Draco Malfoy was alone, not lonely.
It had always been that way- by himself in the grand halls of the Manor. No one but the elves keep him company. His father, Lucius Malfoy, was cold and distant. His work forever came first. And if it didn’t concern their pureblood heritage, well, Draco was pushed onto the back burner.
Narcissa Malfoy wasn’t much better. Of course she loved her son, but liked to spend time with? She had more important things to do- host swarays and stare into the emptiness.
During the First Wizarding War, Narcissa’s beloved cousin, Regulus, died. And so did a piece of her soul. After that, Narcissa’s sanity slowly diminished by the day.
Draco tried to stay out of her way as she yelled at walls and drank wine like water.
Draco did have one friend though. A house elf that has been with him since his first wail- Dobby. Oh how Draco adored Dobby. The elf would bake him apple pies and sing lullabies to him as a child. Dobby was always there for him. To play with him when he was bored, to help him hide as his parents screamed, to clean the wounds left on his back from his father’s cane. Yes, Dobby was the only one who actually cared for the littlest Malfoy.
Dobby was gone.
Draco isn’t quite sure how; just that when he came back from his second year at Hogwarts Dobby was gone. He tried to ask what happened, but Lucius’s ears would turn pink and he’d silence the child.
Dobby finally left Draco, just like the rest.
But that’s fine. Draco was used to being alone. Alone, not lonely . Draco spent that summer quietly, making himself as small as he could. With no one to spell the wounds away, Draco couldn’t afford to scar.
So, to say Draco was ready for his third year would be an understatement. He would’ve skipped along the path of 9 ¾ if it wasn’t for his parents’ presence.
It was crowded- first years hiding behind guardians, second and third years gossiping about summer mischief, upperclassmen boasting about OWL scores. Draco quickly said goodbye to his family and found the pureblood compartment.
Pansy Parkison was the first to look up at the intruder. Immediately her face brightened drastically. Draco had to force himself to not roll his eyes. Ever since they were toddlers, Pansy followed Draco around like a lost dog. Always claiming to be the next Mrs. Malfoy.
“Draco! How was your summer? Mine was positively pleasant, Mother took me to Ita-”
On second thought, maybe Draco wasn’t so excited about third year. He forgot he was a slytherin. A house full of spies ready to sell you out for their parents’ praise. Friends don’t exist among purebloods. You have people who give you something and people who don’t.
Malfoy was officially tired of being a pureblood.
It was boring, not having friends and always being prim and proper. Boring always having to look over his shoulder. Draco hated this life. Hated the lack of control.
Draco was done being tired.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
So he skipped the welcoming feast.
It’s not like anyone would notice anyway. The slytherins were too self absorbed to care and the teachers focused on their precious golden boy to even look at the green and silver table.
Draco roamed the halls, looking for an empty classroom to escape in. It wasn’t a hard task per say. For, he had a special connection with the castle. It was like the ancient building had a soul, a soul that felt for the tiniest blonde. Ever since first year, the castle provided the most secret rooms for Draco.
A place to finally breathe- A place to dance.
Malfoy visibly perked up when a room appeared in front of his eyes on the seventh floor. He quickly glanced around his surroundings before dashing through the door. He checked the boxes- Silencing charms, NEWT level locking spells, casting a monitoring charm so he can see anyway who enters the corridor. He made sure he was completely alone, he would not mess up his only escape from reality.
He opened his robes, revealing a hidden dragon hide bag. Gently, he laid the contents of the pouch on the floor. A shrunken record player, a vinyl of ‘Polacca’, and a pair of pointe shoes made from the finest satin.
Draco prepared everything with care. Enlarging the record player, tying the shoes on his feet with neat bows. He took a deep, shaky breath- and began to dance.
It was beautiful, the way he glided across the hardwood floor. It was a heartbreaking classic- Giselle, Act I. The tale of Romeo and Juliet, two lovers destined to be apart. Draco portrayed it with elegance. His arches were smooth, Temps leves’ steady. Jetes’ so perfect he looked like an angel descending from heaven.
Anyone watching would’ve dropped their jaws in admiration. Yet, no one was watching.
.
.
.
Or so he thought.
*-*-*-*-*-*-
Fred and George Weasley were troublemakers. Always entering the most pristine rooms, leaving them in chaos. They took punishments as acknowledgement of their pranks- The worse the lecture, the better the prank was. They didn’t have the heart to take things seriously; laughing at the most inappropriate times.
Maybe that’s why they were always together. Can’t find anyone to share their joy with. Of course, that and being twins. Two of a kind- Same face, same sense of humor, same personality, same person.
But they weren’t. George was far more crass- Flirtatious and found no care in people’s feelings. He liked potions- always invented different jokes and blew things up. He embraced his wizarding upbringing, finding comfort with magic.
Fred Weasley. Fred was different. He was a romantic- taking his creativity to create the most outstanding dates. He was creative, the mastermind behind the pranks. His mind moved a thousand miles a minute, too many ideas to remember.
Fred inherited his love for muggle things from his father. He was obsessed with the mechanics of it all- How they got things to work on their own with spells. Cars most of all. Magazines upon magazines of different models, types, brands hidden under his bed. Who do you think found his father’s muggle car?
They were to completely separate people. Different minds, different types of humor, different personalities, different people.
Yet, no matter what they did, no one saw that. Not even their family. So, they accepted the fact that they’d be treated as the same for the rest of their lives.
So, why not start their fifth year with a bang? The goal was simple- flood the Great Hall during breakfast with veritaserum induced gas (courtesy of George Weasley) and watch the mayhem unfold. To do so, they needed to find a hidden corridor that could act as an escape plan when they got caught.
That's how they ended up on the seventh floor instead of welcoming supper. Why was it so hard to find secret tunnels? The castle was a ba-gillion years old, there had to be something! Truth was, Hogwarts found tormenting the twins to be hilarious, but they didn’t need to know that…
Suddenly, as they were about to lose hope, a door appeared out of thin air. The twins stopped in their tracks, making eye contact with each other.
“Well, Forge…”
“Yeah, Gred.”
“Looks to me, this is a sign!” The red headed boy shouted in unison. They run to the door with great speed, and George tries to open it… and fails.
“It won’t open!”
“Just use an unlocking charm!”
“I am! It still won’t open!”
“You’re just not doing it right, move over!”
“You think I’m not doing it right, Gred?!”
Fred pushed George out of the way and grabbed the handle. Being met with the same fate, he begins to mutter every destruction charm he knows. When nothing works, the fifth years drop their heads and decide to give up.
They walk away, disappointed and discouraged. When-
*Click*
To say they bolted back at lightning speed would be an understatement. They make it back to the door so fast they almost fall into it.
They hesitate before opening the door, wondering what fate awaits them.
“What did you think is in there, Forge?”
“I don’t know, but it must be exciting..”
“On the count of three?”
“One…”
“Thirteen…”
“TWENTY SEVEN-”
.
.
.
Woah.
*-*-*-*-*-
CHAPTER TWO
Draco DID make sure to check every box…
He just happened to forget that when he dances, he gets lost in the movement- completely unaware of the world around him. Unaware of his monitoring charms as well. Unaware of the weasley twins gawking at him from the doorway.
Malfoy just continued the dance, giving his all to each step. He finished the routine with perfection. Finished the whole routine with knowledge of the twins.
And the twins just sat and watched the whole thing.
Fred didn’t know what George was thinking, but he knew that he was in complete awe of the beautiful blonde in front of him. The boy must have come from Veela blood, because there is no way he had Fred feeling like this without an allure.
It was like he was in a midnight tunnel, lost and alone. The only light- an angel. An angel dancing the fear away. A breath of fresh air in a murky lake. It was so pure, so innocent.
It made Fred’s heart skip a beat.
Draco was breathless by the time the closing beats finished out. He was a red, sweaty, breathless mess and it was so un-pure blood like it filled his bones with excitement. His mind slowly began to clear, and he slowly began to be aware of his surroundings.
And, of course, the twins.
“How did you get in here?!”
The blood drained from the redheads’ faces. Fred felt his heart sink into his stomach. Was there even a good excuse for watching a kid practice ballet creepily in the shadows?
“The door was unlocked.”
Draco scoffed, “Yeah, okay. My seventh year locking spell I’ve been practicing since I was four failed. Now, who paid you to spy on me?”
“W-what? No, I swear! You see, George and I were trying to find an escape-”
“FRED! Don’t go telling snobby rich kids our plans! Do you want to be found out?!”
“No! Of course not! I was just trying to explain-”
“Explain to a MALFOY-”
“Whom we walked in on-”
The blonde rolled his eyes. Anger vanished from his body. Seriously, who would hire these blunderbusses to spy on him? They couldn’t even come up with a realistic lie.
“Quiet! Merlin, you bicker like an old married couple.”
George sneered at the comparison, while Fred only blushed embarrassedly. Great, two minutes in and he was already making a fool out of himself in front of the beautiful boy.
George cleared his throat, “Ehm, sorry ‘bout that. But we honestly swear we weren’t up to no good!”
“Yeah! We solemnly swear!”
The boys make eye contact and burst into laughter. As if they said the most brilliant joke in the world. The tension left the room quietly as the twins’ light hearted aura took its place.
Draco Malfoy wanted to be mad. He REALLY wanted to be mad. Yet, he couldn’t find it in him to get angry at the older boys’ wide grins.
Soon, even Draco began to chuckle.
Only for a second though, because he quickly composed himself and put back on the Malfoy Mask. Fred happened to notice, and he didn’t like it one bit.
But he’ll let it slide for now.
“Red hair and no sense of privacy? You must be the Weasley twins.”
“Yup! That’s Gred!” George pointed to Fred.
“And that’s Forge!” Fred pointed to George.
Draco sneered, clearly unimpressed, “Oh really? You think that would look? I mean, it’s not like you're identical or something…”
Draco could've just said that he didn’t know who Harry Potter was with the way they were staring at him.
“Are you being serious?”
“Or are you just mental?”
The audible gasp that came from the blonde’s mouth could be heard miles away.
“How dare you insult me? I am not mental! You two just don’t look anything alike!”
Fred was the one to answer, “Do tell.”
“You,” jabbing his finger into George’s chest, “Are shorter, you have less freckles and paler skin. Your eyes are slightly bigger and obviously green. You also have a stockier build than your brother.”
“And this one,” flicking Fred’s forehead, “ Are at least two inches taller, with WAY more freckles and scars. Your eyes are hazel, and have a leaner build. Also, you're left handed and the other is right handed.”
You could hear a pin drop.
George’s jaw was on the floor in shock, while Fred. Fred was overcome with the flaming desire to hug the younger boy. For the first time ever, the twins were considered different. Not even their father knew the difference in their eye color. Yet, Draco Malfoy did.
And it was amazing.
“So, yes. I’m not sure which one is Fred and which one is George. I AM certain that you two aren’t a combined person.”
Fred smirked a smirk Draco would never admit made his heart skip a beat.
“Yeah, I’m Fred.”
George took a moment to look at the scene before him. Oh, he knew THAT smirk.
It looked confident, but years of living in the same household allowed George to know it was a sickly sweet puppy smirk. This will be fun.
“I’m the other one, George.”
.
.
.
What did Draco just get himself into.