The Little Prince - HP AU

Draco didn’t meet him again until right before sorting. He was horrified to find out that his new friend had befriended a Weasley.

Their first meeting in Madame Malkin’s had gone relatively well in his opinion. He introduced himself, made an off handed comment about the oaf the other boy was with, but the comment seemed to upset the other boy, so he apologized….. Draco was very glad that his father wasn’t there to hear him.

Once Draco had apologized for the comment the other boy had introduced himself as Harry Potter. Draco was a bit taken aback by this revelation, but of course didn’t let it show on his face. Potter didn’t look anything like he had expected. He was small and…. scrawny, his hair was too long, the infamous scar was long and garish going over one of his eyes. Speaking of his eyes…. they were sharp, but tired. One eye was green with a slight red tint around the pupil, the other eye was red. Bright red. That was the eye affected by the scar.

Draco’s attention went back to Potter’s hair. It was jet black and messy, but near the scar it was white….. pure white. Odd.

“Uh…. Are you alright?”

Draco was startled from his thoughts by the question. He’d been staring for far too long. A slight flush came across his cheeks.

“Apologies. I simply wasn’t aware that I was in the presence of a celebrity.” Draco smirked.
Flattery. It worked for his father all the time. Why wouldn’t it work for him?

“Ah….. sorry about that….” Draco noticed the nervous look on Potters face almost immediately. “I keep forgetting that I’m a celebrity for you guys…”

Oh? Well that was interesting. He didn’t get a chance to question further though. Potter’s oaf had returned and his mother would be back to get him soon.

Returning his thoughts to the present he realized that he had been reminiscing for the entire boat ride. Not that it was a long ride but the point still stands. Blaise and Pansy were talking about something next to him. He had no idea where Crabe and Goyle were other than they were in a different boat. He was almost embarrassed that he had let his guard down that easily.
Almost.

“Draco?”

“Hm?” Draco looked up to see who was speaking. Of course it was Pansy.

“You’ve been zoned out.” She looked almost worried. He shook that thought from his head almost immediately. “What have you been thinking about?”
Of course. She was being nosy. As always.

“Just making plans for the upcoming year.” He replied. Not thinking about Potter that’s for sure. “Father wants me to make new connections for the Malfoy family.” He feigned a proud look. Family connections were the last thing on his mind right now.

As the small boat finally docked and the three young students unboarded, they once again heard Hagrid’s booming voice.

“Alright! Now ye lil first years ‘ll meet with Professor McGonagall to get sorted into yer houses”

An unnecessary thing for him and his…. Friends? He wasn’t sure really. They would all be Slytherin. They were all purebloods, and they were all from very powerful families.

Soon after Crabe and Goyle had reunited with the group Draco had caught sight of his target. Potter. After he had quickly excused himself from the conversation he wriggled his way through the large crowd of other first years. Once he was next to Potter he made his presence known.

“It’s nice to see you again.” Simple. Straight to the point.

“Oh!” Potter’s face brightened. Why? They didn’t know each other well. Draco was slightly confused at this reaction. “It’s nice to see you again as well… uhm…”

“What? Forget my name did you?” Draco teased. “I’m hurt…” he threw a hand up to his forehead dramatically.

“I’m sorry!” Potter half whined, “There was a lot going on that day!”

“It’s alright.” Draco grinned. Pitiful. He wasn’t supposed to grin. “Names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. And don’t forget it this time!” He put his hands on his hips and drew himself up taller. “Cause I won’t tell you again!”

“Malfoy?” A slightly disgusted voice sounded from behind Potter.

“Ron!” Potter knew this voice? “Do you two know each other?”

“Ginger? And hand me down robes.” Of course. “A Weasley.” He finished the statement with a slight scowl. Having finally gotten a good look at the ginger Draco had realized that the boy was a good bit taller than him. How horrendous.

“Hmmm” Potter was still there. Draco’s attention snapped from the ginger to Potter at an almost embarrassing speed.

“Well you two don’t seem to get along.” Potter sounded almost….. disappointed?

“Course we don’t!” The ginger replied quickly. “His whole family are Death Eaters! The lot of them! You shouldn’t get along with him either.”

At that statement Draco’s whole facade came close to shattering. It only became worse when Potter began talking again.

“Death Eaters? Weren’t those the people that worked for… You-Know-Who?” He asks this question with uncertainty. Draco could feel his plans shatter.

“Yes.” That was all the Weasley said. Draco’s hands shook. Why were his hands shaking. The opinion of Potter wasn’t at all important. What was this feeling in his chest. Eyes were on him.

“Well…” Draco braced himself for hatred. “That happened ages ago right? And Draco couldn’t have been old enough to help.” Shock was the only suitable word for what he was feeling. “He's alright in my book. And I don’t want you giving him trouble, alright Ron?”

The look on the gingers face was almost worth the anxiety. I’ll still have to figure out the source of that later.

“Oh…..” Ron looked almost angry. “Alright. But I don’t want any trouble out of him either.”

“Won’t be an issue.” Draco responded nonchalantly. It was time for sorting anyways.

“Granger, Hermione.” McGonagall’s voice was loud in the almost silent hall.

The sorting hat was placed on her head, and after a few moments it had made its verdict.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

A loud cheer once again erupted from the tables, all but the green one. Draco in the meantime was busy studying Potter. He was wearing a look almost like one of a muggle-born. Odd. This boy in front of him looked to be about the farthest thing from a savior you could get. His robes were too big and hung off of him, engulfing his arms. His hair had gotten a bit longer as well, it was now tied back in a small ponytail.

“Malfoy, Draco.”

The hat had barely even touched his head when the decision was made. Just a slight tap and Draco knew where he was going.

“SLYTHERIN!”

This time the cheers only came from the green and silver table. Even so, Draco still wore a proud look as he joined Crabbe and Goyle.

Not long after, Pansy had joined them.

Then, it was Potter’s turn. Draco waited, staring up at Potter. The hat was placed upon the smaller boy's head and it seemed as if the entire hall was holding its breath.

Almost two full minutes had passed before the hat said anything. And its verdict was quite disappointing to Draco.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

And once again the cheers erupted from all tables… except for his. Before Potter moved to his seat he had made eye contact with Draco. The look in the boy's eyes looked almost sorry, but the look didn’t stay forever.

He zoned out for the remainder of the sorting. He wasn’t interested in anyone else’s house. He was quite upset at Potter house, though he didn’t know why. It confused him, he had met the boy once, but even then he had felt a bit upset when they had to part ways.

“Draco?”

Oh? Was Blaise there now? “Sorry, did you say something Blaise?” He wasn’t interested in conversation right now but….

“No but I am wondering why you haven’t eaten anything.” When Draco looked up at Blaise he was surprised to see a slight look of worry from the boy. “You’ve been spacey today… Are you alright?”

“Oh… yeah I’m fine. Just thinking.” Maybe Blaise could help him.

“You should probably eat.” Blaise suggested. Then, “You’ll get sick if you don’t.” He said the last part in a hushed voice as if he didn’t want anyone else to hear. Blaise would definitely help Draco decides.

“Alright,” he shrugged, “I’ll tell you what I’ve been thinking about later.” He didn’t feel like eating, but if it would sooth Blaise’s nerves…… he could humor it. Though he didn’t get nearly as much food as the rest of the Slytherins, he made sure to eat enough that his friend wouldn’t worry.

When the feast had come to an end the prefects gathered all of the first years to guide them to the common rooms. Draco payed no attention to the location of the common rooms, that’s what he had Crabbe and Goyle for after all. “Alright everyone! This is the entrance to the Slytherin common rooms. As some of you might know the common rooms are located partially under the lake,” A prefect was explaining. “Our common rooms are quite cold for this reason. So do try not to catch a cold.” She added harshly.

The other prefect stepped up for a moment, “The password this week is ‘Wiggenweld’. Absolutely no one outside of Slytherin is allowed inside of the common rooms.” This prefect seemed just as strict, “ The password is changed weekly, so be sure to check the notice boards, or ask a prefect. Because if you forget or get locked out, you will not be let in.” He finished.

The first prefect said the password in a hushed tone and stepped back as the door opened. The other prefect then stepped through the entrance and motioned for the first years to follow, after they were all inside of the common room he spoke up once more. “Girls will go to Miss Blake for there room assignments and the boys will stay with me.” He paused for a moment to let the girls make there way over to the aforementioned ‘Miss Blake’. “Right, now there are five people to a room, please listen for your name as I call out the rooms.”

Draco who had expected to hear his name first was slightly sup rises that this wasn’t the case. He stopped paying attention at the fourth assignment. There was a chess table near the fire place, he’d get Blaise to play with him in a moment.

“The last room assignment is room number eight for Draco Malfoy; Blaise Zabini; Vincent Crabbe; and Gregory Goyle.” That was when Draco noticed that they were the only ones left in the common rooms. “You’ll notice that there are only for of you,” the prefect seemed to notice the confusion among the group and looked towards Draco, “That is thanks to your father Little Prince.”

Draco startled at the nickname.

“Though this room would have only had four anyways, Mr. Malfoy requested that it be you four.” He finished the statement with a nod towards the room. Crabbe and Goyle wasted no time in going to the room, but Draco stayed for a moment. Blaise stayed with him.

“What was that?” Draco wanted to know what was up with that name. The prefect seemed shocked at the demanding nature of the question.

“Oh the name? Sorry,” the prefect looked slightly embarrassed, “Us older students were talking about you at the feast and took to calling you that. We have no ill intent obviously, but we won’t use the name anymore if you so wish.” The prefect had lost the embarrassment from earlier and now had a look of not fear or worry, but genuine care.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind it,” Draco flushed slightly at the care in the older students voice. “But why were you talking about me?” Draco questioned, now confused from the previous statement.

“Oh! Well you come from a long line of Slytherins, and there hasn’t been a Malfoy at Hogwarts since your father graduated. So we were very happy to find that the tradition continued!” The prefect answered the question enthusiastically. “There was an assignment about pureblood families last year and Mr. Malfoy volenteered to provide the Slytherin students with information about the family!”

“Oh.” Draco flushed again, now very embarrassed. “Well if you don’t mind, I would like to play some chess before curfew.” He brushed off the embarrassment and replaced it with his usual pride. Hoping the older student wouldn’t notice.

“Alright Little Prince!” The Prefect began to move towards his own room, “just don’t stay up too late!”

When the prefect was gone from the main common room Draco turned towards Blaise and motioned towards the chess table. “Play with me?” He asked with a small grin. Knowing that Blaise wouldn’t deny the request, and they both moved to sit down. Draco at black and Blaise at white as they always played, as Draco waited for Blaise to make the first move he took a piece of parchment and a quill from his robes. When he looked back up he found Blaise looking at him confused.

“Do you always carry writing equipment with you?” He asked with a slight turn up to his lips, and moved the first chess piece.

“You don’t?” Draco replied as he started writing, pausing for a moment to move a pawn. “I want to meet with Potter.” He explained sensing the question on Blaise’s mind, and at the slight downturn of his lips explained further. “He might be of use to us, and he interests me.” He said brushing off the quirked eyebrow of his companion. “It’s your move.”

“He looks different than what I expected.” Blaise moved another pawn, “He looks like what people expect from Slytherins.” He tried to peek at the writing, but was blocked by the movement of another chess piece. “Classes don’t start until Monday, how do you expect to get this to him.” Blaise picked up on the intent of the letter being written.

“We get schedules tomorrow during breakfast. I think a few people will want to find there classes early so I want to get it to him then.” He replied plainly.

He glanced quickly at the board, moving a knight in the process. He’d win in a few more moves. “So,” he moved his gaze to Blaise, finding cold eyes staring back. “Are you in or out?” He sat back in his chair having finished the letter. Blaise’s eyes went from cold and calculated to warm and childish in a second.

“I’m in.”