The Tragic Tale of the Boy Who Lived and the Boy Who Wanted to Die [ON HIATUS]

He still felt extremely guilty about the diary situation, but decided to stick it into the back of his mind as he boarded the Hogwarts express. He sat down in his usual compartment and waited for the rest of his friends. Blaise had already been dropped off by his mother.

“You know how she is, she has a coffee date with some new guy at 11:30, so she couldn’t stick around.” Outside of the window, he noticed the Weasleys arrive with Potter and Granger, and they all started boarding the train. Draco had assumed Ginny would sit with them, but she only poked her head in to say hello.

“Mum and Dad aren’t very pleased I made it into Slytherin, you see. Not that I won’t hang out with you guys anymore, but Mum might just lose it if she sees me sitting with you. I’m going to sit with my friend Luna Lovegood, down towards the end of the train. She’s a Ravenclaw. We’ll probably come sit with you guys later.” She looked much happier than she had at the end of last year, and she seemed a bit more confident now that she wasn’t being possessed by the Dark Lord.

This fact slightly eased the part of Draco’s mind that was still going on about the diary, but he also couldn’t help but wonder if she was avoiding him because of it. He’d hardly noticed Theo walking in until Blaise said,

“Draco, are you gonna say hello or not?”

“Sorry, sorry. Hello, Theo.”

“Hi, Draco. Did you get my postcard?” As it turns out, he had the time of his life in France, doing everything from seeing the ocean to visiting the Eiffel Tower. Draco couldn’t help but wish he had been in France with Theo, instead of Wiltshire by himself. He honestly thought that anywhere would have been better

The train left the station, and they all assumed that Daphne and Pansy were on their way. They probably decided to sit with some other Slytherins before coming and joining them. Crabbe and Goyle had decided to sit with Millicent Bullstrode and Tracy Davis, two Slytherin girls who they had become acquainted with the previous year.

“What did you do this summer, Draco?” He asked eagerly. Draco really didn’t want to bore him, so he just said,

“Oh, nothing much. I flew around on my broom a bit, practised for Quidditch this year. Are either of you planning on trying out for the team?” Blaise had ambitions to become a Chaser this year, but Theo wasn’t into sports very much.

“No, I’d rather focus on the new subjects I’m taking then make time for Qudditch. I’m taking Arithmancy, Divination, and Ancient Runes, how about you guys?”

“Oh, I’m taking Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures.” said Draco. He wanted to take more, but his schedule wouldn’t allow it. He heard that Hermione Granger had somehow managed to fit every single extra class into her schedule, and despite her being, well, her, he still wanted to find out how she managed it.

“I’m taking Divination and Arithmancy. I couldn’t manage that many classes, especially with Quidditch practice. If I make it on the team.” Blaise looked at Draco, but before he could respond, Pansy and Daphne burst into the compartment.

“There you guys are! We were looking for you.” The two girls sat down, and they continued talking about schedules.

“As I was about to say, Blaise, I think I can manage all my classes with Quidditch perfectly fine. I’ve always been somewhat of an, if I may, an overachiever.”

“Yeah, getting your dad to do all the work for you so you can just sit back and relax while also getting everything you want is over the top.” Daphne laughed. Draco often spoke highly of his father in the presence of others, the only person who knew how much of a douchebag he really is was Theo. Draco laughed along with the others, however, and Pansy pitched in.

“Daphne, you’re forgetting the most important thing he does.”

“And what's that?”

“Bleach his hair to make sure he looks stunning for Potter.”

“I do not have a crush on Potter! Or bleach my hair!” Draco cried out, exasperated. Not this again, he thought, I am not in love with Potter! Can’t they give it a rest? Sure, he didn’t hate him as much as he made it seem, but he definitely didn’t like him.

Of course, most of what Draco thought of people was kept strictly to himself. He would see what people expected of him, and would make sure he lived up to it. If his friends thought that he wanted Potter dead, he would tell them he wanted Potter dead. He knew his friends didn’t actually think he was in love with Potter, but he still found it quite annoying when they would say that. If anything, he was jealous of Potter, for all the attention he got.

“Oh please, Draco, what about all the, ‘ooh, look, my broomstick is so much better than Potter’s, oh, look, there’s Potter sitting over there, I’m gonna go annoy him for no reason!’ You definitely have a thing for him.” Draco rolled his eyes, and then decided to try and change the subject, to no avail.

“Did you know that-”

“Oh stop trying to change the subject, you always do that!” Pansy called out. Suddenly, the train started to slow down.

“But we can’t be there yet?” Theo said, and sure enough, it wasn’t time for them to be at Hogwarts yet.

“I’ll check outside-” Draco started, but then it went pitch black. The five of them lit up their wands just in time to hear their door open. Luckily, it was only Ginny and another girl, who must have been Luna.

“Hello! Quite odd for the train to be stopped now, isn't it? We must have broken down.” Luna’s voice had a dreamy quality to it, and she seemed quite undisturbed by the sudden power outage. She had waist-length dirty blonde hair, and bright blue eyes.

“Yeah, odd is one word for it.” Theo said as Ginny and Luna took their seats. They sat in silence for a minute, and none of them wanted to be the ones to break it. Then, the door slid open again. But this time, it wasn’t a person standing there.