Draco

The Howler

The next morning at breakfast, Draco sat down by himself at the Gryffindor table, nervously straightening his red and gold tie. He could hear the snickering of his Slytherin friends from across the Hall, could feel their eyes drilling holes into his back. He felt exposed, unwanted.

"Morning!" a female voice said brightly. He looked up in surprise to see the bushy haired Granger girl flop down across from him. He stared, and finally stammered, "M-morning...?" She gave him a wide smile.

"Hello" came another greeting, this one stiffer. Draco saw a flash of ginger hair sit down next to him.

"Come on, Ron," Hermoine chastised. Ron grumbled something derogatory under his breath, and Draco blushed. After a minute he turned to Ron and muttered, "I am sorry for what I said, earlier. I didn't...well..." he trailed off embarrassedly. There was a moment of silence, and Draco's heart sank. Then suddenly Ron cuffed him on the shoulder. He saw that the other boy's face was burning the same color as his hair.

"S'alright," he said gruffly. Hermoine rolled her eyes.

"Boys," she said disgustedly.

"What are we complaining about now?" Harry said as he slid onto the bench on the other side of Draco. Hermoine shook her head and slapped a book down on the table, thumbing it open with her brow furrowed in concentration. Ron snorted and started to pile his plate with sausages and toast. Harry stared at Hermoine, who was now muttering to herself.

"Hermoine, what exactly are you doing?" he asked incredulously.

"A bit of light reading before classes start," she mumbled, turning a page.

"Light reading?" Draco said, trying to keep a straight face; the book was easily thicker than the table it was laid on. Ron smothered a fit of laughter behind a piece of toast. Hermoine turned pink but didn't look up.

Suddenly the Hall was filled with the fluttering of wings as owls swooped in through open windows. Soon letters were dropping from the air to be snatched by eager hands. Draco crossed his fingers and prayed that his father hadn't sent anything.

As the birds began filtering back out through the windows, Draco's heart lifted; perhaps word of his Sorting hadn't reached home...

Too late, he saw the golden feathers of the family owl, Bayse. With a small hoot of apology, she fluttered down to the table. A red parcel was attached to her leg. Draco swallowed when he recognized the Howler. Huffing tiredly, Bayse pecked at Draco's goblet; hastily he reached over for the pitcher of orange juice and filled the glass. She took a few gulps then tilted her head to look at him.

"You're going to want to open that, mate," Ron said, pausing in between bites of bacon.

"What is it?" Harry asked, staring at it.

"It's...it's a Howler," Draco said shakily.

"Hurry!" Hermoine squeaked, "It's going to...oh..."

The envelope began smoking. Hurriedly Draco untied it from Bayse's leg; she took off in a frantic flutter of wings, hooting as she streaked away. He threw it into the middle of the table just as it exploded with a bang. A huge billow of smoke followed, and then Lucius Malfoy's rang through the Great Hall.

"THE HOPE OF OUR HOUSE IS LOST! OUR NAME IS DISHONORED! YOU ARE NOTHING TO US, DRACO SIRIUS MALFOY! YOU COULDN'T EVEN GET SORTED INTO THE RIGHT HOUSE YOU MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A SON...." The rant continued for a long time, striking Malfoy's ears. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes and forced himself not to cry, knowing his father would look down on that as weakness. Still, as the vitriole got more and more heated, he could help a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Eventually, his father's anger subsided, and the Howler ripped itself into pieces before bursting into flames. The whole of the Great Hall was silent for a few minutes. Draco looked down into his lap, struggling to control his breathing, to make it seem as if he didn't care.

"What an idiot," he heard Hermoine mutter and watched, astounded, as she waved her wand to clear the ashes.

"Wow" was Harry's only reaction.

"Blimey," Ron said. "Your dad really is a git." He nudged Malfoy. "You don't really believe everything he said, do you?"

"I..." Malfoy stammered. "Well..."

"I wouldn't listen to him," Hermoine said matter of factly. "Anyone who decides to send a Howler to their son just because of the House they've gotten sorted into needs to straighten out their priorities." Draco stared at her, and she offered him a quick smile before returning to her book. Ron grinned and continued to eat breakfast, and Harry began piling his plate with food.

"Don't worry about it," he said, spearing a sausage. "Toast?"

Draco stared at him. Looking around at the three of them, he realized that none of them cared what his father had said, that they were perfectly willing to continue being friendly to him. His heart leapt; no one had ever stuck around long, not after his father had his say. He grinned broadly.

"Why not?"