Chapter Text
The morning was alive due to the radiance of the sun's bright intense rays as they seemed to penetrate through everything in their path. Several large pointed, colourful hats that adorned the tops of several witches and wizards who were strolling down the street were hit with such an extreme bout of sunshine from the impact, that they hastily removed their elaborate headgear and used it instead like one would a muggle Chinese paper fan, waving it back and forth against their faces.
Despite the rise in the overall temperature in London's Wizarding World sector known as Diagon Alley, Harry Potter was more than thrilled to have escaped the clutches of the Dursleys. Elated was a more sufficient term for how he felt, as he followed closely beside a large, burly, bearded man who went by the name of Hagrid.
" 'An 'at ter yer righ be Florish an' Blotts, an 'at ter yer left be Madam Malkins. A'so where we be 'eaded.", Rubeus Hagrid told the young boy as they approached a large, dark set of wooden double doors and strode on inside.
The moment Harry stepped in, he was awestruck by just how many different kinds of robes and accessories there were for wizards like himself to wear. From a large armoire stuffed nearly to the brim with hundreds and hundreds of those funny, pointed-looking hats he'd seen a few of the townspeople with, to other sorts like fine, elegant dress robes and ties that actually appeared to have been made of real, imported silk.
It was all so much for the newly eleven year old to comprehend and admire that he barely heard the voice that suddenly spoke up out of nowhere. Then, he gave a startled gasp as another boy who looked to be around his age, walked over to him and smiled in greeting.
"Hullo", he said, his voice very much containing the same familiar English accent that Harry's did.
"Hogwarts, too?", he asked just as quickly, when he saw Hagrid reappear beside Harry, but now with a simple, black, uniform robe in his large, ruddy hands.
Slowly, Harry nodded and this only caused the mysterious boy to smile even more, the corners of his mouth turning up into a delighted grin.
Then, as if he'd finally realized his social faux pas, he chuckled nervously before extending a hand out to the other dark-haired boy.
"Name's Draco, by the way. Draco Malfoy."
As Harry shook Draco's hand weakly, he tried to figure out where he had heard that name before. It wasn't foreign to him and he was positive that-
"And, you must be?", Draco asked anxiously, breaking Harry from his thoughts.
"Uh, H-Harry. My name's Harry. Harry Potter."
Draco's face split into a full-out grin, then his expression faltered as his silver-grey eyes darted back up to stare at the boy standing before him.
"H-Harry P-Potter? You mean like the famous Harry Potter who conquered the Dark Lord when he was only a year old? That Harry Potter?!", he exclaimed, sounding amazed and in disbelief.
Shrugging, Harry nodded and then sighed.
"Y-yes. Why? Do many know of me?"
Draco cocked a light blond eyebrow, a shocked look appearing on his pale, slightly pointed face. Vaguely, Harry was reminded of the hats he'd seen atop the heads of witches and wizards milling about in the hot sun.
"Are you kidding? Of course many people know of you, Harry. Why, you're a regular celebrity to practically everyone! The wizarding world's favourite young wizard, The Boy Who Lived!"
Harry just stood there in complete and utter shock, trying in haste to soak it all in.
He-he was famous here? People actually knew his name?
Finally, Draco stopped rambling on about how well known Harry was in the magical world and he cast another glance at the boy.
"You actually didn't know.", he said, it wasn't a question.
Harry shook his head, his dark, unruly fringe falling over his eyes. He reached up to brush it away. As he did so, Draco suddenly caught a glimpse of the infamous scar that You-Know-Who had left on Harry and gave a delighted whoop of joy.
"Bloody hell, it is you! You're bloody Harry Potter!"
He began to jump around excitedly at this newfound knowledge of finally meeting the actual, one and only Harry James Potter and Harry in turn, found himself being pulled into the jovial commotion as the blond-haired boy spun about with him, causing Harry to become immediately dizzy.
Hagrid, who had been observing from afar once again after he'd gone to show Harry the robes he'd found, chuckled softly at the back of the shop, as he looked up from searching a rack of brightly coloured cloaks. He was pleased to see that little Harry had made a new friend and could only hope that for the boy's sake, they'd be sorted into the same house, so that the two would still be able to converse regularly. Then, after a fleeting moment, he turned back to his task of finding Harry a proper wizard's cloak to wear for school and dismissed his gaze from the two boys.
After, Draco had gotten over the initial thrill of having finally met his idol, he stopped spinning Harry around and instead fixed him with a pointed look, his pale hands still loosely holding the other's.
"So, any thoughts as to what house you want to be placed in?"
Harry who knew nothing about any of the Hogwarts houses, shook his head.
Draco beamed at him.
"I think I'd like to be in Slytherin best, wouldn't you? They stand for things like being ambitious and resourceful. Also, my father would no doubt have a bloody fit if I wasn't sorted into that particular house, because it's where all of my family have been placed. Every single witch or wizard in the Malfoy clan has come from the house of Salazar Slytherin, so why should I be any different?", he asked, glancing down briefly to marvel at Harry's hand that still lay in his. Harry nervously swallowed and then shrugged before he asked: "What are the other possible houses that we'll be sorted into?"
Draco sighed, seemingly uninterested in discussing anything that wasn't related to him and his family, personally.
"Well, there's Hufflepuff, but don't worry we won't be sorted into that one, hopefully. Unless of course, you throw a sudden tantrum during the sorting, then I can't promise you otherwise. Then, there's Ravenclaw, but that's another one you won't have to worry about unless you happen to be a bloody bookworm who's always on the hunt for knowledge. You know, eager to learn. Are you eager to learn, Harry?", he asked as an afterthought, fearing the boy's answer.
Harry grinned and shook his head.
"Nope", he replied cheekily, popping the 'p'.
Draco seemed to exhale in relief.
"Good, because I thought that maybe you would be. After all, you are Harry Bloody Potter, for all I know you could turn out to have been some stuck up bloke who's a complete show-off!"
Harry frowned and then chuckled softly.
"You'd be surprised how very wrong of an assumption that is, Draco. I can assure you that despite my fame here, I am actually really quite humble."
Draco gave a sudden smirk at that, his lips turning up on one side.
"Good to know."
Harry waited for him to continue.
"And then finally, there's Gryffindor. All of those bloody Gryffindors all have the same irritatingly annoying trait, bravery. They all portray themselves as being these bloody courageous, fearless gits, but I am convinced that half of them would probably take off at the mere talk of You-Know-Who!"
Harry stopped, glancing at the other boy, curiously.
"You-Know-Who...who's that?"
Draco sighed.
"It's what all of the wizarding world uses to refer to the Dark Lord. Apparently, he used to be so powerful that there were those who didn't even dare speak his name. My own father-", but at this, he stopped himself and let go of Harry's hands at last as he began to stroll around the shop once more.
Harry, feeling suddenly confused, followed after his friend who was now meticulously rummaging through a large box of newly imported silken robes, not daring to meet the other boy's incredibly green eyes.
Sighing, Harry cast another glance at Draco Malfoy the strange boy with platinum, blond hair and oddly striking pale-grey eyes, before trailing back over to where Hagrid stood, having just used some of Harry's galleons from Gringotts to purchase his school robes.
"Ar yer 'eady to go now, 'arry?", he asked, looking down at him, with large, soft eyes.
Nodding, Harry walked back over to the doors with the giant and just before they both stepped out into the scorching summer heat of late July, he caught sight of Draco over by a rack of what appeared to be winter robes made of mink and other exotic animal furs. He smiled shyly at Harry and waved. Harry was about to wave back to his new friend, but then suddenly the skinny frame of a tall woman seemed to materialize at Draco's side and she shot a look at her son when she saw him waving to something or rather someone over on the other side of the shop. She had hair the same platinum blonde colour as Draco did, and Harry figured that she was probably his mother. Her nose was upturned in disgust at her son's overly friendly behaviour and she grabbed ahold of him quickly and pulled him around to face her stern glare.
Harry saw his friend nod sadly at his mother before Hagrid was ushering him cheerily out of Madam Malkins, as Harry tried to follow at the giant's fast pace. His mind was elsewhere though, preferably focused on the boy he'd met in the shop and on the Hogwarts school houses and which one he thought might best suit him, as Hagrid began dragging him happily in the direction of another shop.