Settling In
Harry, Draco, and Hermione walked down the corridor on their way to Potions class. As they went, Draco thought back to what had happened during this crazy first week. There had been so many things that had occurred as they began to settle in, especially as he began to think about his time in Gryffindor.
~Flashback~
The new Golden Trio was walking toward breakfast on Monday morning. As they went, they talked about what Draco could expect as a Gryffindor.
"They're very loud. It's impossible to study in the common room. I always had to go to the library if I wanted to get any studying done." Hermione whined. Harry just shrugged.
"I like it. You see lots of people. Everyone's very accepting…" Harry trailed off. At that moment, Ron Weasley ran up to Harry.
"Hiya Harry! I didn't see you earlier this morning." Ron complained. "I got up early because I didn't know when breakfast started…" Harry sighed.
"Hi, Ron. Yeah, we were just heading down to eat." Harry explained, pointing to Hermione and Draco. Ron smiled at Hermione, but wrinkled his nose at Draco.
"You mean, this junior death eater?" Ron asked, pointing at the blonde. Draco huffed.
"Excuse me? Who are you, Weasel, to decide who is and is not worthy of Harry's time? Are you his keeper?" Draco sneered.
"No, but I would think Harry would not want to associate himself with the scion of the most loyal death eater to You-Know-Who." Ron quipped back. Draco opened his mouth as if to get in a jab back when Harry cut in.
"Ron, thank you for your concern, but I can decide who the right sort is myself." Harry snidely remarked. Draco had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Ron's smile fell.
"Haha, he got you good, Weasley." Seamus chuckled as he came up to the group. Harry held out his hand.
"Seamus, right?" Harry asked. "I'm Harry Potter."
Seamus looked questioningly at Harry's hand. "I know who you are." He replied. He almost looked like he would take Harry's hand when Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson walked up behind them.
"Hey, Finnegan, you palling around with Potter? I didn't take you for a blood traitor. However, it might make sense, your father being a dumb muggle and all." Blaise snapped, his nose wrinkled in disgust.
"No, I was just about to say to him how he got lucky with You-Know-Who. I bet you if he was here today, Harry wouldn't last five seconds." Seamus sneered, his eyes betraying the fear he seemed to have. Harry was hurt. He thought Seamus was his friend. But then, looking back to fifth year, he remembered how quickly Seamus had turned on him. Maybe, this was for the best.
"Finnegan, you wouldn't last one second against him. Perhaps while You-Know-Who is finishing off you, Harry will have a chance to off him again." Draco bit, his eyes burning with righteous anger. It was then that Draco realized how much Harry had to put up with last time. All his friends seemed to turn on him within seconds. People who might seem friendly quickly would retreat at the mention of possibly being on the wrong side of things. If you did not want to be a part of the war, it was best to stay away from Harry Potter.
Draco thought how sad that must have been. Harry really did need him as a friend. Yes, he had already planned to be friends with Harry this time around, but this idea made it easier for him to accept.
"Or perhaps your dad will come in and kill Harry while the Dark Lord is finishing off you." Finnegan replied. Blaise and Pansy laughed.
"Ha, good one, Finnegan. Maybe we were wrong about you after all!" Pansy quipped. Blaise patted him on the back.
"Yeah, at least we know who the real blood traitors are now." Blaise added, glaring at Draco and Ron. "Daddy won't be very happy when he finds out, will he? His only heir, a bleeding heart Gryffindor." Blaise snipped at Draco. Draco's eyes widened. Shoot, he knew he forgot something last night. He stepped back.
Hermione stepped forward. "At least he's not afraid to think for himself. Where did you get your ideals from, your mom?" Blaise turned red.
"What's it to you, mudblood?" Blaise spat. Draco saw red. Before he knew what was happening, he was on top of Blaise, pounding the snot out of him. Harry and Hermione grabbed Draco as Seamus and Pansy tried to grab Blaise.
"He's not worth it, Draco." Hermione pleaded as she tried to calm him down. Draco finally jumped off of Blaise and began to take deep breaths.
"Need protecting from you boyfriend, do you?" Seamus sneered at Hermione. He helped Blaise up and Pansy put a gentle hand on his arm.
"Let's get out of here, before the blood traitor tries something else." Pansy suggested. The three Slytherins left, leaving Ron, Draco, Hermione, and Harry in the corridor. Hermione turned and glared at Ron. He stood there, mouth agape, eyes wide.
"Well, I guess I better go grab my books. See ya later, Harry! Bye!" Ron said quickly, not even trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.
Draco, Harry, and Hermione watched him go. They turned around to head toward the Great Hall. As Draco turned, he caught a glimpse of his godfather, Severus, in the shadows. From the way he was looking at the blonde, Draco knew he had been standing there for quite some time. However, he could not tell from the look in his godfather's eyes if the man was disappointed in him or proud of him. He shrugged. As long as he did not get called in for a detention, he did not care at this moment. He just tucked that tidbit of information in the back of his mind, planning to think on it later.
Draco was thrown from his contemplation by a voice to his side.
"So, Draco, what are you going to tell your father?" Hermione asked.
~Flashback ending~
Draco shivered. He suddenly remembered what happened later that week, when that question came back to bite him in the butt.
~Flashback~
Draco had just sat down at the Gryffindor table to enjoy dinner with Harry and Hermione. Hermione had quipped about Weasley's struggle to get to Transfiguration on time, just as he had the previous timeline. Draco had to be careful as he laughed, as he had just taken a swig of pumpkin juice and he did not want to do anything as undignified as snort pumpkin juice from his nose.
All joy was taken from the moment when the Great Hall doors slammed open. Draco whipped around in time to see his father striding over to the Slytherin table. Draco tried to make himself very small. Maybe-just maybe-his father would not see him and leave. However, his wish for his father to disappear did not come true. After his father's failed attempt at finding him amongst the Slytherins, he began to scan the rest of the Great Hall. When their eyes locked, Draco flinched. Uh oh, this is not going to end well. Draco thought. Before Draco had much time to think about how to get out of this, he found his father standing right in front of him.
"Draco, come with me, now." His father almost growled. His father grabbed his arm and gave it a tight squeeze. Draco flinched again. He looked apologetically at Harry and Hermione and then got up to leave with his father.
To his father's credit, he did wait until they had reached the headmaster's office before he started their conversation.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you have not contacted your mother and I for three days. We were worried sick about you. Then, when I come down here for answers, I find you not at the Slytherin table where you are supposed to be, but rather at the Gryffindor table, palling around with Potter and that mudblood. What is going on?" Lucius demanded. Draco bent his head and looked down at the floor, successfully averting his gaze. He mumbled something. His father was not pleased. "Draco Lucius Malfoy, we taught you better than to mumble. Please speak up and explain your current behavior."
"I said, I am supposed to be at the Gryffindor table." Draco trembled. He looked up into his father's eyes. The man grimaced.
"Explain." His father bit out. Draco blinked a couple of times before he could come up with any words.
"I'm not a Slytherin." Draco confessed. His father glared.
"What?" He barked. Draco immediately averted his eyes again.
"I'm not a Slytherin. I was sorted somewhere else." Draco explained. His father turned red.
"Where were you sorted?" Lucius asked, trying to force his son to admit the truth.
"In Gryffindor." Draco whispered. All time seemed to stop. When it restarted, he heard his father's cane before he felt it. His father caned him three times. Draco had to bite his lip to keep it from trembling, and closed his eyes tightly to keep from crying.
"How could you? You have shamed the Malfoy family, Draco." Lucius spat. Draco licked his lips and kept his gaze rooted firmly to the floor. "We must get you resorted immediately."
"But father, you know that's a myth. No one is allowed to be resorted. Besides…" Draco trailed off. He took a deep breath. "Besides, I don't want to be resorted."
"Excuse me?" Lucius growled. "Do you mean to say you want to be in Gryffindor?"
Draco swallowed hard. "Yeh…Yes, sir. I already made so many friends, and it's where the hat put me. He said he saw great things for me there." Draco said, trying to appeal to his father's waning pride. His father glared at him.
"Fine. Do not expect to come home for Christmas. Your mother and I have a lot of things we would rather do than play host to a blood traitor, Draconis." Lucius bit, turning his back on the boy. Draco swallowed again. He knew he would have to stand up to his father, but he never thought it would hurt this much.
Once his father had left, Draco felt he was no longer hungry. He decided he would rather head back to Gryffindor tower. He had hoped not to run into anyone. He could head up to bed and no one would be the wiser.
However, Draco found he was pleasantly wrong. He thought he would be annoyed that Harry and Hermione were already in the common room, but he was never happier to be incorrect.
"Hey, everything okay?" Hermione asked him as he entered the common room.
"Everything's fine." Draco mumbled. This caught Harry's attention. He looked up at the retreating blonde head and ran over toward the stairs. He intercepted Draco and forced him over to one of the couches.
"You don't look fine, mate." Harry quipped, sitting the blonde down before he himself took a seat. "What happened?"
"I found out I'm staying over Christmas break." Draco replied, trying to side-step the question. Hermione would have none of it.
"Did your father tell you you're not welcome back at home?" She asked. The blonde did not even have to answer, it was written on his face. He nodded, blinking back tears.
"Well, I'm going to be staying here for Christmas, too. We can hang out." Harry suggested, trying to make light of the conversation. Hermione glared at the dark-haired boy.
"Harry! Try and be sensitive!" Hermione scolded. Draco just had to smile. Maybe, just maybe, this whole friend thing could work out for the better.
~Flashback ending~
Draco smiled as he reminisced about the moment he began think of Harry and Hermione as his friends. He could not believe Weasley could ever give that up to betray them to Voldemort. How stupid could he be? Draco shrugged. It was not his problem to deal with. Right now, he would just enjoy another class with his friends.