After dinner had finished Draco made his way to the Slytherin Common room and lied in bed, trying to comprehend the day's events. He couldn't understand why Hermione had acted so nice towards him during the train ride to Hogwarts, nor could he understand why she had been staring at him just before dinner.
The thing that had him the most confused was the blush that played across her cheeks as she quickly turned her head away when he had caught her staring at him. The questioning look in her eyes confused him as well. The way she had acted made him think she thought he didn't catch her staring, but he had indeed.
The fact that she had been staring at him with such curiosity in her eyes was confusing enough, but the blush when she quickly turned away was the most confusing thing of all. Why had she reacted in such a way? Was it because he had caught her staring at him?
When Draco had looked up in her direction as she was about to leave, he caught the moment where she had kissed Ron. He hated that Weasley boy, but seeing her kiss him, even if it was just a kiss on the cheek, made him feel like he had been punched repeatedly in the stomach. It physically made him sick to see them together, something he found out during the war.
Mentally exhausted from everything that had happened that day, Draco had to resort to Occulomency to stop his mind from thinking so he could fall asleep. Whenever he used Occulomency to sleep, he never dreamed. Like those other nights, his mind was completely empty as he slept.
Draco's classes weren't quite as bad as he expected them to be. With the initial shock of his return finally wearing off from the other students, the whispers had stopped. The avoidance and glares continued on, but he had expected as much. There were a few of his classes that he enjoyed, though. Those classes were shared with Hermione, of course. At least, for those few classes, he knew he had someone that didn't completely hate him if the need for partners arose.
To avoid the other students in his classes, Draco found himself sitting in the back corner of the class to stay as far away from everyone as possible. He knew there would be no way to avoid everyone all the time, but by sitting in the back, he could at least avoid them for a short period of time while their attention was on the Professor.
Potions class was a different story all together. In the beginning, Potions had been his favorite class. However, this year, he dreaded Potions all together. He shared the class with Ron, Harry, and Hermione. The Hermione part he didn't mind; it was the fact that both Ron and Harry were there as well that made him hate his once beloved class.
As he sat in the back, attempting to keep his attention focused on Professor Slughorn and not the curly-haired girl in front of him, Draco couldn't concentrate. His mind kept going back to the girl he now sat behind instead of his work. It was when Slughorn had called out his name that Draco's attention finally came back.
"Draco Malfoy?" Slughorn had said while bobbing his head around, searching for Draco.
"Uhm, yes?" he replied as he stood up so his Professor could find him.
Walking next to Harry's desk, Professor Slughorn continued to address him, "I noticed that both you and Harry here have no partners for today's assignment," Patting Harry's desk, Slughorn looked at Draco quizzically. "Would you mind moving to his desk so you could work together?"
"Sure..." Draco quickly replied as he gathered all of his things and moved to the empty space next to Harry.
This ought to be interesting... Draco silently thought to himself as he sat down next to his previous enemy. Once everyone's attention had returned to the Professor, Draco sighed inwardly. He silently wished he could just work alone for the day, but apparently Slughorn had different ideas.
Once everyone had received their instructions on which potion they would be brewing for the class, Draco and Harry began working in complete silence. With the book positioned between the two of them, they both crushed and chopped the ingredients while the enchanted cauldron stirred itself.
Adding the last ingredient to their potion and seeing the green smoke that indicated they completed it correctly, Draco leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms, keeping his attention focused on the potion in front of them. It had been an awkward class period and he could tell Harry had felt the same.
"So, uhm... Good work, Malfoy..." Harry piped up after Professor Slughorn had given them 10 house points each for their potion and dismissed class.
Standing up while gathering his things, Draco only grunted in reply. Once everything was in his bag again, he turned around and left the class quickly, glad that the first day had concluded.
As Draco exited the dungeons from his Potions class, he decided to go outside to the lake instead of to dinner. He knew missing dinner wasn't exactly the best thing for him, but he didn't care. Knowing none of the other students would even notice his absence from dinner, he took his chances with the teachers and left the school grounds. Closing the castle doors behind himself, Draco sighed.
Standing with his back against the doors for a few moments, he tried to forget being partnered up with Potter and continued his journey to the lake. Unsure of why he had wanted to visit the lake in the first place, Draco shrugged off any apprehension he held about going and trudged forward.
Draco walked slowly down the last hill towards the lake, he soon began to overheat a bit. He figured it would be hot outside, but not nearly as hot as it was at that time of day. Taking his cloak and sweater off, Draco reached the lakes edge and continued forward along the shoreline. As his eyes trailed a small pebble he had just kicked, he noticed a small nook in the lakes edge to his right.
Determining this would be the best place for him to stay for the afternoon, he walked in front of a large oak tree stationed next to the lake and sat down. With his knees drawn up and his back against the trunk of the tree, Draco emptied his bag and began to work on the three chapters assigned to him for Herbology class.
Upon completing the assigned Herbology work for the day, Draco looked up and noticed the sun had set fully. Worrying that he had lost track of time and would be reprimanded for being outside the castle after hours, he quickly gathered his things and ran back to the castle. As he threw on his sweater and cloak, Draco wondered just how long he had actually been beside the lake. He didn't think he had been out that long, but the view around him told him differently.
Huffing like mad as he reached the top of the last hill, he decided it would be best to slow his pace and catch his breath before entering the castle once more. As he reached the castle doors, Draco's breath had returned to normal and it appeared he had only gone for a brisk walk around the castle grounds.
Entering the castle once more, Draco noticed it wasn't actually as late as he previously thought. Students flooded the walkway and chatted amongst themselves which showed dinner had just concluded. Draco had only been out near the lake for only about an hour and a half, but with the stark difference in light, he assumed he was out for hours.
Blending seamlessly with the crowd of students heading to the Slytherin common room, Draco's suspicions had indeed been correct. None of his housemates had noticed he was missing from dinner, which had been in his favor.
Once Draco had changed into his bed robes and lied down for the night, he decided to continue working on his school work while his housemates sat in the Common Room. Ignoring the muffled laughs and chatter, Draco quickly worked through all of his assignments that were due either tomorrow or the day after.
Two short hours passed as Draco worked silently in the dark room with only his wand to illuminate his work. As the other Slytherins began piling in and filled the previously empty beds beside him, Draco smiled at himself.
Considering his work complete for the night, Draco flicked his wand to deluminate it. After turning around to adjust his pillows to the position he preferred, he slid under the covers, satisfied with himself for having all his assigned work completed.
As he lied in bed, curled up on his left side with his knees drawn towards his chest, Draco shut his mind off before it could return to contemplating about Potions class. With his mind at rest, he slowly began to delve into a peaceful sleep. That night, Draco dreamt about the possibilities this new year held for him and what each possibility meant to him.
Authors Note: Chapter 6 has arrived! I hope you all like this one, and I cannot wait until next week. Chapter 7 is one of my favorites! As usual, review review review!
Authors note (12/02): While I was writing the newest chapter for this story (it's a long ways away, don't get too excited) I wrote a scene that had my heart beating really fast. Because of that scene, I've decided to change the rating of this story from K+ to M. Don't worry, if you don't like heavy adult scenes, there won't be any in this story. However, that being said, there will be some not-so-kid-friendly scenes here and there and I think it deserves to have the rating upped a bit. Because of this, I warn you, if you don't like any "heavy" scenes please do not continue in this story.
Reviews are always wonderful and amazingly appreciated! I wanted to thank those of you who have reviewed so far, and I wanted to apologize for it taking me so long to read your reviews and to thank you for them!