

"Very moving, Dray!" Blaise added.

Draco shook his head at them. "Shut up."

Then, Pansy addressed to him a little more seriously. She had her down-to-business look.

"We'll have to do something about those hot heads, Draco. He and his little gang have started to think themselves above Slytherin's Law over the last year. You've put Pritchard back in his place, but he's not our only problem. I'm good with most of the house but I have no real hold on some of them. No matter how many times I hexed those gits out of their skin, I'll always be just another cute face." She sighed. "I don't have to like it, but it stays the truth. That's the world you and I and they have been raised in. I've done my best but, let's face it, I am not you. And last year, you were… not there."

She didn't have to say another word. Draco knew he hadn't been there for his house and friends last year. Struggle to survive will do that to you. And now, they had to pick up the pieces. He sighed. I'm so tired… and not just physically. Coming back to Hogwarts, he had thought he would keep a low profile, try not to draw attention too much. The Fates didn't seem to agree with is plan. But looking at Pansy's hidden worries, he promised himself he wouldn't let her down again. Then, the owls arrived with mail and he welcomed the distraction. First came their schedule.

"We have Charms this morning and… Potions this afternoon" said Pansy, comparing hers and Draco's schedules.

"You'll have to do without me this morning. I have Herbology. What's better than getting dirty first thing in the morning?" He smiled and took a look at the rest of their mail. "Bet those are from your mothers".

"Not that big a gamble. My mother has sent me a note every first day of school for the last six years!" Draco replied while he opened the letter. As soon as he touched the fine paper, he knew it was bespelled and with what magic. Discretely, he took his knife and made a shallow cut on his thumb under the table, just deep enough to draw blood. Then, he spread that drop on one of the sheet's edges. When his blood disappeared, his mother's elegant handwriting surfaced.

Hello, darling.

I hope your trip and arrival went without incident. I know you were not too eager about going back. I, myself, was more than a little worried to have you far from home in the circumstances, but your father thinks it is what is best for you. Lucius has many faults, but I trust his judgement in the matter. Just try to make the best of it. At least, you get to be with Pansy and Blaise. I know you do not want to talk about your qualms with neither I nor your father, but I know they would be happy to listen if you would just let them. They are such good friends, do not push them away.

As for the disagreement you had with Lucius…

Disagreement? Draco snorted at the soft word. They hadn't disagreed, they had fought. But then, Narcissa had always been the ultimate diplomat.

As for the disagreement you had with Lucius, do not upset yourself too much over it. I talked to him, and, when he calmed down, he agreed that the two of you should have a real discussion over the topic. He promised he would be at the manor for Christmas, even if it is hazardous for him to be seen around here. Please, sweetheart, try not to infuriate your father right away like you did this summer. You know he does not react well to such offensive manners for you react exactly the same way.

Although you've only been gone for two days, I already miss you. With your father gone in hiding, the manor feels so vast and empty. I guess that worrying to death about my child is implicit part of motherhood. Write me back and let me know you are doing well.

May the gods protect you

Love

Narcissia Eve Black Malfoy

PS: Please, do give my good wishes to the young Mr Zabini, he is such a charming young man.

Folding the letter, Draco had mixed feelings. He couldn't help but take comfort in his mother's evident tenderness when it came to him. On the other hand, the obvious sadness in Narcissa's words cut him deep. He didn't like her being alone. Of course, he knew she wasn't really alone. He knew for a fact that Victoria Parkinson couldn't pass a week without, at the very least, a four o'clock tea at Malfoy Manor. But still…

Looking up at Blaise, he said "My mother sends you her greetings".

Pansy looked up at Draco and then Blaise. "So does my mother. How do you manage that? How come all parents loves you? Considering your slutty reputation, I'd think it would be the other way around."

Blaise shrugged and smiled. "Natural charm, Pansy dearest! With a well calculated praise here and there, of course."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him playfully. "You better not have been flirting with my mother, you jerk!"

Blaise's smile broadened. "I don't know, Dray. I may not be able to help myself. Narcissa's a looker!"

Draco snorted. "I'd like to see you try! My father would kill you. Painfully, I might add. Quite a bit jealous, Lucius is. You don't want to be on his blacklist. And it wouldn't even work anyway. My parents are so in love with each other, it's almost revolting!"

Pansy gave him a look. "Please, stop complaining! I'd like my parents to be like yours. Mine barely talk to each other anymore. They are only together to keep the facade up."

"You wouldn't be so envious if you were the one who walked in on them during a passionate interlude on my father's desk." He made a show of shivering.

Both of his friends busted in laughter at his antics.

It was Pansy who finally said "Come on, guys! We should gather our things from the dungeon. It's almost time for class."

The boys took their cue and got up after Pansy. Just when he was about to go through the great doors, Draco felt the fine hair on the nape of his neck raise. He turned around in the doorframe. She was looking at him. No. She was scrutinising him. Her gaze so unyielding, he felt it on his skin. Again, that sense of déjà vu came like a commanding wave. Demanding that he remember. Remember what? he cried in his mind. He frowned at her. She smiled softly. He turned around and left.