Loyalty - a fine line between being a chauvinist or a traitor

Ch 4 - The fall of Draco Malfoy, the rise of an army

Monday afternoon was just the start of the drama that Draco Malfoy faced, igniting the fires of what felt like hell. When he woke up the next morning, he was met with the realisation of just what he got himself into- if the stares of every Gryffindor were any indicator.

When he sauntered down the tower for the first time without a cloak to protect himself, every pair of eyes seemed to follow him.

"Oh god, I thought she was kidding when she told me last night in the dorm." He heard someone utter. "To think they'd put a Slytherin in here... Why us?" He kept his sight focused on the ground in front of him. The anxiety in his chest did not fade when he left the common room, which made him feel even worse. Was he always going to feel this nervous..?

He attempted to continue throughout the day as if nothing had changed- attending the classes while ignoring the stares he received from just about every Slytherin he knew. During the break, he tried studying, but got distracted as whispers circulated the library wing he'd settled in.

When lunch rolled around, he had a surprisingly pleasant meal with Harry, Weasley, Granger, and a few others he'd barely met- which was a nice change of pace from the morning block. Afterwards, he faced another class full of similar troubles and tribulations.

When he returned to the dorm after his last class, the only place he felt was suitable to actually exist in was the dorm, but even there he felt he was ostracized by Longbottom and Thomas, who'd not gotten much of an explanation as to what had happened rather than the rumors which had spread around the house. Even though he was on good terms with Harry- that didn't stop any of the other roommates from being off put by his presence, even Weasley.

With every amount of unnerving anxiety that seemed to wash over him, he reminded himself; 'Soon it'll be fixed, and soon I won't have to worry about this.' Which gave him some peace of mind, if anything.

As the week flew by with similar remarks and stares following him, he began to make his awkward attempts at befriending the others in Harry's circle. Who else would he be hanging around since the whole school seemed to hate him at the moment? Harry often tried to make Draco feel less alienated when he did make his efforts towards the others, which he was grateful for, even if it was temporary.

Harry was just as ostracised for the Dark Lord business at the tournament last year, so Draco felt like maybe he did understand the situation. Seeing someone else get whispered about made him feel less alone- if he had to place the feeling.

By the end of the week, Granger subsequently became Hermione, Weasley to Ron, and They began to call him Draco, rather than Malfoy. While Draco wasn't exactly stellar about the whole situation, Harry's pushy attitude made it hard for him not to join in and become apart of the conversations.

It surprised everyone, including himself, just how easily he integrated into Harry's circle of friends- and how easily he became 'comfortable' with Gryffindor, once the other students got used to him wandering around the commons and stopped whispering about him to his face.

An evening on the second week after the unfortunate reveal of his identity, Draco found himself lounging in one of the numerous frumpy armchairs littered about the messy common room- reading a rather 'interesting' chapter from one of his textbooks.

"This is so frustratingly impossible. I don't understand how they expect us to handle the sheer stupidity from this book much longer." Hermione tossed the book to the table and leaned into the couch, just across from where Draco was sitting.. "We can't just sit around while He's out there! People are starting to disappear, you know."