Harry Potter awoke groggily from his sleep on the train ride to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was the beginning of his fourth year and he was looking forward to it.

He lifted his head from the cold window, drawing a smiley face in the steamed up glass his breath had caused.

He glanced over at his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were arguing over something Harry didn't much care for. Their arguing was starting to happen a lot of the time now. He didn't mind the two bickering, but he never liked being caught up in one of their petty spats. No such luck today.

"Harry, don't you think Ronald ought to be slightly more enthusiastic towards his subjects?" Hermione's voice rang shrilly through the compartment, making Harry jump.

Hermione gave him a death glare, telling him with her eyes to agree with him on the matter.

"I um.. uh," he started. He was about to agree, when he glanced at Ron who was making very obvious slitting movements with his hand across his throat, whilst shaking his head vigorously.

He glanced back at Hermione, who looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"I.. uh don't really know." Harry answered casually, trying to brush the situation away.

Hermione sat back in her seat with a huff, dropping the subject and Ron gave an audible sigh in obvious relief.

Hermione gave him a glare before burying herself in 'Hogwarts: A History.'

"So, mate, looking forward to the new year?" Ron asked Harry from next to Hermione.

"Yeah, should be good! Definitely looking forward to seeing Seamus, Dean, Neville and the other Gryffindors; have a chance to catch up from the summer." Harry smiled as Ron agreed with him.

He was about to say something else, when the compartment door slid open, and Harry glanced up through his mop of black hair, only for his eyes to turn cold and hard as he glared at the three newcomers.

Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini were all stood inside the door to the compartment, each wearing a smirk, perfected over years of tormenting innocent students.

"Oh, look who it is." Draco's snobbish voice ran along the walls, creating a suddenly tense atmosphere between the six students.

"Perfect Potter and his little Gryffindork friends, the mudblood and the blood-traitor weasel," he spat the 'P's as if they were venom.

Ron and Hermione gave him cold stares as his smirk grew wider.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry bit back at him, standing up to face the taller boy, clenching his fists.

"Just get out and stay away from me and my friends this year, got it?" His tone was laced with anger.

Draco's smirk faltered and something in his eyes flashed, but was quickly covered up by his usual smirk as he folded his arms across his broad chest.

"Whatever, Potty. See you later," he tried to put as much venom into it as he could, but he knew it was weak.

Blaise and Pansy followed him as he stormed out the compartment door and down the train corridor.

"Draco, what happened just then? You just let Potter win the argument we planned! We hadn't even started it yet!" Harry heard Blaise say to Draco, as they left.

But Harry didn't hear Draco's reply because Hermione had shut the door and Ron was talking;

"What was that all about?" Ron asked with a confused look, which justified exactly how Harry felt.

"Why did he back down so suddenly?"
As Ron asked, Harry pondered. Why had Malfoy backed down? Why hadn't he insulted him more?

"Maybe he's just matured a little" Hermione suggested as she shrugged.

Harry felt confused, but tried not to think too much of it. The train was slowing down and the year was just beginning.
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Harry sat in the great hall along with Ron and Hermione, talking with their friends, awaiting Dumbledore's usual annual speech to start off their year.
As Dumbledore proceeded to the stand to talk to the school, Harry felt a pair of cold eyes watching him, and a shiver ran down his spine.

He looked up to see Draco staring at him with an expression he couldn't quite place, but it was neither intimidating nor welcoming. Harry didn't know what to make of this, so he broke eye contact with the blonde and refused to look in his direction the whole way through Dumbledore's speech.

After the TriWizard Tournament had been announced and the other schools; Durmstrang and Beauxbattons, had entered the hall, Harry and his friends ate quickly and left to go to the Gryffindor common room.

They were walking in a group along the fifth floor when a voice called out from behind them.

"Oi, Potter!" Harry knew that voice all too well. He spun around to face Malfoy and his group of Slytherin cronies.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked him with a hard stare.

"When did you get so moody?" Draco asked innocently, with a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. Harry knew he was trying to get to him, and what annoyed Harry the most was the fact that it was working. Well.

Harry just stood there, eyes set firmly on Draco, deciding if he was worth the effort.

Draco, using the silence to his advavantage, said "How was your summer, Potter? Did you have a nice time with your fam—, oh wait, sorry I forgot you don't have one." He smirked his evil Malfoy smirk.

The rest of the Slytherins cracked up at Draco's words, and Draco grinned at them, smug that he'd made himself look superior to his friends.

Draco turned back to Harry, and took a step back when he realised Harry had moved closer, his fists clenched. He looked livid.

"I'm so sorry Potter, did I hit a nerve there?" Draco asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm as he smirked at Harry yet again because he knew he was angering the boy. Draco laughed along with the other Slytherins.

But before anyone could stop him, Harry threw a sudden punch at Draco and it hit him square in the jaw, making an awful cracking sound that echoed through the hallway.

The Slytherins stopped laughing, as the Gryffindors ran to restrain Harry.

Draco turned back to Harry, and the two locked eyes. Harry could see that Draco's were firey and held anger, but there was something else. A different something.

Before Harry had a chance to decipher what it was, Ron hauled Harry away from the group. Harry was still seething. No one ever talked about his family in such a way and got away with it. No one.
__________________________

A few weeks had passed since the incident between Harry and Draco. Draco had been sent to the hospital wing to clear his jaw of blood, but no one had quizzed him on how he had aquired the injury.

Draco was sitting alone in the Slytherin common room when Pansy walked in and made her way over to him.

Pansy actually wasn't that bad. Yes, she could be annoying at times but she wasn't bad all in all. She certainly had great advice for the situations Draco found himself stuck in, and she had been his best friend since he could remember, so he relied on her and they got along well.

"Draco, we have to be at dinner early, it's the choosing ceremony for the TriWizard, remember?"

Draco groaned. She sat down next to him and gave him a look that said 'do it now or I'll make sure you die today'.
Draco knew that Pansy look well.

"Ugh, fine," Draco huffed and stood up.
"Draco, wait a sec!" Pansy called. Draco turned round to face her. She looked at him with a confused expression, her eyes squinting at his.

"Pansy, what's the matter?" Draco asked, pulling the girl from from her thoughts.

"Oh, um, nothing." Pansy lied and went to get Blaise so the three of them could go down together.
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When they arrived in the hall, most of the school were already seated and a big goblet was at the head of the hall by the teacher's table.

Draco sat down along with his friends and glanced around, nervous for some unknown reason. It wasn't like he was going to be picked for the tournament; he didn't put his name in, and anyway he was underage.

Dumbledore said a few short words before the fire in the goblet blazed blue, then turned a deep firey red.

A small, ripped piece of parchment flew from the flames, and Dumbledore caught it firmly in this hand. He read out the name of the first champion, and proceeded to take the name of the second.

This carried on until the third name was read, and Draco sat back in relief. He didn't know why he felt this way, he had just had a bad feeling, but now the names has been chosen, he was fine.

Dumbledore was talking, but suddenly the goblet interrupted him and the flames blew up again into a deep red and a single piece of parchment flew into the air.

"Harry Potter."

Draco snapped his head in Harry's direction and a feeling came over him. Something weird, strange, almost like something was stuck in his throat. Dumbledore said it quietly, but Draco heard perfectly.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Draco watched as Harry made his way across the silent hall through the door at the end. There was something in the pit of his stomach, a feeling he couldn't churn away.

Draco got up quickly, ignoring the questioning looks from his friends and the stares from the sea of silent students. He had to get out of there. He was becoming hot and flustered. What was wrong with him?

Draco made his way back to his dorm where he lay on his bed and buried his head in the soft linen of the cool pillow.
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Draco hadn't realised he had fallen asleep until a knock at the door pulled him from his slumber, and he groaned, wondering what the time was.

He shook out his arm he had accidently been laying on and let out a hiss as his feet touched the cold-tiled floor.

He quickly pulled the door open to reveal a very tired-looking Blaise and an angry Pansy.

"DRACO MALFOY, what the hell was that?!" Pansy exploded into a fit.

"Pans, calm down, what do you mean?" Draco avoided her eyes, trying to look casual, but knowingly failing.

"Don't you dare 'Pans' me, Draco Malfoy! You can't just walk out of the great hall like that without telling us where you're going! You've never done that before, we were worried sick about you! What the hell happened?"

Draco rubbed a hand over his face, his eyes tired. Walking over to the bed, he sat down, sighing.

"I just felt a bit ill so I came up here and slept a bit alright?" he said tiredly. This wasn't exactly a lie, he had felt rather sick.

Pansy's face softened and she looked concerned, making her way over to sit next to Draco. She put a hand on his back and rubbed it comfortingly.

"Are you alright now?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry," he replied, smiling weekly at her.

Draco turned to Blaise, who was still standing in the doorway. He was regarding Draco in a funny way, as if seeing him for the first time.

"Um, Blaise, are you okay?" Draco asked uncertainly. Blaise nodded but kept silent. Draco was confused. Why was he looking at him like that?

"Uh, Blaise?" Draco asked again, still unsure.

"Draco. Look what's going on?" Blaise asked finally. Draco and Pansy both looked at him.

"What?" Draco asked, genuinely confused. "What do you mean?"

"You say you feel ill, right when Potter's name is called and have to leave before everyone else to go to your bed, something you've never done before. And there's something else. Your eyes..." Blaise trailed off.

Draco looked at him. "My eyes what?" he asked cautiously, danger laced in his words. However Draco already knew exactly what Blaise was talking about. Blaise opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything, Pansy interrupted him.

"Nothing Draco." she looked at him with a small smile across her face, but a large lump formed in his throat, closing it.

He gave her a fake smile, to make her think nothing was wrong. But it was. Oh it so very was. They couldn't know. No one could know.