Exceptions ➣ Dramione

Chapter One

DRACO MALFOY stepped off of the Hogwarts Express onto the cobblestone train platform in Hogsmeade. The air was cold and crisp around him and smelled of fall.  The sky was clear, a deep shade of blue with small, white stars dotting the expanse. A biting gust of wind blew through the platform, so icy that Draco's nose began to itch in discomfort. The platform wasn't usually this cold this time of year- but then again, it seemed nothing was going to be as it seemed this year. 

Over the summer holiday, Draco's comfortable and elegant lifestyle was quickly coerced into the exact opposite of what he had known. Draco no longer had quiet and pleasant meals with his mother in the dining hall. Instead, he would wake up and go into the dining room and be greeted by the ugliest shell of a man with withered white skin and long crusty toenails. He shuddered at the thought of the Dark Lord invading his living space, tainting everything that had previously been so comforting and familiar to him. Weirdly enough, Hogwarts was feeling more like a safe haven than it used to be. 

Draco glanced to his left at the large group of first years lined up along the Hogwarts Express. Some wore expressions of excitement, chatting to each other amicably, while others stood quietly, beside themselves with nerves. Something about the odd little group of children seemed to be off, however, and after a moment of contemplation, Draco realized that Hagrid, the half-giant that used to lead the children across the lake and to the castle, was missing. 

"Good riddance," Draco snickered to himself. He never did like that big oaf anyway. Draco finished his scan of the platform, his eyes landing on Hermione Granger, fellow Prefect and quite possibly the most annoying girl in the entire school. Her bushy, brown hair was tied up in a low bun and her wand was held in between her lips as she fixed Ron Weasley's tie. Draco couldn't make out any bits of their conversation but figured she must have been scolding him for something judging by the way Weasley's eyes rolled to the heavens, to which Granger responded by giving him a slap on the back of the head. Draco chuckled to himself; seeing an irritated Weasley never failed to raise his spirits. 

"Draco, mate, you ready to go?" Blaise Zabini placed a firm hand on Draco's shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. He looked over his shoulder to find Blaise staring at him with a concerned expression written on his face. Or, something resembling concern, Draco thought.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about how shitty this year is going to be." Draco chuckled, earning a bemused smile from his fellow Slytherin. 

"Let's go get on a carriage." Blaise nodded his head towards the line of carriages waiting for them at the far left end of the platform. Draco nodded and gestured for Blaise to lead the way. 

As the two Slytherins approached the carriages, they were greeted by Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and the two Slytherin cronies Crabbe and Goyle. 

Pansy Parkinson wore her signature expression of disgust as the two boys approached. She eyed Draco up and down like he was a piece of rubbish, a sneer plastered on her face by the time she was done examining him. 

Draco supposed Pansy never really got over the harsh way he broke off their relationship at the end of the Yule Ball last year. 

"Draco, what's wrong? You've been distracted this entire evening." Pansy queried, resting her hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Nothing." He responded absently, pushing her hand away. Pansy huffed with indignation at Draco's rude gesture.

"You're such a fucking arse." She scoffed, "Something is definitely wrong. Why can't you just open up to me? I'm your girlfriend, for fuck's sake-"

"Not anymore." Draco interrupts her. "I can't do this anymore. I can't be in a relationship right now. Especially not with you."

Draco took one last longing look at the dance floor, tutted his chin up, and turned around, walking away from Pansy and back to the Slytherin dorms, alone.