The Marriage Decree

What's Potter doing here? (Book 1 Ch 5)

Author's Notes: This is a refined chapter!

As the weeks pass, classes become more intense, and the library gets busier, as the average NEWT and OWL level students begin to panic with only two months before their exams.

Hermione and Draco had developed a simple routine. On Mondays, they'd meet in the library after class to exchange their notes from the previous week. One would ask the other how they were doing with a specific assignment. Then, they'd return to their separate desks to study independently.

Since Ron still hadn't come to his senses, Hermione continued to sit beside Malfoy in potions class, which had improved her average grade. At first, she assumed this improvement was due to her no longer having to support Ron, but she also took notice of Malfoy's method. She realised he had a natural flair for the art of potion making: the way he prepared his ingredients, added them to his cauldron and took care when stirring. Sometimes, he'd catch her watching and offer her advice to improve her potion.

Despite her promise to join her friends in the Great Hall for one meal a day, these meals had grown too awkward for her friends, who split their time between her and Ron. In the end, Hermione stopped showing up for lunch or dinner. She'd grab extra food at breakfast, wrapping them in a napkin to enjoy at lunchtime. Then, once she'd finished her nightly study session, she'd go down to the kitchens for a bite to eat before heading to bed. It might not be the healthiest of routines, but it worked for Hermione, who only had to manage until the exams were over. Afterwards, she'd have a week until graduation to sleep, eat and hang out with her friends whenever she wanted.

Having finally decided on which potion to make for his final exam, Draco had prioritised much of his time sourcing and preparing his ingredients, needing enough practice before the NEWT exam. Most of his spare time outside class was split between studying in the library or reviewing his potion notes in Slughorn's classroom. While worried by his tendency to forego sleep and meals in favour of studying, his friends understood his need to prove himself and achieve the best grades, so they left him to his own devices for the most part. Throughout the day, one of them would find him and deliver a selection of food collected from lunch or dinner to ensure he kept his energy up. Draco hates relying on his friends, but he's too stuck in his ways to join them for dinner, so he thanks them and continues studying.

Draco knows he owes a lot to his friends, and even Granger. He doesn't know how he would be managing without the notes they were providing him. He's by no means falling behind; he's maintaining his average in all his subjects, but that wasn't good enough for him. He needed to improve his grades, and thanks to Granger's notes, he had made progress in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but he knew he needed to focus on his other subjects too.

Therefore, the Easter Holidays couldn't have come soon enough for both Draco and Hermione. They needed a break from their lessons to catch up on their notes, assignments, and exam practice questions.

The first week of the Easter Holiday is extremely productive for Hermione. Despite not having any classes, she sticks to her usual schedule, waking up at half-six and heading to breakfast at seven o'clock. A few other students, like Hermione, are usually milling around, wanting to get a head start in the library. By half-seven, she's already spread out at her desk in the library, by the window overlooking the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's Hut. By the end of the first week, Hermione had reviewed each one of her nine subjects and had made a start on her Transfiguration essay, which Professor McGonagall had hinted at possibly being on the exam.

Even though she's kept to herself for most of the week, she notices her friends sitting around a large study table as she wanders the library searching for specific books. Sometimes, one of them will wave her over for a quick chat, but she doesn't like to linger. She knows her friends well; if she waits too long, they'll ask her for help with their notes, and she just doesn't have time to tutor them.