"Oh shut that annoying trap of yours, you stupid mudblood!" groaned Draco Malfoy as he sat down on a large boulder, his legs sore and his feet aching with pain.
"I'm not exactly thrilled to be in here with you either, Malfoy. If it would've been up to me, I wouldn't have even come back to Hogwarts to make up for my 7th year. I damn well know enough to start my bloody career as a teacher." Hermione snapped at him, throwing their bag of supplies at his chest.
To their luck, Hermione and Draco had been paired up in some kind of twisted treasure hunt that the Ministry came up with.
And you'd have thought that theyd stop with their sick games after the war.
But anything for a little entertainment, right?
McGonagall had told the entire school the ecstatic news the first night they had arrived back to Hogwarts.
Of course not until she had greeted them all heartily, pointing out how Hogwarts had an increase of first years, since the war had interfered with most of their classes.
Every wizard and witch was required to stay an extra year at Hogwarts.
Anyways.
Once everyone had eaten and the 5th through 7th years had dropped their names into the goblet of fire, she muttered some incantation and slips of paper began to fly out of the blue flames one by one.
Hermione looked over at Ron and Harry nervously, hoping to be paired up with one of them.
The first team were Annabella Hawthrone, a seventh grader from Hufflepuff, and Secilya Wohlner, a sixth grader from Ravenclaw.
As both of them walked up to Line up behind The headmistress, Hermione couldn't help but notice how friendly they seemed to each other. To thee luck they must've been good friends, judging by the way they were grinning at each other.
The second team were Ginny Weasley and Pansy Parkinson.
Great.
The Golden Trio let out a round of groans and sighs, already feeling bad for Ginny.
"Poor Ginny. " muttered Harry, intensely watching his girlfriend as she force herself up there.
Pansy, on the other hand, didn't seem to really have a problem with it.
Or maybe she just didn't show it.
Knowing her, she'd probably make the next two and a half weeks of Ginny's life a living hell.
Next up were a the light blond Luna Lovegood, and a tall, strongly built boy named Jay Lombardi, who was currently in his 7th year and belonged into Ravenclaw.
Everyone's hearts beat fast as McGonagall pointed out that she would now call the last team.
"Draco Malfoy and Hermione Gramger!" she called out, and the hall was filled with silence.
You could seriously hear everyone's heart beat, that's how quiet it got.
"No! This … This is impossible!" Hermione screeched and looked at the professor in terror, as her friends pushed her out of her seat and urged her forward.
As if they had a mind of their own, Hermione's legs began to carry her up to Professor McGonagall, who gave her a sympathetic look.
Her eyes scanned the slytherin table, quickly finding Malfoy's blonde hair.
It was so blonde that she figure that she'd even be able to find him in the pitch black.
"Come on now, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall said, and Draco pushed himself out of his seat, joining the group, but standing a few feet away from Hermione just to make sure.
Fuck. Me.
Those were the first words that came to Draco Malfoy's mind as the old cooch called out his and the mudbloods name.
How the hell did he end up with HER?
His mouth gaping open at the headmistress and everyone else in practically the entire world, a long line of curse words flew through his head, some trying to escape his mouth, but he quickly shut it before he could say anything.
"Come on now, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said, waving him up there.
Right. As if I'M going to stand next to that filthy mudblood.
Blaise Zabini, Draco's dark skinned friend, elbowed him hard in the ribs, causing Draco to grunt in pain.
With a groan of hatred, he got up and strolled up to where the mudblood was standing, his hands deep in the pockets of his uniform.
"Great!" chimed te old with, before sending a piece of parchment to all of the teams.
Hermione swiftly caught the piece of parchment in her right hand, sending the scent of her fruity perfume into Draco's direction, who scrunched his nose together in disgust.
Great, I'll have to deal with that for almost a month.
"Please follow Professor Sprout to your designated living quarters, where you will be staying with your team for a week so that you have time to prepare for the upcoming two weeks." said McGonagall, and Professor Sprout, the herbology teacher, led them trough a door next to the large table that was meant for the professors to eat at, and into a small hallway, two doors on each sides.
"The rooms have already been assigned." The short lady explained, and the names of each team appeared on each door.
Drsco and Hermione slowly approached the last door on the right, Draco obviously a few feet behind her, and entered the tiny dorm, in which they were expected to live in for the next seven days.
Without any second thought, Draco slammed the door behind him and threw himself onto the couch.
Hermione watched him in disbelief. They had just entered their dorm, and he was already being a lazy son of a-
Hermione stopped her thoughts at once and grumbled.
"Malfoy, get up off your lazy arse. We've to prepare for the hunt." she snapped at him, before sitting down in an armchair across from the sofa.
Draco groaned audibly at the bushy headed girl, and sat up on the sofa.
She quietly skimmed through the instructions and information that the headmistress had given them just minutes before, before reading the words on the piece of parchment out loud.
"welcome back to another splendid year at Hogwarts! I welcome you all back and—"
"Just get to the damn point, Granger." Draco grumbled, not wanting to listen to the mudbloods voice longer than he already Had to.
"Fine." she sighed slightly annoyed.
"Once the teams are picked, they get one week to prepare for the hunt, and the teams are excused from classes, exams, quizzes, homework, etc. This will not affect their grades."
"They will need to know everything about the forbidden forest, which will be cleared of anything that would cause harm or death to a student, so that they know which plants are edible, where north is, how to read time without a watch, how to find water, and anything else that will possibly help them."
Draco cackled lightly at that, interrupting Hermione. "Great, we won't have to do that. We've already got the entire bloody library with us."
Hermione shot Draco a nasty glance before continuing.
"Before each team enters the forest, they will receive a bag filled with a tent, rope, knives, small first aid kits, a bowl, and to large flasks that may be filled with water. They are allowed to use their wands for anything but harming other students."
Once more, Draco interrupted Hermione. "Damn. And I was hoping to jinx the damn mudblood and the weasel girl." he muttered, just loud enough for Hermione to understand.
"Excuse me?" she scoffed, raising her eyebrows. "I believe you were mumbling, Malfoy. Perhaps you should try repeating that again?"
Chuckling lightly at her, he shook his head. This was going to be fun.
Hermione began to read once again, swearing to god that if the little blonde haired git was to interrupt her again, she would personally cast him to Neverland.
"As soon as they set foot into the forest, there will be a spell cast around the area to keep any harmful creatures out, and to make sure that the students don't return to the castle over night. But if they do want to give up on the task, only in life and death situations that is, they must simply cast up red sparks with the help of their wands, and someone will immedialtey bring them back to the castle.
The teams will have exactly 17 days to find each clue, successfully fulfill it's task and receive the key or keys, which are blue crystal balls that will give off a slight glow at night, making it a bit easier for the students to find.
Every clue is assigned to a certain team. One team will not be able to find another teams clue.
In all, there are 60 keys. 15 for each team to find.
Depending on how hard each task is, there will be more than one key at certain tasks.
The maximum amount of keys a team must find to win the hunt is 10.
The first team to find all 10, or even 15 keys, will send purple sparks into the air, and a professor will come and get them.
The remaining students will be notified through amplifying a professors voice, telling them that the hunt has ended, and will then be ordered to send sparks Ito the air, and another round of professors will collect the teams.
The prize for winning the hunt will be kept secret until the winners have returned to the castle, and all of the remaining students have gathered in the great hall to celebrate the winners.
They will then proceed to eat a dinner, and receive their prize.
There are a few spells that may not be used in the forest at any times.
Spells that may not be used: any typoe of curse and hexes.
Stunning students is allowed.
Students may set traps for the other teams, but they are not permitted to harm the victim in any way.
Good luck, Teams, and happy hunting!"
Hermione finished with a loud sigh, placing the parchment on the table in front of her.
"I can't believe that I have to spend the next three damned weeks with you." hissed Draco after a while of silence.
"well, Malfoy, believe it or not, but I'm not very fond of this idea either." she growled and got up, walking around the dorm.
There were four doors.
One led to a small bathroom, with a built in shower, loo, and sink.
The next door to her right was one of the two bedrooms. The beds weren't exeptionally big, but then again they wouldn't be staying here for very long.
"I'm going to bed." Draco said as he pushed past Hermione, with much more force than needed. The scent of her perfume filled his nose once again and he pretended to gag.
"No, Malfoy. You're not." Hermione grabbed him by the back of his shirt before he could close the door, yanking him back into the small living room. "We're going to prepare for this damned Hunt now. Whether you like it or not!"
Draco glared at the girl with so much hatred as she pulled him back into the room. Who did she think she was, ordering him around like that?
"You can't tell me what to do, Granger." he growled at her, attempting to push past her again, but she warningly held up her wand.
His eyes wandered down to her wand, and then back up to the mudblood's face. "Go ahead. You wouldn't do it for all the money in the world." Draco cackled, a smirk on his face.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, before lowering her wand. "You're right. I won't. Because I actually have some common sense unlike some people, and I want to win this bloody hunt. And I know you do too."
Scoffing, Draco leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And how do you know that, Granger?"
She tilted her head lightly. "You're a Malfoy. Everyone knows that Malfoy's don't like to lose, or else they'll throw a bitch-fit."
Now it was Draco's turn to narrow his eyes. "...Whatever. I'm going to bed." he grumbled, and successfully pushed past the girl without her yanking him back into the living room.
He slammed the door shut behind him, making sure that everyone in the great hall could hear it. Once the door was locked, Draco stripped off his uniform and tossed them into a corner, forming a pile of clothes, and jumped into bed, before pulling the covers over his body and trying his best to fall asleep.
Outside of the Slyterhin's door, Hermione groaned loudly and stomped away to her room, and changed into her pajamas. One of the house elves in the castle had already brought her entire luggage to her room, and she couldn't help but wonder how the elf had done it.
Her trunks were filled with heavy books, clothes, and all of her shampoos and perfumes and what not.
As soon as her head hit the pillow and the soft blankets covered her body, her eyes began to droop and she fell into a dream-less sleep.