Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the plot.
xoxo
Chaos
Chapter One
"Hermione, wake up," a woman's voice cut through her dreams. It wasn't her mother's, so she brushed it off as part of her dream. After all, who would be in her bedroom while she slept? Then the voice came again, coupled with a gentle shake. Hermione lurched up, wand in hand, to come face to face with Nymphadora Tonks, a fellow member of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Gods, Tonks, I almost killed you. What is it? Track down more rogues?"
Since Voldemort fell, the Order had devoted its time to tracking down escaped Death Eaters. Hermione was officially on call until summer was over and she began her final year at Hogwarts. She was keeping her parents away with their memories erased until the worst of the aftermath was over. This meant her house was often used for meeting, so being woken by Tonks was no real surprise.
The look on her face, however, was.
"Tonks? Are you okay? What happened?"
"Hermione… It's your parents…"
With those four words, Hermione's life collapsed around her.
"But the guards… They were protected…"
"They were taken out first."
"But… They… They didn't know anything! They didn't even know I existed!"
"I know… I'm so… I'm so sorry…"
When the tears flowed, Hermione wasn't sure if they would ever stop or if she would simply drown in them.
"Crucio!" the Death Eater shouted, but Hermione was able to deflect the spell, hitting him with a stun before petrifying him. She watched with grim satisfaction as he dropped to the ground.
"Did you get him?" Sirius asked as he rounded the corner. She had chased this Death Eater when he'd tried to escape, taking no back up with her. The others had been worried.
"Yeah. He wasn't that tough. Let his guard slip. You guys got the others handled?"
"Yeah. Tonight was a success if I do say so myself."
"I'd be inclined to agree with you."
"I also think we all deserve a drink or five when we get back to the house. I do hope Molly has supper set aside for us. This took longer than I was hoping, and there's nothing quite like catching bad guys to work up an appetite."
Hermione laughed and then levitated her prisoner in front of them as they made their way to the others. Hunting Death Eaters had become her life since her parents died two months before. She just hated the fact that she had to go back to school so soon. Only a week left, if her calculations were correct. She wasn't looking forward to it at all.
Soon enough she was reliving memories while looking up at the Hogwarts express. Convincing her parents that they really did have to walk through the wall, all their tearful goodbyes…
She shook her head to clear it of the images and boarded the train with the others. Harry and Ron had drifted away from her ever since she took on the more hardcore attitude she had now. She was 99% sure their friendship was simply for show, but couldn't bring herself to care all the much. She sat with them, joked with them, all while checking her watch to see when she had to leave for the Head Student's compartment.
No one noticed when she slipped off, and she was grateful to not bump into anyone in the hallway. The compartment was even empty when she arrived, giving her the chance to change into her uniform before the Head Boy arrived. She was adjusting the mandatory knee high socks when the door opened to reveal a rather annoyed looking Draco Malfoy.
"I should've known you'd be Head Girl. Gods, this is going to suck," he said and sat across from her.
"Well, hello to you too, Malfoy,"she replied and stood so he could adjust her skirt and fumble with the buttons on her uniform shirt. She was so mad she was shaking.
He watched as she tied a perfect Windsor knot in her tie, then redid it so that it was even more perfect, then noted the way her uniform hung on her as though she had lost a significant amount of weight. He was momentarily worried for the girl before he banished the thought.
"How are we going to work out our patrols?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"You take one way, I'll take the other, that way we won't have to even speak to each other."
He didn't get her message, and continued on, "That sounds good, actually. McGonagal should be here soon, and we can get all that shit over with."
She only nodded before curling up with her iPod, an item that had fascinated Draco enough to get him to buy his own. She wasn't far into the second song when there was a small 'pop' as McGonagal appeared in the compartment.
"Oh, good, you're both here and there's no blood. That was a serious concern of mine. I understand this is not the most pleasant arrangement-" Draco snorted as she said this, "-but it's what Dumbledore wanted. After supper, I will escort you to your rooms. You will share a common room, personal kitchen, and bathroom, so get used to the idea of that now. I hope the two of you find the ability to get along with each other, or I'm afraid this year will be hell. Now, go do your train patrol. We'll be arriving at the school in about half an hour."
She disappeared, leaving them to go their separate ways and patrol the train.
"So Malfoy's the Head Boy?" Ginny asked. "That's terrible!"
"Can't you ask Dumbledore to let you stay in the Gryffindor tower with the rest of us?"
"No, Ron. Part of being Head Girl is dealing with stuff like this. I'll get through it somehow."
She didn't really care. Sure he was the son of a Death Eater and a right prat to boot, but she would have her own room to retreat to when she needed to be alone. She wouldn't have to deal with "The Golden Trio" drama. She could avoid her "friends."
'If Malfoy could behave himself even a little bit,' she thought, 'it wouldn't be so bad.'
When the feast was over, she and Draco helped the prefects guide the First Years out of the Great Hall and on their way. McGonagal showed them to their rooms, rambling about rules the whole time.
"Fidelity," she said in front of a portrait of a wood nymph, who proceeded to giggle and opened the portrait, revealing a comfortable looking common room. Two overstuffed leather chairs and a matching couch flanked the fireplace that had roaring flames going in it already. Bookshelves lined the walls, and two floor to ceiling picture windows took up the space on either side of the fireplace. To the left was the kitchen- a stainless steel and granite wonderland- and a flight of stairs that lead to an open walkway with two doors on either end.
"Miss Granger, your room is on the far right. Mr. Malfoy, yours is on the far left. There are doors in each of your rooms that lead to the bathroom. You will need to work out a schedule as far as showering and having guests goes. You are allowed to have friends spend the night, but only on weekends. Are there any questions?" Neither of them spoke up. "Good. Your things are already in your rooms, and I hope you find them to your tastes. Goodnight, and do try not to kill each other."
