"Mate, quit fidgeting. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now."
"Don't try to guess how I'm feeling right now. You're not the one getting married for heavens sakes!"
"She's a great girl, I mean woman, what the heck are you worrying yourself about anyway? I for one, think it's highly unlikely she's going to leave you at the altar."
"I know, I know… it's just that," he turned to face the tall dark-skinned male and grabbed his collar, opened his eyes to glare at him wildly before continuing, "I don't deserve her. All these years she's been amazing and I've been nothing but a first-rate prick!" He dropped his friend's collar almost in horror, "Oh my goodness, why is she even getting married today? To me of all people!"
Blaise straightened out his outfit in the mirror, sighed, and turned to his blond best buddy, "Draco Lucius Malfoy, first of all, stop pacing. It's making me dizzy." Draco turned to stare at Blaise, and Blaise smirked in return, "second of all, can you quit being such a worry wart Hufflepuff? Where's that Slytherin confidence or that asinine Gryffindor courage your sweet wife-to-be has so graciously rubbed off on you?" he paused to try to read Draco's expression, "Damn, mate she's never going to leave you! Are you so blind that you cannot see that not only is the brightest witch of our generation committing the rest of her life to you and willingly may I add, goodness knows why, but she's fallen in love with you, the most ferret-y person I've ever met-"
"Enough with the ferret refer-"
"Don't interrupt me, you git, I'm on a roll. As I was saying, she's mad-head over heels- for you, even though she could have had any guy, she chose you. So you, better get your well-manicured arse out there and marry her to make her the happiest woman alive. Do I need to make myself any clearer?"
Draco just sighed in defeat and look at his best mate that was panting by now, after his very heated lecture to the groom.
" All right, I won't doubt her any more. Just give me a moment to calm my nerve and I'll be out at the altar in a sec,"
"Drake, you have two minutes."
The well-built blond just nodded in response.
Seven years earlier…
"Welcome one and all, to another year at Hogwarts. The last year was a challenging for us all, no matter who you fought for." Professor –no,– Headmistress McGonagall gave the Slytherins a pointed look. "Our late Headmaster Professor Dumbledore always said that Hogwarts will always be there for those who need her, so regardless of which side of the war you were on, let us have a moment of silence to remember our loved ones who have gone on to a better place."
Every student bowed his or her head, in respect of the 5382 that literally fought to the death in the wizarding war the previous year. They managed to find all the horcruxes, thanks to Dumbledore and the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort had finally perished, at the hand of young Harry, Ron, Hermione and all with the help they got from the students who were willing to give their lives in pursuit of a better world for them and those who would come after them.
McGonagall raised her voice once more, albeit in a more somber tone, "I implore all of you, to put past prejudices behind and work together as a school of distinguished young witches and wizards towards unity; Unity within and between houses, regardless of blood or status. Merlin knows how much that has caused us all so much loss and anguish."
She took a deep breath, "We need a new beginning," she scanned the room, looking at each student, "for us all." She finished.
There was a bout of awkward silence, as each student let the words of their beloved headmistress sink in. Then each of the houses slowly began to cheer- Clap
Clap Clap
Then the whole hall roared in applause.
"All right, enough of this fluff," McGonagall started again, in her usual booming voice that her students were familiar with, but they raised their eyes at her choice of language. "On to the serious matters. Unfortunately, due to some events in the past year I do not wish to bring up again, we no longer have certain professor joining us for this school year. But lets welcome Professor Tonks, who will take over as the new Transfiguration Professor."
Nymphadora Tonks stood at the teachers' table and nodded at the cheering students, and stopped to give a wink to the Golden Trio before retaking her seat. Cheeky.
"Thank you Professor Tonks, I trust all of you will not give her a hard time in my absence. The next professor, I believe will be a familiar face to the older years, Let us welcome back Professor Lupin as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!"
The whole hall, including the moody Slytherins that returned, unanimously burst into shouts of joy and cheer as they welcomed back the best DA teacher Hogwarts had seen in many years, after his unfortunate move to resign in Harry Potter's third year in Hogwarts.
"And finally," McGonagall continued, "Our new potions master will be," silence echoed in the hall, "Announced later in the week, as he will only be able to join us when the term proper starts. Enough with this dilly-dallying, let's move on to announcing the appointments of the head boy and head girl positions..."
Murmurs swept though the hall like wildfire, especially amongst the older years. Surely, after such a devastating wizarding war everyone expected it to be two out of the three in the Golden Trio. And they all knew which two were the most suited for it.
"When I call your name, please rise from your seat. Our Head Girl for the year 1997/98 is none other than Hermione Granger from Gryffindor!" Hermione stood up and beamed at her schoolmates. She has received the letter from her beloved headmistress during the summer informing her of her pending appointment, and she could not be more ecstatic and honoured at the same time. She told herself, looking at the countless eye-rolls from some of the Slytherins who returned to Hogwarts, that she would not be fazed by the immense hatred some of her peers may feel for her. Viva la Mujeres!
McGonagall could only grin endlessly at the support that her favourite student –not that she would admit it openly- got from her schoolmates. Not only was she the best choice, she was the obvious choice to lead the school by example and unite the students through this tough time.
"Thank you Miss Granger. Next, for our head boy," Now this would definitely get tongues wagging. Everyone knew Hermione Granger would be Head Girl form day one, but judging from the look McGonagall was giving them now, they braced themselves for an unexpected twist.
"Our Head Boy is none other than Mr Blaise Zabini!"
Silence. Eyebrows were raised, not many people would have expected Zabini to be Head Boy. Sure, he was a prefect, but who would have thought?
Blaise rose from his seat, he had what most girls would call the holy trinity of male good looks, he was Tall, Dark and Handsome. The Slytherins mostly cheered loudly, while the rest of the houses clapped politely. The Head Boy and Girl gave each other genuine smiles before taking their seats.
"I hope all of you will give this years' head boy and girl your support, let's not make this more difficult than it needs to be. Mr Zabini and Miss Granger may I see you after the feast? All right, I think we've all done our fare share of waiting. Now for everyones favourite part," Then she boomed in the most Dumbledore-like fashion, "Let the feast begin!"
The food appeared in front of everyone and they began to tuck in, with the following words on the minds of many, 'Let's hope for some normal this year, shall we?"
"Blimey 'Mione! A bloody snake as Head Boy, McGonagall must be totally off her rocker this year!" Ron began with his mouth half-full, "I seriously thought Harry would be Head Boy this year, he ONLY saved the world from the most evil dark wizard of all time. I mean, who wouldn't make him head boy?" Ron was outraged.
Hermione glared daggers at Ron, while Harry began sympathetically, "Oh get off it, Ron. You know I'd never make head boy. I was the furthest thing from being a prefect. Merlin, even Malfoy had more chance than me in the running for that." He paused to let his words reach Ron and continued, "Besides, its not like I want to be one anyways, I was hoping maybe just this year we'd get a quiet time at Hogwarts. No more running head first into danger for me, I'm done with that."
Ron's eyes only grew bigger. "That's crap and you know it Harry—". Hermione, who had been controlling her rage at Ron finally lost her cool, "Ronald, if the war this past summer has taught us anything, is that we are all equals, regardless of status or lineage. I would have thought that you of all people would understand that. Anyway, Zabini is a pretty decent guy, I don't think we have anything to worry about when it comes to me working with him, and you'd best do well to remember that."
Hermione huffed and turned back to her dinner and conversation with Ginny who was sitting beside her, away from Ron.
Ron mused aloud, "Wonder what's died up her arse this summer…"
Hermione turned and glared angrily at him again before facing Ginny again. The past summer hadn't been easy for our two heroes. Whatever budding romance going on between the Ron and Hermione seemed to have fallen flat on its belly within the last few weeks of summer.
Ron had wanted to ride in the fame that came with defeating Voldemort, and coerced Hermione into bringing their unstable relationship to the public eye. Hermione, on the other hand, just wanted to keep it quiet and spend some of her summer in Australia with her parents. Of course, Ron refused to have any of that, and when they were out in Diagon Alley he went over the top by kissing Hermione right in front of the paparazzi. Mortified, Hermione jumped away from him and gave him a tight slap across the face. "Ronald Billius Weasley! I am appalled. How dare you humiliate me like this, we're over!" With that, she spun on her heel and apparated out of Diagon Alley.
Things had never been the same between the two, and more often than not, Harry was caught playing peacemaker between his two best friends. He prayed to whichever God out there that would listen to his plea, "Please don't let me get caught any more than I need to."
Across the great hall at the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy scowled. Don't be mistaken, he wasn't upset that Blaise was Head Boy. On the contrary, he was glad that he didn't have to put up with the pressures of being Head Boy. He was having enough heat from his parents to take over the muggle branch of Malfoy Global Industries and also to get married. Draco scowled deeper as he prodded his dinner, which insane person would get married at 18 in this day and age? His mother must have really gone crazy in that big manor all alone with only a monosyllabic Lucius for company. He shook his head to himself.
"Mate, you ok?" Blaise placed a brotherly arm around Draco, "You look as if you're ready to murder your already twice dead dinner." Blaise nudged his best mate and chuckled, "Lighten up, this is going to be a good year. See how hot Granger has become since she detached herself from the red-headed freckle she called a boyfriend. I'm probably the most lucky bloke in the school." Draco just rolled his eyes at Blaise as he wiggled his eyebrows at the blond.
'In just a year the whole world will see this Slytherin prince come down from his mighty pureblood throne and embrace the muggle realm,' Draco thought to himself, 'and married too, Mother said.' He sighed. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were spared harsh sentences for their role in the war because under the persuasion of their son, they switched to the Light side and became valuable spies for the order. Seeing their son almost perish at the hand of Voldemort does that to people.
Hermione and Blaise met at the front of the great hall after the feast. Sensing the awkward tension building between them, Hermione decided to speak up first.
"Hey, congratulations on making head boy, Zabini. I really look forward to working with you." She stretched out her hand to the Slytherin boy and smiled sweetly.
Without hesitation, Zabini took her hand, shook it, and smiled in return, "Pleasure is all mine, Hermione." Hermione jumped a little at his use of her first name. "I guess we should call each other by our first name if we're going to be working together in peace this whole year. Truce?"
Hermione hesitated a while before smiling and returning the hand shake, "Truce." Blaise only made his smile more charming and was about to say something when McGonagall came over.
"Follow me,"