Hermione sat observing Draco with a scowl on her face. The blond Slytherin was currently holding court with his fellow snakes over at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. Despite the fact Hermione hadn't spoken to Draco since the incident with Buckbeak, Harry had managed to bump into the blond that morning and get some assurances that he wasn't badly hurt. Hermione wasn't at all shocked to see Draco was still wandering around with his arm in a sling as he continued to play up his injury from the previous afternoon, nor did she object to him doing so as it would only add to the problems Dumbledore was going to face having Hagrid as a Professor. However, she wasn't at all impressed that Pansy Parkinson had latched herself to Draco's side and was practically drooling over the blond boy.

"Pathetic," Hermione muttered to herself as she watched Pansy smile sweetly at Draco.

"If you don't stop glaring at Parkinson, people will start to talk," Harry warned her from where he was sitting at her right hand side.

The pair were only talking quietly and weren't worried about anyone overhearing them as there was no-one sitting close enough to hear them and they would spot anyone approaching. Most people had vacated the Great Hall after lunch, but Harry and Hermione had stuck around to do some homework, or at least that was the plan until Hermione had gotten her eyes on Pansy and ended up getting distracted. Fortunately, no-one but Harry was paying Hermione any attention as none of their other friends were around. Luckily Ron and Ginny had gone off to practice their flying as they had high hopes of joining the quidditch team. Of course, Harry knew it still wasn't going to happen, but he wasn't going to say anything and lose a precious few hours away from the redheads.

"She's just so annoying," Hermione hissed. "I mean, look at her. She's all over Draco like a rash."

"To be fair, it doesn't seem to be bothering him," Harry retorted. The instant the words left his mouth he regretted them as Hermione gave him an icy look that gave him chills. "Or he could just be playing a part," He hastily added. "You know like we do when we pretend to be good little Gryffindors."

"I don't care if he's enjoying himself," Hermione defiantly replied with a shrug of her shoulder. "Why should I care if Pansy bloody Parkinson is drooling all over him? Let Draco deal with her, I'm not bothered."

"Of course you're not," Harry muttered, lowering his head so Hermione didn't see the smirk on his face.

"You know, I thought something would have been done about yesterday," Hermione said, changing the subject slightly. "How can a student be injured and nothing happens?"

"Beats me." Harry shrugged. "Just look at last year. Students were being petrified left right and centre, and nothing happened for months. Let's face it, Dumbledore's not exactly the best Headmaster."

"No, he's not," Hermione agreed as she turned her attention back to the Slytherin table and couldn't help but snarl slightly when she saw Pansy reaching up and brushing a wayward strand of hair away from Draco's eyes. "Damn Parkinson, someone ought to teach her to keep her hands to herself."

"If I didn't know any better, I would say someone has a crush," Harry teased.

"It does look that way, doesn't it," Hermione said, still watching Pansy and missing Harry's point completely. "Personally, I think Draco can do better than Parkinson."

"I'm sure he can and will," Harry said, inwardly chuckling at how dense Hermione could be at times. For someone so smart, she either hadn't noticed her feelings for Draco were taking a romantic turn, or she just didn't want to admit it. Personally, Harry wasn't sure which one was most likely as Hermione was stubborn enough to pretend her feelings hadn't changed, but she was also oblivious enough to think nothing had changed between her and Draco.

Hermione sighed and took one more look at Draco and Pansy, before turning her attention to the books piled in front of her. "Well, this homework isn't going to do itself. If we get going, we can do a fair bit this afternoon and not have to do as much next week after classes."

"A bit more free time would be nice," Harry said as he pulled out his own books. With three extra classes in his schedule it meant homework was likely going to take several hours longer a week, and they'd only been back a week. He was dreading to think how much homework they'd have as the weeks progressed and the homework assignments got tougher and longer.

Deciding it would be easier if they worked on the same homework assignment at the same time, they picked a subject and got going. Because they were doing the same homework they were able to share one book and occasional toss ideas around. As they worked, Hermione found herself relieved that Ron wasn't around. When Ron was around she was very careful what she said as he had a tendency to just copy her, whereas Harry didn't need to copy her as he was more than capable of doing his own work. Hermione suspected that Ron didn't really realise just how bright Harry was as her nephew tended to play down his abilities when he was with Ron. One day, Ron and everyone else, was going to get a major shock regarding Harry. Not only was he someone completely different to what they all thought, but he was also so much smarter and slyer than anyone realised.

For nearly an hour the pair worked on their homework, with only a few glances over at the Slytherin table. Despite the Great Hall supposedly been for those people wanting to study, the Slytherins didn't actually seem to be studying. They had their books out, but neither Harry nor Hermione had seen any of them pick them up, instead the group were happy to just chat to each other and have a laugh.

"That's that done," Harry declared as he slammed the Transfiguration book shut they'd been using.

"Only half a dozen more to do," Hermione joked as she finished off her last paragraph and began to check over her work for mistakes.

Hermione had barely begun to check her work when the doors to the Great Hall opened and Severus strolled in. He immediately made his way to the Slytherin table and said something to Draco which caused the blond to abandon his friends and get to his feet.

"I wonder what's going on," Harry said.

Hermione didn't get a chance to reply before Dean and Seamus came into the Great Hall, looking shocked. The pair quickly made their way over to Harry and Hermione as Draco and Severus exited the hall.

"Malfoy's father is out there," Dean confided.

"And he looked mad," Seamus added. "I wouldn't like to cross him, he looks pretty scary."

Harry and Hermione shared a look at the news Lucius was up at Hogwarts. They were both thrilled that he was here and they knew he was going to create a fuss, however they were frustrated that they would have to wait and try and catch Draco to find out what had happened. Sometimes the act they had to put on could hinder the rate at which they could get information, and all they could do was be patient. They'd find out what was going on eventually.


C.O.T.D.


Humming happily to himself, Draco entered the library and made his way to the secret room Hermione had found in their first year. After his father's visit he was dying to talk to Hermione and Harry and he was hoping one or both of them would be in the library before dinner. Once dinner was finished, he didn't think he'd be able to get away from his friends so he was hoping to find his two best friends in residence. Hopefully they'll have made their way to the room after witnessing his departure from the Great Hall, knowing it was the best place for them to catch up. Luckily for Draco, the trio were all on the same wave length and when he entered the room he found both Harry and Hermione lounging around.

"Hey," He called as he flopped down next to Harry on the sofa.

"Managed to drag yourself away from your fan club, have you?" Hermione asked.

Draco arched his eyebrow at Hermione's catty tone, while Harry snorted quietly beside him. "Fan club?" He queried.

"Pansy," Harry supplied. "We were watching her earlier."

"She's almost as bad as the Weasley girl is with you," Draco groaned. "I suppose that's the down side to playing on my injured arm."

"How is your arm?" Harry asked, noticing the blond was still in his sling.

"It aches a bit, but it's practically fine," Draco replied. "I'm just exaggerating slightly. Poor Madam Pomfrey can't work out why I'm not feeling better."

"What happens if she makes you go to hospital?" Harry questioned. Draco had the sympathy because of his injury, but that would disappear if people found out he was exaggerating his injury.

"She won't," Draco replied confidently. "In a few days I'll be well enough to remove the sling. Although my poor arm might still play up from time to time."

"You're terrible," Hermione laughed.

"I try," Draco said with a grin.

Harry laughed at Draco as he playfully elbowed his best friend in the ribs. "Drama queen. Are you planning on telling us what happened with your father?"

"It was brilliant," Draco announced with a smirk. "He gave Dumbledore a right mouthful about the slack job the Professors are doing. He then demanded something was done about Hagrid and that awful beast of his."

"Something like what?" Hermione questioned.

"He asked for Hagrid to be sacked and the Hippogriff to be destroyed," Draco answered.

"That's not fair," Hermione interrupted with an angry shout. "You were an idiot, and Buckbeak doesn't deserve to die for that. Yes, Hagrid should be sacked and he never should have brought such a dangerous creature into lessons, but Buckbeak doesn't deserve to die."

"Relax, Hermione," Draco said soothingly. "I said that's what Father asked for, not what he got or even what he expected to get. He never had any intention of getting the Hippogriff killed, he just said that to wind Hagrid and Dumbledore up. Hagrid was almost crying at the thought of that creature being put down."

"So what is happening?" Harry asked. He was also relieved that Buckbeak wasn't going to be hurt as he'd actually enjoyed himself on the flying beast.

"There's going to be an official hearing at the Ministry," Draco explained. "Both my father and Hagrid will have a few months to prepare their cases. In the meantime, Hagrid is on probation and has to have every creature he uses in his lesson double checked by Dumbledore or another senior member of staff. As for the Hippogriff, he can stay at Hogwarts but he'd not allowed anywhere near another student. One more injury either through the Hippogriff or in Care of Magical Creatures and Dumbledore and Hagrid are in big trouble."

"What do you think will happen at the hearing?" Hermione questioned.

"Father will push for Hagrid to lose his Professors position, and he'll ask for the Hippogriff to be rehoused somewhere it won't be a danger to anyone. Of course the final decision will rest with the Minister and the rest of the panel conducting the hearing, but my money's on Father getting what he wants."

"I'd back Lucius any day," Harry said with a nod.

"With a bit of luck we'll have rid of Hagrid by the end of the term," Draco said with a smirk. "And that will be one big, black mark against Dumbledore. It doesn't look good for the Headmaster to have to sack a Professor after only one term."

"And if we can prove Lupin is helping Black, we can get rid of him as well," Hermione added. "Dumbledore's track record with Defence Professors is abysmal, and add that to the mess with Hagrid and it doesn't look good for him. Maybe it's time Lucius started to start stirring the pot amongst the other parents. Could the Ministry ignore things if a lot of the parents voiced their concerns about Dumbledore?"

"Knowing Dumbledore he'll talk his way out of things," Harry muttered grumpily. "The man seems to live a charmed life. Everyone thinks he's such a great man, when really he's just a master manipulator. I wouldn't trust that man with my life."

"Harry's right," Draco said, sounding a word of caution to his female friend. "Dumbledore still holds a lot of sway and influence over the Ministry and the wizarding public in general. Getting rid of him might not be so easy."

"We have to try though," Hermione insisted. "Just think what we could do if he wasn't in charge any more. If Father comes back to full strength over the next few months, and Dumbledore is gone from Hogwarts, a lot of things can change. We could attend school as ourselves, Harry. No more pretending to be people we're not."

"That sounds great, but we can't count on it happening," Harry cautioned. "Let's just wait and see what the rest of the year holds, Hermione."

Despite his words of caution, Harry couldn't help but mull over the thought Hermione had planted into his head. For the rest of the day all he could think about was what it would be like to attend Hogwarts as his true self, son of Severus and grandson of Voldemort. He would like nothing more than to shed the name Potter and the association to James, but he wasn't going to get too overexcited in case it didn't happen. He knew that sometimes in life things didn't go according to plan, and all they could really do was live day by day and just wait and see what was going to happen as the year unfolded.