What If? - Drarry

Part Two - Chapter One

Fourth Year

Harry felt a now-familiar rush as he boarded the Hogwarts Express – the feeling of returning home after a long holiday. It was now his fourth time riding the train to Hogwarts, following a summer at The Burrow and an intense Quidditch World Cup, and the train was a mass of life as students moved continuously as a murmuration of starlings or a shoal of fish might do. Sounds and bodies pressed in from all sides as he, Ron, and Hermione pushed through the masses, finally escaping into an empty carriage as the train began to move out of the station. Mrs Weasley and Charlie found their way to the window of the carriage and managed to exchange a few parting words before the train peeled away from the platform, and they became tiny dots before disappearing from sight. Once they began to pick up speed the trio lapsed into easy conversation, and were presently joined by Dean and Seamus, followed by Neville. Of course, it wasn't long before the conversation turned to the Quidditch World Cup, which all present, save Neville, had attended. Neville didn't take part in most of the Quidditch talk, but as the conversation turned to the aftermath of the game, he began to gain interest.

"So you were all there? What happened? I heard that You-Know-Who came back, but there've been all sorts of rumours. My Gran says that the papers can't be trusted with telling the truth."

"Well, she's right. They exaggerated everything in the Prophet." Seamus began, "Dean and I were with me Mam in a tent on the other side of the campsite, so luckily we weren't right in the middle of it. But we could see fire and stuff, and hear some of the screams."

"We were right in the thick of it," Said Ron, shuddering theatrically. "My Dad woke us up in the middle of the night and told us to go to the forest, and on the way there we actually saw the Death-Eaters. They were setting tents on fire and things like that, and they had this muggle family suspended-"

"It was really awful," Cut in Hermione "They were playing about with the family, making the kids spin around upside-down and things. It made me feel sick to watch it... and just because they were muggles."

"We got to the forest along with my brothers and sister, but we lost them for a while. Then Malfoy comes along, and guess what he said?" Ron paused for effect "He as good as told us his Dad was part of the Death-Eaters group."

"Seriously?" Neville sounded even more scared than usual at the mention of Malfoy.

"Yeah. Anyway, the slimy git..."

Harry had tuned out of the conversation at the mention of Draco, seeing as it was something of a touchy subject. All through their second year it had been fine, and Draco had treated Harry's friends politely as he'd said he would. But through third year Draco had become steadily rudder, and even mean, to the point where Harry's friends simply refused to understand that he just wasn't like that with Harry, and Harry had been forced to accept that Draco seemed to have become, to put it mildly, an arse.

When Harry had confronted Draco, he had become moody and muttered something about "His father" and "Seeming too friendly", and then continued to make the potion they had been set without another word. The argument this had caused had kept them silent and sullen towards each other for several weeks, until they had eventually began to talk again. Despite his friends' strong dislike of the Slytherin, it was just easier to be on good terms with him. But Harry wouldn't put up with Draco's jibes, especially not when they were directed at his friends, and this had resulted in a rocky half-friendship. It was complicated, and Harry generally chose not to partake in conversations about him.

"Ron," Said Dean suddenly, pulling Harry from his thoughts, "What the hell is up with your owl?"

Pig was, as usual, incredibly overexcited. The tiny owl flapped around his cage and made a surprising amount of noise for such a small animal. Ron groaned. "That's Pigwidgeon. We call him Pig. He's a bit mental." Ron grabbed his horrible new dress robes and threw them over Pig's cage to muffle the tweeting noise.