The Marriage Decree

Chapter 6: Modus Operandi - Draco's POV

The first few months of Hogwarts seemed to go far too quickly for Draco. He spent most of his time in lessons, studying for his NEWTs, hanging out with his friends and worrying about The Marriage Decree. His head was constantly cloudy with thoughts he couldn't clear. Every time his eyes fell upon a girl in their seventh or eighth year, he would ponder what it would be like to be married to them. It was doing no good for his studies. He was still fighting side by side with Granger to be the top of their classes. They were about tied with five classes each but he would no doubt end up with an O in every exam either way.

It's now Easter half-term, his mother had sent him am owl telling him not to come home for the holidays and to instead spend the holidays studying for his exams. So like any good son, he spent all his spare time studying in the library, following his mother's advice.

There's a Hogsmeade trip today and Draco wants to get there and back as quickly as possible so he can continue to study. He's awake much earlier than the rest of the Slytherin house since there's no one in the common room. He assumes everyone is catching up on their sleep. He had tried to wake Blaise up, hoping to drag him along with him, but after spending five minutes trying to coerce him out of bed, he gave up and made his way to the Great Hall alone.

He didn't expect to see anyone else in the hall, so when he turns to walk through the door and finds Granger sat at the Gryffindor table, he freezes a little surprised. He waits for her to look up at the appearance of another person in the hall but she seems too invested in her book so he ignores her to the best of his ability and takes a seat at the Slytherin table.

At his presence, breakfast appears on the table around him. He grabs himself a goblet of orange juice along with two slices of toast and a handful of strawberries. With nothing to distract him, he finds himself staring at Granger wondering what it would be like to be married to her.

Probably a nightmare. Although she does have some positive qualities. She enjoys reading so they could spend their nights ignoring each other and reading their books. If they wanted to converse, there would never be a lack of topics. They are both the brightest wizard and witch to walk Hogwarts Halls in generations. They could probably spend the rest of their lives talking together and never repeat themselves. Draco shakes his head. What is he thinking? His eyes focus, thankfully Granger doesn't seem to notice that he's staring at her. She's still reading her book. He narrows his eyes trying to read the cover of her book. 'Lost Spells from the Tenth Century'. He makes a mental note to have a look for it in Tomes and Scrolls later today.

When he finishes breakfast, he returns to his common room to grab a few things, namely his cloak and coins. He tries once more to rise Blaise out of bed but to no avail. It's still early, but the Hogsmeade shops open in ten minutes, so he sets off down the long path leading from the Grand Doors of Hogwarts to the Grand Gates. When he arrives in Hogsmeade, he decides that whilst he's here, and he might not be back for a while, he might as well browse in any shop that interests him, rather than just the ones he knows he needs to go in.

This might have been a mistake as he ends up spending a lot of coins in the Spintwitches, J. Pippin's Potions, and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop before he even made it to Tomes and Scrolls.

In Tomes and Scroll, he heads straight to the back where the books on charms are kept, hoping to find the book Granger had been reading for a quick flick through. He's curious to know what was so interesting that it made her less vigilant of her surroundings. 'Mad Eye Moody would surely be disappointed' he thinks with a smirk as he browsed the shelves.

He's only been searching for a few minutes when something very heavy and very hard hits him on the head.

"For Merlin's sake." He curses loudly rubbing the top of his head where the pain is pulsating furiously.