In the first week of school, Draco found the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement rather easily. That was where his luck ran out. Three weeks of frustratingly little progress in repairing it had left him scrambling for an alternative and, while he considered himself a creative wizard, the puzzle of how to kill Albus Dumbledore was not an easy one to solve.
As he left the library after an unproductive brainstorming session and headed for Charms, Draco glimpsed Grey chatting with a few Hufflepuff girls outside the classroom. His nose wrinkled in annoyance. It wasn't her fault, really, but the many times that he had heard her name amongst his fellow Slytherin in the first month back to school—how gorgeous she was, had she always been so pretty, was she seeing anyone—was outright irritating.
Draco was considering taunting her about it, or at least scaring off her idiot friends, when a seventh year Ravenclaw, who was most definitely not in their class, appeared. He was popular with the witches in his year, though Draco couldn't see the appeal. He was well-built and not entirely horrendous-looking, but he was much shorter than Draco and dumb as a rock. What was he doing on their floor?
Draco stopped dead in the hallway as the Ravenclaw approached Grey. From this distance, he couldn't hear anything they said, but he could tell the boy introduced himself. Grey smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. What the hell was she doing? Was she flirting with him? The Ravenclaw motioned to her, leading her away from her friends, who giggled to each other before rushing off down the hall.
Without his brain telling his feet to move, Draco started toward them. As he drew nearer, he heard bits and pieces of the conversation—something, something, noticed you, something, Hogsmeade, Saturday. Grey glanced at him, double-taking as her frown became shock when he stopped in front of them. He realized he was glaring.
"Grey," he bit her name out. "Don't want to be late, do you?"
"Draco Malfoy," the Ravenclaw said nervously. "I don't think we've been introduced."
Draco barely spared him a glance before fixing Grey with a hard stare. "Do I need to start deducting House points?"
Distracted by the Dark Lord's mission, it had been awhile since Draco had wielded his prefect powers against another student. The authority did not give him the same rush it had in fifth year, but he did enjoy seeing that look of indignation on Grey's face. She offered a curt nod to the Ravenclaw, muttered a quiet, "Goodbye," and then went into the classroom. Draco smirked at the other wizard and followed her inside.
Unfortunately, there was only a single empty table where Grey was already taking her seat. The simmering anger he felt instantly burned away his false mirth as he slipped along the back wall and claimed the empty chair beside her. They did not look at each other or speak a single word. Professor Flitwick began his lesson on non-verbal spells shortly after. An hour seemed to crawl by before he encouraged them to begin practicing on their own.
Draco eyed Grey as she picked up her wand and began gently swishing it. "Are you always so ham-fisted, Grey?" he asked. The criticism was unfair, but he needed an opening. Her jaw tightened and she kept working. "That was quite the tactic on the train," he said and noted the way her wand strokes faltered for a split second. He propped his elbow on the desk and rested his cheek in his palm. "Uncle's back to shopping around for your husband, I guess. I suppose being associated with a delinquent family soured your reputation a bit." He watched her wand stop moving. "Was it your uncle's or your tutor's idea to dress you up and market you to the whole school?" He leaned toward her and murmured, "Seems it's working."
She slowly lowered her arm, set her wand on the table, and tucked her hand into her lap. She continued to stare straight ahead, but he could see the emotional battle taking place on her face.
"Tch, c'mon, Grey," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You must be enjoying all the attention. You blushed at every little compliment I gave you. Being asked out must tilt your world." He looked at her through lowered lashes, unable to resist the urge to taunt her. He knew she wasn't ignoring him—it was evident on her face—but her refusal to speak to him was feeding his anger. "What dress will you wear for him?" he asked quietly. "Something Ravenclaw blue?"
Her lips pursed, a muscle in her jaw feathering. And then she took a deep breath and softly said, "I'm told blue is a good color for me."
Shock quickly rolled into hurt. Draco slammed his mental shields into place, desperately trying to mask that inexplicable pain as she turned to look at him. There was nothing malicious or smug in her gaze, only gentle curiosity.
"Because of my eyes," she added.
He was quite sure that she would look stunning in blue. She was beautiful even in her plain school uniform. When had he started thinking that way? But it was true. He wanted her to tell him she wasn't going to go to Hogsmeade with that Ravenclaw. He knew she had no reason not to go, less of a reason to offer him any reassurances, but he had wanted her to.
Instead of responding, he just looked down his nose at her with the flattest expression full of hatred and disgust until she looked away. When the bell tower chimed, Draco was the first out of his chair and out the door.
Fury filled him. Who did that Ravenclaw think he was? Draco was ten times the wizard he was! And Grey? How could she possibly consider it? Rage bubbled beneath his skin. How could he be so emotionally unbalanced just because a random Ravenclaw asked Grey out? It was absurd. And yet the following week, when he saw Blaise walking with Grey to Potions, he was so angry that he almost didn't go to class.
Author's Note: The movie only barely touches on Draco's comings and goings. I know the books go more in-depth, but I only have the wiki to go off of. I am sure there will be inconsistencies in my recounting, yet I hope you can still imagine him going about his canonical sixth year emotional rollercoaster whilst having a fit or two over a certain Hufflepuff...
