"So, you're just supposed to uselessly walk around the castle, flaunting this badge? That's your duty as a head boy?" Blaise laughed.

"My duty is to preside over you," Draco responded smugly.

Blaise scoffed as he pinned his prefect badge over his robes.

"I was serious," Blaise said.

"I'm supposed to make lists of duties for the prefects and then hold meetings to make sure they do those duties," Draco responded dryly, slipping his robes over his head.

"How did the meeting go?" Blaise asked, eyeing him curiously.

"Okay, I guess," Draco said as he fastened his tie around his collar, pulling it to make sure it was tight enough.

He pulled the green coin and showed it to Blaise.

"What is this?" He asked, turning the coin over in his hands.

Pansy finally looked away from the window and towards Blaise, trying to find the object in question.

"Something like the bloody DA coin," he said as he sat beside Pansy and looked at her as if trying to read her feelings.

"Why didn't we get those?" Blaise demanded.

"Maybe you're not important enough," Draco grinned importantly and Blaise snickered.

"I'm okay," Pansy said dryly, taking the coin from Blaise.

Draco reluctantly looked away although he knew she was lying as he repeated everything Slughorn had told them.

"What?" Blaise exclaimed when Draco told them about the new dorms.

Pansy just shook her head as she cast feather-light charms over their luggage and began pulling them down.

"Yeah, it has yet been the worst part of being Head Boy."

"I was looking forward to trying some new pranks on the ickle ones," Blaise pouted.

"I'll have to stay with Lovegood and McMillan and Granger," Draco said, glaring at Blaise, "and you're worried about pranks. And anyways you're a prefect. Shouldn't be pulling pranks."

"It can't be that bad," Blaise offered, ignoring Draco's last sentence completely.

"Oh, really? How about I tell McGonagall I don't want to be Head Boy and she can make you instead? I'll be perfectly content with being prefect," he said bitterly.

"I'm really sorry, Malfoy. Please don't do that," Blaise said in a fake begging voice and Draco smiled.

"Hey, look I made Pansy smile," he said enthusiastically, throwing an arm around Pansy's shoulder.

Pansy immediately covered her smile with a scowl.

"And she hasn't pushed your hand away," Draco pointed out which earned him a glare from Pansy as she immediately threw Blaise's hand away from her shoulder.

"You had to remind her," he complained.

"Parkinson, why are you mad at us?" Draco demanded and Blaise nodded.

"Yeah, it isn't technically our fault that you're here," Blaise added.

Pansy's features softened and she blew out a breath.

"Why did you not let me stay?" She demanded bitterly.

Draco sighed.

"Because she doesn't deserve you," he said.

"She's my mother," Pansy's voice was low and it was a good change from all the other times she had shouted the same sentence.

"And she's drunk half the time. She isn't in her right mind and you can not waste your life caring for her," Blaise said furiously, holding onto Pansy's shoulder, forcing her to look at him.

"She needs to get her shit together on her own and you know that too," Draco supplied.

The train was slowing down and there were footsteps outside as students made their way towards the front of the train.

"This year better be worth all the time you both spent trying to convince me to come back here," she said quietly, "and you both have gone and been made prefects and head boys."

"You won't be lonely, love," Blaise said softly.

"It will be worth it, I promise," Draco nodded, holding her hand in his.

"After all, you'll be blessed with the presence of two of the most handsome lads Hogwarts has to offer," Blaise added and both Draco and Pansy snorted at the comment.

"Let's go," Draco said, holding his luggage.

"Aren't you supposed to be overlooking the prefects and ickle first years?" Blaise questioned tauntingly.

Draco glared at him

"You go patrol the train, Zabini" Draco muttered.

"I'm going. I take my duties seriously."

"Blaise is right. You should take your duties seriously," Pansy said solemnly and Blaise snorted, earning a smack on the arm from her.

"I'll see if everything's going smoothly," he agreed begrudgingly, shoving his luggage in Blaise's chest so hard, he stumbled backward.

"Can you manage our luggage?" Blaise asked Pansy and she nodded before casting a spell on the three suitcases so that they stacked on top of each other. A rope slithered from the end of her wand and wrapped the stacked luggage securely in place.

Draco and Blaise slipped out of the compartment and went their opposite ways.

Draco spotted a Hufflepuff sixth-year prefect herding students into a straight line and out of the train.

He made his way through the crowd and stepped out into the cold night air. Hagrid's outline was visible to his left, calling out to the first years.

He stood and watched as the kids hurriedly made their way towards Hagrid, huddling around him.

He glanced upwards at the stars twinkling down at him and felt a rush of peace.

"Where's Davis?" A familiar voice demanded from his right.

He turned to see Hermione Granger standing there, arms folded over her chest and he held back the urge to roll his eyes.

"How am I supposed to know?" He drawled out the words.

"Well, she's from your house. You must have seen her. She's supposed to be leading second years to the threstrals."

"I haven't seen her," Draco said.

"Well then find her," Granger ordered and he turned to glare at her.

She stubbornly held his gaze.

"Why don't you lead the second years to the threstrals?" He asked, trying very hard to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

She looked up at him as if he had said something very stupid.

"Professor Slughorn made the list for a reason. Prefects should stick to what they have been assigned. And I have to do a sweep of the train which is why I can't lead the second years to the threstrals," she said pointedly.

"Jeez, Granger," he rolled his eyes. "I'll look for Davis and I'll lead the second years," he said, "Anything to get rid of you." He added with a mock bow.

The effect was impressive. As he walked back, he glimpsed her shocked expression, mouth hanging open and wide brown eyes following his retreating back.

"Come on, second years," he called loudly and a bunch of kids started moving towards him.

He waited for them to huddle closer.

"Is that all?" He yelled and when no one came forward, he started shepherding them towards the line of carriages tied to apparently invisible horses.

He spotted Tracey just as he led the students towards an empty carriage and they started shuffling inside.

"Davis," he called and she turned towards him, eyes wide before she spotted him and relaxed.

"You were supposed to take the second years," he reminded her with an edge to his tone.

"Well, they are here, aren't they?" She chuckled and waited for him to join in.

"Tracey, you better take this seriously or I'll take that badge from you," he warned, his voice low.

She blinked, surprised by his behavior but composed herself quickly.

"Jeez, okay Malfoy," she said apprehensively. "I'll take the remaining kiddos off your hands then," she said, taking the students towards another carriage.

Draco thought he understood why Granger would have been so annoyed.

He stepped forward and slowly ran his hand over the smooth skin of the skeletal horse.

It let out a little sound of pleasure as Draco caressed its head.

He had been able to see them ever since he had seen Charity Burbage getting murdered by Voldemort.

He shuddered at the memory and immediately withdrew his hand.

"Oi!" Blaise's voice came from somewhere in the distance and he turned his head, trying to find him.

"Draco," he called once again and Draco spotted his outline emerging from the darkness and he jogged towards him, joining him and Pansy in an empty carriage.

"I can see them," Pansy whispered, her eyes fixated on the dark horses as the carriage began moving, carrying them through the cobblestone path.

"There's hardly anyone who can't anymore," Draco answered and she nodded a little fearfully.

The carriages stopped and the students clambered down, rushing inside to seek protection from the seeping cold.

The Great Hall was as magnificent as ever with lit candles hanging in the air and the full moon reflected against the ceiling. The room was warm and filled with mouth-watering smells.

He inhaled sharply.

It smelled like home.

He looked around and his heart plummeted to the bottom of his stomach. Students were looking at him, whispering among themselves. Some younger ones pointed accusingly at him.

Death Eater. The word was whispered so many times, its echoes seemed to wrap Draco in a cacoon of despair and fury.

Pansy's hand slipped into his and he relaxed a little.

"Ignore them," she whispered next to him.

Easy for her to say. She hadn't been branded with the hideous mark, he thought bitterly but nodded nevertheless.

His free hand slipped inside the pocket of his jeans. He found the letter, crumpled from being there too long and he held onto it tightly, reminding himself he was welcome here.

Even if not by the students, definitely by the professors.

It felt odd to see McGonagall standing at the podium instead of Dumbledore at the start of the feast.

"Now, who is that?" Blaise whistled lowly so that only Pansy and Draco could hear him. Draco followed his line of sight to a witch in blue overalls, her blond hair cascading down her back. She wasn't much older than them, her blue eyes sharp and alert as she took in the students filling in.

The two of them shrugged in response.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," McGonagall paused and looked around at the students.

"First, let's introduce you all to the newest member of our staff," she said happily, "Professor Sybil Trelawny has re-joined Hogwarts as our Divination teacher."

She pointed to Trelawny sitting at the far end of the staff table, her too-large glasses perched precariously over her nose and she was draped in numerous shawls.

"I thought we have had enough of her," Blaise muttered under his breath.

"Why do you care? It's not like you'll be taking divination," Pansy pointed out.

"She'll be ruining our future generation," Blaise defended and Draco snorted at that.

"And now, Professor Ivan Lahey, your new defense against the dark arts professor."

She pointed to a man sitting next to Trelawny who waved at the students with a beaming smile.

Draco estimated him to be around his height. He had brownish eyes and black hair that fell to his shoulder, tied in a ponytail. An earring dangled from his right ear. He felt like someone who would perform at a rock band.

"While there is no change in caretaker Filch's long list of forbidden items, Hogwarts is now providing counselling for anyone who seeks it."

She paused, looking at the crowd intently as whispers broke out among the students.

"That's just what we need," Draco scoffed.

"It can be good," Pansy retorted.

"It might be but no one's gonna do it," Blaise shrugged.

"They might," Pansy responded.

"We all have been through some very dark and troubling times. It's okay to ask for help if you're struggling and it makes you all the more human. To make sure everyone feels encouraged to take this first brave step, we have added it to your schedules."

"For this purpose, we have asked a very special friend of mine for help. Seline Boworthy. She's a qualified psychotherapist with a degree from Egypt's biggest medical university and trained under famous healers of America."

McGonagall pointed to the witch Blaise had pointed out before.

"Seline, unfortunately, won't be with us all the time. However, she will make monthly visits for the scheduled classes."

"Now I might think about counseling," Blaise said, ogling at the witch. Draco rolled his eyes while Pansy made sure to smack his arm.

"I think that will be all. Dig in everybody," she said as she stepped back.

The podium vanished and food appeared on the house tables.

Steaks and lamb chops, ten different kinds of gravies, stacks of garlic bread, meat pies, and plates lined with fried sausages appeared in front of them.

Silence spread across the Hall broken by scrape of cutlery.

By the time desert vanished, Draco was so relaxed and contented that he forgot for a moment that he wasn't supposed to go to the Slytherin common room with Blaise and Pansy.

They said their goodbyes and Draco stayed back, watching Tracey and Blaise lead the first years toward the Slytherin common room.

He stayed back, watching students file out until only Professor McGonagall was left behind with the four of them.

McGonagall walked towards them and gave them one of her rare smiles.

"I hope Professor Slughorn told you everything?"

Everyone nodded in response.

"I do hope you four will try to get along. The purpose of this new setting is to promote friendship among the four houses," she said looking pointedly at Ernie and then Draco.

"Now," she said, waving her wand around in the air and a beautiful, blue butterfly burst out from its tip. "Follow the butterfly. It'll lead you to your common room."

Word count: [2,306 words]