This is for the Finish this… challenge by me. You can find this challenge in the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges forum under the title of Finish this... (i'd post a link but FF wont let me). Anyone who reads this is welcome to accept the challenge.
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"Hello! Wakie wakie time!" Hermione felt a small hand on her shoulder and a loud voice in her ear. Hermione slowly opened her eyes.
"Shesh, finally, took you long enough." The hand left Hermione's shoulder. Hermione craned her neck around in an attempt to see who her awakener was, in doing so she realized that she wasn't in the girls dormitory in the Gryffindor common room. She didn't know where she was, only that it had a bluish light, as if it where under the black lake. Using her arms Hermione lifter herself into a sitting position to get a better view of her surroundings.
She was currently laying on a bed in a large circular room. There where five other beds and the room was decorated with mass amounts of green and silver. The awakener was a girl that Hermione didn't recognize, but right behind her sitting on one of the other beds reading a book was none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Where am I?" Hermione asked, even though a scared little voice in her head was telling her exactly where she was.
"Boys dorm, Slytherin common room," Hermione's awakener replied.
"How did I end up here?" Hermione asked, straining to remember something, anything from the night before.
"Long story short you fell asleep and since I had no idea where the Gryffindor common room was or how to get in I brought you here." It was Malfoy that spoke this time. Nobody spoke for a while.
"Is she up yet?" Hermione turned towards the door where Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise Zabinni walked in. Pansy was the one who had spoke.
"Woke up a couple of minutes ago," Draco replied. The whole time his eyes had never come off his book.
"Good, I brought some breakfast."
"Is there any oatmeal?" Hermione's awakener asked.
"Yep, the elves were so kind to make some especially for you."
"Yes," the girl let out a little cheer, "where is it?"
"Right here," Crabbe held out a container of something brownish.
"Oatmeal is life," the girl said gleefully.
"We weren't sure what else to get so we just got eggs, toast and some bacon, Hermione, what would you like?" it took Hermione a moment to realize that Pansy was talking to her.
"Huh?"
"What do you want to eat?" Pansy repeated. Hermione shrugged.
"Do you like eggs?" Pansy asked. Hermione nodded.
"Good, here you go, eggs right off the pan," Pansy took a box from Blaise and walking over lay it down on Hermione's lap placing a fork on top.
"Thanks," Hermione said quietly, opening the box. The smell of fried eggs quickly filled the room.
"No problem," Pansy replied, quickly passing food out to everyone else.
"By the way, I'm Julie," Hermione's awakener said loudly, taking a huge bite out of her oatmeal, "Most people don't know me since I'm like, new here, my full name is Juliet but I almost never use it since it makes me think of that depressing play by the Bard."
"Romeo and Juliet?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, that one," Julie replied. "Do you have a nickname?" she asked. Hermione shook her head.
"Damnit," she mumbled, "Hermione is like such a mouthful, how about any cute pet names? Got any of those?" Hermione shook her head.
"Nothing?" Julie asked amazed, "So when you go home both your parents just call you Hermione?"
"Well, when I was little my dad called me Hammie."
"You should have said that earlier, it's perfect," Julie said, "so, can I call you Hammie?"
"I guess so."
"Yay, cuz Hermione really is a mouthful, you hear that everybody!" Julie told all the others, "You can call her Hammie now if you don't feel like calling her Hermione cuz you're like me, lazy."
"What time is it?" Hermione asked.
"Eleven forty nine, why?" Julie replied.
"Oh, I'd better go then, my friends might be worrying."
"Don't worry about it," Pansy assured her, "They're probably too busy drooling over all the new girls."
"Why would they be drooling over girls?" Julie asked.
"Cuz they're guys," Pansy replied.
"Oh wait, they are?"
"Like duh, their names are Harry and Ron, those seem like pretty guy-ish names to me."
"Well you never told me their names," Julie argued. "I just assumed that Hammie had a gaggle of giggle machines as friends."
"No, her friends are two guys by the names of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."
"Wow those are gay names."
"What?"
"Nothing, I just think that they're totally gay names."
"Actually, only one of them is my friend," Hermione said quietly.
"Which one? Fag one or fag two?"
"You are incredibly rude, you know that, don't you?" Pansy said.
"Yeah, I know, but Hammie still hasn't answered my question."
"Which is which?" Hermione asked.
"I dunno, I still haven't decided yet, I think Ron will be fag one, and Harry can be fag two."
"Then the answer to your question is fag two, but I'm fairly positive that neither of them is gay."
"I can dream can't I?"
"Is that really what you want to dream about?" Pansy asked.
"Oh god no," Julie replied.
"Good, cuz that would just be weird."
"Why isn't Weasley your friend anymore?" Crabbe broke in, cutting Julie and Pansy off.
"Cuz he's an asshole."
"I never thought I'd hear you swear," Malfoy chuckled.
"What book are you reading?" Hermione asked him.
"Oedipus plays of Sophocles."
"I didn't know you read ancient Greek literature, not to mention muggle literature."
"Yeah, neither did I," Draco replied, "But Julie insisted."
"What makes you call Weasley an asshole?" Blaise asked.
"Cuz he totally dumped me and Harry because his little slut of a girlfriend was jealous that he was spending more time with us than with her."
"You are completely out of character, you know that don't you?" Pansy said.
"What's that mean?" Hermione asked.
"It means that you're acting nothing like you usually do."
"Yeah, really, I didn't even think you knew any curse words," Goyle said.
"You people picture me to be such an angel," Hermione noted.
"Because you always act like such an angel whenever we see you, perfect grades, perfect speech, perfect everything."
"I guess I feel like being a little devil this time, it's probably all your guyses fault."
"What do we have to do with it?" Julie asked.
"It's our evilness, it's rubbing off on her," Draco replied.
"We're not evil," Julie said.
"You're right, we aren't evil," Draco agreed, "We're demonic."
"Much better."
"So, why are you really acting a lot meaner today," Pansy asked, "I mean, with all the harsh language and stuff."
"Bottled up I suppose." Hermione mumbled.
"Did you get tired of being a goody two shoes?" Draco asked.
"Maybe," Hermione said.
"Well then you've come to the right place," Julie said, "We're experts at being demonic. There's only one small little problem."
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"Once you've gone to the dark side…" she began.
"…there's no going back." Draco finished for her, Hermione turned to look at him, there was a small demonic glint in his eye and an award winning smirk on his face.
"I have just one question for you though," Hermione said a few minutes later. The boys had all been kicked out of the room and Julie was loaning Hermione some of her clothes to change into instead of her wrinkly, smelly, slept in Hogwarts uniform.
"And what would that be?" Pansy asked.
"Who are these new girls you mentioned earlier?"
"I'd be one of them," Julie said.
"I can't believe you forgot that Hammie," Pansy said using Hermione's new nickname, "Professor McGonagall kept lecturing us on manners and everything, well, anyways, they're a bunch of foreign exchange students from other schools in Britain and a few from America."
"And you're one of them?" Hermione asked Julie, taking off her old clothes and putting on a large black t-shirt.
"Yep," Julie replied, "That's why I said you probably wouldn't know me cuz I am like uber new."
"Then how did you know them?" Hermione asked, motioning towards Pansy and the door behind which the boys stood.
"Draco is my half brother," Julie replied, "We've got the same father, I used to live here then my mother moved me to the United States. I come and visit every summer. But this exchange program thing is nice cuz I get to visit my darling little brother some more."
"I'm older than you, you know!" Draco called through the door. He apparently had been listening to their conversation through the wood.
"By three months!" Julie called back.
"So your dad was getting other women pregnant while his own wife was pregnant?" Hermione asked, she didn't need to do the math to figure that one out.
Julie nodded. "Yeah, but Narcissa is really nice to me when I come to visit, she treats me as if I where the daughter she never had. My mom makes me come visit because she wants me to grow up knowing my dad, it worked, I know what an arrogant bastard he is. I mostly come to visit Draco and Narcissa now."
"Oh."
"How about your parents?" Julie asked.
"Oh, they're both muggles," Hermione replied, she pulled on a pair of jeans and began sliding on her socks.
"Really? Cool, what's their job?"
"They're both dentists." Julies hand flew up to her mouth.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Sorry, no offense to your parents but I really don't like dentists, I've had some bad experiences with a few when I was little," she said, her voice muffled since her hand was still clasped over her mouth.
Hermione laughed. "Don't worry, they wont hunt you down and force you to get a teeth cleaning," Hermione joked.
"They'd better not," Julie said.
"What does your mom do for a living?" Hermione asked. She put on her own shoes and stood up, ready to leave.
"She's a nurse," Julie replied, "Yes, she is a muggle." She added.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Can you three hurry up?" Draco called through the door.
"We're coming!" Pansy replied.
"Good, Professor McGonagall is going to be pissed if we don't hurry up, she's probably going to be pissed anyways, she wanted everyone out by ten."
"Who is this Professor McGonagall lady?" Julie asked, "she sounds pretty bitchy."
"She can be," Pansy replied.
"Do you think I'm going to be needing a jacket or a sweater or something?" Hermione asked.
"Might as well take one," Pansy said, she grabbed a black pullover sweater off one of the bedposts and tossed it to Hermione.
"Whose is this?" Hermione asked.
"It's Draco's," Pansy replied, "but he won't mind, right Draco?"
"What?"
"You wont mind it if Hermione wears that black sweater of yours, right?"
"Nope!" Draco replied.
"Good, put it on Hermione." Hermione slid the sweater over her head. It was a bit too big for her and it had large red words on the front that read Disturbed.
"Oh, I like that band," Julie noted, reading the words. Apparently Disturbed was a band.
"Well, let's go then, shall we?" Pansy asked, standing up.
"Lead the way," Julie replied. The three girls left the room. It felt kinda weird to be heading out into the school with the mongol horde of Slytherins and wearing Draco Malfoys sweater.
"They're having some kind of a big meeting thing, probably a welcome to Hogwarts ceremony," Julie whispered, after listening through the door of the great hall.
"Should we try to sneak in or just wait?" Blaise asked.
Julie shrugged, "I'd say wait."
"I wonder if any teachers are out?" Pansy said, looking around.
"Snape's out," Draco said.
"How do you know?" Julie asked.
"Because he's heading straight towards us." Hermione turned to where Draco was facing. Snape was walking directly for then, Hermione couldn't tell whether he was mad or not. Snape reached them.
"What are you all doing out here?" Snape asked, his eyes surveying each one of them, lingering a little bit longer on Hermione and Julie.
"Hermione slept in so we waited for her and ate breakfast in the common room," Pansy replied.
"And what was miss Granger doing in your common room?"
"She fell asleep and I had no idea where the Gryffindor common room was," Draco said. Snape nodded.
"Well, you're too late for the welcoming ceremony, it should be over soon, just wait here." Snape told them, "Oh and Miss Sommers," He turned to look at Juliet "You do know that you where expected to be at that ceremony, correct?"
"Someone might have mentioned it," Julie replied.
"Well, you will have to explain to Professor McGonagall why you did not attend, that is all I have to say, goodbye." Snape walked past them and walked off.
"So, I guess we wait," Goyle said.
"I guess so," Crabbe replied.
"How about we wait on the steps over there," Julie said, pointing to the grand staircase.
"Works for me," Hermione replied, heading over for the stairs, the rest followed.
They held quiet conversations while they waited for the ceremony to end. Hermione and Pansy where attempting to explain to Julie why they would even have a ceremony, Julie felt very strongly that those kinds of things were pointless.
"I mean really, I'd be better if they just let the students slide into the new school without any big bang," she had told them earlier. The boys on the other hand were all discussing what kind of car they would get when they finally learned to drive. Listening to a large amount of pureblood extremists discuss cars was rather amusing. Eventually Hermione, Julie, and Pansy joined into their conversation. Julie was constantly insisting that a Lamborghini was the coolest car, Draco preferred a silver jeep while Crabbe and Goyle both wanted one of those Hummers. Pansy was carefully explaining why the Porsche 911 Turbo would be the coolest car to own when the doors to the great hall opened. Professor McGonagall walked out followed by what appeared to be some kind of Procession of students carefully lined up. Harry and Ron where right at the front. When Professor McGonagall caught sight of them she froze, causing everyone else to stop to. It also broke the nicely formed lines since people at the back wanted to see why the front had stopped.
"Apparently you Slytherins thought yourselves too important to…" McGonagall caught sight of Hermione and Julie. "Hermione Granger and Juliet Sommers, what are you two doing here?" she asked, astounded. At the sound of Hermione name Hermione saw Harry and Ron perk up.
"Oh nothing," Julie said casually, "We're just chillin' out on the staircase here, talkin bout cars." Professor McGonagall looked to Hermione for confirmation.
"Sorry Professor, I slept in," Hermione said meekly.
"How'd you sleep in, your bed was empty this morning, I thought you'd woken up already." Lavender Brown spoke up from next to Harry.
"She wasn't sleeping there, I'd think that would be obvious," Pansy noted, while Julie mouthed traitor at Lavender.
"Where were you sleeping then?" McGonagall asked.
"Dude, just look at the company," Julie said.
"You mean you where in the Slytherin common room!?" McGonagall half shrieked.
"Wow, anger management," Julie said.
"What where you doing in the Slytherin common room!?"
"Sleeping," Hermione replied.
"No, what I meant was why where you sleeping in the Slytherin common room?"
"Oh, well, I sort of fell asleep, like, out here and these people here were so kind to transport me to a bed. And since they're all Slytherins they moved me to a Slytherin bed because they didn't know where to find the Gryffindor beds."
"And how did you fall asleep out here did you…" McGonagall lowered her voice, "Drink anything?"
"I wasn't drunk if that's what you're wondering," Hermione said loudly, "or drugged for that matter, I was perfectly fine, I just happened to be really tired so I fell asleep."
"Why do I get the feeling you're leaving something out," McGonagall said.
"She is," Draco spoke up, "She's just not going to spout the whole story here in front of everybody." Hermione nodded in agreement.
"And you miss Sommers, why weren't you at the ceremony?" McGonagall turned her attention to Julie.
"I was visiting my darling little brother," Julie replied.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm older than you?" Draco said, slightly annoyed.
"A lot more," Julie replied. "Anyways, they were waiting for Hermione to wake up so I waited with them."
"In that case, why don't all of you head up to my office, and when I'm done here, I'll head up there and I want you all to tell me the full story, and don't slide over any of the dirty details." McGonagall turned and continued leading the students, who quickly placed themselves back in formation.
"God I am going to kill Lavender Brown," Hermione muttered as they turned and headed for Professor McGonagalls office. "She totally did not have to say that I wasn't in bed this morning."
"I know," Julie agreed, "And Draco, why did you tell her that that whole story was pretty much being made up off the top of our heads?"
"If I hadn't we would still be sitting down there and she would still be trying to weasel the truth out of us," Draco replied.
"Oh, okay," Julie understood, "But what are we going to tell her now, Hammie, do you remember anything from last night?" Hermione shook her head.
"I only remember Ron telling me that we couldn't be friends anymore, after that it's all black."
"She doesn't remember it," Draco mumbled, "But I do, I'll fill you in when we get there."