Note: I do not own anything recognizable. All of HP is JK Rowling's.

For the first time in a long time, a nightmare or his aching knee did not wake Draco. Instead, he was pulled into consciousness by the odd and sudden realization that there was something warm and heavy pressing into his chest. His hand reached up to brush something coarse and woolly that moved at his touch. Alarmed, he opened his eyes to see two amber orbs staring back at him. With a strangled swear, he surged backwards and hit the base of his skull on the headboard.

Wincing, and with some more muffled swearing, Draco looked again to see a massive cat sprawled majestically on his bedcovers. It was Granger's cat – he knew that much – though he had no idea what its name was. For some unknown reason, it had taken to him, curling up on his lap during some evenings when he sat by the fire in the common room. Never, however, had it come to sleep on his bed while he was occupying it.

He sat back more comfortably on the bed, leaning against the headboard that he had just bashed his own head against. Now that he had been exposed to the cooler air of his dormitory, his muscles began to tighten up and he winced as he settled back, feeling the bruises from his eventful walk back to the dorm the night before. The cat looked at him imperiously before rising and padding over to him. It lay down on his lap and pressed its warm, purring body into his chest. He relaxed under its affections and began to doze off once more. It was Sunday, after all – he could afford to sleep in, for once.

-O-O-O-O-

It was quite warm out, for a late November day. Still, it was cold enough that Draco shrugged on a cloak before heading down to the common room to meet Theo and Pansy. The three of them were going down to the Quidditch pitch to see Blaise play. It was only a small scrimmage between the eighth-years and a few seventh-years, but any excuse to enjoy the lingering sunshine was taken advantage of.

The three talked of light things, the state of schoolwork and Slytherin's chance of winning the House Cup – anything more serious would have brought up things that none of them wanted to discuss. They meandered slowly across the Hogwarts grounds, making their way towards the tall spires of the hoops. Pansy slipped her hand into Draco's as they approached the arched entrance and squeezed her reassurance as they passed through. Theo awkwardly walked along Draco's other side, not sure how to handle the delicate situation. Draco tried to simply pretend he was all right – that his chest didn't ache from the loss of his air-borne freedom.

"So, Theo. How's Thaddeus doing?" It was abrupt and rough, but anything was better than the tense silence that filled the air.

"Oh, erm. I think he's doing pretty well. Apparently he met some girl and wants to bring her back for the holiday for Dad to meet." Theo was quite close to his brother for all there was a seven-year gap between them.

"That's so nice," Pansy chimed in. "How did they meet?"

"He was on a trip to Greece, for his company, and I guess they met at a meeting. And then Thad has been back in Athens for the past three months – apparently they met up again. I guess they got to know each other pretty well."

Pansy sighed at the romance of it all, and Draco exchanged a wry look with Theo as they settled into their seats in the stands. They were the first people there, except for the players, and had their choice of where to sit.

"Theo, do you think your father will like her? Or will it be a Pyramus and Thisbe sort of thing? Oh, I wish something like this would happen to me!" Draco chuckled at Pansy's romanticism and looked over to see Theo frowning thoughtfully at his hands.

"Yeah, he'll probably like her. I guess her family's pretty important back in Greece. 'Sides, I think Dad'll just be happy that he won't have to worry anymore about keeping the family name going." Theo said this somewhat bitterly, and Draco felt a twinge of concern for his friend. Pansy didn't seem to notice anything – she simply smiled and hummed a little to herself.

"Ooh, look! It's Padma and Seamus!" Theo's head whipped up at the mention of Finnegan, but Pansy was too busy waving them over to notice. Draco stared at his friend as several things began to come together. He shook his head, not sure what to make of it, and decided that if Theo wanted to tell him anything, he would tell him. He turned back to the archway and watched as the rest of the eighth years came through, as well as some of the younger students.

Pansy had obviously become friends with the rest of the eighth-year girls, because they all came over to sit with the three Slytherins. Granger came panting up just as the players rose into the air, carrying a huge basket of food from the kitchens.

"I hope I'm not too late. Did I miss anything?" she asked breathlessly. Finnegan reassured her that she hadn't, and the game began.

The teams were small – only four players on each. The two Weasleys were on the same team as Blaise, and Draco chuckled at the somewhat distasteful look on the sister's face whenever she passed to him as her other Chaser. They were only playing with a Seeker, Keeper and two Chasers, so she really had no choice in the matter. She gradually relaxed after they pulled some complex moves to throw off the other team's Chasers, Chambers and Summerby.

The spectators cheered for two hours – none of them much cared who was scoring, or indeed, if the game was particularly well played. Draco thought that, all things considering, there was indeed a lot of skill out on the pitch, even if it hadn't been used in a while. As the players sank back down to the ground after Potter caught the Snitch – of course – Draco began to make his quiet way off the pitch.

The bubble of happiness that had grown inside him as he watched the game seemed to shrink a little as he glanced at the mob of laughter and hugging that had formed on the pitch. Even Pansy and Theo had gotten caught up in it – Blaise was no surprise, as he didn't have the same reservations about showing emotions as the rest of the Slytherins – and Draco felt a small twinge of jealousy at how easily his friends had gotten over their childhoods of strict, Pureblood expectations of decorum.

He snorted at his dour ruminations as he trudged off. Here he had been perfectly content, and he had to ruin his afternoon of pleasure with such melancholy thoughts. Scowling, he trudged back to the castle, hoping that Pansy wouldn't come later to chastise him for leaving so early.

-O-O-O-O-

"So, if I had a mixture of infusion of myrtlewood and essence of salamander tongue, what properties would it have?"

"Erm…" The girl sitting next to him frowned in concentration, her blond hair sensibly tied back in a long braid down her back. "Oh! It would be the basis of an enlargement potion."

"Right. And if I used powdered boar tusk instead of myrtlewood?"

"Umm…" She frowned again. Draco waited patiently, remembering how hard it had been for him to keep all the different properties straight. He had been in the library with Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's sister, for the past two hours. She was bright, that much was clear, and just needed a little pushing to understand what Slughorn was going on about.

"If it helps any, boar tusk and pounded beetle eyes are used in aphrodisiacal potions."

"Erm, then it would be a fertility potion, wouldn't it?"

"Exactly. It helps sometimes, when you get stuck, to remember what other sorts of potions an ingredient goes into. A good number have similar effects."

"But not all of them?"

"Right – not all of them. But I think this was enough for today. I know this stuff is hard – Merlin knows I wanted to set my Potions book on fire for a while – but you did a really good job with it." He gave her a small smile, which she tremulously returned.

"Thanks. And thanks for doing this, Draco."

"Yeah, well…" He hastily shuffled some papers, embarrassed. "Anyway, same time next week?"

"Sounds good," she replied quietly, packing her books away. Draco swung his bag over his shoulder and waited for her to finish. They left the library and began the walk to the Great Hall in companionable silence.

Astoria was similar to her sister – quiet and kind. He really had enjoyed their time together. His bad mood after leaving the Quidditch match had disappeared, much to his surprise, over the last two hours. He attributed some of it to the comforting and familiar subject matter, and part of it to the good-natured and persistent girl who walked next to him. It was very nice to see her determinedness to understand Potions and actually do something useful with her life – he hadn't forgotten that she wanted to be a Healer.

"How are your other classes this year?" She started a little at his voice – the rest of the school was at dinner and his words were loud in the silence of the hallway.

"Quite well. I'm glad that we don't have to worry about N.E. until next year, though. A little break after the O.." They continued in this vein until they reached the Great Hall, where she politely said good-bye and went to join the other sixth-years at the table. Draco headed towards Pansy, Daphne and Theo and dropped into an empty seat upon reaching them.

"How was it?" Daphne asked immediately. "Was she annoying? Really, Draco, you don't have to see her again if you don't want to."

"No, Daph. It was fine," he said, laughing. "She's kinda shy, yeah?"

"Psh," she scoffed. Pansy looked on, amused, while Theo stared off into the distance. "Just wait until you've spent more time with her. She'll get over it." Draco grinned and started on his chicken.

"Draco," Pansy started. "Where did you go after the game? I couldn't find you."

"Oh," Draco had been afraid this would come up. "I just had to get some work done."

"Hmmm. Well, next time, just find me before you leave –"

"Pans, I'm really not in the mood," he cut her off through gritted teeth. She and Daphne looked at him concernedly for a moment before she replied.

"Right, sorry. Anyway, Theo…" she turned to the boy on his right to talk about a Herbology assignment they had to do. Draco sighed and resumed cutting up his chicken. She worried far too much about him – he was afraid he was really going to hurt her one day.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Sorry I didn't get it up last week. I might have to start doing every other Wednesday because of school and all that. Sorry… On breaks I'll try to do weekly.

Anyway, let me know if there can be any improvements or if anything doesn't make sense. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far – it really means a lot to me to know people are reading and enjoying.

Until next time,

xoxo - GusGus