Draco Malfoy was undecided about Rita Skeeter - she was either the worst reporter, or the best scandalmonger in Britain. Most of the time, he believed she was both. And oh, the lies he told.

Potter's an attention seeking brat, too broken from losing his parents to see what corrosive influence Albus Dumbledore has on the school. Should a school have dangerous beasts inside?

The best part of that article was that Draco had managed to get Skeeter to tell the truth... mostly. The worst part? That it was the truth. Everyone had eventually heard about the three headed dog... but that had been more of a legend and a "didn't see" - and with Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy was pretty sure "didn't see" occurred with a lot more dangerous things than a three headed dog, no matter how big.

McGonagall's punishments of the Weasley twins were legendary for a reason - the twins were often so far out of bounds that McGonagall had to do more than take points. Draco was certain that the dry old witch was in league with Filch, in terms of creating the worst punishments.

Draco's own head of house, Severus Snape, was not feared for his punishments - there was a very simple rule: "don't get caught." He was feared for his truth-finding. "He'll tell at a glance if you've been out past curfew." how, exactly? Draco'd never been able to learn.

Draco had made buttons that changed from "Diggory is the real Hogwarts Champion" to "Potter's a loooser." Which had been fun for about a week, and profitable to boot. Then Draco had waved his wand.

"Potter Stinks."

"Potter's a Mangy Mink."

... the combinations were endless, and Draco was pretty sure that a lot of Slytherins and Ravenclaws were wearing them just to see him devise a new insult a day. If Potter hadn't been such a git, Draco might have even given him one for free.

Draco wasn't sure who'd been talking with Skeeter about Granger - maybe no one. But it was positively hilarious to hear the Weasley Matriarch cussing out Hermione Granger, in front of the entire school - the howler had been a beaut too. Draco wanted it framed. It wasn't good for Granger... or for Potter, for that matter, to hang out with the "wrong sort." There'd been nearly a thousand children in Hogwarts, why did they both need to befriend the Weasleys?

... to be honest, Draco Malfoy wouldn't have minded, so, if they hadn't rejected him in the process. And the Twins were menaces, sure, but they had their tempers under control. They weren't right bastards to their friends. Percy Weasley was stuffy as a prefect should be - Draco had the vague idea that he was intended to be a disciplinarian, as Snape tried for "cuddly" when it came to prefects - Slytherin's Head of House was never kind or sweet, or heavens forfend, cuddly.

Pansy could handle that, Draco Malfoy hoped. Snape knew that Daphne, the ice bitch, wasn't good at that, and there was simply no way Draco Malfoy wasn't going to be prefect. Not that he especially desired the job - he already had tykes to look after. Still, it was expected and Draco was going to present the perfect mirror of Pureblood Purity. Lives depended on it.

Draco Malfoy was becoming some sort of historian. Or so, Madame Pince had thought. He'd taken out a selection of historical books - all of which coincidentally described the next phase of the lunacy that was the TriWizard Tournament. If Granger was nearly the bookworm...

"Give me the books back, they're overdue," Granger said, her voice like a wand, leveled at Draco's chest.

"As an amazing coincidence, they're in the library already." Draco Malfoy drawled, keeping his voice steady as an act of will alone.

"The books, Malfoy. Madame Pince doesn't even know they're in the library."

"I won't have you besmirching my record," Draco Malfoy said haughtily, and then stood. "Wait here, I'll check them back in, and then you can get your filthy Muggleborn paws on them."

"Filthy!?" Granger shrieked, but Draco Malfoy was already walking hurriedly away. The books in his arms weren't the point - the point was the books on the table, that he'd so "carelessly" abandoned. Dancing, and courtship, and all of the decorum necessary for a Yule Ball that the world would see.

By the time Draco returned with the History Books, Granger had sorted out half of the books, and was reading one from the middle of the stack. Draco left the history books, and walked off without saying a word.

[a/n: sorry about the lack of writing. There will be timeskips!]