(Listen to: Trying; by Lifehouse)
It was close to three in the morning, but Draco Malfoy still wandered the empty halls.
He couldn't sleep.
His nightmares had gotten more vivid and realistic as the time had drawn closer to the war. The war that no one knew was happening. No one but him. He gave a little sigh, pulling down his left sleeve as a nervous habit, even though no one was there to see his mark.
He paced the dark corriders, deep in his own thoughts. The clacking of footsteps could be heard, and he panicked.
They were too light of footsteps to be his godfather's- Snape's- whom he could get out of trouble with easily.
"Shit." He cursed under his breath, pulling up the hood on his robes. Maybe, at nearly six foot, he'd be tall enough to pass for a teacher now?
"Malfoy?" The familiar know-it-all's voice came out soft to avoid being heard, but the hostality was clear in it.
"What are you doing in the halls at this time of night?"
She sounded just like a professor nagging at him.
"I could ask you the same question, Granger." He turned to look at her, pulling down his hood.
"I asked you first."
He scoffed at her. "Well, it's none of your business."
"Fine."
Draco began to walk again, losing himself to his thoughts once again.
Moments later, she began to follow him, not that he noticed.
He leaned his back against the cool wall, sitting down with his back pressed to it.
She somehow could tell that there was something wrong, though her animosity for him masked her concern.
He didn't notice her leave, only looked down at the watch on his right wrist.
Seeing the time was close to sunrise, he stood and pulled his hood over his head.
Stepping silently down the hall, and then down the staircase to the Slytherin dormitory, he whispered the password to the painting.
It opened slowly and he stepped inside, hoping no one else was awake.
No one was.
He continued on to the boys dormitory, his footsteps very near silent.
The people hear practically worshipped him, anyway. They wouldn't care if he woke them up.
He sat on his own bed, glancing over at Goyle, whose snores would've prevented sleep anyway. He'd always been a light sleeper. You had to be, if you were one of His followers.
The time seemed to pass by slowly, minutes changing into hours.
The sun slowly rose, and he stood, slicking his blonde hair back and leaving for breakfast in the great hall.
Goyle and Crabbe would probably sleep in anyway, there was no use in being late with them.
Back in the Griffindor common room, Hermione met up with Ron and Harry.
She laughed along with them at Dean's struggles with his alarm clock, at the bangs and the shouted swear words, but her mind lingered on last night.
She snickered as Dean came down the stairs, hair and robes a mess, muttering, "Fucking alarm," but her thoughts stayed on Draco Malfoy and the hollow look in his ice blue eyes.
"Bloody hell, Dean. You look awful." Ron snorted, earning him a whack from Dean himself.
Everyone seemed to be in quite a laughable mood, but Hermione was the only one to fake it. She tried to block her own thoughts out, shaking her head at her own silliness.
The trio headed down to the great hall, plopping themselves down at the Griffindor table.
"It's kinda boring here, without the twins isn't it Harry? I mean, Filch still kept the lake and all, but- hey! Maybe we should all take a trip to Zonkos later, and..."
Hermione instinctivly blocked out Ron's rambling, which quit when the headmaster began to speak.
She looked through the crowd of people, telling herself she was looking for Luna or Cho, but in the back of her mind knew she was looking for him.
When her eyes looked with his, she thought, bloody hell, he looks...tired.
She then mentally winced. She'd been spending too much time with Ron, now she was starting to speak like him.
Draco Malfoy's appearance was only slightly different than normal, and she was sure she was the only one to notice it.
The dark circles under his eyes had grown.
Under his robes, he wore a black turtleneck, though it was only the beginning of September, and still relatively warm outside.
Is that the only clothing he owns?
She let her eyes wander away from Draco, easily spotting Luna Lovegood in the crowd. Their eyes met, and Luna brightly waved, smiling bigger than ever.
Hermione swore her happiness was contagious.
She waved back, smiling at the dreamy looking girl. Luna's outfit was interesting as ever, though she managed to make it look slightly less humiliating than Hermione would.
First years were put into houses, and then the feast began. She curled her lip up at Ron, who just shrugged and mumbled, "What?", through a mouthful of food.
She just shook her head and smiled, and Harry coughed to cover up a laugh.
The feast ended sooner than usual, and Hermione was the first to stand up at her table.
"What do you have first?" She looked at Harry, who just shrugged and handed her his schedule. Looking over it, Hermione realized she was taking four more classes than Harry.
"Hmm...we both have Charms second, and Muggle History third. Transfigurations fourth, Care of Magical Creatures sixth, and Divination last."
She then took Ron's schedule out of his hand, comparing it with her own.
"We have...all of the same classes as Harry and I." She looked between them, raising as eyebrow. Their schedules were exactly the same, which made her wonder if they'd done it on purpose.
Harry shrugged. "Well, c'mon Ron, let's go to Astronomy!"
She rolled her eyes, the corner of her lips pulling up in an amused smile as they ran. Looking at her own schedule again, she sighed and headed towards the dungeon for Potions.
She hoped this class was with Ravenclaws or even Hufflepuffs, as then she'd know people she didn't despise.
Draco was running late. He didn't bother to wait on his friends, only running to the staircase and taking the stairs two at a time.
At least he had his favorite class first, he wouldn't get points taken off for being late.
When he walked into the classroom, all of the seats were full except for one next to Neville Longbottom, and one beside Hermione Granger.
He sighed and plopped his stuff down next to Granger.
He was late, yet Snape hadn't taken any points off of Slytherin, even though he locked eyes with Draco when he walked in.
"Welcome back." Snape's voice was monotone, "Open your books to page 394."
He pulled a textbook out of his bag, opening it up to a familiar potion. Was this review? Maybe he'd just spent too much time at his godfathers house.
Snape then briefly explained the 'Dreamless Sleep' potion. Draco could swear he was looking right at him.
"Does anyone know why we mix the crushed beetles with the moonstone before adding it to the potion?"
Hermione's hand shot straight up, and Draco rolled his eyes.
"No one?" Snape seemed to be ignoring her hand, looking around the classroom.
Hermione waved her hand, "Professor!"
Neville was muttering something to Seamus in front of him, causing Snape to bark, "Longbottom! How about you? Do you know?"
Neville's entire face turned red, making Draco snicker. Hermione sent him a look, still waving her hand around.
"I-I uhm..I think Hermione k-knows." Neville stuttered, and Snape sent him and Granger a sharp look.
"What is it, Miss Granger?" Snape's voice was cold, but Hermione recieted off the top of her head what sounded like a chapter from a textbook.
"Where'd you get that?" Draco muttered, flipping around.
"Five points from Griffindor, for being such a know-it-all," The Professor muttered, and Hermione's jaw gaped.
"But I was right!"
"I don't care." He sneered, and Draco snickered again. Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. Snape assigned them a two page essay on the reason for mixing crushed beetles with moonstone before brewing the potion, causing several students to groan.
"And Miss Granger...I want an essay. Not a miniature novel, not a textbook. An essay."