Draco Malfoy

What happened before:

Ruby sat on her bed, thinking over the last few hours. It was officially the most amazing day she had ever had.

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Tomorrow she would leave for Hogwarts, and she could now have been more excited.

What would it be like?

"Here, Ruby dear. You didn't get any, so I went and bought one."

A book was pressed into Ruby's hands, causing her attention to return to the muggle world.

"Thank you, Mrs. Oswald." Ruby thanked the kind hearted woman. "How did you know I was the only one who didn't have one?"

"I asked." She winked.

"Thank you." Ruby smiled.

"You're a witch, dear. Minerva told me."

Ruby glanced up in shock. "Okay?"

"Don't worry dear. I am too. In fact, I bought that book in Diagon Alley. I just wanted to wish you luck at Hogwarts, and giving you the diary was my ticket past Mrs. Cole."

Ruby laughed. "Thank you again, Mrs. Oswald."

"It's nothing, dear." Mrs. Oswald waved it away as she left.

Ruby examined the book in her hands, only to find it to be a diary.

Property of T. M. Riddle.

Apparently, it had already belonged to someone, but all the pages were blank, so she decided she would use it herself. She carefully packed it in her neatly organized trunk before locking it and falling asleep.

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"Ready to go?"

"All ready, Professor McGonagall."

The two witches appeared on platform 9 ¾ with a popping sound.

"Thanks for dropping me off, Professor. I'll see you at Hogwarts!" Ruby waved.

McGonagall gave her a rare smile before apparating outside the gates of Hogwarts to prepare for the student's arrival.

Ruby dragged her trunk off the trolly and to the train, hefting it onto the boarding step, then pushed it into the passageway.

"Need help?"

A blond boy in green-lined robes kindly asked, noticing her predicament.

"Oh, thanks, yes, please. Can you just help me lift it onto a rack? It's rather heavy, and I don't know any charms yet."

"Here. Wingardium Leviosa." the boy chanted, lifting it into the rack.

"Wow. Are you a second-year student, since you already know a spell?"

"Yep. Draco Malfoy." He held out his hand.

"Ruby Ravenwing." She grinned back. Malfoy kissed her hand as in the pureblood custom.

"Ravenwing?" Draco looked surprised. "That's really close to Ravenclaw."

"Who's that?"

"Muggleborn?"

"Yeah."

"Rowena Ravenclaw was one of the four founders of Hogwarts. The others are Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Godric Gryffindor. Hogwarts was split into four houses, all named after the founders. I'm in Slytherin, which is for people with ambition as their most dominant trait. Ravenclaws love knowledge, Hufflepuffs are loyal, and Gyiffindors are supposed to be brave."

"Supposed to?"

"Their bravery has turned to recklessness over the years."

Ruby laughed. "Now I feel bad for them."

Draco smiled. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Ravenclaw," Ruby answered after a pause, taking the question seriously. "I can bits of all the houses in me though."

"It's like that for everyone, I think. We all have many talents, some are just more prominent than the others."

Ruby nodded. "Why are you here so early? I know I got here almost twenty-five minutes before the train leaves, and that's still not for another fifteen to twenty, at the very least."

"My parents were busy, so I got dropped off early."

"That makes sense," Ruby concluded.

They sat in companionable silence before Ruby ventured another question.

"Is there anything I need to know that's really important? I already know about wizarding money, but what about some customs?"

Draco pondered it for a minute. "When someone offers you their hand, if you don't shake it, you're telling them you think of them as lower status than you. The one with the higher rank generally offers their hand first, like a noble family or lord. If a muggleborn, no offense (none taken) offers there had first, it can be offensive because you're pretty much saying you're more important or as important as them."

"So, it's like a code of respect?"

"Exactly what it's called, actually." Draco nodded.

"What else?"

"Okay," Draco gathered his thoughts. "You'll hear the term 'pureblood' a lot. That means you come from a family of noble birth."

"Noble?"

"Magical." Draco rephrased.

"Got it."

"This is also a respect thing. To be referred to as a pureblood means a lot to most wizards, especially in the Ministry."

Seeing Ruby's confusion, he elaborated. "The Ministry of Magic. It's like the wizard's government. Now, if you're born with one parent as a muggleborn, some might call you a half-blood. This can be used in an insulting way, so don't refer to people like that just to be sure."

"Good to know. Someone with two muggle parents would be called a muggleborn then, right?"

Draco grew nervous. "That's the polite way of putting it."

Ruby understood he didn't want to say the other way. She put a hand on his shoulder. "There's always a nastier way to say things like that. Don't worry, I don't want to know anyway."

"Thanks." Draco smiled.

"Is there any history I should catch up on?" Ruby changed the subject.

"There's a house rivalry going on between Slytherin and Gryffindor. We kinda don't get along well. At all, actually."

Ruby laughed. "What else?"

"Oh, er… do you know who Harry Potter is?"

"Um, no? That sounds like a great name for a fictional story though. It's only four syllables, so no one can mispronounce it."

"He's been the most famous person for twelve years now. He's also called the-boy-who-lived, and is the only person to survive a killing curse."

Ruby shivered. "I kinda figured there was a darker side to magic. Who shot the curse?"

"A very dark wizard named Voldemort, who also killed Potter's parents. People are afraid to call him by name, even his followers, the death eaters. Some call him the Dark Lord, others call him you-know-who. It is offensive to call him Voldemort, in fact, you could get fined by the ministry."

"Why?"

"First, some background. You-know-who shot the killing curse at Potter, which bounced back, killing him instead. That's what made Potter famous because he ended the Dark Lord's reign. People were terrified before then because of the DE (who?) Death eaters were killing muggles and half-bloods under the Dark Lord's direction. A taboo was set on his name, and only the resistance was foolish enough to use it. Many got caught this way, so they all said you-know-who."

"That's horrible." Ruby bit her lip.

"It is." Draco solemnly agreed.

"Is Harry Potter a wizard?"

"Yes, he's a second-year Gryffindor in Hogwarts."

"Does your dislike of him go beyond house-rivalry?"

Draco looked surprised she'd picked up on that. "Yes. Before we had even been sorted, he refused to shake my hand."

"Oy." Ruby looked distressed. "Who does he live with if his parents are dead?"

"I don't know. He's the last in the Potter line, so I'd guess one of his mother's relatives."

"Was his mother muggleborn? Maybe he didn't know the code of respect?" Ruby hypothesized.

"Not likely."

"I'd hate to think he just rejected a handshake out of spite." Ruby sighed, fishing a book out of her trunk. "But if Vol-you-know-who can be evil, an eleven-year-old can be petty."

Draco laughed. "Sadly, yes."