The first week of lessons passed slowly, Draco had had some practise at home before he had left to come to school, but it seemed to make no odds. Like everyone else, he couldn't turn a match into a needle- he made it go pointy and silver, just like that Granger girl, but still he hadn't succeeded. His skill at charms didn't help him beat her by much either, when it came to levitating the feathers but in a way, despite her background, he grudgingly found himself admiring the dogged determination of the girl - clearly the only other person in the house, probably the year, to do any preparation before coming to Hogwarts. He started to become friends with her, each an outcast in their own house, he for being a natural Slytherin, her for being an insufferable know-it-all, in their loneliness they had come together. By the end of the first week, they started having breakfast together. Draco loved breakfast, he would always have the same thing; he started with a small bowl of porridge and a glass of cold water. Then he would have three rounds of toast with thick-cut bitter orange marmalade, followed by a plate of sausages, bacon, fried potato, mushrooms and baked beans, all chased down by a fresh tumbler of pumpkin juice. It was at breakfast, eight days in, that he received a parcel from home. It was huge, full of sweets and wrapped in green paper. Attached to the outside of the parcel was a letter.

He greedily tore the letter open, hungry for any news from home.

Dear Draco,

I am very disappointed that you have not written to us yet, but here is a box of sweets for you to share around your dorm. How is everyone in Slytherin? I hope your studies are going well, remember to work hard, and don't waste your time. Did you manage to make friends with Harry Potter? If you need anything do not hesitate to write.

Your loving mother,

xxx

Draco dashed off a quick letter telling his parents what had happened before lessons. The next morning another letter arrived from home.

Draco,

I am glad that you have made friends with Harry Potter, but not being sorted into Slytherin was a step too far. I regret to inform you that under the terms of your grandfather's will, I am obliged to disown you for not being sorted into Slytherin. Your fees for the year are paid but I am unable to give you anything else. This will be our last communication. Good luck.

L. Malfoy esq.

p.s. Your uncle Noctifer is expecting to hear from you.

Draco sat at the table, rigid in shock. Disowned. All that he knew. Gone. His future was gone.

What was he going to do?

Disowned. His future gone.

'You alright Draco?' asked Hermione.

'Yeah, fine. Just fine.' Said Draco, still very much in a state of shock. The act of speech broke Draco out of the stupor he had been in. What about this uncle of his- he didn't have an uncle. Mind you, Noctifer was clearly a Malfoy name, but who was he? Draco swallowed and tried to blink back the moisture that had crept into his eyes. No matter what, no-one could know he was upset. It wasn't the done thing, showing emotions simply did not become him.

That day Draco didn't pay attention to what anyone said to him, not in lessons, nor even when Hermione spoke to him. He was too preoccupied thinking about other things. The next day was the same and the day after and soon his marks began to suffer. His proto-friendship with Hermione, who seemed to think that he was being stand-offish to her, was on the wane and nothing was going right. It took him a week to decide to write a letter to this Noctifer person.

Dear Uncle Noctifer,

My father has told me that you are expecting to hear from me, so I am writing you this letter. I am sorry if this seems abrupt and unexpected but I have had some news recently that has rather hit me for six. I don't know what you know about the situation but any advice you can give would be welcome. I hope you are well.

Your Nephew,

Draco. L. Malfoy

The next day a vast bird flew into the great hall at breakfast. It was a mighty Falcon. In its noble claws it bore a black envelope. It circled anti-clockwise around the hall three times, before settling by Draco and giving him its letter. On delivering its burden, the great bird immediately launched itself into the air, and flew away. With all eyes in the hall turned on him, Draco took the letter and a final mouthful of sausage and left the hall.

Only when back in his dorm did he open the letter.

Dear Draco,

I am not surprised to receive your letter. Your father, my brother, wrote to me explaining your predicament and wondering whether I could help. I appreciate that you must be feeling very upset about being disowned, but let me assure you that you are not the first Malfoy to find themselves in this situation. I myself was disowned by old Abraxus when I was sorted into Ravenclaw.

Your Father helped me out at the time, by paying my way through Hogwarts and whilst I have paid back the financial debt I have never been able to pay off the moral debt. I would therefore like to pay your fees for the rest of your time at Hogwarts and offer you a home for the summesr. I appreciate that you cannot be happy about this turn of events, but I promise I will do whatever I can to make this time easier for you.

I would urge you to maintain and make friendships- you will need them. If you have any concerns that a simple letter to me cannot solve, talk to Minerva McGonagall about what is going on. She is certainly very strict, with no time for troublemakers, but when everything goes to rack and ruin there is no-one at Hogwarts I'd trust more than her. I don't know whether you wish to stay at school for the holidays or not, but let me know of your intentions.

Although it has given me the opportunity to write to you, I must confess I am heartily sorry to hear that you were disowned. Now don't forget - behave like a Malfoy. Even if you are no longer heir to the estate, you still bear the name. Be true to your upbringing and do not let anyone ever see you upset.

Do this and everything will work out.

Write if you need anything,

Noctifer Malfoy

Draco soon returned to his previous academic standard as he resumed his lessons in earnest. He still however had no real friends. Hermione he had alienated with his behaviour, and since he didn't know her well enough to tell her why he had been so withdrawn recently, there was no way they could carry on as before. He still felt distant from his dorm-mates, with whom he felt he had little in common. They were simply not brought up like he was, by parents who were loving but distant, ever keen to enforce upon him the lessons of how to behave. For Draco, childhood had ended early, but adulthood was still a long way off. The only one of them who had, like Draco, known what it was to go to be hungry was Harry, who still didn't seem to like him that much, perhaps because he had appeared slightly too much to like that know-it-all Granger, whom none of the boys particularly cared for.

He was lying in bed awake late one night, when he heard Ron and Harry come into the dorm.

'What're they doing? Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?' he heard Ron say.

He didn't find out what was kept locked up though, because Harry shushed Ron on the grounds that everyone else was asleep, and they didn't want to wake them.

Nothing else particularly eventful happened until Halloween, although Draco did almost drop his telescope off of the astronomy tower once. Everyone was gathered for the Halloween feast and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The main course had been excellent, even by Hogwarts' standards and they were now tucking into a splendid desert. Suddenly, turbaned Professor Quirell rushed in.

'Troll!' He shouted fearfully, 'Troll, in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know...' and collapsed in a dead faint. Dumbledore eventually managed to calm the panicked student body and he ordered the prefects to take everyone back to their respective common rooms, while the teachers searched the castle.

It was only when they were halfway back that Draco noticed that Hermione wasn't there.

'Hey, you two.' He asked Harry and Ron, 'have you seen Hermione?'

'I heard one of the Patil's saying she was crying in a bathroom, who cares?'

'She doesn't know about the troll.'

'So?' said Ron.

'Yeah you're right', said Harry, when he saw the astonished expression on Draco's face at this latest outburst from Ron, 'we've got to find her.'

They slipped away from the column of Gryffindors and headed to the nearest girl's loo. Just as they were rounding the corner, they saw the troll. It headed into a small side chamber. With a flash of triumph, Ron dashed at the door, pulled it to and turned the key in the lock. The three were congratulating themselves, when they heard the most terrible sound they could have heard at that moment. A girl's scream.

Instantly their mouths dropped. Hermione! They immediately turned and ran back to the door. In their blind panic they fumbled with the key. They heard the smashing of wood, as the troll inside smashed several of the cubicles. Another scream. Hermione was at least still alive. Finally they got the door open. They rushed in to see Hermione scrunched up in the corner, desperately trying to avoid the troll. It raised its club and brought it crashing down, right on top of where Hermione had been but a moment before. The boys tried to think of any troll-beating curses Professor Quirell had mentioned in his lessons, but they couldn't think of any - not that any had been mentioned anyway. Instead they decided to try and knock it out, throwing splinters of oak cubicle at the tiny head of the massive creature. Now, trolls have hide that is almost as thick as they are, so that proved ineffective, no surprise- bullets from an elephant gun have been known to bounce off trolls without raising so much as a bruise.

'Oi! Pea brain!' Ron shouted. Now, the troll hadn't even noticed the bits of wood, but it did notice the shouting. Slowly it turned.

'Great, now it's after us!' yelled Draco. The troll plunged at them. They ducked as the great ash club went sailing over their heads. Hermione had begun to start miming casting Wingardium Leviosa at them. Draco caught sight of this and was just starting to figure out what she meant, when WHUMPH! The troll's club caught him smack bang in the middle of the ribs, and he went flying across the room and crumpled into the wall.

Ron had seen Draco staring at Hermione's miming and had soon seized the troll's own club from his hand, just as he was about to brain Harry, who had just been picked up off of the troll's back, having just stuck his wand up the troll's nose, for a reason which afterwards he would never satisfactorily be able to remember.

With a deft movement of his wrist, Ron knocked the troll out with his own club. The great hulking body of the troll came crashing down in stages, raising a cloud of fine dust and cracking the tiles of the bathroom floor.

The noise of the fall soon attracted the attention of the teachers, who arrived to find Harry and Ron bent over Draco, while Hermione was in tears in the corner.

'What's going on here?' asked Professor McGonagall, whose lips were white with fury.

Harry and Ron looked guiltily at each other. They were about to speak when

'It's my fault, Professor McGonagall. I've read about trolls and thought I could handle it. I'd be dead by now if these three hadn't found me.'

McGonagall suddenly noticed Draco. Even years later, all three Gryffindors would describe this as the scariest moment of their lives.

McGonagall had soon gotten Professors Snape and Quirell to take Draco to the hospital wing, before rounding on the other Gryffindors. Hermione lost thirty points, Harry, Ron and Draco each gained ten for beating the troll, but Harry and Ron lost a further five for not running to Madame Pomfrey as soon as they could for help.

Fifteen minutes into this tirade, Professor Snape reappeared.

'Minerva, Poppy says he'll live. Three broken ribs on each side and a nasty concussion. Damnably close though.'

The three Gryffindors returned to bed, feeling bad about Draco. But they were now friends. There are some things that a group of people cannot go through together without become firm friends and knocking out a full grown mountain troll is one of them.