'Really, Tom,' Draco wrote at an early hour, sure that no one else was awake to hear his quill scratching against the parchment in the quiet dorm. 'This little first year said that all Slytherins were EVIL. So, of course, I had to give him a lesson on exactly why that's untrue.'

'I'm glad that you were able to educate him, but it saddens me that tensions between houses are still this way. Slytherin have been cut off from 'house unity' for a very long time.'

'Trust me, I know that much from experience. But I'll be doing everything I can to fix things, this time around.' Hearing a sound, Draco froze before he relaxed, again.

'I hope you can. It would be nice to have Hogwarts working together. With you here, I have a good feeling for Hogwarts' future.'

'All four houses working together...' All four houses fighting, in the war. That would be something. 'I'm certain that I can manage it.'

'Good. For now, however, I believe you should get a bit more rest before your first day of second year. You might have lived through it once before, but it's still good to have plenty of rest for these things. I remember Dumbledore was quite interesting in his Transfiguration lessons.'

'It's only early morning, so I'd only be sleeping for another hour at most, really' Draco stopped suddenly in his writing as he processed. 'I'm sorry, what? Dumbledore...taught Transfiguration?'

'You know him?' The writing was slanted, as if written in a bit of a rush. 'He... Surely he must be well within his hundreds, by now- How do you know him? He's a powerful wizard, certainly, but...'

'Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore? Order of Merlin First Class? Supreme Mugwump? Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot? Headmaster? THAT Albus Dumbledore? He used to teach Transfiguration?!'

'Wha- He's Headmaster, now? HIM?' Oh, that was some shaky and startled handwriting right there. 'How on- He's Headmaster...as in he's in the school now? And in your time? How did the creature ever come back!'

'It hasn't,' Draco wrote with narrowed eyes. 'It's only the first day of term.'

'But it will, at least, from what you've told me it will.' There was another sentence but Draco didn't get a chance to read it as he suddenly heard his curtains pulled back and felt someone sit on his bed. Draco near threw the book down the side of his bed, grinning widely.

"Harry! That was sudden! What are you doing up?" There was a moment where the two just stared at each other, Harry finally moving to crawl under Draco's covers and curl up next to him.

"That was a bit excessive, don't you think? And I'm not up. Still sleeping."

Draco laughed nervously. "I don't know what you mean- You know what? I think I'll go have an early breakfast, this morning-" And now there was a pillow over his face- That. No.

"Shut up, go back to sleep, 'm tired."

"What does you being tired have to do with my sleep?"

"Because I sleep better when you're here, might as well as sleep too while you're at it," Harry yawned, rolling over - with the covers all bundled up around him - and shifting so his back was to Draco. It... It actually looked like he had fallen back asleep.

"You're incorrigible," Draco said with a sigh. He counted sixty in his head before he slowly moved to retrieve the diary and continue writing. 'Sorry. Harry nearly saw. You were saying?'

'Just worrying about the Heir returning... I thought Harry knew of my existence?'

'I don't want him knowing too much about things that may happen, in case it changes too many things.' Harry should have been the last person to know Draco was a time traveler, and yet... He didn't regret telling him, but he regretted he would never be able to tell him anything more.

'I can understand that. If he plays as big a part in this soon-to-be war as you said, then, well. It's a lot for a child to understand, let alone think about. Don't worry, if Harry ever gets hold of this diary, I'll be sure to keep quiet.'

'I've no doubt he'll understand. And that's exactly the problem.' Harry would understand completely, and damn his hero-complex, he would try to save everyone and sacrifice himself.

'You should rest. Thinking about these things will only tarnish your day, and the first day of term is always a fun one. Might as well enjoy it to the fullest, right?'

'Merlin. With Lockhart as a teacher, no day will be fun.'

::

"Not exactly the nicest things to look at, are they," Ron muttered, rubbing at his ears as Sprout finished with her Mandrake demonstration. "Ugly little blighters, really."

"Weasel, I think that one might be one of your brothers. There's a striking resemblance, don't you think?" Crossing his arms, Ron scrunched his face up before finally giving a nod.

"Percy. It's definitely Percy." Draco laughed, beaming and nudging Ron.

"Yeah, does look like him, doesn't it? Even got the face, like he smelled something rotten."

"I've seen him make that exact expression- I should prove it to you later." There was a 'cough' from Hermione, the girl raising an eyebrow from where she had her earmuffs on - Harry did as well - and was ready to pull up their Mandrake by the stem. Draco hurriedly put his earmuffs back on, giving them a thumbs up. He heard nothing but silence as the vicious thing was pulled out, other students doing the same. There was a scramble from Ron, who clapped his hands over his earmuffs, paused, and then sighed in relief. It looked like Harry was laughing. Draco laughed as well, and... Hm. Surely it would work this time- Ow! Little bugger!

Harry was now bent over and clutching his stomach, while Hermione gave him a look that said if she was older, there would be quite a few swears leaving her. Oh, he'd give this damn thing what for...

An hour or so later, as they walked to Transfiguration, Harry nudged at Draco with a grin, "Finger feeling better, then? Or do you need to go back and punch the Mandrake a bit longer."

"I did not hit it, I was repotting it. I was using a technique that...Snape taught me." Sort of. It- Granted Severus had been very upset at the mandrake because it had bit him, so, really. Draco was poorly influenced as a child.

"Mhm. Guess we'll ask him in our first Potions class after Transfiguration," Harry smiled sweetly, and, really. What an evil child.

"Please. Go ahead. See how many points you lose." Fifty, at least. Maybe more. Depended on how many idiots Severus had put up with through the day so far.

Really, Transfiguration was so much nicer without Ron's broken wand. And Hermione's competitive nature was always something that Draco found endeared her towards him. "Look at that. My button is velvet."

"Yes, well, your button would be velvet," Hermione sniffed, poking at her own shiny buttons. Quite a few were pastels, which, that was rather nice. "Don't have any silk ones?"

"I was planning on making some already. And then maybe a few silver ones. Can you make any silver buttons, Granger?" The glare he was given just made everything even better, really.

"Not sure, but I can give you a black eye."

"Um...are the buttons supposed to have legs?" Harry asked, he and Ron poking at their scuttling buttons.

"Please Granger. I'm not scared of you." At least, this time, he'd fight back. Hermione looked up at him, staring him dead in the eye before changing all of his buttons into ugly, misshapen wooden things. Draco screeched at her. "How dare you!" He pointed his wand at her buttons, turning them to beetles and caterpillars and worms, oh my.

"Ugh! Draco! You little-" Her yelling was cut off by a quiet, but deadly clearing of a throat. Both looked up to see a very unimpressed Professor McGonagall.

"Children." Draco looked around to see who she was addressing. There were certainly no children here. "Please stick to working with your own beetles. I would dislike having to give detention on the first day back."

"Yes, Granger, stick to working with your own. Honestly, Professor, I keep trying to tell her." Oh. Oh, wow. The disappointed little sight was worse than her glares- Why did that make Draco feel so bad? "Although... If I see anyone else doing anything similar, I'll be sure to tell them off."

"I'm certain." Giving them a last hard look, McGonagall walked away to continue monitoring the class. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, no. Your buttons should not be escaping."

"This isn't over, Granger." Draco gave her a hard look before transfiguring his buttons back to their glorious state. It was a few minutes before he saw a shiny black one pushed over to him. Rather generic, too.

"Here, I don't know what I'd even do with buttons."

Draco rolled his eyes and pushed it back over to her. "Obviously, you save them for when something happens to your clothes."

"It's a peace offering. Just take it so we don't have to be mushy and hug like you and Harry do all the time," Hermione huffed, dropping the button into Draco's lap.

"You know what? No. I reject it. I don't want it," Draco huffed, crossing his arm and putting the button back on her side of the desk. Hermione stared before giving a sigh and shake of her head, smile on her face.

"You're ridiculous. You fight with everyone- Well. Everyone except Harry."

"I fight with Harry!" Draco scowled, at her, near pouting. He fought with Harry- Well. Potter. But they were the same! Kind of! Maybe...? A glance showed Harry was poking at his upside down button, legs trying to move through the air. The child looked very confused, and, yeah. Same person.

::

As they entered the Potions classroom, Draco gave a half-smile. "Did you enjoy your summer, Professor?" Severus glanced back from where he was writing the day's potion on the board.

"When have you ever known me to enjoy summer," the man gave a halfhearted eyeroll, a small smile tugging at his lips anyways. "I enjoyed parts of it, such as finding out that you convinced Narcissa to help you kidnap a child."

"Actually, it was mostly Mother's idea. Actually! That reminds me! Harry, wasn't there something you wanted to ask the professor?" He gestured to Severus as they went to their usual seats, smirking.

"Oh, well..." Harry drifted towards Severus' desk, speaking quietly so the other students couldn't hear him. "We were studying mandrakes in Herbology, and Draco was telling us a story about how you dealt with one and it, well. Didn't end very well. I didn't believe him because, I mean, you're such an amazing Potions master. There's no way you'd make a mistake like Draco did and end up getting bitten."

Severus' expression soured, a bit. "We are all human, Mr. Potter, no matter how some of us try to make it seem," he said with a glance to Draco. Draco's smirk only grew as he shrugged innocently. "Mr. Malfoy, do quit corrupting the Gryffindor."

"Well, sir, he only requested Gryffindor." The man's expression didn't change, but there was horror in his eyes at what could have been.

::

A flash of light startled all of them from where they were waiting outside the door to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Hiya, Harry! Draco!" Oh, Merlin.

"Creevey," Draco says coolly and giving the first year a small nod. Creevey looked confused by something, but Harry was the one to shake his head and wave it off.

"He does that with everyone. Shouldn't you be getting to your next class, Colin? You know, with the first years."

"Really, at this rate, you'll be late- What did we have at this time, last year? Transfig?" Draco crinkled his nose, looking to Harry curiously. It was Hermione who gave a nod, absently doodling on her class schedule.

"Hey, Harry, Draco, a boy in my class was telling me all about this potion that'll make my pictures move if I develop them with it. If I get it right, would you two sign it for me?"

Oh... So that was what it was like from this side. How awful he felt, now, for Potter... "I'm afraid we don't sign autographs." Alright, Draco, be nice to the little lion cub. "And would it be alright if you don't take our pictures without our knowledge? It's rather disorienting."

Before Creevey could give a response, there was a voice that was still familiar to him. Even now. "What's this? Signed photos?" Oh. Now he was really feeling sorry for Potter.

"No, sir," Draco ground out. "As I was just explaining to Creevey, we don't sign photos." Honestly. Airhead. Did anything get through his thick skull besides the words he was saying?

"Oh, no need to be bashful," Lockhart laughed, waving the lingering first years off and then opening the door so the others could file into the classroom. "I must say though, Draco, that was a marvelous way you handled young Mr. Creevey. You'll do very good with the press, one day."

"I-" Draco nearly went off before he felt a hand on his arm. Looking over, he saw Harry and held his gaze before finally sighing and glaring off to the side.

"Right, chop chop, let's get this lesson started! Oh, and boys, maybe not go around advertising signed photos. One day you might need to keep a pre-signed stack of your own photos wherever you go, but for now, you're not quite there yet." Lockhart gave a charming smile before sweeping into the room.

"Wha- I just said-" He felt Harry wrap his hand around his before tugging him inside, picking two seats near the back of the class where Ron was sitting. Hermione, it seemed, was right up front with quite a few other girls. Draco rolled his eyes at that, sitting down between the two. "Honestly. Someone ought to curse him. He deserves it. Telling me not to advertise- Honestly!"

"Hopefully something horrible will happen to him like with Quirrell," Harry mumbled, propping his head up on his arms and watching Lockhart flaunt in front of the class. "Mm. Too stupid to work for Voldemort." Beside them, Ron gave a little flinch.

"Harry? The name," Draco said with a raised eyebrow. Even in this time, people were still scared of the name... Well, they had good reason to be, he supposed.

"Sorry," Harry smiled apologetically, patting Ron on the back. "Still, my point stands. Although maybe Snape will kill him for us... Do you think he'll let us have some poison?"

"If not, we could always save some from one of our class potions," Draco suggested with a shrug. Nothing to kill the man, of course, just something bad enough to send him to St. Mungo's.

"Now, we'll be starting off today with a little pop quiz. Nothing too bad, I just want to see how many of you have read my books so far, and how much you remembered."

Draco groaned, along with many others. He muttered to Ron and Harry. "Wanna make a cheating pact?" The two boys shared a look before Harry shrugged, Ron giving a nod and looking back to Draco.

"I'm in."

::

Curled up in the dorm, later, Draco's head was tilted as he wrote. 'I've been rethinking my opinions on muggles as a whole.'

''Rethinking'. They haven't already shown you how cruel and violent their society is? The Wizarding World hasn't had a war since the Dark Ages, and yet the muggles have had COUNTLESS wars all in the name of killing each other.'

'Well, I'm certain that wizards participated in those wars, and I'm sure it was for more than just 'killing each other.' As well, Granger's come from a muggle family, and look at her. They're encouraging her magic, and treating her well. Those muggles of Harry's seem to be outliers, much like...' Much like the Death Eaters were the outliers of wizarding kind.

'You've met her parents, then.'

'Well, I've SEEN them.'

'So you don't know if they're really encouraging her or just keeping their disappointment to themselves. Things could be similar like they were with your friend Harry. Would you have known about his family if he hadn't told you himself?'

'I mean, I'd already heard the stories, last go around. And he always looked most malnourished when coming back from summer. It was a bit obvious.'

'I'm just saying... Believe what you must, but be cautious. There's a reason we hid ourselves away from muggles, and a reason there's so many laws and rules against exposing magic. Muggles are dangerous, they think magic is evil, and cursed. The witch hunts, well. You'll learn about them early, but if you studied sixth and seventh year, you'll know not all of us escaped.'

'The witch hunts were in the sixteen hundreds. I think times have changed, well enough. There are parts in the world now that are accepting of QUEERS!' His words disappeared like usual, but no new ones appeared. 'My point is that these generations of muggles seem to be more accepting.'

'Don't get your hopes up. Not when they can be broken so easily.' With that, the diary flipped itself shut and...could Tom do that? Close the diary himself? It was his diary technically, so, maybe? 'Don't get your hopes up?' Sure, Draco understood that Tom's muggles weren't very kind, but that didn't mean they were the norm for all muggles. He was just being too cautious.

A rustle at his curtains had him tucking away the diary before he saw Harry climb into bed, dragging sheets of parchment and a few muggle quills of his. Settling down, he stared at Draco intensely before starting to draw. Draco chuckled quietly, head tilting. "I wish you would warn me so I can dress for the occasion," he said quietly.

"But then that'd go against the whole point of drawing you," Harry grinned, hand cupping Draco's cheek to tilt his head back to where it was. "You look better when you're relaxed, instead of putting on a front for everyone."

Draco frowned, his head tilting, again. "I don't put on a front." He did his best to not let the defensive tone creep in. He had a feeling he didn't do too well, considering Harry's look.

"You put on a front. Like... You play up the Slytherin nature. Cold and calm Draco Malfoy who never gets bothered. I like this you better. The one I can joke with and talk about my nightmares with."

"Harry, I joke around all the time. It's not like I'm a different person, or anything."

"Not a different person but just... Different parts of yourself that you show to different people- Stop moving." Harry frowned, tilting Draco's head back again. "Wait until I get the basic sketch down."

"Harry," Draco sighed, though this time, it was more like a huff of a laugh. It was hardly his fault the child's anger was so adorable, at times.

"Draco," Harry parroted back, sticking his tongue out. "You said you'd help me with drawing, so that's what you're doing. Now, don't move for about an hour or so."

"It does not take you an hour to do a basic figure!" He'd done it just the other night in no time at all!

"Really?" Harry blinked innocently, wicked smirk giving him away. "Hm, guess I must be slow tonight. You don't mind, do you, Draco?"

"So long as your next drawing is of me sleeping, no, I don't." Draco smirked back at him and held his position.

"Fine. I need to practice drawing idiotic expressions anyways," Harry teased, settling back against the headboard and looking more at the parchment than Draco now. "You alright? You've been a bit jumpy, the last few days."

"What? No, I'm fine." Draco smiled. "Harry, you don't need to worry. I'm fine." It was a few moments before Draco had Harry's head in his lap, the child settling down and only half-heartedly drawing at this point.

"Draco, you're my best friend. I'm always going to worry about you, just like you worry about me. It's okay if you don't want to tell me what's wrong, but... Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help, okay?"

"If I think of anything, I'll tell you."

"Good. Now, tilt your head a little to the left."