The Space Between The Stars: Draco Malfoy

Year One: I Know Him

Diagon Alley was so crowded I could barely hear myself think.

Caleb and Jason were each gripping one of my hands tightly. I protested this, but they ignored me. Bloody embarrassing.

Everybody had seemingly waited until today to buy all of their stuff for school. I didn't need any books, since I had copies used by both of my brothers (although, I elected to take Jason's , because he was an absolute nerd and annotated all of them). Mainly, all I needed were robes, and a wand, and whatever Mum thought I needed for the year, but I would leave the rest to her.

I managed to ditch the boys after they found Flint in the racing shop. I made my way over to get fitted for robes, meeting Draco in front of Madam Malkin's. There were two entrances, one labeled "Witches" and the other "Wizards".

I scoffed. "That seems rather medieval, don't you think?"

Draco laughed. "Would you want to get fitted for robes by a man?''

Oh. "Well, I suppose not. See you in a bit."

After my fitting, I found Draco pacing back and forth in front of the shop.

When he spotted me, he said, "You'll never believe who I just met."

"Who?"

"Harry. Bloody. Potter."

It took a minute for the name to register in my mind. Probably because it wasn't one I had thought of in a long time. I knew that name. But for very different reasons than every other person in the wizarding world.

He wasn't a legend to me.

He was a scrawny, quiet boy from my muggle school.

The rain had seemingly come out of nowhere. It was a perfectly sunny day, until the sky opened up and the darkness descended. The teachers rushed all of the students inside, many, including myself, dripping wet. I stayed behind to wring out my hair into a trash bin when I saw Dudley Dursley and his meathead friends laughing at something outside through the window. Upon seeing me, he called me over, saying, "Come over here and have a look then, Miss Leonard!" Being a girl and being a bit mean spirited made me quite friendly with the likes of Dudley. I peered out the window to see Harry, out in the rain, trying to open the door, which Dudley had jammed. The bell rang, and Dudley's gang dispersed. But I stayed. I couldn't help but feel bad for Potter. While I normally enjoyed harmless pranks like these, it seemed a bit cruel for a boy who had never hurt anyone. I ran downstairs to let him in.

"Thanks, Isabella-

"I'm really going to ask you not to mention it." While I felt bad for him, I still wasn't going to have him blab to anyone about what I had done for him. I looked over and noticed he was soaking. I was thinking rather hard about the best way to dry him off, and all of the sudden, he was. I looked at him, shocked. He grinned. "So you can do it too, then?"

"Do what?"

"Make strange things happen that you can't explain."

I suddenly became defensive. My peculiar tendencies were my most guarded secret. "Keep quiet if you know what's good for you."

We never spoke again.

I debated whether or not to say anything to Draco. I decided not to.  I wasn't quite sure how he felt about Harry yet. The reason I hadn't made the connection between the boy who lived and the boy who regularly got beat up by his cousin in the school yard before today was because no one had ever referred to him by his first name. Lucius only ever referred to him as "The Potter Boy" and most publications I had read "The Boy Who Lived" or "The Chosen One".

"We didn't even exchange names, but then someone outside called for him..."
He shook his head. "I cant believe it."
"Honestly, Draco, neither can I."