Draco had heard about the transfers from the States; it was almost impossible not to. It was the next big news now that the war trials had died down somewhat. He didn't really know what it would mean for him, not in the long run and not for the next year. Honestly, it couldn't be much worse a school year than his seventh had been, and at least this coming year, he could sort of hide himself away a little more.

Of course, it would be impossible to hide completely, since he was platinum blond, but maybe the Americans in the classes wouldn't know who he was. He was hoping, at least. It meant that maybe he had a shot at making a couple of friends. Maybe. If he could be arsed, at least.

Most people were hanging out in the common rooms, and that meant that Draco was making him scarce. He knew the library would probably be closed for inventory, as it always was this early on, but there was a section of the grounds out by the Quidditch pitch that wouldn't be touched by anyone for the time being. No one got out there until the season properly started, not usually; he planned on making the most of that.

It was a nice day, and he strolled along slowly, tie loosened slightly and hood tossed up over his hair to hide that so maybe he wouldn't get taunted as he walked along. He didn't expect to encounter anyone else, though. But funnily enough, he did. A girl who appeared to have the exact same idea as him, and was walking along. She looked around his age, but wasn't someone he recognised. One of the transfers, most likely.

As he neared the point of passing her, he glanced up, offering her a faint little smile, one that silently screamed uncertainty.

Purple haired strangers were strange, but Hogwarts took all sorts, and if he didn't want to get hexed within an inch of his life, he'd take it. Though he couldn't help but wonder idly what her blood status was, Draco realised that it probably didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, because at least she was returning his smile. There had still been that stare that he was so used to, but it wasn't the same as usual: it wasn't the stare that told him someone knew who he was, and couldn't stand him for being a traitor. It was just a stare, one of curiosity. Probably his own fault, really. Something in the pit of his stomach had knotted uncomfortably, but he did his best to ignore it.

His own eyes dropped to the path as well once they'd passed one another, and he wondered if all the foreign students were going to head out. Maybe they were already at the pitch, scoping it out and loudly remarking on the size difference between this and whatever they had back home. He could hide easily enough from that, he imagined-

Then he realised he was being greeted. Or spoken to, at the very least. Draco's feet stopped, skidding slightly on the pathway, and he froze, staring out for a moment before hesitantly turning to look back at the other girl, blinking. "Me?"

It was an odd little situation. Under most circumstances, Draco probably would have been the first to scoff at the American students and their queer little techniques and everything else they didn't do quite right. Most of the Slytherins still probably would, in fact. The Gryffindors would likely be the first to welcome everyone into their ranks, taking even other Houses under their wing. But that was part of the goal this year anyway - see if they couldn't possibly abolish the Houses a little bit, or at least the animosity between them.

His eyebrows arched neatly at her faltering, and he wondered if maybe she didn't somehow recognise him. Oh, please don't recognise him. That was all he needed. Draco was almost in half a mind to just lie through his teeth if she asked who he was. Maybe give a fake name. He couldn't lie about his House, but he could potentially say he was a Black. It wasn't entirely untrue.

But all she wanted was the time. Immediately, Draco's expression steeled again, flicking into something much more casual instead of the abject relief that he felt, and he dug into his pocket for a small pocket watch, snapping it open to look over the time. "Nearly noon. If you hurry, you might make lunch in the Great Hall. Otherwise, there should be a secret passage down to the kitchens where you can just swipe something."

With any luck, some of the professors would shut that sort of behaviour down. Some wouldn't, though, and those were the lot that she probably needed to watch out for, if she was at all concerned about it. Somehow Draco got the feeling right off the bat that she wouldn't hesitate to stand up for herself when necessary, though.

He followed her gaze back to the castle, appreciating the way it had largely been rebuilt so quickly. The reminder knotted in his stomach, and he could see the ruination of it not a few months ago when he blinked, the image marked indelibly on the interior of his eyelids. Even now, there were still parts of the castle that hadn't been fixed. Most of it, though - the parts that were often used, at least.

"Of course," he answered quietly, hesitating a moment before starting to turn back on his way. It occurred to him that he was still a Prefect. He still had the badge, and it remained pinned to his chest. She was a student in dire need of assistance, and while he'd once found it hilarious to lose first years in the stairwells, it seemed a bit cruel now.

And maybe he could just disappear before anyone saw him.

"Wait."

Draco tongued the back of his teeth, eyes flicking briefly away from her as he thought over the best way to start. It was bad enough that he'd spoken up again after she seemed happy to just go off on her way again.

"You know the way back? You've only been here a day." It was a guess, but he was pretty sure that none of the American students had arrived before the rest of them. Everyone settled at the same time every year, and that was just how things were. You come late, you miss out. You come early, you...well, it just wasn't done. So there was no precedent set there.

One brow arched neatly at her, as the rest of his expression settled into something a bit more steeled and quiet than the nerves of moments before. He didn't ask for help either; he knew the feeling well of just saying you'll wing it. That's usually how people end up missing for three days in Hogwarts.

"You'll miss your classes if you try that. And you'll never eat. You know how many floors this place has?" He asked curiously, tone only slightly judgemental. Finally, Draco shook his head, sighing. "I'll walk you back. An adventure it might be, but it's better to test on a weekend. Friday night, even."

"Eight floors - possibly more. Numerous towers. Staircases that move, and hallways that like to let you think you're going one way when you're actually not," he explained idly. It was always amusing when people thought you were kidding, but all they needed to do was pick up Hogwarts: A History and they'd find that it wasn't actually as exaggerated as it seemed.

Though it wasn't like Draco wasn't known for being dramatic. In this case, though, he really was subtly watching out for the poor new girl.

"It's up to you, of course. But I know the short way back to the Great Hall. I'm a Prefect." And with that, the little badge was tapped with one fingertip.

He merely waited, not all that desperate to keep walking. The rest of the path seemed empty anyway, and he couldn't avoid speaking to people forever; she seemed like decent enough company, and obviously didn't know who he was. There were worse people to try and help.

"You should see my house. It's not exactly small either," he replied simply, shrugging a little. "You figure out where you need to be, and you stick to those areas. Most of the classrooms are easy enough to find, and so are the dorms. Everything else is excess, and the longer you live here, the easier it gets. I've been finding new things all the time, lately."

Draco stepped past her, gesturing for her to join him as he headed the way she'd been going before, leading the winding way back to where they both initially came.

"Draco," he answered, happy to drop his surname for now. If he thought she wouldn't figure it out sooner or later anyway, he would have given his mother's maiden name, taken up a new identity of 'Draco Black'. But sadly, she'd probably be in at least one of his classes, and all it would take was a couple days before his current companion became an erstwhile one, shunning him the way everyone else did. He wondered if he shouldn't warn her.

"A pleasure, I'm sure," he added after a thoughtful moment. "It's rare for us to get new students of your age. And by 'rare', I mean 'practically unheard of'."

He offered her another little smile and tugged his robes a little tighter around him, almost as if keeping the faint chill of the Scottish air out. In actuality, it was more a nervous gesture, though it tried very hard to look confident and composed. At the very least, if they were in the same classes, it wouldn't be hard to figure that out - their hair was quite distinctive. Draco wondered if that wouldn't be a detriment to them, though, and thoughtfully reached up to push his fingers through loose blond hair, his other hand coming up to keep his hood up.

"No doubt. It was in the papers." Fourth page, and not really focused on. Perhaps because England was a bit cocky about their ability to keep magic quiet. "If your schools were smaller than Hogwarts is, it doesn't surprise me that they're splitting you all up. Hopefully your friends made it to Beauxbatons instead of Durmstrang, though. The latter still doesn't have a spectacular reputation, though they're...working on it. Slowly."

It was a bit hard to have a frat house when everyone lived in the dorms, but there was definitely camaraderie, especially after the war. People were doing a lot more inter-House activities, though the Houses still clearly existed. It wasn't quite as negative as before, and only because the students in their sixth and seventh years refused to adhere to the competition of before. The younger students were to be taught by example.

His eyes flicked over to her curiously at the remark that her friend wasn't there. Certainly, they'd just been talking about friends going to other schools, but there was just something in the way Devi had paused that made Draco pause too. There was a flicker of something across his face, he glanced back to the path and said nothing on the matter, merely moving on with the conversation under the correct assumption that her friend was somewhere else, Muggle or otherwise.

"Of course Hogwarts is the best," he answered thoughtfully after a second. "We have an exceedingly well-rounded curriculum, and the faculty is wonderful-" If you're nice to them, or they already liked you. Draco was out of luck there, with the only professor who gave him any sort of by now dead. "-not to mention that the grounds are t-" Poor wording. He corrected himself, flinching slightly. "The grounds are amazing. Awe-inspiring, really. If somewhat under construction, still."

It wasn't an important correction to really anyone except perhaps him, someone at least a little bit traumatised and dealing with strange nightmares on an almost-nightly basis. Settling back into Hogwarts was sure to be fun for him.

He stopped as she moved up to the doors, keeping close to the wall as though he hoped to simply blend into the shadows there. It was almost casual, if there wasn't a growing tension to the way he held himself, the line of his shoulders rising slowly. "Well, maybe you'll get the chance to wander around a little more later, once you meet a couple of people. I'm sure there'll be more than a few willing to show you around during a spare period or after dinner or something," he replied softly, eyes pointedly avoiding looking at the door.

"It won't take that long, I'm sure. Not once someone catches word that you're new. We don't get that many new students of your age around here."

She might have been new, and didn't necessarily have a huge group of friends to go back to, but to enter the Great Hall would probably make her an automatic pariah. He didn't even really plan on heading in for meals; he knew how he could get something out of one of the house-elves down in the kitchens later on, and that would probably be enough. At least until people stopped giving him the eye.

The way she came back over to him instead made him frown a little, but Draco didn't move. "Did they have the green ties? Because they don't tend to make many people feel welcome in general, and that includes people of their own House," he offered mildly, mouth twitching slightly. He didn't feel like using the proper names of the Houses, not when she already had enough on her plate to memorise. "Look for people with red and gold. They tend to be...fairly welcoming."

Draco scuffed one foot against the ground. "I'm eighteen. I assume you're around...sixteen or seventeen. Virtually all new students we get here are eleven, hence the remark," he replied with a careful little shrug. If she had read Hogwarts: A History or knew anything of their school system, she'd know that he should have already graduated. They were finished at seventeen, not eighteen. But maybe she wouldn't realise that.