A/N: I'm trying to stick as close as possible to the book, but I have changed some things to make it work for my story. Also I wrote this chapter in Draco's POV. I'm thinking about switching between the two POVs for each chapter. Let me know if you guys like that or if it is just annoying. Anyway, enjoy.
Draco woke early on the first day of term oddly content with himself. The image of Potter lying on the floor of the train covered in blood kept flitting into his mind. He chuckled to himself as he got out of bed. It was too damn bad that Potter had somehow managed to get off the train before it left the station. How Saint Potter managed to get out of these scrapes Draco would never know.
He quietly dressed in his brand new Slytherin robes thinking how much easier his mission would be if Potter had been out of the way. He took one last look at the dark mark on his left arm before pulling on his cloak. Yes, the Dark Lord would have been so pleased with him had he managed to keep Potter away this term.
He left the Common Room quietly, trying not to wake his fellow Slytherins. He pulled his cloak tighter as he walk through the chilly halls of the dungeons. The halls of Hogwarts were eerie at this time of the morning. The rest of the school was still sleeping, and Draco bitterly wished he was still sleeping too. But he had work to do. The Dark Lord would kill him and his family if he did not succeed by the end of the school year.
This was all Saint Potter's fault. If he hadn't turned in Draco's father none of this would've ever happened. Draco would be enjoying his sixth year at Hogwarts and abusing his Prefect duties. Instead he had been forced to join the Death Eaters, when he wasn't even sure if that is what he wanted. He definitely hated Mudbloods, especially that Granger. He couldn't stand Dumbledore or any of his followers, but if he had it his way, he would have stayed neutral during this whole war and lived off of his father's glory.
Before he knew it, he had reached the seventh floor and was facing the wall across from the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. He hated that he had only found the Room of Requirements due to Potter and his idiot admirers last year, but it did come in quiet useful for his little project.
He paced in front of the wall three times thinking about the Room of Hidden Things. He navigated through the junk piled in the room until he came upon what he was looking for: The Vanishing Cabinet. There was a matching one in Borgin and Burkes shop in Knockturn Alley. Draco's job was to repair the vanishing cabinet so the Death Eaters can infiltrate Hogwarts. The other half of his job would be a lot harder. He shuddered when he thought of the mission he had been assigned.
The two hours he had allowed himself before breakfast passed quickly. He hurried out of the Room of Requirements and down the many flights of stairs to the Great Hall trying to come up with a story for why he was late if any of the other Slytherins, or that nosy git Potter, asked him.
When he walked into the Great Hall his eyes automatically flicked to the Gryffindor table in search of Gryffindor's perfect Golden Trio. God they made him sick. He didn't know why everyone worshipped those three imbeciles. He was ten times smarter than Potter and the Weasel. Granger on the other hand had him beat in academics. As much as he hated to admit it, the mudblood was smart. Although he was sure she only tried so hard because she was trying to prove herself as a wizard, probably why she was always throwing herself at that pureblood weasel too, hoping to marry him to get rid of her god awful muggle name.
His eyes found Granger, staring back at him with an inquisitive look on her face. He didn't see the Weasel or Potter anywhere though; the two must have come to their senses and stopped hanging out with the mudblood.
He sat down at the Slytherin table in his usual spot between Crabbe and Goyle. It took him a minute to notice they were both dripping water all over the table.
"Why are you two all wet?" He asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer. His two friends might be good for muscle but not much else. Then his eyes roamed up and down the rest of the Slytherin table. "What the fuck happened to all of you?"
"Um , well, when we tried to leave the common room this morning there was water everywhere, looked like the Portable Swamp the Weasel twins used last year before they took off." Goyle finally replied. "We had to swim through the dungeons to get up here."
"How the hell did you manage to stay so dry Draco?" Blaise Zabini asked, coming over to their end of the table.
"Yeah" said Crabbe slowly realizing that Draco's clothes weren't damp in the least. "Why weren't you in the dormitory this morning when we got up?"
"Well, I, uh, I had to go see Dumbledore, official Prefect business and all." Draco exclaimed quickly. "Oh, look here comes Snape" he said trying to distract the three boys from what they had been talking about.
Snape had just entered the room followed closely by Potter and Weasley. Draco wondered what the two of them were doing with Snape.
"Hey Blaise, what's Professor Snape doing with Potter?"
"Oh, you didn't hear, Snape went ballistic when he saw the swamps and found out from one of the portraits that Potter and Weasley had snuck down to the dungeons. They let out the Portable Swamp."
"Saint Potter probably just got away with a detention, as usual." Draco snarled.
Later that afternoon, Draco headed down to the dungeons for Advanced Potions. He wasn't looking forward to his favorite class as much as usual now that this new professor, Slughorn, had taken over the class. Professor Snape had finally been promoted to the Defense against the Dark Arts post.
He groaned when he reached the classroom. It was full of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Only four other Slytherins were in the room. Draco walked over to the table Blaise was sitting at and set his bag down on the table. He had just settled into his sit when The Golden Trio walked through the door. Draco groaned even louder.
"Fuck, I was hoping to be rid of them this year." He said in an undertone to Zabini. Draco had already had to put up with the trio in Defense against the Dark Arts. At least Potter had gotten that detention for being smart with Professor Snape. There was no way Potter would be the golden boy of Defense against the Dark Arts this year, and he was a dolt when it came to potions.
"I'm surprised Potter and Weasley even made it in." his fellow Slytherin replied.
Before Draco had a chance to reply, Professor Slughorn called the class to order.
"Since it's the first day of lessons, I thought I'd start the term off with something fun. Okay, I'm going to call roll and place you in groups of two alphabetically. This will be your partner for the remainder of the term. When I call your name, come forward and collect the ingredients you will need for the potion, you will have the rest of the period to complete it."
"Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones"
"Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy"
Two sets of groans followed the announcement of this pair. The Gryffindor and the Slytherin slowly got up, with matching looks of disgust on their faces and collected the ingredients for their potion. Both were thinking that it was going to be a long term.