Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters or themes presented in this text.
Chapter One
With the rain pouring heavily, creating tiny thuds against all the stained classroom windows, Professor Snape sat back-straight behind his desk, waiting for his class to finish up. He watched over the students lazily as most by now were delicately trying to pour a vial of their calming draught to hand over to him for assessment. It was the second week back at Hogwarts for the start of a new school year, and already the students had lounged back into their carefree attitudes. How he hated that most of the students wouldn't take potion making seriously. He constantly thought about how one day far into the future, every single person in his class would need to brew up a potion and he bet that they'd have difficulty doing so, all because they weren't bothered enough to pay the class the least bit of attention when they were at school.
A minute or two passed as he continued to let his eyes roam around to the tables, before students started walking forward to submit their vials. Grumbling his notice of their submissions, Professor Snape placed all the vials into his top drawer. After collecting the last vial, he made sure all the students had left the room before with a flick of his wrist; he locked the door to the class. His face seemed to darken suddenly and his right hand itched at the sleeve of his left forearm- the dark mark. It had been over a year since he last felt the small burning prickles of the Dark Lords summon, however there he sat in his classroom, trying to ignore the uncomfortable sensation in his arm.
"I don't understand what you're possibly going to do with all these books." Ron Weasley walked out of the library, following a very rushed Hermione; both with a very generous stack of books in their arms.
Hermione led the way, rounding the corner and heading to start up the staircases. "Ron, it's the second week and I already have two papers due by next week and another three by the end of the month. If I don't get a move on, then when the time comes when I need to have started them, the books I need will have all been gone." She huffed out as she climbed the stairs, completely oblivious to the fact that being a witch meant she could levitate the books instead of having to carry them. "Plus, this is our seventh year here; you'd think you would know by now that I'm always striving to have everything completed well before the due date."
Ron shrugged at her words and continued on his mission to juggle the books while trying to keep his balance on the occasional rotating staircase. "Sue me for thinking you may have chilled the hell out by now." He noticed that she did not react to his words, and came to the conclusion that for the next few hours, she'd be giving him the cold shoulder over that comment.
Pansy Parkinson slammed the dungeon door to the Slytherin common room as loudly as she could muster, earning her many alarmed looks from her fellow house members. She leaned against the door and glared at the people around her. "Anyone says a word, and I'll curse all your damn heads off." Moving away from the door, she roughly took off her side bag and threw it at the closest first year; making a bee-line to the dormitories. "Put that in my room, and make sure nobody and I mean nobody enters Malfoy's room." Sneering, at the first year, she didn't miss a step in her threatening strides to the dorm rooms.
As she stormed down the hallway of the boy's dormitories, she started rehearsing a few good curses she had memorised all day. Reaching the last door on the right, she slammed her palm against it loudly, not caring who she may be disturbing in the rooms surrounding. There was no reply, so she slammed against it harder.
"Draco Malfoy, you open this door or Merlin help me I will break it down!" She stopped her violent knocking and stared at the door knob, waiting for a jiggle. She was about to continue to shout threats before the door opened for her to enter.
Draco Malfoy resting on his bed stared up at the short girl, annoyance written all over his flawless features. "What do you want Pansy?"
Pansy walked right up to where he rested and swatted his shoulder multiple times. "Have you lost your mind? Do you purposely try to make everything difficult for yourself?" Sneering Pansy snapped at him. As she awaited a response she was only reimbursed with a confused look and a perfectly arched raised brow. "The head position you git. Goyle reckons you turned it down and now the whole school is buzzing about trying to figure out who the new head boy will be."
Realisation dawned on him and he shook his head. "No, I didn't decline. I merely haven't accepted it yet." He kicked his legs off the bed and sat up, stretching his arms high up over his head.
Pansy held back the pulsing urge to wack him over the head, and instead settled for smacking his forehead with the already sore, palm of her hand. "Seriously, all looks and no brain. Do you think they're going to wait for you to accept? It's the second week! I'm sure Dumbledore is already writing up a little letter appointing someone else the position."
He stood up so that he towered over the girl, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop it, Pansy. I will be head boy in time. I need to think things through." He dropped his hand from her shoulder.
Quietening her voice to just above a whisper, she hissed at him. "Think of what it would mean to be able to do the Dark Lords bidding in the privacy of your own common room and not have to worry about any blood traitors lurking around the corner, waiting for the slightest indication that you're up to something, just so they can report to that old fool of a headmaster."
He shook his head and picked up his wand from his desk, waving it in the direction of the door, muttering a silencing spell on it. He rounded on her, his brows creating a frown. "Yes but think of who the head girl is. Do you really think I'll be able to come and go, and do as I please with the mudblood constantly keeping an eye on what I'm doing? Don't act like a fool Pansy. It's common knowledge that they think I'm a death eater already. I don't need Potter and pathetic pack of sheep constantly vigilant of my actions." He dropped his wand back on his table and leaned up against it, rubbing at his temple in frustration. "Don't think I didn't consider both options Pansy. This way, it doesn't look like I'm eager to have the privacy of the heads room. I just need to somehow manage to redirect their suspicions of me elsewhere."
Pansy's features softened at his words, and she nodded her head in agreement. "Forgive me Draco. I didn't realise Granger was head girl." She approached him and leaned into his body, resting her head on his chest. "We'll figure something out."
His eyes rolled up to the ceiling at the girl's sudden contact. He let her stay there for a mere few seconds before he pushed her away, at the shoulders. "Don't. I can do this myself." He looked at the door to his room and cleared his throat. "Next time, if I don't answer the door, take the hint and go away. Goodbye Pansy."
A look of confusion and hurt appeared in her eyes, but just as fast as they were there, they were gone, replaced with a look of boredom. "Just don't stuff it up." She left the room and left the door ajar, not bothered to be polite enough to close the door for him.
Draco leaned back against his desk, suddenly feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He needed to go for a walk, and he needed to decide what the best course of action to take would be.
Hermione dropped the stack of books on her bed, instructing Ron to do the same. He dropped them carelessly onto the bed, not looking twice when a few books slid off the bed and onto the floor. He nodded while looking up and around the Heads common room. "Well I definitely agree that you'll have more space to relax here." He poked his head out of her room, "No head boy yet?"
Hermione shrugged and shook her head, "Apparently not. I'd have thought whoever it was would have moved in by now. Dumbledore hasn't been keeping me updated on the situation." She picked up the few books that had dropped to the floor and put them on her bed, slowly starting to arrange them all up in little piles.
"Well, enjoy the peace and quiet now. Knowing Dumbledore, he's probably got a little surprise up his sleeve. That man lives for surprises." He continued to speak as he walked into the bathroom, raising his voice slightly so she could still hear him. "Surprises and lemon drops. Hermione, have you seen the bath tub in here?"
"No Ron. I've been living in here for two whole weeks, but I haven't stepped foot in the bathroom." She continued sorting but started to frown when she realised she hadn't brought up all the books she had originally wanted. "Drats!"
"No need for sarcasm." Ron appeared in her doorway, smiling at her. "Something wrong head girl? Paper cut?"
She wiggled her fingers up at him to show they were fine. "No, just forgot a book." She let out a long sigh and got up off her bed. "I need to run back down to the library. You want to stay up here or you going to head back?"
Ron rested his head on the frame of the doorway. "I think I might head back to my room. Quidditch practice tired me out today, so I may have an early night." He watched as she took off her robes and loosened her school tie. "Want me to walk you there?"
She pulled the tie over her head and hung it up on her door handle. "I'm fine. You go sleep. We have class first period tomorrow and Merlin forbid, you don't want to miss breakfast now do you?" She smirked as she moved towards him, and started shoving him to the entrance of the heads common room. "Tell Harry I said night too, if you happen to bump into him."
Ron made a sour face and dug his heels into the ground so she wouldn't be able to shove him. "That's if he can detach his lips from my sisters face long enough."
Hermione exploded into a fit of laughter, "Oh Ron, it's cute. You just can't see it."
He growled at her and walked out of the common room, making his way down the cold hallway. He called out to her over his shoulder, "Best be getting to the library now before it gets too late. Don't want the head girl breaking curfew now."
Hermione waited till he had rounded the corner before closing the portrait door behind her and tucking her wand into the waistband of her school skirt.
She disliked walking the halls of Hogwarts after sunset. Some argued that the castle looked magnificent with the candle-light surrounding the centuries old stone walls; however Hermione found it to be quite unsettling. She did not find comfort in the flickering shadows the candles created and the occasional hiss of a flame.
By the time Hermione had reached the library, Madam Pince was in the middle of closing the doors. The librarian turned suddenly and looked down her pointed long nose at Hermione with great distaste. "Oh heavens child, do you not have anywhere else to go?" She turned her attention back to the doors and started to fiddle with one of the knobs which would on occasion get slightly jammed.
"Sorry Ma'am but I left the rest of the books that I checked out on the counter. If I could just quickly run in and get them, I hope that won't be too much of a problem."
With an over exaggerated sigh, the librarian pushed the door open but did not say a word. Hermione taking the hint that she wasn't in the mood, hurried into the library and located her books quick smart. She had taken no more than a minute before she was rushing out of the doors and past the librarian once more. "Thank you so mu-"
"Just get on with it and get back to your room." Madam Pince snapped, interrupting Hermione. She watched the brown haired student blush furiously and leave without another word. She muttered words of displeasure as she continued trying to close the doors once more.
Draco sat on his bed and was fiddling with his wand. He was deep in thought about how to handle this matter of becoming head boy. He knew he had over done his attempt at trying to not look too pleased and was now in risk of not being able to accept the position of head boy. Leaving his wand on his bed, Draco stood and looked around for some blank parchment. He grabbed a blank sheet which he had discarded on his bedside table and found a quill. Not bothering to make it presentable, he scribbled a quick note 'Headmaster, as it is past curfew I cannot come see you personally, but if you will still have me I'd like to accept the role as head boy- Draco Malfoy.' He rolled the parchment up and attached it to his owl before opening his window and letting the bird be on his way.
He watched as his feathery friend glided through the sky before taking a dive to the other side of the castle and disappearing. Sadly, he closed the window back up and resumed his position on his bed. He had a lot of planning to do, with a minimal amount of time at his hands to waste. But for tonight, he was in no mood to even start considering how he was going to go about completing the task the Dark Lord had given him.
Hermione had finally organised and put away all of the books she had borrowed from the library. She was ready to kick back for the night and relax. This was her original plan; however she was interrupted by a knock on the common room door. Since there was still no news on the head boy, she knew that the interruption must be for her. Feeling the loss of her warm spot on the couch, she made her way to the door to open it. The door opened to reveal a high spirited Dumbledore standing there, smiling down at the head girl. "Good Evening Miss Granger. I'm sorry to have called in at such a horrible hour, but I have some fantastic news I wish to share with you."
Hermione shocked that her headmaster was in such a cheerful mood, side stepped to allow him in. "No need to aplogise sir, I was just reading up on some of chapters we'll be looking at in classes tomorrow." She closed the door and followed him to the couches, sitting opposite him and waiting for him to continue. "Sir? What's the news?"
Dumbledore smiled and looked around at the common room walls. "Such a beautifully decorated room. Those house elves really out-do themselves." This caused Hermione to raise a questioning eyebrow, but she did not dare interrupt him. "Well, that is all beside the point of why I am here. I'd like you to be the first to know that a head boy has been picked. I received a letter from him tonight stating that he would accept the responsibility of being head boy. I trust that he will be moving into these chambers tomorrow and didn't want you to pause in panic when you discovered who it is I picked."
She didn't say a word, but mentally she was shocked that Ron had been right. Their headmaster was full of surprises.
"-so young mister Malfoy will, I'm sure, be moving in tomorrow. Some unity and an attempt to be civil to one another will be appreciated by myself and the rest of the staff."
Hermione snorted at this statement, but quickly apologised for this. "I'm sorry headmaster, but are you sure Malfoy is head boy material?"
His smile appeared once more and he stopped his animated hand movements and left them in his lap. "Ignoring his family history, Mister Malfoy has impeccable grades just like yourself. Heads are chosen by academic status, not personal."
A sharp pain started to throb in the side of Hermione's head. He was giving her a headache, and she was sure that this headache would be the first of many more to come this year if she were to be sharing a heads dormitory with Malfoy. "I understand sir, and I will try to comply with your wishes and seek to be as hospitable as I can towards him."
Dumbledore stood up and made his way to the door. "That is all I ask Miss Granger, that you try." He opened the door and stepped outside. "May I suggest asking who is there before opening a door next time? Goodnight Miss Granger." And with that, he closed the portrait door behind him.