When I started working on Step Back In Time, I had an idea that I wanted to run alongside it : Scorpius seeing his father as a complete twat who hurt a girl btu I decided it didn't quite work. And so, here we are, a completely unrelated story that I am immensely proud of.

Millicent Bullstrode is a minor character, yes, but it is made evident that she is not on the slight side. This is not a dig at the larger girls - I myself am on the wrong side of a size 8. This is simply a work of fanfiction which sadly, holds some amount of truth.

Also, I am dismissing the whole Lord Voldemort part of the story as well as the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry. This is simply your ordinary high school, with magic. This means that Harry Potter etc interact quite happily with Draco Malfoy and that lot. Just so you dn't get confused xD

Longer Author's Note than expected but some things had to be said. Now that I'm done, read and enjoy :) Reviews are not necessary but they are loved.

Stephanie

Draco Malfoy had never been one of the boys - he had never taken one of the team, never complied in a game of dares and never gone out drinking with some of the other seventh years. It simply wasn't his style and it thoroughly irritated his friend Blaise. Blaise was your ultimate party boy - if you wanted alcohol, he got you it. If you wanted a quiet place for you and your latest conquest, he would deliver. In fact, if you wanted just about anything, Blaise was your man. He was a well known Casanova - quite popular with both girls and boys alike - and he loved the attention it brought him. And so, he had come to organizing his own little parties - a night out for the boys here, a game of dares there. These parties had been going on for as long as the seventh years could remember and yet Blaise had never managed to get his friend to appear at one.

And so, swathed in a thick travelling coat, Muggle sunglasses shielded his dark eyes as he boarded the Hogwarts Express that September morning. That very morning, Blaise made it his ultimate goal to get Draco to attend one of his infamous parties. "Why did it have to rain?" he wailed, the sound of rain drops the size of his fist battering off the reinforced roof of the train. "It never rains. Why is it raining?" Blaise, as well as being a self proclaimed 'It Boy' was also the world's worst complainer - especially when nursing a hangover.

"Will you just shut up?" came a calm voice from the seat across from him. Draco looked just as tired as Blaise, although no one could see why, and he had dark, bruise-like shadows under both eyes. Hunched against the window, he had attempted to sleep, finding solace in the noises of the rain and wind surrounding them but Blaise's constant whining had made it quite impossible to drift off. "It's raining because we're in bloody England. It always rains. Stop expecting these perfect blue bloody skies. You're only noticing it now because you're hungover. Now will you shut up or piss off - some of us need a sleep."

It was not unusual for Draco to be abrupt with people and yet each and every occupant of the carriage seemed stunned. Draco had always demanded authority and respect and he had always received it - even from Blaise, who claimed Draco was more like a brother to him than anything. It was no surprise then, when Blaise immediately quietened, thinking to himself how he would like to torture Draco at a later date.

Pansy Parkinson, a short and relatively plain looking witch was sitting beside Draco, her hand resting on his back. "Are you okay, love?" she asked quietly, before Draco had a chance to re-close his eyes. "I mean, you look awfully pale…" Draco scoffed at her words - he was always pale, how could she notice any difference? "And you snapped at Blaise and, well, you never usually do that. Not for something that simple."

"I snapped at Blaise because he was annoying me." Draco retorted simply. While he did not attend Blaise's parties, he was an incredibly popular boy - or at least with the ladies he was popular - and, for all he was arrogant and impatient, insolent and snobbish, he was well liked. He had many friends, which often surprised him, and he had no shortage of followers. That being said, he had gathered a somewhat Motley Crew of friends, who he kept incredibly close - Pansy, for whom he had a deep affection - although he was not romantically inclined towards her, Blaise, who, with his neon colours and constant need to party had provided Draco with much entertainment over the years, Gregory and Vincent, two hapless 'goons' who Draco had felt quite sorry for in second year and Theo, an ill-looking boy with sharp wit and a sarcastic sense of humour. They had never quite fit together and yet, upon seeing them, there was no denying that they were friends. It was a sort of need for acceptance, a need for friends which held them together, even now that Blaise and Draco had become quite the Romeos.

"But…" Pansy began but hastily stopped when she realized her plea would fall on deaf ears. She sighed, running her hand over Draco's back once or twice. For the past few years, Pansy had grown more and more in love with Draco and yet, while she yearned for him to love her, she knew they could only ever be friends. He was too popular and handsome and she too plain, or at least, that's the reason she gave herself. The real reason was that he saw her as more of a sister, than a lover. "You're not going to be able to sleep, Draco. Not with all the racket outside, just…Just have some chocolate." Draco turned slightly to face her, eyebrow raised as though silently asking how chocolate could be a substitute for sleep. "There's endorphins and energy in chocolate, it keeps you awake and makes you feel happy at the same time."

The blond pushed himself upwards into a more respectable sitting motion and took a piece of chocolate being offered from Theo. "Sorry Blaise," he mumbled, his longest friend waving off his apology with the flick of his hand. The two had been through far too much to fall out over something as stupid as a cross word.

"Actually, Theo. Gimme a bit of that," said Blaise, stretching across and snapping a piece from the large slab of Honeydukes chocolate the boy was holding. "I need a bit of a pick me up too."

For ten minutes, no one said anything, Draco and Blaise calmly eating away Theo's chocolate under the promise that they would buy him a new bar the first time they got to Hogsmeade. It wasn't until the bar was completely finished that anyone spoke. "So," began Blaise and, just by the tone of his voice, the rest of the carriage knew what he was about to speak about. Parties. "I was thinking maybe, first Saturday back, in the Slytherin dorms?" Draco loathed parties thrown in the dorms for he had no where to escape to and, at this time of the year, hiding in the grounds left him soaked through, not a feeling he enjoyed. "And this time," Blaise's brown eyes fell on Draco. "You're coming. Simple as that."

"Really, I don't think so…"

"Don't worry. It's just us - just you, I, Theo, Greg, Vince, Ron, Harry and Seamus. Possibly Dean, Michael and Terry but we'll see what I can do." Blaise recited, knowing that it was best to invite Draco to one of the smaller 'nights' he organised first, than to shove him full force into one of the more raucous ones. "Just a night out for the boys…Honestly."

Draco groaned. He had been avoiding these parties for the past four years and yet now, as they drew closer to the school, he knew that this year there would be no more avoiding it. Blaise was intentionally situating the parties in the dorms, purposely inviting people Draco was on speaking times with - for people such as Cormac McClaggen were not welcome in the Slytherin dorms after that one incident involving Pansy's knickers. "No McLaggen?" Blaise shook his head. "No Longbottom?" Again, another shake of the head was issued. "And no Finch Fletchley?"

"Of course not!" Blaise looked appalled that Draco would even think that Justin had been invited. After a very nasty and very public break-up between Justin and Blaise, the two were far from on speaking terms.

"Well, I guess I can't avoid these things all my life, can I?" Draco admitted with a sigh. "Okay. I'll come to this one. But if I do - you've got to promise you won't make me come again?" When a playful smirk played at Blaise's lips, the heterosexual Draco regretted his word choice. "You know what I mean Zabini."

"Blaise, you're putting him off already," interrupted Theo, shaking his head.

"Yeah Blaise, it's taken you all this time to get him this far…"

"And now you go creeping on him." Vince started, but Greg finished.

"I'm not creeping on anyone," Blaise replied, the word creeping being stressed. "I simply found his choice of words comical. I'm immature, so kill me." Draco raised an eyebrow but decided it best not to reply instead, shaking his head before resting it once again against the window and wondering why he was friends with such an idiot.

"Oh but Ron," Hermione whined, her eyes raised from her book for the first time in goodness knows how long. "You know how much I hate Zabini's parties. You always end up so drunk…" She groaned, shaking her head as though silently telling him that she would not allow him to go.

"You're behaving like we're an old married couple Hermione," Ron stated, shovelling Harry's last Cauldron Cake into his mouth. "And besides, you always said inter-house relations were a good thing."

"Yes, in moderation Ronald." Hermione replied testily, her patience wearing thin on the subject. She and her boyfriend Ronald Weasley had been agruing since they had stepped foot on the train. Naturally, Ron was keen not to miss Blaise's first night of the year but Hermione was positive he would end up drunk, or worse, cheating. "But those Slytherin's aren't like you. They're not in a committed relationship. They can do what they want. Whereas you can't."

"Give it a rest Hermione," Harry shot in to defend Ron, his best mate looking grouchy beside him. "You know as well as I do that Ron here ain't going to cheat. And anyway, it's only guys at this one. Who's he going to cheat with - Zabini?"

Both he and Hermione laughed at the very thought, while Ron huffed. "Are you saying I'm not attractive to guys? Are you saying that Zabini wouldn't find me attractive?"

"No darling," Hermione began, now trying to somewhat stifle her laughter. "I'm sure Blaise finds you incredibly attractive and can't wait to jump into bed with you. But what we're saying is, the idea of you with another man, it's pretty hilarious."

"Don't see how."

"Yes well, either way, I still don't think it's a good idea for you to go to another of Blaise's soirees. Either of you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "We're big boys Hermione, and we can handle ourselves, thanks."

"I'm not saying you can't. But what I am saying is that you're going to get into trouble with those kind of people…" Hermione replied, stiffly turning the page of her book.

"Those kind of people?" Harry replied, since the argument had seemed to shift, the main focus of it being between he and Hermione. "They're not fucking Death Eater's Hermione."

"I never said they were…But you know fine well I don't trust Zabini. Or his little crew either."

"If it makes you feel any better, Draco's going, so it won't be as…well, as disreputable as most of the others we've attended." Harry replied, keen to get the intelligent witch on their side. "You know what Draco's like - he likes the ladies, but he's hardly Blaise, is he?"

Hermione smiled a little. Draco was in no ways quiet but he was much calmer than Blaise and she was sure this little 'night out' would be at least calmer than the others for she knew Blaise would want Draco to return to his next party. Wouldn't want to put him among the big fish, Hermione thought. "Well, Okay. But I want you to know that if I hear anything about this party, Boys night out, or whatever you want to call it - if I hear anything, and I mean anything, about it that makes it, to borrow your word disreputable, you and I are through Ronald and I'll hold you responsible Harry."

"That's nice to know," replied Harry lazily, his mind wandering to other things - such as whether Ginny was wearing underwear under that short skirt, although this thought would never be voiced, for Ron would most likely have killed him.

"So we're going then?" Ron asked, snapping Harry out of his trance like state, his eyes glued to Ginny's thigh. "Nice one, mate." He whispered when Harry nodded, careful not to let Hermione notice. And, with that, Ron began letting his mind turn to what events Blaise would have lined up for Saturday night, Harry's happily returning to Ginny's thigh.