Malfoy didn't reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning, when the Slytherin and Gryffindor were halfway through double Potions. He swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandage and bound up in a sling, which worried me. This whole week I was trying to decided if I wanted to see how Malfoy was doing. I don't know what been up with my lately.

"How's is it, Draco?" Simpered Parkinson. "Does it hurt much?"

I rolled my eyes as jealously filled my body. I quickly shake off the feeling and looked away from them.

"Settle down, settle down," Professor Snape said idly.

Harry and Ron looked at each other; Snape wouldn't have said "settle down" if they'd walked in late, he'd given them detention. But Malfoy had always been able to get away with anything in Snape's class; Snape was head of Slytherin House, and generally favored his own student above all other.

We were making a new potion today, Shrinking Solution. Malfoy set up his set up his cauldron right to the three of us, so that meant we were preparing out ingredients on the same table.

"Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help cutting these daisy roots, because of my arm-"

"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," Snape said without looking up.

Ron went brick red.

"Why can't Nia do it, she's right next to him." Ron protested.

I look up from the book and gave him a look, which made me kind of angry. It seemed Ron was still mad at me because of something, which I still had no idea why.

"Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots." Malfoy smirked.

Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's root toward him, and began to chop them roughly them roughly, so that they were all different sizes.

"Professor," drawled Malfoy. "Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir."

Snape approached our table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.

"Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley."

"But, sir-!"

Ron had spent the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into equal pieces.

"Now," Snape said in his most dangerous voice.

Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots from across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again.

"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned," Malfoy said, his voice full of malicious laughter.

"Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," Snape said, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.

Harry took Malfoy's shrivelfig as Ron began trying to repair the damaged to the roots he now had to us. harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and flung it back to Malfoy without speaking a word. Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever.

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" He asked us quietly.

"None of your business," I said jerkily, without looking up.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," Malfoy said in a tone of mock sorrow. "Father's not very happy about my injury-"

"Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury," snarled Ron.

"-he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this" -he gave a huge, fake sigh- "who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"

"So that's why you're putting it on," Harry said, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger. "To try and get Hagrid fired."

"Well," Malfoy said, lowering his voice to a whisper, "partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me."

"Well, the thing is Malfoy," I said looking up at him bitterly. "Hagrid can't get expelled unless Dumbledore wants it. So if could, please come off your high horse."

"Hey, Harry," Seamus Finnigan said, leaning over to borrow Harry's brass scales, "have you heard? Daily Prophet his morning-they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

"Where?" Harry, Ron and I asked quickly.

"Not too far from here," Seamus said, who looked excited. "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hot line. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone..."

"Not too far from here..." Ron repeated, looking significantly at Harry. He turned around looked at Malfoy. He had been listening. "What, Malfoy? Need something else skinned?"

But Malfoy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed on Harry. He leaned across the table.

"Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?"

"Yeah, that's right," Harry said offhandedly.

Malfoy's thin mouth was curving in a mean smile.

"Of course, if it was me," he said quietly. "I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy, I'd be out there looking for him."

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Ron said roughly.

"Don't you know, Potter?" Malfoy breathed, his pale blue eyes narrowed.

"Know what?"

Malfoy let out a low, sneering laugh.

"Maybe you'd rather not risk your neck," he said. "Want to leave it to the dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself."

"What are you talking about?" Harry said angrily, but at that moment Snape called, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now; this potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her mouth, so that Snape wouldn't see. I packed away my unused ingredients and went to wash my hands and ladles in the stone basin in the corner.

"What did Malfoy mean?" Harry muttered to me as he stuck his hands under the icy jet that poured from the gargoyle's mouth. "Why would I want revenge on Black? He hasn't done anything to me-yet."

"I don't know, maybe he's making it up." I said. "Maybe's he's trying to make you do something stupid..."

The end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron.

"Everyone gather 'round," Snape said, his black eyes glittering, "and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has manged to produce a Shrinking Solutions, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

The Gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited. Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand dipped a small spoon into Neville's potion, which was now green. He trickled a few drops down Trevor's throat.

There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped; then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm.

The Gryffindors and I burst into applause. Snape, looking sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.

"Five points from Gryffindor," Snape said, which wiped the smiles from every faces. "I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."

Me, Harry, Ron and Hermione climbed the steps to the entrance hall.

"Five points from Gryffindor because the potion was all right! Why didn't you lie, Hermione? You should've said Neville did it all by himself!"

"Or maybe she just shouldn't have helped me!" I argued.

"Where is she?" Harry asked.

I turned around. We were at the top of the steps now, watching the rest of the class pass them, heading to the Great Hall for lunch.

"She was right behind us," Ron said, frowning.

Malfoy passed us, walking between Crabbe and Goyle. He smirked at Harry and disappeared.

"There she is," Harry said.

Hermione was panting slightly, hurrying up the stairs; one hand clutched her bag, the other seemed to be tucking something down the front of her robes.

"How did you do that?" Ron asked.

"What?" Hermione said, joining us.

"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again-"

"What?" Hermione looked slightly confused. "Oh-I had to go back for something. Oh no-"

A seam had spilt on Hermione's bag. I wasn't surprised; I could see that it was crammed with at least a dozen large and heavy books.

"Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her.

"You know how many subjects I'm taking," Hermione said breathlessly. "Couldn't hold these for me, could you?"

"But-" Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. "You haven't got any of those subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."

"Oh yes," Hermione said vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. "I hope there's something good for lunch, I'm staving," she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall.

"D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?" Ron asked Harry.

"She's definitely hiding something." I laughed.

"She's not the only one." Ron said bitterly.

"Ron..." I hissed. "What is your problem?"

He was about to answer me but Harry stopped him. "Let's go to lunch."

I could hear the beautiful chimes that rang from the back porch of my home. I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling. It was hot summer day and I had just gotten into argument with my parents. Those chimes always seem to calm me down.

Suddenly a flash of light surrounded me.

I sit up and see Mills with my Image Pro Polaroid.

"Mills, I'm not in the mood." I groaned laying back down.

"I can tell," Mills joked sitting next to me on my bed. "Teenagers these days."

I gave him a look.

"Do you want to go to Diagon Alley?" Mills asked.

I sit up and smiled up at him. Mills and I would always go there to have ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. The ice cream there was the best we'd ever had.

Diagon Alley looked like it always did; busy. It was less busy than usual but seeing as it's the beginning of summer and school is nowhere near starting. After Mills and I had other ice cream. Mills decided to go look around since he's never had the chance to do so. I decided to go Quality Quidditch Supplies but not before I noticed the Daily Prophet was talking about the events that had happened at Hogwarts.

I shake my head and continue into the shop and began looking around when suddenly the shop owner rushed everyone out. Confused as to why he kicked everyone out, I notice other stores were kicking people.

"There was a robbery at Gringotts!" A wizard said panicked. "They used the killing curse on someone."

Everyone quickly heads to Gringotts and I follow behind.

There was a huge crowd in front of Gringotts, some people were crying, and were in shocked.

"That poor young man," a lady said sadly. "I think he's a Muggle."

My eyes widen and I quickly start to push through the crowd. There on the ground laid my brother.

In a cold sweat, I startled awake. I looked around my surrounding and saw that I was in the girl's dorm. I lay back down and take a breath. That dream felt so real, but I was so good it was just a dream.

It felt wrong to go back to sleep, so I decided to grab Milly and a quill and paper. I didn't want to wake up any of the girl, so I went down to the common room. I sat at a table and began writing my letter to Mills.

Mills,
I had a horrible dream about you. We went to Diagon Alley and Gringotts was getting robbed which has never happened. You were killed and it felt so real. I'm just making sure you're okay.
Write me back as soon as you get this.

Love you, Nia

I give the letter to Milly and go open the door to let her out.

"Backenter," A male voice said.

I look back and see Malfoy. He looked sleepy like he had just woken up and he had his blanket on him. His silver-blonde hair was messy and it made him look dorky.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked.

"I was sending a letter to my brother." I said.

"At three in the morning?" Malfoy said as though I was crazy.

"I had a horrible dream." I said walking over to the couch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Malfoy asked following me and sitting next to me.

"My brother and went to Diagon Alley for Florean Fortescue's ice cream," I said. "And there was a robbery at Gringotts and the person-whoever they were-killed my brother using the killing curse."

"Mills? That was his name right?" Malfoy asked.

I nodded and shivered since it was cold and I was had a t-shirt and sweatpants on. Malfoy take off his blanket and put it on me.

"Thank, Malfoy." I said, and a thought popped into my head. "What did you mean when you told Harry he should get revenge on Black?"

"You really want to know?" Malfoy said smirking. I nodded. "What will you do for me?"

I gave him a look and laugh. I pretend to think and say, "I could slap you."

"Okay," Malfoy said briskly. "I'll tell you. Sirius Black is Harry's godfather and he helped the Dark Lord kill the Potter's."

"How do you know this?" I asked shocked.

"My father told me," Malfoy said proudly. "He tells me everything. Are you going to tell Potter?"

I thought for a moment. "No," I said shaking my head. "He would most certainly go after Black and that would get him killed."

"Aw, you're no fun." Malfoy said disappointed.

"Okay, sure," I said giving him a look.

"All right," Malfoy said giving up. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Can we be friends?"

And their relationship is starting to blossom. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! - Poppy