1 : IMPERIO

CHAPTER 2: PREPARATIONS

Word Count: 2411

Draco always thought of himself as better than everyone else; the superior one, the intelligent one, the rich one. His father's pride, mother's little boy, and the heir to the Malfoy family. And that was the reason meeting Charlotte Crawford blew his mind.

When they returned back home, the first thing he did was rush to his room and hide the book in his cupboard. Shuffling through his clothes his hid the book behind his expensive clothes and sat on his huge bed.

He didn't understand how she wasn't affected by his attitude the way everyone else usually was. She was respectful towards his father and addressed him right, but on the switch side she wasn't afraid of him. The courtesies were out of respect and not fear, and that was something Draco wasn't used to.

Thinking back, she looked like a well behaved pure-blood. Her speech was neat and clean, she was looking presentable and her overall style of walking and carrying herself fit in what he was taught as a child. Considering her behaviour she acted too pure-blood to be anything less.

"Chin up, and speak clearly." He was told at the age of seven, and he had done that since.

What he didn't understand was her interest in muggle literature.

According to his father, the pure-bloods who associated with muggles had let go of their wizarding traditions. They didn't act the way they should, and were a disgrace. Her liking muggle literature meant association with muggles, and then the question he couldn't find the answer to was how she acted so pure-blood.

He heard a knock on the door, and saw his mother enter the room. His mother, Narcissa Malfoy was the only person he thought he could share his thoughts with. She listened and let him do things his father wouldn't have approved, like maybe reading muggle literature.

"You seem in deep thoughts." She said sitting beside him, and Draco looked up at her. He gave her a smile and nodded.

"I am." She smiled and placed and arm around him pulling him closer.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Draco thought for a moment, and nodded.

"I'm in a dilemma." Said Draco and Narcissa Malfoy hummed and asked him to continue. "When father and I were in Diagon Alley, we saw Dumbledore sitting in the ice-cream shop with a girl. Father wanted to talk to him, so we went in, and I was told to sit with the girl while father had a talk with Dumbledore."

"That sounds like your father." His mother chuckled. "What is the dilemma?"

"While I was talking to the girl, and she acted like – well like us." His mother looked down at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Pureblood you mean?" Narcissa Malfoy asked, and Draco nodded. "But that is good. Is this girl starting school with you? If yes then it is good you are associating yourself with the purebloods." Draco sighed and shook his head.

"I know mum, but I don't know if she really is, or was she just raised that way." His mother chuckled, and shook her head.

"Oh darling no one is raised pureblood when they are not born one. No parent wants their children to go through endless number of rules, behaviour and dance classes." Draco cracked a smile and looked down to the ground, and nodded.

"I know mother. But when you go through all that, you are also told stay away from muggles, and that is my dilemma. She had a muggle literature book with her. When I understood it was – well a muggle book I was disgusted. But she challenged me. She said if I read the book before school starts and I like it, then I will have to stop calling muggle literature filthy, and if I don't then she won't ever tell me that muggle literature is good, and I don't know how to feel about the situation."