Oh, Shit

15

Draco was dead sure everything was not going to go smoothly. It was only in part because Tom had said such. After all, there was very few things that went well when you wanted them to. It was also because the way that his luck was going, and it was not going necessarily well, he doubted that there would be a smooth transition at any point in time, anywhere. He also had no idea how he was supposed to be sorted. Not that he needed resorting, he knew what his house was, and the Sorting hat would be a buffoon to declare otherwise, but besides that, there was the slight problem of how exactly he was supposed to be introduced. He was just a random Malfoy coming into the Slytherin house pretty much out of nowhere, and having obtained the favor of their leader...clearly. It was bad enough his own grandfather held him in some sort of wary regard, but his other relatives did as well? At this point, for him of course, a relaxing night was not what he was going to get. He was going to have to put extra wards and spells on his things to ensure their safety, as well as his own four poster.

He had been worried about this before, though he had not really talked about it with Tom. Seeing these people that, some of them, he had only seen pictures of...it was going to be weird. He had been horribly nervous of it. Particularly his Grandfather. He had actually known his grandfather, and seeing him with these...people...seeing a side of him that, to be perfectly honest, Draco was not sure he wanted to see was unnerving. He had known his Grandfather had been ruthless when he was younger. He knew that something had driven that ambition away from him, though Draco was uncertain as to what it was. Now, with the chance of actually finding out..He realized he did not want to. It was all just a little bit too jarring for him.

It was not just that, but there was so many unknowns. Draco knew that it could be something good for him, but he was just...anxious. He was nervous. Facing his grandfather's people, interacting with them, and mingling with them...well it was too late to change his course. Tom was their leader, from what he knew and it was obvious from what he could tell. It would be stupid to try and drift away from them now. Furthermore, it was practically suicidal. Nobody would be able to survive Hogwarts if they were a loner. It was impossible. Even his Godfather could not get away with doing that. He had suffered greatly in his attempts to try to do so as well. That was, until his father had practically adopted him into the fold. Draco was sort of fuzzy on the details of how that happened, but disregarding that the point was that it was simply not possible. He also did not particularly relish attempting to do what his Godfather had. Not when he could just as easily escape such a fate. Call him selfish or whatever else have you, Draco was not stupid. He was not brave. If being uncomfortable was his way to safety...he could deal with that. It would be difficult to deal with, for certain, but it was something that he could do nonetheless.

Draco dropped off the train stairwell after the young Dark Lord, having the latter surprisingly turn to steady him at his waist. Draco stared after him as he was placed gently on the ground before having the Lord turn back around as though nothing had happened and walk away. His brain was slightly static at the moment, and he was grateful-because of the situation but likely not in any other format-when Orion gently pushed him forwards, leading to Draco's head clearing finally, and him walked after Tom, not quite as able to stop his own reaction. Why did he do that? Was the thought that plagued Draco's head. He sighed, letting his fingers drift lightly towards his temples before forcing his arm down once more. It was a ridiculous reaction, and he was not even really sure why he reacted like that himself. Perhaps it was because this Dark Lord was different, maybe it was something else. Either way, he would need to keep his public reactions down quite a bit more. He was...not entirely sure how he was going to manage that, but he would find a way.