An Unexpected Friendship: Draco & Neville

Chapter 2: Neville's POV

I looked dubiously at the pile of books, the divination teacup and the tiny mandrake sleeping peacefully in its little pot. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to carry them all without dropping them, but nevertheless I gave it a try. I decided to tuck the small plant pot into my shirt pocket as it fitted well and supported the baby mandrake. Poor thing was a weakling compared to its siblings who had sprouted earlier in the spring. Madame Sprout had asked me to care for it as she had so many others to look after and didn't think it would handle being tossed around by the first and second years. So far it had been easy, a soil change rich with nutrients every three to five hours, warmth at all times and regular chats with it to keep it, and myself, company. I had managed to fit it in with my studies well, though my grades were less than perfect, I had recently found my strengths in herbology and animal care. I only wish the same could be said for divination and potions. Both of which I loathed studying, but gave it a try anyway. I made it down the steps from the Hogwarts boys dorms and almost went flying after tripping over the edge of the rug. I regained my balance and managed to grab the teacup as it slipped from the stack I was carrying. Granny would be pleased, she'd always encouraged me to work on my hand-eye coordination. I smiled to myself thinking about her and her funny ways of doing things. Yes she could be intimidating at times, but her attitude to life, even at the darkest hours was something so brave and pure. This would be my first Christmas spent without her. She was currently residing in St Mungo's with my parents after falling ill last month. Instead of staying at home alone, I decided to continue to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. I got on well with most of the teachers and students, better than I did with my relatives at least. And I could focus on trying to improve my grades before Professor Snape cut me up and used me for a potion. I was also looking forward to spending more time with Hagrid and Professor Sprout, both of whom had taken a strong liking to me and encouraged me to pursue my interests, which I would get to do more of in the holidays. Plus the house elves really knew how to cook at Hogwarts and couldn't wait to see what they would make for each meal on Christmas. I exited the common room and passed Nearly-headless Nick as he glided up the corridor. "Careful Neville, don't want you falling down those stairs again. Why don't you use the leviosa spell?"

"Afternoon, Nick. I'll try my best, and leviosa requires a significant amount of focus and concentration, neither of which I'm good at, especially not when I'm walking down stairs."

Nick laughed. "You'll get there. Merry Christmas, Neville."

"It's not for ten days, Nick, but Merry Christmas to you too." I smiled at his as he sunk into a wall, probably off to watch Peeves. The first set of stairs was okay, but the second flight began to move so much I had to wait for it to stop fidgeting before I could take another step, for fear of tumbling down them. Finally I reached the corridor to the library and found the old oak door. The librarian was seated behind her desk as usual, she appeared to be knitting a small blue jumper, I guessed it was either for a great, great grandchild, or possibly a house elf. Either way, she'd done a good job of it.

"Afternoon ma'am." I said gently, she looked up and smiled, her cheeks crinkling gently.

"Afternoon, young man. I see you have quite a handful."

"Yes, I've come to return these, and do some more research."

"Research? Haven't you heard it's the Christmas holidays?"

"Try telling that to Professor Snape." I chucked.

She smiled and gestured for me to go and sort out my stack. I strode in the direction of the divination shelves and returned the two that I had borrowed before moving on to potions. After managing to get them all back into their places I decided to go and read up on mandrake care, I knew most of what went into looking after baby ones, but I reasoned that it didn't hurt to brush up on my knowledge again before I went back to studying. I looked down at the divination teacup. It all just looked like sludge to me, I don't know what professor Trelawney saw in it to be honest, but apparently I didn't have the "sight", so what would I know anyway. As I passed the section dedicated to early herbology, I was greeted by a student slouched in the aisle. I didn't recognise him at first, his hands were covering his face, but his pale blonde, almost white hair let me know it was Draco Malfoy, and by the looks of it, he wasn't happy. There appeared to be a crumpled letter on the floor and a white envelope with a broken green wax seal. Was it a bearer of bad news? A large part of me told me to keep walking, he was a bully, a tyrant and could be very cruel without even trying, but something about his defeated posture made him look almost broken. This was the Slytherin prince who could no wrong, he had excellent grades, he was from a rich family, he got everything he ever wanted without lifting a finger, and yet he didn't seem happy, he never had. I watched his shoulders heaved in silent sobs, he was crying. Draco moved his hand rub his face, and not wanting to be seen, I scooted round to the aisle behind him. For once, my coordination didn't fail me and I was able to sit down on the floor silently and set my stack down, so I could think about what to do next without Malfoy discovering me here. I was surprised to even see him here, he had two parents with a grand estate and a family vault full of galleons. It didn't make sense that he was still here at Hogwarts. Leaving day was two days ago. He definitely needed some sort of help, he didn't seem like his usual cocky self, and thinking back over the year, he hadn't been for a while. He's been spending most of his time alone, skipping classes sometimes and targeting students who got too close to him. He reminded me of an omega wolf, all alone and extremely violent, lashing out at anything and everything. I couldn't just let him sit there suffering. I had to at least attempt to reach out, if the problem could be resolved then maybe he would be nicer and leave some of the younger students alone.