Hogsmeade
Draco walked down Diagon Alley, after all it was the first time he had been there and as a fan it was a dream come true, he walked down the street full of shops and colorful windows where they sold various things, from books and robes to pets, the first time since he transmigrated to the book he was happy to be Malfoy, he had money to spare and he couldn't resist the temptation to buy everything that caught his eye. He bought a nice falcon feather, a notebook with a dark green cover, some sweets and some spell books, because although now that he had his own wand he should be able to perform magic correctly his level was still very low, it wasn't enough to know the spells he had to know the wand movements of each enchantment. After his purchases he finally went to the Leaky Cauldron to find Professor Snape.
— Well I thought you had gotten lost in Diagon Alley — Snape said with a frown. — But I see you were actually shopping.
— I don't usually come to Diagon Alley in the middle of term, I couldn't pass up that opportunity — Snape snorted.
— Spoiled brat…
Draco laughed and managed to see that Snape didn't really mean it, he was probably just making fun of him.
— Well let me see your new wand —Snape urged, extending his hand. Draco handed him his wand, Snape examined it with interest. — What's its core?
—Unicorn hair —Draco answered without hesitating for a second, even if it was a lie, but he wasn't sure to what extent he could trust Snape, he wouldn't reveal to him that his wand could actually be a copy of the Elder Wand, considering that that wand never existed in the canon of the book he didn't know what problems it could trigger.
—The same as your previous wand, right? —Snape asked, looking at him with some suspicion.
—Yes, only this one is made of fir wood and not hawthorn like the previous one —Draco answered calmly and feigning innocence he asked. —Is something wrong?
Snape looked at him for a while longer as he examined the wand, he had suspected that something was wrong with his godson weeks ago, and added to his brave act of saving Potter when he fell off his broom he even dared to think that it was someone else. But now he doubted his own suspicions, could it be that Draco simply stopped being a spoiled brat? If it really was someone else the core of the wand would be different, but it wasn't, he gave a resigned sigh giving the wand back to him.
— It's nothing, let's go back to school.
Draco nodded looking at Snape with some curiosity, why did the man have that look? Was he suspicious of him? He shook his head, it couldn't be possible in the books it was never said that Snape and Draco were really close and that could be the problem itself, he only had what he knew from the books. What if they were so close that Snape could recognize that he wasn't his godson beneath that mediocre act he was doing?
They returned to school using the floo powder, Draco was still thinking about it, in any case he seemed to have made the right decision in lying about the core of his wand, Snape didn't say much to him once they returned to Hogwarts and simply sent him out of his office. Draco returned to the common room, went straight to the boys' dormitory which luckily for him was empty, sat on the bed and examined his purchases, began to eat a chocolate frog while browsing through one of the titles he had bought seemed quite useful was a book with several spells and defense charms, but he couldn't really concentrate, the conversation he had with Snape kept going around in his head, the look of doubt and almost resignation of the man, was definitely not a mere favoritism, Draco and Snape really were close, he always thought that Draco's character had almost no development or in-depth description of what his life was like, but now he could think of maybe a younger Draco telling his problems to Snape, probably having him as a father figure and support, because Lucius Malfoy throughout the books did not show him much interest or affection, rather worried about his image and reviving Voldemort. He sighed and shook his head, he couldn't get emotional thinking about it now, his only duty at the moment was not to fall into the OOC until he got enough points to unlock that mode.
He left the dorm to take a walk around there after all he didn't have class due to the leave from the infirmary for the incident at the game a few days ago, in the hallway he met Harry, the boy stood still when he saw him, the people walking also turned around with interest maybe they expected Draco to make fun of Harry, in fact Harry himself was waiting for that, all week everyone had been making fun of him because of the dementors, even the Gryffindor people were making fun of him emphasizing that he surely looked so pathetic that Malfoy decided to save him, but the blond simply passed by barely looking at him.
Draco had set himself a rule not to interact with the protagonist unless the system demanded it and since the system didn't give him any notifications he decided to continue on his way to the library. Harry for his part hadn't even imagined the possibility of Malfoy not making fun of him, never in the three years they had been at Hogwarts had something like that happened, whenever they met they
ended up fighting, and what the hell was that look about? Draco looked at him almost with boredom as if to say "You're not worth my time"
— Malfoy really walked away?— Ron said to Harry with obvious surprise.
— Well it seems that even he gets tired of being an asshole, doesn't he?— Hermione mentioned without giving importance to the situation. "It would have been too much if he bothered you too, don't you think Harry?"
—Uh yeah, I guess… —Harry answered, coming out of his brief shock, but far from feeling relieved he was almost indignant at Malfoy's indifference when he saw him.
The following days Harry's irritation only worsened, how was it possible that Malfoy ignored him like that? It's not like he cared, of course not, but why beyond his brief interactions in potions and sarcastic comments he didn't do more?
Draco for his part had not received any more missions from the system, at that point he was just a common student worried about the end-of-term evaluations, with the new wand his grades in Transfiguration and Charms rose exponentially, it was not even noticeable that he didn't know magic at all, he also had to take care of making sarcastic comments from time to time so that the system didn't throw OOC although in reality he was already getting used to Draco's personality or rather imitating it, the system gave him points if his words or actions were 90% similar to those of the original Draco.
Once the exams were over, a trip to Hogsmeade was scheduled. Draco was internally very excited because it would be his first time in the village. On Saturday morning, when he was preparing to go to the village with his friends, the system interface appeared.
[New side quest: Explore the village!]
[The system is worried that the user will become idle while it is time to start the main plot, explore the village and get 10 B points]
[Accept] [Reject]
Draco looked at the system notification, it was complete nonsense, only 10 points, but well, he couldn't complain since he wouldn't actually reject the mission, it would be as if the system gave him 10
points. He looked at the word "Accept" for a while until the notification disappeared.
Draco continued as if nothing had happened on his way to Hogsmade with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and other kids whose names he didn't know. Once there they went to Honeydukes, the big Hogsmade candy store, there was everything from chocolates to floating ice cream, Draco hid his surprise while buying several sweets with the kids, someone bumped into him.
—Hey be careful... —he said with a frown, when he turned around he only saw a black-haired boy, he shrugged his shoulders and didn't give it any importance.
—Guys, do you think Sirius Black is really in Hogsmade? —Pansy asked with some nervousness.
—The ministry wouldn't have put dementors if it wasn't the case —Draco answered, the girl shrieked.
—What if he enters Hogwarts? —the girl asked scared.
—I don't think so —Crabbe said while eating jelly beans. —What could he want at school? Also, look at that sign.
Crabbe pointed to a sign behind Draco, the blond turned to see what it said.
“BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC Customers are reminded that until further notice Dementors will patrol the streets every night after sunset. This measure has been taken with the safety of the inhabitants of Hogsmeade in mind and will be lifted after the capture of Sirius Black. It is advisable, therefore, that citizens finish shopping well before nightfall.”
“Happy Easter!”
“Well, I don't think I can make it to school with all the Dementors around,” Goyle shrugged.
Pansy grabbed Draco's arm dramatically. The blond patted her on the head, as if she were a dog.
“There, there,” he said with a hint of mockery. Pansy pouted.
— Don't treat me like a dog! —Then don't act like a scared puppy when we all know you can take care of yourself pretty well.
—You're right, Draco —She said in a sing-song voice. —Besides I'm usually the one who takes care of you
Everyone laughed, Draco rolled his eyes, Pansy had a point, apparently the original Draco was very close to Pansy since they had known each other since they were little, they weren't ones to show much affection, but naturally they appreciated each other.
Outside the candy store it was snowing, the town looked like one of those images from Christmas cards, they walked through the snowy streets until it got too cold.
—How about we have something to drink? —Draco suggested, the others nodded shivering from the cold.
—Let's go drink butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks — Goyle suggested, everyone agreed and entered the crowded, but cozy tavern, they sat at a free table over there and Crabbe went to order the drinks, Draco noticed with interest how a while later Weasley, Granger and Harry entered the tavern.
When Crabbe returned with the drinks they continued talking about their plans for the holidays and Christmas.
—My parents are planning to travel to France for the holidays — Pansy mentioned.
—I'm going to go to Ireland to visit a great-aunt or something — Goyle commented downplaying it.
—My parents haven't decided where to travel this year yet — Crabbe added. — And you Draco? What are you doing for the holidays?
Draco, who until last night had been quite lost in his own thoughts, thought about it for a moment. He definitely wouldn't risk coming to Malfoy Manor and acting differently than the original Draco. He couldn't fool Draco's mother. Mothers usually know how to recognize their children and that would be a risk. He took a sip of his butterbeer.
—Mm, I think I'll stay at Hogwarts this year —he said shrugging.
—Again? —Pansy said. —What's so special about spending Christmas at school and not at home?
—Well, school is much quieter during the holidays… —he left the sentence hanging, the boys gave him a look of understanding. Then they continued talking about something else.
A few tables away Draco managed to make out several familiar figures, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Professor Flitwick and another man Draco couldn't recognize.
—Guys be discreet, two tables over is Professor McGonagall —he told the other Slytherins as if sharing a secret. —I wonder what they're talking about.
—It must be something serious for the Minister himself to be there —Crabbe said, taking a look.
—They're probably talking about Sirius Black, there's nothing else to talk about lately —Goyle said.
—Can we talk about how the Minister's suit is horrible? —Pansy intervened. — How stupid do you have to be to combine lime green with canary yellow?!
Everyone burst out laughing as Pansy continued to criticize the minister's outfit, and at some point Draco managed to see out of the corner of his eye a dark-haired boy with a Gryffindor scarf hurrying out of the tavern. From the way Weasley ran after him, he assumed it was Harry. He was quite curious about what could have made the dark-haired boy run away like that. He noticed that they were much closer to the table where the minister and the other teachers were sitting. He must have heard something interesting.