- Draco's Story -
I can't believe the summer has gone by so quickly, it seems like only yesterday that we were at the leaving feast and Dumbledore, the old fool, was telling us all to have a safe and pleasant holiday.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the end, so to speak, the first day of my final year at Hogwarts, and I have a feeling it's going to be one hell of a ride! I'm still trying to come to grips with the fact that I was chosen to be head boy. To be honest, although I haven't said this to anyone else, I didn't think I had a chance. I was sure Dumbledore, given his fondness for Gryffindors in general, and for Potter and Weasley in particular, would have chosen one of them. The last Slytherin to be head boy was Tom Riddle over 50 years ago and since then, it's been almost exclusively Gryffindors, with the occasional Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff thrown in just so that Dumbledore couldn't (at least openly) be accused of favouritism.
I don't know who was more shocked when I got the letter, me or my parents. My father even went as far as to suggest that a mistake might have been made - it's so nice to see that he has such confidence in my abilities. Naturally, we all thought that after all of our family's dealings with the Dark Lord, my father being a known Death Eater and my own open support of Professor Umbridge during my fifth year, I wouldn't even be on the short list, but it seems that the position is mine, and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth, I mean. what's the point of having power if you don't use it?
The only dark cloud on my personal horizon is that I have to spend the year working with that filthy Mudblood, Granger...Dumbledore's made her head girl, much to my disgust! Father was going to complain to the school governors but I hardly think they'd listen to him, after all, he hasn't exactly been 'popular' in the wizarding world since the final defeat of the Dark Lord last year and his subsequent denouncing of everything and everyone connected to Dumbledore.
There is ONE good thing about Granger being head girl though. The fact that she loves organising things and bossing people around means that I won't have to do any work. A definite plus! Crabbe and Goyle seem more thrilled with my new position than I am. I suppose they think that they'll benefit from it because they're my friends but I've got news for them, this gig is MINE and they won't be riding around on MY coat tails.
I'll bet Granger will be devastated that neither her precious Potty nor Weasel have been chosen to be head. I would have loved to have seen the look on her face when she heard that she had to share the job with me! Poor Weasley will feel like more of a loser than ever now, I mean, he's gone from being a mild nothing to an absolute nobody overnight...He wasn't even there to help Potter and the others fight the Dark Lord's army last year because he got hurt during the first five minutes, before Voldemort himself had even arrived!
Potter has PROBABLY got more of a reason to be unhappy about not getting the job, after all, he's the self-styled Gryffindor 'hero', especially after killing Voldemort and saving all those pathetic muggles at Godric's Hollow in the process. Then again, maybe Potty wants to be Minister of Magic, after all, such an important person would NEVER be happy just being head boy (ha ha! ).
I'm certainly looking forward to tomorrow...
August 31st.
- Hermione's Story -
Merlin, I'm exhausted! I don't seem to have had time to even take a breath since I got back from The Burrow on Tuesday. Mummy and I spent all day today at Diagon Alley getting everything I'll need for school this year, including two beautiful new sets of dress robes which were a gift from my grandmother. It took quite a while for her to get used to having a witch for a granddaughter but now that she's come to terms with it, she insisted on paying for the dress robes because she says that a head girl has to look her best on formal occasions. I chose one black set with silver and gold sequins and red ones with gold and emerald buttons. They are both so lovely, I can't wait for a chance to wear them.
I'm still completely overwhelmed at having the honour to be chosen as head girl. I had secretly hoped that I MIGHT be considered but I never dared to believe that Professor Dumbledore would actually give me the position! I really thought that Parvati might be the one, or Catherine Dixon from Ravenclaw, she's an incredibly talented witch - some of the spells she cast when we were defending the castle against the Death Eaters last year were WAY out of my league, just amazing! Plus, she's a really nice person and is an excellent prefect too, but it's me, and I'm just sooooooo happy!
Everything would have been perfect if only that damned Draco Malfoy was not made head boy!!!! Personally, I don't understand why Professor Dumbledore would DO such a thing, I mean Malfoy, son of a Death Eater, known to hate everything and everyone that isn't connected with Slytherin and the most arrogant, unpleasant person in the whole school (along with Pansy Parkinson, who's almost as bad!). I f only Harry or Ron had been chosen instead, my happiness would be complete. They both have exceptional leadership qualities and have certainly proven themselves to be more than capable of handling things under pressure, especially Harry. As for Ron, he might not have fought at quite the same level as Harry but he's equally as brave and he's done a great job as prefect, all the younger students love him, especially the girls! (I know how they feel grin).
The boys are both so proud of me, Ron couldn't wipe the grin off his face for two days after I got the letter while I was at The Burrow and Harry kept hugging me and saying how pleased he was. Mrs. Weasley cried and said I was like a daugher to her and Mr. Weasley gave me a million warnings about being careful working with the son of Lucius Malfoy. "If he's anything like his father, Hermione, and there's no doubt that he is, you'll have to watch yourself very carefully because he'll try his best to make your life as unpleasant as possible." I know he's right, of course, and I WILL be very careful, nobody with the name 'Malfoy' could EVER be trusted to do the honourable thing.
This year will be so exciting, I intend to work hard and make Professor Dumbledore, my family and all the Gryffindors proud of me. Of course, with N.E.W.T.S. and everything there won't be a lot of spare time but if I organise myself properly and make sure that Malfoy does his share of the work, it should be okay.
DISCLAIMER: The 'Harry Potter' characters and everything in the Potterverse is the property of JK Rowling, Warner Bros., Bloomsbury Books and other associated companies. No infringement of copyright is intended. The plot of the story and any new characters are not my own:)