A/N: So, this is the chapter in which Draco's conscience is kind of a catty bitch. :D Hah, I figured I'd add in some hints as to what his curse is, but... I'm decently sure you all have figured it out by now... anyway, I've been listening to Clarity by Zedd all night long, and I feel like it's the perfect song for Draco and Hermione. So, that being said, expect to see a lyric or two woven into future chapters.

I really hope you guys like this chapter. I'd been about to update a few days ago, before my computer crashed, and I had to factory reset the entire thing... sigh, thank GOD for flashdrives.

Please review. Please. I love hearing from you guys! :)


- Draco -

When the alarm on Draco's wand went off the following morning, he groaned. The sun hadn't yet fully risen, but as Head Boy, it was his duty to patrol the halls before classes began for the day.

Muttering about stupid rules, he rolled out of his warm bed, and padded towards his private bathroom. After a quick shower – the water pressure at Hogwarts never had been ideal – Draco headed down the stairs leading from his room, and into the Common Room.

Granger was already awake, sitting at a table with her back facing him. From the smell wafting from the blue pewter mug that sat to her right, she was drinking very strong black coffee. The rustle of a newspaper told him that she was probably reading that morning's issue of The Daily Prophet.

With her bushy brown hair swept back into a ponytail, she looked very... Muggle.

Clearing his throat a bit to alert her of his presence, he stepped into the room. She twisted in her chair to look at him, a very small smile coming to her face.

"Morning," she greeted. Draco nodded in response, causing her smile to dim a bit. "I've made some coffee, if you'd like."

Granger paused, as Draco moved towards the little breakfast bar that separated the kitchenette from the living area, settling his book bag down onto the ledge.

"You... you do know what coffee is, right?" she asked. Draco snorted, casting her a dry look.

"Yes, Granger, I know what coffee is." he replied. "Do we have any cream or sugar? I don't intend to drink bitter mud."

Granger hid a smile behind her hand, before pointing to the refrigerator to his left.

"The cream is on the door, and the sugar is in the second cupboard to your right." she answered. Nodding, Draco pulled open the refrigerator, spotting the carton he was looking for almost immediately. Grabbing it from the shelf, he moved over to the cabinet Granger had gestured to, and took down the sugar.

"How in the world anyone can drink this stuff black is beyond me," he muttered, eying the pot of hot black liquid. He heard Granger chuckle quietly.

"You get used to it after a while, when you're on the run." she said softly. "When you've been awake for going on seventy-two hours, and you have nothing other than instant coffee and water from a creek, a cup of black coffee becomes a luxury. Even if it does taste like bitter mud."

Draco turned slightly to look at her.

"What was it like?" he asked, voice nearly inaudible. Grager surprised him by laughing, though the sound held no humor.

"The word 'dreadful' is too tame." she answered honestly. "It wasn't all bad, though. I had Harry and Ron, despite the fact that they appeared to grow tired of each others company after a while."

Draco snorted, turning to face her as he lifted his finished cup of coffee to his lips.

"Really, and I was of the impression that those two were inseparable." he mused. Granger chuckled, rolling her eyes as she drained the last of her coffee from her mug, and set the Prophet to the side.

"I'm going to go and start my rounds," she stated, getting to her feet. "See you in class."

With that, she swept out of the room, the sound of the portrait swinging shut behind her echoing oddly in the now empty room. Draco sighed, walking over to where she'd been sitting and snatching up the newspaper. The front headline caught his attention.

"MINISTRY DISCOVERS HIDDEN SECRETS AFTER FALL OF HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED, POSSIBLE NEW THREAT ON THE HORIZON."

"Wonderful," Draco mumbled, sitting down heavily in the seat Granger had just recently vacated as his eyes swept the paper for the mentioned article.

"Just as we believe the worst to be over, the remnants of You-Know-Who's short-lived reign come back to haunt us.

It was, until earlier this week, widely believed that lycanthropy could not be passed on from parent to child, but new evidence is now suggesting otherwise. The child of famed war heroes, Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks has recently been showing signs of his late father's curse.

While the child's godfather and caretaker, the famed and celebrated Harry Potter himself has declined to comment on the child's condition, the Ministry of Magic has reason to believe that there may yet be children in this world born with the curse of lycanthropy.

Many of the werewolves who had been under the command of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named have been rounded up and thrown into Azkaban, but a dire warning from none other than Fenrir Greyback leads this reporter to believe that we may very well soon be facing a new and infectious threat.

For more information, you can write to Rita Skeeter at..."

Draco groaned, setting the newspaper down. Of course. Because nothing could ever be easy. Snatching up his barely touched cup of coffee, he carried it to the sink, before retrieving his book bag, and heading towards the portrait hole to do his rounds.

Striding down the hallway, he attempted to shove the thoughts of the article into the back of his mind. That, however, proved to be an impossible task.

How in the world had he not known about this? He had been a bloody Death Eater, after all. Shouldn't he know about the fact that lycanthropy can be passed from parent to child? Did his parents know about this? He would have to owl them later after classes let out.

Sighing, he rounded the corner, only to run smack into Ginny Weasley.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I – oh. It's just you." the girl muttered. Draco lifted a brow at the red-headed best friend of his current room-mate.

"Oh, no, by all means... please, just walk right into me, and then insult me." he muttered. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Save your self-pity for someone who actually gives a rat's arse, Malfoy." she snapped. "Have you seen Hermione?"

Draco arched a brow at the girl.

"Of course I have." he answered. "I'm currently living with her."

The redhead glared up at the Slytherin before her, a scowl on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You know what I mean, Ferret." she growled, before her eyes flicked to the badge proclaiming him Head Boy. "I will never understand why McGonagall made you Head Boy."

Draco scowled down at the girl, his patience wearing thin.

"Granger was off to make her rounds, the last I checked. Why don't you start near the library? I'm sure she'll have found some excuse to visit the damned place." he sneered. The Weaselette narrowed her eyes at him, before turning on her heel and storming off.

Draco let go of a breath, rolling his eyes and wondering how in the world Potter put up with that wretched girl for more than five minutes. Clearly, Granger's falling out with the youngest Weasley son hadn't affected her relationship with the rest of the family.

He scowled, before continuing on his way. Other than his unpleasant run-in with the high-strung Gryffindor, Draco met with no other distractions, and was able to make it to the Great Hall before it got too crowded. Granger, of course, was already seated at the Gryffindor table, her attention on a book in front of her as she absently stirred something in a cup.

A small smile curved Draco's mouth as he went to take a seat near the end of the Slytherin table. Piling food onto his plate without really paying attention to what he was grabbing, Draco continued to watch the girl. He was becoming more and more fascinated with her, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.

'She saved your bloody life, after you sat and watched as your hideous aunt tortured her, you blithering idiot.' a small voice in the back of his mind snapped. 'Of course you're fascinated by her.'

Draco arched a brow. His conscience was kind of a catty bitch.

Glancing down at his schedule as he peeled the wrapper off of a muffin, he saw that Slytherin and Gryffindor were sharing a Defense Against the Dark Arts class first thing that morning. He almost laughed.

Like they needed any more training in Defense Against the Dark Arts after what they'd been through. The idea was laughable, and a little insulting.

From McGonagall's start of term speech, they all knew that their new Defense professor was an Auror who had fought in the war. But since he or she had yet to arrive at Hogwarts by that time, they were unsure of who that was. McGonagall had decided to keep this information a secret from the students, and so they were all anxious to learn who would be instructing them that year.

Draco's train of thought was interrupted by a raised voice across the hall.

"...and furthermore, Ginny, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't speak of him like that. Regardless of his past, Malfoy is a human being who defected to our side -"

"Only when he realized that he and his horrible family were on the losing side!" Ginny snapped, glaring at her fellow Gryffindor.

Draco lifted his head, curiosity sparking. From what he could tell, Granger was none too happy with her supposed best friend.

"Everyone deserves a second chance, Ginevra." she replied, her voice cold and hard.

"Except for my brother, right?" Ginny shot back.

'Oh, shit.'

Granger took a deep breath, glancing around the room. By now, nearly all eyes were on the pair, and it was clear to Draco that while she may have been the brains of the Golden Trio, Granger didn't much care for being in the spotlight.

"That is a personal matter, Ginny, one which I would prefer not to be discussed in front of the entire school." she said stiffly. The girl scoffed.

"Oh, of course. Wouldn't want your precious reputation to be tarnished by the fact that you left my brother because of a mistake he made during the war!" she shouted.

"That mistake was getting Cho Chang pregnant!" Granger shrieked in reply.

'Oh, SHIT.'

With that, Granger stood, and stormed from the Great Hall, her robes nearly getting caught in the heavy doors as they swung shut. Draco glanced back towards the Gryffindor table, to find Ginny glaring at him from across the hall. He lifted a brow, before getting to his feet, and following Granger out.

He caught up with her halfway to their classroom, wondering how in the hell she had gotten so far so fast without getting winded, while he had to stop to catch his breath.

"What... was that... about?" he panted. Granger arched a brow at him, before rolling her eyes and pausing so that he could get his breathing back under control.

"Just Ginny being Ginny." she replied curtly.

"I thought you two were friends?" he muttered, straightening up a bit. Granger sighed, glancing down at her feet.

"We were... are... it's just... Ron and I kissed during the war, and I thought things would pick up after that... and they did, for the most part. Until..." She trailed off.

"Until you learned that he'd knocked up that Ravenclaw girl." he finished. Granger winced, nodding.

"Yeah."

Draco peered at her, feeling as if he were truly seeing her for the first time. Before him was a witch who had been through so much, only to have her heart broken by the Weasel.

Sudden rage boiled up inside of him, and his jaw began to ache. When Hermione – wait, since when was it Hermione, and not Granger?! – lifted her eyes to his, however, his rage calmed.

"We should get to class," she said quietly. "Maybe the new professor is there already!"

With that, the Gryffindor took off down the hall, excited glee bleeding from her pores. Draco stared after her for several long moments, before grinning and following after her.

He ran through the classroom door seconds after she had, only to stop dead in his tracks. Behind the desk sat John Dawlish, an Auror Draco's aunt had forced him to torture personally. The man looked up, his nearly white eyes piercing Draco.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy." he said, voice soft. "Please... take a seat. I very much look forward to having you in my class..."