Chapter 6:

In the last days of summer Draco had done nothing but stress. He knew everyone was going to treat him differently. His Slytherin friends would hate him because his father had given the Ministry information on the other Deatheaters- his housemates' parents and other family members alike- and their whereabouts as an exchange for his release. The rest of the school would hate him for being on the side that attacked them last year.

Great….

He sipped his lowball of Firewhiskey on the rocks,

Just what I need- to be an outcast when the war was won by the side that favored tolerance and acceptance….

She sighed and tipped back the rest of his drink. His mother walked into the parlor where he was just pouring himself another drink. "Again, Draco?" she asked and he felt his heart break at the tone of her voice. "Mother, please," he began but she put a hand up and he shut his mouth. "They won't tolerate those habits at Hogwarts and you had best abide by their rules," she stated, "They are already itching for an excuse to expel you and you had better not give them one!" She rarely raised her voice at him. She hadn't been yelling but her tone had gotten more intense as her volume increased. She meant business and if he wouldn't do as she told he would be in deep shit. His mother was a very kind woman- until you pissed her off. She had the ability to be cruel, thoughtless and ruthless in her verbal attacks as well as her magic that taught him at a young age: Don't fuck with Narcissa Malfoy. He saw his father almost lose an arm when his wife came in to find him flirting with one of the maids.

He knew she was right, too. His behavior wasn't conducive to success but it just felt so good to numb the past and truly not care about the thoughts of others. He downed the rest of his drink and sauntered over to his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "You're right Mother. I'm sorry. I promise I'll do better…"

No idea how to go about doing better, but I'll do better

"I'm tired," he said, feeling the copious amounts of the liquor taking affect, "I'm going to bed. Loooong day tomorrow. Goodnight Mother." He turned and walked up the large staircase in the entryway and made his way to his room. His room was the perfect reflection of him. It was dark and cool. His linens were midnight blue and adorned a beautiful mahogany bed. He had books and spare bits of parchment strewn across the floor by the fireplace and an unmoved Wizards Chess board on a small side table surrounded by two large leather chairs but the window. He thought of taking a shower for a moment but quickly decided against it as his eyelids drooped. He stripped and crawled between his sheets. Tomorrow he faced his classmates.

… And Granger….

His eyelids flew open. He had almost forgot! But the nice thing about booze is that it quiets down any stress that one has and let him drift off into a dreamless sleep…. Or so he thought.

He awoke in the middle of the night with a jump. His heart was beating out of his chest and he was drenched in a cold sweat. He was having nightmares again. He had gotten rid of them weeks ago but apparently it was only a brief disappearance. They were back and worse than ever. They weren't even about any one thing in particular. But it all had to do with that night…

"Severus, please…" and I just stood there like an idiot. I should've helped. I should've cursed Snape. I should've killed Bellatrix…. Or done something.

He tossed and turned for hours after, unable to get back to sleep. Tried as he might he just couldn't get that night out of his head. The way Dumbledore had just disappeared off the side of the balcony in a green flash had made him realize in that instant- he was in too deep. He didn't think it was all that serious, until right then. His world turned upside down and got infinitely worse after that night and he had no one to blame but himself…

Sleep eventually found the troubled wizard again and Draco tossed and turned. It wasn't going to be a restful sleep and the following day would be even tougher with his added exhaustion.

I Guess This Will Be All-Draco:

Pansy woke him with a pleasant surprise in the morning. He opened his eyes to find her naked and rubbing is alerted member. He smirked and kissed her hard.

Maybe today won't be so bad after all.

The way he was with Pansy was different than it was with Hermione. Pansy knew exactly where his spots were. The spots that made him go crazy. She kissed him on the neck right under his earlobe and Draco let out a low growl. He stared at her with a certain animalistic intensity. He flipped her onto her back, threw off his boxers and entered her in one swift motion. That was one good thing about her; she liked it rough. It wasn't sensitive or romantic how they were together, no, it was passion and desire. He grabbed a fistful of her hair as she arched her back. After a good while of grunts and moans she shook and twitched as he pulled her into a rough kiss. A few more thrusts and he was right there in ecstasy with her.

He exited her and rolled to lay next to her, "Well good morning to you too." She looked over at him and flashed a small smile, "I figured you needed a little something to help you get through the day." Oh Ms. Parkinson, always thinking of him. He did love that about her. She hopped out of bed and started putting her clothes back on, "Now get up. You still need to pack and we leave for Kings Cross in 2 hours."

AAaaand we're back to nagging, irritating Pansy…

He grimaced. Why couldn't she always be the sweet affectionate Pansy? Why did she have to go and ruin a great moment like that? Draco sighed and threw the covers off of him. He walked to the bathroom and showered the smell of sex off him. As the warm water cascaded down his body he couldn't help but wonder how Hermione's bedside manner was after sex- because surely she didn't yell and accuse all of the men she woke up naked next to… He chuckled to himself as he turned the water off and magically dried himself. He perfectly fixed his hair into an ordered chaos. After dressing in his classic all black robes he quickly levitated his neatly folded clothes and organized books into his trunk. He made his way downstairs for breakfast and stopped at the smell of smoke. Eyes growing in fear, he raced to the kitchen.

What the fuck is going on? Is Mother alright?!

He rounded the corner and halted to find his mother… cooking?! "Mother what are you doing?! You're going to burn the fucking house down! I thought that…." "The Dark Lord was back from the grave and was going to kill me via burnt biscuits!?" she laughed but didn't look up from the eggs she was ruining, "Merlin, Draco. Just go sit down at the table." He recovered from his near heart attack and sat down at the table across from Blaise and Pansy. Pansy was smiling happily and Blaise was looking upset at the ruined food on his plate. Draco dished up and force fed himself the charred biscuits and brown crispy eggs. At least his mother was happy…

After a few more regrettable helpings the three apparated for Kings Cross- but not without tears and many hugs and kisses from Narcissa, "You three behave yourselves, hear me?" She sniffed, "Oh, Draco!" she pulled him into a hug, soaking his shoulder, "I just know this year will be your year to prove yourself! Prove that you are a good man. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise…." She released him and with a crack they were gone.

Pans had insisted on holding his damn hand. He hated it. When she mentioned that this would make all of the other girls jealous he spun her around, amongst the crowd of people around the train to face him, "And why should the hell should that be a priority?" She just smiled at him and kissed him. For a moment he got a bit lost. It took him by surprise. She knew he despised snagging in public, and yet she did it anyway. He pulled away and scanned the crowd, hoping no one saw. He was as embarrassed as he could've ever been. Ugh. He looked at Blaise who gave him the same look as he did when he commented on the "delicious" breakfast. The look that said "What are ya gonna do?" Nothing. He couldn't do anything, not for the women in his life. If he did he'd surely lose them forever. He had wanted to tell his mother how awful her cooking was and how much Pansy disgusted him with her stupid social climb, but he just couldn't. They were really all he had. Pansy put his arm around hers and he sighed, defeatedly, and left it there. Blaise told some stupid joke about a wizard and a gnome. The punchline was clever enough for Draco to laugh but not clever enough for it to have been sincere. He was bored.

And then he saw her. He was quick, he played it cool- like he didn't see her at all. But out of the corner of his eye he saw Ms. Hermione Granger… blush. He smirked devilishly at this.

Oh yeah, today will be a good one. Time to make things uncomfortable.

He looked directly at her. He could see the emotions running through her face even though he knew she tried to hide them: excitement, fear, anger, shock…. comfort? He stopped scowling for just a moment to try to see deeper but when Pansy said, "Right, Drakie?" Oh how he loathed that nickname. She only ever did it when anyone else was around- which was going to be all the time now. He gave Hermione a quick glare to set things straight between them: he hated her. Then he turned to Pansy and said, "I'm sorry I was bored. Tuned you out. What was the question?" Blaise let out a sudden laugh but then hushed up when he realized how loud he had been. His girlfriend got all huffy and muttered, "Nevermind…" and they made their way onto the train.

Don't do it….

He urged himself to resist. But he didn't. He had to pass her anyhow to get to his car… Pansy and Blaise ran ahead to secure one for them away from all the excited screaming first years. And as he passed Hermione, again unnoticed, he let his hand graze her bum- palm out. He had almost gotten away with it too but something more superb happened: she reacted. She flipped around furious as to whichever 4th year thought it was funny to touch her backside, saw him and visibly boiled over with rage. She spat something he couldn't make out and added, "Don't touch me you critencious prat!"

That's certainly not what you were demanding not too long ago…

He almost said it but was distracted by two wands in his face. Potter and Weasley were crowding her so close they nearly blocked the passway. As he looked at everyones face he saw obvious anger from the boys and almost an eye roll from the littlest Weasley. Hermione's face was a mix between shock, rage and…. disappointment?

Hmm… That's new.

He hadn't realized he himself had a tight grip on his wand, but hadn't pulled it out yet and Hermione still hadn't drawn hers…. "Calm the fuck down Granger," he hid his curiosity. "It was an accident." She looked at him disbelievingly, "Fine."

Wait what?! That's it? "Fine" NO. This had fun written all over it and she's ruining it!

Then he smirked. He knew just what to say… "Really though, nice ass." It was all the two Gryffindor women could do to keep their hot headed friends from attacking. He relished in the chaos and the- he felt a hand on his upper arm pull hard and spin him 180 degrees.

Pansy. Oh fuck….

She turned to Hermione and said something inaudible before shoving Draco away and into their car.

"What the hell, Draco?!" Now it was Pansy's turn to be mad at him. "What, Pansy?" he almost snapped, "It's first day back! Gotta entertain myself somehow!" "Your mother said…" she started but was cut off by the now enraged Malfoy heir, "No! I'm a grown fucking man and I will not have anyone- including my mother- lecture me on what I can and cannot do!" Pansy shrunk away and let it go. Blaise stared at the couple wide-eyed and a grin on his face. This had to have been the ultimate entertainment for him. The mood in the compartment suddenly relaxed. "I'm sorry I yelled…" Draco half meant it. "I'm sorry I lectured…" she meant every word. They got settled in and Blaise asked out of the blue, "So, mate, are you going to do Quidditch this year? Because since Potters back, you might actually have some competition!" "To be perfectly honest I hadn't even thought about it…" He really hadn't. He had never loved Quidditch. At least not as the Seeker. He really liked being a Chaser much better, but the Seeker was the most prestigious and his father trained him for hours and hours as a child to be a one… "Probably not. As much as I'd love to I really should focus on my classwork," he finally replied. With that statement he more or less alienated Blaise Zabini for the rest of the trip. It was an accident. He didn't know social cues anymore… With that depressed notion he exuded himself to go look for the sweets. No matter how old he got he couldn't resist his sweet tooth. He bought 3 Chocolate Frog and some Fizzing Wizzbees and walked back. His friends and him sat quiet the rest of the way to the castle. Draco decided now was a good time to get ahead in the lesson plans, cracked open a book, and read. His mind not thinking of those stupid Gryffindors. His mind not thinking of their incessant giggling and inside jokes. And his mind definitely not thinking of Hermione Granger….

A/N: Quickly, I want to say thank you so much for all of the follows. I hope you're enjoying it so far! Im pretty excited for the next few chapters I just need to work out the kinks. I would appreciate reviews if you have the time... If not I understand, I barely have time to write the story! Haha. Also, I am very aware of my abuse of ellipsis. Keep on reading!

xo,

AtE