Chapter 7: The First Day…

Draco raced down a tunnel, his heart pounding madly against his chest as he tried to get away from Lucius and the Death Eaters. But they were catching up to him quickly, their wands out at the ready for the chance to kill him.

Draco panicked and ran faster, causing him to trip over a rock and bang his head as he fell to the ground.

"Draco! Are you alright?" Hermione appeared in front of him, looking concerned.

"I'm fine! Go, Hermione, they're going to kill you!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to otherwise they'll kill you and I don't want that!"

"Don't be stupid, come on!" Hermione grabbed his hand and pulled him up, leading him to the end of the tunnel…

Draco woke up suddenly, breathing heavily as he tried to recover from the nightmare. He then wondered why the hell he was having a dream that had Granger in it and he was calling her by her first name. He rubbed his eyes and looked around his surroundings, realising he was not in a dark tunnel, but instead his new room.

He sighed in relief and was now trying to work out what made him wake up as he could hear very loud noises from somewhere close by. He didn't know what it was at first as it was a very strange sound until he realised it was music as there were male voices singing.

Where is that ridiculous music coming from? Draco thought irritably, as he dragged himself out of bed and opened the door.

Big mistake, the music was very louder now he had opened his bedroom door. He covered his ears and walked into the common room, seeing nothing in the room that was the source of the racket.

He glanced over at the Head Girl's room and realised it was coming from her room. Bloody Mudblood! She woke me up with her stupid Muggle music! He stormed over to the door and yanked it open.

"Granger!" he shouted over the loud music.

He couldn't see her anywhere in the room and saw that she was already out of bed. The door leading to her bathroom was closed so she must be in there. Draco thought of going in there to tell her off, but he really didn't want to see her without any clothes on so he decided against the idea.

Instead, he looked around the room for the source of the noise, finally setting his eyes on a what seemed to be a music player. He strolled over to it and started fiddling with it trying to find a way of how to turn it off. Unfortunately, he didn't know what the hell the symbols on the buttons meant and so was having a bit of trouble.

"Ah no!" he groaned, as he pressed a button with two triangles pointing to the right, finding it wasn't the right one. It went to the next song, which was much louder and faster. He tried another button that also had two triangles, but they were pointing to the left and it started the song again.

Draco was getting really frustrated by now and poked his finger on a black button. It got rid of the music, thank goodness, but a piercing buzzing noise ringed through his ears which was even worse. He screamed and covered his ears as he pressed the same button again and got the loud music back on.

"What the hell? What are you doing in my room, Malfoy?"

Draco jumped and looked round. Granger was up and dressed in her school uniform, her hair looking bushy again. She frowned at him and folded her arms, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I was trying to turn off this racket!" he bellowed over the music which was still blasting from the speakers. "It woke me up and it is giving me a huge headache! I thought I would turn it off, but the buttons are so complicated and don't work properly!"

Granger rolled her eyes and walked over to the music player, turning a knob downwards. At once the music died down to a softer tone, but not too quiet so she would still be able to hear it.

"Happy now, Malfoy?" she sneered; sniggering at his stunned expression and stalked back into her bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Better," Draco muttered, walking out of her room and pulled the door shut with a snap. He walked into his own room, gathering up his toiletries and heading into the bathroom for a shower.

As he washed his hair, he couldn't help, but think about the amused look Granger had on her face as she turned down her music. It really irritated Draco to have Granger look at him like that, she wasn't allowed to laugh at him!

She probably thought I was stupid, not knowing how to work her music system. Well what did she expect, honestly? It's a Muggle thing and I don't touch things made by Muggles…

But hang on,another voice in Draco's head spoke up as he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, that locket you brought for Mother was Muggle made, wasn't it?

I think it was…it was a nice locket. Mother would have loved it and I thought she would.

Tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he thought of his late mother, but he shook them off. He didn't need to break down in the middle of the shower, especially since he had class today. He turned off the water and dried himself with a towel before getting dressed in his school robes.

Draco glanced at himself in the mirror, wondering if he should slick his hair back as he hadn't done that since last term. He used to do it all the time, but ever since his mother started to get sicker by the day, he just really couldn't be bothered to do anything to his hair except wash it and try to flat it as best as he could. Whatever he did to his hair didn't seem as important as worrying about his mother dying.

He hated to admit it, but his hair did look better with his bangs falling naturally over his eyes, it gave him a rugged look. And most girls seemed to go for it anyway, he could feel their eyes on him the previous night as he ate his meal.

Draco shrugged to himself, deciding to leave his hair the way it was and left the room.

He grabbed his badge from his bedside table and pinned it on his robes, admiring it fondly as it shined brightly in the mirror. Narcissa would be so proud of him getting Head Boy; he had worked hard for it for six years and had earned it. Draco then shuddered as he thought of what Lucius would say to him if he knew his son got it.

"You have got this because you are a Malfoy. Show those students what a Malfoy is made of and that they rule over all. We are superior than them and respected Purebloods. Do not disappoint me, Draco, you are representing the family and you shall not disgrace our name."

Well, you're not here to tell me that are you? Draco told himself as he took one more look at the mirror and walked out to the common room, heading out the portrait hole.

Draco arrived in the Great Hall a good fifteen minutes later and slumped himself down in the nearest seat at the Slytherin table. He grabbed a piece of toast, shoved it in his mouth and choked slightly.

"Take it easy, Draco," said Blaise, sitting down next to Draco. "You're going to make yourself sick if you keep doing that at breakfast every morning."

"Whatever, Blaise."

"So how's living with the Mudblood?" Blaise asked, piling his plate with eggs and bacon. "I can see you managed to survive the night so she can't be as bad as we thought."

"You have no idea," muttered Draco, resting his head in his hand. "She woke me up this morning with this insane Muggle music crap she owns. It was so loud that I thought I was at five Qudditch matches or something. But she was playing it in some Muggle device and of course I couldn't turn it off. I tried so many buttons, but they didn't work. Eventually, she came out and I demanded she turn it down."

"Um, Draco, did you even think of using your wand to turn it off?" Blaise asked, fighting back not to laugh.

Draco looked at him blankly for a couple of seconds, wondering what he meant. He then groaned and leaned his face against his hand, his fingers digging through his hair. Why didn't I think of that? That sounds so obvious!

"No, I didn't think of it. I was half-asleep and pretty cranky too. Damn it!"

"Doesn't matter, just remember for next time. Better yet, put a jinx on it so she can't play anything in it at all."

"That," Draco replied, pointing his fork at Blaise, "is not such a bad idea. It would serve her right for waking me up."

He glanced over at the Gryffindor table where Granger sat next to Scarhead, chatting to him while she picked at her food. She felt him looking at her and glared in his direction, giving him the most hatred expression she reserved just for him.

He smirked in return and went back to eating more toast, this time not shoving it down his throat.

"Morning, Harry," Hermione greeted him as she sat down at the Gryffindor table.

He jumped and looked to see her next to him. "Oh, morning, Hermione," he answered, turning pink a bit. "How are the Head dorms?"

Hermione slightly frowned, wondering why Harry looked embarrassed of a sudden, but thought she must have imagined it because the pink quickly disappeared from his face. He must have been surprised that she appeared so suddenly.

"Oh, they're quite nice actually, I love it. My room is decorated in Gryffindor colours so it feels like I'm still in the house common room. I have my own bathroom, thank goodness, and a queen size bed which is relatively comfortable. And, you won't believe this, a walk-in wardrobe!"

Harry raised his eyebrows at Hermione, surprised that she was the type of person to get so excited over a walk-in wardrobe. Usually she wasn't that fussy over clothes. Perhaps Annabel had influence her over the summer to get excited over that sort of thing.

"Glad you like it," he replied, after finishing a mouthful. "If you want to know, the boys' dormitory is still the same except it's much tidier at the moment." He grinned and started eating his spaghetti on toast.

Hermione served herself some bacon and eggs and quietly ate for awhile. She was expecting a certain someone to try to talk and eat at the same time but saw his seat empty. "Where's Ron?"

"Up in the dormitory, I think," Harry replied, still eating.

"He's not sleeping in, is he? It's the first day!"

"Nah, he's writing a letter to An - to his mum." Harry smacked himself in the head. I can't believe I almost told her Ron was writing to Annabel! His mind screamed at him, pushing him to keep his mouth shut up and eat. And that's what he did.

Hermione frowned at him in confusion, but didn't ponder too much on it as Professor McGonagall started handing out the timetables.

"Miss Granger, you start patrolling tonight at nine o'clock sharp, starting on the third floor. If you see any students out of bed, tell them to go back to their dormitories. If they don't take any notice, punish them and record their names to give to me in the morning. I'm about to go and tell Mr Malfoy the same thing."

"Ok, thank you, Professor. So are you still thinking of being an Auror?" Hermione asked Harry, as McGonagall walked away from them.

Harry thought about it for awhile. "Yeah, if I'm ever going to defeat Voldemort it would seem like the perfect career for me. I just hope I don't go as crazy as Mad-Eye Moody, seeing Dark Wizards everywhere."

Hermione giggled and could suddenly sense someone was looking at her while she talked to Harry and ate her breakfast.

She glanced up to see Malfoy staring at her with a sneering expression on his face. She glared him in the most hatred expression she could muster and wishing he would just look away. She hated seeing his face, especially since she now had to see it more often than usual. He smirked back at her and looked away, continuing to eat his breakfast.

Hermione turned back to see Harry looking at her with a questioning expression on his face.

"So, how is it living with Malfoy? I see he didn't murder you last night so it might not have been as bad as I thought it would be," Harry said, looking down at his plate, twirling the spaghetti with his fork.

"Oh trust me, Harry, it is the worst thing in the world to be living with that slimy ferret," Hermione replied, sighing heavily. "But so far he hasn't done anything to me. He believes I've done something to annoy him though…"

"What did you do?" Harry looked up suspiciously at Hermione.

"Oh, well I got a stereo system in my room so I thought I would try it out this morning. I put on Oasis while I was in the shower and I had it up really loud. So loud it woke Malfoy up, even though he had his door shut and so was mine. He stormed into my room and tried to turn it off, but of course, he didn't know how to!" She started to laugh uncontrollably, banging her hand on the table.

"So what buttons did he try?" Harry asked, fighting not to laugh too much as Ron sat down opposite Harry and accepting a timetable from McGonagall who was still handing them out.

"He pressed the button that made it go to the next song, the one that makes the song start again and then the one that goes to the radio. Of course the radio doesn't work out here so all I heard was a loud buzzing noise and some screaming in pain!"

Harry couldn't control his laughter anymore as Hermione told him the morning story. In fact, he was laughing so much; he nearly fell off his seat, but was held back by Ginny.

"Whoa, watch it, Harry," she said, hoisting him up on his seat. "Why were you laughing?"

"Oh Hermione was telling me this funny story," Harry replied, turning to face her. "Mal-"

He suddenly froze as his green eyes met Ginny's warm brown ones. They gazed at each other for a few seconds while a warm feeling blazed inside of Harry, making him feel lighter than air. He then tore his eyes away from her as he felt his cheeks grew red and a bit confused at why she had affected him so much in just a glisp.

"What was the story about?" asked Ron, who had by some miracle missed Harry and Ginny's awkward moment as he was looking at his new timetable. "Is about Malfoy?"

"Yeah, it is," Hermione answered, when she had stopped laughing. "I'll tell you later though, it'll take too long to tell you as I would have to stop and explain every couple of seconds."

"Oi, Hermione, you know what would be a good song to put on tomorrow morning to wake Malfoy up?" Harry asked her, having recovered from his 'awkward' moment.

"What song?"

""Hells Bells" by AC/DC."

Hermione grinned. "That would not be such a bad song to use."

"Who's AC/DC?" Ron asked, confused at what his two friends were talking about.

"A Muggle rock band," Harry told him, taking a bit of his toast. "They're Australian."

"Oh."

"Did someone just mention AC/DC?" Felicity spoke up in a somewhat loud high pitched voice as she sat down next to Ginny and served herself some porridge. "They're like one of my favourite bands of all time. They're legends!"

"I'm sure you think all bands you like are legends," muttered Ron, thinking Felicity wouldn't hear him.

She did, though, and flicked porridge from her spoon across the table at him, most of it landing on his face and hair.

"Scongifly," Hermione said, waving her wand.

Felicity frowned at Ron as the porridge disappeared from his face and hair and looked around for whoever cast the spell.

"I guess you're looking for me," Hermione spoke up, realising Felicity hadn't seen her yet.

Felicity eyebrows rose in confusion, wondering who spoke and leaned backwards to look past Ginny and Harry, finally seeing Hermione.

"Hermione! You're alive!" she shrieked out in delight.

"Keep your voice down, Flick! Of course I'm alive!"

"Oh yeah…" Felicity muttered. "I thought he would have done something to you during the night."

"Actually, it's more like she did something to him," said Harry, leaning backwards to look past Ginny and meet Felicity's confusing violet eyes. No awkward gazing at one another moment there.

"Hermione, what did you do?" asked Felicity, grinning wickedly.

"I played loud music this morning on my stereo system –"

"YOU HAVE A STEREO SYSTEM IN YOUR ROOM?!"

"Calm down, Flick!"

"Sorry, but you know how we don't have one in the girls dormitories. Gee, I hope I get Head Girl next year…"

"In your dreams, Flick," Ginny grinned, putting down her fork and getting up. "See you in Charms, I'm going to go and get my books."

"Ok, see you, Gin. So what happened?"

Hermione told Felicity all about how Malfoy tried to turn it off, but failing. When Hermione finished her story, Felicity was laughing even louder then Harry and as a result, fell backwards off her seat and banged her head on the floor.

"Are you alright, Flick?" Ron exclaimed, rushing over as Harry helped her up.

"I'm ok, it doesn't hurt really! Geez, you don't have to get so worried over me of a sudden, boys."

"Don't worry, Higgins, no one will." Malfoy walked past their table smirking at the sight of Felicity on the floor, rubbing her head.

"Oh shove off, Malfoy! Like you have anyone worrying about you anyway, no one cares about you!"

The smirk was immediately wiped off his face and was replaced instead with a look between hurt and anger. He shook his head and looked straight ahead, his eyes finding Hermione's.

Both of them froze, gazing through the other's eyes for a couple of seconds, but to them it seemed longer. Time seemed to have slowed or stopped completely as they stared into the depths of each other's eyes, searching for the souls within.

His eyes seem kind of sad…maybe what Felicity said has affected him badly. Hang on, why do I care? Hermione's head screamed at her to stop feeling sorry for the Slytherin prince and look away from him. He was pathetic with no feelings whatsoever.

But his eyes seem to have feeling in them…

Malfoy again shook his head to break the moment and stalked out of the Great Hall, his robes flowing behind him as he went.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Felicity, looking confused and bewildered by his reaction. "Was it something I said?"

"I think it was, Flick," Ron answered, holding out a hand to help her up. "Why do you care?"

"I don't," she quickly replied, taking his hand and getting to her feet. "It's just, I don't know…he usually has a comeback to whatever insult I throw at him, but he didn't have one." She sighed and shook her head. "He's defiantly got issues that one."

A bell rang throughout the hall, warning the students there was five minutes left until class.

"Oh, what you look at the time, class is starting soon." Felicity said, running a hand through her streaked black hair. "Later peoples."

She picked up her shoulder bag and ran out of the hall, her hair flying widely behind her. Most people were thinking of getting to class too and there was a mad rush to get out of the Great Hall.

"So what do we have first?" asked Ron, glancing at his timetable again. "Ah yes, Herbology."

"Let's get a move on then," said Hermione, picking her bag up and heading towards the doors. "Come on, we haven't got all day!"

"I was wondering when she would start bossing us around," Ron muttered to Harry, as they walked out into the grounds.

"Are you still taking Defence Against the Dark Arts Draco?" Blaise asked, as he and Draco walked across the grounds, heading to Herbology.

"Yes, I am, are you?"

"Yes, but only because Mum said so. I didn't think you'll still be taking it, Draco; you used to always say the class was ridiculous and you wanted to drop it for ages. I mean, what would your father say if he heard about this?"

"I don't really care what he thinks anymore, Blaise, he is not a part of my life and he doesn't deserve to be, you know that. He's still 'missing', gone for a year, remember?" Draco sighed heavily. "Besides, he doesn't care about me," he murmured under his breath.

Blaise looked at him, confused. "Did you say something, Draco?"

"Huh? Oh, never mind."

Draco's mind wandered on to what Higgins had said to him about nobody caring about him. He would have usually hit her back with an insult or something, but surprisingly, he didn't have a comeback. It was perhaps because he knew she was right about what she said. Nobody, but his mother ever cared for him and now she was gone…

"Hey, Drakie! Where have you been? I've been so worried about you!" Pansy jumped on him from behind, throwing her arms round his back.

Ok, Pansy worries about me, but she doesn't count. Draco shook her off with difficulty and gave her a dirty look. He then walked at a faster pace, away from her and Blaise.

He heard her demand Blaise to tell her what was wrong with her precious Draco, but Blaise answered something along the lines of, "I don't know and even if I did, why would I tell you?"

Draco rolled his eyes as he entered the greenhouse, wondering why he had managed to put up with Pansy for so long. She was such an irritating brat who talked of nothing, but gossip and only liked Draco because of his money…and good looks. Nothing else. He had figured that out a long time ago, fifth year in fact.

He slumped down in a chair at the back of the room and slowly got his books out, ignoring the other students around him. He then pulled out a blank piece of parchment and started to write himself a note.

Blaise came into the greenhouse a few minutes later and sat next to Draco, sighing in annoyance. "I told Pansy to leave you alone for awhile, but I don't know whether that'll last long."

"Thanks," Draco muttered, not looking at him, but continuing to write.

"What'd you writing?" Blaise asked, trying to take a peak at it.

Draco snatched off the table and glared at him angrily. "None of your business," he growled.

Blaise backed off, raising his hands defensively. "Ok, no need to get so angry about it." He then started to get his things out of his bags.

Draco put the parchment back on the table and was about to write more, but was interrupted by sounds of laughter from outside the greenhouse. He glanced up to see Scarhead, Weasel and Granger walk in, laughing gleefully. He sneered at them and returned to his writing, not giving them the satisfaction he was bothered.

"Oi, Malfoy?" Weasel called out, his voice above the chatter of the class. "You better start thinking of enrolling in a Muggle Studies class so it'll teach you how to use a Stereo Sound System properly!"

The Golden Trio laughed and sat themselves down the front, Granger sending amused glances at Draco.

He curled his fists, feeling defeated. No, I can't be defeated, Malfoys are never defeated! And Malfoys always have a comeback to an insulting comment and for the second time today, I don't have one…what is wrong with me?

"Settle down everyone," Professor Sprout called, as she walked into the room. "Today we'll be talking about a dangerous plant called the Venemous Tentacula. Who can tell me why it's dangerous?"

I wouldn't have a bloody clue and frankly, I don't give a damn. Draco rolled his eyes and relaxed his fists, bored already of plant talk. As usual, Granger's hand was the first one in the air, waving frantically to say the answer.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"It's dangerous because its teeth have poison in them and one bite will make you die within twenty-four hours if left untreated," Granger replied, sounding like she was reciting from a textbook.

"Thank you, take ten points for Gryffindor. What can treat a Venemous Tentacula bite?"

Again Granger's hand was up and again she said the right answer.

"Well done, Miss Granger, take another ten points."

Granger's face beamed in such happiness and she turned around to send a smirk in Draco's direction. He glared back at her and curled his fists again in anger. Why does she have to be so smart in everything and show off all the time! Ugh, she is so annoying!

"Calm down, mate," Blaise interrupted Draco's thoughts in an undertone. "It's what, the first ten minutes of the first class of the day and already she's ticked you off?"

"Of course she has! Well, she actually started it this morning with her stupid music system, but you do realise I have to put up with the Mudblood all day and night? I have to do night patrol with her this evening!"

"Whoa man, I feel sorry for you," Blaise said, filching at the thought of a Slytherin walking with a Gryffindor in the halls at night. He smirked at the thought of Draco being tortured by a Mudblood.

"Tell me about it, Blaise, I'm not going to – what are you smirking about?" Draco asked, trying to look concerned for the only so called 'decent' friend in Slytherin. "You better not be thinking it's great that I have to be around the Mudblood cause it's not!"

"Mr Malfoy, what have I told you about talking while I'm talking?"

Professor Sprout was glaring at him with a stern look on her face and her arms were folded, showing that she clearly wasn't happy with the Head Boy.

Draco avoided her eyes and instead stared at his desk. He could feel everyone looking at him, especially Granger's eyes which only made him even crankier and as a result stormed out of the class fifteen minutes later, fuming.

I'll go and send that note then while everyone is in class. Draco then headed to the owlery, addressing the note he had been writing to the head of the Auror office and sent it with his owl, Perseus.

What's gotten into him? Hermione wondered as she walked with Harry and Ron to their next lesson, Transfiguration while trying to work out why Malfoy was so angry. I suppose it was because of this morning, with the music being 'too loud' and Felicity somehow offending him. No, it's more than that…

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ron asked, noticing that she wasn't listening to a word that he was saying.

"Wh- sorry, Ron, did you say something?"

"Well, I was trying to talk to you about starting up a study group with Seamus, Dean, Neville, Parvati and Lavender this year, but you seem to be so out of it at the moment. Are you tired or something? Did you get enough sleep?"

Ron turned slightly pink as he said all this because he had not been talking about that at all and he was slightly glad she hadn't been listening. He had in fact been wondering out loud when he would get his first letter from Annabel.

"Oh I'm sorry, Ron, I'm fine. I was just thinking..."

"What about?" Harry asked. Hermione noticed there was a slight note of hope in his voice and she wondered why.

"Oh…I was just wondering what was wrong with Malfoy, that's all. He doesn't seem okay to me today."

Harry's mouth dropped open in shock. "Hermione, why would you even care? He's our enemy for god's sake!"

"I can't believe that you would want to know what's wrong with him," Ron muttered, shaking his head. "I mean he's going to knock you back with insults anyway, why bother?"

"Because, Ronald, unlike you I have the guts to ask him and am able to ignore whatever he says and eventually get my way! And besides, I have to live with him!" Hermione then stormed ahead of them, fuming.

Ron frowned at her and again shook his head. "What has gotten into her?"

"I don't know…" Harry replied, scratching his head thoughtfully as they reached the Transfiguration classroom. "She has a point though."

"WHAT? You actually agree with her talking to Malfoy?"

"Well, like she said, she has to live with him so she might as well sort it out. Anyway, I'll talk to her about it. You just sit with Neville and stay out of her way, she's still cranky at you." Harry left Ron and sat next to Hermione close to the front. "Are you sure you're all right, Hermione?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Harry, I already said that before. Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," Harry replied casually. "Say, if you decide to ask Malfoy what's up with him, when were you planning to do that?"

"I have night patrol with him later so I'll ask him then. It's the only time I can think of when he won't be avoiding me."

"Okay, good luck with that," Harry replied just as McGonagall walked into the classroom to begin the lesson.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts for your seventh and final year. I don't need to suppress the importance of this year to all of you that at the end of May, you will be sitting in the Great Hall doing N.E.W.T.S. This is make or break time and this is the time to also decide what you will be doing after you le- Mr Malfoy, I do not tolerate lateness in my class even if you are Head Boy!"

Hermione swung round in her seat to see Malfoy at the back of the classroom, standing very still. He must have tried to sneak in and sit down next to Blaise Zabini without the Professor noticing him, but had obviously failed.

He scowled and muttered something along the lines of, "Yeah, whatever miss," with a swear word in the same sentence and sat down next to Blaise, slamming his bag on the desk with a loud thump.

Professor McGonagall's lip curled. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that and continue my lesson. Next time, you won't be so lucky. And that reminds me, you can't sit there."

Malfoy frowned. "Why not?" he snarled, his voice slightly louder than normal.

"Because according to the Headmaster's orders, you and Miss Granger have to sit together in my classes. And if you're wondering why, it's because you two are Heads. So, get up and move to the front next to Miss Granger. Mr Potter, could you please sit next to Mr Zabini –"

"No, no, I'll sit next to Ernie," answered Harry, noticing the Hufflepuff didn't have anyone sitting next to him. "Tough luck, Hermione," he whispered as he gathered up his things. "Maybe you could ask him what's wrong with him now."

"In the middle of class? Hell no!" replied Hermione, with an annoyed look on her face. Oh how she hated being Head Girl sometimes when it came to dealing with Malfoy.

"Just trying to get a positive out of the situation. Later ,Hermione." He left for the fourth desk in the third row, sitting down next to Ernie and organising his things on the desk. Hermione sighed and put her head on the desk, her hands over herself.

"Come on, Mr Malfoy! We haven't got all day!"

It seemed as though Malfoy was taking his time to re-organise his stuff and walk over to the seat next to Hermione. At long last, she heard him heave his bag on the desk and the chair slightly creak as he slumped into it. He too put his head and arms on the desk, breathing heavily. Hermione lifted her head slightly and glanced over at him as if trying to read his mind, but failing.

"Take the bag off the desk, Mr Malfoy, get your book out and stop trying to fall asleep."

"Yes, miss." He sat up properly in his seat and dropped his bag on the floor. "What are you looking at, Granger?" he snapped angrily, emphasising on her last name.

"Nothing," Hermione answered, turning her attention back to Professor McGonagall.

"Now today we will be learning how to transfigure your desk into an animal. I would prefer you all to turn the desks into cats at first before we move on to bigger animals as we will need to be in an open area. Copy this down." Professor McGonagall waved her wand and writing appeared on the blackboard.

There was a silence for awhile as everyone copied down what was written on the board and then Professor McGonagall showed them how the spell worked by turning her own desk into a black cat. The rest of the lesson was then spent trying to do the spell properly. Finally, about five minutes to the end of the lesson someone got the hang of it turning their desk to a white cat twice.

"Well done, Miss Granger, thirty points to Gryffindor. That's really advanced magic and you handled it well."

"Thank you, Professor," smiled Hermione, noticing that Malfoy had a look of outrage on his face out of the corner of her eye.

"If looks could kill," Ron said to her, after they had walked out of class and were seated in the Great Hall, eating lunch. "Did you see him giving you the death stares, Hermione?"

"Honestly, Ron, if looks could kill I would have died on the train."

Felicity started to laugh, but stopped when she saw the look on Ginny's face. She fell silent and continued eating. "The many faces of Draco Malfoy," she sniggered, pointing over at the Slytherin table where he sat, still fuming in anger. "He does look like he wants to kill someone…I bet one of those people is me."

At long last, the lessons were over for the day and Draco retired to his room, dumping his bag on the floor before he collapsed on his bed. He felt exhausted, having to put up with the teachers droning on and on all day about N.E.W.Ts, not to mention life after Hogwarts. He groaned and held his head in his hands.

Merlin's beard that Mudblood has given me such a huge throbbing headache. Thank Merlin it would be ages till he had to deal with her; he could just lie here and go to sleep…

Wait, I should look at those newspaper articles I received at dinner, you're going to be too tired to look at them when you get back from night patrol and there won't be another time to do it while Granger's around.

Draco lifted himself from the bed and walked over to where he dropped his bag. He pulled out a yellow envelope from inside and opened it. He then tipped the contents onto his bed and fumbled around for the letter that came with it.

To Mr Draco Malfoy,

I received your request and have enclosed some information which I hope will help. I can't give you too much or the Minister will put you away in Azkaban for life. Once again I am sorry to hear of the death of Narcissa Malfoy and am hoping that you are taking it well. I know you will do your mother proud and won't disappoint her in finding the whereabouts of your father.

Sincerely,

Victor Hanson

Head of Auror's Department

Draco sat back down on his bed and poured over the articles that Victor Hanson had sent him. A couple of them were from the Daily Prophet, but Draco hadn't read them in detail before. He picked up an article that read:

LUCIUS MALFOY MISSING

Last night, Mrs Narcissa Malfoy confirmed the absence of her husband, Lucius. She said she hadn't seen him since the 5th November, which was two days after he was released from Azkaban. She made contact with their only son, Draco, and asked if he had seen him, but he hadn't. The situation has affected Mrs Malfoy terribly.

"I'm really worried about him," she told Fiona Buyers exclusively, last night at the Ministry. "He hasn't left the house without telling me where he's going and when he'll be back. Well, he didn't really talk to me after he went to Azkaban, he refused to see me and hasn't spoken to me or Draco at all after he was released. Draco hasn't seen him since he was put in Azkaban and now he's gone."

There is no word on how Mrs Malfoy's son is taking the news, but Hogwarts Headmaster Professor Dumbledore is very concerned.

"I am making sure Draco is aware of what is going on and who he can talk to if he's worried or anything," he told reporters this morning, a couple of hours after being informed of Lucius's disappearance. "I told him as soon I found out and so far, he is taking the news well."

The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge is also aware of the disappearance, having been approached by Mrs Malfoy herself and is sending a team of wizards to search for him. "We are taking this situation seriously, like any disappearance. There are suspicions that this may be linked to You-Know-Who and the Auror Department are working on that."

Draco set the article aside, knowing it wouldn't really help at all. Some of the information in the article wasn't true for instance Lucius never told anyone where he was going and when he would be back when he went out anywhere. And Draco did in fact visit Lucius while he was in Azkaban. It's just that he never wanted to talk about it after what happened while he was there.

He picked up the next piece of paper which had two sentences written on it in plain print:

12th November 1996 Lucius Malfoy was spotted in a town two hours away from London by a Muggle called Henry Manson. Aurors called to scene but he had gone by the time they got there.

Draco copied the information in a small black notebook and set it aside, picking up the next pieces of paper.

27th Feburary 1997 Lucius Malfoy spotted aboard in Albania. Was gone by the time the Aurors got to the scene. Two Muggles who spotted him where found dead at the scene. Malfoy suspected of using the Killing Curse on them.

17th May 1997 Spotted flying on a broom over the sea between England and Ireland. Aurors tried to follow him but lost.

31st August 1997 Seen at Hadrow's Hill Cemetery by Ken Walters, a muggle. Walters later found dead by Aurors and no sign of Lucius.

Draco clutched his fists as he read the last piece of parchment stating when Lucius was last seen and he chucked it aside, anger rising inside of him.

So, Lucius had went to visit Narcissa's grave, maybe to check that his plan had worked? To see that she really was dead, gone forever? To see the proof that she was out of his life, never to bother him again?

It was then Draco knew there was no doubt that Lucius poisoned his mother, the evidence was in the last sighting, standing at the cemetery, at his wife's grave.

Father wouldn't have cared about any of us unless he knew we were dead. That's why he was there, but how did he know she died? He then noticed the last newspaper cutting and picked it up.

In Memoriam

Narcissa Helena Malfoy

1958 – 1997

Died peacefully in her sleep at home

Beloved and loving mother to Draco

Will be missed always: for now and forever

"I will be gone from this life,

but not from your heart, your mind and your memories."

That's how he knew, Draco thought with a sniff. He had forgotten he had put a memoriam in the paper for her. He sighed and put all the information back in the envelope, making a mental note to send it back to Victor Hanson tomorrow.

What the hell is he up to? I'm going to find him and avenge Mother by killing him if it's the last thing I do! He was opening his draw to put the envelope in when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

Author's Note: A little longer than the last chapter, but I hope you all like it! Please don't forget to review, I love reading what you think of it!