Bad Day, by Daniel Powter

   Dawn made itself known as the sun crept through the curtains of the Slytherin dorms, shining in Draco's eyes and waking him. He groaned in protest, throwing a pillow at the window. Though he knew that would do nothing to block the sun, Draco had a slight temper and couldn't help it. He didn't want to wake up from the dream he was having. Draco lifted a hand to block the light and buried his face in his pillow, trying to ignore the coming morning. Much to his annoyance, he found himself unable to get back to sleep. But his discomfort didn't last long as he pulled himself out of bed and rubbed his eyes.

With a deep breath, Draco stretched and let out a loud sigh. When he finally came out of his sleepy state, a grin broke across his face. Today was another day, and for that he was glad. A few days had passed since Hermione had agreed to be his girlfriend and made him the happiest he'd been in a long time. Draco couldn't remember a time he had anything but dread when getting out of bed every morning. But now, he had a reason to be glad each morning came, and it was all because of Hermione. That beautiful, stubborn, wonderful, insufferable mudblood. 

Draco frowned slightly. He didn't like how easy it was for him to call her that. But that day Hermione had insisted upon him calling her it, he had realized something. That... word wasn't what it used to be. It had new meaning, and from that moment on, she was his mudblood. No one else could call her that. No one else could all her theirs. Because she was his.

Draco blinked several times, trying to wake up fully and walked over to his trunk. Then, pulling out his casual clothes, he made his way to the bathroom. Though it was Friday, the professors were having some kind of teachers conference that day, which meant the students got the day off. Draco was slightly disappointed that the tests would be postponed. He and Hermione had been studying for weeks. Draco froze. Oh no! He was actually disappointed that school was canceled. What a sad sad day. The day he admit that Granger's adiction to school had worn off on him. Still, he wasn't complaining that school had been canceled for the day. That just meant he got to spend more time with Hermione.

   With a towel and his clothes draped over one arm, Draco made his way to the bathroom. All he needed was a nice long shower to freshen up before starting his day. Draco turned on the shower and stripped, which didn't take long considering he only slept in his boxers, and stepped under the cold stream. He didn't care to wait for it to get warm, Draco prefered it cold anyway. The fresh, cool blast of water hit his face, finally waking him completely.

Draco poured a good amount of shampoo into his hands and lathered it in his hands until they were covered in suds then scrubbed it into his hair.  It was was quite ironic really, how the tables had turned. As of late, Hermione had tamed her hair into graceful ringlets to please Draco and Draco had lost interest in fixing his altogether. It worked out well. Though, Draco didn't mind her hair bushy, he liked it when it was in smooth and silky curls, and Hermione prefered his hair messy and shaggy to slicked back with gel.

   By the time he finished showering and got dressed, Blaise was up and ready to use the bathroom. Crabbe and Goyle remained fast asleep, as usual. Those two didn't normally get up for another hour, always making them late for classes. Draco never cared to wait for them or try to wake them, as that never went over well. So, lucky for them, there were no classes today. Draco walked over to his trunk and pulled out some books Hermione had lent him and stuffed them in his bag. He was going to meet her in the library later on that day so they could read a bit together. Listening to her read was his favorite pastime.

   After they started dating, Hermione had suggested that they spend more time with their other friends. She assured him that it wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with him, but if they didn't want others to get suspicious they'd have to start going to meals and such. Draco agreed reluctantly, knowing she was probably right. Though he didn't want to spend any time with those horrid excuses for friends in Slytherin, he knew that Hermione had a point. If he didn't start acting normal, then somebody was bound to find out about him and Hermione. He needed to spend more time with his Slytherin "friends".

Hermione suggested Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Goyle. Hermione assures him that he didn't have to spend any time with Pansy. Draco supposed that Blaise and Theo weren't too bad to hang out with. They was a bit more open minded when it came to blood status, even though he was from a prejudiced pureblood family, but he wouldn't judge Draco for liking Hermione. Not that Draco was ready to tell him, but if he spent more time with Theo it would make things look less suspicious.

   When Draco walked down to the common room, he found Theodore. "Hey Theo?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna go grab some breakfast then head down to the Quidditch grounds for some practice?"

Theodore looked surprised and skeptical about Draco's offer but shrugged. "Yeah sure mate."

Draco smiled and slung his pack over his shoulder. "Alright then, I'll meet you in the Great Hall?"

"Sure." Theo nodded.

   Draco made his way down the corridors towards the Great Hall. Students swarmed in the halls, children pushing past each other to get to the great hall before food was served. Most of which were Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Ravenclaws would rather spend their time in the library and most Slytherins spent off-days sleeping in. Still, even with it being only half of the student population, the crowd made getting to breakfast a challenge. Draco tried to weave his way between students but gave up and decided to just go with the flow. The flow that was moving rapidly yet going nowhere.

   Draco tried to avoid getting knocked over but failed. He groaned when a student bumped into his right arm, which was still fairly sore from the accident, and slammed him into a wall. He looked down to see a frightened Colin Creevy. "Watch where your going, muggleborn." He said, masking his voice with anger.

The boy cowered, making Draco feel slightly guilty. "S...sorry." Creevy stuttered.

"Picking on defensless first years now, are we, Malfoy?" Said a smug voice from behind.

   A smile stretched across Draco's face as he spun around. "Well Granger, maybe if you, Scar Head, or Weaselbee had been here I wouldn't have to resort to torturing filthy muggleborns like yourself."

   Students began to gather around to watch the fight unfold. It would be a great show, he must agree. A muggleborn Gryffindor against the pureblood Slytherin. Granger, the brightest witch of their age against Malfoy, the son of a former death eater? Dare he say it would be the duel of the year. She would best him in every area of magic, he was sure, but would be quite the skeptical.

"Leave him be, Malfoy." She said with her arms crossed and Draco smirked.

"Make me." He challenged.

"Oh grow up and get a life, Malfoy." Draco smiled to himself. He had a life, he only shared that life with her, and she knew it. Though he had to admit, she was quite the actress. Hermione lifted her head and smirked, raising an eyebrow, scoffing at him.

"How dare you!" Draco lurched forward and Hermione whipped out her wand, pressing there tip to his throat. Draco, who pretended he didn't have enough time to reach for his, froze as she seethed.

"Stay away from me, Malfoy!"

He met her gaze, his eyes apologizing with everything he had in him. "As you wish, mudblood." Draco snarled. He spun around, leaving the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs to cheer for Hermione. Draco smiled to himself. That had been the plan anyways. People were getting suspicious and they needed to make everyone believe he was his rotten, horrible self whereas Hermione finally got some self esteem and stood up for herself.

Draco was proud of her, even if they had planned it and she wasn't uncomfortable standing up to him anymore. But he still felt awful and a sickening taste was left in his mouth after using that word so fouly. Draco didn't like it, but if she was finally able to get some respect out of the whole charade, then it was worth it.

   After rounding the corner, Draco entered an empty corridor and waited until Granger passed. Then, grabbing her arm, he pulled her aside when no one was looking. With a hand on her waist, he pulled her closer and placed a kiss on her cheek. "You were wonderful."

She smiled. "I must say, I quite enjoy yelling at you."

"Savage, Granger. I do believe my bad habits are wearing off on you."

"What do you mean by that?" She said, her eyes wide, offended.

"Creevy is a second year."

Hermione's eyes widened and she blushed. "Oh my. He's still so small! I didn't mean... I forgot that he was..." Draco's laughter cut her off short. She rolled her eyes and grumbled. Draco gave her his best pouty face, trying to make puppy-dog eyes and puckered his lips. With a sigh, Hermione stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "I've gotta go. I'll see you later." Draco huffed but followed after her. She loved to torment him and always knew how to tease him.

   When Draco reached the Great Hall, he was bombarded with questions from the Slytherins. Questions about the duel had occurred in the corridors between him and Granger. Word spread fast among the students, even though there had been no actual duel. Though Draco brushed them aside, his classmates continued to badger him, asking about "that mudblood". Draco clenched his fist to keep from punching every foul git that uttered that word. That called her that word. Nobody... nobody, except for Draco, could call her that.

With a glance at the Gryffindor table, Draco could see Hermione tensing. Her eyes were wide and she shook her head. A warning that he needed to calm down. But how could he just let them get away with insulting his girlfriend? He hated them for it, but he knew that lashing out would do him no good. So Draco made his way over to the table and sat down next to Blaise.

   It didn't take long for Pansy to find her way to Draco and plop herself down right beside him. She smiled sweetly and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh Draky-poo, I heard about what happened in the halls this morning." She smiled maliciously, causing Draco to shudder. He stole a glance at the Gryffindor table where Hermione was scowling at them in anger and dare he say, jealousy? Pansy inched closer. "How dare that filthy little mudblood speak to you! Who does she think she is?! You should have hexed her! She's lucky your a gentleman, or you would have put that mudblood in her place!"

Draco stood abruptly, causing Pansy to fall of the bench. "That's enough, Parkinson. I've got better things to do than sit here and listen to you jabber." He turned away from a teary-eyed Pansy and looked at Theo. "Meet me in the field." Theodore nodded and Draco walked out of the Great Hall, winking to Hermione as he passed. Much to his amusement, her cheeks turned a deep shade of red and Ginny burst out laughing.

   Draco scowled and made his way to the quidditch storage room. He hoped Hermione wasn't mad about Pansy. Surely she knew he wanted nothing to do with Parkinson. Pug-faced Pansy. She was horribly ugly in comparison to Granger, pureblood or not. He knew that wasn't the nicest thing, but she was ugly... inside and out. Draco smirked. If he wasn't such a gentleman, he would have hexed her right then and there for saying those horrible things about Hermione. She had no right to even think such things! Draco closed his eyes and sighed. It did him no good to dwell on it. It would only make him madder.

   Once Draco reached the Slytherin equipment room he dressed quickly, making sure his pads and shoulder guards were in place. He made his way over to the broom cupboard and pulled out his Nimbus then headed down to the field. It didn't take long for Theo to meet Draco, broom in hand, on the Quidditch pitch. Draco mounted his broom and looked over to Theo, who hesitated. Draco knew he was insecure when it came to his ability to fly on a broom. Theodore wasn't on the Slytherin Quidditch team, he had never tried out, but he was hoping to get in after tryouts next year, and he had his heart set on being Chaser.  

Theo mounted his broom with a slight smile. "Thanks for this mate. I really could use the practice."

"No problem." Draco shrugged it off and took to the sky.

   Before long, Draco and Theo were both soaring high above the quidditch pitch, working on flying, blocking, and hitting techniques. Draco showed Theo the tactics and flying formations that Hermione had come up with, not telling him it was her who had come up with them. He wasn't sure how Theo would react, knowing that the girl who's never ridden a broom before had come up with quidditch formations. Draco smirked to himself.

There was no doubt about it, Hermione would make an amazing quidditch player. With her knowledge of broom dynamics and flight patterns, she would bring her team to victory. But the thought of Hermione being on a broom again made him shudder. No. Quidditch was much too dangerous. He didn't like the thought of her being on the Gryffindor team, knowing that Slytherins made it their goal to take down the Gryffindors. Draco shook his head. No. He didn't want her playing, no matter how amazing she would be.

   Theodore was a very good player, much better than Montague. Draco hoped he would take up the title of Chaser next year during tryouts. There was definitely going to be an opening, seeing as how Montague was becoming captain. Draco shuddered. Montague being captain was not an appealing thought. The Slytherin team would be doomed. They're only hope would be if Montague would fail as captain, leaving the position to someone else. Draco was too young to take the position, so that would leave it to a sixth year. That wasn't good either as most of them were idiots.

   When Draco and Theo finished practicing, they decided to go back to the Slytherins Common Room to polish their brooms and clean their equipment. When they got there, Draco summoned his broom servicing kit and two bottles of butterbeer for them to enjoy while talking a bit. Draco pulled out a clean cloth and dipped it in the broom polish then ran the cloth across the smooth wooden handle. Theo took a drink of butterbeer and glanced at Draco out of the corner of his eye. "So... what's going on with you and the mud..."

"Don't. Call. Her. That." Draco snarled. Only he could call her that.

Theo looked a bit taken aback but nodded. "Okay. What's going on with you and Granger?"

"Nothing." Draco said, a little too quickly, paying very close attention to his broom.

   Theo raised an eyebrow. "Really Drake? It's kind of obvious you like her. We all know... well, all of us except for Pansy. What does Granger think?"

"What makes you think she knows?" Draco raised his eyebrow to match Theo's.

Theodore let out a small laugh. "If she doesn't know, then she's either not as smart as we give her credit for, or..."

"Or?"

"Or feels the same way. And I'm pretty sure it's the latter, because I've seen the way you two act around each other."

   Draco looked down to the broom in his hands. He tried to brush off the thought that everyone knew about him and Hermione. He liked it being just him and her. Not having to worry about what everyone else thought. But at the same time, he didn't want to have to keep his feelings for her a secret. Maybe everyone would be as understanding as Theo. Perhaps they would be accepted. Ha! That was a funny thought. A pureblood Slytherin with a muggleborn Gryffindor? They'd be ridiculed by every wizard and witch in the wizarding world, or at least every pureblood witch and wizard.

   When Draco said goodbye to Theo and made his way towards the library, he yawned. It had been a long day and he just wanted to spend time reading with Granger. He smiled to himself when he saw that mane of bushy brown hair bouncing down the hall. Speak of the devil. Draco slid along next to her and draped his arm over her shoulders. With a slight gasp, Hermione spun around bumped into him. "Oh!" He smirked and raised an eyebrow and she grinned. "Hi Draky-poo."

Draco cringed and rubbed his forehead. "Don't ever call me that."

She smiled. "Alright then."

   They started walking again and Draco wrapped his arm around her waist. "Why are you so on edge?"

She rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I had a fight with Ron. He is such an idiot."

"Hm... I agree, but what was it this time?"

"I was trying to help him with his homework and he insisted that he was right, and I was wrong. Me! And Harry agreed with him! He thinks he's so smart. Well maybe next time I won't help them at all!"

"Not that I am taking either of their sides, but maybe if you would stop patronizing them..."

"Patronizing?! I am not patronizing them!" She smacked his arm.

"Well how d'you expect a boy to react when you tell them their wrong? I, for one find it very patronizing." He grinned smugly and stuck his nose in her face teasingly. Hermione wrinkled her nose, squinted her eyes, and puckered her lips sourly as if she'd sucked on a lemon. Draco took a hint and kissed her, it was brief but sweet.

   When he pulled away she smiled and they walked to the library together. They found a small spot in the corner to sit and read and Hermione pulled her books out of her bag. They sat down beside each other and each picked a book to read. They read for a bit before Draco looked up at her. "Don't make me do that again."

"Do what?"

Draco shuddered. "Call you that in front of all those people." 

Hermione tilted her head. "Why not? You and I both know that it doesn't mean anything."

"But they think it means something."

Hermione sighed and scooted closer to him then leaned against his chest. Draco wrapped an arm around her back and she whispered. "It doesn't matter what they think. I know your true intentions, and that's enough." Draco smiled and kissed her forehead.

After a bit, Draco yawned and Hermione offered to read to him. She sat up and Draco laid down, resting his head on her lap. Hermione played with his hair as she read, her soft voice pulling him to sleep. As he drifted off, he whispered between yawns. "Your mine, mudblood." Hermione smiled and leaned over,  placing a kiss on his forehead.

Author's Note:

Hello readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know y'all want to move to the next year but I want to do a few chapters in the early dating stage with all the cutesy scenes before moving to the next year. I promise that the extra content is necessary! So please hang around and it will get better. I hope y'all are enjoyed it regardless of the slow process. Be sure to comment for the next chapter! So for this chapter my question to you all is...

"Would you guys like to see another broomstick ride (if that's what it's called) chapter?"

P.S. I've got a few things in mind. Please let me know what you think of my song choices as well!