Drarry: Retribution

Chapter 2

The trunk was handed to me at 10:37 am precisely. I pulled my rucksack over my shoulder and tightened the clamp. Then I walked into the entrance hall to meet my parents. They were both dressed up nicely, and as I strode in my mother smiled broadly.

"Come, Draco," intoned my father, and Disapparated with a loud pop. My mother turned to me, and I held out my arm, expecting her to take it and Side-Along with me. Instead, she reached for my Hogwarts tie and adjusted it. Then she said "Draco, I... I know you will be able to do it. You will make the Dark Lord proud. I believe in you." I looked up at her. There were tears in her eyes again, but this time her expression was one of pride. I smiled at her. "I will do it, Mother," I replied. "I promise." With another smile, she stood up straighter and brushed off her robes. Then she took my arm and we Apparated into a small street where my father stood waiting for us.

I could see King's Cross from where we were, and as we strode together in its direction, I distracted myself from the upsurge of fear the conversation with my mother had brought on by watching it get closer and closer. As each detail revealed itself, I tried not to think about my task.

The station was swarming with Muggles when we arrived. My mother wrinkled her nose as one bumped into her, and I glared at him as he walked past. Filthy excuse for a human being.

My father walked through the barrier first, then I followed. We emerged into the familiar smoke-filled platform and I turned towards them. They stood together, my father's arm around my mother. I felt a twinge of sadness, but I pushed it down. "Goodbye," I said, and they both nodded. As I turned to walk away, I caught my father's eye. He looked at me for a few long seconds, then turned and led my mother away, back into the Muggle world.

"Malfoy! Over 'ere!" A booming voice echoed over the stone platform. I tuned to see Goyle standing near the door to a car, waving at me. He'd grown over the summer, not in height but in muscle mass. I strode over to him and greeted him. "Come on, we're all waitin," he said, and began to stomp up the stairs. I cleared my throat pointedly and looked meaningfully down at my trunk. He looked back at me, annoyed, before heaving it up the steps and shoving open the door to the compartment. I rolled my eyes. Every summer they all seemed to forget who was in charge. I had to remind them every year, of course. And this year it wouldn't be hard. I had one hell of a story to tell.

I entered the compartment with as much dignity as I could muster. Looking around, I was pleased to see that they had left my usual spot open for me - but less pleased once I saw that Pansy had seated herself right next to it. She sprung up at my approach and threw her arms around my neck. "Draco!" she trilled, and I had to shake her off before I could sit down. When I finally got my ass in the seat, the train had begun to pull out of the station. I watched it roll past, only turning around once we had left it behind.

Only when I turned around did I notice that every eye was on me. They were clearly waiting for a story. So I gave it to them.

"So the Dark Lord came to your house and everything?" "Yes Pansy, he's over all the time." They looked at me in awe and I turned up the haughtiness on my face. It was good to see they'd realized their places. Crabbe whooped dumbly, but before he could say anything dumb, Zabini came back from his stupid Slug Club meeting. When he tried to close the door, it wouldn't shut. Immediately I began looking around the room for signs of Potter. Zabini, the idiot, missed the danger signs and was hurled straight into Goyle as the door slammed open. A commotion worked itself up at once, but I still caught the smallest glimpse of a trainer, snapping through the air.

So Potter was here. Hiding in the luggage rack, it would seem. Well, then, I might as well use it to my advantage, I thought. Perhaps i could say something that might actually manage to impress him for once? Or make him feel just enough fear to keep him on his toes. Or... a nastier plan began to form in my mind. I could corner him once the train reached Hogwarts. My brain began to whir. A spot of revenge would of course be in order, for shaming my father. But first, I needed to know about this "Slug Club" of Zabini's.

"So, Zabini," I said, "what did Slughorn want?" "Just trying to make up to well-connected people," he said. "Not that he managed to find many." I scowled. This was already going poorly. I wished suddenly that Potter wasn't here to witness this conversation. I was, after all, quite an important and well-connected person myself.
"Who else had he invited?" I demanded.
As it turned out, this Slughorn bloke might not have been into the connections I had.

"Well, who cares what he's interested in? What is he, when you come down to it just some stupid teacher," I sneered. Then I decided to drop my biggest secret, just to put them in their places. "I mean," I said casually, "I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"
"What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" Said Pansy indignantly.

"Well, you never know," I said, now thinking of Potter and how he might feel about this next pronouncement, "I might have - er - moved on to bigger and better things."
They prodded me incessantly, of course, but I only revealed that he'd asked me to do a job. That hushed them up all right, and I knew Potter would be going crazy.

As we approached the school, we began to change into our robes. As Goyle brought down his trunk, a sharp gasp of pain emanated from the luggage rack. I smirked, knowing Potter's comeuppance would arrive with the train at Hogwarts.
I had changed into my robes earlier but got up anyway as the others began to move around. This turned out to be a mistake - as Pansy passed by me, she tripped on a carelessly thrown shoe and decided to use my shirt as support. I cried out in annoyance as she ripped the top few buttons apart with the force of her fall. Clumsy bitch.

Shaking her and her sniveling apologies off, I sat back down and didn't get up again until the train had slowed to a stop. When the others had gotten off, I remained in the car, excitement building. It was time to act.