Draco heard from Mya that Buckbeak and Hagrid had lost the hearing. If only he had helped Mya a bit more. The execution date was set, and Draco was gloating on the creature's misfortune. He really didn't want to be doing so, though.
Talking to Crabbe and Goyle about it, he didn't realize the Golden Trio was coming up behind him.
"Look at him blubber! Have you ever seen something so pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher."
His head suddenly turned with the feeling of a sting on his cheek, that quickly reddened and started to hurt more. He turned back, seeing Mya with her hand still slightly raised, and his eyes widened. There was pure fury in her eyes, it was something Draco never wanted to see again.
"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you weak - you evil -" She broke off, finding nothing to call him, and just stood there, her expression darker than he had ever seen it. She then made a sudden move to bring her fist back, as if she was going to punch him, but Ron pulled her back. Grabbing her wand with her other hand, she pointed it at his face. He was actually not acting anymore. He was properly terrified of his girlfriend, and he almost begged her to get away.
With Ron holding her back, Draco and his bodyguards ran off to the common room. He was terrified.
Later that day, in Arithmancy, Hermione was starting to act weird. Draco knew she would be mad at him, and decided to back off for today. She was starting to break down again, getting closer and closer to her breaking point. The lesson went smoothly, all things considered.
.
It was late that night that Mya walked into the RoR. Draco noticed she was moving really slowly, but she did immediately move in for a greeting, even if it was only a hug today. She sat on the couch and then flopped over until she was laying down. Draco lifted her head and placed it in his lap, waiting for her to say something. She was just laying there for close to half an hour, and when Draco looked down at her, she was resting peacefully. He carefully levitated a book over to him, and opened it. It was one of the many she had gotten him for Christmas, and he read it to her.
The peace was a welcome change. Once his Mya woke up from her little nap, she sat up and moved over to him, snuggling into his side. "I'm sorry about earlier. I - I don't know what came over me, but I needed an outlet. You were in the way. Sorry, love."
"Mya. Beautiful, charming Mya. You don't have to apologize. If anything, it made our cover even better. Now everyone thinks we honestly hate each other."
She chuckled and added to his statement. "They couldn't be further from the truth." She paused for a moment, just tucked into his side, before saying that she had missed Charms today. She forgot in all her classes, and the Cheering Charm is what they worked on. "But I have that one down, so I should be fine. Right? Oh, and it's probably going to be in the exams. Professor Flitwick hinted at that. And then I went to Divination, for whatever reason. I quit that weeks ago. Before the holidays, even. My brain has been turned to mush, Dray. I'm so lost."
The Easter holidays were fast approaching, but Draco didn't expect to get any rest over them. He warned Hermione as such, and said it would be a good time to get caught back up. She agreed, and they met in the RoR almost every morning and afternoon.
.
The Quidditch match after the holidays was a welcome distraction. It was getting closer and closer to the end of the year, and Draco was gearing up and ready for the massive change that it usually brought. Draco was not pleased with the team Flint had brought out, they were all large and stupid. He was the only small one on the team, and he supposed that was good, for he would be able to (hopefully) move faster than Potter. (Probably not, the kid had a Firebolt, for Merlin's sake.) But the team would still try their best.
Draco had the chance to grab the Snitch, but Potter swooped in the way. Draco did the only thing he could think of, and grabbed the tail of the broom. He knew it would be a penalty, but didn't want Slytherin to lose so terrifically. It was also for the Cup.
He almost laughed at Jordan's commentary, and turned to see McGonagall shaking her finger at him. He really did let out a quiet huff of laughter at the sight.
.
Hermione practically skipped into the RoR the next night. He knew she wasn't going to be there the night of the win, and instead decided to meet her the next day. He grabbed her and spun her around in his arms. "Congratulations. I know, I know. I should be really disappointed, and I am. I'm happy it went to you instead. Even if you aren't on the team, I congratulate you all. You, your House, Harry, Wood, everyone. I know this was all Wood wanted."
She just giggled at him and kissed him soundly. "Thanks, Dray."
"So, on a completely different note, how are you doing exam wise?"
"I have two exams Monday at nine, and two in the afternoon, at one. It;s gonna be difficult to get them all, but I think I'll do okay. You?"
"Well, as you know, I have the two in the morning, and then the others are all over the place. But I'll get to them. Which one are you most worried about?"
"I think the History of Magic exam. It's too hard to focus in there, so I think I didn't get all of it in the reading that we did on our own."
"You'll do fine." He tugged her arm and pulled her into a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder and started swaying. Eventually, somehow, they were dancing to music only they could hear, but then a nice melody floated throughout the room. The two of them swayed and moved around the room. It was a nice stress reliever, and something they had never done before. Draco liked it.
.
The exams were finally over, and Draco had never been so free of stress. The rest of the year was going to be easy. Well, the rest of the school year. Who knows what might come up from the 'end of the year' mess Potter always got into. Hopefully, it would all be mild, but probably not.
.
The next morning, there was a Hogsmeade visit, and Draco didn't see any of the Golden Trio there, but then again, there were a nice few rumors going around about what had happened last night. Professor Snape let it slip out over breakfast that Professor Lupin was a werewolf, and the Defence professor was packing his belongings to leave this afternoon. He would probably hear from Hermione this afternoon. In the meanwhile, he would be furious that Buckbeak escaped, and came up with a lot of 'theories' that couldn't be further from the truth. At least, he hoped so.
.
He went down to Uncle Sev's classroom, wanting to talk to him for a bit. It was something he had rarely done in the past, so when Uncle Sev put down the first year exams he was grading, Draco smiled at him. He easily shifted into the younger version that he preferred to adopt when it was just him and his godfather.
"Uncle Sev, what did happen last night. Obviously, you were there."
"Well, Little Dragon, there is little I can tell you that you won't find out for yourself, but Black got away, Pettigrew is the real traitor and Death Eater, and Black never was one." He paused, seeing the look on Draco's face. "Yes, I have seen the way you look at Granger. She looks at you the same way. I observe far more than you realize, Draco." Severus smirked at the dumbfounded expression on his godson's face. "What is the nature of your relationship?"
"Swear you won't tell anyone about it?"
"I swear on my magic that I won't tell anyone without your permission." A light breeze fluttered through the room at the words. If Uncle Sev ever told anyone, his magic would be taken from him.
"She's my girlfriend. We've been friends since I was ten." About a week ago was about their one year anniversary as well. He was glad he knew her, she had really changed his life. Made it complete.
.
He walked into the RoR one last time for this school year, he saw Hermione laying upside down on the couch reading a book and waited for her to right herself. Once she did, he kissed her right away. Giving her a bottle of butterbeer that he had smuggled into the school from Hogsmeade, he also gave her a necklace he had specially made for her. "Happy anniversary, Mya."
"I love it, Dray. And I love you too."
He wrapped her in a hug, hands around her waist. Kissing her softly, he wasn't surprised as much when soft music started playing. Her hands were around his neck, and they slowly swayed to the music, looking into each other's eyes and relishing in their closeness. Draco couldn't believe they were only thirteen. Well, he was thirteen, and she was fourteen. But still.
"Mya."
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to try to meet up over the summer?"
"Hm. If you think you can get away, I think I would be able to meet you in Diagon Alley. Just owl me the date you'll be heading down there."
"You know, the Quidditch World cup is going to be here this summer. We already have tickets, do you think you'll somehow get some?"
"Maybe. We'll see." She leaned in for another kiss.
"So, what happened out there last night?"
"Sirius is innocent, Scabbers was really Peter Pettigrew, who is an illegal Animagus, Lupin nearly killed us all, Ron broke his leg, Buckbeack took Sirius away."
"Okay. Can you say all of that again, and possibly explain some of it?" Hermione unwound herself from Draco and sat on the couch after he did, snuggling into his side. He wrapped his arm around her, and waited to hear the 'official' record of what happened.
"We went down to Hagrid's cabin, before the appeal that afternoon, and found Scabbers, Ron's rat, in one of the milk jugs. Jump forward a few minutes, Scabbers runs away, followed by a black dog, and Ron gets dragged under the Whomping Willow. Breaks his leg, too. We followed, Crookshanks pressed a knot on the tree that froze it, and it was actually a kind of trap. Vlack was waiting for us. Lupin came down a few minutes later, I mighta spilled his secret, and it was all really confusing for a while. Eventually, we fixed it, and in the process, figured out the Marauders Map was really written by Pettigrew, Professor Lupin, Sirius, and James Potter. Snape came in under the Invisibility Cloak Harry dropped at the foot of the tree, though we didn't know it at the time. It was all a mess from there. We all used Expelliarmus on him, accidentally knocked him out. Pettigrew was forced out of his rat stage, and a bit more was explained.
"Eventually, we left the tunnel, and Pettigrew escaped, leaving us. It was the full moon, Lupin forgot the Wolfsbane potion, ran off himself. Sirius chased him, and Harry, Ron and I were left to the dementors that had gathered around the edge of the tree. I passed out and woke up in the Hospital wing."
She paused for a minute, and took a sip of her butterbeer. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a tad tired.
"Anyway, I used the Timer-Turner after Dumbledore left, and went three hours back. We saved Buckbeak, and waited in the forest for the Willow thing to pass. Harry thought his father beat off the dementors, turned out it was really him, and we met back in the Hospital wing with seconds to spare. And I turned it in. Dropped Muggle Studies, so I'm only taking Arithmany, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures. I didn't really learn anything there, being raised by muggles and all."
"Well, Mya, I'm glad you are safe." Draco hugged the love of his life closer to his chest. He wished she wasn't tangled up with Potter, but couldn't expect her to cut off most of her friends. Although, he didn't understand why she was friends with Ron, she constantly fought with him.
.
The results to the exams quickly came in, and Hermione had passed every single one of them with an amazing grade. Draco did as well, and the two of them congratulated the other over owl post, deciding not to meet in the RoR for the rest of the year.
The train ride home was uneventful, the only thing that really happened was Pansy hanging onto every word Draco said. He wanted to go find Potter, but knew it would be better if he didn't. He would leave the trio alone. This ride only, though.