"This place is positively unruly..."
"It's not that bad, and besides if I had known I was going to have company at 4 am then I would've cleaned first."
Unruly, frizzy brown hair bobbed in a messy bun on top of her head as I opened the door to my dorm room. If it had been this way 4 years ago I would've felt my face slowly become too hot, all while berating my two best friends on etiquette and manners of the female variety. As it stood now, all Hermione Granger could muster was an eye roll as I left the door slightly ajar and went to sit on my four-poster bed decorated in burgundy and gold. I sat crossed-legged while they took up the available floor space, looking at my pajama-clad body with only friendship in their eyes.
"Listen 'Mione, we know you said you wanted to sleep in today but-"
"Quite the understatement, I believe I said 'I would love to sleep in and maybe spend a few hours reading and finishing my transfiguration essay' but as I can see you two are in here three hours before breakfast even starts."
"Ah... Well yes, but-" Harry was rubbing at his right arm nervously, now looking at everything but me.
"We hoped you would come with us to Hogsmeade if you don't mind." Of course, Ron didn't have a care in the world if I wanted to relax today. He looked rather distastefully at all the books strewn about here and there on my side of the dormitories.
"What do we need from Hogsmeade? Just last Saturday you both bought nothing but lollies and chocolate frogs."
Ron's face took on a dream like quality as he smiled into the distance. "Worth it."
Harry, on the other hand, just shrugged. "They had new flavors, anyways that's not the point. We're gonna go get the new Pheonix Strider 2.0!"
"You mean that stupid broom? That's expensive and how are you going to afford one, not to mention two of them?"
"I've got it covered, I checked. Besides, it's Ron's year to join the team and he needs a broom that Fred and George hadn't sweat all over."
"Can't you get Ron a decent broom that isn't almost 1,000 galleons?" It's like he's trying to get himself broke before we graduate. Honestly, it's not like he's Mal- "Wait... You're not just doing this because Malfoy might be getting one as well, right?"
At this Ron looked down and scowled, his mouth turned slightly to the right and I swear I could hear his eyes rolling. Harry wasn't much better, his fidgeting turning into the form of him biting his lip sheepishly and looking at me pleadingly. "No... he's already got one."
I sighed, there was no use in arguing the point further. I shooed them out and went to my shared bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror I brushed through my stubborn hair so it fanned across my shoulders and threw on a cardigan over a white t-shirt and some of the blue jeans my mum sent me.
Ahh, Flourish and Blott's. Could there be a finer shop here? I pushed open the revolving door and breathed in the smell of leather, parchment, and black toffee coffee. I quickly located the non-fiction section and perused the aisles, happily coming across several titles I couldn't wait to read. About to turn toward the register, I spotted a nice hardcover with the title Class Five Potions: Timely but Effective. I plucked it off the shelf and turned back toward the front when I heard a sound like screeching nails on a chalkboard.
"If you look closely, you'll note the wild mudblood. Legend has it this creature is found in libraries and bookstores, trying to become a real wizard."
I lifted my head to the sky and counted backward from five before turning around with a smile. "Oh Malfoy, to what do I owe the pleasure? A troll like you normally never leaves the Forbidden Forest."
"Troll? I may be taller than you but that's not hard considering a pitiful elf like you. Though, if someone's as thoughtless as to go and give you clothes and let you attend school the world must be going mad."
He smirked and leaned against the side of a bookshelf. A sharp glint in his eyes and his too gold hair reflecting the overhead lights. I did a slow observation his clothing, noting that he wore a pair of black slacks and a button up polo shirt with the top three buttons undone.
"I don't think I have anything to say to the world's most revolting choirboy." Turning on my heels and rolling my eyes seemed almost involuntary as I made way for the line forming at the front of the register. At least it seemed that easy until there was a hand on my shoulder forcefully turning me around.
"You're right, I shouldn't grace a filthy mudblood with my presence, it gives me a bad reputation to even touch you. So just hand over that book and we can all go back to acting like you don't exist."
"Excuse me?" I looked down at the four books huddled close to my chest, examining each one and looking up to see him eyeing the one on advanced potions.
"Are you dense? Give. Me. The book." He stepped closer, invading my personal space and glaring holes into my skull.
"No. Why should I give you something that's not even yours? Just because everyone else decides to kiss your-"
He gave a harsh sigh and reached for the book himself, clearly through with waiting for me to abide by his rules. Then he just... Went rigid. His body freezing the second his fingertips touched it, my mouth fell open as I slid out from under him.
"Hermione! Are you okay?" Harry and Ron rushed over to me, Both of their wands by their sides and a scowl on their faces.
"Uh, yeah. Did you guys... You know what I'll lecture you later on the rules of magic outside of school. Let me just pay for these and we can go." We sauntered up and got in the thankfully diminishing line. "Did you guys get the brooms?"
"Yeah! Wanna see?" Ron chirped excitedly.
"Maybe later." I bickered with them until they noticed how dangerously close to the candy store we had gotten. I sighed as they wandered in and rolled my eyes all the way to the carriages that took me back to Hogwarts. At least I'll get to the reading portion of my day...
I started with 104 Ways to Use a Cauldron and read, through lunch and dinner and even into the wee hours of the night. By the time the sun greeted me I was feeling downright tired but so excited to finish and start another one I could hardly wait. I let one of the girls in the common room plait my hair, a feat which proved difficult with all the mid-morning tangles. By lunch, I had moved on to Mythical Creatures: Biomes, Bodies, and Feed and realized with a start that my stomach was rumbling. I put a bookmark in and carried the book with me to the Great Hall. Spotting Harry and Ron scarfing down what looked to be club sandwiches and crisps. I sat with a silent yawn and loaded a plate myself, cracking open the book once more and letting the chatter take a nice backseat.
"Did you see him in the hall? I'd be surprised if that girl could even breathe." Harry murmured.
Ron nodded and shivered in disgust. "I hope she sanitized her face after that one. I wouldn't be surprised if all the girls liked him until they figured out that he's a bloody terrible kisser."
As much as I tried to fight it I felt myself getting more curious with their conversation than my book, having to re-read more than one sentence quite a few times. With a sigh, I closed my book and injected myself into the conversation.
"Who's a terrible kisser?"
"Shhh! Bloody hell Hermione, he might hear you." Ron seemed almost comically panicked as he glanced around the room nervously.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah so who is it?"
"Ron and I saw Malfoy snogging some third year in the hall corridor earlier."
I gagged and glared at them. "In the interest of finishing my food, I would like all talk of Malfoy's... everything to cease at once."
"Yeah well, it's not like that prat is worth talking about any- Hermione!"
Just then Ron's sentence was cut off, my vision blurred red for a split second before I found myself wiping my eyes with a napkin proffered to me by Lavender Brown to my left. The tomato soup dripped into my hair and down my back, essentially making the whole upper half of my body look like I went bobbing for apples in warm red paint. I wasn't left looking for the culprits for long because the Slytherin table was going nuts with laughter, with Pansy Parkinson laughing the loudest, a self-satisfied smirk coming on as the laughter died off.
My face felt white hot and I was oh so tempted to run and live out the rest of my days in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, but that was exactly what they wanted. Instead, I stood and made my way slowly to the door, acting as if I was just going to leave.
"I think it's an improvement, now you're as clean as your blood." Parkinson sneered, the movement making her face even more unattractive.
"Slugulus Erecto!" I watched in morbid enjoyment as Pansy's laugh turned into a gross display of vomiting slugs all over the table.
I pushed my way through a set of the large double doors, intent on taking a long, hot shower when I heard it.
"Hey! Granger!" What does Malfoy want now? Isn't it bad enough that I'll be washing my hair for a good week to get the smell out?
"I'm not going to apologize for hexing your girlfriend, or do you even use that term since you snog about every girl in your house?" I didn't want to turn and acknowledge the smirk that would surely be on his face, one that said I know you're trying so hard to beat me but you never will because I think I'm the best at everything and believing is half the battle.
"Why do you care? Jealous because you can't even hope to get close to snogging me?" That damn smirk was in his voice.
"I would really like to keep the contents of my stomach where they belong so I'll have to decline on your terrible offer. Now if you'll excuse me-"
"You have a cat, right? That ugly thing that I saw you carrying from the carriages this year?"
"You stopped me in the hallway to insult my cat?" I looked around the hall for one of his friends he could be stalling for, probably to put some grilled cheese on my head for a hat next. "That or you must be scraping the bottom of the barrel these days for insults. Look I really don't care what you think of my cat, I need to go wash this-"
"Do you ever shut up? Geez, no wonder you don't have many friends. I could give two fat rats about insulting your cat, I just need to know what it eats."
"What he eats...? Malfoy did you hit your head? Did someone spike your pumpkin juice?" I reached up to feel his forehead and strangely enough, he let me, giving me a half-amused smirk as I felt on it.
"There you go, not shutting up. Just tell me what they eat, I assume mice won't do." I swore I heard him say "or else she would be eating them" under his breath.
I turned around, not wanting him to see how tickled I was to his question, or how much his innocent question seemed to soften his expression until he was almost... cute. "Just go buy cat food, they sell that. In the meantime, water and bits of meat should be fine." I tossed the words over my shoulder and made my way up to Gryffindor Tower.