IMPERIO // Draco Malfoy X Reader

Chapter 1: Kings Cross, Platform 9 and 3/4, September 1st

Platform 9 and 3/4 was bustling as always as you arrived, the space filled with students and parents alike, all eager for the new school year to begin. You shared the sentiment somewhat - even having your eyes just caught on the scarlet Hogwarts express, an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and familiarity washed over you. It felt good to be back.

As you stepped forward, lugging your trunks behind you on the trolley, you thought about the first time you had stepped foot onto the platform.

Eleven years old, and nervous, though you wouldn't show it. Your mother had been complaining to your father the whole time - something about missing brunch with the Yaxleys. Looking back, you thought that maybe her child's leaving for their first year of school might have been more important, but then again, it was your mother.

Still, you had stepped onto the platform, armed with your new school supplies and embarked on the beginning of the best year of your life. Hogwarts had been - for lack of a better word - magical.

So magical, that you'd spent the entire summer between your first and second years talking about the place. For months straight, you'd talk about the castle to anyone that would listen - usually your cat Dinah. You'd told her all about the friends you'd made ("...and there twins, Dinah, Lyre and Leo...") and the classes ("...taught us to change mice into teacups!") with all the gusto of an eleven-going-on-twelve year old talking about anything they enjoyed.
Still, your second year at the school had been even better than the first.

It was around third year, and the paranoia about Sirius Black that some of the wonder had worn off. Your parents had been more concerned with your grades that year, and Christmas had been full of stuffy dinner parties - something that hadn't changed since then.
Still, fourth year had been better with the Triwizard Tournament and the Yule Ball - though dancing with Theodore Nott had been... grueling. And then fifth year, when the entirety of Slytherin house had benefitted from Umbridges little educational orders. Draco and his goons had been a little more insufferable for the months they had been part of the inquisitorial squad, but really, it was just the same as being a prefect.

Either way, you were looking forward to this year. Your OWLs were behind you - which meant less frequent letters from your father about keeping your grades up - and your NEWTs were still a year away, though you would be taking some NEWT level courses this year in preparation.

You were most excited to get back in the deliciously soft four-poster bed waiting for you in the Slytherin dorms.

A shrill train whistle cut through the air and your thoughts, spurring your meandering into something more of a brisk walk towards the back few cars of the train. For six years you and your friends had been riding in the same compartment in the back, and it had been a while since you had seen them.

As you approached the train, you hefted your luggage off the trolley and tucked Dinah's carrying cage under your arm. You could just see her bright green eyes from in the shadows, the rest of her fur blending into the blackness. You were sure she was eager to get back to the school and it's endless supply of mice as well. Summers at the manor might have been nice, but the grand house was mouse-free.

You climbed up the steps and into the train, sliding past a few fourth years manhandling their luggage - you hoped they didn't have anything valuable in there, or it would be surely broken. You muttered a quick apology as you pushed past another group, and then you were standing in front of your compartment.

The door was closed, but through the frosted glass you could see there were already a few people inside. Pushing on the handle with your elbow, the door swung open and you stepped inside, setting your trunks down.