Disclaimer - As all of you very well know none of these characters belong
to me. They belong to JKR. Unless I am really JKR under another penname
giving you hints as to what is coming up in the sixth and seventh books.
But I'm not. So they aren't mine and don't sue me!
I have decided that that disclaimer comment is going to last through the entire story so I won't have to post on every chapter.
This is my newest story and I really hope it's good. I have a feeling it's going to be my best one yet, but also the one with the least amount of chapters. I have it all mapped out and this won't be longer than seven chapters. Read on.
~*~*~*~*~
The sun was shining brightly through the windows at King's Cross Station as Hermione Granger, Hogwarts student extraordinaire, walked through the barrier between platforms nine and ten to reach the Hogwarts Express. The engine tooted and steam rose from the stack as she pushed her trolley of school supplies towards the train.
She quickly spotted the bright red hair of her boyfriend, Ronald Weasley, and went to join Harry and him at the front of the train.
"Hermione!" Ron said happily as she approached then and a smile spread across his boyish face. He walked over and gave her a big hug. Harry looked uncomfortable and scuffed his foot on the pavement as he always did when his best friends turned couple-y on him. Ron just held her tighter and kissed the side of her head. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Hermione replied and sighed. It felt so good to be going back to school. Ron and Hermione hadn't seen each other all summer. Hermione's parents had dragged her away to visit their relatives in America. They had exchanged letters at least twice a week though. Her American cousins took awhile to get over owls flying in and out of the house all the time. Ron released her and stepped back to look at her.
She looked exactly like he remembered from their fifth year. During that year she had finally sprouted and filled out in all the places she was supposed to fill out in. She had also developed several charms to make her hair sleek and strait; it was no longer the bushy mess it had been when she was younger. Her warm cinnamon eyes smiled back at him as he took her hand and boarded the train along with Harry and sat down in an empty compartment.
~*~*~*~*~
Draco Malfoy looked up to see his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, bounding towards him at an alarming rate. She had a goofy grin plastered on her face and her blonde curls bounced behind her. He tried to act as if he hadn't seen her and turned the other way, but it was too late.
"Drakie!" She called after his retreating form. When she finally caught up with him she grasped his hand in her own and squeezed. She smiled up at him and began her never-ending chatter. "So how was your summer? Do anything interesting? I missed you. Did you miss me? I-" Draco knew the talking wouldn't stop until they reached the school so he gave her a forced smile and boarded the train.
~*~*~*~*~
Ron and Hermione sat close together on one side of the compartment while Harry sat on the other by himself talking to Hedwig. Crookshanks was hidden somewhere with the trunks as he glared down at the owl and waited. When Harry finally grew tired of talking to something that didn't talk back, Crookshanks let out a tremendous screech and lept on top of the owl. Fortunately all of the years of battling Voldemort had given Harry quick reflexes so he quickly opened the window and Hedwig only lost a few feathers.
Hermione gathered her cat and sat it down in her lap as Harry watched it with hate. He snorted and began to pre-study for potions. Ron had fallen asleep and was snoring and mumbling things. Hermione finally decided to look over the topics for the first Prefects meeting they would have the first day of classes. Dean and she had been elected for Gryffindor, Justin and Emma for Hufflepuff, Dalton and Laney for Ravenclaw, and Draco and Pansy from Slytherin. Which meant she was going to be spending more time than she wanted to with Slytherin's prized ferret. She laughed at the memory and Harry gave her a skeptical look. She just shook her head and sat there leaning against Ron with a grin on her face.
~*~*~*~*~
Pansy still held Draco's hand in a vice grip as he let his hand go numb. The only entertainment he had to avoid her chatter was to look out the window. He watched as the castle approached. Pansy finally released him when he explained that they had to get their trunks. Draco first handed hers down to her from the overhead compartment. He almost dropped it.
"Good God woman. Do you have a body in here or did you just want to see how much you could possibly pack?" he heaved the trunk and eventually got it down to her.
"Oh Drakie, you're such a kidder." She flirtatiously hit his arm; which caused him to loose his balance on the small train seat and fall. His arms flailed in a desperate attempt to catch himself. He hit his head on the opposite wall.
"Damn it." He muttered under his breath and rubbed the bump on the back of his head. He quickly ran a comb through his hair until it was back to its perfectly slicked back state without a single strand out of place. Pansy started to say something but Draco just grabbed his trunk and left. She closed her mouth and followed him.
~*~*~*~*~
Hermione shook Ron awake as the train came to a stop. "Ron. Ron. Wake up. Ron." She said quietly as he started to come around.
"Hey." He said when he was mostly awake. He lifted himself up a bit until his eyes were level with hers and softly kissed her. She giggled and kissed him back before pulling away.
"Ron please. Harry's watching." Hermione laughed again and put her hand on his chest to push him away. 'He must have played some serious Quidditch with Harry over the summer.' She thought. 'He's even more muscular than last year.'
In truth Ron had always had some muscle. With five older brothers he had to have some or he got beaten up even more than he already did. But this wasn't the same kind of muscular; now he wasn't only fit; he was buff too. She would have to work hard to keep him hers this year. She already knew Lavender had eyes for him.
Harry grunted at them again as they stared at each other and began to get their baggage down. Hermione's trunk was the heaviest of course, since she had packed half of her home library along with everything that was required. They took their supplies and walked towards the castle with the other students.
"I promise if you two keep it up with this lovey-dovey shit I'll abandon you and start hanging out with Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins." Harry finally said to them once they were halfway to the school. Unfortunately as he said it a certain Slytherin walked up behind them.
"Potter, I know I'm irresistible but even you shouldn't be thinking about me that way, being the gay disgrace that you are. Obsession is unhealthy." Draco said, his voice full of ice and amusement. Harry whirled around to face the slightly smaller boy.
"Malfoy." Harry said and sneered.
"Potter." Draco cocked his eyebrow at him.
"Ferret."
"Scarface."
"Deatheater." That one went to far. Draco's normally emotionless eyes sparked and he glared at the three of them. He pulled his sleeve back to reveal the pale skin of his forearm.
"Tell me, what do you see? Anything?" He yelled and shoved his arm in all three of their faces. "What do you see?" He screamed again. He was beginning to draw attention. A crown had begun to form.
"Nothing." Hermione said quietly. "I don't see anything. There's nothing there." She met his steel gray eyes with her own cinnamon ones and he looked away.
"That's what I thought." He pulled his sleeve down and left with his trunk in hand. The crowd dispensed and Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked the remaining distance to school. All the trunks were left with the house elves and they went to watch the sorting ceremony.
"I'm really sorry about this." Hermione told one of the elves that carried her luggage. The creature just looked frightened and scurried away. She had never given up on House Elf Rights. Ron just sighed and took her hand to lead her to the Great Hall.
Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the scared expressions on the new first year's faces. She couldn't believe she had ever been so terrified of such a wonderful place. As they walked by she gave some of them reassuring smiles; which made one boy blush.
After the sorting ceremony was finished (Nine Gryffindors, seven Ravenclaws, eleven Hufflepuffs, and nine Slytherins) she glanced at the Slytherin table where Draco was doing his best to strike fear into the heart of the younger students with stories of teachers and other things. She just sighed and went back to listening to Harry and Ron chat about chess and Quidditch; their two favorite subjects.
The feast was as good as it was every year, and just like every year it eventually came to an end. Everyone trooped back to their rooms to get some much needed sleep before the first day of classes.
~*~*~*~*~
Draco rubbed his eyes as the sun shone in through h the window and woke him up. He quickly sat up and pulled on a white shirt over his bare chest to walk to the showers. If Crabbe and Goyle got there before you, you didn't take a shower that day. He took off his shirt and green satin bottoms and climbed into the spray. The water felt cold and clean against his skin but he forced himself to get out; Potions first class with the Gryffindors. Snape had gotten stricter over the past several years and would now even give HIM detention if he was tardy.
He pulled his robes on over his gray uniform and strode to the Great Hall for breakfast. Breakfast was always amazing on the first day of class. They had everything you could imagine. The rest of the year was just cereal and scones. He ate quickly so he would be able to claim a good seat in the back for potions. He was still almost an hour early when he arrived. Unfortunately, so was Pansy.
"Come on Lover Boy." She said, which caused Snape to glance up and send Draco an almost sympathetic look. Pansy grabbed his arm and led him into the hall where she immediately began attacking his lips with her own. Draco stood motionless for a moment before pushing her away.
"Sorry Pansy got to run." Draco said, and run he did; all the way to the Charms classroom. Flitwick didn't have a class first thing of the day so the room was empty, or so he thought.
~*~*~*~*~
Hermione was startles as she watched Draco burst through the doors. She had been going over the Prefect notes in the back of the room. He began to pace the front of the room with a look of severe concentration on his face. She made herself as small as she could and watched on silently. Draco ran his hands through his hair and sat on the teacher's desk. He looked up angrily and began to speak.
"Looks like this year has started out just like all the others. No one gets it. I am really not a bad person, well not all bad anyway. I act that way to hide my insecurities. Oh God I have so many." He once again ran his hands though his silver-blonde hair and sighed. She didn't know who he was talking to but was still sure he didn't know she was there or he wouldn't be saying all of these things. "I mean; I don't like my girlfriend, at all, who could? Why did I ever ask her out? I am so stupid."
He took out a small dagger from a hidden pocket in his robes and cut a long line in his upper arm. The blood trickled down as he watched on and smiled before saying a spell that sucked the blood back into the wound and disappear. After a moment he started to speak again.
"My father's only reason for having me and marrying my mother was so Voldemort," he spat out the name, "would have a second hand man when my father dies. He never wanted me. My poor mother, once he's done with her he'll kill her."
Draco repeated the incident with the knife on his forearm. Once again the blood was sucked back and disappeared. He removed his robes and recited another spell. Suddenly scars upon scars appeared on his face, his arms, and his neck.
"This is how worthless you are Draco." He told himself as he traced the scars with his fingertips almost lovingly. Hermione gasped from the back of the room and immediately wished she hadn't. In three long strides he had her pinned to the cold stonewall.
"How much did you hear Granger?" He asked, his voice full of malice. His gray eyes pierced her very soul. She opened her mouth to answer hut his grip was to tight on her throat. He realized this and pinned her by the shoulders instead. "Speak."
"J-j-just," she stuttered. This guy had always scared the living crap out of her.
"Just what?" He yelled and gripped her shoulders tighter until she yelped out in pain; then he loosened it, but only a little.
"All of it." She said in a voice just above a whisper. He slammed her against the wall once more and then let her drop to the floor. Tears welled in her eyes but she was determined not to let him see her cry. She rubbed her shoulder and stood up.
"So now you know everything. Great; just what I need. For a damn Mudblood to go tell Potter and Weasley all about poor Draco's home life." He sent her a look that could kill.
"I won't tell." She said in a little louder voice than previously. "If-" He cut her off.
"If what? If I'm your personal slave for the rest of your bloody existence? I leave you and the rest of Potter and Company alone all year? If I shave my head, dress up like a clown, and pants Snape?" Hermione just started laughing at the last suggestion.
"As appealing as that last one was I think the first two will do just fine. But you don't have to do it for the rest of your life; just this year. Because after that I won't have to ever see you again." Hermione was beginning to like this idea, having a slave would be nice and now no one would make her and her friends lives miserable.
"Alright Mudblood. You have yourself a deal." He held out his hand to shake on it and smirked.
"And don't call me Mudblood. Granger or Hermione; take your pick." She waited before she shook his have for him to decide.
"Granger." They shook on it. 'His hands are like ice.' She thought and pulled away quickly. They then walked to potions with some distance between them so no one would get suspicious that anything was going on.
~*~*~*~*~
Done with this chapter. Yay.
Tell me if you liked it. Then I'll update faster.
In a scientific study if does show that reviews help to get chapters up quicker. Okay so I made that up - I just really like reviews.
Review please!
(Get the idea?)
I have decided that that disclaimer comment is going to last through the entire story so I won't have to post on every chapter.
This is my newest story and I really hope it's good. I have a feeling it's going to be my best one yet, but also the one with the least amount of chapters. I have it all mapped out and this won't be longer than seven chapters. Read on.
~*~*~*~*~
The sun was shining brightly through the windows at King's Cross Station as Hermione Granger, Hogwarts student extraordinaire, walked through the barrier between platforms nine and ten to reach the Hogwarts Express. The engine tooted and steam rose from the stack as she pushed her trolley of school supplies towards the train.
She quickly spotted the bright red hair of her boyfriend, Ronald Weasley, and went to join Harry and him at the front of the train.
"Hermione!" Ron said happily as she approached then and a smile spread across his boyish face. He walked over and gave her a big hug. Harry looked uncomfortable and scuffed his foot on the pavement as he always did when his best friends turned couple-y on him. Ron just held her tighter and kissed the side of her head. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Hermione replied and sighed. It felt so good to be going back to school. Ron and Hermione hadn't seen each other all summer. Hermione's parents had dragged her away to visit their relatives in America. They had exchanged letters at least twice a week though. Her American cousins took awhile to get over owls flying in and out of the house all the time. Ron released her and stepped back to look at her.
She looked exactly like he remembered from their fifth year. During that year she had finally sprouted and filled out in all the places she was supposed to fill out in. She had also developed several charms to make her hair sleek and strait; it was no longer the bushy mess it had been when she was younger. Her warm cinnamon eyes smiled back at him as he took her hand and boarded the train along with Harry and sat down in an empty compartment.
~*~*~*~*~
Draco Malfoy looked up to see his girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, bounding towards him at an alarming rate. She had a goofy grin plastered on her face and her blonde curls bounced behind her. He tried to act as if he hadn't seen her and turned the other way, but it was too late.
"Drakie!" She called after his retreating form. When she finally caught up with him she grasped his hand in her own and squeezed. She smiled up at him and began her never-ending chatter. "So how was your summer? Do anything interesting? I missed you. Did you miss me? I-" Draco knew the talking wouldn't stop until they reached the school so he gave her a forced smile and boarded the train.
~*~*~*~*~
Ron and Hermione sat close together on one side of the compartment while Harry sat on the other by himself talking to Hedwig. Crookshanks was hidden somewhere with the trunks as he glared down at the owl and waited. When Harry finally grew tired of talking to something that didn't talk back, Crookshanks let out a tremendous screech and lept on top of the owl. Fortunately all of the years of battling Voldemort had given Harry quick reflexes so he quickly opened the window and Hedwig only lost a few feathers.
Hermione gathered her cat and sat it down in her lap as Harry watched it with hate. He snorted and began to pre-study for potions. Ron had fallen asleep and was snoring and mumbling things. Hermione finally decided to look over the topics for the first Prefects meeting they would have the first day of classes. Dean and she had been elected for Gryffindor, Justin and Emma for Hufflepuff, Dalton and Laney for Ravenclaw, and Draco and Pansy from Slytherin. Which meant she was going to be spending more time than she wanted to with Slytherin's prized ferret. She laughed at the memory and Harry gave her a skeptical look. She just shook her head and sat there leaning against Ron with a grin on her face.
~*~*~*~*~
Pansy still held Draco's hand in a vice grip as he let his hand go numb. The only entertainment he had to avoid her chatter was to look out the window. He watched as the castle approached. Pansy finally released him when he explained that they had to get their trunks. Draco first handed hers down to her from the overhead compartment. He almost dropped it.
"Good God woman. Do you have a body in here or did you just want to see how much you could possibly pack?" he heaved the trunk and eventually got it down to her.
"Oh Drakie, you're such a kidder." She flirtatiously hit his arm; which caused him to loose his balance on the small train seat and fall. His arms flailed in a desperate attempt to catch himself. He hit his head on the opposite wall.
"Damn it." He muttered under his breath and rubbed the bump on the back of his head. He quickly ran a comb through his hair until it was back to its perfectly slicked back state without a single strand out of place. Pansy started to say something but Draco just grabbed his trunk and left. She closed her mouth and followed him.
~*~*~*~*~
Hermione shook Ron awake as the train came to a stop. "Ron. Ron. Wake up. Ron." She said quietly as he started to come around.
"Hey." He said when he was mostly awake. He lifted himself up a bit until his eyes were level with hers and softly kissed her. She giggled and kissed him back before pulling away.
"Ron please. Harry's watching." Hermione laughed again and put her hand on his chest to push him away. 'He must have played some serious Quidditch with Harry over the summer.' She thought. 'He's even more muscular than last year.'
In truth Ron had always had some muscle. With five older brothers he had to have some or he got beaten up even more than he already did. But this wasn't the same kind of muscular; now he wasn't only fit; he was buff too. She would have to work hard to keep him hers this year. She already knew Lavender had eyes for him.
Harry grunted at them again as they stared at each other and began to get their baggage down. Hermione's trunk was the heaviest of course, since she had packed half of her home library along with everything that was required. They took their supplies and walked towards the castle with the other students.
"I promise if you two keep it up with this lovey-dovey shit I'll abandon you and start hanging out with Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins." Harry finally said to them once they were halfway to the school. Unfortunately as he said it a certain Slytherin walked up behind them.
"Potter, I know I'm irresistible but even you shouldn't be thinking about me that way, being the gay disgrace that you are. Obsession is unhealthy." Draco said, his voice full of ice and amusement. Harry whirled around to face the slightly smaller boy.
"Malfoy." Harry said and sneered.
"Potter." Draco cocked his eyebrow at him.
"Ferret."
"Scarface."
"Deatheater." That one went to far. Draco's normally emotionless eyes sparked and he glared at the three of them. He pulled his sleeve back to reveal the pale skin of his forearm.
"Tell me, what do you see? Anything?" He yelled and shoved his arm in all three of their faces. "What do you see?" He screamed again. He was beginning to draw attention. A crown had begun to form.
"Nothing." Hermione said quietly. "I don't see anything. There's nothing there." She met his steel gray eyes with her own cinnamon ones and he looked away.
"That's what I thought." He pulled his sleeve down and left with his trunk in hand. The crowd dispensed and Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked the remaining distance to school. All the trunks were left with the house elves and they went to watch the sorting ceremony.
"I'm really sorry about this." Hermione told one of the elves that carried her luggage. The creature just looked frightened and scurried away. She had never given up on House Elf Rights. Ron just sighed and took her hand to lead her to the Great Hall.
Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the scared expressions on the new first year's faces. She couldn't believe she had ever been so terrified of such a wonderful place. As they walked by she gave some of them reassuring smiles; which made one boy blush.
After the sorting ceremony was finished (Nine Gryffindors, seven Ravenclaws, eleven Hufflepuffs, and nine Slytherins) she glanced at the Slytherin table where Draco was doing his best to strike fear into the heart of the younger students with stories of teachers and other things. She just sighed and went back to listening to Harry and Ron chat about chess and Quidditch; their two favorite subjects.
The feast was as good as it was every year, and just like every year it eventually came to an end. Everyone trooped back to their rooms to get some much needed sleep before the first day of classes.
~*~*~*~*~
Draco rubbed his eyes as the sun shone in through h the window and woke him up. He quickly sat up and pulled on a white shirt over his bare chest to walk to the showers. If Crabbe and Goyle got there before you, you didn't take a shower that day. He took off his shirt and green satin bottoms and climbed into the spray. The water felt cold and clean against his skin but he forced himself to get out; Potions first class with the Gryffindors. Snape had gotten stricter over the past several years and would now even give HIM detention if he was tardy.
He pulled his robes on over his gray uniform and strode to the Great Hall for breakfast. Breakfast was always amazing on the first day of class. They had everything you could imagine. The rest of the year was just cereal and scones. He ate quickly so he would be able to claim a good seat in the back for potions. He was still almost an hour early when he arrived. Unfortunately, so was Pansy.
"Come on Lover Boy." She said, which caused Snape to glance up and send Draco an almost sympathetic look. Pansy grabbed his arm and led him into the hall where she immediately began attacking his lips with her own. Draco stood motionless for a moment before pushing her away.
"Sorry Pansy got to run." Draco said, and run he did; all the way to the Charms classroom. Flitwick didn't have a class first thing of the day so the room was empty, or so he thought.
~*~*~*~*~
Hermione was startles as she watched Draco burst through the doors. She had been going over the Prefect notes in the back of the room. He began to pace the front of the room with a look of severe concentration on his face. She made herself as small as she could and watched on silently. Draco ran his hands through his hair and sat on the teacher's desk. He looked up angrily and began to speak.
"Looks like this year has started out just like all the others. No one gets it. I am really not a bad person, well not all bad anyway. I act that way to hide my insecurities. Oh God I have so many." He once again ran his hands though his silver-blonde hair and sighed. She didn't know who he was talking to but was still sure he didn't know she was there or he wouldn't be saying all of these things. "I mean; I don't like my girlfriend, at all, who could? Why did I ever ask her out? I am so stupid."
He took out a small dagger from a hidden pocket in his robes and cut a long line in his upper arm. The blood trickled down as he watched on and smiled before saying a spell that sucked the blood back into the wound and disappear. After a moment he started to speak again.
"My father's only reason for having me and marrying my mother was so Voldemort," he spat out the name, "would have a second hand man when my father dies. He never wanted me. My poor mother, once he's done with her he'll kill her."
Draco repeated the incident with the knife on his forearm. Once again the blood was sucked back and disappeared. He removed his robes and recited another spell. Suddenly scars upon scars appeared on his face, his arms, and his neck.
"This is how worthless you are Draco." He told himself as he traced the scars with his fingertips almost lovingly. Hermione gasped from the back of the room and immediately wished she hadn't. In three long strides he had her pinned to the cold stonewall.
"How much did you hear Granger?" He asked, his voice full of malice. His gray eyes pierced her very soul. She opened her mouth to answer hut his grip was to tight on her throat. He realized this and pinned her by the shoulders instead. "Speak."
"J-j-just," she stuttered. This guy had always scared the living crap out of her.
"Just what?" He yelled and gripped her shoulders tighter until she yelped out in pain; then he loosened it, but only a little.
"All of it." She said in a voice just above a whisper. He slammed her against the wall once more and then let her drop to the floor. Tears welled in her eyes but she was determined not to let him see her cry. She rubbed her shoulder and stood up.
"So now you know everything. Great; just what I need. For a damn Mudblood to go tell Potter and Weasley all about poor Draco's home life." He sent her a look that could kill.
"I won't tell." She said in a little louder voice than previously. "If-" He cut her off.
"If what? If I'm your personal slave for the rest of your bloody existence? I leave you and the rest of Potter and Company alone all year? If I shave my head, dress up like a clown, and pants Snape?" Hermione just started laughing at the last suggestion.
"As appealing as that last one was I think the first two will do just fine. But you don't have to do it for the rest of your life; just this year. Because after that I won't have to ever see you again." Hermione was beginning to like this idea, having a slave would be nice and now no one would make her and her friends lives miserable.
"Alright Mudblood. You have yourself a deal." He held out his hand to shake on it and smirked.
"And don't call me Mudblood. Granger or Hermione; take your pick." She waited before she shook his have for him to decide.
"Granger." They shook on it. 'His hands are like ice.' She thought and pulled away quickly. They then walked to potions with some distance between them so no one would get suspicious that anything was going on.
~*~*~*~*~
Done with this chapter. Yay.
Tell me if you liked it. Then I'll update faster.
In a scientific study if does show that reviews help to get chapters up quicker. Okay so I made that up - I just really like reviews.
Review please!
(Get the idea?)