Chapter 2

As the first glimmer of morning light leaked through the curtains, Draco was laying in bed. His eyes were wide open, slightly bloodshot, his hair was sufficiently ruffled and his hands were clenching up the duvet in fistfuls. Goyle's rumbling snore could have woken a worm buried deep in the ground from a mile off, and Draco was in the same room as him. It was torture.

Growling slightly, he leapt up from his bed and hurried out to the common room, closing every door he went through on the way. It was 5:30am on the clock, he groaned. Goyle could be a right arse.

He dropped on the chilled sofa. Relaxing every muscle, he closed his eyes and let himself sink into the soft leather. It lightened his headache. Before long he'd drifted to sleep.

He didn't wake until loud, heavy footsteps were falling on the dorm steps. Draco gradually opened his eyes and glanced at the clock, 7:45. Shaking the sleep from his eyes he turned to see Goyle lollop down the last few steps.

"Oi, Goyle, you ever snore like that again and I'll jinx you." He snapped.

"Whaaaa….."

"You heard me."

"Right, whatever." Goyle responded, clearly not caring at all.

Draco stood up promptly and tramped back to the dormitory.

A while later he was ready to head for breakfast, having finally gained control of his hair again and having packed his satchel for the upcoming lessons. He made his way up from the common room, relieved to be free of Goyle and his infuriating snoring problems.

* * *

Getting closer to the Great Hall, the sound of voices and laughter could be heard. As he rounded the corner the massive room greeted him. The hall was buzzing with life, a few food fights here and there, the ceiling was filled with a fantastic cloudless blue sky; the day seemed to be improving bit by bit. Seeing a gap next to Pansy he sat himself down at the Slytherin table and grabbed some toast and a glass of pumpkin juice from the preset feast before him. He didn't bother to talk to anyone, instead, fully immersing himself in his food.

When the post owls came through the hall a little while later, nothing arrived for Draco, he didn't really care to be honest. He was optimistic that today would be a care free day, and so far it was going swimmingly.

* * *

Draco stumbled clumsily through the door of the Potions classroom, five minutes late, out of breath. Maybe the day would not be as good as he thought it would be. He looked around the room. Snape was staring at him from under his greasy mop of hair and everyone else was swivelled round in their seats looking at him.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy. Finally decided to join us have we?"

Draco silently organized himself and checked for empty seats. He groaned quietly as he saw that the only space was on the table next to Hermione. He slumped in the seat and unpacked his battered text books and quill. Throughout this, Hermione was giving him a disgusted look; he could see it in the corner of his eye.

"Find something else to stare at, Granger," he muttered.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned towards Snape again as he resumed his teaching.

He'd been late because of a showdown in the hallway with Potter, which had resulted in a couple of suits of armour strewn across the floor and Potter permanently locked in a closet until Draco decided otherwise. The day was once more optimistic. Granger's closer-than-necessary proximity would not destroy this. He proceeded to make notes on the potion that Snape was creating, Dlixirium Serum. It was a superior healing draught which would heal any ailment or injury and would even bring someone back from the brink of death.