"The idea of these parties is to get to know other students our year in the other houses, Ron. I know the idea of spending the evening dancing with a bunch of Slytherins," she said the word with disgust in her voice, "isn't your idea of fun, and nor is it mine, but I think it makes sense. I mean, honestly, how well do we actually know the other seventh years in, say, Ravenclaw? Not very well, to be quite plain." Hermione took another bite of her toast as Ron gawked at her from across the table.
"'Mione, it means spending the night with Malfoy!" Ron put his fork down on the table and continued staring at his best friend, wide eyed. "Do you really think we need to get to know him any better? He's slime, and I'm perfectly happy staying as far away from him as I can." He shook his head and stared down at his glossy copper plate, heaped with scrambled eggs, bacon, and buttered toast. "I can't eat any more," he sighed, turning to Harry beside him. "You want this?" he asked shrugging, inching his plate away.
"Hermione's right, Ron. I know it doesn't sound appealing, but after we've all been through, I think getting to know the other houses a bit better would be a good idea. We've gone to school with the lot of them for seven years now and I hardly even know all their names." Harry took a bite of a sausage, chewing thoughtfully before continuing, "and besides, it could be fun."
"You two have lost it!" Ron shook his head and stood up from the table, looking at them both as if they'd grown extra arms. "I'll see you in Transfiguration." With that Ron stormed out of the great hall, without eating a single thing.
OOOO
"Ooo, I'm so excited!" Lavender screeched to a crowd of girls in the common room. "Can you imagine a whole evening with our entire year? With all the boys in our year? It's going to be fantastic!" Several of the girls giggled loudly, and a few others cheered things like "Oo!" and "Oh my gosh!"
O
"Pathetic. Just pathetic," Ron mumbled under his breath. "Pawn to E 7," he muttered then, watching the chess piece slide to its doom. "Honestly, Harry, why are all the girls so excited? It's not going to be fun! It's going to be horrible! I don't wanna get to know the bloody Slytherins any more than I already do." He huffed loudly and crossed his arms, turning his head to glare at the group of girls.
"Ron, just shut up and play."
"I am playing, Harry," he muttered back.
"Right, and that's why I'm winning, right?" Harry asked sarcastically. "I never win, Ron," he then stated matter-of-factly. "I don't see why you're so hung up on it. Just because the Slytherins will be there doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy ourselves- there will be two other houses there, remember."
"You've been listening to Hermione too much lately." With that, Ron stormed off for the second time today. Harry sighed and began clearing away the chess board, putting the pieces back into their boxes. He watched for a second as the black queen smacked her king upside the back of his head, snickering until he turned around and smacked her back. "Knock it off you two," he murmured, before reversing the charm that brought the pieces to life.
OOOO
Hermione sat down at the heavy wooden table, glad to finally be alone. The smell of hundreds of old books surrounded her, calming her ragged nerves. She heaved her heavy book bag onto the chair beside her and pulled out her potions book, opening to chapter six. Snape's newest assignment, two rolls of parchment on the uses of dragon's blood, was sure to be a breeze for Hermione.
O
An hour and a half later, Hermione smiled as she slammed her potions book shut. She carefully rolled her parchment up, wrapping a scarlet ribbon around it, and slid it into a tube to keep it from getting crumpled. It had been even easier than she had anticipated, and for a split second wondered if Snape was slipping. Almost as quickly as the thought had entered her mind, however, it flew out. Hermione knew it was simply because she listened in class and was always prepared, and it would not have been as easy if she were not.
Scooping up her things, Hermione slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the exit, happy to be going back to the common room to catch up on some much needed quality time with Ginny.
As she rounded the corner of a particularly overstuffed bookshelf, Hermione heard a drawling voice, very close. She halted, recognizing the voice as the one and only Draco Malfoy.
"Dumbledore's gone mad if he thinks this idea of his is ever going to work. As if he expects me, Draco Malfoy, to spend any more time than I have to with those disgusting mud bloods that call themselves witches and wizards." Hermione's eyes narrowed as she stood behind the shelf, forgetting that she was even eavesdropping. "I already feel like vomiting when I've got classes with them," he scoffed loudly.
Hermione took a deep breath, letting the library scent wash over her, melting away just a little of her anger. Of course she would have expected this from Malfoy. He was just a prat who didn't deserve the time of day.
"Oh come on Draco, it could be… interesting," she heard who she assumed to be Blaise Zabini, snort out. "Imagine, our entire year's worth of girls, all in one room, being slightly intoxicated…"
"You great baffoon, I've slept with more than half of them, how is that a good thing?" Draco retorted quickly.
Hermione had heard enough. Hiking her book bag higher up onto her shoulder, she turned on her heal and headed in the opposite direction; she walked all the way around the entire library to get to the exit without having to encounter Malfoy again.