Chapter Text
Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, of Malfoy Manor, were proud to say that they were purebloods, thank you very much. Draco was very excited to start Hogwarts. He would finally get his own wand instead of sneaking into his parents’ bedroom at night and practicing with their wands or doing accidental magic the way wizard kids often did before they learned how to control it. Of course, his father had on occasion allowed him to use his wand, saying that it was good for him to know some basic spells before school started. (Lucius wanted to make sure his son was the best in his year.) He was also excited because he would get to meet the famous Harry Potter. He knew his dad would not approve of him becoming friends with the boy who lived, seeing as it had brought the downfall of the Dark Lord, but Draco could not help it. He had been so intrigued by Harry for as long as he could remember. There was such an air of mystery about the boy. He had for some reason been raised by muggles and little was known about him. But Draco knew one thing, that he and the boy were the same age. Plus, he was excited to meet wizards his own age besides Crabbe and Goyle. Even though he had grown up with them, Draco had always found them to be terribly dull. Neither of them was particularly smart; and he was eager to make friends with wizards who knew their left from their right.
When September 1st came, Draco was absolutely buzzing with excitement. He could not wait to get on the train. He was secretly hoping he’d run into Harry and that they’d become fast friends. However, once on the train Crabbe and Goyle had found him, and he was unable to look for Harry without raising suspicion. He spent the train ride in their very dull company, watching the scenery flit past and wondering what Hogwarts would be like. He knew he’d be sorted in Slytherin. That much was a certainty. Even if he had wanted to be in another house, he knew his father would disown him if he was. He was also very much looking forward to learning potions. He’d always been curious about them and all the different things that they could do. And of course, he hoped to try out for his house Quidditch team. He knew first years did not ever make it onto the team, but he fantasised that they would make an exception for him because of how good he was. As they got closer to Hogwarts, he changed into his robes.
Upon arriving at Hogwarts, he finally glimpsed the famous Harry Potter when they were waiting for the sorting ceremony to begin. Harry was talking with a red-haired boy that Draco correctly assumed was a Weasley. His stomach churned. Why was Harry talking to the likes of him? Didn’t he know better? And worse, if Harry became friends with Weasley that would ruin his chance at being friends with him. He decided he needed to intervene. Going up to him he offered his hand saying, “You’ll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.”
Unexpectedly however, Harry rejected his hand and instead said, “I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.” Draco’s heart sank. There was his chance at becoming friends with Harry.
After their brief encounter, the sorting ceremony began. As expected, Draco was sorted into Slytherin as were Crabbe and Goyle. Potter however was sorted into Gryffindor along with the Weasley kid.
As the year progressed, Draco kept close tabs on Potter. It was madding the way people treated him, like some sort of hero even though he hadn’t done anything. He was relatively good at magic. Certainly not the best in the year but far from the worst. He was much more skilled than either Crabbe or Goyle or Longbottom. DADA was where he really excelled, in fact, he was almost a natural, but Draco was far superior to him in Potions. At Charms and Transfiguration they were about equal. And then came the flying lessons. Draco had of course already learned to fly and was looking forward to showing off in front of everyone. When Longbottom fell and Madam Hooch had to escort him to the hospital wing it gave him the perfect opportunity to show off. He quickly grabbed the Rememberall that had been dropped and started flying. Potter, perhaps out of stupidity or a need to prove himself flew after him. Draco threw the Rememberall wanting to cause trouble and Potter had flown after it and had somehow caught it. Seeing this, Draco could not help but feel both slightly irritated at how good Harry was at riding a broom and also completely in awe of him. Though he’d never admit it, in that moment Draco thought there might be a good reason why everyone treated Harry as if he was special.
That night Draco lay in bed awake replaying the scene of Harry on a broom over and over in his head. Despite the fact that by this point he and Harry were enemies, he had to admit that Harry had looked quite stunning and so natural on the broom. Wait, stunning? Draco thought. Had he really just thought of a boy as stunning? Harry was supposed to be his enemy. Why was he complimenting him?
As the months wore on, Draco began to pay even closer attention to Harry. He felt excited anytime Gryffindor had a Quidditch game because it gave him an excuse to stare at Harry and to watch his spectacular flying skills. And he found himself looking forward to classes that Slytherins shared with Gryffindors more than the classes they shared with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. He was not quite sure where this obsession came from. Was he obsessed due to hatred or simply because the boy was famous? Or perhaps it was from something else altogether…. Usually, Draco dismissed these thoughts telling himself not to be silly and that lots of people were obsessed with Harry and that it didn’t mean anything. But on more than one occasion he found himself staring at Harry and the way he smiled or the twinkle in his green eyes when he made a joke. And once or twice Harry had caught him staring and he would quickly look away and focus very hard on whatever was right in front of him or pretend to be deep in conversation with one of the other Slytherins.
Despite this, he and Harry still got in fights all the time and would often duel each other and try and hex each other anytime professors were not watching. These times were exhilarating really since Harry was quite good at duelling, and it was fun to have a challenge. Crabbe and Goyle were useless when it came to spells so duelling them was boring and there was really no one else he could duel with. He hoped that Harry got as much enjoyment out of their spats as he did because despite the fact that they were enemies, he wished him no ill will.
As the school year came to a close, Draco found that he was dreading the summer because it meant being away from Hogwarts and if he was being honest because he’d be away from Harry. In addition, he would have to deal with his extremely strict father. This had not bothered him so much before he started Hogwarts, but he had noticed over Christmas how strict his father was when compared with the relative freedom he enjoyed at Hogwarts. While other kids were excited to see their families because they missed things like home cooked meals and were looking forward to wonderful trips with their parents, Draco was not. His family wasn’t exactly what you would call warm and there was nothing inviting about Malfoy Manor. On the train ride home, he once again sat with Crabbe and Goyle and stared our the window stewing.