Chapter 2
They were late, as they were every year, except that this time he was going to Hogwart's too. His mother had found a lost child on the quay but with his nervousness, it was the least of his worries at the moment.
At last, he passed the barrier and the train was in sight, clearly, no children were present, all already seated. His mother hurried them to the doors before embracing them one by one. She was talking about the importance of good behaviour, but his eyes were on the train, just wanting to sit down.
His two brothers, Fred and George, had been delighted to tell him about the ordeal of sorting, and the lump in his stomach had only thickened. The fact that his wand was only held together by the will of who knows who, and that his robes were more grey than black and clearly worn, did nothing to ease his stress. He wished he could have the same things as Percy.
His mother pushed them inside the moment the whistle sounded and the door closed. His brothers scattered like powder in the wind, clearly having people to find, and he found himself alone with the dark-haired stranger.
Might as well share a compartment, right?
...
Draco looked out the window as the departure whistle blew. His parents had dropped him off with a cheeky head start and he found himself waiting for over 30 minutes for departure. His mother gave him an encouraging shoulder squeeze as his father explained clearly what he expected of him this year.
One of the expectations was to sit with the Goyles and Crabbes, something that didn't appeal to him, so instead he sat with Blaise Zabini, a quiet but welcome company. The latter seemed very absorbed in a book, which he often was, and that was probably why Draco enjoyed his presence. He didn't need to hear countless diatribes about the beliefs of his parents, or his mother in Blaise's case. He didn't know if Blaise liked his presence, but since he was never intentionally kept away from him as he was with the other purebloods he assumed that he would not mind his presence.
The door of the compartment opened to let in none other than Pansy Parkinson, Draco didn't dislike her, her personality could be overwhelming when you weren't used to it, especially for someone like Draco, but she wasn't a spoiled brat like others and although she had her own view of things Draco would go so far as to say that she was pleasant company. He would not reveal that the time she said she saw him as a brother at 8 years old had touched him, nor that he had become slightly attached.
Blaise didn't seem to dislike her either, and very often the three of them got together at parties organised by their parents. He didn't really know what they were but he didn't mind not naming them for the moment if he was comfortable.
"Darlings! Do you know how much I've been looking for you? Who knew the train was so big" she closed the door behind her and went to sit next to Draco as Blaise only looked up for a second before returning to his book "Draco, Dear, you'd better watch out Vincent and Gregory are looking for you too, they won't let you go if they find you. "
He sighed, Vincent and Gregory weren't evil or anything, they were just far too impressionable, although it wasn't their fault, they were brought up to be.
That was the thing with all purebloods, they were detestable but their upbringing was clearly the reason. Only it's not only education that builds us up, but also our experience, and Draco hoped that this would open the eyes of others, they were only eleven years old after all.
He often forgot that.
"Oh Merlin ! Draco, what's with the hair? "Oh yes, his father had wanted to gel his hair for some reason, except that Draco thought he was far too strange as it was, so as soon as he had found his cabin and put his trunk down he had gone to the toilet to undo the mess. Except that he had left his wet hair to dry by itself and from Pansy's reaction the result was not conclusive.
He didn't wait until he saw Blaise's amused smile as Pansy turned him around in his seat.
"You have to know how to take care of that hair my dear! "She took a clip, brush and elastic from her trunk and began to work on his hair. The train began to pull away and Draco watched the parents say goodbye to their children with vigour.
The hands in his hair relaxed him as the figures began to resemble mere dots. He felt a cream being applied to his hair before finally, after a good 15 minutes, Draco was released by Pansy.
"Oh my, you're finally back to being a visible thing! "He knew better than to take offence at what Pansy said, after all her words had no ill meaning.
"Blaise, give us the honour of your attention and tell us your thoughts," she said, placing him in front of him.
Blaise looked up and stared at him before smirking.
"Well, my dear Malfoy heir, what a grace," he said with ease in his voice. He seemed genuinely amused by the situation and it made Draco want to throw the brush to his face. Blaise, clearly pleased with himself, went back to his reading while Pansy shook her head in exasperation.
"Draco, why don't you go and admire my magnificent work and the resplendent creature you have become," it was Draco's turn to hold back a roll of the eyes as he got up and left his compartment to go to the bathroom.
He had to admit that this haircut was much nicer to look at than the gel one. This hair was instead slightly pushed to the side giving him a more mature look.
As Draco looked at himself in the mirror, he wished he could keep his hair natural, of course as far back as he could remember his parents had taught him the basics of spells for every detail of his physique that was wrong and his father had made him repeat the spell several times yesterday. Several times being more than 40 times.
He had come to wonder, is intent the most important thing in a spell? If such a spell is absolutely necessary in the moment, wouldn't that increase the chances of success? There must surely be other factors such as self-confidence, but it was a lead.
He had taken the opportunity to try any other spell and he had succeeded Lumos so far. Although the light was as small as a pearl it was a start. His wand was more than comfortable to use and gave him a sense of belonging. His father had looked at him critically but Draco had managed to keep the composition of the wand a secret.
Coming out of the bathroom, he passed two girls who looked to be about 13 years old and were whispering
"Did you hear that? Apparently Harry Potter is on the train! "
"Yes, I heard! It's crazy! "
Draco stiffened slightly, of course he hadn't done anything to the boy, but his biological father had betrayed his parents and so somehow killed the boy's parents. He knew he shouldn't be guilty, after all nothing was his fault, and really he wasn't, but at some point Draco wondered if the boy would hate him.
Each time a sick feeling filled Draco's throat, none of his parents' crimes were his own, but responsibility could fall on him at any time and he often found himself thinking that life was far too complicated.
In the end, he always felt that he had some responsibility in all of this, even if he hadn't done anything. Parents are unfair.
He moved on, past the two girls, hearing them giggling, before heading in the direction of his compartment, and as he passed he couldn't help but look through the few uncovered windows of the cabins and caught the sight of a familiar tuft of black hair. Pansy would have a fit.
He decided to knock on the door to say hello, because why not?
...
Ron could tell he was at ease, the boy in question was really nice.
The train had been running for at least 20 minutes and his stress was gradually melting away as they talked.
"Apparently Hogwart has very large gardens! "said the boy in front of him.
Ron was thinking about all the descriptions his brothers had given him when someone knocked on the compartment door. The door opened slowly to reveal a rather well-groomed boy in clearly expensive robes.
Ron frowned, platinum blondes, expensive clothes equal Malfoys and Malfoys are ego-filled people with no humanity, or so his father said.
The boy at the door looked at the black-haired one and then at him. They paused for a moment before the boy smiled.
"Draco! I'm really glad to see you! "Ron turned his surprised eyes to the green-eyed boy who seemed to know the Malfoy boy.
"I'm glad to see you too," said the Malfoy boy before turning his gaze to Ron. The latter wrinkled his nose slightly, expecting an insult or a haughty look as his father had said Malfoys did. But the boy looked at him with a simple smile before speaking.
"Oh my, you must be a Weasley, nice to meet you, my name is Draco," he offered politely.
Ron looked at him for a second before saying
"You're a Malfoy... "The Malfoy boy seemed to pause at this before returning to smiling gently.
"Indeed I am."
"Draco, this is Ron, I met him this morning," the green eyed boy said as he introduced him.
"Well, nice to meet you Ron," said the Malfoy boy. Ron looked at him suspiciously again.
"Nice to ... meet you too Malfoy," he said slowly.
The Malfoy boy's smile stiffened slightly.
"May you call me Draco instead of Malfoy, I'd feel more comfortable if you could," he said looking slightly uncomfortable.
"Hmm...okay" Ron said embarrassed. He wasn't sure what to do, he knew he should listen to his parents but the boy didn't seem so bad. His father said that Malfoys were mischievous though.
"Why don't you come and sit down Draco," said the green eyed boy.
"Oh, sorry, my companions are waiting for me now," said the Malfoy boy, or rather Draco.
His companions were surely purebloods weren't they?
"Oh..." The dark haired boy seemed to be slightly disappointed and that pained Ron. The boy didn't like his company did he? He looked down in slight disappointment.
"Why don't you come and sit with us then?" Draco finally said, clapping his hands.
Ron looked up. Now he was going to be alone for the whole trip, wasn't he?
Perhaps he should have expected it.
The green eyed boy looked up in surprise again and smiled.
"I'd love to! "he said, picking up his trunk and as he approached the door Ron did not move and turned his head towards him.
"Ron? "The call made Draco turn his head towards him.
"The invitation is extended to you too Ron of course, that is, if you wish to join us." Ron looked up with surprise in his eyes and then thought, of course he didn't want to spend the trip surrounded by stuck up pure bloods but he didn't want to be alone. And then maybe Draco wasn't evil? He didn't know, after all his father said that everyone in this family was the same.
But Ron wasn't the same as Percy, or Fred, or George, or even Charlie.
Ron didn't trust Draco, but he wanted to spend the trip with someone, so he accepted and took his trunk while the dark-haired boy was smiling at him .
As they left the compartment and walked down the corridor Draco spoke again.
"By the way, I've just realised that I don't know your name," said Draco . And Ron suddenly realised that he too did not know the boy's name even though they had been talking for at least 20 minutes.
"Oh, my name? It's Harry, Harry Potter" Ron choked on his spit and coughed as Draco's eyes widened, stopping all three of them.
"Blimey! You're Harry Potter! I've been talking to Harry Potter, wait until the twins hear about this! "Ron muttered.
The boy who Ron had just learned was the star of Britain scratched his neck looking embarrassed.
"Hm yes... I found out yesterday that apparently I was famous..."
"Famous!? Mate that's an euphemism!" Ron shouted excitedly, though it seemed to make Harry uncomfortable.
Ron realised that Draco had been rather quiet and turned his head towards him, Draco looked genuinely shocked and apprehensive but soon enough he snapped out of it and smiled again.
"Well, now we can introduce each other officially, nice to meet you Harry," he said with a smile.
Harry looked relieved and really pleased so Ron decided to do the same.
"Nice to meet you Harry! "Harry looked up at him with a bright smile and Ron was relieved. Ron opened the door and expected to see a horde of combed-over children, all with a haughty look on their faces, but instead he saw a boy who seemed to prefer his book to anyone else in the compartment, and a girl humming as she put away what appeared to be hair accessories. He knew what it was from Ginny and her many tortures.
The girl turned her head energetically towards Draco and gave them a questioning look.
"My, Draco Dear who are these people? "she said and Ron wondered why she was talking like that.
"This is Ron and Harry," Draco introduced them and Ron waved his hand nervously. Are they going to insult him? If so he had to go back to his compartment.
The boy reading his book looked up slightly and scanned them. From the look on his and the girl's faces they knew who he was, and they also knew who Harry was. When Ron thought about it, he wasn't sure if there was another Harry this year.
"Nice to meet you, Blaise Zabini," said the boy before returning to his book.
He and Harry nodded and the girl spoke.
"I would say the same, but the sight of your hairs makes me dizzy! What is this filth? Come and sit down before I make you do it myself! "He and Harry looked at each other strangely before obeying. Ron didn't know whether to be offended or not, but he glanced at Draco who shrugged with a smirk and pointed to his own blonde hair.
Ron concluded that it was she who had styled his hair. Draco went and sat down next to Blaise to make room for the two boys next to the dark haired girl.
"This is Pansy Parkinson, please excuse her for her rudeness" said Draco, although he didn't look sorry as he took a book out of one of the trunk.
"If there is one thing I feel sorry for, dear, it is the state of their poor hair," she grabbed Ron's arm and turned him so that his back was to her and took out a brush. "I'm going to bring your hair back to life darling, just you see," she said and pointed at Harry with the brush, "and you, don't move, it doesn't matter if you're the one who lived, because your hair is dead and buried," she finished severely, like a mother scolding her son.
She began to put a cream in Ron's hair and undo the knots one by one, he would have thought it would be long and painful but it was quite pleasant.
"Hm, can I ask a question? "Harry said and Ron realised that he had relaxed considerably under Pansy's manual labour.
Draco looked up from his book.
"Of course," he said.
"Remember when you mentioned the Houses of Hogwarts? Ron mentioned them too, I wonder what that's all about? "
Draco seemed to think for a moment and then said:
"What it says is that Gryffindor is for the brave, Ravenclaw is for the discerning, Hufflepuff is for the loyal and Slytherin is for the cunning, however I tend to see another meaning. It's just my point of view but I tend to think that the Houses represent what you want them to represent for you, so it's best not to be influenced and sorted as you are supposed to be."
A House only represents what you want it to represent.Ron didn't really think about it . He was supposed to be in Gryffindor because all of his family was there .
However, Ron wanted to be brave, to protect what and who he loved, like all heroes in stories, he didn't just want to be in Gryffindor because the Weasley name was associated with it.
Looking up at Draco he noticed that Blaise was smiling slightly and Pansy had given a slight chuckle, hardly a whisper though, as Draco continued his explanation.
"Of course a House cannot represent a person in their entirety, seeing as how a House emphasises a single personality trait, and I am sure that we all have each of these traits within us, it is only the one that stands out the most in the moment or that we are most striving for that makes us sorted. That is the question Harry, what are you trying to achieve? "finished Draco.
Harry seemed genuinely perplexed by the question and then said
"I want to be someone that those I care about can rely on and trust, to be someone who can make a difference to others and stand up for what I believe. But I also want people to pay attention to what I want, isn't it egoistical?" said Harry.
"Hm, not at all ! That all sounds very brave darling," said Pansy, humming as she applied more cream to Ron's hair.
"I see, and you Ron? What do you want to achieve? "Draco said, turning his head towards Ron and Ron was very surprised. Him? What did he want to achieve? No one had ever really asked him, everyone in his family had one thing that set them apart and one goal and everyone had made it obvious that Ron should go to Gryffindor but no one had ever asked.
"Me?" he lowered his head slightly, "I want to be someone that people trust, prove that I can make my own choices, I want to be different," then he shook his head, "That doesn't make any sense," he muttered.
"It makes a lot of sense actually my dear" Pansy said as she took him by the shoulders and turned him around "It's a goal like any other, oh and for your information I'm done so I suggest you go admire yourself" she said winking at him
Ron turned his head towards Draco.
"I don't see any problem with that either, and Blaise as well even if he is as motionless as marble statue.
Blaise just shrugged, and Pansy chased him into the bathroom to check on himself.
Looking at himself Ron was shocked, his hair no longer looked like a bird's nest but looked soft and pleasant to the touch. Looking down at himself Ron realised that he had been really comfortable with them. His father and mother kept saying that they, the Weasleys, were the exception in the pureblood community, so did that mean that the three people in this cabin were too?
Ron really didn't like to think too much, so this time he decided to just concentrate on his hair looking better than it ever had and went back into the compartment with a smile on his face.
…
Draco had not expected this, the boy he had met was Harry Potter.
He had invited Ron and the boy because his aim at Hogwarts was to open his mind, to discover new points of view, and frankly although Ron had been hostile at first, when he saw him returning from the bathroom with a smile he concluded that he had warmed up to them. Besides, he actually looked friendly.
His goals made him think of himself, proving that he could make his own choices. So far, he has suffered from every decision made by those around him. Sirius abandoning him, his mother's inability to stand up to his father, his father's education and especially the possible murder of his mother by his father. Draco still wasn't sure and had no way of knowing , he couldn’t just ask of course .
Even if the decision of his sorting is not entirely up to him, it will come from the conception of his personality.
As for Harry Potter, he would rather just hide his apprehensions, the boy probably didn't know about Sirius, and Draco didn't think it was up to him to say. For now, Draco just wanted to enjoy his ride in the company of nice people. Also, this problem won't go away overnight so there was no point dwelling on it too long, it shouldn't influence his relationship with Harry in any way.
He had done nothing and owed nothing. That will be his mantra for now.
When Pansy was done with Harry's hair, Ron's eyes widened.
"Mate ! Look! Your hair looks so different! Can you use spells?" he finished turning to Pansy. The latter smiled proudly while taking out a jar of moisturizer.
" No darling, just healthy a lifestyle " She quickly approached Ron 's face, surprising him, and applied a good amount of face cream to him before doing the same to Harry " Now dear go see you too and watch your transformation!" Harry stood up after Ron showed him where the bathroom was.
On his return, his gaze expressed surprise and shock.
"I know Mate! It's shocking!" Ron raved.
"Another mission accomplished by Miss Parkinson," Pansy said smugly.
Draco rolled his eyes in endearing exasperation.
"Hm well I had a question too," Ron said shyly, Pansy and Draco looked at him then.
"Yes?" said Draco.
"Hm, to be sorted, are we going to fight a troll?"
" What? "
Blaise burst out laughing.
...
The boat trip was really enjoyable and the view from the castle was dazzling, the many lanterns giving it a mysterious aura.
After calmly explaining to Ron that no, they wouldn't fight a troll and that yes, an enchanted hat will sort them, a girl with extremely bushy hair, a fact that made Pansy choke, asked them if they had seen a toad and the answer was negative.
After she had rudely asks them to change she had left.
Now the four of them stood in line outside the doors of the Great Hall, Blaise still looked just as bored, Pansy had one hand on her hip and just as confident as usual .Harry was tugging at his sleeves and Ron looked positively stressed.
Elbowing them they turned to him and he smirked at them. Both nodded before turning around.
Soon the doors opened and Draco could finally see the enchanted ceiling mentioned in every Hogwart book he had read. The constellations were reflected in the ceiling and only a few dim candles illuminated the room.
He only paid attention to the rules given by Professor McGonagall and waited impatiently for the hat's least peculiar song to end.
The sorting finally began and it was only a matter of time before he was called. Even if he wasn'twatching he knew that his two companions as well as Harry and Ron were watching him.
Arriving near the stool he found himself muttering in a low voice, although he could probably be heard by the teacher who looked at him strangely.
"Listen to me, listen to me, listen to me." Draco wasn't worried but he figured that after a decade of Malfoy in Slytherin the hat would maybe not make an effort for his sorting. Maybe it was an insulting assumption but he would never know as the hat fell on his head.
"Well, well, dear, you wanted me to listen to you, here I am"
"Just sort me out by who I am, I'm in no way trying to insult you or your work but I prefer to take precautions"
The hat chuckled softly
"Your way of speaking reminds me of a certain Regulus Black, so boy let me see who you are."
There was a silence then the hat spoke again
"Oh, oh, oh, it seems you are related to him, Draconis Atlas Black, son of Sirius Black and Arabella Malfoy" Draco stiffened, he hadn't thought of that, he inhaled, what would happen now? The hat would denounce him wouldn't it? "Don't be scared my boy I am not here to reveal the secrets of the students but to sort them out."
Draco allowed himself to breathe again and let the hat continue to wander around in his head.
“I see a promising insight, a thirst for discovery, a need to detach from your family and fly with your own wings. The need to show others your ideals and not let anyone decide your future. The world is a place you want to experience isn't it young man? For you, I only see...RAVENCLAW! "
The hat shouted the last word across the room, and a stony silence fell, as McGonagall removed the hat from his head. Draco stood up with a slight smile on his face and walked over to his table. Applause from the line of students was heard and Draco saw that it was Pansy who started ir followed closely by Ron, Blaise, and Harry.
The room also began to fill with applause as he reached his table. He sat down although the people around him looked at him strangely. He looked down and noticed that his tie had turned midnight blue.
As he watched Harry and Ron being sorted into Gryffindor as well as Pansy and Blaise being sorted into Slytherin with satisfaction he couldn't help noticing that he had forgotten his wand in his trunk.