Draco was not in a good mood. Actually, that was an understatement. Pansy and Blaise glanced nervously at their friend as he viciously stabbed the eggs in front of him. Clearly, what he had read in the letter from his father hadn't been very pleasing. They could almost see a dark, black cloud form over his head.

Draco frowned darkly. How dare he! How could he think that he would go through with it? Draco fumed silently, lost in his own thoughts.

"Draco…Drayy…" called Pansy carefully, waving her hands in front of her blonde friend's face. Opposite her, Blaise was frantically shaking his head, looking worriedly at her.

Draco, who had been glaring at the wall in front of him, now turned to glare at Pansy. She winced under his intense stare.

"What?" he asked harshly.

"….love, you've cut through the plate."

Draco looked down, to see that his plate was now indeed cut neatly in half and now he was in the process of cutting through the tablecloth. He quickly put his knife aside, glaring at the plate for a moment, before grabbing his letter and storming out of the Great Hall, students staring after him with curiosity clearly visible in their features.

Blaise let out a breath. "That was terrifying." He commented cheerfully, going back to his breakfast.

Pansy looked more concerned. "He seemed angrier than he has ever been today."

"Pans, you worry too much. It's just the letter from his father. You know how his father's letters always put him in a bad mood." Blaise shrugged unconcernedly.

"Still…..he was a lot angrier just now. I could almost see lightning from the storm cloud over his head try to kill someone."

"If it's something that bad, he'll tell us eventually. Now, for Merlin's sake, go back to your food and stop bothering me, woman!"

At the other end of the Great Hall, the Boy Who Lived was sluggishly buttering a piece of toast. Cold winter days like these made him feel like staying in bed all day. On one side of him, Ron was shoveling sausages into his mouth like there was no tomorrow, and on the other side, Hermione was looking thoughtfully at the Slytherin's table across the hall. Wait, what?

Harry slowly looked back, following her gaze over to Malfoy. Nudging his clever friend slightly, he raised an eyebrow in question, nodding in Malfoy's direction.

Hermione straightened. "I was just wondering what's put Malfoy in such a bad mood."

Harry and Ron looked at Malfoy. Ron left his food long enough to say, "Still looks the same to me. He's just not a morning person…Or an anytime person, actually."

Harry nodded in agreement. But as he looked, he noticed that Hermione was right as usual. Malfoy did look like he was in a worse than usual mood. He watched as Malfoy broke his plate, and then stormed out of the Great Hall.

When Malfoy stormed out of the Great Hall, even Ron noticed. "Huh. Guess he is angry about something."

Hermione scowled at him. "You really are unobservant, Ron! Honestly! Even a blind person could have seen that."

Ron shrugged. "Wonder who managed to put him in such a rotten mood, though, the slimy git. I want to send them flowers."

Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron continued. "No! But think about it! Maybe he got a girl pregnant! And now the girl wants Malfoy to take up his responsibilities as the father! That could not be good for the perfect Malfoy family."

"Or maybe Malfoy's mum is pregnant and he's going to have a sibling. Can you imagine him being thrilled about no longer being the only one for his parents to spoil?" Harry put in, grinning at the image of Malfoy, holding a crying baby in his arms.

Ron laughed. "I would feel so bad for the baby. Not only is it born into the family of Malfoys, it has Draco Malfoy for a brother."

Hermione winced. "I'd rather not think about the prospect of more Malfoys. One Malfoy is bad enough as it is."

Ron and Harry nodded fervently in agreement.

"Maybe he's gay." Hermione said suddenly. "And his father found out about it."

Ron looked at Hermione with glee. "That's the reason! Malfoy's a flaming homosexual and his father's blown his top! Yes!" Harry laughed.

"Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "I was kidding! And imagine Malfoy with a gay lover….it'd be slightly disturbing."

Suddenly, Ron and Harry weren't laughing so much anymore.

"Thank you, Hermione." said Harry sarcastically. "I really wanted that image in my head."

Ron was looking slightly green. "Let's not imagine that anymore." He said weakly.

With those words said, the Gryffindor trio went back to their breakfasts, moving on to other conversation topics.

Draco clenched the letter in his hands as he leaned against the castle wall, inhaling the cool air. The letter, which he was now crushing in his hands, had already imprinted itself in his mind.

Draco,

I shall be visiting you soon. Expect me tomorrow morning to discuss your impending marriage with Celeste.

Your Father,

Lucius Malfoy

Draco's hands trembled. That was his father. Malfoys seldom wasted words and this letter was proof of it. But if his father thought that he was going to go through with this quietly, he had another thing coming! Malfoys were also stubborn, and Draco was every bit of the Malfoy his father was. He wasn't going to marry that silly, bimbo, airhead of a French girl his father had picked out. This was one aspect of his life he wouldn't allow to be controlled.

Yes, Draco smirked, His father was going to be shocked when he visited,