Back to Disappointing Parents
Chapter 28
Harry's POV
Harry watched as Draco and Neville were dragged away by the Slytherins. Of course they had to ruin everything, Harry thought. He had finally gotten Draco to call him by his first name and thought they were getting closer as friends, but no Parkinson had to drag him off with her and keep him all to herself. He couldn't get the image of her arm around Draco's out of his head.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted, breaking his thoughts.
"Yeah?" Harry asked, still looking in the direction Draco went.
"I was saying we should go get a compartment before they are all full," Hermione said, annoyed that he wasn't paying attention before.
"I guess," Harry responded and followed his friends into an empty compartment. Harry sat down across from Ron and Hermione. He looked out the window and watched as other students climbed onto the train.
"Are you excited to go home?" Ron asked as the train started to move.
Harry hated to think about the "home" he was going back to. He knew this summer was going to be worse than ever now that he was actually a wizard, but at least he could torment the Dursleys with his magic even when he couldn't actually use it.
"Not exactly," Harry said grimly, "I'll miss you guys a lot."
"Oh Harry. We'll miss you too," Hermione said softly.
"We can always write to each other!" Ron suggested, "And we can make plans to meet up during the summer break. My mum would love to have the both of you over."
"That sounds lovely," Hermione said.
Just the thought of that made Harry smile. Hogwarts had to have been the best thing to ever happen to him. Who cared about the Dursleys when he had amazing friends and a place to call home.
It was then that it hit him that he shouldn't be upset or jealous that Draco was hanging out with his other friends. He would be upset if someone stopped him from talking with Ron, Hermione, or Draco, so why should he stop Draco from spending time with his friends.
He didn't know what made him so upset when Draco went off with the Slytherins because now it seemed like a silly thought. It's not like Draco said he didn't want to sit with them at all, and he made sure to make time for all of his friends.
"What are you thinking about Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Just wondering what Draco's up to right now," Harry replied.
"I'm sure he's having a grand old time with his Slytherin friends," Ron said and Hermione smacked his side.
"Those are his friends," Hermione reasoned, "Just because you aren't too fond of them doesn't mean Draco should stop being friends with them, so definitely don't say those things in front of him."
"Mione, I was just joking," Ron huffed.
"Well what if the Slytherins were telling Draco not to come sit with us? How would you feel?" Hermione pointed out.
"Draco wouldn't listen to them. He's his own person and is nothing like them," Ron argued
"Ron that's not what she's trying to say," Harry tried to explain, "The Slytherins have been friends with Draco before we even knew him, so us pushing him to leave them behind for us will only make him resent us."
"Yeah, I guess that would happen, and I would never ask him to stop being friends with them even if they aren't my favorite people," Ron agreed.
"We know that Ron. You're a great friend," Hermione said softly, "Draco and Neville should be here any minute. Let's go change out of our robes real quick.
Ron, Hermione, and Harry all grabbed their regular clothes out of their trunks and headed out of the compartment to the bathrooms on the train. As Harry changed into his clothes, he started to feel more out of place. All he had were Dudley's hand me downs, and they were always too big on him. He quickly pushed aside his feelings. After all these years, it was easy to do.
Once they had all finished changing, Harry led them back to their compartment. They settled back inside, and Hermione pulled out the book she was currently reading while Harry and Ron started talking about Quidditch.
They weren't far into the conversation when the compartment door started to open. Harry quickly turned his head and was happy to see his blond haired friend standing in the doorway.
"Hey Draco, Nev," Harry said happily and gave a nod to the other three Slytherins who all gave a curt nod back
Draco and Neville gave them all bright smiles, "Hey, we're going to go change robes real quick and then Nev and I will come back here."
The three Gryffindors nodded. Hermione replied, "Sounds good!" and then went back to her book.
Once Draco and Neville had left with their clothes, Ron and Harry went back to their conversation while waiting for their friends to return. It wasn't long till they heard the creaking of the sliding door.
Draco's POV
Draco walked inside the compartment and sat next to Harry who happily scooted over to make room. Neville followed and sat next to him.
"It's so weird that we're going to be at home for a few months," Neville said, "I'm going miss Hogwarts and seeing you guys every day."
"We're going to miss you too Neville," Hermione said, closing her book, "Ron, Harry, and I were just talking about this. We can still send letters to each other to keep in touch."
Draco hummed in agreement. "That sounds nice. I'm sure Nyx would love to fly more. I didn't really have many chances to send stuff at Hogwarts, but I guess if we're going to be sending letters then you should know I won't be staying at Malfoy Manor this summer. I'll be staying at my godfather's house."
"Who's your godfather?" Hermione questioned.
"Severus Snape," Draco said nonchalantly. He did want this to become a giant deal. Who cares who his godfather was?
Well, Ron Weasley cares that's who. "You're telling me that your godfather is Snape?!" Ron shouted in shock.
"Yes,” Draco said simply.
"But-But you're a Gryffindor," Ron stuttered out.
"Just because his godfather is in Slytherin doesn't mean he should be. Besides, you already knew his parents were in Slytherin, so how is it any different?" Harry pointed out.
"Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot about that," Ron said, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Quite frankly, it's none of your business and what makes the difference if he is or isn't?" Draco looked out the window at the countryside, "You'd hate him just the same."
"We don't hate him, Draco. He's a professor," Hermione said assuringly. Draco gave them a look in replied.
"Okay, well maybe we did hate him," Ron admitted, "But that was only because we thought he was working for...You-Know-Who and wanted to steal the stone."
"And look how that turned out," Harry said, "Now, Snape definitely isn't my favorite person, but he's important to Draco, so if we have anything bad to say about him maybe tone it down if it's around him."
Draco looked over and gave Harry a thankful smile. He knew Severus wasn't the nicest to most people to put it lightly especially to those three and for them to not talk bad about him in front of Draco meant a lot to him.
Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement. "It makes a lot more sense why you didn't think Snape was the culprit now," Ron said.
"There was a period of time I thought he was," Draco admitted, " After Harry and I saw him in the forest with Quirrell I had my doubts, so I ran off to his study demanding explanations. When he did explain immediately what he was doing I started to believe it was him. I stopped talking to him for weeks and he had to force me to stay after class. Then that night we had detention and he got me out of the woods, so we could talk more."
"You got to talk over your problems with Snape while we had to go to the Forbidden Forest? How's that fair?" Hermione pointed out.
"It's not," Draco said truthfully, "Nepotism at its finest I'm afraid, but he still made me come back at a different time and scrub cauldrons for an hour."
"Is that how you have practically a perfect grade in Potions too?" Ron asked
Draco looked at him offended. "I'll have you know Ronald Weasley, I work hard in potions to get my grade to where it is. My godfather wouldn't give me a grade I didn't deserve. He cares about my future too much."
"Calm down mate. I didn't mean it like that," Ron said, "Anyways at least you get away from Lucius Malfoy this summer. Though I don't know if Snape is any better."
Draco looked down at his lap while Neville, Hermione, and Harry gave Ron pointed looks. "Yep, lucky me," Draco huffed.
"I thought you were excited to stay with your godfather this summer?" Neville asked, confused.
Draco sighed. "I'm sure I'm going to love this summer. It's just I thought my parents would've gotten over the whole Gryffindor thing by now, and now they're sending me off to live with someone else. It just feels like they're pushing me to the side, so they don't have to deal with me anymore. I know that many people don't particularly like my father or his beliefs especially Ron's family and even I don't believe in everything he believes in, but he's still my father. I have tried so hard this year just to make up for my mistakes, and he just throws me to the side because it wasn't enough."
"I never thought of it like that," Ron said softly
"Draco, I'm sure they didn't mean it like that," Neville tried to assure, "You said you were going for Snape to help you continue your studies over the summer."
"Yeah, I just feel like it's an excuse though," Draco admitted.
"Well you'll still see them right?" Harry asked.
Draco nodded. "Father said I'll visit often to check up on my studies and behavior. He and Mother should be meeting me at the station and taking me back to the Manor to finish packing the stuff I want to bring with me."
"See, they still want to see you. Look on the bright side, they aren't disowning you," Hermione tried to point out.
Draco chuckled, "Not yet at least."
Their conversation shifted after that and Harry and Ron went back to their Quidditch conversation while Hermione and Neville started to talk about herbology. Draco drifted between the two conversations when he wasn't lost in his own thoughts.
They made it to King's Cross Station quicker than any of them would've liked. Draco said his goodbyes and gathered his trunks and Nyx. He walked out onto the platform and looked around for his parents. He couldn't find them through the floods of people. He walked around trying to see if they were near the other side of the train when someone grabbed his shoulder.
Draco turned and was surprised to see his godfather standing behind him. Severus was still in his teaching robes and looked a bit out of order.
"Aren’t my parents coming?" Draco asked, confused and looked around for any sign of his mother and father.
Severus gave his godson a sad smile, "Your father got caught up with work and sent me to pick you up. It was so last minute, I didn't even have time to change out of my robes."
"Are we going to Manor to get my stuff?" Draco asked with hope of being able to see his parents before he left to live with his godfather.
"They already sent your stuff over to my house," Severus said and watched as Draco's face fell, "Dobby's already there and is making dinner now. I had him go get some ice cream for dessert."
Draco nodded, but felt even more disappointed as he watched all the other kids surrounded by their parents. Why couldn't he have that? What was he doing wrong?
"Let's get going, so you have time to look at your room before dinner." Severus grabbed Draco's hand and apparated them to Spinner's Edge. Draco followed his godfather inside. It definitely wasn't as grand as the Manor, but Draco could already see it as his future home.
"Your room is upstairs. The first on the left. It's not decorated right now, but we can work on that later," Severus said and pointed to the stairs.
"Can I let Nyx out of his cage to fly? He hasn't been let out the whole ride here." Draco asked before heading upstairs to his room. Severus nodded, "Of course," and then walked to the kitchen to check on dinner.
Draco carried his trunks upstairs and opened the door to his room. It was simple and small compared to his room at the Manor. There was a bed in the corner and an antique wooden desk under the window. The walls were a pale blue and could even pass for white in the right lighting.
Draco sat his trunks down with the others that were already sent over and brought Nyx's cage over to the desk. The window squeaked as he slid it open and when he opened the door to Nyx's cage he instantly flew out the window without a glance back.
He sat down on the four poster bed and looked around his new room. He would need to decorate the room for him to really feel comfortable here. He was already making plans in his head of what he was going to change and add. He looked over to his trunks, but didn't feel like unpacking at the moment.
Thankfully, Severus shouted up the stairs, "Draco, dinner's ready!"
"I'm coming!" Draco shouted back. He looked around his room once more before heading downstairs. This summer was going to be great.