"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

"George!"

"Only joking, mum."

Harry couldn't help but smile as he heard the red headed twins goad their younger sister from the train window. It seemed she had begun to cry at the prospect of being left at home while her brothers attended Hogwarts for the year, though to be honest, he didn't blame her. As the train began to move, a wave of excitement surged through his body – he didn't know where he was going, but wherever it was had to be better than living with the Dursleys.

Outside, Harry watched as the view of London quickly turned into the suburbs. Row upon row of houses flashed past the window as the train built up speed, and he found himself daydreaming about his unknown destination. What Hogwarts looked like, the spells he would learn, flying on a broomstick, whether or not there was a way to turn Dudley completely into a pig –

The compartment door was suddenly yanked open and Harry was instantly brought back to reality. He whirled his head around to see a boy about his age dash over the threshold to the compartment, sliding the door shut just as quickly. The boy, already dressed in his robes, was panting heavily, and slumped to the ground against the door. Several seconds later it was clear why, as another two heavy set boys ran down the corridor straight past their compartment.

Once Harry had gotten over the initial shock he realised he recognised the other boy, whose eyes remained shut as he tried to catch his breath. The white blond hair and pale pointed face could only belong to the boy he'd met at Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley on his birthday.

Harry shifted in his seat, and the blond boy's eyes snapped open as he realised he wasn't alone. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed Harry staring at him, equally as shocked.

"Oh, I was just –" the boy cut himself off as the recognition seemed to be mutual. "Wait, I know you. Weren't you at that shop when I was getting my robes?"

Harry, still surprised at how much had managed to occur within the span of a minute, barely managed a nod. The other boy looked as though he was about to speak again when pounding footsteps along the carriage corridor silenced him. Outside the compartment, the two heavy set boys from a minute earlier stopped in front of the door to catch their breath. The taller of the two suddenly noticed Harry, though rather than opening the door, chose to get his attention by banging on the window instead.

"Oi!" he shouted, his voice slightly muffled. "You seen a blond kid come down this way?"

Harry glanced down at the boy in question, who frantically shook his head. Regardless of his poor first impression of the blond, the other two students looked as though they weren't too friendly themselves, and the boy had to be half their size.

Finally, Harry found his voice. "I haven't, sorry."

The shorter of the two grunted before they both took off down the corridor the way they had come.

"Thanks," the blond said, finally getting to his feet. He glanced down at the seat opposite Harry and seemed to consider it for a moment before finally sitting down.

Harry couldn't quite suppress his curiosity. "I'm sorry, but who were they?"

"Oh, my friends Crabbe and Goyle – Vincent and Greg, rather." At Harry's surprised look, the boy smirked. "They're alright, I guess. A bit thick, though."

Harry thought 'a bit thick' was an understatement, though he didn't say so. The boy continued.

"The both of them haven't shut up about what they want to buy off the food trolley ever since they arrived on the platform, and that was nearly an hour ago. If you'd had to listen to them going on about Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans for the past hour," he rolled his eyes, "you would have pretended to play a game of tag too."

Harry had no idea what Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans were, though given how little he'd been able to contribute to their last conversation, he wasn't about to say so.

"I have a cousin who sounds like them," he finally said. "His name's Dudley. He'll eat just about anything."

That managed to get a half smile out of the boy. "Yeah, that's definitely Vincent and Greg." He paused for a moment. "I'm Malfoy, by the way. Draco Malfoy."

He held out his hand to shake. Harry paused for a moment, wondering whether he should accept it or not. Their last conversation hadn't left him with a very high opinion of the other boy, though it seemed that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so bad.

Harry took the hand. "I'm Harry Potter."

Draco froze mid hand shake, his eyes widening once more before releasing his grip. "So it's true then, what they've been saying? Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

Harry nodded.

"I heard you had to go live with Muggles," Draco continued, screwing up his face. "Father says they're horrible. Not a single bit of magic in them."

"They're not all horrible," Harry corrected quickly. "Though, my aunt and uncle and cousin are. Aren't there any Muggles in your family?"

Draco looked as though he'd been slapped in the face. "I'm a Malfoy." When Harry continued to stare at him blankly, he continued. "We're one of the oldest pure-blood wizarding families in existence. Not a single Squib in the family, and certainly no Muggles."

"Lucky," Harry said, not sure what a Squib was. "I wish I had a whole family of wizards."

Draco leaned forward slightly as though he were about to share a big secret. "You'll soon realise that some wizarding families are better than others – I can help you there."

Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a pure-blood, and so's the rest of my family," Draco said matter-of-factly. "Father says being pure-blood these days is a rare thing and that it makes us special. You don't want to go mixing with those Muggle-born types."

Harry was beginning to wonder if shaking the boy's hand had been the right choice at all. "Hagrid told me my dad came from a long line of wizards, though I know my mum had Muggle parents if that's what you mean."

"Did she?" Draco said, as though the mere thought were ridiculous. "That's unfortunate."

"I think she was brilliant," Harry said defensively. He was regretting his decision more and more by the second.

"Sorry," Draco said, sounding a little more genuine than he had in Madam Malkin's. "In any case, that makes you a half-blood. I suppose that isn't so bad."

Suddenly, the door to their compartment opened once again, and this time the youngest of the red-haired brothers stuck his head inside.

"Do you mind?" he said. "Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all," Harry smiled, relieved to see both a familiar face and an excuse to stop talking to Draco about the apparent importance of bloodlines. As the red-haired boy sat in the seat beside him however, he failed to notice the way Draco's lips had suddenly thinned.

"I would've been here sooner, but some kid called Neville lost his toad and this other girl basically forced me to help look for it," he said, rolling his eyes. "You wouldn't believe how bossy she was." He paused. "I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley."

From his seat, Draco let out a barely audible scoff.

"I'm Harry," he said, glancing across at the blond. "And this is Draco."

Ron seemed to notice the way the third boy looked at him, because he suddenly became very tense. "Hello," he said quietly.

By this point, the train had carried them out of London. Outside the window, the houses had turned into massive green fields which seemed to stretch out over the horizon. All three boys were quiet for some time, watching as the train sped past hundreds of cows and sheep.

"So you're really Harry Potter?" Ron suddenly blurted, breaking the silence.

Harry nodded.

"Oh. Well, I thought it might have been another one of Fred and George's jokes," he said. "And do you really have the …?" He pointed at Harry's forehead. This seemed to catch Draco's attention too, because he finally turned away from the window and looked at Harry expectantly.

Harry nodded, pulling back his fringe to reveal the lightning shaped scar.

Ron stared.

"Cool!" said Draco.

"And that's where You-Know-Who …?" Ron trailed off.

Harry nodded again. "But I don't remember anything."

"Nothing at all?" Draco asked eagerly, his disapproval following Ron's entrance apparently forgotten.

"Nothing," said Harry. "Well – I remember a lot of green light, but that's it."

"Wow," Ron and Draco said together. They looked at each other. Ron smiled.

Harry turned to Ron. "Draco was telling me about his family earlier, are all your family wizards too?"

"Yes, well …" Ron paused. "I think mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

Draco seemed to approve of this.

"So you both must know loads of magic already," Harry said, having as much interest in them as they seemed to have in him.

"Well, not spells and stuff," Ron said. "That's what we're going to Hogwarts for."

"But we have grown up around magic," Draco quickly added. "Didn't the Muggles tell you anything?"

And Harry was off, explaining all about his life with the Dursleys and the cupboard under the stairs. He told them all about having to wear Dudley's clothes and never getting proper birthday presents (this seemed to make Ron feel better) and how he constantly felt like he was alone (Draco said he knew the feeling).

"…and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or my parents or Voldemort –"

Both boys gasped.

"What?"

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron said, sounding both shocked and impressed. Given the look on Draco's face, he seemed to agree.

"I didn't mean to," Harry sighed. "This is what I mean, I just never knew you shouldn't. I've got loads to learn. Just because your parents have magical blood in them doesn't mean you'll know more than others whose parents are Muggles. I don't think it makes them any better either," he looked pointedly at Draco, who to his surprise, didn't argue with him. "Though … I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be," Ron said quickly. "There's loads of people who come from Muggle families like you said, and they all learn quick enough."

At around half past twelve, there was a commotion outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back the door to their compartment.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked.

Harry, who hadn't had anything for breakfast, jumped to his feet, as did Draco who it seemed was hungry himself. Ron however stayed seated, his ears going pink. He muttered something about having brought sandwiches, and Draco and Harry glanced at each other before heading out into the corridor.

For the first time in his life Harry's pockets were full of gold and silver, and he was ready to buy as many sweets as he could. What he found on the trolley however were dozens of different lollies he'd never seen before in his life. He spotted what he thought were the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans that Draco had been talking about earlier that morning, and not wanting to miss out on anything, bought some of everything.

By the time Harry walked back into the compartment, Draco was unwrapping the packaging of a sweet he didn't recognise. He dumped his purchases on the seat between himself and Ron, the latter of whom stared at him in disbelief.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," Harry said. As if on cue, his stomach grumbled. He took a large bite out of a Pumpkin Pasty before noticing Ron had pulled a lumpy package out of his pockets. He un-wrapped it and sighed.

"She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Here, have a Pasty," Harry said, holding one out for him.

"You sure?" Ron asked. "I mean, I'd swap you for one of these," he glanced at his sandwiches, "but you wouldn't want them. They're dry."

Harry smiled. "Go on."

It wasn't long before the sandwiches lay forgotten, and all three boys shifted from the compartment seats to the floor space in between. They formed a circle around the sweets which they had placed in a pile, Draco even adding his own purchases to the stash. He'd never really had anyone he'd needed to share with before, so he was surprised at how nice it felt, just sitting there with the other two boys eating their way through Cauldron Cakes and Liquorice Wands and all sorts of other things.

"What are these?" Harry asked suddenly, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "Wait, they aren't real are they?"

"No, but forget about that, it's the card you want," Draco said, eyeing the other Chocolate Frog packets in the pile.

Harry gave the blond a quizzical look. "What?"

"Oh right, you don't know," Ron said. "Each pack comes with a card to collect of a famous Witch or Wizard. I've got about five hundred myself – still missing Agrippa and Ptolemy, though."

Harry un-wrapped the Chocolate Frog and slipped the card out. On it, an old man with a long silver beard, equally long hair and half-moon spectacles stared back at him. Underneath was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So this is Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed.

Ron's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you've never heard of him!"

"Father says Dumbledore is the worst thing that's ever happened to Hogwarts," Draco said.

"Your father seems to say a lot of things," Harry muttered. Draco didn't reply.

Ron rolled his eyes and turned back to Harry. "Some say Dumbledore is the only one You-Know-Who is afraid of because he's the only one more powerful than him. From what Fred and George have told me, I think he's bloody brilliant."

As the three boys moved on from the Chocolate Frogs to the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans ("It was a cement flavoured one, I swear!"), the view outside the window turned from the countryside into wild woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment once again, and this time two new faces, a boy and a girl about their age, stood on the threshold. Harry recognised the boy as the one he had seen on platform nine and three-quarters, though Ron seemed to recognise the girl as well given the way he cringed.

"There you are, I was wondering where you'd run off to," the girl said, looking at Ron expectantly. He was about to mutter an apology when she spoke up again. "Have any of you seen a toad? Neville here has lost one." She inclined her head towards the boy beside her who looked like he'd been crying.

"Sorry."

"Nope."

"Why in Merlin's name would you buy a toad?"

Instead of receiving an answer, Draco's comment only caused Neville to begin crying again.

"Now look what you've done," the girl said, glowering at Draco. "Come on Neville, we'll ask in the next compartment."

With a final huff at the three boys, the door was shut and Neville and the girl were gone.

"That's the girl I was talking about earlier," Ron groaned. "I don't know why he's so upset anyway. If it were me I'd have lost the toad as soon as I could. Then again, I brought Scabbers so I can't really talk."

"Scabbers?" Draco asked, arching an eyebrow.

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat, grey rat which was asleep. "He's useless and he hardly ever wakes up. My brother Percy was made Prefect this year so mum and dad got him a new owl and I got Scabbers instead. Pathetic, isn't he?"

"Just a little," said Harry.

"Very," said Draco.

Ron huffed. Before he could say anything more however, the door to their compartment was slid open once more and this time the girl had returned without the toad-less boy.

"We already told you we haven't seen his toad," Ron said, almost sounding annoyed.

"I'm not here for that," the girl said indignantly. "I came back to ask why on earth you three are sitting on the floor. And look at this mess, there's wrappers everywhere! Someone's going to think you've been in a fight, you'll get into trouble before we even get there."

Harry, Ron and Draco stared at her in disbelief, though she didn't seem to notice.

"I'm Hermione Granger, by the way. I already know you," she said, glancing at Ron before looking back up at the other two boys. "And you are?"

"Harry Potter," said Harry, if anything to stop the girl from talking for a few seconds. This seemed to have the opposite effect, however.

"Are you really?" she said. "I've read all about you, of course. I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century." She glanced at Draco. "And you are?"

"Draco Malfoy," he said proudly. It was clear she wasn't aware of his family's apparent importance however given the bored look she seemed to give him.

"Pleasure," she deadpanned. She glanced at the other two once more. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and Gryffindor sounds by far the best," – she didn't hear Draco gag –, "though I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad … anyway, I should be looking for Neville's toad. You best be clearing up this mess and changing into your robes, I expect we'll be arriving soon."

And just like that, she was gone, leaving the three boys in stunned silence.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron muttered. "Though, all my brothers have been in Gryffindor. If I'm not in it I don't know what my parents will say."

"I'd thank Merlin," Draco scoffed. "If I got put in Gryffindor I think I'd leave, wouldn't you? Though, I know I'll be in Slytherin of course, my whole family is."

Ron's eyes went wide. "And you're okay with that? Everyone knows every witch or wizard who went bad came from that house."

Harry was reminded of what Hagrid had told him about Voldemort during their visit to Diagon Alley.

"Everyone says that," Draco scowled, "but it's not just about all the dark stuff. Slytherins are cunning and resourceful and determined and are pretty much expected to do great things. Besides," he looked smug, "Merlin was a Slytherin."

"Still," Ron mumbled. "Anyway, did you guys hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet. Someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Draco gasped.

"What happened to them?" Harry asked.

"They haven't been caught, that's why the news is so big," Ron said. "My dad thinks it must've been a pretty powerful Dark Wizard if they managed to get in and out of Gringotts like that, but the weird thing is that nothing was taken."

Outside, the sun had begun to set over the horizon. The sky's pinkish hue quickly turned into a dark blue, and before the three knew it, a voice was echoing throughout the train: "We'll be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

"Oh bloody hell, we haven't changed yet," Ron cursed, glancing at Harry. "We should make it quick. Bet you anything that Hermione girl will come back down here just to find a reason to tell us off."

Once they'd thrown on their robes, the three of them began cramming their pockets with the leftover sweets before joining their fellow students out in the crowded hallway. Harry felt sick with nerves, and he noted Ron was looking pale under his freckles too. Even Draco was looking paler than usual, if that were even possible. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted however by a loud shout down the corridor.

"Oi, Malfoy!"

The three boys turned in the direction of the voice to see both Vincent and Greg making their way through the sea of students towards the blond boy.

"We've been lookin' all over for you," Vincent said.

"Yeah," Greg nodded. "You missed out on all the fun. Blaise had this idea to buy like 20 Chocolate Frogs –"

"–and open them all at once –"

"–and they went everywhere," Greg grinned.

Harry had to admit, the taller boy didn't look so frightening now that he didn't have a scowl on his face. Not to mention unleashing twenty Chocolate Frogs within the confines of a train compartment actually sounded quite funny. Before Draco could respond, the crowd began to move all at once towards the carriage doors.

"Come on," Vincent said to Draco, backing towards the door with the rest of the students. "Theo's been havin' a fit wondering where you were, kept calling you a little git because he wanted to show you his wand or something."

"Ha, wand," Greg smirked.

Vincent rolled his eyes as he turned and pushed the taller boy forward. "Oh sod off, mate."

Draco let out a quiet bark of laughter at the boys' antics as they disembarked the train. He shivered as he was enveloped in the cold night air, and he turned to wait for Harry and Ron to follow suit.

"Looks like some old friends feel neglected," Draco said as they stepped off the train, inclining his head towards a group of about half a dozen boys and girls a little ways down the platform. "I hope I see you both later, though. Nice meeting you, Potter." He glanced at Ron and smiled. "And you're not so bad yourself, even if you are a Weasley."

Despite the boy's seemingly blunt nature, Ron found himself giving a half smile back as Draco turned and made his way towards the group.

"I've heard of his family," Ron told Harry once the blond was out of earshot. "They were one of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched, though dad thinks that's a bunch of bogeys. He said Draco's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

"Well, Draco seems alright at least," said Harry. "I mean, I did think he was a bit of a bully at first, though I guess he's not so bad. I think a lot of his ideas about pure-bloods and Muggles come from his dad."

"Yeah," Ron agreed.

Suddenly, a large lamp appeared to bob over their heads and a booming voice Harry recognised carried over the crowd of students.

"Firs'-years, firs'-years, over here!" Hagrid bellowed. "C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!"

Harry and Ron stuck to each other as they and their fellow first-years were led down a dark, narrow path. No one seemed to speak much, except for Neville who sniffed once or twice. Harry guessed he hadn't found his toad. They rounded a bend, and suddenly there was a collective gasp as the students found themselves at the edge of a large, black lake. Sitting atop a high mountain on the other side was a grand castle which stretched high into the sky, the light from its windows twinkling as though they were the stars themselves. A fleet of small boats sat at the edge of the lake.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out.

Harry and Ron clambered into a boat and were promptly followed in by Neville and Hermione. Harry glanced around looking for Draco, but couldn't see much beyond a few feet in front of him in the dark.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted. "Right then – FORWARD!"

The boats set off across the lake. Fellow students oooh'd and aaah'd at the castle, its many turrets becoming clearer the closer they got. Soon enough the boats had carried them inside the cliff face and docked themselves at a mini harbour. The students clambered out onto a surface of rocks and pebbles.

After finding Neville's toad sitting in the boat he'd just been in with Harry, Ron and Hermione ("Trevor!"), Hagrid led the students up a passageway inside the cliff. They followed his lamp until they finally came out onto smooth, damp grass right in front of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps, coming to a stop just outside a pair of large, oak doors.

Once Hagrid was sure Neville still had his toad, he raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

Alternate chapter title: Or the one where Draco isn't so bad after all.

...

A/N: So I actually got the idea for this story about two years ago and have slowly been writing it since. I've effectively planned out all 7 books and am about half way through writing the first, but wanted to get an idea of whether or not this is something people would actually be interested in because I'm really enjoying writing this. While first year will stick moderately close to canon, even the smallest of changes will affect the books that come after to the point where at least one has a completely different plot to canon.

I know this sort of thing has been done before, but I've put a lot of planning into this and have tried my best to stay true to each character. So even though the idea may stem from the 'fix-it' trope, I'm really hoping I can create something unique with this series.

Thank you for reading!