Chapter 8

Draco POV

Draco was in a warm, comforting place. He was without worry for the first time in days and he felt like he could take on the world. He lay in this state of compete peace before his eyelids cracked open. He wished that for once he could awake to the sound of birds chirping or light streaming in through a window. He wished he could have a window in the first place. The dungeons were a dreary place to have a dormitory. If he hadn't known that he was in Hogwarts, Draco was sure that he would believe that he was trapped in a prison.

He was hit with the realization that he hadn't wished for a sunlit filled morning before. He had always liked the darkness of the dungeons, thinking that it matched his personality. But now that his mind had been opened, Draco realized that all the Slytherins were virtually being molded into dark, shadowy beings while the rest of the school was exposed to nature and sunlit corridors all of the time. In a way, even if Slytherins were some how sorted wrong, they were eventually molded into a stereotypical Slytherin.

Draco sighed and arose from his soft bed. His roommates were presumably already down at breakfast stuffing their faces, leaving Draco alone in the dormitory. He hurriedly got dressed in his robes and made his way out of the dark dungeons and up towards the Great Hall.

As he rounded a corridor, Draco found himself face to face with his old friends, Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson.

"Draco, we need to talk to you," demanded Pansy. "You haven't been yourself lately and we were pretty fed up with your behavior. Professor Snape just told us that your mother died and I think that we all just wanted to say sorry." Draco glanced at Crabbe and Goyle. They didn't look particularly sorry. In all the years that he had known the two, Draco had never seen them show any sign of true emotion.

"Thanks Pansy," said Draco softly, "it's nice to know you are thinking of my mother."

"Yeah, so... we wanted to talk to you about something else as well," started Pansy, "One of my roommates was stressing out about a test coming up, so I went up to the Hospital Wing the other day to fetch her an antidote and I saw something... interesting."

"And what was that do tell? Responded Draco nervously.

"I saw you talking with Hermione Granger. What was that about?" said Pansy accusingly. Draco wasn't about to lie to the girl, but he didn't find it necessary to tell her the whole truth which included what he had got Hermione and his proposition for her.

"I'm the reason that she is in there. I was just apologizing for hurting her and making sure that she was okay." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. Draco figured that by lying to Pansy he wasn't protecting himself, he was protecting his new friend Hermione. It felt so amazing to even refer to Hermione as his friend. Draco never would have thought that one word could put a smile on his face.

Draco realized that Pansy was still staring at him suspiciously. It was probably due to his unsatisfactory answer, but Draco was sure that the large smile that had just made an appearance on his face played a part in her skepticism.

"Well...okay Draco, we'll see you later." Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed past him and descended the steps leading to the dungeon.

As Draco entered the Great Hall, his eyes immediately drifted towards the Gryffindor table. He had no desire to eat breakfast, only to speak to Hermione. Draco did not see the girl so he made his way towards the Slytherin table. He knew that he was imagining it, but it seemed as if when he sat down, his classmates all scooted away from him. He looked longingly over towards the Gryffindor table, and this time his eyes were met with a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl.

Draco met her eyes and smiled. The smile she sent back at him radiated warmth and he was sure that he could feel the heat of it from where he was sitting. As he watched her, Hermione nudged Harry, and gestured towards Draco. She must have told Harry and Ron about what I said. Harry looked over towards where Draco was sitting and gave him a forced smile, but Draco appreciated the effort. His eyes then fell to Ronald. The red head was staring down at his plate with a look of disgust on his face. Since Draco knew that Ron could never be mad at his food, he presumed that he was taking the news of his friendship to Hermione rather hard.

Draco quickly downed a piece of toast and a glass of pumpkin juice. He wanted to talk to Hermione and he also desired to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts on time. If he wanted to get in Hermione's good books, his grades would have to start picking up. After one last bite of sausage, Draco got up from his seat and made his way towards the large doors that marked the exit to the large room. He had seen Hermione's bushy hair disappear in this crowd and he wanted to find her and ask her what her two friends had said.

Before he could exit the doors, his path was blocked by a figure clothed in all black. He looked up and saw the leering face of Professor Snape.

"Where are you hurrying off to, Draco" the man asked with a sneer.

"I was actually on my way to your class, sir." responded Draco hopefully. He knew that some kind of lecture was coming if Professor Snape had taken time to talk to him.

"You're very early, I wouldn't worry yourself. Professor Dumbledore asked me to talk to you concerning a quidditch matter. I don't know if you have heard about this All-Star game that the school is having, but since our supply of seekers is so drastically low, you have been chosen to be the substitute for Potter. You most likely won't have to play, but if Potter gets hurt or chooses not to participate, the role would go to you." Professor Snape drawled on.

"Wow, thank you sir. Please tell Professor Dumbledore that I would love to play in the game." responded Draco excitedly.

"Alright," said Professor Snape. Draco started to walk away "And Draco?"

"Yes sir?"

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I know that must be difficult for you."