As Draco predicted, he saw nothing of his friend during the summer months, though he hardly would have had time for her even if she had tried to see him. To the delight of his parents, Draco had been made a Prefect, and had received a badge along with his school list. His father smiled at him in a proud sort of way when Draco told him. He seemed to be gaining a level of respect from his father that he hadn't previously known, though when Lucius' temper flared, he was still as vicious as ever. But he seemed to regard Draco as more of an adult now, and included him in conversations Draco would previously have been shunned from. To Draco's delight, his father told him the news that Harry Potter had used magic outside of school, and that he was now required to attend a hearing to decide his fate regarding expulsion from Hogwarts. Draco hoped and prayed that Potter would be expelled. He longed for a Hogwarts without the so-called hero's presence. His hopes however, were crushed when he arrived at Platform 9 ¾ to find Potter loading his luggage onto the train.

Draco headed down the corridor to the Prefect's compartment. As he knew would be the case, Hermione had been made Prefect for Gryffindor, and so, to his disgust had Weasley. The Head Boy and Head Girl were giving the Prefects instructions on their responsibilities, but Draco wasn't listening. He was taking in every detail of Hermione as she paid eager attention to her obligations. Draco's father had mentioned to him that there were big changes taking place at Hogwarts this year, and along with those changes, Draco doubted very much that he would be able to see much of Hermione. Draco's gaze shifted to see that Weasley was watching Hermione intently as well, a strange expression on his face. Draco suddenly felt very possessive of her, and wished very much that he could make his friendship with her known.

Over the next few weeks, Draco paid close attention to the Daily Prophet. He knew that his father had begun some kind of work for the Dark Lord, though he didn't know the details, and was becoming increasingly concerned for his father's safety. Article after article was released, regarding trespassing, and odd occurrences at the ministry, and though none mentioned his father, he knew that his father was still involved. Draco finally received a letter from his father, but was disappointed to see that it was only a few lines.

Draco,

The changes I anticipated are soon to be taking place at Hogwarts. It will be announced in tomorrow's Prophet that Dolores Umbridge will be appointed as Hogwarts High Inquisitor. You are to be obedient to her, and do everything she asks of you. She is a friend to our cause.

Sincerely,

Lucius

Sure enough, the article was released, and Educational Decrees began being posted, limiting the freedom of the Hogwarts students. Draco didn't necessarily agree with many of them, but he honored his father's demand, and showed allegiance to Umbridge. The one thing Draco did like about Umbridge was that she didn't seem to think much of Potter either, and kept landing him in detention night after night.

Hermione and Draco didn't see much of each other throughout the first term, only meeting briefly once, at which time Draco thoroughly angered Hermione. She had told him of an organization she had founded in the support of House Elf rights, and Draco responded with a scathing look.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard." He laughed.

Hermione didn't take to kindly to his response, and had not returned to their classroom.

To Draco's delight, Weasley had been appointed Keeper on the Gryffindor team, and was utter rubbish. Draco took no time in finding new ways to mock Weasley, which caused his performance to considerably decline. Despite Weasley's dreadful performance though, Potter still managed to snatch the snitch right before Draco, causing the win to go to Gryffindor. Draco was white with fury.

"Saved Weasley's neck haven't you?" He spat as he landed on the ground at the end of the match. "I've never seen a worse Keeper.." He laughed cruelly as he began making reference to the hilarious song he and the other Slytherins had created to sing during the match.

"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Draco called as Potter turned his back on him. "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly..we wanted to sing about his mother, see..we couldn't fit in useless loser either..for his father you know." Draco laughed again.

Not only did he have Potter's attention now, but half of the Gryffindor team. Draco continued his mockery. He knew that he was getting to them when he saw Potter grab one of the Weasley twins in restraint. Draco felt a cool satisfaction inside. However, as usual, he allowed himself to go one too far when he made a nasty comment about Potter's dead mother. Before he knew what was happening both Potter and the Weasley twin were on top of him, punching every inch of him they could. Draco felt hot blood gush onto his face as he took a hard blow to the nose. People were shouting, and a whistle was blowing, and with two against one, Draco couldn't seem to do anything to defend himself. A spell was shot at them, and Draco felt relief as the other two boys were forced off of him. As they were marched away, Draco was left, laying on the ground with everyone's eyes on him.

Draco was exhausted. He sat on the edge of the swimming pool sized tub in the Prefect's bathroom waiting for it to fill with thick sudsy water. He disrobed, and lowered himself into the steamy water, the heat instantly relaxing his tense and sore muscles. He closed his eyes, and put his head back, trying to forget that his inability to keep his mouth shut had caused him only more humiliation today. He sighed as he heard the door open, but kept his eyes closed. The whole reason he had come so late in the evening was on the hopes that he would be able to bathe without anyone disturbing him.

He heard a small voice, "Draco?"

His eyes opened, and he was startled to see Hermione standing on the far edge of the sunken tub, looking pointedly at the ceiling.

"Hermione, what the hell?" He sat up straight, feeling self conscious, though at the back of his mind, he knew that the bubbles floating on top of the water were so thick that it made it impossible to see anything below the surface. "How did you get in here? This is the boys room" He looked around wildly.

"Um..well they use the same password for both Prefect's bathrooms." She said, her face turning slightly pink. "the founders had more faith in girl's apparently, because we're also able to get into the boy's dorms."

Draco stared at her, completely lost for words. He was unbelievably aware of his naked body, and was grateful that she had yet to look in his direction.

"I just wanted to talk to you, and I knew this would be the only time you'd be alone." He thought he could sense a slight tone of anger in her voice, and assumed she was about to scold him for the events of that afternoon. "I thought I might have been able to catch you before...before you actually...got in...the bath.."she added awkwardly.

At that moment, there was a shrill wail, and Moaning Myrtle came soaring out of one of the faucets looking livid.

"Unbelievable!" She whined at them. "You've ruined my evening, you stupid girl!" She cried at Hermione.

"Myrtle!" Draco shouted "Were you watching me?"

She let out a cackle. "Just because I can't touch, doesn't mean I don't like to look!" She turned on Hermione. "That is until YOU had to come in and ruin the party! Ugh"

Myrtle soared quickly at Hermione's face which caused her to jump, and lose footing. In an instant, Hermione had slipped off the tub's edge, and plunged into the soapy water.

"Hermione!" Draco shouted, rushing towards her through the bubbles.

Her head broke the surface, coughing and choking, struggling to push her soaking wet hair out of her eyes. Draco's arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her upright so she could catch her breath.

"Get out of here Myrtle!" He yelled at the ghost, and with another wail, she soared back up the faucet and out of sight. "Are you alright?" Draco asked as Hermione found her footing.

"Yes," she said, still coughing. "I'm fine."

There was a moment of silence, as Hermione looked up at him. Draco became suddenly aware of how very close they were. Her face was only inches from his, and his arms were still wrapped around her. Draco awkwardly released her, and took a step back, becoming red at the thought of his still naked body. Hermione, just as red as he was, struggled to pull herself out of the tub, heavy wet robes weighing her down.

"There's extra towels in the cupboard." He said, not able to meet her eyes.

Hermione went to retrieve a towel, returning to see that Draco had climbed out of the tub while her back was turned. A towel was wrapped firmly around his waist, but Hermione looked away in embarrassment at the sight of his bare chest and abs. She had never noticed, but Draco, though lean, was quite toned. His muscles dripped with water as he ran his hand through his wet blonde hair.

"Here." Draco said, throwing a pair of gray sweatpants and an emerald green sweater at her. "I'll just put my robes back on."

Hermione stood for moment looking uncomfortably at Draco.

"Don't worry," he said with a small smirk. "I won't look at you if you don't look at me."

Hermione nodded, and they turned their backs on each other. Draco dropped his towel, and pulled his robes over his head. When he was finished, he stayed facing the wall. He could hear Hermione removing her wet robes and throwing them into a pile on the floor. After a few moments Hermione said okay, and he turned back to face her. She was now dressed in his sleep clothes, which were quite big on her, forcing Draco to notice how dainty she really was.

"So, you uh..you came here to talk to me?" Draco said looking at her.

Hermione burst out laughing, all her anger forgotten, and Draco quickly joined in, thankful that she wasn't reprimanding him. The two friends left the bathroom, and making sure there was no one around to see them, made their way to their usual room. For a moment, as they sat on the large armchairs laughing, Draco felt as though they were kids again. Two best friends sitting at the edge of their pond. They talked and talked, until they could no longer keep their eyes open, and sleep claimed them. Draco awoke in the morning, slightly confused before he realized where he was. He looked around, but Hermione had already gone.

Christmas was almost upon them, and Draco was much happier than he had been in quite a while. He had been able to spend some time with Hermione, and Potter had been given a life-time ban from Quidditch. Draco tried to see Hermione again before they departed the castle, but he only caught a glimpse of her as she was rushed away by Professor McGonagall, a panicked look on both of their faces. The holiday came and went with no complaints from Draco. His father had confided in him that the Dark Lord's plan would soon be fulfilled. Though they had encountered some problems along the way, Lucius was confident that he would be able to prove his worth to the Dark Lord. Shortly after returning to Hogwarts, Draco found another surprise when he opened the Daily Prophet to see his aunt's face staring back at him. "MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN" the headline read. Draco felt an ounce of excitement. He had not known his aunt since he was very young. She had been in Azkaban most of his life, but Draco's mother spoke of her often, and Draco longed to see the happiness that had been absent from his mother's eyes for quite some time.

Draco had now been hand-selected by Professor Umbridge, along with a few other trustworthy, and pure-blood students to enforce her rules as members of her Inquisitorial Squad. To Draco's delight, this gave him the ability to dock House points, and was giving him an increasing sense of power. The job became increasingly difficult however, due to the students apparent lack of respect for authority. Chaos ensued. Dung bombs were dropped frequently in the corridors, one corridor had been completely turned into a swamp, and a miraculous firework display in the entrance hall marked the departure of the Weasley Twins. Finally, shortly after their O.W.L.S, Draco found success when Professor Umbridge summoned him, saying that her office had been broken into. They ran to the office, and threw the door opened to see Potter on the ground with his head in the fireplace, clearly speaking with someone through the Floo network. Hermione, who was standing by the window jumped and tried to send a jinx in their direction. Millicent Bulstrode reached Hermione before Draco could, and pinned her against the wall. Umbridge had pulled Potter from the fireplace by his hair, and on her orders, Draco reached inside Potter's robes and retrieved his wand. A few other members of the Inquisitorial Squad entered the room, pulling along some of Potter's other friends. As Umbridge questioned Potter, Draco allowed his eyes to wander to Hermione. He wished that he was the one holding her. At least he would have been gentler than Millicent was being. Just as Umbridge was about to curse Potter, Hermione began to sob. Millicent backed away from her, looking disgusted. Hermione sat down covering her face, and began to confess everything that Umbridge wished to know. Draco however, looked at Hermione suspiciously. He had witnessed her crying enough times to know that something was different this time. He wasn't convinced that her sobs were genuine.

"Weapon?" Umbridge said in excitement, repeating what Hermione had just said. "You've been developing some method of resistance?" Umbridge straightened up. "Lead me to the weapon." She said to Hermione.

Hermione looked at Draco through her fingers, thinking quickly. If she was going to lead Umbridge into a trap, she couldn't allow Draco to accompany them. She hated what he was involved in, but she didn't want him to get hurt. "I'm not showing them!" Hermione cried.

"It is not for you to set conditions." Professor Umbridge said harshly.

Hermione needed to adjust her tactic. "Fine." She said. "Let them see it, I hope they use it on you!"

That seemed to change Umbridge's mind, and she looked around hastily at the Slytherins. "Alright dear, let's make it just you and me...and we'll take Potter too shall we? Get up now."

"Professor," Draco said quickly. He couldn't allow Hermione to go searching for a dangerous weapon in the presence of Umbridge with no wand, and only Potter to protect her. "Professor Umbridge, I think some of the squad should come with you to look after-"

Professor Umbridge cut him off. "I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?"

Draco could do nothing but watch Hermione leave the room, followed by Potter and Professor Umbridge. Draco looked out the window, and saw the three of them heading towards the Forbidden Forest. They waited in anticipation, but Hermione and the others did not return. Suddenly there was a scuffle in the corner of the room and a stunning spell shot towards Crabbe, who toppled over as it made contact with his chest. Draco jumped to his feet as his Slytherin comrades began to tussle with their captives. Before Draco could send out his own stunning spell, a well aimed hex from the Weasley girl hit him square in the face, and he fell to the floor screaming in anguish as great flapping things covered him. By the time Draco had managed the counter-curse, the Slytherins were alone in the room, all looking a little worse for wear.

Draco huffed back to his dormitory, a mixture of anger and anxiety filling him. Hermione had not returned from the forest, but Draco could do nothing but wait hopelessly, until finally sleep claimed him.

The end of term brought even more chaos to Draco's life. His father had been arrested, along with a few other Death Eaters who had been caught trespassing in the Department of Mysteries. Draco feared what this would mean for himself and his mother. The Dark Lord was not the most forgiving. Draco headed home already feeling defeated, dreading what new horrors the summer would bring.