For The Memories

Chapter 1

The Great Hall was hushed as golden plates were cleared and Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood up to speak. His long fingers curled round the edge of the podium before him and he surveyed the students through over the half-moon spectacles resting on his long, thin nose.

"As you all know," he began, "activities this summer have led to a delay in the process of appointing a new Head Boy and Girl to lead our school through the new academic year. It is my intention, therefore, to do so now. Before I make the announcement, however, it strikes me that some of you may wish to know how the candidates for these positions are selected. An explanation, it seems, is in order.

"The selection of Head Boy and Head Girl goes back to when our four founders ran the school themselves and, therefore, to avoid arguments because a house never got selected, or always got selected, a rotational system was installed. Head Boy and Head Girl must come from different houses and these houses change in a set order that has been in place since the time of the four founders themselves. Every fifth year there is a free choice, performed by the sorting hat. The last Head Boy to be pulled out of that hat was, as I'm sure some of you remember, a certain Mr Percy Weasley. This year we are still using the rotational system and the designated houses are, for the position of Head Girl, Gryffindor, and, for the position of Head Boy, Slytherin.

"I believe that should fulfil the need for explanation and I shall now get on with the announcement. When the names of our new Head Boy and Girl are announced, would they please come up to the front to receive their badges, then follow Professor McGonagall through the side door to receive their instructions."

Professor McGonagall stood up on queue and moved over to the door Harry and the other three Triwizard Tournament champions had gone through three years ago.

"Well," said Professor Dumbledore, "Ladies first: our Head Girl this year, chosen from Gryffindor House, is: Miss Hermione Granger."

There was a huge roar of applause from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables as Hermione made her way up to the front of the hall, received her badge from Dumbledore and proceeded over to the door where Professor McGonagall stood.

"The Head Boy this year," Professor Dumbledore said loudly, cutting through the cheers and reducing them to a sullen silence, "chosen from Slytherin house, is:" the headmaster paused, focussing his gaze clearly on Slytherin table, who were sitting quietly, but smugly, "Mr Draco Malfoy."

Again the hall erupted into cheers as Draco also went forward to receive his badge, then joined Hermione by the door. Professor McGonagall opened it and led them through.

"Wait here," she said sharply, "and I would hate to have to begin the new school year by deducting points from our Head Boy and Girl for fighting!"

As she disappeared back into the hall, Draco and Hermione glared at each other sulkily. Hermione, of course, had known exactly how the positions of Head Boy and Girl were chosen: it was all in Hogwarts: A History after all. It was also something you could easily spot if, like Hermione, you kept tabs on who filled the positions every year and what houses they came from. She had suspected she might end up in this position if she was chosen: with Malfoy as Head Boy. He blatantly ruled the roost in Slytherin house and was the only one with any hope of controlling them. Any other Head Boy certainly wouldn't have been able to control him. He glared back at her, looking annoyed and slightly murderous. He hadn't forgotten all their arguments and fights, especially those where he had lost. Their glaring contest was interrupted as the door swung open once more and Professor Dumbledore walked in.

"I am sure I need not remind you," he began, addressing both parties, "That this year, as for the past few years now, there is a great need for security within the castle. Therefore I am asking you both to refrain from reporting back to your parents anything associated with your new positions: we wouldn't want any owls going astray and ending up in the hands of a Death Eater, now would we?" Dumbledore directed this last remark straight at Draco before adding casually: "Besides, I very much doubt you will have time to write home much. After all, you do still have exams to revise for and this new job will keep you both very busy."

Draco and Hermione continued to glare at each other as Dumbledore reeled off a list of their duties for the year, summoning two small notebooks as he did so.

"These notebooks are enchanted," he told them, "to contain a list of your duties which will grow or shrink as I see fit, an automatically updating list of things you have to do, in priority order, and, at the back here, a page where you can add or deduct points from students as you see fit. It will only allow you to deduct points in increments of five to a maximum of twenty-five and it is monitored by myself so I shall know if either of you show any favouritism."

Hermione took the notepad the headmaster had handed her and looked at the back page. It was divided into quarters, each quarter displaying a house crest under which was a large zero. The bottom third of each quarter was separated from the upper part by a horizontal line, then divided in half by a vertical one. On one side of this vertical line there was a plus sign, on the other a minus, and beside each sign there was a space for writing in the number of points to add or deduct. As Hermione gazed at the page, she heard a snort of derisive laughter from Draco and saw the zero below the Gryffindor crest had suddenly changed to minus ten. She glared up at Draco.

"Don't look at me, Granger," the blonde boy drawled, "I didn't do it! I don't even know how to write in it yet!"

"You don't write in it, Mr Malfoy," Professor Dumbledore cut in before Hermione retaliated, "It writes for you. You merely have to have this open at this page and it will automatically tally the points you have added or deducted in the boxes provided, keeping a running score as you go. Each tally mark is worth five points, rather than the usual one point, and only those added or deducted by yourself will show up, and remain in, your book. However, if you turn the page, you will see on the second last page the same display, but this time keeping count of points added or deducted by your counterpart. If, by monitoring this page, either of you feel that the other is showing favouritism, or is being unjust in their distribution of points, you should go directly to the heads of your respective houses who will then, if they feel the matter requires it, bring it to me. Are we clear?"

Both parties nodded silently.

"Good. Then I suggest you hurry along and ask your house heads for the new passwords to your common rooms as the prefects will already have taken the other students back to their houses," Dumbledore said amicably, turning and heading for the door before turning back and saying, as an afterthought, "and perhaps you can find out, Miss Granger, which of your comrades angered Professor Snape this time?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as the headmaster left the room.

"I bet it was Longbottom," Malfoy drawled carelessly, "Forgot he had to move his feet to walk or something."

Hermione scowled silently and headed for the door. She knew Malfoy would never have said such a thing to Neville's face nowadays, or, for that matter, when Ginny was within earshot. Neither of them were at all forgetful when it came to jinxes and Neville could deliver a particularly powerful curse when he wanted to. The extended practice as part of "Dumbledore's Army" had served them both well.

"Or maybe it was perfect Potter," Draco continued, following her out into the Great Hall, "Or maybe Weasley. I can't imagine what you see in him, Granger: it can't be looks, it's hardly talent and it certainly isn't money!"

Hermione hurried silently onward knowing any attempt to retaliate would only make Malfoy worse and, besides, it was getting late. She left him, still taunting her, by the entrance hall and hurried in the opposite direction, to Gryffindor tower, stopping off first by Professor McGonagall's office to find out the password and then being stalled with an effusion of congratulatory comments from the Fat Lady herself, looking resplendent in the new coat of paint she had received during the summer.

"Cobblers!" Hermione cried for the fifth time.

"Yes, yes, no need to shout," the Fat Lady replied indignantly.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw why the Fat Lady had been so anxious to delay her. The entire common room was filled with streamers that waved by themselves, balloons that floated through the air turning various shades of the Gryffindor colours, gold and red, and a constant shower of ticker-tape falling from ceiling to floor, then magically disappearing from as soon as it hit the floor only to reappear at the ceiling and fall again. Pitchers of pumpkin juice sat on tables with goblets nearby and food covered almost every square inch of usable surface. In the centre of the room was its crowning glory: a tall, pyramidal tower of goblets stretching almost to the ceiling leaving only just enough room for the jug of what looked like butterbeer to hover over it, waiting to pour its contents down into the goblets.

"Don't touch, Colin!" Ginny was heard to yell as the elder Creevey brother reached for a goblet, "Wait until Ron's got them filled!"

Just then, one of the crowd noticed that Hermione had joined them and a huge cheer erupted. As Harry, Ginny, Neville and many others rushed forward to greet her and congratulate her, Hermione saw the jug of butterbeer wobble slightly and scanned the crowd for Ron's fiery head. Spotting him at last, she caught his eye and grinned. He grinned back, then turned his attention back to the jug and tipped it forward so that the contents rushed down into the waiting goblets. When all the goblets were full, Ron returned the jug to a quiet corner, out of the way, and pushed through the crowd to Hermione, almost knocking over Colin and Dennis Creevey as they rushed for the goblets.

"I saw it on one of those whatch-you call 'ems," he said, hugging his girlfriend and gesturing to the tower of goblets, "One of those telly-vishun things while I was staying at yours this summer. I asked your Dad what it was for and he said Muggles do it when they're celebrating something. I thought you'd like it."

Hermione smiled up at him.

"I do like it," she replied, "It's really sweet of you and it must have taken ages!"

"Harry helped," Ron admitted, "and Neville and Ginny... and Dean... and Seamus... and Colin..."

Just then, Ginny, who had been helping Neville dole out the goblets, hurried over with two of the golden glasses for Ron and Hermione.

"Here you are," she said cheerfully, "I'd better get back: if I leave him too long, Neville'll have the whole thing down on top of him!"

Hermione laughed a little as she watched the short, flame-haired and fiery-tempered younger girl hurry back to her, much taller, boyfriend's side and give him a quick peck on the cheek as if to apologise for speaking ill of him when his back was turned.

"I was sure she'd never give up on Harry, you know!" Ron sighed, watching his little sister, "But I guess she's a bit like Mum in that respect: she needs someone to be doing things for, looking after and all that. She knows Harry would never need her to do that, let alone let her. Neville's much more..."

"Haphazard?" Hermione suggested.

"Something like that," Ron agreed, nodding and sipping his butterbeer.

The party went on well into the small hours of the morning. After all, the entire Gryffindor house had never been together to celebrate the appointment of a Head Boy or Head Girl before: they had a lot of lost time to make up for. Eventually, however, the common room cleared, leaving the final year students and Ginny, then, at last, just Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"I'm off, guys," Harry announced, rising to his feet tactfully, "Early start tomorrow and all that."

"Yeah, goodnight Harry," Ron murmured.

Hermione echoed his words sleepily from her seat with her head on Ron's shoulder, glancing up and smiling at Harry as he left them, then returning her tired gaze to the fire before her in the hearth.

"Happy?" Ron asked quietly.

"Mm," Hermione replied.

"What?"

"Well would you want to spend the whole year working with Malfoy?"

"Fair point, but I bet he's even less happy about having to work with you."

"True," Hermione smiled and laughed a little.

She felt Ron's arm pull her a bit closer and looked up at him. He kissed her.

"Well done," he said.

"You said that already," Hermione smiled.

"Did I? Must be true then."

Ron grinned and Hermione returned the smile for a moment before remembering something she'd been meaning to ask.

"Who was it?"

"What?" Ron started, "Wh-who was what?"

"That lost Gryffindor the first points of the year? You or Harry?"

"Oh, that," Ron relaxed a little, "Oh, it was just Neville: he tripped up and fell into Snape."

"Bit harsh, ten points for tripping over!"

"Yeah, well, it was Snape and it was Neville. They've never got on."

"True."

There was silence for a few more moments.

"How did you know anyway?" Ron asked.

"How did I know what?"

"About the points."

"Oh, Dumbledore gave Malfoy and I these little notebooks," Hermione explained, pulling her booklet out of her robes to show Ron, "There's a couple of score charts in the back where we can keep track of the points we both deal out and take away. The back page is the points I control, the second-last is Malfoy's. Look: Slytherin are up fifty points already!"

"Don't worry, you can fix it in the morning," Ron said sleepily, kissing the top of Hermione's head as she frowned at the notebook, "I love you when you worry."

"I always worry!"

"I must always love you then," Ron yawned, half smiling.

Hermione looked up and smiled back at him, then kissed him again.

"I'm going to bed," she said, "It wouldn't do for the Head Girl to be late for class on the first day of term, now would it?"

"If you say so," Ron shrugged, "I'd walk you to your door, but the stairs would only kick me out again."

"Goodnight," Hermione laughed, rising.

With one last kiss, she turned and headed for the door, wondering, as she climbed the stairs, what this year would bring.