Freshly Unsorted || A Drarry Story

One: Return to Hogwarts

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood at Platform Nine and Three-quarters with Molly and Arthur Weasley, along with Hermione's parents. Ron and Hermione were holding hands while Ginny stood very close to Harry, but he didn't have it in him to tell her to stop again. Harry had his Firebolt resting on his shoulder, his other hand trying to flatten his hair a bit, unsuccessful in his trials.

Ginny made a disgusted noise and asked, "Why is he coming back?"

Harry looked in the direction her head was turned in and saw Draco Malfoy's blonde head dipped in embarrassment and was trying to hide his face but some people still spit at him or glared at him.

"Don't be rude, Gin," Harry said. "He must've gotten a letter to be coming back."

"He did stand with us and not with the Death Eaters and Voldemort."

Ron and Ginny couldn't help but cringe and hiss, "Don't say the name!"

"He's dead, you idiot, " Hermione said to Ron. "We can say his name now."

Ginny replied, "Yes, but Malfoy is still a prick."

Harry looked at her and said, "We don't have to be pricks. Maybe we can be some sort of friends."

Ron and Ginny grimaced while Hermione smiled and responded, "Good idea, Harry."

When the train let out a mournful wail, Mrs Weasley kissed each student on their cheeks and wished them a good first term. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked down the corridors, whispers followed them and heads turned. Harry didn't make eye contact with anyone but glanced into every compartment to find the familiar blonde head that he has seen for years.

Ron waved at everyone that looked at him, enjoying the attention. Harry, Ron, and Hermione found an empty compartment and sat down as Ginny left to find her friends. Neville came in and sat with them, telling the three how happy he was to be coming back to Hogwarts.

Harry stayed silent, not really listening to the conversation. Instead, he thought about how Malfoy was, but he quickly stopped himself.

He heard the compartment door open and didn't look up, thinking it was Dean or Seamus.

"May I sit in here? There aren't any more empty compartments."

Harry lifted his head up and saw a slightly embarrassed Draco Malfoy standing in the compartment door. He replied, "Yeah. Sure."

Draco walked in and silently sat down next to the window, pulling his coat's hood over his head and hiding his face. Harry thought he heard a small "Thank you, "

The group continued their conversation and almost completely ignored the tall blonde as they spoke, minus Harry, who glanced at him every once in a while. Draco kept his hood up and his eyes closed, sitting as close to the window as possible to make his personal space bubble large enough to be noticeable.

Draco kept to himself and tried to sleep, but was quickly pulled away from that when he heard Hermione ask him, "Are you going to try out for Quidditch, Mal--- Draco?"

Draco stayed silent for a moment before answering, "Yes, Granger."

"Isn't that exciting, Harry?"

Draco heard Potter answer, "Yeah. I might actually be challenged this year."

"Scared, Potter?" Draco asked. He found it pleasurable when Harry laughed.

When Draco felt the train slow down, he gathered his stuff and quickly left the compartment before the rest of them could even stand up. He already had his robe and tie on and decided to just hide out in the washroom until the train stopped and every student left the train.

He didn't feel like walking through a sea of students that hated him and his name. Most of them knew about his Dark Mark and the ones who didn't know would find out by the end of tomorrow.

He rolled up his sleeve and frowned at the disgusting mark on his forearm. He scratched at it and the unmarked flesh turned red. He felt tears sting his eyes and wiped at his eyes angrily.

He felt the train rock to a stop and heard the chatter of students and the clatter of their trunks and brooms. He stayed silent until he couldn't hear much noise then walked out and dragged his stuff along. Draco walked with his head down and avoided eye contact.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville got into one of the thestral drawn carriages and the six of them laughed and talked, telling of their plans for their last year. They were also not required to take the big exams if they didn't want to, which, to anybody's surprise, Hermione wanted to take the tests.

Harry was ecstatic about trying out for Quidditch while Ron said that he wasn't going to try out this time around. Harry was bouncing with excitement as he continued to talk about Quidditch. Ron asked, "When you make the team, are you going to beat the shit outta Malfoy?"

Harry looked at him and answered, "No. Maybe . . .yeah."

Hermione reprimed Ron, saying, "Don't act like that. He stood---"

"Yeah, yeah," Seamus said, leaning onto Dean's shoulder. "Doesn't mean his Dark Mark vanished."

Harry defended him. "Well, maybe we can be his friends. I don't think that any of his friends from previous years are going to be here."

Ron rolled his eyes as they stepped out of the carriage and went to the Great Hall. The three sat down at a couple of separate tables that had a large banner with all of the House colours and mascots on it with the words 'EIGHTH YEARS' on it. He saw quite a few Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, but only a few Slytherins including Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Draco Malfoy just to name a few.

All of the other returnees stayed far away from the Slytherin students, who looked very out of place with their solemn faces and slouched shoulders while all of the others were laughing and talking loudly.

"Harry!" he heard. "Harry!"

It was Ginny calling for him across the way. Harry looked around like he didn't know who it was and looked at Ron. "Do you two know where you wanna sit?"

Hermione and Ron both shook their heads and Harry walked confidently to the table that the handful of Slytherins was sitting. He asked them, "Are these seats free?"

Blaise Zabini looked up at him and shook his head, narrowing his eyes slightly. Harry sat down a bit away from Draco and Ron and Hermione sat down across from him. Hermione asked the two of them, "Do you think that the classes would be harder than Seventh Year level?"

Ron shook his head with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion while Harry answered, "We only missed our seventh year, 'Mione. It's not like we came back for an extra year."

"I would think that they---"

"Hermione, " Ron interjected. "If you want to be learning subjects that nobody learns, you can do that on your own time. I just wanted to come back because you two came back."

Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry laughed. Neville, Seamus, and Dean came over to sit with the three and by the time the Sorting was starting, the six were roaring with laughter, making other students --new and old-- look over at them.

After the Sorting, Professor McGonagall stood and addressed the students with a rare smile. "I and all of the professors would like to thank each and every one of you for coming back to Hogwarts, " she paused for a round of deafening applause. "First and foremost, I thank all of our Eighth Year students for taking the opportunity to resume and complete their studies."

Another round of applause and a cheer from almost all of the eighth years. And you might hypothesize who didn't celebrate loudly.

Minerva McGonagall proceeded to list all of the rules and regulations regarding forbidden items and actions. She told all the Eighth Years that they were to sit at the designated area that they were occupying now. Harry smiled inwardly and Ron groaned, making Harry glare at him. He chuckled and shrugged at his dark-haired friend.

Harry snickered behind his hand, making Hermione glare at him. Harry stopped but smiled, biting his lip as he did so.

He was happy to be back.

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