"So what you're saying," Blaise contemplated, scrunching up his forehead, "is that there's a three-headed dog with a name guarding a trapdoor, Snape's got this brilliant idea to steal something from the school he works at, and the thing he's so interested in has got to do with this Flamel guy you've only heard of."

"Correct," Harry said.

"Well, Draco's got a different idea of that, you see."

Harry and Ron looked at each other in confusion before the former asked, "Meaning?"

"When Quirrell announced that there was a troll in the dungeons, Draco saw Snape going somewhere else. He also saw that Quirrell was missing." Blaise told them about what had happened that day, emphasizing the part where Draco had defeated the troll.

After a moment of awkward silence, Harry said, "Hermione's the one who said we'd saved her."

"Whatever. It's probably for Draco's own good anyway. Can't have his father finding out that he accidentally saved you three."

Harry and Ron quirked both their left eyebrows at Blaise, but then moved on.

_________________________________________________________

After a long train ride home, Draco was in no mood to deal with his parents. But he had written that letter. Therefore, he would have to suffer the consequences. He took a big breath before entering the drawing room.

"You summoned me?" Draco asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Draco, do you realize we are your parents?" Narcissa asked.

Draco nodded stiffly.

"THEN DO YOU REALIZE HOW DISRESPECTFUL THAT LETTER OF YOURS WAS?!" Lucius roared.

"Yes, Father. I would like to apologize. I must not've been thinking properly." As far as Draco knew, he had definitely been thinking properly.

"You've got that right, haven't you?" Lucius took a few deep breaths before continuing calmly, "Tonight happens to be the ball. Therefore, you cannot be punished now. This does not mean, however, that you will not be punished at all. Be careful, Draco."

Draco nodded and made to leave the room when the cold voice of his father's filled the room again.

"I take it you are doing well in all of your classes?"

"Yes, Father."

"Beating that Granger girl?"

"Exams aren't until the end of the year."

"And if I hear that you haven't done better than that Mudblood, then you will not find yourself in a good situation."

"I thought her parents were squibs."

"She's as good a Mudblood as any of them."

_____________________________________________________________

The ball was absolutely pathetic. Draco hadn't eaten for hours due to Crabbe and Goyle Jr.'s constant hogging of the food...ALL OF IT.

He groaned and went about the manor, looking for something to do that wouldn't involve cheek-squeezing, gushing, and all the other things for which he'd rather die than have done to him.

His aimless stroll took him to his father's office where he heard hushed voices.

"Quirinus is close, but apparently Severus keeps getting in his way."

Draco knew this voice, but he couldn't quite put a finger on the name. The next voice, however, he did recognize, having had lived with its owner for his entire life before Hogwarts.

"Severus is merely stopping Quirinus from doing something completely ridiculous and ruining the Dark Lord's chances of returning."

The Dark Lord? Draco's remembered that this was what You-Know-Who, or Voldemort, was called by his parents and their friends.

The reply came, "Lucius, do you really believe that Severus is trying to help?"

"Severus happens to be one of my closest companions, and you would do well to remember that before insulting him."

"Alright, Lucius, just wondering. Is anyone suspicious of him?"

"Not that I know of. Quirinus may need to be looked after, but he must know what he's doing in order for the Dark Lord to trust him."

"I suppose you're right."

"Now, we'd better get back before we are accused of anything."

Draco ran for it; he raced down the hallway-as silently as he could-and bounded up the steps to his room. He sat down on his bed and took a deep breath to relieve the stress from his body.

His father was indeed a dark wizard, a follower of You-Know-Who, at that. Draco knew that when the time came, the responsibilities of the Dark Lord's right-hand man would be passed down to Draco himself.

And for that, he needed to start preparing as soon as possible.

__________________________________________________________

Draco trudged down the stairs to find that not a single room had been trashed. His parents must have taken care of it, for once.

He entered the drawing room to see if he'd gotten any presents at all, and wasn't surprised to find his parents waiting for him.

"Draco," Narcissa began, "your marks seem to be exceedingly good so far, according to Professor Snape. Last night, your behavior was quite excellent, although I don't remember seeing you bade the guests farewell."

"I was tired so I had gone to bed," Draco answered.

"Very well. You will find that we will indeed be gifting you with the presents you were intended to receive. Here are your requirements and resolutions."

She handed Draco two slips of parchment.

"Your robes for the following term."

Draco accepted the robes, and the pumpkin juice that followed, after it was announced.

Draco didn't know why, but his parents seemed to think that he really loved pumpkin juice, which is why they would never bring any home. The pumpkin juice he'd received this morning was probably left over from the previous night, so it wasn't truly for him. The lengths purebloods would go to make sure their children remained prim and proper.

"Thank you, Mother. And thanks you, Father." With a quick nod, as he had done since he could walk and talk, he left for his room. He replace his old requirements sheets with the new ones and hung up his robes in his wardrobe. He quickly downed the glass of pumpkin juice (he wasn't really a fan) and made his way back down to the drawing room.

"Draco, I have to ask you something," Lucius said the minute his son walked in the room.

"Yes, Father?"

"What do you know of my conversation with Vincent Crabbe's father last night during the ball?"

Draco was stunned; he didn't think he'd be seen.

"What do you mean, Father?" Draco asked, pretending not to know what was going on.

"Don't lie to me, boy! I saw you running away last night. Crucio!"

Draco fell to the floor in hopes that he would somehow figure out how to "train" himself. All he knew was that only he could know about this, and that this would take a great deal of time.

_________________________________________________________

"Ah! Severus, I- I, I- I-I..."

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell."

"W-what do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean... We'll have another little chat soon... when you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie."

Snape heard breathing and he reached out, but couldn't quite catch anyone.

Harry was under his new Invisibility Cloak, and he'd almost been caught by Filch. Speak of the devil...

"Oh, Professors. I found this in the Restricted Section." Filch held up a lantern. "It's still hot. That means there's a student out of bed."

Everything happened in a flash, and suddenly, Harry found himself in a room with nothing but a mirror. He stepped closer to the mirror to get a better look. There was an inscription at the top that read: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

"What could that mean?" Harry wondered aloud. His eyes widened as he saw two figures beside his own in the mirror. He spun around, only to find no one else there.

To the mirror, he said, "Mum? Dad?"

__________________________________________________________

Blaise was having a dreamless night of sleep until he felt something bite him hard. His eyes flew open to find a snowy white owl with a note:

Blaise,

We're in the Potions classroom in the dungeon. Come meet us as soon as you get this.

Harry and Ron

Blaise got up somewhat lazily, somewhat hurriedly, both at once, and ran to the Potions classroom.

"There you are!" Harry exclaimed. The owl had been following Blaise and flew straight to Harry the minute she saw him.

"Blimey, mate," Blaise said, "that owl of yours is a murderer!"

"What'd she do?"

"Bit me harder than a non-venomous snake a was 'lucky' to meet on a family trip one year."

"Come on, Blaise, quit over exaggerating. I've got something to show you."

___________________________________________________________

"Come on, come on! It's my parents!"

Ron and Blaise looked into the mirror with Harry, but nothing other than the three of them were there. This was voiced by Ron.

"Look in properly," Harry told him. "Go on, stand there. There! You see them, don't you? That's-"

"That's me!" Ron interrupted. "Only, I'm Head Boy. And I'm holding the Quidditch Cup. A-and, bloody hell! I'm Quidditch captain, too! I look good! Harry, do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? Both my parents are dead."

Ron turned to Blaise. "Well, you have a go, then."

Blaise looked into the mirror and found himself having a snack with Draco at the age of 20, both men wearing t-shirts. He told his friends this.

"That's it?"

"Yeah." But to Blaise it meant much more; he wanted Draco to be alive by that time, as well as himself. The t-shirts revealed their bare left arms, and Blaise knew he wanted more than anything to not end up a Death Eater like his and Draco's father. He also wanted the two of them to be officially allowed to be friends again.

"Actually, Ron, what do you want more than anything else?" Blaise suddenly asked.

"Um, well I've always wanted to be Head Boy and Quidditch Captain...and all that."

"And Harry, you want more than anything to see your parents, right?"

The Boy Who Lived nodded.

"What if this mirror shows us what we want the most?"

Harry and Ron gaped at each other.

"What, surprised I'm smart? Of course I'm not Boy Wonder or Percy Weasely's little brother."

"Hey!" the other two simultaneously said.

"Boy Wonder?" Harry wondered.

"It's Draco's nickname for you...one of them, anyway."

"Speaking of Malfoy, if you saw the two of you having snacks at the age of 20, this can't really be a mirror of desire."

Blaise didn't want to tell him the truth about the scene so he just said, "Well, I guess you're right. We'd better go to bed."

___________________________________________________________

Draco and Granger had returned from holidays, but Blaise hadn't seen Draco yet. He and the three Gryffindors had gone to the library to figure out who Flamel was. Apparently he was the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone.

Unfortunately, just as Granger had said, "That's what's under the trap door-the Sorcerer's Stone!" Draco came storming into the library.

"Blaise Zabini, what do you think you're doing in a library with a bunch of Gryffindors?"

"Calm down, Draco, what happened?"

"I'll tell you, but not in front of those filthy liars!"

Blaise sent his new friends an apologetic look before heading off to the Slytherin common room with Draco.

"What was that about?" Blaise hissed.

"Why are you hanging around them?" Draco demanded.

"They think they know about Quirrell and Snape."

"They think they know, but I actually do know." He told Blaise about everything, from the accusations to the ball to the conversation to the "event" on Christmas Day.

"On Christmas Day? Why?" Blaise was outraged.

"It's my father. What did you expect? A nice warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows for overhearing his conversation? I think not."

"You need help from the Mirror of Erised."

"The what?"

_________________________________________________________

Blaise brought Draco in front of the mirror and said, "Dumbledore caught Harry and said that this was going to be moved tonight. So make the most of it."

Draco squinted his eyes and found his reflection staring back at him, standing in between his parents...but he looked happy. HIs mother didn't look so stern-she seemed rather relaxed-and his father's eyes were loving.

"So?" Blaise prompted.

Draco told him what he'd just seen.

"Funny," Blaise said, "that's basically what Harry saw."

"What do you call him that for?"

"It's his name, isn't it?"

"You've never called him just 'Harry' before."  Draco glared at a nervous Blaise.

"What happened over break, Blaise?"

So Blaise told him the truth. He told his friend about all that had happened, and to say Draco was angry would be an understatement.

"YOU WHAT?"

Blaise cowered in fear. Even without the height and the long hair, Draco looked enough like his father when he was mad to frighten Blaise.

"You had no right telling Famous Potter, Blood-traitor Weasel, and Mudblood Granger, or ANYONE ELSE about my life! And how much do you think you know, anyway? Father was right; I should've stayed away from you."

"Draco-"

"Save it, Zabini. True friends don't spill each other's secrets like babies spill milk."

Draco slammed the door and left.

"I presumed Mister Potter would have informed you not to go looking for this."

Blaise jumped up and spun around in astonishment.

"Professor Dumbledore! I, uh, I apologize. Harry did tell me, but Draco seemed to depressed this morning."

The headmaster chuckled. "That is alright. However, I suggest that this visit is your last. Also, I request that you don't reveal any more of Mister Malfoy's life's secrets."

Blaise looked guilty and nodded his head.

"Mister Zabini, this is serious. There are things about Draco and his family that no one can know, yet you already do. Perhaps you should stay away from him. I do remember his father asking me to make certain that Draco and you don't go near each other. Good day."

Blaise left the room while Dumbledore stood in the room and stared into the mirror.

After some time, Albus Dumbledore said to himself, "I must remove this mirror before it boggles my mind even more."

__________________________________________________________

Draco had never been more furious in his life. After storming through the corridors, messing up random Gryffindors' things, he went to sit down by the Black Lake to think. He fell asleep while leaning on a tree and woke up when it had gotten dark outside.

He walked back to the castle, passing Hagrid's hut on the way.

"That's odd," he said aloud. He saw three figures walk in through Hagrid's door; Draco had a feeling he knew who they were.

When he got there, he saw the gamekeeper's beard catch fire. Suddenly, he looked Draco right in the eye, and not moments later, Potter and Weasel turned around, giving Draco full view of the dragon.

He turned and ran; getting Blaise's new friends detentions was the best form of revenge he could come up with at the moment.

__________________________________________________________

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon," Harry said, hurrying through the castle with his friends. "He told me so the first time I ever met him."

"It's crazy!" Ron supplied. "And worse, Malfoy knows."

"I don't understand," Hermione said. "Is that bad?"

The trio then caught sight of Professor McGonagall standing in front of them.

"It's bad," Ron replied to Hermione.

"Good evening," Professor McGonagall said.

A/N: I encourage you all to share this book with your friends, comment, vote, and keep on reading! Thank you all so much!