Sunday was probably the most uneventful day so far this year, but Hermione enjoyed it immensely. Heather was off with her friends, so Zacharias and Ginny rejoined Draco and Hermione in their little study group. They worked from dawn till dusk, and satisfied with the knowledge that they were very well prepared for this week's upcoming tests, they all slept soundly.
Monday was a little more exciting, for that was when the Daily Prophet announced that Lucius Malfoy had been the one to apprehend the fugitive Birches in Spain. The couple had been living in disguise as an old couple in Barcelona, and both were now in the custody of the Ministry. Minister Shacklebolt had issued a statement, saying that "They deserve a full trial, even though their accuser was under the influence of Veritaserum when he was questioned." Draco had snorted at that, saying it was a waste of time, and that his father had made sure of his work.
Hermione agreed that it was a waste of time as well, but she could see why Kingsley was doing this. The Ministry needs good publicity and an image of fairness and "innocent until proven guilty" or whatever it is. However, she just let Draco rant about his father not getting the two thousand-Galleon bounty for his capture: one for the husband, and one for the wife. However, her boyfriend was mollified by the attention and praise he received for his father's deed from students and teachers all over, as well as happy that Trevor seemed glum and sullen.
Class was also interesting that day, for Zacharias managed to make his potion fantastically explode, and Professor Slughorn wasted no time in teasing him about it for the whole class to hear. Ginny regained some of her livelihood after she had had a private chat with Lady Montecino, and Hermione thought that life was finally going to settle when two letters arrived from Harry via a strange-looking foreign owl: one for her, and one for Ginny.
Harry's letter brought her a lot of relief. Apparently, Ron hadn't received her letter yet when he had sent out this one, and his message conveyed the depth of Ron's infatuation with Jane Dawlish. Hermione reasoned that Ron wasn't all that bad in her reply letter, saying that perhaps he had finally found his true soul mate in her and that she was fine with it. However, she did make very clear that it was shameful of him to chase after a married woman, especially one married to a powerful Auror, and that this Auror was coincidentally his trainer.
She admitted to Harry the depth of her feelings for Draco and revealed the fact that she had sent Ron a break-up letter before starting her new relationship, telling him that she truly and deeply loved him, and thanked him for being friends with him. She told him that Draco had also made peace with Hagrid, as well as the fact that he had become fast friends with Ginny and Zacharias. Although she knew he despised Zacharias, she assured him that he had changed as much as Draco, and hoped that they would be able to meet some time as friends.
Lastly, she told him how much Ginny missed him, and begged him to try to come home as soon as possible, possibly even completing his training early. She wrote how she would like to still come to the Burrow for the holidays and visit, even possibly with Draco. In her postscript, she requested that Harry keep a close eye on Ron, as she would like for him not to be hexed to pieces by Dawlish the next time she saw him, and to say hello to Neville for her.
She mailed her letter back to Harry, along with an extensive one from Ginny, after feeding the foreign owl as well as letting him rest his wings with a massaging potion that she loved to use for her aching fingers after a day of heavy homework with essays on top. As she and Ginny watched the owl fly into towards the moon, Draco came up behind her and started massaging her shoulders. Hermione sighed happily, and Ginny followed suit. Zacharias was still finishing his homework, as he was the slowest one out of the four of them, although he still received excellent marks.
That night, Draco and Hermione slept in Hermione's bed, as Draco claimed it smelled perpetually of daisies, and he was getting addicted to the scent. Unfortunately, Crookshanks had decided that he wanted to sleep on Hermione's bed that night, and not the couch, so Draco and him had a rather nasty brawl when Draco shut him outside Hermione's door, only to have the furry and infuriated creature come barreling back in via her bathroom door to start scratching Draco to death. However, they made peace when Draco offered Crookshanks his own bed, and Crookshanks accepted, although his tail was still high in the air, signifying that he felt not one bit sorry for the bloody mess on Draco's once unblemished legs.
As Hermione was healing him, they sat on her bed, and Draco's left arm was lying carelessly next to her. She noticed the scar there that had once been the Dark Mark, and was surprised at how faded it was, even more so than the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. When she asked him how he had managed to make it fade so fast, he shrugged, and replied, "A lot of repenting, I guess. Father's is fainter than mine." Hermione let the subject drop after sensing Draco's discomfort and finished healing his wounds. Crookshanks really does have bad manners. she grimaced, seeing that the scars on Draco's legs were clearer than the ones on his arm.
Tuesday morning seemed to be another promising day, as when Hermione and Draco stepped into the common room, the sun was shining through the eastern window, and the Giant Squid was basking in the lake at this early of an hour. Draco spotted something lying on the glass coffee table, and picked it up.
It was a neatly folded scrap of parchment, and Draco read it out loud as Hermione stood next to him. Apparently, Professor McGonagall had finally sent out word that the first Quidditch match of the year, to be held on this upcoming Saturday, would be held between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Hermione groaned inwardly while Draco's mouth stretched into a wicked smirk. "Time to beat Birch to a pulp." he crowed, towing Hermione downstairs as fast as non-magically possible to share the news not only with his team, but with Ginny and Zacharias.
Thus ten minutes later, Draco was at the Slytherin table sharing the news with his teammates, mimicked by Trevor Birch at the Ravenclaw table. Ginny and Zacharias were excitedly discussing this newest bit of news, and Hermione was nibbling on some toast, her head, not surprisingly, buried in a book. Even if Draco was indeed her boyfriend, she could still care less about Quidditch. The only important thing to her was if he won or lost, so she would know how to properly congratulate him or console him.
Just then, an owl flew in and landed in front of Hermione with today's edition of the Daily Prophet. Hermione untied the scroll from the owl's leg and deposited a Knut into the pouch attached to its other leg, and it flew off. The Senior Girl then unfurled the rolled-up copy of the newspaper, took one look at the flashing picture that took up the entire front page, and promptly threw up.