His Girl by greenflowerpot

Chapter 5

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @greenflowerpot ON A03!!

Revenge gave Draco a purpose.

"The other politicians, they have supporters," Tom said. "Here's the secret about supporters: they don't fight wars. For that I need soldiers."

Things were peaceful for now, but if all went according to Tom's plan the battle for power would soon become a violent one. Tom needed someone he could trust—someone he could grow into his perfect general. And Draco needed the hope that he could one day punish the rebels for what they'd done.

Draco gained back his weight, started exercising and eating more. He sat in on meetings with Tom and his father to analyze Rebellion tactics and began a series of rigorous private lessons in defensive magic and Occlumency. He still had nightmares but dealt with them privately, downing vials of Dreamless Sleep and waking up early to run laps around the estate, clearing his head. When fall arrived, Draco packed his bags and set off for Hogwarts. In his trunk was a list of prominent pureblood families and their heirs, all of whom needed to be recruited to Tom's side.

Draco did not give up on Hermione. He wrote to the Ministry every Monday and every Friday asking for updates on their search. They had exhausted every lead but Draco refused to let them stop looking. He reminded them of the name he'd heard, Remus, but there were no records of a muggleborn Remus. He visited the Hogwarts library daily in search of books on tracking spells, charms for finding lost people, potions that let you communicate with a distant beloved. There were days when all he wanted to do was crawl into his four-poster bed and die rather than face another moment of the reality that Hermione was gone, but he always doubled down instead, always worked harder.

Far from alienating him from his classmates, Draco's intensity made him more popular than ever. He became known for his aggression on the Quidditch pitch, using the sport as an outlet for his feelings and incidentally breaking Hogwarts seeker records and earning Slytherin a Quidditch Cup—then another, then another. Potions awards and Duelling trophies gathered on the shelves by his bed as he dominated his peers in every discipline. Social status had always come easy to Draco but it was newly important as a tool for influencing his peers in favor of Tom. He brought droves of classmates to Riddle's side, attracting them with promises of stability for purebloods and power to be gained. By sixth year Draco was prefect, Quidditch captain, and unrequited love interest of half the Hogwarts population.

It did not hurt that Draco had grown tall, his good looks more pronounced as the softness of childhood left him. Like Tom, Draco understood better than most the power of a handsome face—also like Tom, Draco preferred to wield his charms for flattery and manipulation rather than flirtation. He remained largely closed-off to most people and was uninterested in developing new friendships. Draco preferred having few friends. He was still best-known by only his childhood companions: Nott, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Who d'you think you'll take to the ball?" Nott asked one day after Quidditch practice. Draco frowned. They were lounging in two armchairs in the Slytherin dungeons, playing wizards chess. Draco knew that his role was to be sociable, to gather supporters until Hogwarts ended and he could join the real battles. But he drew the line at caring about the upcoming Yule Ball.

"Dunno," Draco said, moving his queen to capture Nott's bishop. "Might not go."

"Well could you maybe make a public statement about it? None of the good Slytherin girls will say yes to anyone, they're all holding out hope for you."

Draco snorted.

"Don't tell me you're having trouble finding a date. What about Tracey?"

Nott rolled his eyes and repositioned his knight.