Always Mine (A Drarry Fanfic)

Dorm

 "Harry Potter," Harry said to the wall, which swung forward and nearly hit him in the face. Dodging it, he stepped into his new common room and was pleased to see that it had huge, squashy armchairs like the ones in Gryffindor Tower. In fact, there seemed to be components from each of the common rooms: an enormous bookshelf for the Ravenclaws, lamps hanging from the ceiling like those from the Slytherin common room, and a variety of plants that Harry had only ever seen diagrams of, presumably for the Hufflepuffs. Neville made a beeline towards the plants as soon as he stepped inside the room.

"Hey," said Ron from behind him, "I've got Zabini. You?"

"Malfoy," Harry said dryly.

"Bloody hell! You two'll kill each other before the term's over!"

Hermione showed up from behind them. "I've got Kathryn Osborne. I think she's a Ravenclaw, but other than that, I have no idea who she is. What about you two?"

"I've got Zabini. Harry's got Malfoy." Ron said. "Harry's going to get killed." he added as an afterthought.

"Well," said Hermione thoughtfully, "I'm sure there's a reason McGonagall put you two together, Harry. Actually, there's a very good reason. She obviously wants you to make amends. You know, fix up the Slytherin-Gryffindor rivalry that's been stewing for the past few years."

"Fat chance," Ron replied.

"Not really," Hermione retorted. "Draco's the one who saved our lives back in Malfoy Manor, in case you forgot. He said he didn't recognize Harry, and you knew full well he did."

"So?" said Ron defensively. "Bellatrix still—"

"I know she tortured me, and she would have done anyway, I'm a Mudblood."

"Don't call yourself a—"

"Good night." Harry said in a final sort of way, leaving Ron and Hermione to their bickering. As he walked down the boys' hallway, he thought about how Hermione was probably right. But, the particularly annoying part of his brain told him, this is Draco Malfoy we're talking about. Draco Malfoy.

He kicked the door to Dormitory 10 open and found Draco already standing there, unpacking on top of the bed closer to the solitary window. They made eye contact for a brief, awkward moment, a second later, Harry was proceeding to strew his robes and books over his own half of the room. Satisfied that he had laid out most of what he needed for the next morning, he slipped into the bathroom to change into his pajamas. He wasn't quite sure what he felt anyone, everything was passing by in a unreal, dreamlike sort of way. None of what he was doing was registering with him. He stepped back outside, took his glasses off, and slipped into bed, lying there and contemplating what the first day back to Hogwarts would be like.

"Listen," said Draco, in a surprisingly apologetic voice, "This isn't the optimal situation for me, and I'm sure it isn't for you too. I just want to say I'm sorry for everything that happened over the last few years. I know you probably don't think that this is a good enough apology. But I'm honestly really sorry. And I hope you'll accept my apology. I really want to start over. I hope you'll give me a second chance. I'm ready to give you one. Good night."

His mind reeling at what he had just heard, Harry slowly nodded off.

"Hello?" someone was shaking him, and Harry wanted nothing more than to tell him to go away. "Hello? Good morning? Are you awake?"

"Ron? Leave me alone."

"Um, it's me. Draco. Malfoy."

"What?" Harry got up suddenly and shoved his glasses on. "Oh. You. I mean, hi."

"Right. Um, it's almost seven, and classes start at eight—"

"Damn." Harry ran to the bathroom and quickly took a shower. What is it with him? It's like he wants to be my friend or something. Something like what Hermione said. But even if he did, wouldn't he want to take it one step at a time? That's how the old Draco would have done it. He remembered something Hermione had told him over the summer. "The war has changed us all, Harry. Some more than others." Maybe that was why Draco was acting so differently.

But then he thought about the half-familiar lurch in his stomach that he was experiencing every time he thought of Malfoy, or saw him. He couldn't quite place it, but for some reason, he associated it with the Burrow as well as Quidditch.

Harry stepped out of the bathroom while fixing his new tie (his Gryffindor one had been replaced by a black one with the Hogwarts crest on it) and Draco had already left. He shoved the door open with his shoulder, and saw Neville in the hallway, following Ron. "Hey! You two! Wait up!" Harry broke into a slow jog and caught up with them.

"How was it, then?" Ron greeted him.

"How was what?"

"Rooming with Malfoy, what else?" Neville said.

"Oh." Harry hesitated. "Well, not that bad. He gave me a long apology before we went to bed. You know, about the past few years. And he woke me up. Who've you got, Neville?"

"Nott, Theodore Nott. He was in Slytherin too. We didn't talk."

"Zabini and I didn't talk either."

"There you all are!" Hermione exclaimed when they entered the common room. She was holding her newly packed bag and wearing a grim expression. "I was about to go down to breakfast, you all were taking forever! What kinds of idiots are you? Didn't you think of setting an alarm? I've been up since five-thirty, studying. With Kathryn, of course, she puts so much importance on it. I suppose it's a Ravenclaw thing, but I don't mean to be stereotypical. Of course, she said she was only studying because it was the first day back, and she wants to refresh her memory. Her favorite subject is Charms, I think. She takes almost all the subjects I do, but she doesn't do Runes, she does Care of Magical Creatures instead. You'll want to hurry up, by the way. McGonagall's supposed to be consulting with us again, to see what N.E.W.T. subjects we're willing to take. I'll do all the subjects I took in our sixth year." Hermione went on, talking about the importance that this year would have on their professional lives. Out of the three of them, Ron was the only one that was still listening.

"So, Malfoy wasn't that bad, was he?" Neville asked.

"Nope. Like Hermione said, the war has changed everyone that was involved in it, not just us."

"Yeah, I suppose." There was an awkward pause, and, as they entered the Great Hall, Neville launched into a speech about the plants in the new common room, with Harry murmuring his assent occasionally.

Harry let Neville continue on his monologue, and turned his gaze to the eighth years' table. Draco Malfoy was sitting next to Blaise Zabini, and across from Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott. They were, Harry could tell, talking about him. Pansy, especially, kept glancing in his direction every ten seconds, and almost automatically after doing so, she would start laughing as though she had come up with something genius.

Harry sat down at the end of the table farthest away from Draco Malfoy and the other Slytherins, and was soon joined by Hermione, Ron, and Neville. He ate his breakfast silently, partly because he couldn't think of anything to say, partly because he was still feeling slightly sick to his stomach, and partly because he was wondering which subjects he ought to take.

Professor McGonagall had stepped down from the staff table and was approaching the eighth years. She had a stack of empty schedules in one hand and was idly twirling her wand with the other.

"If any of you have finished eating, please form a line outside my office to wait for schedule consultation." Harry sprung to his feet and, somber with a Ravenclaw boy followed the headmistress out of the Great Hall. "Potter, you first." Professor McGonagall beckoned him ahead into her old office. Grinning as he saw the familiar tin of biscuits, he took a seat, and reminded himself that Hogwarts was still the place it had been when he'd first come there, all those years ago.