Back to Making Life Better
Chapter 5
September 1, 1991
Over a month has passed and things didn’t change much. Every night Draco would work on his potions skills, and when he was done for the night Lucius would call him to his study and beat him, repeating the same words. “You will be sorted into Slytherin. You will get top marks. You will bring pride to the Malfoy name.” Every night it got worse and Draco’s body was always covered in bruises. The healing salve helped and luckily Lucius knew better than to leave marks that he wasn’t able to cover with clothes.
Dobby would come to Draco’s room every night and they would talk about imaginary lives to distract themselves from the horrible one they both lived. Today would be different though, Draco was leaving for Hogwarts, but Dobby had to stay at the Manor.
That morning Dobby came up to wake Draco up like he had for the past month. Draco got ready like every other morning. Changing his clothes, fixing his hair, brushing his teeth, and making sure every mark from his father was covered.
When he was finished, he walked downstairs and headed to the dining room for breakfast. He opened the door and was surprised to find only his mother sitting at the table.
“Good Morning, Draco. Your father won’t be joining us this morning. He's in his study, but asked for you to see him there when you're finished eating.” His mother said.
Draco nodded and sat down. His stomach turned at the thought of what his father wanted now. He hoped it didn’t take too long because he still had to pack a couple of little things for Hogwarts.
Draco ate only a little of his breakfast, but it was better than nothing. Once he was finished, he headed to the room in the Manor he dreaded the most.
The door was already opened and Lucius motioned for Draco to come inside. Draco went to sit on a chair beside his father, closing the door behind him.
“Now Draco, today you are leaving for Hogwarts and you should already know what is expected of you by now.” Lucius said sternly. “I will take you to the train platform and your mother will stay at home. We are leaving at 10:30 am so you won’t be late and have time to settle on the train.”
“Yes Father.”
“Now go finish packing, you only have an hour till we leave.”
Draco left the study as quickly as possible and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He went back up to his room and gathered the last of what he needed to pack. He opened his trunk and found a place for everything.
The last school item he needed to pack was his telescope. He shrunk it down and placed it carefully in his trunk in order to keep it safe from breaking. Over the past month Draco had finished painting all the stars and constellations on it. He even put a charm to make them shine and move during the night. He was really proud of it. He packed all his art supplies next, hiding them in a bag before setting them in his trunk.
Draco remembers the year he forgot them at the Manor and had to buy new supplies on a Hogsmade trip. Without art at Hogwarts Draco would’ve gone mad. It was a good way for him to calm down when he was stressed and helped him focus on one thing instead of many ideas running through his brain.
The rest of Draco’s packing took him a whole thirty minutes, but it was worth it because all his stuff was organized, and he knew he had everything he needed.
Draco didn’t know what to do now. He had half an hour till he had to meet father back in his study. He would usually draw or read his favorite book, but all that was packed away and he didn’t feel like getting lost in a book and ending up losing track of time.
He decided to lay down on his bed and try to relax and think. There were two things on Draco’s mind: How would everything be different this time and what would happen to Dobby while he was gone.
Even with Draco knowing more about the future than almost everyone, he couldn’t predict what would happen. One wrong move could change everything. He needed to try and keep things as close to the past as he could. He would also try and research what caused him to travel back in time when he got to Hogwarts, knowing he would have to best chance to find answers in their library
Draco couldn’t dwell on that topic anymore. There were too many what ifs and not enough answers. His only problem left was Dobby.
Draco and Dobby had always had a close bond before he left and Draco knew how his father treated the house elves. Dobby was Draco’s personal elf so his father barely bothered him, but when Draco left Dobby’s presence would be seen by Lucius more frequently.
He wouldn’t even notice if he was gone since there are so many elves here. Draco thought and then he realized. Lucius wouldn’t realize if he was gone.
“Dobby” Draco called and Dobby appeared right next to his bed.
“Master Draco, what can I help you with?” Dobby said.
“You know how we always talk about having another life?” Draco asked.
Dobby nodded and Draco went on saying “Now that I’m leaving for Hogwarts you’ll be here alone, so I have an idea. I’ll free you, and you come with me to work in the Hogwarts kitchens.”
“Master Draco you couldn’t do that you’ll get in trouble.” Dobby said with a worried look on his face.
“Lucius won’t find out since you’ve been assigned as my elf, and he doesn’t even know you’re in this house so he wouldn’t realize you're gone.”
Dobby still wasn’t convinced. He didn’t want his Master getting into any more trouble.
“Please Dobby, I can't leave you here with him. We don’t have much time. I’ll have to free you and then you apparate to Platform 9 and 3/4 and I’ll meet you on the train. Ok?”
“Ok” Dobby said, trusting that Draco was right.
Draco went over to his dresser and grabbed a sock and gave it to Dobby.
Dobby looked up at Draco and smiled. “I’m free.” he said and gave Draco a hug.
“Ok you have to go to the Platform now. I’ll meet you there.” Draco said. Dobby was gone in an instant.
Draco looked down at his watch and there were only a couple minutes till he had to leave. Draco grabbed his trunk and headed down the stairs to meet his father. Lucius was standing outside his study and looked up at Draco. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes Father.” Draco said, wanting to leave as soon as possible. He didn’t need someone to recognize Dobby before he got there.
Lucius held out his hand, which Draco took, and they apparated to Platform 9 and 3/4.