Back to the Hogwarts Express
Chapter 6
Draco and Lucius landed on Platform 9 and 3/4, right in front of the Hogwarts Express. Draco dropped his trunks and went over to grab a cart. He had a total of 8 trunks and one cage with his owl Nyx in it. His whole room was basically inside these trunks. He stacked all 8 on the cart and then placed Nyx’s cage on top where it wouldn’t fall.
Draco looked up at his Father who was staring at his watch. Lucius looked down at Draco and sighed. “Draco, I have to leave now. The Ministry needs my help,and I can’t risk not going. Here’s money for your ticket and food on the train. I have to go.”
Draco watched as his father apparated off the platform and he was left only once more. If there was one thing he could count on it was his father leaving at the worst times, but that only worked to his advantage now.
Draco now could focus on Dobby and his plan. “Dobby” Draco called and was relieved when the house elf appeared in front of him at once. His plan was working.
“Master Draco, Dobby made it to the platform like you said. Is there anything else you need Dobby to do.” Dobby said eagerly.
“Yes we have to go buy a ticket for each of us and then we need to get on the train. Let’s hurry so we can get a compartment to ourselves.” Draco said and pushed his cart over to the ticket booth.
He and Dobby waited in the long line of last minute ticket buyers, and once they got to the front, the ticket lady greeted them. “Hello, how many tickets?”
Draco was too short and had to stand on his tiptoes for his head to be above the counter. “Two tickets please.” He said and handed her the correct amount of money.
“Here you go,” the lady said and handed Draco two tickets for the train ride. Draco took the tickets and led him and Dobby over to board the train.
“Tickets please.” The man asked Draco. He handed him both tickets and went to look for an empty compartment.Near the end he found one and with the help of Dobby he loaded all his luggage and Nyx into the compartment, and stored them away in the overhead compartment.
Draco and Dobby sat next to each other and waited patiently for the train to leave.
“Once we get to Hogwarts, I’ll talk to Severus, and then you can work in the kitchens there.” Draco told Dobby, going over the plan once more.
“Yes Master Draco, Dobby can’t wait.” Dobby said with a smile on his face.
“Dobby I’m not your Master anymore, you’re a free elf.” Draco said.
“But Master Draco, you risked everything to free Dobby and he will always help you when you need it, just say his name.” Dobby said.
“I couldn’t just leave you there, and you’ll help more people at Hogwarts anyways,” Draco said with a soft smile on his face. He looked down at his watch and saw there was only five minutes till the train would leave.
Draco went up to one of his trunks and grabbed his sketchbook and pencil out. He sat back down and was about to start a new drawing when someone opened his compartment.
Draco looked up and standing in the doorway was, Neville Longbottom. “Do you mind if I sit with you?” He asked. “Sure” Draco replied and gestured to the seat across from him.
Neville put his trunks away and sat down. “ I’m Neville Longbottom.”
“Draco Malfoy.” Draco said and stuck out his hand for Neville to shake.
“You don’t happen to be related to Bellatrix Lestrange?” Neville asked nervously as he shook Draco’s hand.
When Bellatrix was at the Manor she went on and on about how she tortured Neville’s parents. It was a story Draco didn’t like to think about. He felt bad for Neville and a bit guilty because of how he treated him and how it was his aunt who ruined his life. After he was told that story, he knew he wouldn’t treat Neville badly anymore. He already had a tough life without Draco making fun of him all the time.
“Yeah she’s my aunt.” Draco whispered, not looking Neville in the eye.
“Oh” Neville sighed and looked out the window.
“I only met her when I was a baby. She’s in Azkaban now.” Draco said, not wanting Neville to think he was anything like her.
Neville nodded his head and was still looking out the window.
Draco looked at Neville and just felt bad. This is supposed to be fun and exciting for Neville, but he looked sad. Draco could see the tears in his eyes.
“Neville, are you ok?” Draco asked with genuine concern in his voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Neville said, shrugging it off.
“I know what she did to your parents. I’m really sorry for what happened to them.” Draco said.
Neville looked up at Draco and tears started streaming down his face. He quickly wiped them away and said “It’s not your fault. I just miss them a lot.”
The train whistle blew and the platform was starting to disappear as the train started to move.
Neville was now focused on the house elf sitting next to Draco. “Why are you bringing a house elf to Hogwarts?” he asked, changing the topic of their conversation.
“Oh.. ummm… Well basically I freed him from my family and now I’m taking him to Hogwarts to work in the kitchens.” Draco said.
Neville laughed and Draco was happy to see the smile on his face.
The compartment door opened and the lady asked “Anything from the cart?”
Draco looked over at Neville and asked “Do you want something?”
“No, my grandma didn’t give me any money for the train.” Neville said.
“Go grab whatever you want.” Draco said.
Neville got up and grabbed a chocolate frog and a pumpkin pasty.
Draco then turned to Dobby and asked “What would you like?”
“Master Draco Dobby doesn’t need anything. Dobby is grateful for what Master Draco has already done.” Dobby said.
Draco got up and grabbed 2 chocolate frogs and 2 pumpkin pasties, copying what Neville had gotten. “That’ll be four galleons,” the lady said.
Draco dug into his pocket and handed her the correct number of galleons. She closed the compartment door and left.
“Thank you for the food.” Neville said, a blush starting to form on his cheeks.
“My father gave more than enough for me to share.” Draco said
Draco then looked over at Dobby and handed him a chocolate frog and a pumpkin pasty.
Dobby was about to protest but before he could Draco said “We can open our chocolate frogs together and see who we get.”
They all started to open their chocolate frogs and grabbed the cards.
“Look I got Bertie Bott.” Neville said, holding up his card.
“I got Albus Dumbledore.” Dobby said and smiled at the two boys.
Draco looked down at his card “I got Godric Gryffindor.” He said and showed the other two.
After they were done with their chocolate frogs, they all sat and ate their pumpkin pasties.
Neville started to frantically look around the compartment. “Oh no.” He said
“What’s wrong?” Draco asked.
“I lost Trevor, my toad.” Neville said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll help you find him. Dobby, stay here and keep looking around the compartment while Neville and I go look around the train.” Draco said.
Draco and Neville walked out of the compartment. “You start at that end and I’ll start over here and we’ll meet in the middle.” Draco said.
Neville started walking towards the front of the train and Draco opened the compartment door across from their. Inside was a girl with brown curly hair with her face in a book. Draco knew her all too well as Hermione Granger.
“Excuse me, have you seen a toad anywhere? Neville Longbottom lost his.” He said.
Granger looked up at him and shook her head. “Sorry I haven’t seen any toads. Do you need help looking?” She asked.
“That would be great.” Draco said and walked out of the compartment with Granger behind him.
They walked to the next compartment and opened the door. There sat two boys surrounded by sweets wrappers. One with red hair and a rat on his lap and the other with messy black hair and glasses.
“Have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville lost his,” Granger asked.
“No we haven’t seen one.” Weasley answered.
Draco looked over at Harry who was already looking at him smiling. “Hey, Draco,” he said.
“Hello Harry.” Draco said and smiled back at him.
“I know you,” Weasley suddenly said, looking at Draco. “You’re Lucius Malfoy’s son.”
Draco looked over at him and said “Yeah, I’m Draco Malfoy.”
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the other Slytherins, causing terror for the rest of us?” Ron said hatefully.
Now if Draco was his eleven year old self he would have come up with a snarky remark that insulted the Weasley family, but he wasn’t that person anymore.
“Who said I’m a Slytherin?” he challenged, even though, without a doubt, he would be resorted into that house. Malfoys were always Slytherins.
“Malfoys are always Slytherins, and you’re just like your father,” Ron said.
Something about that didn’t sit right with Draco. He had lived his whole life wanting to be like his father and where had it gotten him. He finally saw Lucius for his true self and never wanted to be compared to him again.
“You know nothing about me, but with this small interaction I can already tell you’re a closed minded arsehole who judges off of appearances instead of character,” Draco said angrily and walked out of the compartment to find Neville, leaving the 3 of them behind.
Draco started walking towards the direction Neville should’ve been in when a compartment door opened as he was walking by.
“Draco?” He heard and turned around only to find Pansy, Blaise, Theo, Vincent, and Greg all staring at him.
“Where have you been? Why didn’t you sit with us like we planned?” Pansy asked.
“Umm.. I forgot, I guess. I was sitting by myself and Neville came to sit with me.” Draco said and truly he had forgotten about the plan they made on his eleventh birthday because that was half a decade ago for him.
“Why were you sitting with Longbottom?” Blaise asked. “Your father wouldn’t be happy to hear about that.”
“There was no place else for him to sit, and I don’t care what my father thinks anymore.” Draco said proudly.
“Draco, are you okay?” Theo asked with concern, “Since when do you not care what your father thinks?”
“Since I realized what a bloody tosser he was. A lot has changed since I last saw you guys,” Draco said simply. And everything is different now Draco couldn’t help but think.
They were about to ask more questions when they all saw Neville running up to them.
“Draco. I found him” he said and held up the toad.
“That’s great! You better put him away so you don’t lose him again.” Draco told him.
Neville nodded and walked back to their compartment.
Draco turned back to his old friends and said “I should go get changed, we'll be at Hogwarts soon. I’ll see you there.”
Draco waved goodbye and went back to his compartment to find Neville and Dobby talking about Hogwarts.
“I’m going to go get changed.” Draco said and started to grab his robes from one of his trunks.
“I’ll go with you.” Neville said and they left for the bathrooms.
“Are you excited to go to Hogwarts?” Neville asked as they walked down the hall.
“Yeah I’m excited, but I’m a bit nervous.” Draco said.
“Me too.” Neville said and smiled at him.
They walked into the bathroom and each got into a stall to change. Draco took off his shirt and his eyes drifted towards his left wrist. He ran his fingers over the bare skin. Just months ago this arm was covered in hundreds of scars.
Guilt for what he had done to others while at Hogwarts found him quickly. I’ve done terrible things. I shouldn’t feel like this. I don’t deserve to feel like this. Draco thought.
A door opening snapped Draco from his thoughts.
“What’s your problem with him anyways?” A voice said.
“His family is a nightmare. All they’ve ever done is make fun of mine.” Another said.
Draco knew those voices, and he knew exactly what they were talking about.
“Draco’s been nothing but nice to me.” Potter said.
“And you’ve known him what? Two minutes?” Weasley said.
Potter stayed quiet.
“If I were you, I would stay far away from him. He’ll only cause you trouble.I don’t care what he says. He's just like his father” Weasley said.
The stall door next to him opened.
“Hey! You don’t know anything about Draco. You have barely said two words to him. Stop making him seem like someone he’s not.” Neville said.
Draco quickly changed into his robes and walked out of the stall.
“You always need someone else to sick up for you Malfoy?” Weasley sneered.
“Do you always feel the need to talk down to people to lift yourself up?” Draco said back, knowing he used to do the exact same thing.
“You need to stay away from us. We don’t want people like you anywhere near us.” Weasley said, drawing his wand.
“Oh I’m so scared,” Draco said sarcastically. “Come on Neville, we should be at Hogwarts any minute.”
Draco and Neville left the bathroom, but not before Draco could send an unexpected stinging hex to Weasley's way. He entered the compartment and saw that Dobby was sound asleep on one side, so he sat next to Neville.
“Thank you.” Draco said. “For sticking up for me.”
Neville looked away nervously and said “It was nothing. You’re my friend Draco.”
Draco looked around the compartment and after only being on the train for several hours it was a bit messy.
“We should probably clean up a bit and get ready to get off the train.” Draco said.
Neville nodded and they cleaned the whole compartment. Draco put away his sketchbook and packed up his trunk.
Once they were finished the train stopped and the whistle blew letting them know they had arrived.
“Dobby, we've arrived at Hogwarts, you have to wake up.” Draco said as he shook Dobby lightly.
Dobby got up and Draco, Neville, and him walked out of the train, with all the other students.