"Ronald Weasley," his mother's voice said , the rather calm volume and demeanour shocking the boy. The others could barely hear what it said, despite straining to listen. "You should be ashamed of yourself."
And with that , the envelope tore itself into little pieces, Ron's heart following it's example.
*
Now
*
"Ronald..?"Theo asked uncertainty, breaking the tense silence. He eyed the unmoving, blank faced redhead cautiously. "You alright there, mate? What'd it say? If- If that's alright with you of course, ha!"
Everyone's eyes widened when the once frozen Weasley came back to life, a blinding smile plastered on his face, his blue eyes glittering with an indiscernible emotion .
"Oh , no - I'm perfectly dandy, right as rain!"he chirped, stuffing a bit of toast in his mouth. "I just overreacted a little. Turns out my mum's a bit miffed because I forgot to take something with me before I left,"he explained, not hesitating once as he lied through his teeth.
The First Years shared wary looks. "But to the point of sending a Howler? Even if it didn't do much 'howling' if you know what I mean,"Tracey protested.
"Perhaps Howlers do more than scolding? But it'd be easier to just write a letter.."Draco chipped in quietly , observing Ron with a thoughtful expression.
"Yeah - but we should just drop it. Parents are weird, but look , here come our timetables!"Ron interrupted in an attempt to change the subject.
His tactic was successfully dropped when a piece of paper landed in front each of them , effectively shifting the group's attention elsewhere.
*
Harry watched Ron cautiously out of the corner of his eyes , worried for the redhead. A part of him was sure that Ron had been lying and something really terrible must've happened if had woken up looking like he'd seen hell.
He had heard the redhead stumble around last night but he wasn't sure if he should have disturbed him , chalking it up to homesickness.
Perhaps he should confront Ron about it? He didn't want to sit back and watch if Ron was experiencing some trouble... He was a bit suspicious , seeing as that's how he generally acted when the Dursleys had been particularly harsh on him over the years.
Did Ron have mean relatives like he did? Maybe Harry could try and get Minerva to help Ron just like she did with him? He didn't want Ron to go through (if he didn't already) what he did if he could help it. He didn't quite know what the woman had done to make the Dursleys behave but surely she could do it again?
Harry pursed his lips with determination. Yes , surely Ron would like that.
"Oh Morgana, we have McGonagall first thing in the morning!"he heard Blaise groan , snapping him out of his reverie.
"Apparently she's a scary old bird that one is,"Millicent hedged. "At least that's what my sister told me. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side.."
"Huh?" He looked down at his own timetable to see what they for Tuesday.
Name : Potter Harry
Year : First
House : Slytherin
(This is just here for my own reference so I don't get confused.)
"Er , I'm sure you'll be alright. Potions is the one you really need to worry about.."the same Second Year replied who has been seated next to Theo's left, peering over his shoulder to get a good look at their schedule.
They blinked after coming to some sort of realisation.
"Oh ! How rude of me , I haven't quite introduced myself,"the Second year said with a bashful smile on their face. He brushed his wavy red hair back , his pale green eyes subtly analysing the group of First Years.
A look of recognition sparked in his eyes when he made eye contact with Harry. It made Harry feel a bit warm but he opted to ignore the strange feeling that had popped up out of the blue.
"My name is Emrys Wyllt -"the boy continued but was cut off by an jittery Hermione.
"Oh oh - sort of like Merlin! I've read up a lot about him and you have two of his many names and-"
"Granger,"the First Years groaned in unison, shutting her up. She huffed and crossed her arms.
Emrys chuckled, waving his hand . "No, no. It's alright , I suppose I get that quite a bit. I suppose so,"he laughed . "But yes, that is my name. Anyway -"he continued, quickly changing the subject. "just be sure to push yourself to the best of your capabilities in Snapes class and you should be fine. Even you are Slytherins, he doesn't take kindly to slackers . He'll give you hell if you don't, just saying."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, however I doubt he'd do anything to me,"he crowed , a smug smile evident on his face.
"Why'd you say that?"Tracey asked.
Draco's smile stretched wider before the blond promptly stood up with his timetable and slung his satchel over his shoulder without a word. He spun on his heel and made his way out of the Hall.
"And you say I have no manners,"Tracey grumbled, pouting at his lack of answer.
"Tch, leave him. He's been like this all morning. I wonder why though,"Blaise commented. "But I suggest we follow his example. We wouldn't want to be late on our first day."
*
With all the First Year Slytherins making it on time to the classroom, they grew confused when the Gryffindors were nowhere to be seen. Theo proposed that they were most likely lost. Perhaps they hadn't asked their elder Housemates where to go like they had?
"Typical Gryffindor behaviour,"Draco drawled, strutting in the Transfiguration classroom like he owned it when no McGonagall - and the Gryffindors they supposedly shared the class with for that matter - could be seen after a good five minutes of them waiting outside.
"Don't go in there!"Hermione hissed at him, the others crowding around the door to watch their spat. "What if we're supposed to wait outside for her?"
"Or what if we're meant to be seated in our places?"he sneered back, not sparing the brunette a glance. "Besides , there's only a stupid grey cat in here anyway." He pushed the cat off one side of the front desk in the second row nearest the window he'd wanted to sit at. He smirked in response to the cat yowling at his actions.
"Cat-? Oh dear -" Before she could even finished her sentence , the tabby cat turned into a human. Draco paled to a pale white when he realised the human in question was Professor McGonagall. He barely heard the gasps behind him whilst she glared at him, hands on her hips.
"I was enjoying that patch of sunlight, Mr Malfoy. Do something like that again and I'll dock some points off,"she reprimanded.
For the umpteenth time this morning, Draco was sufficiently cowed and fumed silently when he felt his face grow hot and eyes sting. Today clearly wasn't his day and he was already fed up with it. The quiet snickers from his Housemates didn't help at all.
"Apologies, Professor,"he muttered.
She hummed in response before turning to the others. "Why are you standing there? Hurry up and sit down, peanut gallery ."
The children quieted and scrambled for a seat in a panic, not wanting to rub the stern looking woman the wrong way any further.
Once settled down with their textbooks and writing supplies had been pulled out , the Transfiguration Mistress frowned at the Slytherins.
"Where are the Gryffindors? They've missed a good quarter of my lesson."
"Maybe- Maybe they're lost..?" Theo stuttered out.
At that moment, multiple noisy footsteps could be heard . The Gryffindor First Years crashed through the door, panting as if they'd run twenty marathons.
"You're late." Was the only thing Mcgonagall said.
The Gryffindors started apologising profusely, but they quieted when she raised a hand. "I'll forgive you since it's your first week. Do take care to manage your time wisely from next week. I dislike tardiness."
"Yes Professor,"they chorused , quickly picking seats as she started the lesson.
*
The first half of day had passed smoothly with less notable events, though Draco and Hermione did continue to bicker here and there, determined to one up the other in terms of intelligence and praise from teachers. It was amusing to watch for the others, especially when Draco seemed to lose to Hermione more often than he'd won. At this rate, it looked like the blonde was ready to pop a vein.
Draco absolutely hated the fact that she was besting him at nearly everything. His father had promised him Hogwarts would be pleasant. That he'd be the at the top of the First Year food chain in no time if he had played his cards right.
But none of that was happening and he felt like tearing his hair out. No one spared him the proper time of day! Even if they did , it was to make fun of him for one thing or another. It just wasn't fair at all.
A part of him bitterly regretted ever talking to Harry Potter in the first place. Maybe if he hadn't done that, he'd be in a far better position than he currently was in.
All he had had to do was infect everyone and talk about stupid Muggle things he didn't understand or being a - admittedly - more open and charismatic person than Draco was and soon , everyone seemed to gravitate towards him like moths to a flame.
For Morgana's sake - they hadn't even known him for more than a day! How was that possible? It wasn't fair at all. Even the Slytherin's current King itself seemed to take a liking to Harry, already crushing Draco's goal of ruling the Snake House like he was meant to, just like his father had.
His father...The Malfoy Lord would most likely be disappointed in him, Draco supposed. He was being an embarrassment to the Malfoy name , and on his first day no less. How could he look him in the eyes when holidays rolled around? Would he see how much of a failure Draco was just by looking at him? Would he stare at him in disgust when he found out a Half blood and Muggleborn were stronger than he, an Heir from one of the strongest Wizarding lines? He'd never want to speak to him again..
Draco frowned to himself. No, he couldn't allow that to happen. He had show everyone that he was the best because that's what he was. Nothing more , nothing less. Feeling his mood raise slightly, he snagged a sandwich from the table . When he bit a piece from it, he nodded to himself and smiled internally.
Yes, he'd definitely show them all.
*
1900 words
A/N: Don't mind me, just digging a few little plot holes to make it easier to go in any direction I want the story to go. Hopefully it makes sense and it doesn't seem like I messed with Draco drastically to make it unrealistic. Also , I jumped away from Ron's perspective for a reason and didn't explore it in this chapter. You'll probably just see more of him in the next one or two chapters.
Next on TDT: Harry attends his first DADA and Potions Class and a wild Augury is spotted !