After his own History of Magic lesson, Draco walked to his dormitory to take a break. Hooter was waiting on his bed with a letter tied to his leg.
"Is it from Ginger Kitty?" he asked. Without waiting for even a hoot in return, he pulled the letter off his leg and flopped onto his bed. Hooter ruffled his feathers at the lack of attention, and then flew out the open window.
Draco read the letter quickly, as he only had a few minutes before class.
Dear Green Dragon,
So glad to hear back from you! You know, I was worried you weren't going to respond to my letter. What made you write that first letter to me anyway? Just wondering. You know, I was thinking that I might get an owl of my own. I could just get one over Christmas break. Isn't it odd to think that we probably know each other?
Ginger Kitty
Draco was about to scribble a reply, but the bell rang for him to go to Transfiguration. He left the letter on his bed to finish later.
"Today, we will be working on a subject that often comes up in the written section of the O.W.L.s- transfiguring animals and objects into humans. Does anyone know anything about these kinds of transformations?" Professor McGonagall asked the Slytherins.
Pansy Parkinson, not as smart as Hermione but twice as smug, raised her hand.
"Miss Parkinson?"
Pansy cleared her throat and smirked. "It is illegal to transform any plant, animal, or object in to a human."
"Correct. Does anyone know why it is illegal?"
A boy called Theodore Nott raised his hand.
"Mr. Nott?"
"Animals, plants, and objects do not have the brains that humans have, therefore they could not survive as a human."
"Excellent. Mr. Malfoy, please pay attention."
Draco looked up from his notebook where he'd been drawing a cat. "Sorry, Professor."
"Since you seem to be so intent on our lesson, can you give us an example of one animal that could not survive as a human, and why?"
Draco bit his lip, thinking. He couldn't risk losing any House Points. "Um, a fish?"
Professor McGonagall sighed. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy. Can you tell me exactly why a fish couldn't survive?"
"Uh, because- because it's used to having gills, so- so it wouldn't be able to breathe." Whew, he thought. That was a close one.
She sighed again. "You got lucky. Ten points to Slytherin for those three correct answers. Now, I want you all to take notes on what we've learned in class. When you're done, make a chart listing three different animals, plants, and objects that could not survive as humans and why. You may not use the fish as an example, except in your notes."
This time, it was Draco who sighed. He hated writing classes; practical classes were so much more fun.
When class was over, he ran up to his dormitory to send a letter to his secret "friend." He grabbed his quill and ink from his bag, and began to write.
Dear Ginger Kitty,
I wrote this letter because my father had suggested that I do this when I was bored. It was through a letter like this that he met my mother. He wrote it when he was seventeen, and married at nineteen, after dating her for two years. I thought, Well, I'm a bit young to be marrying anyone, but I could get a girlfriend this way. What do you think?
By the way, I think getting an owl is a great idea.
Green Dragon
He read over it several times. It seemed a bit forceful. After only a few letters, he was asking her to be his girlfriend. Or was he? Would she (whoever she was) take this letter as a request? He decided to let the letter go.
Walking up to the Owlery, he looked for Hooter. He found him in a corner, but he would not face him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to get him to face him.
He nipped his finger, making him drop the letter.
"Stupid owl! Look, I'm sorry I didn't pay more attention to you. Will you at least take this letter to Ginger Kitty for me?"
Hooter, though he didn't understand what was going on, knew that he meant the girl in Gryffindor Tower, the one who was nice to him. He stuck out his leg, but he was doing it only to see Hermione, and not to help his master. He soared out into the blinding sunshine with the letter tied to his leg.
Draco turned around and started to walk back to his common room, when he banged into someone.
"Draco!"
"Sorry Pansy. I was thinking about- other stuff."
"What other stuff?" she asked him with narrowed eyes. "It's only been a few days, and you're already seeing someone else? Even I'm not that hurried to find a new boyfriend, and when it's me, that's saying something."
"Well, I'm not actually seeing someone. Not SEEING, if you catch my drift."
Pansy stared at him with a puzzled look on her face. "No, I don't catch your drift."
"Look," he said, exasperated. "Ever heard of pen pals? It's like that, except I don't know who the girl is and she doesn't know who I am."
"Oh, I get it. Well, even I wouldn't find someone knew after only a few days. We broke up the last day of August, and it's only September second. What had gotten into you?"
"I'm not sure. But I'll find out soon enough. I just asked her to be my girlfriend."
Pansy was in shock. "Draco! You- you what!"
He sighed. "I asked her to be my girlfriend."
"But- but you don't even know her!" She was shrieking now, and the owls were starting to get annoyed.
"Calm down, Pansy. She's a fifth year girl here, of course I know her."
Suddenly, Pansy burst into tears. "How could you be so heartless?" She slapped Draco across the face and ran downstairs, leaving him shocked.
Hermione was actually peering out the window, searching the skies for any signs of Hooter, when the owl came swooping down to her. Hermione took the letter from his outstretched leg and scanned it quickly. "Oh, you just brought me the most- unexpected letter ever!" She scribbled a reply, and tied it to Hooter's leg. "This is very important, so get to your master as soon as possible, all right? Thanks."
Hooter flew through the halls of Hogwarts, looking for Draco. He found him in the middle of the Great Hall, and promptly dropped the letter on his head.
"Ouch! Thanks," he said, rubbing his head. He opened the letter and read the one-word reply.
"Yes? She said yes? She said yes!" he shouted. "She said yes!" He practically danced his way over to the Slytherin common room and sank into a chair to marvel at his good fortune.
When he was finished, he wrote a letter.
Dear Ginger Kitty,
I was overjoyed to read your reply. Now that we have made it official, I think that we should get to know each other. Meet me at 3:00 in front of Zonko's on Friday, since this weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend. Don't bring anyone else with you.
Love, Green Dragon
He gave the letter to Hooter. "Deliver this to Ginger Kitty." His owl soared out through the open window and out of sight.
When Hermione received her letter, she read it out loud without meaning to. Harry came up behind her just as she was finishing it.
"Love Green Dragon?" he asked. "Who's Green Dragon?"
"Well, I'm not sure, but I'll find out in Friday."
"You'll what?" Harry grabbed the letter out of her hands.
"Hey! Give that back!" she cried, but it was too late. He had already read it.
"Hermione, remember when," he looked around at the other people in the room, "Snuffles sent me that Firebolt?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with-"
"You thought it was jinxed, because we didn't know who it was from. Now, you don't know who this letter was from, so I don't think you should meet him- whoever he is."
"Well, I know it's someone from Hogwarts, because their owl lives in the Owlery. So, I'm going, whether you like it or not."
Harry sighed. "Fine. I just hope it's not that git, Malfoy."
Hermione sighed too. Well, if it is, I probably would go out with him, she thought. He seems so sensitive and nice in his letters. And- wait, what am I saying? There's no way I could ever like Malfoy… is there?
That night, Draco had a dream.
He was a huge, emerald dragon, flying high over Hogwarts. He looked down below him, and saw a ginger speck on the ground. He flew down to the ground to see it. It was a tiny kitten. It looked up at him, blinking its large, chocolate-colored eyes. He somehow transformed into himself and picked up the kitten. He held its soft little body close to his chest, but the kitten started to grow. It became a girl with long, wavy brown hair. She looked at him, and her eyes widened in shock. So did Draco's.
"Hermione?"
The girl let out a shriek, as though she had just been stabbed, and fell to the ground. Draco knelt beside her, trying to revive her; finally he whispered, "I love you." He cried into the girl's soft hair, and she suddenly came back to life. He awoke with a start.
"Draco! Draco, what's wrong?"
He opened his eyes. Theodore Nott, a Slytherin in Draco's year, was standing over him. "Theodore? What happened?"
"You were hugging and kissing your pillow, then you started to cry into it. It's three in the morning. Care to explain?"
Draco sat up quickly. "The dream! Oh, this is bad!"
He rushed downstairs into the common room and found his book on the table where he'd left it. It was 'The Dream Oracle,' this year's Divination book. He quickly flipped through the pages, searching...
"Ah!" He scribbles a few things on a piece of parchment, and looked through the book some more. His eyes widened, and he bent closer to the page to reread one thing. Shaking his head, Draco made another note. And another, and another, until-
"Got it!" Draco looked at his memory of the dream, and the notes he'd made about its meaning.
"I'm the dragon, and the cat is- well, Ginger Kitty and, er... a girl with brown hair." Draco almost shuddered, not with repulsion, but with fear. "The girl will reveal herself, but something bad will happen to her. It- it will be my love that saves her."
Draco shook his head. "Sweet Merlin, please, please don't let it be Hermione."