"You'll write me once you get settled in?"
"Yes Mother."
"And you will behave yourself?"
"Yes Mother."
"And you'll avoid your classmates who are siding with the Dark Lord?"
"Yes Mother."
"And you will pay attention to me instead of gawking at the crowd?"
Draco whipped his head back to face his mother, flushing in embarrassment at having been caught.
"I'm just looking for my friends..." he mumbled.
"Speak up darling, mumbling is disgraceful," his mother sniffed, her grey eyes warm as she looked down at her son.
"I said I was looking for my friends," Draco repeated clearly. "Apologies Mother."
Draco's mother shook her manicured finger at him, an action quite undercut by the smile she had.
"You will be careful this year, I mean it darling. If I receive a single message from Severus about basilisks, or any other madness, I will take you straight back to Italy and lock you in a basement. Understood?"
Draco would have rolled his eyes, but he refrained as he knew his mother would just scold him for that as well.
But honestly. The basilisk had been one time. As if he was supposed to let Harry take Ron to chase down the monster by themselves?
"I love you," Draco said instead. He gave his mother a tight hug, a bit desperately as he worried about her safety since they left the manor. "You'll be in the same place as before?" he asked her cryptically.
"Of course." Draco's mother caressed his cheek for a moment before giving him a gentle push towards the train. "Go now Dragon, go find your friends. I love you."
Draco gave his mother a last smile before he slowly sauntered towards the train. He wanted to run, pushing between the crowd, as many other students did. But 'traitor' or not, Draco would never disappoint his father with such behavior.
Though he did yell once he spotted a group of redheads, "Weasley!"
Ron, and his brothers, all three turned around. Only Ron smiled over at his friend though.
"Hey mate," he slung an awkwardly long arm over Draco's shoulders. "You miss me?" he joked.
"Like an infected wound," Draco said drily. Truthfully, he had missed Ron rather more than he had expected. But as the adults in the Weasley family were cozying up to Dumbledore in the Black family home, get togethers hadn't been possible much this past summer.
"Ready to go then?" Ron asked. "Blaise, Luna, and Nev just went to find us a compartment. I haven't seen Theo, Hermione, Susan, or Harry yet." One of the Twins, Fred probably, picked his head up and looked around the platform with dopey hope in his eyes at Harry's name.
"I'm sure they're together, wherever they are." Draco rolled his eyes at Fred, not that he saw as he was probably looking for Harry.
It was pathetic.
"You look ridiculous," he told him. "Harry's never going to take you back if you keep acting so heartbroken."
"He is heartbroken you arse," the other twin, George, snapped. "Lay off."
"Fine." Draco turned his head and scoffed. "Feel free to keep looking so pathetic, I'm sure Harry will love it." He turned on his heel and strode off to the train, Ron slinking up beside him.
"You didn't have to be so hateful," he muttered. "Fred's having a rough go."
"And it's only going to be rougher if he doesn't get it together," Draco said. "Think about it; do you think Harry wants to see him looking so sad all the time? No. If Fred ever wants to win Harry back, he has to do it however he did it the first time."
Which, in Draco's opinion, must have been an absolute miracle. Because Harry was powerful, brilliant, cunning, and destined to kill a Dark Lord.
Fred was...
Well, Draco wasn't sure what Harry saw in Fred. He certainly wasn't Draco's type. Not like...
"Hello boys."
Draco valiantly fought down the blush that wanted to appear in his pale cheeks as Luna stuck her head out of a compartment and smiled merrily at them.
"Hey Luna," Ron smiled back at the younger witch. "Anyone ever find the rest of the gang?"
"Hermione, Susan, and Harry had to go to a prefects meeting," she said. "But I did find Theo, I think he's a bit traumatized at losing Hermione."
"I am not," Theo denied hotly as Ron and Draco entered the compartment. "And she's not 'lost' Lue, she's at a meeting. It's fine."
"He's jealous," Luna sang softly in Draco's ear.
Normally, Draco would love to jump in on teasing Theo, who did actually look jealous, with Luna. But he was mad at Luna. So he wouldn't.
"How was your summer?" he asked Theo, turning his back to Luna.
"Terrible," Theo sighed and slumped down. "I really think Harry might accidentally kill me next summer."
Ron and Blaise laughed, but Draco and Neville gave Theo sympathetic looks.
Draco had no idea how Luna responded because he was not speaking to her. Or looking at her. If she didn't want to answer his letter, then he could pretend she was merely a ghost.
"You could come stay with us in Italy if you'd like," Draco offered Theo. He thought Harry was a bit mad, so if Theo was worried about his safety, it probably wasn't without due cause. "It's beautiful there."
"I'm not moving," Theo scowled. "I'm just saying maybe you could tell your father not to keep buying Harry weapons. Did you know he has a bloody king cobra snake now?!"
Draco did not know that. But now that he did, he looked around the compartment eagerly for a sign of it. Harry probably had it on him though... Draco would if he had such a unique and powerful pet.
"Did he bring it?" Neville asked, his eyes wide and worried. "Snape's going to kill him."
"Snape told him he couldn't bring it unless he found a good way to hide it, and last I saw it was still in our room. But you know Harry," Theo crossed his arms and furrowed his brows in irritation. "It'll probably be our new dorm mate by the end of term."
"You think he'll put it in our room?" Ron gulped.
"Ooh, I hope so." Draco felt a bit wistful at the idea of the fifth year boys having such an amazing creature nearby to study. "And Harry can translate our conversations! We could actually talk to a snake!"
Ron, Blaise, and Theo did not share Draco's enthusiasm. Which was fine. Because Luna would.
"Luna-" Draco cut himself off as he spun in his seat to pull Luna in to the conversation.
In his momentary excitement about the snake, he nearly forgot that he wasn't speaking to Luna.
"Nevermind then," Draco scowled. "Neville how was your summer?"
The six of them settled comfortably as they talked, and laughed, and discussed their summers. It was different without part of their group, particularly without Harry being there, but not in a bad way. Just different. Perhaps a bit quieter? Or calmer?
At a minimum, wen the trolley lady stopped by, with Harry being at his meeting still, they were able to purchase candies for the first time ever. The trolley lady looked around their compartment suspiciously before she offered it to them though, which Draco found to be rude and Neville thought was hilarious.
Ron and Blaise were in the middle of a contest to see who could land the most beans in Neville's open mouth (Blaise was winning) when the new prefects finally returned.
"She sold you guys candy?" Harry asked incredulously, his eyes on the pile of sweets they still had.
"They didn't threaten her at wand point first year," Susan said. She sat down on the floor beside Luna and immediately grabbed a pumpkin pastry.
"Merlin, she holds a grudge, doesn't she?" Harry laughed and moved to the same seat he's rode in every year so far.
"Well! Tell us about the meeting!" Blaise cried with a blinding smile. "Prefects Potter, Bones, and Granger."
"And tell us how Susan and Harry got the badges," Ron smirked. "Worst troublemakers in the school they are."
"Me?" Harry blinked at Ron innocently. "Harry Potter? The Boy Who Lived? Special Services Award holder? Triwizard Champion? Order of Merlin Second Class? Can't imagine what you mean by 'troublemaker'."
"You, Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived, who broke in to a chamber to stab a basilisk with a sword, who got in a contest despite being too young, who killed a man in a graveyard and stole his knife. Yes, you," Hermione ticked off each of Harry's counter-actions and their gang laughed as Harry conceded the point with a shrug and a snatch of a chocolate frog.
"Who else got it?" Theo asked Hermione. Draco turned his head as the two of them snuggled on the bench. He wished they would show a little bit more class, their whole 'terrifically in love' bit could be exhausting. Unfortunately, when he turned his head away from Theo and Hermione, he saw Luna.
Who he was no longer speaking to.
"Harry and Daphne Greengrass for Slytherin, me and Anthony Goldstein for Ravenclaw, Susan and Ernie Macmillan-"
"Ugh, not that git," Ron groaned.
"I know," Harry rolled his eyes. "But he won't even talk around me, will he? You should have seen his face when I walked in." The rest of them chuckled and then Hermione finished her list.
"And Dean Thomas and Lavender Brown for Gryffindor."
"Why couldn't McGonagall have picked Neville?" Draco scowled. "Thomas is an idiot."
"Dumbledore picked," Theo said quietly.
"No, the heads of houses did," Harry told him.
Theo didn't argue, but Draco had a feeling that perhaps Theo knew more than Harry did.
Draco sat in his usual spot at the Slytherin table that night, rolling his eyes with Ron at how Harry had proudly pinned both his prefect badge and his team captain badge to the front of his robes.
"I'm surprised he didn't wear his Order of Merlin," Draco snickered quietly.
Not quietly enough apparently.
"You're just jeaaaalous," Susan sang. "Green clashes with your hair darling."
Harry and the others chuckled at that, but Draco thought Harry looked a bit distracted. His eyes kept roaming over to the Gryffindor table; probably searching for his ex-Weasley.
Not that Draco noticed, because he was trying very hard not to look at Harry since Luna was laying on his shoulder.
Which was fine.
Draco should have expected that.
Luna was beautiful and brilliant in her own way. She was gentle and loved animals and always wrote long letters to Draco in the summer about different animals she was researching. His mother was mad about her and kept saying Luna was the next Marie Lenormand, who Draco didn't know. But Luna was incredible.
So it made sense that she would choose Harry.
Harry was handsome, he had a dangerous sort of aura that Draco knew most of their classmates found both terrifying and magnetic, Harry was witty, and powerful. And one day he'd probably be the Minister of Magic and Luna would be Mrs Potter and Draco would have to give a speech at the wedding.
And that was fine.
He knew when he heard that Harry and Weasley broke up that people were going to throw themselves at Harry, he just hadn't expected it to be Luna.
But it was FINE. Draco was a Malfoy. He would find a different witch.
Or wizard even. His mother and Blaise's mother spent a whole month over the summer discussing 'the changing times'.
So... fine. It was fine.
Draco listened as Dumbledore stepped up to the podium and welcomed them all back. Harry gave them all a pointed look and they followed his lead, clapping politely at the appointment of Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor.
"She works for Fudge," Ron told him in a whisper.
"I know that," Draco hissed back.
The two of them rolled their eyes when Dumbledore started to talk about 'the dark times ahead of them'. Though, Draco did perk up when Umbridge interrupted Dumbledore's speech with a little *hem hem*.
Their group all sat up and watched as the squat, and terribly dressed (Merlin his eyes were burning from all the clashing shades of pink this witch wore), woman stepped up to the podium, clearly intending to give a speech.
"Welcome!" she cried out with what Draco was pretty sure was fake cheer. "It is so wonderful to see all your bright and happy little faces looking up at me!"
Neville choked on his own saliva, and Ron and Blaise ducked their heads to avoid being caught giggling.
Draco kept up a polite mask of interest, because he wasn't a child.
"I am so happy to be your new professor," Umbridge said. "Minister Fudge selected me himself-"
Harry smirked and Draco was pretty sure that meant that he had a role in her appointment, but Draco wasn't going to ask him because Luna was whispering in his ear.
Does nobody understand the proper decorum of keeping your relationship private?!
"- and he wanted me to come here and ensure that you all are receiving the best possible education," Umbridge smiled across the hall. "Although each Headmaster has brought something new to this historic school," she nodded at Dumbledore, who Draco was surprised to see nod back since it definitely sounded like she was insulting him in the same way his mother sometimes said someone 'looked nice', "progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited."
Draco and the others clapped politely again as she sat down and Dumbledore stood back up.
"What's her deal then?" Theo asked Harry quietly as Dumbledore blustered on.
"She wants rid of Dumbledore," Harry whispered. "Same as the rest of us."
"Think she'll kill him or fire him?" Susan asked.
"Probably fire him," Hermione said thoughtfully. "I'm sure the ministry isn't going to outright kill the headmaster."
"Shame," Susan said airily. "Harry and I are going to kill loads of people when we're in charge, if Dumbledore's still around then he's first on the list."
Draco sometimes regrets having his first kiss with Susan Bones. He was glad it never went past that one date, she had a future about as romantic as the Contessa Zabini did, and Draco wanted no part in that.
When the feast finally began, the nine of them bent their heads together and talked about the first step in what Hermione termed 'Operation Recruit Slytherin's' as they ate.
They had debated on just allowing someone to challenge Harry, but he'd already been challenged loads of times. Last year he was even challenged multiple times by pairs.
And he had to make a strong showing tonight.
"What about the rest of us?" Neville asked Harry quietly. "Wouldn't it be good to show that your allies are strong too? So people feel like they'd be joining a team filled with powerful people?"
Ron's eyes lit up the same way they once had when he'd suggested they go flying over the pond at Draco's manor one summer.
"I have a great idea," he said. He waved his spoonful of pudding at the others and bent closer, "Listen..."
"This is the worst idea you have ever had," Draco hissed at Ron. Ron, idiot that he was, just grinned and shrugged.
"Is not," he said. "Remember last summer? When I said you should eat that candy from George?"
"And my hair was purple for days!" Draco wailed. "You're right, that was a worse idea."
"I'm inclined to disagree," Blaise whispered.
"Shh, here we go." Theo's eyes were glittering with anticipation as they called for duels and Harry immediately stepped forward.
"I've got something to say before I call for a duel," he said. Harry had his hands in his trouser pockets and a cocky grin on his face. "A lot of you guys know what's going on, you know who's out there. But you should know this-" Harry paused, bloody dramatic prat, and let his eyes linger on each and every student who was hanging on his every syllable.
"You should know I'm going to win. I'm on my own side, I follow nobody and I'm losing to nobody. Any of you could fight me about it if you wanted, and you'd lose, or you can watch me duel and decide whose side you want to be on in future fights."
Nobody said anything, a lot of the older students, who Draco knew had families on Timmy's side, shifted uncomfortably, but they didn't speak up so Harry nodded.
"Come talk to me if you want to be on the winning side. Because I'm not likely to forget it if you go against me, am I?" Harry grinned as if everyone in the room was his dearest friend who he wasn't directly threatening before he shrugged. "I challenge Draco, Theo, Ron, and Blaise."
"But-" some scrawny second year with big green eyes stared up at Harry in surprise. "I thought they were your friends?"
"They are," Harry told him in the nicest tone Draco has ever heard him use. "But they're not going to hold back, are they?" he gave the four of them sharp looks.
"I'm certainly not," Theo drawled.
Blaise chuckled and pulled his wand, "A free shot to curse you? I'd never pass."
The little second year puffed his chest out and smiled up at Harry with nothing less than hero-worship in his eyes. "Then I'll be your second."
Draco and Ron snickered at the kid, but Harry just gave him a shockingly nice smile.
"Suppose you lot don't need a fifth?" he drawled over at them.
"So he can embarrass a fifth person? No," Draco muttered to Ron who nodded in agreement.
"I think we'll manage," Blaise smirked.
"Brill." Harry flashed a white smile and cocked his head at the seventh year prefect. "We're ready then."
The boys all got in position; Draco, Ron, Theo, and Blaise on one side, Harry on the other. The four of them shared weary looks, but they'd all agreed to Ron's idea of 'making a show of power' and they weren't going to back down now. Even if Harry standing across from them with a smirk and empty hands made a rather intimidating image.
"BEGIN!"
Draco immediately cast a jelly-legs jinx at Harry. Ron sent a neat bat-bogey hex his sister taught him. Theo cried 'CRUICO!' which made Draco question if he'd ever truly wanted a brother or not because he was beginning to think it was best he was an only child. And Blaise just danced to the side, watching carefully as Harry dodged the other spells.
"C'mon then," Harry taunted them with a mocking smile. "Show them why you're in the gang. Show them why we're going to win."
Draco loved Harry. Harry was one of the most important people in his life.
But sometimes Draco also thought he was a prat and wished he wasn't always so confident.
If Draco couldn't be that confident all the time, how come Harry could?
He threw himself in the duel, easily pairing up with Ron to lobby spells at Harry. Ron was excellent at shields, and Draco knew quite a few more curses than he did, so it was effortless to team up.
Harry dodged, ducked, dispelled, and danced out of the way of every single bloody curse that was sent his way.
It was actually unfair that Harry got trained personally by Uncle Sev. Nobody had the right to be this hard to hurt.
Blaise and Theo were firing spells consistently as well, all of them trying to watch which way Harry moved so they could aim in that direction, but it seemed like Harry had learned from his mistake since the first private lesson Uncle Sev gave them. Draco landed one curse on Harry's chest, Ron whispered 'good one', but Draco had been aiming for his head, so it wasn't really that great.
Blaise was a decent dueler, not as good as Harry, but respectable enough. He moved smoothly, never being hit with any of the playful spells Harry sent at him, but not landing any of his own either.
"Sorry guys," Harry eventually laughed and raised his hands after ducking a stunning spell from Theo. "Don't hate me, yeah?"
Draco already hated him a little bit. Harry was everything he'd always wanted to be. And he was pretty sure Harry was about to make him look like a fool in front of their housemates.
And he did.
Harry kept laughing, showing the others how easy this was to him, just a game to be won, and began disarming them one by one.
Theo and Draco increased their attacks as Ron was quickly disarmed and levitated up in the air. The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder and fired quickly, never letting up once.
Harry glanced around the room one time before fixing his eyes on Draco, "Give me your wand and go sit down."
Draco's mind went blissfully blank.
Just give him your wand. Easy. Then you can sit down. You're tired, aren't you? Give him your wand.
It's my wand though? Why would I give it to him?
Because Harry's your friend. He just wants your wand. Give it to him so you can sit down.
Harry has his own wand?
GIVE HIM THE WAND.
Draco danced right out in front of Blaise's jinx aimed at Harry, barely avoiding being hit, and handed Harry his wand.
"I'm going to sit down now." Draco could hear his own voice, could sense his body moving, but it was like he was on the outside of his body just watching, not in control. He moved to the edge of the circle and sat down.
"You can't imperio my teammate!" Theo yelled at Harry. "You fucking git!"
"Clearly I just did," Harry drawled. "Hey actually-"
Harry flicked his wrist up and caught Blaise's wand, then flicked it to the side and flung Blaise in to the wall of the dome.
"Imperio me Theo," Harry said. "I want them to see this."
Theo scowled, but must have sensed his inevitable defeat, "IMPERIO!" he cried.
The Slytherin's all watched as the spell made contact with Harry.
"Do a backflip," Theo said drily.
"Nope."
Many of the older Slytherin's, the ones who had seen the Unforgiveable used in real life, sucked in shocked hisses of air. Harry stood there, a bored look on his face, as he pushed his hair back and ruffled it a bit.
"Sorry Theo," he said before he quickly levitated him next to Ron and danced up to him and snagged his wand right from his hand. Theo snarled a bit, but Harry just grinned.
Harry turned around and quirked an eyebrow at the prefect until she sighed, "Winner- Potter!"
The little second year, Bailey Draco was mostly confident, cheered and clapped, but this time Harry ignored him.
"This-" Harry waved his hand out to Ron and Theo, hanging in the air, and to where Draco and Blaise had scrambled to their feet; Draco's face was pink with embarrassment, but Blaise had a cocky sort of half-smile which was ridiculous because they'd just lost. "-Is what I can do," Harry said. "You could challenge me, and you'd lose, or you could join me, and win."
Harry released Theo and Ron without even turning to look at them, and Draco shivered at the power that he could feel Harry forcing in to the room.
Intentional or not, it was impressive.
"I dueled your 'Dark Lord' in June," he said. His voice was loud, confident, arrogant; exactly how a leader should sound in Draco's opinion. "And you'll notice I wasn't hurt, was I? I'm going to kill him," he stated it flatly, a fact, not just an opinion. "And if you guys join him, any of you, then I'm going to kill you too."
Another flatly spoken opinion.
One that would have had Draco scrambling to join him if he wasn't already Harry's friend and ally.
"You expect us to go against our families?" One of the Carrow twins asked in a scathing tone. "For what? For you?"
"Nope." Harry smiled at her, no longer trying to charm them to his side, instead he was showing them a bit of who Draco knew he was; a powerful, unforgiving, survivor who would probably outlive every person in that room. "Don't go against your families for me, do it for yourself."
Harry shrugged and stuck his hands in his pockets, "If you want to be free anyway."
When Harry swaggered to the dormitory, Draco and Ron waited behind him to start making a list of people who wanted to offer alliances to Harry.
"We did it," Ron said victoriously as they counted the dozen Slytherin's who already wanted Harry to let them join him.
"We did," Draco said. He may not be Harry Potter, and he may not be a confident, powerful, incredible leader, but he was still an important piece in the upcoming games. He was part of the original gang, and Harry had clapped him on the shoulder that night and said 'what would I do without you Dray?' and Draco beamed at his own irreplaceability.
Though, as pleased as he had been when he went to sleep, at breakfast the next morning, Draco was in a bad mood. His head had ached fiercely this morning, probably a side effect from the bloody Imperius Curse. Theo gave him a pain relieving potion, but it didn't help and it was making Draco miserable.
His classes today were a nightmare.
He hadn't heard from his father in weeks.
AND his hair was a mess.
All in all, Draco thought it might be the worst first day of school ever.
He compensated for his bad mood by scowling at his friends and vehemently denying being in a bad mood. He did take comfort in a short note he got from his mother, alerting him to her safe return to Blaise's villa in Italy.
That was something at least.
But when Luna ran up to his side at the bell signaling the start of classes, the relief he felt at his mother's safety devolved in to an annoying mixture of embarrassment, jealousy, and... and probably sadness, but he wasn't going to admit that.
Not even to himself.
"Are you mad at me?" Luna asked him. Her silver eyes were round and shining brightly as she stared curiously up at him. Draco scowled, before signing and shaking his head slightly.
"No," he said, with what he was pretty sure was complete honestly. "I'm not mad at you."
If Luna didn't want to court, that was her choice. She clearly preferred Harry. And who wouldn't? Who would give Draco a second glance when he was always going to be compared to his best friend?
"Good." Luna smiled at him, warming his chest and making his stomach flutter. "Because I forgot to send this to you over the summer. I went to do it one morning, but you know how the brismouths can be."
Luna handed him a neatly folded square of parchment then startled him with a quick peck on his cheek before waltzing away to her first hour potions class. Draco stared after her for a moment, his empty hand touching the spot she kissed him, before he shook his head and slowly unfolded the parchment.
Draco, I don't really understand wizarding courting, but if it's anything like pixie courting then I would be more than happy to do it with you.
I also don't really understand why you've asked me of all people, but I'm very happy you did.
Love, Luna
She forgot to send back her acceptance of his courtship?!
Merlin.
Draco walked to runes with a small smile on his face, despite how much he tried to hold up his 'I am better than you' Malfoy mask.
He thought this might be the greatest first day of school ever.