[seven]

Draco woke at the first flash of sunlight. He didn't know if the Room of Requirement really had windows, but the one on his wall was letting the brilliant rays of the sun in his room. He made a mental note to close his drapes before sleeping, and then went ahead for a quick shower. Draco immediately locked the connecting door in the bathroom to Hermione's room, quickly remembering their embarrassing encounter the previous night.

Showers have always been Draco's favorite self-care regimen. There was something about the feeling of water on the skin that made the whole ordeal relaxing. However, seeing the dark mark on his left arm while he scrubbed the day's muck away always put him off. Although it was quite faded now that he's gone, Draco still made an effort to cover it up. Being a little more than gifted at Potions and Charms, he was able to alter the concealment charm to cover the magical tattoo for a day.

Draco thought to himself, but then again, when did he ever care about what other people thought? As he finished up preparing for the first day of actual lessons, Draco wondered whether Hermione was already awake. His question, fortunately, was answered as he descended the staircase of their dorm.

Hermione had been waiting for him on one of the loveseats, casually going through her timetable "About time, Malfoy. I thought you'd get up for class."

"I see you're already stressing over your lessons for the day." Draco remarked "Took more classes than you had to, Granger?"

"As always." Hermione said, smiling cooly "I saw we had DADA together, I was hoping to discuss the prefect pairs before class if you're willing to skip breakfast."

Draco frowned, he didn't want to go through DADA with an empty stomach "I don't fancy fainting during spellwork in DADA, Granger. How about free period? When's yours?"

"After DADA." Hermione answered

"Perfect, we'll leave the class together and discuss the pairs here." Draco said, gripping the strap of his bag, which he had forgotten to charm to weigh lighter

"Alright, let's head to breakfast then." Hermione stood up, and together they descended the many flights of stairs to enter the Great Hall. It was quite odd to see Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy next to each other, much more standing so close to each other. So, when they entered the Great Hall together, several heads turned to gawk at them. Ron, was once again turning red at the sight of Draco standing so close to Hermione, and when the blond wizard kindly walked Hermione to the Gryffindor table he couldn't stop himself from glaring "I hope you watch yourself with her, ."

"Good morning to you too, " Draco smiled coldly before turning to Hermione, he knew his next statement would infuriate Ron so he said it with the widest smile he could muster "I'll see you after class, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he's doing "I'll see you, Malfoy." With that, Draco spun on his heel and walked over to where his friends were watching on the Slytherin table.Pansy said through gritted teeth as she slammed pancakes on her plate

"Control your temper, would you?" Draco said calmly "I kind of like the fact that my kindness is making him angry."

"You are horrible." Blaise snickered as he threw his arm around Pansy casually

"Oi, Zabini, what is that?" Pansy asked with raised brows "Get your smelly arm away from my shoulder."

"I bathed" Blaise rolled his eyes

"Are we still on for Quidditch try-outs?" Goyle asked Draco

"I'll have to find time for it, but sometime this week, maybe."

"I'm in the team, right, Malfoy?" Theo grinned cheekily

"Sod off, Nott. Everyone has to try out again this year." Draco rolled his eyes, throwing a piece of bread at Theo's face "Some talent might've gotten lost with the war."

"Not mine." Theo glared, throwing the bread back at Draco's shoulder

"Sure." Goyle snickered "There's only a handful of players needed in a team, and I'm sure the house wont like it if it seems like Draco's playing favorites. At the most, I think he'll only pick two."

"And I'm part of that." Blaise shrugged confidently

"Yea you all can shut your traps and just show me what you've got on try-outs day." Draco rolled his eyes and proceeded to eat his breakfast.

-----

The teaching position for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class has been jinxed since Dumbledore refused to give Tom Riddle the job, or so Harry says. Now that Voldemort's gone, the jinx has been said to be lifted, and so people believe the position is no longer taboo. Professor Ysabel Yanley stood proudly in front of her oversized class and smiled "Welcome to N.E.W.T level Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am Ysabel Yanley, you may call me professor Yanley, and I will be teaching you this class this year." She smiled brightly, scanning the room for faces she might recognize, particularly the Golden Trio's "I don't want to waste any more time, because that has already been done last year when the Death Eaters chose to invade the school." With her words, Draco looked away, suddenly finding the table more interesting

"Today, we will start with patronuses." Yanley said "Who can tell me what a patronus is?"

Hermione's hand immediately shot up, and almost everyone in the room smiled. They used to find this particular habit of hers very annoying, but after everything that's happened, they're just glad that some things never change "Yes, miss Granger?" Yanley beamed, delighted at the war hero's initiative to recite

"A patronus charm is one of the most effective defensive spells against dark creatures, or well let's say dark magic. It is incredibly difficult to conjure, and most wizards aren't able to create corporeal patronuses on their first try." Hermione paused before continuing "It takes a form of an animal that the wizard has a great affinity or connection with. A patronus is a tangible display of all the wizard's positive emotions and memories, and therefore acts like one's spirit guardian."

"Very well said, miss Granger! Take twenty points for your house!" Professor Yanley beamed "Now who can tell us, and demonstrate if they can, to cast a patronus charm?"

This time, it was Harry's hand that shot up "Mister Harry Potter, of course." Yanley grinned

"To cast a patronus charm, one must think of the most positive, or happiest memory they have. They must keep that memory or happy thought in mind while saying the incantation 'expecto patronum'" Harry began "The memory should be strong and happy enough for the charm to work, otherwise you wont be able to cast a corporeal patronus, let alone a non-corporeal one."