Distant Memories; A Draco Malfoy love story.

Year Five.

"Order of the Ph—what?!" I whispered excitedly back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione who had just informed me of the secret society that Dumbledore had created some time ago.

Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, the Weasleys, and a woman called Tonks were just a few of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Another member was none other than Mad-Eye Moody, the demented Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor from last year... except the real him.

Last year, the Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. had used Polyjuice Potion to take the form of Moody as a way to infiltrate Hogwarts and bewitch the Portkey in the last Triwizard Tournament task to transport Harry to a graveyard where Voldemort was ceremoniously brought back. Voldemort had ordered Peter Pettigrew to murder Cedric Diggory, and then almost killed Harry in that graveyard as well, but he was spared with the help of the rare Priori Incantatem spell which summoned the ghosts of Harry's parents and Cedric. The ghosts protected Harry so he could use the Portkey to return to Hogwarts.

Of course, even the real Mad-Eye Moody was demented, just in different ways.

We were sat in a train car of the Hogwarts Express, quietly discussing the Order of the Phoenix and how Cornelius Fudge was fixated on proving that Harry was lying about Voldemort's return and how Dumbledore was attempting to steal his position as Minister for Magic. Harry told me about the Dementor attack on him and his cousin Dudley, which had escalated to a hearing at the Ministry to determine if he would be expelled from Hogwarts or not. Fortunately, he was voted to be cleared of all charges with a little help from Dumbledore and would be allowed to continue on at Hogwarts.

"Okay, how do I sign up?" I asked as we stepped onto the platform at Hogwarts and headed toward the carriages to take us to the castle.

"Surprised the Ministry's still letting you walk around free, Potter." Draco and his main minions hurried to catch up with us.

The beautiful white-haired boy was in dress clothes, which had become his staple choice for casual wear, it seemed. He had always carried himself with an air of confidence, but it had always had a slight innocence to it. The way he strutted up to our group now exuded a darker confidence that easily resembled his father's, and it was clear that he was no longer a boy.

"Better enjoy it while you can. I suspect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it." He got in Harry's face, who didn't hesitate to pounce at him.

Ron held him back as I lunged in between Draco and Harry, later questioning which of them I had been truly protecting. Draco cowered and adjusted his blazer before hurrying away with Crabbe and Goyle.

"I'm telling you," He said to his mates, but purposefully loud enough for our group to hear, "Complete nutter."

"Just stay away from me!" Harry screamed back, still being restrained by Ron.

"It's only Malfoy...." Ron said, finally releasing Harry, "What did you expect?"

We made it to the carriages and stumbled upon Neville who was holding a pot with a strange cactus-looking plant in it.

"What's that?" Harry whipped around to face the carriage, "Pulling the carriage?"

The three of us and Neville looked at Harry confusedly. Hermione was the first to speak, "Nothing's pulling the carriage, Harry. It's pulling itself like always."

Harry stared in amazement at something the rest of us couldn't see, as if there were invisible horses strapped to the carriage or something. We exchanged worried looks with each other, but said nothing. Had Harry finally lost his mind? Not that we would blame him, his life has been nothing but exhausting since day one.