Disclaimer: This universe and the characters within it are not my own. They belong to J.K. Rowling, and all other respective owners. This is a work of FanFiction that no one will be profiting off of. Honest to Merlin, no copyright infringement is intended in the slightest. I can't be J.K. Rowling, I'm not even British.

Author's Note: Mmm, had trouble with this chapter. Sorry it took ages (and yet isn't very long at all?)! This time I'll be sure to update sooner. I already have several later chapters written, I just need to figure out how to get there from here...

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, thanks to those who review, and I hope you enjoy the tenth installment! :)

Chapter Ten

Draco Malfoy was very, very mad.

He was mad at himself.

He was mad at every other git in the castle.

Most especially, he was mad at Ronald Weasely.

He was also very, very mad at Harry Potter, but then, he always was.

It was rather well known when Draco Malfoy was in a bad mood, because at least three younger children would turn up in the hospital wing, unable to tell Madam Pomfrey how exactly they had become so hexed. Madam Pomfrey and the little ones, however, were rarely the first ones to figure out that Draco Malfoy was upset. Usually Pansy Parkinson was the first, and today was no exception.

"Draco, dear? I was wondering, would you like to give it another go? I think you'll find I really can be quite convincing," she contorted her head around in some strange way, batting her eyelashes. Did she really think that that was, in the least, attractive?

"Pansy, I was wondering, you would like to be found in a ditch thirty miles from here, very dead and very unrecognizable? Or would you rather leave me the hell alone?"

After Pansy came Blaise. Well, only technically. Usually Crabbe and Goyle noticed Draco was acting oddly pretty quickly, but they attributed it to hunger. Their logic was that since they were usually only emotionally unwell when they were separated from food, that must have been what was wrong with Draco. He realized that their offerings of food were acts of compassion, and wasn't very harsh when he turned them away each time. Eventually the two had a long discussion and decided that Draco had an upset stomach from eating too much.

Anyway, as I said, Blaise Zabini technically came next. He figured it out not from his own interactions with Draco, but from observations made while Draco interacted with others, like Pansy. Being smarter by far than the other three, Blaise avoided Draco all day. Which actually bothered him, as Draco wanted to have an intelligent discussion with someone.

The smartest person he could think of was Theodore Nott, but he'd always gotten the sense that Nott didn't really want to be associated with him, and although he'd never taken offense, he was rather put-out.

After enduring a boring Herbology lesson with the Ravenclaws, Draco was inspired. He should have realized it all along, really. He'd spoken with her before, and she always gave great, thoughtful advice, she could probably help him sort things out.

~o~

"You look lovely today, as always!"

"Yes, thank you. I was actually looking for some advice?"

"I'd stick with it as it is. Looks much better since you've stopped gelling it. I know girls who'd kill for that color. Pour potions on their heads, hoping it'll come out that shade of blond. Keep the clothes the same too, dear. The green and silver tie really suit you."

"Yeah. Thanks..."

Why, on earth, had he thought it would be a good idea to talk to a talking mirror? For Merlin's sake, that was pointless. Sure, it was almost like talking to himself, but still. He'd probably be better off talking to himself, actually, at least then he would already know exactly how gorgeous he thought (he knew) he was, and no one would feel compelled to voice it out loud.

~o~

"I'm so tired of Ron. Sure, I'll forgive him if he apologizes, but still. I mean, how could he think that-that-"

"I know, Hermione. How could he possibly think that you would ever be involved in such an atrocious manner with such a disgusting example of a human being as Draco Malfoy, it's simply stupid that he would ever think that, honestly sometimes he drives you crazy, he concludes things without significant evidence to support his conclusions, he was just like this with Krum except not because you don't even like Malfoy, he tried to punch Malfoy even though for once he literally did absolutely nothing to Ron or to you or to me, and you think Ron can be stupider than Pigwidgeon when he wants to be."

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried, startling Harry with an hug. "Oh, I'm so awful! Do I really say all that? All the time?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"I'm sorry, Harry! This must be dreadful for you!"

"It's all right, Hermione."

"No, it isn't! I'm going to go talk to Ron!"

"I thought you weren't apologizing to him?"

"Oh, I'm not. Didn't you hear me? I'm going to talk to him."

"Right. Well, good luck then."

~x~