Draco woke up with a start. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the harsh daylight that peeked through the velvet mahogany curtains, he noticed a ministry owl tapping on the window pane. He recognized it immediately because of the countless ones his father used to receive. He got up, throwing a robe over himself and untied the letter from the owl's feet. It immediately took off and flew away, probably with more OWL's to deliver, he thought. He opened the letter and his grades appeared in front of him.

ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS

Pass Grades:

Outstanding (O) Exceeds Expectations (E) Acceptable (A)

Fail Grades:

Poor (P) Dreadful (D) Troll (T)

DRACO LUCIUS SCORPIUS MALFOY HAS ACHIEVED:

Astronomy:A

Care of Magical Creatures:A

Charms:E

Defence against the Dark Arts:O

Divination:P

Herbology:E

History of Magic:A

Potions:O

Transfiguration:E

Draco read over these results a couple of times. Overall he was happy. He only failed Divination and nobody took that seriously anyway. According to Professor Trewlaway, he did not 'possess the inner eye' and it probably didn't help that he was involved in Professor Umbridge's, Inquisitorial squad which almost drew her out of her job. He received two Outstanding's which meant gold from his parents, well his mum anyway. He wished his dad could see his marks, he always said that brains came with being a pure-blood. Draco figured that, in retrospect, his grades didn't matter much anyway. He wondered if Crabbe and Goyle had passed anything, he supposed he would find out on the train back to school because doubted he would see any of his friends until then.

In the next minute however he would find himself contradicted as he heard a small tapping on his bedroom door.

'You may enter'. Said Draco.

Pokey entered the room with a tray laden with tea and croissants.

'Breakfast is served, Master.' He squeaked. 'Pokey made the tea extra weak with one and a half sugars, just how Master Draco likes it!'

'Thank you'.

'And mistress would like to inform you that we shall be expecting guests for lunch, Master'.

'Who?' inquired Draco. Other than Aunt Bellatrix, who didn't need an invitation, he couldn't think of anyone that would want to visit Malfoy Manor.

'Lady Parkinson, Master' and with that Pokey bowed and left the room.

Draco stood up at once; he'd overslept and needed at least an hour to get ready. For the more common folk, today was the day for the annual trip to Diagon Alley for school supplies. The more aristocratic families like the Malfoys' and the Parkinson's' had house elves to perform these common tasks for them.

He was looking forward to the Parkinson's' visit. It would most likely only be Mrs. Parkinson and her daughter, Pansy whom Draco had been betrothed to since they both were babies. Draco and Pansy were in the same year at school. They socialized in the same circles, both being wealthy, pure-blood and of course in Slytherin. They had always gotten along reasonably well. They were required to dance together in social situations such as Formal balls or parties that their parents held, but other than that it was a purely platonic friendship. Draco didn't think he actually loved her, but she would make a pretty wife if it was what his parents wanted.

A few hours later, Narcissa, Draco, Pansy and Mrs. Parkinson were sitting in the back courtyard sampling caviar and sipping chardonnay.

Pansy looked different then she usually did at Hogwarts. Her long blonde hair curled around the ends and sat on her shoulders. It was clipped pack with a purple flower that highlighted her magnificent blue eyes. One could not doubt that she was pretty. Her trimmed appearance outlined not only her wealth, but her status as a pure-blood princess. She was envied amongst most of the girls at Hogwarts, mainly because she had permission to hang off Draco's arm whenever she wanted.

'I see you've still been able to keep your staff in Lucius' absence, I suppose that's lucky.' noted Patsy. Pansy glared at her mother.

'We may have lost the man of the house, Patsy but we haven't lost our dignity' replied his mother, bravely' Draco silently commended her for her answer. It must be taking a lot of strength to act as if nothings happened to the rest of the world, he thought.

'Well, I guess you won't be sending Draco back to Hogwarts…' began Patsy.

'What are you talking about? Of course Draco's going to back to school' said his mother. Draco too was a little shocked at this comment, after everything that had happened, going back to school was one thing Draco was sure of.

'I just mean, its not right to put your son through the humiliation of having to answer awkward questions' Pansy glanced away as her mother said this. They had obviously discussed this before coming here, Draco thought. Pansy looked very uncomfortable and began to sip her chardonnay.

'But Draco has no choice he HAS to go back to Hogwarts…'

Draco immediately looked up when his mother said this, was she really going to tell her? He wasn't going to let her.

'What mother means is,' he cut in. 'I cant afford to miss out on school for it would be more of a shame to see a Malfoy fail his NEWT'S than to answer a few questions about my father'. Said Draco. His mother nodded in agreement, but Mrs. Parkinson still looked skeptical.

'All I'm saying is, maybe it would be wise to keep out of the public eye for a while, maybe it can be arranged that you are privately tutored…'

'NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!' Shrieked his mother. Mrs. Parkinson looked horrified, 'Draco WILL be going back to school, and that's FINAL', but as those last words came out of her mouth her arm hit the table, sending her drink flying across into Pansy's lap, leaving a large stain across the mid section of her lilac dress robes.

'That's it we're leaving ….right now' said Mrs. Parkinson forcefully. Pansy looked angry at her mother. She began wiping up the alcohol off her robes.

'I'll take Pansy into the kitchen to clean herself up, and mother I think you need to go inside…' began Draco, he was used to his mum obeying his orders.

'Yes, I think that would be wise, she is clearly...unstable'. Retorted Mrs. Parkinson. His mother looked horrified at this comment, but kept her mouth shut and stormed inside.

Draco led Pansy to the kitchen while her mother waited in the courtyard.

'I'm so sorry…' she began.

'It's ok, all that stuff your mother said was true anyway. Our family is a shame and my mother is not helping things with her excessive drinking' said Draco.

'No, Draco it's not your fault your father got caught, I'm sure The Dark Lord still regards him as a faithful servant.'

'I doubt it, he gave away that precious diary in our second year remember? And he's been seen in places where he shouldn't be, such as the Graveyard when he returned in our fourth year' said Draco, sort of thinking out loud.

'That's true' Pansy looked deep in thought.

'But I guess they can talk about me all they want' he said as he picked up a wet towel from the kitchen and began wiping her robes with it.

'How can they not?' Pansy's expression now changed to a sweet little smile. 'You are by far the most handsome in our year.'

She leaned into him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Draco instead turned his face and kissed her full on the lips. He heard her sharp intake of breath as he pushed her against the counter, the towel still gripped in his hands. There lips parted and Pansy quickly began talking.

'I really should go Draco, mum will be angry'

'That bad am I?' Draco began to laugh.

'Of course not, i'll see you at the train station. Don't worry about everyone, we'll handle it, I promise.' She smiled and squeezed his hand.

He looked down at her. Her soft cheeks were flushing and she cleared her throat before saying goodbye. She walked away, leaving him against the counter. He heard a bang as one of the house elves dropped a pan on the tiles. He hadn't even noticed they were there before. As he smirked to himself about what had just happened, Pansy's mother's voice echoed from outside.

'Well, we won't be associating with THAT family for a long time.' She shouted.

'MUM will you just be quiet!' shouted Pansy in reply.

Draco didn't actually know why he kissed her. They had never had physical contact before. Maybe it was because he had been shut away for weeks and craved some sort of affection, or maybe it was because Pansy still liked him, no matter what his father was, or maybe it was just because she looked so good in those dress robes, he wondered.