Second Time Around

Meeting on the Hogwarts Express

"Cause all I know is we said hello
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name,
everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
You'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday
is everything has changed"—Everything has changed—Ed Sheeran & Taylor Swift

It turned out Madam Malkin hadn't Imperioused him. Draco didn't tell his father that his suspicions came about because he was temporarily unable to say the word Mudblood. To do so would be asking for trouble.

Over the next few days, he practiced until he was able to ignore the burning, sickening sensation and push away the image that seemed to want to burst through his memories and forced himself to say the word Mudblood freely, for his pride as a pureblood and a Malfoy.

Eventually, something came to take his mind away from the strangeness. Hogwarts, he was finally going to Hogwarts. After years of rigorous home-schooling, he was finally going away to spend time with people his own age in Hogwarts. Of course there would be Mudbloods too, but Draco was sure he'd be able to tell them apart, he'd just look for the ones with dirty blood.

His parents took him to the train station. Draco was itching to get to Hogwarts and try out his new wand. On the platform, he met two boys he already knew from his mother's social gatherings, Crabbe and Goyle. They were both just as ugly as he remembered them.

They boarded the train and quickly found a compartment near where his parents were standing on the platform. His mother was waving and smiling while Father stood upright with a stern expression, but if you looked closely, you could see pride in his eyes.

Draco allowed himself a wave before lounging back as the train took off.

"You scared?" Vincent grunted from opposite him. Draco gave them his best Malfoy smirk. "Scared of what? Hogwarts is easy, nothing ever changes."

That seemed to shut them up. Crabbe and Goyle were never the smartest ones in the room, but they knew when to be silent and that was what mattered. Like his father said, a Malfoy was catered by - he would cater to no one.

A while later the woman with the trolley came by. Of course, Crabbe and Goyle had to pig out on everything, while Draco took a few Chocolate Frogs.

The trip was boring, no one else stopped by the compartment. But he couldn't ignore the feeling of building anticipation in his chest, something was straining.

Then the compartment door suddenly opened and Draco froze. The metaphorical bird had been set free from its cage and now it was desperately clawing at his ribcage as the feeling of anticipation reached its climax.

A girl had just entered the compartment. She was already in her Hogwarts robes and had a lot of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, yet he couldn't stop staring at her.

"Hello," she smiled and Draco felt himself go a bit funny, in a jelly-legs-hex sort of way. "Is this compartment full? The one I was sitting in just got taken over by third years."

He couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he bloody breathe? He was opening his mouth but no air was going in, nor were any words coming out. His heart was beating so fast, his chest felt funny, tingly.

She stopped smiling and was looking a bit shy now. Why was his chest buzzing so much?

"Oh," she said in response to the silence, why couldn't Crabbe and Goyle at least say something? Or right, because they were Crabbe and Goyle. "Sorry, I guess I'll...I guess I'll try somewhere else?"

"N-no, wait!" he finally managed to get out. "There's room, Crabbe and Goyle were about to go look for their friends, right?"

They didn't get the hint, but they did get up and walk off. They probably thought they really did have friends they needed to meet up with. Sometimes their stupidity scared even him.