Draco Times Three

Draco Times Three

By: Prongs and Padfoot

Chapter 4: On the Train

"What do you have there, girl?" Desirea asked Aphrodite when she swooped into the window and gently nipped her ear to get her attention. The girls were in their room reading their schoolbooks and re-packing their trunks for the millionth time.

"What is it?" Drea asked, looking up from her copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 and gently tossing Drake aside.

"Looks like another letter from Hogwarts. See the crest?" Desirea said while opening the envelope and dropping Drago onto the bed. Inside were two tickets and a letter telling them to be at King's Cross Station on September first by eleven o'clock and to board Platform 9 ¾.

"Mrs. Lafayette should know we got these. She's been wondering all month about how we were going to get to the school tomorrow," Drea said while feeding Athena and Aphrodite owl treats.

"Yeah, we'll tell her. Here," Desirea said while giving Drea her ticket. "C'mon. We've got to go say bye to everyone and pack one last time."

"Aren't you... well... aren't you kind of nervous?" Drea asked sheepishly, purposely ignoring her sister's questionable look.

"Not really. I'm looking forward to it actually. I can't wait to get to that school and make my presence known. I'm gonna..." but she trailed off at the look her sister sent that plainly said 'Give me a break.'

"Okay. Fine. You win; I'm terrified," Desirea said, plopping down on her bed. Drea sat primly on the edge of her bed, looking at her sister with an unreadable expression.

"I know what you're feeling," Drea started. "We don't know anything about magic. We don't know anything about Hogwarts--"

"--You do. You've always got your nose buried in that book," Desirea said, rudely interrupting and pointing to Drea's copy of Hogwarts: A History.

"Back to what I was saying... we haven't grown up living the way everyone else that is going to Hogwarts has. I mean, we don't even know where this Platform is! They only have even numbers at King's Cross, not fractions," Drea said.

"Well... we'll just have to see what happens. We'll learn. So what if we may be years behind everyone else and their knowledge of magic? We can get used to it," Desirea said, nervously tracing the pattern of her comforter.

Drea looked down at Drake, who was lying on her pillow. She trusted her sister with her life, but she was still scared of what may await them tomorrow.

Aphrodite and Athena were watching from the windowsill. Their huge, round eyes moved back and forth between the sisters, looking as if they were trying to give them some reassurance.

"But, then again, we could just try to act normal and show them what idiots we really are," Desirea said, smiling and standing up.

"Speak for yourself," Drea said, smirking at Desirea.

Both girls had started to walk towards the bedroom door, leaving their dragons on their beds and letting the owls preen themselves again.

"Now, c'mon. We've got to go talk to Mrs. Lafayette about getting to the station tomorrow on time and say bye to everyone. Go! Move!" Desirea said, getting mad that her sister had stopped to primp in front of their bedroom mirror yet again.

"What? Afraid of my deadly good looks?" Desirea asked playfully, batting her eyelashes at Drea.

"You are so stupid. We look exactly alike! Now, walk!" Drea ordered, finally getting into a position that allowed her to push Desirea out the door and into the hall.

***

"Come along girls. We still have a half an hour until the train leaves, but..." Mrs. Lafayette trailed off, looking for Platform 9 ¾ yet again.

"Uh, Mrs. Lafayette, maybe we should just ask someone, like at the front desk or something," Desirea said uncertainly, glancing at the ticket counter. "Or we could just stand here with two owls and gigantic trunks drawing attention from muggles and having the wizarding world discovered because we can't find a train."

It was true: Everyone that was passing by the small group looked at them oddly, as if they shouldn't have been there. And then....

"This way, Pansy. Come along. Platform 9 ¾." It was a woman's voice, and all three of the trio's heads turned to stare at two oddly dressed people. There was a tall blonde woman with a scrunched up face like a pug wearing a weird lavender dress. It took the twins a moment before they realized she was wearing robes. Next to her was a very ugly girl they supposed was the woman's daughter because they looked exactly alike. The girl was wearing a dark green set of robes.

"Come, girls. We'll ask that woman over there if she knows how to get onto the platform," Mrs. Lafayette said. All three of them walked over to the ugly woman and her daughter.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Mrs. Lafayette asked politely. The tall woman looked down at the three of them. She did a double take when she saw the twins and stared for quite some time. Mrs. Lafayette broke the awkward silence. "Uh, I'm Anita Lafayette and these two are my, er, charges. We were wondering if you would by any chance know how to get onto Platform 9 ¾."

"Oh, are you mudbloods?" the tall woman asked, looking away from the twins and glaring at Mrs. Lafayette. Desirea and Drea had been looking back and forth between the tall woman and her daughter, but their attention was now fixed on the ice-cold expression on the tall woman's face. Mrs. Lafayette backed down for a second but quickly regained her composure.

"Well, I'm a muggle, if that's what you mean. These two are witches, though," she said, gesturing towards Desirea and Drea.

"I see," sid the tall woman cruelly. "My daughter Pansy will be starting at Hogwarts this year. I'm Paris Parkinson. Our family is entirely Pure Blood." She had been gloating in the last part, as if to show off.

Desirea didn't know what to think of this strange conversation. She wasn't sure whether or not this Pansy girl could be considered a friend or foe, but she already made up her mind that Mrs. Parkinson was to self-infatuated for her tastes.

Drea was thinking the same thing as her sister, but had already made up her mind that she immensely disliked both Mrs. Parkinson and Pansy. The girl had been giving them a look of absolute disgust the entire time, and Drea had to keep herself form slapping her.

"Oh, all right. Mrs. Parkinson, I was wondering if you'd be as kind as to show us where this platform is," Mrs. Lafayette said. She had no idea what this woman was talking about. Mud Bloods, Pure Bloods, what does it all mean!

"You walk straight at the wall between platforms nine and ten. If you're nervous, you'd better run," Mrs. Parkinson said, walking with her daughter up to the barrier wall. All three of the remaining people tried to see what they were doing, but a large group of tourists passed in front of them. When the last person had walked by, Mrs. Parkinson and her daughter were no longer there.

"Wow! Check it out! We get to disappear!" Drea said excitedly, walking to inspect the barrier. As soon as she touched it she was gone.

"Drea!" Desirea shouted out, calling the attention of several people walking by.

"It's all right, Desirea dear. We'll find her," Mrs. Lafayette said to the people who were looking at them with suspicion. "We've lost her sister. She must be around here somewhere!" The people just smiled kindly and returned to what they were doing. Several yards away the same plump woman they saw in Diagon Alley was ushering her several redheaded children toward them.

"Come on, Desirea," Mrs. Lafayette said, glancing at the clock and noticing they had ten minutes until the train departed. She pulled Desirea through the barrier, and before they both knew it they were standing on a gigantic platform and staring at the most insane scene.

On a track several feet away was a scarlet steam engine. People were all over the place, some dressed in wizard garb and others in muggle clothing. Everyone was yelling out to each other or chatting excitedly while cats of every color and size wound their way through the crowd. Owls were hooting, toads were croaking and a boy had just stubbed his toe while trying to get his trunk into one of the compartments. "Neville! Honestly..." said a very formidable-looking old witch, coming over to help the boy. "Sorry, Gran," the boy apologized, looking rather embarrassed.

Desirea was looking every which way, trying to take in everything when Mrs. Lafayette dragged her over to a small crowd. There was a boy in dreadlocks with a small box and a very amused expression on his face. Drea was looking at the box with a lot of interest, not even knowing the boy but asking him if he could show her what he had anyway.

"Drea, we've been searching for you. Come on, let's find you two a compartment," Mrs. Lafayette said, pulling Drea away from the small crowd while the boy lifted the lid and a long, hairy leg poked it's way out. There were many small screams and yelps from the crowd, and both girls snickered at the looks on the people's faces.

Mrs. Lafayette helped the girls get their trunks into the compartment along with their owls. Once they were both settled, they walked back on to the platform one last time to say goodbye to Mrs. Lafayette.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Desirea said, looking at Mrs. Lafayette with tears brimming in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly, hoping no one would notice, but Mrs. Lafayette saw.

"Its all right, dear. You're allowed to cry. It's not goodbye; we'll see each other during Christmas maybe and in the summer," she said, talking to both of them. Drea had started to silently cry, not caring who saw.

"Its just... well... you're the closest thing we've ever had to a mum, and now we're leaving you. It just feels like, in a way, that we're abandoning you..." Drea trailed off, not being able to finish her sentence because of a large lump in her throat. Desirea was now openly crying, letting her tears trail down her pale cheeks like salty rivers. Mrs. Lafayette took out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, but unable to stop her tears from falling. All three of them closed into a group hug for several seconds, not wanting to let go. Finally, Desirea released.

"We'll never be able to go if we don't now," she said, blinking her eyes furiously, trying to stop crying.

"Just remember, I will write you all the time, I expect answers back, you have to tell me everything you can fit on a roll of parchment, and that there will always be a home for you. I love you both," Mrs. Lafayette said, quickly ushering the girls into their compartment because the train had slowly started to move. The twins just stared. No on had ever told them that they were loved, save themselves to each other. Now they finally knew that they were loved. They were cared about. They were wanted.

"I'll see you both next summer," Mrs. Lafayette yelled to the twins as the train picked up speed. Neither could find their voices at the moment, so they settled for waving, smiling, and crying their eyes out. Mrs. Lafayette had done the same. Finally, the train turned a corner and Mrs. Lafayette was out of sight.

***

"How long do you think it'll take to get there? I'm starved," Desirea said, finally breaking her three and a half hour gaze from the window.

"I dunno. I could use a bottled water, though," Drea said, reaching into her backpack and producing two turkey sandwiches, some crackers, a few bottles of water and a couple cans of soda.

"Mrs. Lafayette didn't want us to starve. Think she packed enough?" Drea said while feeding crackers to Athena and Aphrodite.

"Yummm... food," Desirea said, biting into one of the sandwiches as a girl with bushy brown hair walked into their compartment. She was already changed into her school robes and was looking quite irritated. It was the same girl they had seen at Gringotts.

"Have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost his," she said.

"Uh... no?" Desirea said, taking her attention off eating and finally noticing the girl was there. The girl just stared at her as if she were metal. Desirea stared back.

They kept staring.

And still staring.

Drea thought they would never move.

They were still staring.

They were close to cracking.

Still staring.

Finally, Desirea blinked.

"Ha! I win. By the way, I'm Hermione Granger," the girl said, walking in and shaking Desirea's had.

"Desirea Maloy. This is my sister, Drea," she said.

"Hi," Drea said, waving at Hermione and taking a sip of her water. A plump witch stopped in the doorway with a cart and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

"Sure," Desirea said, getting up and taking out some of her extra pocket money and walking up to the cart. She gasped when she saw all the candy and what it was all called.

There were Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands and a lot of other oddly named things.

She couldn't figure out what would be best to get, so she ended up buying a little of everything. She paid the woman eleven Sickles and seven Knuts and sat back down with Hermione and Drea, who were vividly discussing Hogwarts: A History and the complicated science of Alchemy and it's properties. After about five minutes of eating (and discovering that Chocolate Frogs contained moving pictures of wizards and witches, eating vomit flavoured Bertie Bott's Beans was a bad idea and that pumpkin pasties are the best kind of pasties ever created) Hermione announced that she had to go back to helping Neville and was looking forward to being in the same house as the twins.

No sooner than five minutes later, the same blonde haired boy they saw in Diagon Alley strode in. He had two trollish-looking goons with him. Both girls backed away slightly, afraid of what those two boys could do if they wanted to even though they looked stupider than rocks. The blonde boy just stared at both of the girls before regaining his suave attitude.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here? Two beautiful ladies, all alone, with no one to keep them company. I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said, kissing each of the twin's hands in turn. Drea just smiled and said, "I'm Drea Maloy, and this is my sister, Desirea Maloy." She pulled her hand away from him, afraid that he may be having some weird ideas in his head. Desirea retracted her hand quickly and gave him a piece of her mind.

"Look, pal: You may think you're hot stuff, and you may be right, but I don't take kindly to guys that look at me once and hit on me, okay? So, if you don't mind, take your goons and leave my sister and I to the ride the rest of the way to school in peace. If you want to try being our friend, that's cool. But if you're going to try and sit here and get us to swoon over you, you've got another thing coming," Desirea said coolly, smirking at the shocked look on Draco's face.

"Well, uh, nice meeting you too, baby," Draco said, getting up, straightening his robes, and gesturing for the two goons to follow him into the next compartment.

"Good job, sis. I didn't know you had it in you. Well, actually I did. I just thought you didn't want to make a bad impression," Drea said, smiling at her sister.

"Well, there's just something about him. Something that isn't right..." Desirea said, looking like she was thinking again.

"He's a guy. What could be right?" Drea asked, finishing the last of the pumpkin pasties and inwardly laughing at her own joke.

"I dunno. He just seems... familiar, that's all," Desirea said. She leaned her head against the window to sleep. Desirea's soft, rhythmical snore started lulling Drea into a doze as she thought about Desirea's words.

The boy did seem like he was familiar somehow, but she couldn't place him. In a dream she had once had (Desirea had had it too, Drea had asked her) there had been a small blonde boy, Desirea and herself.

They were all around three years old, possibly four, and they were in what she now knew was robes for wizard children (at the time she thought they were wearing dresses). They had been on a swing, a tire swing if she remembered right, and they were laughing. They were having fun. They just kept taking turns on the swing and playing, glad to be around each other. They never spoke, but it was like they didn't have to. They knew each other, and each knew what the other two were thinking.

A pretty blonde woman came out of nowhere and hugged them all. She smelled of flowers and cinnamon and she was humming a song Drea didn't know. She was rocking them all gently and Drea had never felt so good and safe. Then, everything turned dark. It was almost black. A man with long, pale blonde hair came and ripped Desirea and Drea out of the woman's arms. The little boy and the woman were crying. So were Desirea and Drea. The man was laughing. A cold, heartless laugh that chilled Drea to the bone. He was dragging them further and further from the woman, and Drea suddenly got the urge to yell out, 'Mummy! Mummy! Don't let him take us! I want to stay with you! Mummy, let us stay!'

The woman, presumably her mother, yelled out, 'Lucius, don't take my babies! Let them stay! She heard her name, but it sounded far of, like it wasn't coming from her mother. Like it was from a different place...

"Drea... Drea... Drea, wake up. C'mon. The train is stopping."

Drea's eyes snapped open. It was dark out and Desirea was dressed in her school robes.

"You were having a nightmare. I think it was the one where we saw the little boy... I was having it, too. Woke up crying and sweating. C'mon, change into your robes, quick! The train's stopping," Desirea said, hurriedly pulling her sister up and walking out of the compartment.

Drea quickly changed into her robes (it's really amazing how quickly one can do something when one's head is somewhere else!), stuffed the rest of her treats into her back pack, threw the back pack into her trunk and ran outside to join her sister, the dream still on her mind. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a booming voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" yelled a gigantic man with a lantern. Desirea and Drea noticed him as the man with the black haired boy in Gringotts, who was also a first year and standing straight in front of them.

"Drea, get the nightmare out of your head. I know you have it now and then, but you should be happy. We'll see the school soon!" Desirea said as they followed the man down a steep, narrow path. Still, Desirea and Drea couldn't shake the instinctive tug at their stomachs that told them that something important was about to happen.

"Yeah. You're right. WOW! LOOK AT THAT!" Drea said, tugging on her sister's sleeve and pointing, much like a little kid in the candy store. The narrow path had opened suddenly into a wide opening at the edge of a black lake. The sky was starry and a gigantic castle was perched on the side of a mountain, it had many turrets, towers and its windows sparkled like pieces of ice.

"No more 'n four to a boat!" the large man called, pointing to a fleet of small boats by the shore. Desirea and Drea climbed into a boat, along with a girl that introduced herself as Susan Bones and a boy named Terry Boot. They moved across the glassy water chatting excitedly and nervously as the man said "Heads Down!"

They bent their heads and the boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They rode along a little stream that seemed to carry them right underneath the castle until they reached a sort of underground harbour. The man yelled out, "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" The boy Desirea earlier remembered as Neville cried out, "Trevor!" His voice was full of bliss. A few people chuckled as they walked up a rocky passageway. After a few minutes of climbing, they came out onto smooth, damp grass. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around a huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got your toad?" the large man said. He knocked three times on the castle door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Well, goodbye mother," Draco said, accepting the hug his mother gave him.

"Goodbye, Draco. We'll see you at Christmas time, all right?" she said with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe it. Her baby was going off to Hogwarts already. It seemed only yesterday he was in a bundle of blankets and she was holding him...

"Father," Draco stated simply, holding out his hand for his father to shake. Lucius primly took his hand and shook it roughly. 'It's about time the guy treats me like the man I am' Draco thought.

"See you at Christmas, son. Behave. Uphold the family name," Lucius said, signaling the end of the goodbyes.

"Yes, Draco. Behave. We love you," Narcissa hugged him one last time as Lucius turned on his heel and walked towards the barrier back to King's Cross.

"I love you too, mother," Draco said. He climbed aboard the train and found his bodyguards, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. He only put up with them because his father was in the same Death Eater ranks as their fathers. Besides, he would never hang around someone that dumb by choice.

***

After mentally torturing some Muggleborns, stealing some snacks off the trolley and having a really bad encounter with the famous Harry Potter and one of the poor, redheaded Weasels, he decided to see who was in the last compartment.

When he got there and saw whom it was inside, his stomach gave a lurch. It was the twins he had seen in Diagon Alley that looked like him. He realized Crabbe, Goyle and the twins were all staring at him, so He regained hi composure strode into the compartment like he owned the place.

"Well, well, well... what do we have here? Two beautiful ladies, all alone, with no one to keep them company. I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said, kissing each of the twin's hands in turn. 'Oh yeah. They'll be following me like love sick puppies in no time!' he thought.

One of them said, "I'm Drea Maloy, and this is my sister, Desirea Maloy." She smiled and pulled her hand away from him quickly. 'She must be the shy one' he thought, giving her a quick look-over. Desirea, the other twin, retaliated to his act.

"Look, pal: You may think you're hot stuff, and you may be right, but I don't take kindly to guys that look at me once and hit on me, okay? So, if you don't mind, take your goons and leave my sister and I to the ride the rest of the way to school in peace. If you want to try being our friend, that's cool. But if you're going to try and sit here and get us to swoon over you, you've got another thing coming," she said coolly, smirking at the shocked look on Draco's face.

"Well, uh, nice meeting you too, baby," Draco said, getting up, straightening his robes, and gesturing for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him into the next compartment. 'Gee, friendly little bugger, that one' he thought. 'Probably afraid of my deadly good looks.' Oh well. I'll try for an alliance later.

"Crabbe, Goyle. Go torture some other first years. I'm tired. Leave me be until I call for you," Draco said, sitting down and leaning his head against the window. He started to dream again, the same dream he'd had a couple times before:

He was on a tire swing with two little girls. They looked like him, except with longer hair and feminine qualities. They were about three or four years old and they always laughed. They all took turns on the swing and never spoke, because for some reason they never had to. Suddenly, his mother appeared. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and as all three of them were gathered into her arms he could smell the flowers and cinnamon fragrances that always came from her. She was humming softly and rocking them all gently, and he never felt so warm or safe.

But then everything turned dark. Draco tried to wake himself up; he knew what was happening next. But he remained asleep. His father, Lucius, appeared and ripped the two girls away from him and his mother. He, his mother, and the two other girls had all started to cry. His father had started to laugh. A cold, heartless laugh that chilled Draco to the bone. He was dragging them further and further from Draco and his mother, and one girl suddenly yelled out, 'Mummy! Mummy! Don't let him take us! I want to stay with you! Mummy, let us stay!'

His mother yelled out, 'Lucius, don't take my babies! Let them stay!

Draco looked up at his mother with eyes full of tears and said, 'Mummy, will I ever see my sissies again?'

Narcissa smiled weakly at him and said, 'Yes baby. One day, you will. Draco?"

'Yes, mummy?'

"Draco? Draco? Draco! Draco, wake up." It was a boy's voice, Goyle's if he was not mistaken. Draco woke up to find both Crabbe and Goyle looking down at him with concerned expressions on their faces. Draco only then realized he must have been crying in his sleep and quickly wiped away the tear streaks on his face.

"What are you two looking at? Well?" He asked, irritated by the fact that both Crabbe and Goyle had disobeyed his orders and woken him up.

"We just wanted to let you know the train is stopping, boss," Crabbe said.

"Fine. Let's go," Draco said, getting up and leading them out into the crowd on the platform. He still couldn't shake the image of the girls from his mind. His sisters. But the eagerness to be sorted was getting to him, and he completely ignored the instinctive tug in his stomach when something important was going to happen. Besides, he was going to be in Slytherin and those stuck up girls on the train were probably going to be goody-two-shoe Gryffindors, so there was nothing to worry about.

How very wrong he was...