part 4
Draco is extremely excited.
Words cannot describe how happy he is to finally leave the stupid manor.
He knows very well that his father and mother were shielding him from quite a bit. He’s not dumb.
But now, he will finally get all his questions answered!
While he places the last jumper into his trunk, thoughts of excitement not fading away, Draco’s eyes wander to his makeup box which is so cleverly hidden within the bookshelf.
He stops and thinks. “I don’t know,” He says out loud.
Draco would really love to pack it, but it’s quite risky.
What if Crabbe and Goyle see it? Or even worse, Blaise and Theo.
They would undoubtedly snitch on him to his father.
And then his guarantee of living would be questioned after the punishment he would inevitably give me.
He tugs on his earlobe in frustration, a habit Draco picked up from his mother.
“Draco! We must leave soon darling! Better not miss the train!” Mother exclaims, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“I will be down shortly mother, just tidying my room a bit!”, Draco says back, fumbling like an idiot across the room.
Not thinking straight, he goes directly for the makeup box and stuffs the whole thing deep into his trunk.
“It’s for Pansy. Not me” Draco tells himself, even when he knows deep down that’s not true.
Gathering all his belongings, Draco takes a quick look around the room, sighing in anticipation and a little bit of fear.
“Well, it’s now or never.” Draco says to himself, finally closing his bedroom door. A whole new life has started.
**************
“I’ll write very often, please reply. Stay safe, and let your father and I know if anything happens. I love you always, my dragon.”, Narcissa said, holding Draco’s hand tenderly.
“Here I have something for you.” Narcissa places a beautiful gold bracelet in her son’s hand.
The bracelet, adorned with gems, looked as though a small snake wrapped itself around the blonde boy’s hand.
“Thank you mother! I love it. I’ll miss you terribly.” Draco says, wrapping himself around his mother’s torso.
Narcissa strokes her son’s hair lovingly, leaning down to whisper in his ear.
“This is not an ordinary bracelet, but I’ll tell you all about it when you’re a bit older.”
Draco started to protest when he noticed his father walking towards him.
“Best of luck Draco, I hope you will remember your mission.” Draco nodded.
“I’ve already told Vincent and Gregory to stay with you at all times to ensure your safety, but I trust that Theodore, Blaise, and Pansy will also look after you. Don’t do anything shameful, maintain your grades and your status. Well, off you go then Dragon. Myself and your mother will be eagerly awaiting your letters.”, Lucius says, leaning down to his son.
Draco grins, happy about both the minuscule show of affection from his father and the fact that Hogwarts is just a few hours away.
Bowing to his parents, Draco makes his way onto the train, his trunk already taken care of.
He passes through the train, quickly walking past the loud and noisy compartments.
Draco finally settles for a seemingly quiet compartment, opening the doors timidly.
Upon seeing two boys inside, Draco blushes and apologizes, about to turn around.
“Wait! Draco, right? You can sit here!”, one boy said, clearly flustered.
The blonde boy looks closer and immediately smiles. “You’re the boy from Madam Malkin’s, right?”, he says while taking a seat across from the two boys.
The dark haired boy nodded, happy that Draco recognized him.
“So, Draco. Ron here has told me about the houses. I personally have no idea what I will get into, do you have any clue?”
“Well, I read the descriptions of all the houses and I think Hufflepuff suits me best, but I’m probably going to get Slytherin just because of my family.”
The other boy who had flaming red hair looked up, suddenly interested.
“Wait a second. What was your last name again?”
“Oh. I guess we didn’t introduce ourselves yet. My name is Draco Malfoy, nice to meet you!”, Draco said, smiling at the red haired boy.
A look of disgust and fear came across the boy's face.
“Ron Weasley.”, he muttered, clearly displeased with this interaction.
“Oh! My father told me about the Weasley’s, said they were a bunch of blood traitors. I don’t even know what that means, but I don’t really care much. My father tends to hate EVERYONE.” Draco says, emphasizing the last word with annoyance. “I hope we can still be friends Ron!”
The red haired boy’s expression quickly shifted, looking touched with the blonde boy.
“Yeah of course mate! Thanks for not being an arsehole like your father.”
Draco giggled at that, causing both the boys' faces to redden.
The blonde boy turned to the dark haired boy, a smile still on his face.
“You know, I've never gotten your name! I just realized I've been talking your ear off ever since we’ve met, I hope that’s alright.”
The dark haired boy becomes even more red, if that’s even possible.
“Yeah of course, I like listening to people. Oh! My name is Harry, Harry Potter.” the dark haired boy said, smiling slightly.
Upon saying his name, Draco let out a gasp.
The two boys looked at Draco with concerned expressions.
“Is everything alright?”, Harry says.
“Yeah, are you okay mate?” Ron says.
“O-oh. umm I-”, Draco stutters.
Suddenly, the door opens and three tall boys are seen.
“Draco. We’ve been looking all over for you.”, one of them said.
Draco remained silent, clearly uncomfortable with this person’s presence.
The new boy’s eyes wandered over the rest of the room, an expression of disgust appearing.
“What would your father say about you hanging out with… these people.”
“I’m sorry Theo. Don’t tell father, you know what he’ll do. I-I’ll go sit with Pansy then.”, Draco said, about to stand up.
“Where do you think you’re going milady?” Theo said, nodding to the other two boys to close the compartment door and stand in front of it like bodyguards. “You haven’t even introduced us to your new friends!”
Upon saying this, Theo came forward and sat next to Draco, wrapping his hand around the blonde boy’s waist.
Draco looked increasingly uncomfortable, staring at his hands and remaining silent.
Harry and Ron made eye contact with each other, not liking the situation one bit.
Ron, noticing the blonde boy’s expression, chose to speak first.
“My name is Ronald Weasley.”
The three new boys chuckled upon hearing his last name.
“We could all tell, no need to worry! My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford.”,Theo said, gripping Draco’s thigh in laughter.
Both Harry and Ron’s eyes darkened, but for different reasons.
“What about you then, muggleborn perhaps?”, Theo said, locking eyes with Harry.
Draco frowned deeply. “Knock it off Theo. Don’t be an arse.”
“Come on babe, I was just trying to get to know your friends.”
“Don’t FUCKING call me that Theo.”
“Don’t worry about her”, Theo said, earning a hard shove. “Feisty little one.”
Draco, fed up, turned to one of the bodyguard looking people.
“Goyle. Tell your little leader that I'm a boy, and to stop being an intolerable brat.”
Goyle turned to Theo and said the exact same words as Draco in a monotone voice.
Theo, suppressing a laugh, grabbed onto Draco once again.
“Ah whatever. What did you say your name was again?”, he said, once again looking at Harry.
“Harry Potter.” Upon Harry saying his name, the two “bodyguards” and Theo looked at Draco with a glint in their eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Harry. This is Crabbe, and this is Goyle.”, he said, pointing at the two scary looking boys guarding the door.
“And my names Nott. Theodore Nott.” With a smirk, the boy continued.
“You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.”, Theo said, extending his hand for a handshake.
Harry didn’t take it.
“I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks”, he says.
A small smile was seen on Draco’s face, which made Harry happy.
Theo, on the other hand, was embarrassed which made him furious.
“I’d be careful if I were you, Potter,” he said slowly. “Unless you’re a bit politer you’ll go the same way as your parents. They didn’t know what was good for them either. You hang out with riff-raff like the Weaselys, and it’ll rub off on you.”, Theo sneered.
Ron, whose face turned as red as his hair stood up. “Say that again, Nott.”
“Wow! Looks like little Weasley here is angry. You’re going to fight us?”, Theo said, also standing up.
Draco, not looking forward to seeing the outcome of this, decided to do something.
“Theo. It’s not worth it. Let’s just go back.”, Draco said, gently grabbing his arm. Theo blushed.
“You both are lucky Draco here has your back. Or else you would’ve been dead.”, he said, walking out the compartment.
Before Draco exited, he mouthed a “sorry” to the two boys, who seemed to be still angry.
They both gently smiled, watching the door close.
“Poor Draco.” they both said quietly, thoughts of the blonde boy flooding their heads.