It had been a few weeks since anything had happened, and now, in the middle of February, It was Valentine's Day. Luckly, Draco didn't have to do much. He just had to be a little kinder to the Ancient and Noble families. Although, he did buy Hermione a couple of chocolates. For his friend, he justified. It was a gift for his friend.
Draco decided he would antagonize Potter and Weasley, and, unfortunately, Hermione as well. He followed them down to Hagrid's hut, where the three of them and Hagrid were crowded around a table. On the table was an egg of some type. Hermione hadn't said anything about something like this, but then again, it had been a few days since he had talked to her. Perhaps it had come up since then.
Watching through the window, he leaned forward until the egg practically exploded, and a dragon came out of it.
Wait, a DRAGON! This was going to be reported! Hagrid might just kill himself with this one!
Draco accidentally hit the glass in the window with his head as he sprinted away, and heard the others coming out after him. Oops.
Well, looks like his plans were off.
.
Throughout the next week, Draco was forced to put on a smug face. Hermione had explained that she was hoping that the giant man would let something slip about the stone, and that was why she hadn't said anything about the dragon yet. Draco really didn't want to say anything, but knew his reputation was something that would force him to at some point.
He knew he would have to tip off one of the teachers about the movement of the dragon, but he didn't know how to get the information.
Then he noticed the letter that was in the book Weasley was reading. It was the reply 'Mione had been talking about. He 'borrowed' the book under the guise he wanted to make fun of the boy, and he was able to fool the boy. He got the book, and now knew the transfer was happening.
.
Unfortunately, he was caught waiting for the students, and lost twenty points for his house. He distantly heard Hermione cheering about his detention, and knew she was doing it to keep up their cover. It still hurt a little, but he understood the reasoning behind it.
Fortunately, the trio also got detention that night. Somehow, they were able to get up the tower, but not back down. And they lost fifty points. Each. He had only lost twenty. Take that, Gryffindor!
Exams were fast approaching, only two months away, and Draco was upping his studying time. If he wasn't the top of the class, he was going to have one of the worst summers yet.
.
His detention for the dragon incident came up quickly, and he received a note about a week after the whole debacle.
Mr. Malfoy,
Your detention will be served at eleven o'clock this night. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall ten minutes before.
Professor M. McGonagall
He was a bit confused. He broke the rules for being out of bed after curfew, so his detention was after curfew? This school was a bit odd, sometimes.
.
He was a bit surprised at the old punishments as well. Hanging people by their wrists from the ceiling? He wasn't sure if that was just to scare them or not, but he was sufficiently scared.
They were marched out of the hall towards the lake, but then continued past it, towards the Forest.
So, they were doing a detention after hours, in the Forbidden Forest? Let us just break all the rules in this detention for breaking the rules, yes?
"Is that you, Filch? Let's go, I want ter get this over with," Hagrid said. So Hagrid was their supervising teacher.
Potter made a relieved face, and Filch looked at him disgustedly. "Just because you have someone who favors you, you should still be unhappy for your detention in the forest, boy."
"The forest? We can't go in there, let alone at night! There are all sorts of foul creatures in there - like werewolves!" He put on a frightened tone, but now that he was certain they were to be going in there, he was a bit more frightened than usual. "I'm not going in there," he stated, knowing it was a lie. It was his deserved detention.
"If yeh don't, yeh can say goodbye to yer Hogwarts education."
"But - but I thought we would be doing lines or something! This is a servant's work. If my father knew about this -"
"He'd tell yeh that's how it's done here. Now, get in there. Unless yeh wanna show yer father the wand that would be snapped in two?"
He glared at Hagrid, but put his head down a while later. He wished Hermione didn't have to see him like this.
He was put in a group with Longbottom and Hagrid's mutt, Fang, and the six of them split up. A few minutes into the forest, Draco stopped, trying to be like his father would expect. Fang stayed with him, and Longbottom continued on for a couple seconds. When he noticed that he was alone, the boy started looking around and hyperventilating. Draco silently slipped around to the other side of the idiot and jumped out at him. Longbottom screamed and accidentally let out red sparks. Less than a minute later, Hagrid burst out of the underbrush and swung his crossbow around. Draco dropped to the ground and practically covered his head. After determining there was no threat, Hagrid lowered the bow and dragged the two first years to where Potter and Hermione were.
Draco had gotten a good laugh, but was now placed with Potter. Alright. After wandering the forest for a while Draco spotted a bit of silvery liquid. Potter touched his arm to stop him. "Look."
Draco looked up at where there was a small clearing and saw a unicorn laying there. Something dressed in black slithered up to the unicorn, almost snakelike, and Draco decided that he had enough of the forest. He let out a mighty scream (manly, thank you very much. It was not shrill at all. Do not believe whatever Potter tells you), and ran away with Fang. Out of the forest and all the way down to his common room, he never stopped. That was terrifying.
.
Exams were exhausting. All Draco wanted was to sleep for the rest of the week. He dragged himself to the Room of Requirement and laid down on the armchair that had been expanded into a couch.
Hemione never did come in, but Draco was content to sleep the study off, slowly forget everything. The last little bit of school was almost over, and he and Hermione had gotten quite proficient in the levitation spell throughout the year. They could now wandlessly lift one of the armchairs together. It was definitely progress.
He went down to dinner, and Hermione and her other friends seemed quite tense. Afterwards, he just went down to the common room to go to bed early. Nothing was going to happen tonight anyway.
.
The next morning, Draco woke up, and the castle itself felt different. He felt much more rested that he should have felt, and he wondered why. It was weird.
He rolled out of the bed and pulled on the standard school robes. Leaving the common room for breakfast, he noticed everyone else seemed a bit more active than was usual for this hour in the Slytherin common room.
He walked into the Great Hall and noticed that the three figures almost everyone in the school knew weren't there. Then he started to hear the whispers that were going about the Hall.
So, Potter, Weasley, and Hermione had gone to the forbidden corridor last night and made their way through all the traps, and gotten the stone only to accidentally destroy it? What kind of mess did they think they would get into next?
.
Later that night, at the end-of-term feast, Draco was excitedly filling his plate with food. The newly called 'Golden Trio' was at their table, and Draco and Hermione had shared a secret smile. They were okay.
Dumbledore had a big speech planned, and Draco paid it his attention, for Slytherin had won the house cup. He knew the Golden Trio was going to get points for their exploits the other night, and he was sour about it. He would keep up the happy facade though.
"Another year gone! I apologize for inconveniencing you with the wheezing waffle of an old man, especially after such a delicious feast. But what a wonderful year this one has been! I do hope your heads are a little fuller than they were at the beginning of the year, and now you have the entire summer to empty them all out." A couple of the students let out a chuckle, but no one from the Slytherin house was going to sink so low as to let out the laughter building out inside them.
"As I understand it, the House Cup had yet to be rewarded, and the points are as follows: Gryffindor in fourth, with a total of three hundred and twelve points; in third, Ravenclaw, with a splendid total of three hundred and forty seven; Hufflepuff with four hundred and two points takes second place; and Slytherin takes the lead with four hundered and seventy two points." Draco started cheering and stomping with the rest of his house.
"Slytherin, great job. But I have a few more, last minute, points to hand out." Dumbledore continued once the noise had died down a bit. Everyone perked up a little, except the Slytherins, who just calmed even more down, starting to frown a little before schooling their expressions.
"To Ronald Weasley, I give Gryffindor house fifty points, for one of the best played games of chess this school has seen in recent years.
"To Hermione Granger, I award Gryffindor house fifty points for the use of logic in a heated situation.
"To Harry Potter, I award Gryffindor house sixty points for pure nerve and courage.
"And finally, I must award Gryffindor house ten points for courage for standing up to friends, which can be more difficult than standing up to enemies. Neville Longbottom!"
Almost the entire hall was going wild, Slytherin had lost the house cup by ten points! The Gryffindor table was going quite wild, and the other houses were almost just as wild. The Slytherins were glaring around the hall, but Crabbe, who Draco had quickly grabbed and pulled down, had stood up and started clapping. He himself wanted to clap, but he knew that he couldn't. He would talk to Hermione later, in the Room of Requirement.
The decorations in the hall changed from green and silver snakes to red and gold lions.
.
Later that night, in the privacy of the Room of Requirement, Draco and Hermione were celebrating themselves. Draco had snuck off to the kitchens before and grabbed a spot of treats. The breakfast pastries would have to do, and Draco was perfectly content with that. As long as he and his best friend were able to spend time together.
"Dray, what do you think? For real."
"Mione, I think I wanted the house cup, but I'm glad you got it if I couldn't. What about you?"
"I'm sad we have to leave, that we can't see each other as often. But I know that this summer, I will be continuing my muggle studies, so I could get a job in the muggle world if the magical one doesn't work out. I think it will, but if you want, I could also send you the material. My parents know about magic, but not you having it. I think I would be able to tell them, and we can enroll you in the system, and we can work it out together."
"Mya, you're rambling." Draco cut her off, and she blushed. She did that a lot. The rambling. "I think I would like that."
He stood up and walked over and hugged her. "Send me the details with Amethyst soon, I'll get to it."
They hugged for quite a while, and when they let go, Draco noticed the tears on her face. She quickly wiped them away. "I - I better go - pack and everything." Her voice was thick with the tears, but Draco just smiled and let her leave. They had decided they would enter through the doors straight into their dorms once Draco found out they could do that, and it made leaving much easier. The room just reset itself, ready for the next person.
Draco left shortly afterwards, heading to his own dorm to pack.
.
The train ride back was uneventful, and Draco left the train to the platform in London looking for his parents. Once he found them, he graciously walked over with his trunk on a cart behind him. He caught one last glance of the awesome bushy hair his best friend had before he was apparated out of the station.
He was ready for the storm the summer would be.