Starfall

1991 - Summer

Draco’s eleventh birthday came and went, and then it was July. Regulus had spent much of the past few years working tirelessly with his Arcturus to gather the families who shared similar views to them, no matter what alignment they were.

The only Light family who was a part of the coalition—and probably the only to ever join, at this point—was the Prewetts. Lucretia’s husband, Ignatius, was the current Lord of the house, and he was agreeable to form a group to present a unified front against those who, like Dumbledore, thought that the old ways and dark magic were evil.

Yes, a lot of dark magic spells could be used to hurt, but an equal amount could be used to protect and heal. Take blood magic for example. Blood in the wrong hands could be used to curse or injure someone, but it could also be used to heal. Blood healing was better than most other forms of healing, in fact, and Regulus thought that many lives could be saved if it wasn’t banned.

The alliance so far consisted of the Prewett, Greengrass, Rosier, Nott, Malfoy, and the Black families. They had managed to keep the alliance relatively unknown, wanting to wait for the perfect time to reveal it.

A side effect of this was that Draco had grown up alongside several of the heirs to these families. 

Daphne Greengrass was cold, but she and Draco were best friends, while when Theodore Nott came over they mostly spent the day reading or talking about what they were learning or what they were interested in.

Sadly, Draco was the only one who liked playing quidditch, but he still managed to convince Daphne and Theo to play sometimes as they both liked flying well enough. 

Luna kept to herself for the most part, the only time she really met with Draco’s other friends was his birthday.

Speaking of Luna, the past year had been a bit of a mess. Pandora and Xenophilius had started arguing over the best way to raise Luna, Xeno had wanted her to be homeschooled—which Regulus didn’t necessarily have anything against—while Pandora had wanted her to go to Hogwarts like they themselves had.

Regulus could understand Xenophilius’ line of thought, Luna was more likely to be discovered as a seer if she went to Hogwarts, but at the same time, Draco would be going and Regulus didn’t think they could bear to be apart for so long. 

It had come to a head eventually, and Xeno had started yelling at Pandora. That was the one thing they had never done, and as such Pandora had filed for divorce. She hated people yelling at her, and she knew that her husband knew that.

In the end, Pandora had gotten full custody of Luna, as Xenophilius really didn’t make enough money through the Quibbler to support both himself and her, but Luna still visited him somewhat regularly.

At the moment, Regulus was sitting in the front room of Malfoy Manor alongside Draco and Luna, babysitting them while Pandora went to work at the department of mysteries—she had gotten a job there as an Unspeakable after the divorce, Cassiopeia had recommended her as a former Unspeakable herself—and the Malfoys were at a Wizengamot session.

Regulus looked up from his book when he heard the tap tap tap of an owl’s talons on the window he was sitting beside. 

The two kids looked up as well, and Draco squealed. “Is it my letter? It should be here about now, and I don’t recognize the owl.”

Regulus chuckled slightly. He remembered being just as excited when he received his own letter, except he had to hide that fact as his Mother would find it ‘improper’ to be bouncing around as Draco now was.

He stood, stretching, before opening the latch of the window and sliding it open. The owl dropped the letter into Regulus’ waiting hand before taking flight once more.

“Here you go, Draco. It’s your’s.”

Luna squealed again. “Open it, Dray! I can’t wait to see, I wonder what books you’ll need. The nargles aren’t saying anything. Do you know who will be teaching Draco defense this year, uncle Reg?” Her voice was excited and Draco rolled his eyes.

“I’m working on it, Lu. It takes more than a couple seconds to open a letter.”

Regulus watched as the boy slid open the envelope, pulling out the letter that sat within and unfolding it.

Luna was peeking over her cousin’s shoulder to read, and Regulus joined her. The letter read as follows:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely, 

Minerva Mcgonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Regulus smiled down at his little cousin. “Your parents should be home sometime in the next hour, we’ll tell them then and plan a trip to Diagon. For now, hold onto that letter and don’t lose it, we’ll need the list as they can never seem to keep it the same. Honestly, why they don’t just have set books for each year I will never understand.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “It’s because the Defense teacher never lasts longer than a year.”

“But they change the other books sometimes as well, Draco. It’s not just Defense. Plus, if they had a set book to teach out of, maybe people would actually learn things in that class. This year won’t be great anyway. I recommend skipping all the classes to get away from the stutter.” Luna was staring at the wall blankly, and the two boys simply nodded.

“That sounds great Luna. Draco, definitely don’t skip classes no matter what your insane cousin says.”

“I’m not insane.”

“She’s not insane.”

Regulus sighed. “I know. You seem like you are sometimes though, Luna dear. You really need to work on it a bit.”

The ten year old pouted. “But the nargles tell me helpful stuff! Why can’t I tell people?”

They had explained this to her many times in the past, but it had never seemed to quite sink in.

“Most people aren’t able to hear them, little moon. They’ll think you’re crazy and avoid you.”

Draco nodded. “I can’t hear them, but I think it’s wonderful that you can. But I agree with Uncle Reggie, other people might not like it.”

Luna frowned. “Alright, I guess I can try to avoid it a bit.”

Regulus just shook his head, a small smile on his face. “You do that.” He knew she probably wouldn’t do what she had said, but at least she had told him that she would try.

~

They arranged to go to Diagon Alley at the end of July. That way Draco had plenty of time after recieving his books to look through them before school.

They apparated into the small back area of the Leaky Cauldron, and Lucius pulled out his wand and tapped the bricks. Draco watched, somewhat bored, as it folded open. He had visited the Alley many times in the past, and he had lost interest in the awe of the magic by now.

It was early, most of the shops along the street were just opening up for the day, but that meant that the street was remarkably less busy than it would be in an hour or two.

Draco pulled his list of school supplies from his pocket. When he had first read over it he had laughed slightly at the required books and other materials. It was the bare necessities for a year at Hogwarts.

“Well, I’m bringing Rex with me, so that’s a pet taken care of. Do we need to stop by Gringotts at all today?”

His mother shook her head. “No. We can get straight to shopping, little Dragon.”

He nodded. “Let’s go get all the random stuff like a cauldron and telescope first then. I want to get my wand last, since I don’t know how long it’ll take, and I want to probably get robes right before that for the same reason.”

Lucius smiled down at him from where he stood to his left, holding the younger boy’s hand.

~

It took them a little over an hour to get everything. They had stopped at the apothecary for longer than they had meant to, as they had to argue with the owners of the shop over the price of the first year ingredient bundle, which was overpriced and they could tell.

It wasn’t that they didn’t have the money to buy it, it was that the man who was in charge obviously recognized them and knew that they had money, and so had tried to scam them for more money.

So finally, an hour before lunch, the trio split up. Draco waved to his parents as he entered Madam Malkin’s Robes for all Occasions, seeing his father enter the building beside the robe shop to get books at Flourish and Blotts, and his mother make her way up the street to Olivanders to begin finding some of the basic wands that might work for Draco.

The woman—Madam Malkin, he assumed—was pushy and overbearing, prodding Draco up onto a stand and poking him with her needle on occasion.

He heard the bell at the front of the shop ring, and Draco saw Madam Malkin ushering him in and onto the platform beside him.

He was a small, dark haired boy, with old glasses bound together by tape and clothes that were a couple sizes too big for him. Draco found it unfair how the woman immediately began working on this other boy’s robes, leaving Draco’s to hang on him half pinned.

He had been here first, why was this other random boy, who was probably muggle-born, getting served first? Draco had been here for at least a quarter of an hour before he came in.

He sighed under his breath. “Hello. Hogwarts too?”

It was a slightly stupid question, as Draco had seen him already confirm with the older woman that he was there for Hogwarts robes, but he wanted to talk to someone at least while he stood absolutely still.

“Yes.” 

Draco withheld a sigh. Didn’t this boy know that to have a conversation you had to say more than a simple ‘yes’ in response to a question? Maybe ask one of your own?

Oh well. Might as well keep trying.

“My father’s next door buying my books and mother’s up the street looking at wands.” He drawled slightly, but, after all, he was slightly irritated at this point. “Then I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms, I don’t see why first years can’t have their own. I think I’ll bully my father into getting one and I’ll smuggle it in somehow.”

He said this last part jokingly. He really didn’t understand why an eleven year old couldn’t have a broom but a twelve year old could. After all, what was stopping them from borrowing someone else’s broom anyways? Or just one of the school ones?

And he never missed out on a chance to make fun of his father slightly. It wasn’t his fault that the older man looked like a kicked puppy whenever he was jokingly bullied. Draco found it quite funny, and so did Uncle Regulus.

“Have you got your own broom?” Draco doubted it, as he was seeming more and more muggle-born.

“No.”

“Play Quidditch at all?”

“No.” 

Definitely muggle-born. Draco kept going however, just to be sure. He wanted to know everything about everyone at Hogwarts if he could, and this was the start of that.

“I do—Father says it’s a crime if I’m not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you’ll be in yet?”

Draco was genuinely curious. He didn’t seem very Slytherin or Ravenclaw, but maybe he was and just wasn’t showing it here.

“No.”

Was this boy able to say anything other than ‘no’ and ‘yes?’ 

“Well, know one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been—imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?”

Draco shuddered at the thought of going into Hufflepuff, where everyone would want to be his friend, and know everything about him, and never leave him alone. He couldn’t bear the thought of it.

The other boy made some non-committal sound, but before Draco could say anything, he saw a huge man out the front window of the shop, holding to cones of ice cream and grinning at the other boy.

“That’s Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts.”

Draco racked his mind, he couldn’t recall Severus talking about any teacher named Hagrid… Hagrid! The half-giant groundskeeper.

“I’ve heard of him, he’s some kind of servant, isn’t he?”

“He’s the gamekeeper.” 

Draco withheld a snort. A gamekeeper? That wasn’t even an actual job title, just something Dumbledore made up. All he amounted to was a glorified servant.

The other boy was looking more offended, and Draco knew that he probably thought that Hagrid was a big friendly giant—except he probably didn’t know about the actual giant blood, as that was a closely guarded secret.

“Yes, exactly. I heard he’s some sort of savage, living in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk and tries to do magic, ending up setting his bed on fire.”

This also was true. His father had been called on as a notable member of the Board of Governers before when investigations started into Hagrid doing magic. Truth was, because of his giant blood, his magic was unstable and he would never be as great of a wizard as the average person.

The other boy’s voice was cold when he spoke. “I think he’s brilliant.”

Draco sneered. “Do you? Why is he with you? Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead.”

Draco stilled. “Sorry. But were they our kind?”

“They were a witch and a wizard, if that’s what you mean.”

Of course that’s what he meant. What else would Draco mean?

“I really don’t think they should let the other sort in, do you? They’re just not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways. I think they should just keep it in the wizarding families. What’s your surname anyways?”

Before the other boy could answer him, Madam Malkin finished up on his robes. “That's you done, my dear.”

As the boy hopped down from his small podium, Draco spoke one last time, trying not to let his irritation at Madam Malkin show. “Well, I’ll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose.”

The green eyed boy exited the shop, and Madam Malkin turned her attention to Draco once more.

~

It took another ten minutes for her to finish, and in that time his Father had shown up. “What took so long?” He spoke once they were back on the streets.

Draco sneered. “Another boy came in, she did his robes instead of mine despite me being there first. It’s so unfair, why couldn’t she just finish mine first?”

Lucius frowned. “That is odd. She should have done your’s first. Not much we can do about it now, however, and I believe that if we take any more time your mother is going to be quite concerned.”

Draco nodded, and they made their way up the street to Olivander’s.

The bell rang as they entered, and they saw Narcissa speaking to Mr. Olivander across the counter, a pile of wands already waiting for them.

“Ah! There you are, young Mr. Malfoy. Let’s see, your mother already filled me in on what was most likely to work, so start with these.” He gestures to the wand boxes that wee stacked.

Draco nodded, and set to work. It didn’t take long before he found one that worked.

“Hawthorn, unicorn hair, ten inches. Reasonably springy.”

Draco waved it, and felt a warmth spread up his arm and into his chest.

“Ah. There you go, that’ll be seven galleons.”

Lucius handed over the money, and they made their way out of the shop.

“Come along, Draco. We need to stop by Knockturn.”

Draco nodded, following them into the dark and dingy alleyway that twisted and turned like a snake.

After a couple of minutes of walking, his parents stopped.

“Here we are, the best wand shop in my opinion. They don’t add the trace to their wands, which is quite nice as well.”

His mother spoke, and they entered the old building. A middle aged woman sat behind the counter, and she looked up when they came in. 

“Ah. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, what can I do for you today?”

“We are here to get a wand for our son.”

She nodded. “Come along back here.” The room she led them to had a long table that spanned the room, with blocks of wood laid out on one side and small boxes on the other. “Run your hand along all the woods and boxes, and pull aside those that call to you.”

Draco moved forward. His mother and father had already filled him in on what the wand creation process included, and so he began. He ran his hand over the woods first and quickly pulled aside a pinkish-red wood.

He continued running his hands over the woods, and when he finished the woman smiled at him. “Try the boxes now, dearie.”

Draco stepped around the table and began. This time, he pulled aside not one but two boxes and set them beside the wood he had pulled out a few minutes earlier.

“Well, let’s see what you have.” The woman cracked open the boxes. “Demiguise hair and white river monster spine. Interesting. And cedar wood… these will make for a strong but rather elegant wand, suited for transfiguration, but subtle at the same time. I’d say by the combination of cores it will also be quite well suited to charms and runes.”

Narcissa smiled. “That’s well, Marya. Thank you for this. Regulus has white river monster spine as well, Draco. I have to say I can see the resemblance, you two are quite like each other.”

Marya smiled. “I’m sure. And I must remind you, despite me having an unbreakable vow in place to make sure no one hears of Regulus’ existence, anyone could overhear us so try not to mention him. The wand will be done in one week.”

They nodded to her, before stepping back out into the tight alleys of Knockturn alley.