Hello everyone! I have this fic 3/4th the way COMPLETELY written. I should have it all posted by August 15th! Maybe sooner! I wanted to get this one done immediately so I don't hit writers block!
This is ultimately going to be dirty, I've been working on my 'writing smut' because I haven't done it in YEARS! And when I say smut, I mean SMUT. So prepare yourself kiddies!
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
There were 10 new ghosts. All of them bloodied and battered teenagers. Hermione recognized all of them, and her eyes swelled up whenever she saw them. Colin Creevy was the worst. She would burst into tears when she saw him.
Colin avoided her so she wouldn't cry too much. Hermione cried a lot, but Colin didn't want to add to it.
It had taken all summer to get the castle restored, and when classes began on September 1st, Hermione was already moved in into the Head Girl's room. McGonagall hadn't told her yet who the Head Boy was, but Hermione had an idea as to who it was.
Attendance was expected to be extremely low. Almost no muggle borns would be returning that year, the majority would be halfblood. Few purebloods were returning. And only 5 students from Slytherin would be returning.
McGonagall hadn't told her who those Slytherins would be, but again, she had a sneaking suspicion.
Between cleaning up the school and avoiding new ghosts, Hermione was also going between Hogwarts and the Ministry all summer to testify at Death Eater Trials.
Her least favorite trial one was the Malfoys. She stood on the stand to defend Draco and Narcissa, she didn't care less about Lucius.
Hermione's main goal in life right now, not including school was to avoid thinking about the war. Specifically, the manor. It was easy to forget about during the day, being busy with work, and testifying. But, at night, she couldn't avoid it. Sometimes she could wake up, sometimes she couldn't. They say you can't feel pain in your dream, but Hermione could. She could feel every single pulse of the Crucio curse ripping through her body.
Hermione shuddered. She stuffed a few books into her bag, the undetectable extender charm still holding strong. After their escapades on the run, she had tossed the old bag somewhere deep inside the Weasley attic. She went to her local Tesco, bought a new run of the mill backpack, and dared any ministry official to try her on "illegal extender charms" or "magicking muggle items."
Headmistress McGonnagall had called her to have tea with her, she had a few important things to discuss, including head boy. With all the secrecy surrounding the position, Hermione had figured out who it would be; she had a small bet going on with herself.
If it was Draco Malfoy, then she was going to have three shots of firewhisky, and a large batch of HoneyDukes chocolate. If it was someone like Anthony Goldstein, it wouldn't be shrouded in this much secrecy.
Hermione smirked, deciding that she would still have the firewhiskey no matter what, and being honest with herself, she'd have the chocolate too. She looked around her room, having her own suite was fantastic. She didn't have to fight other girls over what to decorate the room with, she didn't have to deal with the late-night gossip sessions that lasted until three in the morning, right before a big exam.
Most importantly, she didn't have to worry about the boys wandering in, and finding her naked. That was the worst part of traveling with Harry and Ron, they had no concept of boundaries.
She left her bedroom and headed towards the headmistress's office.
Hermione took a deep breath through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth, Felis catus.
The gargoyle in front of the door moved to reveal a staircase. Hermione stepped onto the staircase and enjoyed the few seconds riding up. She reached the office and closed her eyes. Taking another breath in, she opened them on the exhale.
And before her, sat Headmistress McGonagall and a Mister Draco Malfoy.
Hermione couldn't help herself, she laughed. It was an ugly hysterical laugh, she actually bent over, and struggled to stop laughing. She could feel McGonagall glare at her, yet she needed this laugh.
After a solid minute, Hermione straightened herself, and fought to control her giggles as she went to the seat by Malfoy.
"Good evening Headmistress, Malfoy. Is Malfoy head boy? Cause if he is, someone owes me a drink." Hermione said, biting the insides of her cheeks to help keep a straight face.
McGonagall took a deep breath, "How did you know Miss Granger?"
"Come on Headmistress. Give me a bone. I'm the brightest witch of my age," Hermione said mockingly, "I know that Malfoy was always right behind me in marks, if everything had been normal, he would still be my equal when we got to this point. If this was say, some random Ravenclaw who was to be Head Boy, you wouldn't have called me into your office this late at night just to tell me. You'd just say 'Anthony Goldstien is Head Boy. You guys will go great together.' Minerva, don't insult me."
McGonagall stared at her, her mouth agape. Malfoy choked back a laugh.
"Wow, I think I like this new Granger. I'm going to have fun with you this year." Malfoy said with a genuine smile.
He looked better than he had at his trial. His face still looked hollowed out, his skin still ashen, and his hair still dull. But he no longer looked like death warmed over. He was wearing a dark green button up shirt with a pair of black slacks. Hermione glanced over to his forearm, seeing his shirt buttoned tightly around his wrist. She held back an even more inappropriate laugh. She wasn't the only one hiding her scars.
He noticed her glance, "Yes, Granger. It's still there. No, you cannot see it. Unless we magically end up in bed together." He goaded.
"Mister Malfoy!" McGonagall exclaimed.
Hermione lost it again, and let out another loud laugh. Malfoy joined her in this one.
"Miss Granger!"
It only made them laugh harder.
Struggling to breath, Malfoy forced out, "Way to go Mudblood. We're gonna get detention, and the year hasn't even started."
"No Amazing Bouncing Ferret, this is all your fault!" Hermione shot back, also struggling to breath.
McGonagall sighed, and waited them out. They would tire themselves out eventually. She learned this during her very first year as a teacher. After a few minutes, both of her pupils stopped gasping for air. Their faces were still red, and Draco had some escaped tears from laughing too hard.
Once everyone had calmed down, McGonagall resumed her talk.
"Wonderful, we are all on the same page here. You two will be working together. Mister Malfoy here, genuinely has earned his position. And due to extreme circumstances, the entirety of last year's lessons will be voided, so you will both return to lessons as normal, and take your N.E.W.T.S. Miss Granger, I will need you to act as a buffer for Mister Malfoy here. As you know, now only six Slytherin students will be returning to Hogwarts. We will be having no new muggleborn students for a few years until we can fix the records that he-who—"
Draco interrupted her, "Call him Tom, or call him Voldemort. Just not that stupid gimmick again. I think Dumbledore made that a point. And lord knows that Potty went around spouting off his name. But please, out of respect, call him anything but he who must not be named. Or god forbid, The Dark Lord." Draco went out of his way to over-exaggerating the death eater name for the darkest wizard.
Hermione chuckled, "Where was this Malfoy when we first started school? We could have been best friends."
"Hiding behind my self-appointed superiority. And my father's coattails."
"Oh, no! Will your father hear about this?"
"Yes, yes he will you filthy mudblood!"
"Pale ferret!"
McGonagall groaned "Okay, children, we need to focus here. Miss Granger, you must run interference with all the Slytherin Students. Especially with people from your house. This will be a difficult year. I am depending on you two to NOT use language like that in public, and to show a united front. The country is in ruins, this school is on the brink of closure, we need leadership."
Hermione put on her serious face, "Of course headmistresses. I think, that, the war has changed us in many ways. Perhaps Malfoy and I joking together would help. But obviously, he's not going to wander around calling me a mudblood, and I'm not going to call him a ferret in public. And with Harry gone, and me not having to babysit him all the time, I get the feeling that this year is going to be boring."
McGonagall chuckled, "We can only hope. Now, Mister Malfoy here is taking the same classes as you, except for history. He will be taking divination instead. And Mister Malfoy, you already know that you are the most senior Slytherin and that none of your old friends will be joining you right?"
"Yes, Headmistress. I know that. Looks like you're my only friend Granger. Is that all McGonagall? I would like to unpack and get settled in, before all of the students return in a few days."
"Yes, that is all. There is a shared common room that will connect your rooms. You both have different passwords to your own rooms. Nobody can enter your room, except for myself or another professor, without your permission. Mr. Malfoy, you already know that Miss Granger has a cat. He will be going between her room, the common room, and the grounds in general. Don't ask me how that magic works, it just does with cats. I've tried to find out, yet I cannot figure it out."
Hermione stifled a giggle, this was going to be an interesting year.
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