Draco Malfoy stood on Platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross on the very first day of September, to depart for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was extraordinarily excited, though he knew better than to display it. Childish things such as feelings of excitement, or, perhaps even loneliness was not becoming of a Malfoy, oh no.
"Draco, darling, don't forget to write us as soon as you can." His mother, a tall witch with white blond hair and thin features, fussed about him, bending down to fix his collar.
"Narcissa, he'll be fine." His father's sharp voice cut like ice, and Draco lowered his face to fumble with his tie. His mother continued to fix his collar, ignoring her husband as she was so content to do.
"Oh, gracious Cissy would you look who it is? I mean, honestly, how fast do they breed?" Draco's father's voice dripped venom as he and his mother turned to look for the cause of this disturbance.
Across the platform a small herd of red-haired humans were huddled together, along with one very small, black haired boy. The leader of the herd seemed to be a very short, motherly looking creature, with a slightly tamed ginger mop and an odd collection of Muggle clothes. She was yanking on the arm of a tiny girl who was attempting to follow her brothers onto the train and screaming.
Narcissa scoffed quietly, "Lucius, please. They're pure blood, let them alone. I'm not interested in brawling in the middle of the train station this early in the morning." She took hold of Draco's arm as they could both feel Lucius' temper rising, a snarl on the tip of his tongue (Draco thought he heard a muttered blood traitor but couldn't be quite sure). She squatted down gently and kissed Draco on the nose, "Now, don't fret about anything, love, you will have no trouble whatsoever. Be good, study hard, and don't forget who you are." Draco blushed but kissed her back, and then turned to his father.
Lucius towered over Draco, a young boy of eleven, and had always instilled fear in his son. He was clothed entirely in black and kept a firm grip upon a long walking stick, which he very often threatened to beat people with. His eyes were a stony gray and they were full of contempt as they looked upon his son.
"Don't disgrace the family."
Draco watched as his parents walked away, his father's waist length white hair flapping behind him, a firm grip upon his mother's right arm. Narcissa turned one last time to look at her son, and then they were gone.
Draco sighed and turned towards the train; steam was coming out of it now, and everyone seemed to be rushing to get their children on it in time, shouting last minute reminders or expressions of love. He stepped up into one of the train cars, sliding the door shut behind him, and not a moment later the train started to roll, embarking on its' journey to Hogwarts. Draco lurched forward with the unexpected movement and grasped the handle of the first compartment he could see, jumped inside, then slid the door shut behind him.
Sighing, he turned around and was met with the slightly shocked faces of the black-haired boy and one of the redheads from the platform. They both seemed to be in the middle of a conversation and the ginger boy had a half-eaten sandwich clenched in one hand.
"Erm," Draco cleared his throat, "Hello."
The black-haired boy glanced at the ginger, then pushed his large black glasses up his nose. "Hi." He extended his arm; Draco noticed the shirt he was wearing seemed about two sizes too big for him as it kept sliding down his wrist. "I'm Harry Potter. Who might you be?"
Draco nearly choked on his own spit. "Harry Potter?" He spluttered out, still gaping at the boy. The ginger kid stood up suddenly, his eyes narrowed, red in the face, "Yeah, that's what he said. No need to guess who you are. You're clearly a Malfoy."
Draco stood up slightly straighter, and mimicked the expression his father usually wears, "Well at least you have the ability to identify the finer things in life, despite having no experience with them." He sniffed in a moderately condescending way, "I assume you're a Weasley? Was that your family I saw on the platform?"
The ginger boy seemed to be close to attacking Draco, when Harry stepped in between them, "Guys, lets' settle down, alright?" He then turned to Draco, "Please, join us. Ron was just telling me about Hogwarts, since I've only recently found out I'm a wizard."
Draco glanced hesitantly at Ron, who seemed to be wrestling internally between his desire to support Harry, and the need to wring Draco's neck for passively insulting his family. After a few tense moments, Ron sat back down and resumed his conversation with Harry, apparently deciding to pretend Draco wasn't there.
Draco took this as an (unspoken) invitation to join them, so he set himself down upon the seat next to Harry, earning him a grin from the small boy beside him. Ron had slumped down into his seat and continued his reiteration of his Hogwarts knowledge to Harry, who was literally at the edge of his seat, engrossed.
"Anyway, there's a massive lake just outside the castle, and Fred says there's a giant squid livin' in it." Ron continued, stuffing the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. "And there's four houses you can be sorted into; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin."
Harry looked confused, "Sorted?"
Ron struggled to swallow his large clump of sandwich, and Draco took this as an opportunity to jump into the conversation. "Yes, there is a very old hat that they place on your head and it tells you where you belong." Draco put his pale hands on the top of his head, as if they were a hat. Harry pondered this for a moment, and Draco was frowning slightly. How had the most famous wizard who ever lived, not heard of Hogwarts?
"So, where did you say you were from?" Draco asked the Boy who Lived, eyeing the Weasley boy in the event he tried to jump him for speaking to Harry. Ron merely was gazing at Harry and Draco surmised that the ginger boy was just as curious about Harry as he was.
Harry's shoulders drooped slightly at this question, and he turned to face the window as he responded, "Little Whinging; I live there with my Aunt and Uncle and my cousin, Dudley." Harry turned to look at Draco, "What about you?"
"My family lives in Wiltshire." Draco replied and was about to ask the black-haired boy another question when suddenly their compartment door burst open and a very small bushy haired witch entered, dragging with her a taller, frightened round-faced boy.
"Have any of you seen a toad? Neville here has lost his." The bushy haired girl stated matter-of-factly, gesturing to the boy with her.
Harry spoke up then, "No we haven't, sorry."
"Merlin's beard! You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I'm Hermione Granger," The girl stuck out her tiny hand to Harry who grasped it, "I'm from a Muggle family too."
Muggle born. Draco shuddered to think what his father would say about him even being in the vicinity of one. He studied the girl briefly; he could not outwardly see anything different about her than another witch or wizard. Maybe it's something you can't see, he wondered.
The girl, Hermione, turned to Ron and pointed at her very small nose, "You've got dirt on your nose, did you know?" Ron slapped a hand to his nose and rubbed, glaring at Hermione. She then turned to Draco and said, "You all better get your robes on, I heard we are approaching the castle. See you all later." And as quickly as she entered the compartment, she was gone, along with the boy.
The three boys all looked at each other and shrugged, Ron eyeing Draco suspiciously, probably because he had neglected to insult their visitors, especially since one was a Muggle born.
For the remainder of the train ride the three boys imagined what wonder awaited them at Hogwarts, Ron and Draco mostly educating Harry on what they heard from their families. Eventually, Draco stood up and stretched, then reached for his trunk to pull his robes on. Ron and Harry followed suit, and not long after did they hear the train whistle to alert them of approaching Hogwarts.
The three boys ran immediately to their compartment windows, faces pressed against the glass as they rounded a bend and immediately saw the glorious view of Hogwarts. The castle stood tall between the mountains, surrounded by a massive lake, and just next to it Draco could make out the famed Quidditch pitch.
Draco turned to grin at his companions but stopped himself. It's not use, he thought, once I'm sorted into Slytherin, they will never want to speak to me again. Every Malfoy had been sorted into Slytherin. It just was the way of the family.
"All right Malfoy?" Ron had appeared in front of the blond boy, breaking his train of thought. Draco forced a smile, "Yeah Weasley. But don't go thinking we're friends now."
Ron's face fell into a frown, "Wouldn't dream of it."
The train slowed to a stop, and Harry jumped up from the bench seat excitedly, grinning at Ron and Draco. Some older students, prefects Draco assumed, began going around to the compartments to gather the students off the train. Draco stood up, grabbing his trunk, and turned to see Harry at the door, his arms grasped around the cage of a snowy owl, dragging a trunk, "Come on Draco, let's go see our new home!"
Even Ron was looking eager, his disdain for Draco gone for the moment, "Yeah let's go Malfoy, move it." He gently shoved Draco, who tried not to audibly flinch because he knew it was harmless, maybe even friendly.
Draco let the other two boys exit the compartment before him, as he took a deep breath and stepped out, he thought fondly of Harry's excitement, even Ron's smile, and hoped with all his little heart that this was indeed home.