DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT WRITE HARRY POTTER I DID NOT BUILD HOGWARTS just a fan:)
Winter was upon Hogwarts. The grounds were covered in a thick blanket of snow, and icicles hung from the sides of the old castle.
It was nearly Christmas.
NEARLY. Draco reminded himself. BUT NOT YET. Instead of being home at Malfoy Manor sipping hot chocolate, he was stuck in the potions classroom, trying not to doze off as Snape droned on about properly cleaning cauldrons.
"I would think after seven years of brewing potions I would not have to remind you how to properly rinse your cauldrons." The head of Slytherin lectured in his monotone voice. "I'm talking to YOU, Longbottom."
Draco scoffed. Couldn't Gryffindors do anything right?
"Professor Snape... I was reading about a spell to clean a cauldron with magic, and I would gladly teach it to Neville so he didn't have to do it manually." Came a know-it-all voice from the front of the room. It was Granger. Of course. Couldn't she do anything WRONG?
"Miss Granger, do you find yourself to be so lazy you cannot find the will to scrub your own cauldron?" Snape snapped.
The Slytherins erupted with laughter. Draco made sure to chuckle the loudest of them all.
Granger's cheeks flushed. But being Granger, she recovered shortly.
"Professor Snape, this is a school of MAGIC, in case you had forgotten. And in a school of magic one should find all sorts of handy uses for-"
"If you could please close your mouth, for a change, Miss Granger, I believe the entire class would thank you." Shape commented. Weasley jerked up out of his seat as if to take on Snape, and Potter had to hold him back and calm him down.
Snaps began to pace the classroom as he always did, weaving in between the seats. He sent a disappointed glance Draco's way, and Draco knew why. He was sitting at the back of the dungeon again, and honestly hadn't been paying any attention for most of the class.
His mind was preoccupied with holiday thoughts. Not that it mattered. Draco was at the top of the potions class, aside from GRANGER. But she was, as Snape so lovingly put it, an insufferable know it all. Somehow, this year she bothered him more than ever. Even more than Potter. What was it about that bushy haired, buck toothed brain?
"Class, I'm afraid we're nearly out of time, due to our necessary lecture, but I should give you fair warning, we will be starting a new unit tomorrow. It's more of an experiment really, a project of sorts."
"What sort-?"
"Shut it, Granger!" Draco shouted. She was even more irritating when holiday was a week away. "Snape said to keep your trap shut!"
Granger just looked at him with her mouth open like a fish out of water. Why was this so shocking?
"Thank you for that, Mr. Malfoy. As for you question, Miss Granger, all I can say is this project may be life changing for some of you. You must learn that you will not be best friends with everyone you meet, but you must be CIVIL." He gave her and Draco a look.
Draco snorted.
"Now, be gone from my sight!"
At last, Draco thought as he practically jogged to the slytherin common room.
...
The next day on the way to potions, even Draco had to admit his mind had wandered to their experiment a few times. Last night the Slytherins had sat around the fire attempting to guess what on earth Snape's special project was. But Draco knew they were just grasping at straws. Especially when Pansy Parkinson declared the experiment must be life changing magical cosmetic surgery.
"Why on EARTH would I need plastic surgery?" Draco shot back at her, running a hand through his platinum hair. Yes, he was aware he was attractive.
Snape was outside the dungeon doors "greeting" the students as they came in. "Good morning, Mr. Malfoy. Please take a seat immediately, all of you. Very much to do today, very little time to get it done."
An odd sight was occurring at the front of the room as Draco took his seat, which was assigned far away from his slytherin friends. Dumbedore was talking to that freak of a teacher Professor Trelwaney. The two were hunched together whispering, chuckling as they cast glances back to the students.
The room fell silent.
"Really? A toad?" Chortled Dumbledore until he realized everyone was listening. The old geezer straightened up and cleared his throat.
"Good luck, students." He said with a seriousness that chilled the whole room. And he left.
Draco looked around at his classmates. Longbottom looked as though he might vomit, and his friend Goyle was gulping about every three seconds. Then there was Granger, who fidgeted in her seat, looking up at the teachers intently. She was excited about this. EXCITED! The nerve!
Professor Trelwaney took a lap around the classroom, gazing into students eyes, ruffling their hair, studying their hands. What on earth is the matter with this woman, thought Draco?
"They are ready, Severus." Said the old hag in an eerie voice.
"Marvelous." Said Snape. He then unveiled a huge cauldron from a velvet black cover on the desk. Inside was something purple brewing and bubbling. Trelwaney poured out flasks of e purple liquid and scuttled around the room passing one to every student.
"Drink up." Said Snape, and everyone was too intimidated not to follow his order.
And that was the last thing Draco could remember.
...
Draco slowly opened his eyes. He squinted against the light streaming in between golden curtains. The sheets were messed up in the bed, but he didn't care.
A single silver feather fluttered down onto his nose, probably from one of the pillows. He watched it, mesmerized, as it drifted down.
Draco yawned and rubbed his face, brushing the feather away. Wait a minute- he could have sworn he shaved just yesterday... Why was his chin already quite stubbly? He ran a hand through his hair... It had been cut but was still as smooth as always, as tussled as it was from sleeping.
And his back. Draco's back was quite sore. He felt... Old. Older, at least.
There was a small sigh next to Draco, and he realized his arm was around someone's waist. Jeez, how long have I been asleep? He thought. But wait.
He knew that that wavy, caramel hair anywhere.
Even if it wasn't bushy anymore.
He was sleeping next to Hermione Granger.
HOPE YOU LIKED THE FIRST CHAPTER! read and review if you want more!