At the welcoming feast for the new term Draco and the other Slytherins watched in disgust as McGonagall introduced herself as the new Headmistress. The only consolation was the fact she referred to herself as 'acting' head, although she would also still be teaching Transfiguration which wasn't the best news.
"Ugh, I can't believe McGonagall's in charge." Pansy sneered. "She's going to be just as bad as Dumbledore."
"I bet she doesn't get the job permanently though." Theo snorted.
"Yeah, it sounds to me like they're just using her until they line up someone more permanent." Blaise added.
"Or it could be a trial run." Draco pointed out. "These next few months could be her interview for the job."
"Maybe we should ensure she doesn't get the job." Blaise smirked. "I'm sure we could ensure her time in charge is fraught with problems."
"What's the point in that?" Daphne Greengrass queried. "This is our last year, why should it bother us who's in charge?"
"It's the principal of the thing." Theo explained. "It's time someone other than a bloody Gryffindor was in charge."
"Exactly." Blaise nodded, slapping Theo on the back in a supportive manner. "Plus, as you said this is our last year and I reckon we should go out with a bang."
"I'm sure we can manage that Blaise." Draco chuckled.
"Should you really be encouraging them, Draco?" Daphne questioned. "You are the Head Boy and you should be setting an example."
"I am setting an example." Draco grinned wickedly.
"I meant you should be setting a good example." Daphne giggled, unable to stay mad at the handsome blond boy.
"Where's the fun in being good?" Draco replied, winking at Daphne. While he may be with Hermione and wouldn't dream of cheating on her, he was still unable to resist flirting with attractive witches.
Blaise and Theo exchanged amused looks at their friend's antics while Crabbe and Goyle looked unimpressed with his flirting. Crabbe and Goyle had been rather taken with The Dark Lady when they met her over the summer and didn't like that Draco was flirting with Daphne so soon after leaving her. At the party they had attended over the holidays, Draco had spent almost the entire time with The Dark Lady and the couple looked very happy together. Blaise and Theo however knew Draco didn't mean anything with his flirting, he just couldn't help himself.
As the feast progressed, the Slytherins continued laughing and joking as they enjoyed being back in school one final time. They didn't bother discussing McGonagall again or their plans to cause trouble, instead they focused on the newspaper articles that were all the talk in the rest of the Great Hall.
"Do you think it was true?" Pansy asked. "Did Dumbledore sacrifice the Potter's just to get rid of The Dark Lord's powers?"
"Of course it is." Draco snorted. He actually had no idea if the story was true as he hadn't spoken to Hermione since the story emerged and Lucius just kept telling him to ask Hermione. "We all know that Dumbledore liked being considered the most powerful wizard in Britain, he just didn't like it that The Dark Lord was more powerful."
"But do you really think he would have sacrificed the Potter's to achieve that?" Daphne asked, looking sceptical. "He was supposed to be their friend and he knew they had a baby."
"A baby who grew up to worship the ground Dumbledore walked on." Theo argued. "I mean look at how much influence Dumbledore had over Potter. By getting rid of his parents he was able to influence Potter easily."
"Yeah, I mean even now Potter refuses to acknowledge what Dumbledore did." Blaise said. As they were entering The Great Hall earlier they had heard Potter grumbling to his friends about the lies people were spreading about the former headmaster.
"Do you really think Dumbledore scarified Potter's parents to influence him?" Pansy questioned, shooting a curious glance over to the Gryffindor table where the boy in question was sitting scowling at everyone.
"Maybe." Draco shrugged. "Who knows what he would have been like if his parents had raised him. Maybe he wouldn't have been so dumbstruck by Dumbledore."
"Plus, he might have been more powerful." Theo added. "I mean he was prophesied to defeat The Dark Lord, surely that means he has power. Dumbledore was probably scared of what sort of power he could have and decided to sort him at the same time as The Dark Lord."
"It was him who left Potter with his muggle family." Draco said. "Who knows what Potter could have been if he'd been raised in the wizarding world. Instead he lost his early years living with muggles, therefore he was never going to be as powerful."
"What makes you think that?" Goyle asked.
"Yeah, how do you know living with muggles blunted his power?" Crabbe questioned.
"Because he didn't know he had magic for the first years of his life and true power is harnessed at a young age." Draco said.
"But The Dark Lord didn't know he had magic before he started school." Daphne pointed out. "He spent his early years living with muggles."
"Yes, but he wasn't as thick as Potter and he knew he was special." Draco countered. "He may not have known about his magic, but he'd figured out how to use his power. Therefore by the time he attended Hogwarts he was already pretty powerful, he just had to learn how to wield that power. I bet the most Potter did before coming to Hogwarts was a bit of accidental magic that he didn't even realise came from him."
The conversation about Dumbledore lasted for the rest of the feast and only came to a halt when McGonagall announced it was time to head off to bed. Draco and his gang of Slytherins were one of the first lot out of The Great Hall as they headed down to the dungeons.
"Don't you have duties as Head Boy?" Pansy asked. "Isn't it your job to show the first years where to find the dungeons?"
"Do I look like a tour guide?" Draco asked with a snort. "I gave that job to the two fifth year prefects, let them deal with the little squirts."
"Do you not have any other duties?" Pansy continued to press.
"You know Pans, anyone would think you were trying to get rid of me." Draco commented to his ex-girlfriend, who just rolled her eyes at him. "And for the record, I have no duties until tomorrow night when I have to help draw up the patrol schedules."
"Why do you have to help do that?" Blaise asked as the group reached the entrance of the common room. "Can't the Head Girl do it?"
"He can't let her do everything, as tempting as it may be." Theo replied. "We all know what a bossy shrew Granger is, if Draco let's her take control early on she'll be insufferable."
"Exactly." Draco nodded. "I have to keep Granger on her toes. I'm not giving her any reason to go running to McGonagall and complain that I'm not pulling my weight."
"That's exactly the sort of thing she would do." Pansy sneered at the mention of the Gryffindor witch. "Uptight little know-it-all that she is."
"Calm down, Pans. I can keep Granger under control." Draco smirked, thinking of the control he could exert over Hermione. "She won't be a problem for me."
"Let's hope you're still so confident when you've been dealing with her all year." Pansy laughed. "I bet by the end of the year she's driving you bloody insane."
"I think you're underestimating me, Pans." Draco chuckled. "I can cope with Granger."
"We'll see." Pansy smirked. "Anyway, we're off to bed. Night boys."
After saying goodbye to Pansy and Daphne the five boys headed up their own dorm room. After settling in and getting ready for bed, they each flung themselves on their own beds as they settled down to chat for a while. After a bit more chat about Dumbledore the conversation turned to the four boy's initiation into the Death Eaters over the summer. Since the foursome's initiation and first meeting they had only been together one time after that, at the Death Eater's summer party. Even there they hadn't had much time to talk as Draco had spent most of his evening with Hermione.
"I still can't get over some of the people who are Death Eaters." Theo remarked. "I mean, did you see Lavender Brown's father?"
"Yeah, but I didn't know who he was until after I'd spoken to him and practically called his daughter a slapper." Blaise muttered.
"You what?" Draco laughed. "What happened?"
"Well I was talking to him and he was asking about school. Naturally the talk turned to Potter and his friends, and when I mentioned Weasley I may have mentioned him shagging a tart in our year." Blaise said. "Of course I didn't know who he was until he glared at me and walked away. That's when Lucius came up behind me and pointed out I'd just insulted his daughter."
"Smooth as ever, Blaise." Theo laughed.
"I didn't know, did I?" Blaise retorted with a pout. "I mean, who expects Gryffindors to have Death Eater parents?"
"Not me." Goyle said quietly. "That's why I've never approached Lavender before."
"Are you saying you fancy Brown?" Theo asked in bewilderment.
"Maybe." Goyle shrugged. "Not that it matters, she's with Weasley."
"Don't let that stop you Greg, if you want her go for it." Draco encouraged his friend.
"Do you really think I should?" Goyle asked uncertainly.
"Yeah." Draco nodded. "When it comes to girls you just need to steam in and take what you want."
"Is that how it worked for you and The Dark Lady?" Blaise questioned with a smirk. "Because something tells me that's she's not the sort of witch you steam in with. It's more likely that she set her sights on you and you were powerless to resist."
"The Dark Lady may be a formidable witch, but she's still just a witch." Draco answered cockily. "A bit of the Malfoy charm, and she was putty in my hands."
"Nah, I'm not buying that." Theo remarked, shaking his head. "We've all seen her, she's definitely the one in charge."
"In public maybe, but I assure you blokes that in the bedroom she's completely at my mercy." Draco bragged.
"Lucky sod." Blaise muttered. "I wouldn't mind having her at my mercy, she's bloody stunning. Did you see that dress she was wearing at the party? I kept waiting for her to bend over too far and fall out of it."
"Hey, that's my girlfriend you're talking about." Draco scolded his friend, but he couldn't help but grin at the memory of Hermione in her tight green dress. The dress had clung to her every curve and barely contained her breasts, which like Blaise said had been threatening to pop out all night.
"It's just a bit of friendly banter." Blaise grinned. "A bloke can look, can't he? It's not as if she would even notice, whenever you were around her attention was all focused on you."
"What can I say, I'm irresistible." Draco smirked. "Even the ferocious Dark Lady melts when I'm around."
"Is she really that ferocious?" Goyle asked. "She was really nice to me, I like her."
"So do I." Crabbe agreed. "She doesn't talk to me as though I'm a complete idiot."
"You know I did hear a couple of the Death Eaters talking, about Bellatrix." Theo remarked.
"What did you hear?" Draco asked.
"That she betrayed The Dark Lady to the Order and she was dealt with pretty nastily." Theo answered. "Is that true? Because your aunt is mysteriously missing these days."
"There's no mystery about where she is, she's dead." Draco replied. "She betrayed The Dark Lady and was punished. Most of the Death Eaters don't talk about it, because it was bloody scary."
"You were there?" Blaise questioned, leaning forward in excitement. "What happened?"
"Before I tell you, I want you to remember that Bella betrayed her and had been warned about her behaviour before. I also want to remind you that if you're loyal, she's great and rewards people for what they do."
Satisfied his friends would remember the good points about Hermione, Draco told them a quick version of what had happened with his aunt. He didn't go into the gory details, but he told them enough so that they knew just how ruthless she was when crossed.
"Wow." Theo whistled softly at the end of Draco's story. "It's a good job we're planning on being loyal to her."
"As I said, if you're loyal and do what she asked you have no problems. I mean look at me, I've already secured a place near the top of the table." Draco said.
"Yeah, I was meaning to ask about that." Blaise said. "How did you get up to the top so quick? I mean you're practically sitting beside her and I presume you're not there because you please her in bed."
"I first got a seat in the middle of the table when my aunt had upset her and was moved down the table." Draco explained. "But since then I've moved up be doing a job for her last year."
"What job?" Theo questioned.
"I helped her find a way to get some of her Death Eaters into school the night Dumbledore was killed." Draco boasted. He'd already spoken to Hermione about what he could tell his friends and she was fine with him revealing some of what he'd done, he just had to be careful with revealing too many details.
"You were involved in Dumbledore's death, impressive." Blaise remarked.
"It is, isn't it?" Draco smirked.
"You're so modest." Theo laughed. "Honestly, it's a wonder you can fit your head into the room, it's so big."
The rest of the boys laughed, all agreeing that Draco was pretty egotistical. Draco also admitted he could be big-headed before the conversation drifted off again, this time returning to McGonagall and her position as Headmistress.