Disclaimer: Gred-Obviously we're not Jk, so we're-
Forge- Not claiming to be! 'appy Reading!
A/N: This fic was originally a boredom cure, but we're getting into it now. The first chap is just to get it started. It gets much better!
~H~ 16 year old Hermione Granger flipped through the pages of 'Potions For The Mind'. She should have finished this homework weeks ago, and was quite disappointed in herself for not doing so. Being tardy was just not Hermioneish. But due to a certain vacation, she was delayed. At the moment, she was sitting up in bed with a small lamp for her only light. It wouldn't have been like this is her parents would have let her come back early. But no....they just didn't understand the importance of good grades to her.
The next day she would be getting on the train to go back to Hogwarts for her sixth year, and she was chosen prefect again. She slightly hoped Ron hadn't been chosen, because the previous year he had been too busy with other things to keep up with prefect duties.
~D~
Draco shut the door to his bedroom. He was angry at his father for yelling at him, but vented his frustrations on the house elf. Dobby would still be there if it wasn't for Harry Potter. As this thought occurred to Draco, he got even more angry. "Stupid Potter and his stupid friends," he whispered aloud. He decided to pack his things for tomorrow, when he would be going back to Hogwarts. As he placed his new books in his trunk, he let out a yawn. He had to stay up late two nights in a row to finish all the homework they had been given over the holidays. The only one he had bothered to do earlier in the summer was his potions assignment, because that was his favorite class.
~H~
Hermione concentrated on the words in the book. The seemed to be all scrunched up and blurry. She glanced at the clock, which indicated that it was 3 a.m. "Merlin," she muttered under her breath. "I have to get this finished." Professor Snape, her least favorite teacher besides Trelawny, had assigned them homework the day before they left for summer break. He also said that they would be very sorry if they didn't finish it.
Hermione's head began to droop, and the comfort of her eyes being closed was all too much. She lay her head in her hands. 'Just a few minutes won't kill me,' she thought. 'I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes, then I'll finish doing my work...'
Soon, the snores being emitted from her sleeping form indicated that she wasn't going to finish her homework tonight after all.
~D~ Draco reached into his trunk and pulled out his green Charms book. They were supposed to write a three foot essay on the proper way to make things glow. He saw no purpose in this subject. What on earth would he be trying to make glow? An evil smirk spread across his face. Teeth...
That would be an excellent prank to pull on someone. He pulled out a parchment and quill and lay it on the desk beside his book. Then he launched into reading about the Glowing Charm.
Somewhere along the lines of learning how to pronounce it correctly, his eyes began to droop.
All thought of Charms left his mind and he began to dream.
~H~
"Hermione, come down here or you're going to be late!" Hermione opened her eyes and got out of bed.
"Coming mum!" she called down the stairs. She hurried around the room and got dressed. As she was walking down the stairs she remembered her unfinished homework that was lying upstairs. Hermione sighed, she couldn't believe she hadn't finished it.
"Now I'll have to finish it on the train, and Ron and Harry will never let me live it down," she thought aloud. When she reached the kitchen her mom had laid out some eggs and toast. Hermione sat down at the table, and ate in a hurry, so that she could finish packing. When she had gone back to her room and placed her last ink bottle in her trunk, she called her dad to bring it down stairs. He loaded it in the car, and they got ready to leave. Since she lived right outside of London, the trip was short. It seemed like no time had gone by when Kings Cross came into view.
~D~
"Narcissa, tell our son to get a move on, because I'm ready to leave," Lucious Malfoy's voice floated across the kitchen.
"Draco, bring your luggage downstairs, because your father is ready to leave," Mrs. Malfoy called through the door to Draco's room.
"Coming Mother," Draco replied, as he opened the door. He pushed his trunk downstairs, where his father was waiting impatiently. They walked outside and got into the Porsche. The trip to Kings Cross was long, and boring. Draco spent most of the time wondering about his friends, Crabbe and Goyle, and thinking about how much bigger they've gotten. They were both really usueful, but Draco still felt lonely. They would do anything he wanted, but he wanted someone he could really talk to. Someone who would listen to him, and carry on a decent conversation. Pansy Parkinson would go out with him in a heartbeat, but he wanted more than a giggling airhead. When they arrived at the station, Lucious Malfoy bid him goodbye, without offering to help him get a trolley. Draco got out of the car, and found one on his own near the entrance. He soon found himself facing the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He hurriedly walked through the barrier, and saw the Hogwarts Express .He headed toward the back of the train, where Crabbe and Goyle were in the usual compartment. He stowed his luggage in the rack, and looked at his two friends, both had grown allot over the summer, as Draco predicted.
"Well, I have to go sit up front with the prefects, but as soon as I can I'll come back down here," Draco sighed, heading into the corridor. Crabbe nodded, so Draco set off towards to front of the train.
~H~
Hermione crossed her arms and propped her feet on the seat across from her, revealing her long, tanned legs. She blew a bubble with the piece of Green Apple bubble-gum in her mouth, and just as she did so, the compartment door slid open.
~D~
The first thing Draco saw when he opened the prefect compartment was a pair of long legs. His eyes slowly traveled up the legs to the face of the person that owned those legs, and he was in a bit of a shock when he saw who it was. Who would have though that Granger had a pair of legs like that?
He quickly jerked his eyes away from her and leaned casually against the door frame. "Well if it isn't Granger," he said coolly.
She groaned. "Oh no, don't tell me you're STILL a prefect." It was more of a complaint than a question. He scowled at her.
"I'm surprised they let you stay on as one."
~H~
She dismissed this and turned to stare out of the window. Why the heck did he have to be such a pain in the arse? She dropped her legs off of the seat so he could sit down. it was getting a bit uncomfortable with him just standing there like an idiot. Right when she did so, he said down in the seat opposite it.
Hermione could feel his eyes upon her and shifted uncomfortably. Luckily the compartment door opened and he pulled his eyes away. Neville was standing in the doorway. "Whoa, you must be lost," Draco sneered. "This is a PREFECT compartment."
Neville glared at him and took a seat beside Hermione, who gave him a questioning look. "Ron resigned," he told her. "Dumbledore owled me this summer and appointed me to the position." He pointed at the badge on his chest.
"Oh that's great Neville," Hermione said smiling.
"I can't believe the trash they're picking these days. First Mudbloods, now idiots-"
He was cut off my Neville springing upon him. That was the good thing about Neville in Hermione's opinion. He was no longer a scaredy cat.
~BOTH POVS~
"Sit down Longbottom! That's no way for a prefect to act!" came the voice of Blaze Watson, the new head boy.
"Listen, I've got to go to the other compartment to give instructions to the new prefects, I hope you two work this out," he said, his eyes traveling from Neville to Draco. He left the compartment, and went to the next one where the fifth year prefects were waiting.
"Ha!" Draco laughed, "Two minutes as a prefect and you're already getting shouted at."
"Shut it Malfoy!" Neville said as he sat back down next to Hermione. Hermione just looked out the window. She had loved being a prefect at first, but now she was getting tired of everybody always watching, and expecting her to be perfect. Hermione the perfect prefect, she thought, that's what they'll always think of me. Her eyes traveled to two red heads, and boy with jet black hair. They were heading to the back of the train. Hermione knew she would have to go say hello later. A few minutes later the train began to move, and Kings Cross slipped away from view. Draco caught himself looking at Hermione's lags again. He was just wondering how he'd never noticed them before, when he felt a tug on his arm. He looked up and saw Pansy, who had came in with the other six year prefects right before the train departed.
"What were you looking at?" She asked, as she eyed him with interest.
"Oh, nothing, it was nothing, I was just thinking," he replied, and tried to suppress a smile.
"Well what do you want to do that for silly?" she giggled, and tugged playfully at his arm again. Hermione looked over to see where that annoying giggling was coming from. When she saw Pansy and Draco, she scrunched up her nose in disgust, and thought it was better just to look out the window, than watch the two people she hated cuddling together. Hannah and Ernie were talking to each other, and Neville was looking at a plant magazine. Hermione suddenly stood up.
"I think I'll go patrol the corridor now," She said, heading for the door. When she had slid it close behind her, she headed for the back of the train to find Harry, Ron, and Ginny.
~H~
Hermione found the trio in the very back compartment of the train, but they weren't alone. Sitting next to Harry was a girl that Hermione had seen around before, but didn't know her. And next to Ginny was Seamus Finnagin. Ron was sitting alone. "Hi guys," she said trying to sound cheerful.
"Hey Mione," Ron said grinning. "How was your summer?" He motioned for her to sit beside him and she did.
"Oh, it was fine," she replied. And that reminded her. She had to finish her Potions Essay. A fit of giggles made her eyes travel to the corner where Harry and the girl were sitting. They were practically all over each other. UGH! She turned to Ron. "Who is that?" she muttered under her breath.
~D~
Draco pretended to be interested in Pansy's tale of going to a muggle shopping mal. He would nod, and every now and then say 'That's awful', but his thoughts were elsewhere. They kept drifting back to the Mudblood. Much to his dismay. "Why can't I get her out of my head?" Draco thought to himself.
"It's ok, you don't like her," he reassured himself ,"it was just...she just...she just had nice legs, that's all." Draco grinned when he remembered Hermione's legs, but once he realized what he was doing he stopped. He heard a loud buzzing sound in his ear, and looked up. Apparently Pansy hadn't noticed him grinning at all, and she was still chatting away. It's funny, Draco could see her talking, but all he heard was bla bla bla.
"And so, like I was saying, that muggle girl was wearing a hot pink shirt with a baby pink head band! Can you believe that?" Pansy shrieked, and then doubled over with laughter, as if the girls head band had jumped off her head and did the moonwalk. Bla bla bla, that was Draco's key to laugh too, so he let out a fake laugh, and tried to think of an excuse to get away.
"Um,I think I'm going to go ahead and change into my uniform," he said once he finally came across a good excuse.
"Ok, but hurry back, tee hee hee," Pansy giggled. Draco stood up, and retrieved his uniform from the luggage rack. He then proceeded to the corridor.
~H~
"What did you say Hermione?" Ron asked, he had been to preoccupied catching Pig to hear what she muttered. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I said, who's that girl that's sitting next to Harry?" she whispered.
"Oh, that's Alexis, she's new. She had to sit with us because everywhere was full, and when she and Harry saw each other...well...let's just say they've forgotten I was here." Ron replied with a frown. Hermione looked at Alexis, she was short, with blue eyes, and light blonde curly hair that fell to mid-back. She smiled ,if Harry had a new girlfriend, which it looked like he did, she might have another girl to talk to that was her own age.
"Hey Hermione!" Ginny said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hey Gin ,did you remember my brush that I left over when I spent the night last week?"
"Yep," said Ginny, "I'll give it to you tomorrow though.
"Ok," Hermione began, "Hello Harry, how was your summer?"
"What? Oh, hey Hermione, didn't realize you were here," laughed, as he looked at her for the first time.
Hermione laughed too, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your new, er, friend?"
"Oh yeah," Harry blushed, "This is Lexi, and Lexi this is Hermione, my other best friend. Lexi smile and then looked back at Harry.
"She's just your friend right?" she questioned Harry.
"Yes," Hermione interrupted before Harry could speak. "Yeah we're just friends, and if you need any help since you're new, you can always ask me."
"Thanks," Lexi replied, "I will."
"Don't you have to be in uniform to patrol the cooridor?" Ron asked.
"Oops!" Hermione suddenly got to her feet. "Yes, I better go change, but I'll come back later." They all said goodbye, as Hermione made her way back to the front to get her robes.
~D~
Draco wet to the first bathroom along the train, and shut the door. He had grown some over the summer, but he was still short. If only Weasley grew as slow as he did, than he wouldn't have to buy new robes every year. Draco let out a soft laugh, as he pictured Ron wearing pants that were three inches too short. He was thinking about whether he should go visit Crabbe and Goyle again, when he heard a knock on the door. He was about to tell the person to go to another bathroom, but he was done changing now, so instead he pulled the door open.
~H~
Hermione had slipped into the prefect compartment and grabbed her robes. She headed to the first bathroom closest to the compartment, and knocked on the door. No one answered, so she was just about to open the door, but when she reached for the handle, it opened by itself.
~BOTH POVS ~
"Oh, sorry I didn't know anyone was in here," she stammered when she saw that it was Malfoy.
He shrugged. "I'm done now," he said coolly and pushed past her, but not without getting another look at those legs.
'Crap, I gotta stop looking,' he thought angrily. 'This is a Mudblood we're talking about.' He made his way back to the prefect compartment slowly. 'A very good looking Mudblood...'
But just as he had only walked a few feet away from Granger, he felt someone watching him and spun around. Granger was watching him with an odd expression on her face. "What are you looking at?" he snapped, but not as coldly as he usually would have.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, jerking her eyes way from him, and disappeared into the loo.
~D~
"That was odd," he muttered under his breath.
The thought of returning to the prefect compartment where Pansy would surely be waiting for him, didn't seem to appetizing. It would just be more yack, yack, yack, bla, bla... He glanced down the corridor for any sign of her. She was no where to be seen. He would just make up some lame excuse and go find Crabbe and Goyle. Maybe they were in the mood for a bit of Potty/Weasel-tormenting.
'What the h3ll was that Hermione?' Hermione thought angrily to herself as she pulled her skirt on carelessly. She shook her head, quite disappointed in herself. 'First you don't finish your homework and now you're checking out your worst enemy.'
She hated admitting it even to herself. She had been checking him out. But she wouldn't admit to anyone else if they paid her. Just because he had muscular arms, charming blue eyes, and one heck of a bod, that didn't excuse the fact that he was a selfish, no good, muggle-hating, self- righteous, spoiled, pig!
Hermione was very disappointed in herself. What would Harry and Ron say? Suddenly, for a moment or two, she didn't care. So what if she had looked at him? It wasn't going to kill anybody just to look. There wasn't anything written in any books saying that worst enemies can't check each other out, and Hermione should know.
She finished dressing and walked back out into the corridor. She hadn't done anything wrong.
Nothing wrong at all. But still, what was does he in that giggling cow? I mean, even Draco can do better than that! Ahh! What am I saying? It's Malfoy, he deserves her. SMACK! Hermione had gotten so lost in her thoughts, that she walked straight into a second year.
"Sorry," she muttered to the boy. This reminded Hermione that she was supposed to be patrolling the corridor, so she hurried off in the opposite direction. She spotted two Ravenclaws playing tag up and down the corridor, and told them off. She felt satisfied that she had acted like a prefect for the first time today.
~D~
Draco found Crabbe and Goyle where he had left them. When he stepped into the compartment, he saw them both chowing down on tons of candy.
"What are you doing?" Draco asked them, a hint of disgust in his voice.
"We made the witch with the trolley come by three times!" Goyle said through a mouthful of food. That's probably his greatest accomplishment, Draco thought as he smiled. He moved over a pile of chocolate frogs and sat down.
"Well, I'm getting bored, so you want to pay a visit to Potty and the Weasel?" Draco asked.
"Sure," Crabbe grunted, and all three stood up. They only had to pass a couple of compartments before they saw Harry and Ron. Draco clenched his wand in his pocket, in past encounters with Harry on the train he had needed it. Once he made sure he had a firm grip on it, he opened their door.
"Uhh! I thought maybe in our two short months apart you would find a way to get rid of that ugly scar." Draco bellowed.
"And I thought you might have found a way to get your father out of Azkaban, but I guess the name Malfoy means is useless now!" Harry retorted.
"Get out Malfoy! We have enough trash in here without you," Ron said, as he pointed to their small pile of candy wrappers."
"I see what you mean," snarled Draco," Look at that big dust ball, o wait, that's your owl!" Ron jumped up, as Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles. Harry stood up, and noticed this too.
"Ron's owl is smarter than both of your bodyguards!" snapped Harry," I mean, you can't even fight your own battles can you? You have to have those two stand behind you before you can do anything!"
"We'll see about that!" Draco yelled, and turned on his heel. Crabbe and Goyle followed him back into their compartment.
~H~
Hermione returned to the prefect compartment awhile later, and sat next to Neville. The first thing she noticed was that Draco wasn't there. To her this was good news, because she wouldn't have to listen to him and Pansy's mindless talk anymore. She pulled out her books, and decided to spend the remainder of the train ride finishing her homework. With each sentence she wrote, the sky outside grew darker. Rain began splattering the windows, steadily growing harder. When they reached Hogwarts, it was a full fledge storm. Hermione packed up her finished homework and turned to Neville.
"The first years have to go across the lake in a storm again."
"Yeah," sighed, "But we'll still be soaked by the time we reach the castle. They stood up, and headed for the doors.
Hermione pulled her hood over her head before stepping out into the storm. She could harly see a thing, due to the rain blurring her vision. "Firs' years this way!" came an unmistakable voice over the roaring wind. Those poor first years. I'd hate to be in those rickety little boats...
Hermione pulled her cloak tighter and followed a crowd of people towards the carriages that were to take them to the castle. The first carriage she spotted, she clambered into, not caring who she had to share it with. It was empty. She sat down in one of the seats, teeth chattering like mad. There just had to be a raging storm on their first day back didn't there?
~BOTH~
The door flew open and slammed against the outside of the carriage with a bang. At first, Hermione thought that the wind had just blew it open and she stood and reached out to close it. But just as she was about to grasp the handle, something very solid collided with her head.
"OUCH!" came a disgruntled male's voice.
Hermione put her hand to her forehead. "Oh gosh! I'm really sorry, are you all..." She stopped talking when she saw who it was. Draco Malfoy pushed her out of the way and climbed inside, pulling the door shut and taking the seat across from her. His hand was also on his forehead.
"Watch what you're doing Mudblood! Why the heck were you out of your seat?" he snapped angrily.
"I was trying to close the door," she hissed, though she hadn't sounded as mad as she had wanted to. At that moment, that carriage began to bump along, causing her to have to grasp the edge of her seat to keep from bouncing too much.
"Why were you trying to close it when I was trying to get in?" His voice was less harsh, and Hermione knew that it must have been because his head wasn't throbbing as bad as it had been.
She let her hand fall to her side and sat back. "I thought the wind blew it open. Besides, why are you riding in my carriage? I would have figured that you didn't want my filth anywhere near you."
For a strange moment, Draco felt a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her voice had a slight tinge of hurt in it, talking about her filth and all. What was that feeling? Draco had never felt before really. Cold it be guilt? Nah...I wouldn't feel guilty for THAT ."For your information Granger, you would have figured right. If I'd have known you were in this carriage, I wouldn't have gotten in it." But he knew that was a lie. He would have taken any carriage he could've got, anxious to get out of that weather.
"Good," she replied quietly.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. The only noise was the rumbling of the thunder and the rain splashing against the windows. When the carriages finally came to a halt, Hermione once again wrapped her cloak tightly around her and hopped out of the carriage.
~H~
Aw, screw finding Harry and Ron. She had to get out of this weather. She scrambled up the stone steps behind the rest of the students and walked into the Entrance Hall. A few of the teachers were standing near the wall and the students were lined up behind them. obviously they were using simple drying spells on them. Hermione got in line next to Parvati Patil.
"Hey Hermione," she said, not sounding very enthusiastic.
~D~
Draco jumped out of the carriage after Hermione, and landed right into a huge puddle. This day is not going good. He stepped out of the water and onto the stone steps. He reached the oak doors, but there were some boys in front of him.
"Get out of the way, or I'll give you detention!" she yelled, as he shoved them aside. He was about to enter the Great Hall, when he slipped, and skidded a few feet on the stone floor. He grabbed the shoulder of the person in front of him, to get some balance. The person turned around, and Draco found himself facing a scar shaped like a lighting bolt.
"Get your hands off me Malfoy," snapped Harry, pushing Draco's hand off his shoulder.
"I slipped," Draco muttered, and turned to walk away.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, ferrets don't have a good sense of direction," Harry laughed, and walked right past Draco into the Great Hall. I'm so going to get him back this year. And with that thought, he mad his way into the hall, and sat down at the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle were already there, and licking their lips as they looked at the empty plates. Draco noticed they were completely dry, and asked how they had managed that.
"You have to go up in line and get that drying charm thing put on you," grunted Crabbe. Draco looked up towards the staff table to see and line of students huddled in wet robes. Draco got up, and went to join them.
~H~ After the drying charm, Hermione found a seat beside Ron and Neville Longbottom and across from Harry and Lexi. "Hi guys," she said smiling.
Lexi nodded, and the rest of them smiled. Just as they did so, Lavender Brown came over and sat on the other side of Ron. "Hi Ron," she said sweetly. "How was your summer?"
He shrugged. "Aw, you know, same old same old," he stammered. His cheeks had a slight tinge of pink on them and Hermione couldn't help but giggle. Ron obviously didn't hear her. He was too busy trying not to make a fool of himself in front of Lavender.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked. She shifted her gaze to Ron and Lavender. "So?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, you are so clueless."
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore stood up and everything went silent. "Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts. Now, we will begin, with the Sorting Ceremony." He sat ack down and the great double doors reopened. Professor McGonagall glided in with a long line of first years behind her. There seemed to be a lot more of them this year.
One of them caught Hermione's attention more than the others. She had long straight, blonde hair that fell neatly to her waistline, and she had a sense of authority about her. But the thing that got her attention the most, was the fact that she looked much older than the other students. She looked to be around Hermione's age. Hermione nudged Neville, who was also looking at her. "Who is that?"
Neville shrugged. "Doesn't she look a little older than them?" He pointed at the frightened 1st years.
Hermione nodded. And she also took note that the girl didn't look nervous at all.
It seemed that the whole hall was pointing and talking about her now, but she didn't take notice.
"Now," begun Professor McGonagall, catching everyone's attention. "When I call your name, I you will come up here, " she indicated the stool beside her, "and I will place the sorting hat on you head to be sorted." Several of the 1st year's faces regained their color back.
"Allen, Kevin!" A blonde haired boy with shocking blue eyes nervously made his way up to the stool. On his way up the one step he tripped. Several of the people snickered and Hermione glared at them all. It wasn't funny at all. Professor McGonagall helped him onto his feet and over to the stool. Then she placed the hat on his head.
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted almost instantly.
~D~
As the sorting droned on and on, Draco watched the blonde girl with great interest. There was no way she could be a first year. Her 'rack' (was too large. (lol, sorry if that offends anyone.)
By the time McGonagall reached "Zeke, Jerry", the girl was still standing up there.
"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted. Jerry Zeke took a seat at their table and Dumbledore stood up.
"Students, this year Hogwarts has participated in the Exchanged student program. One of our students, and a student from The United States', Liberty School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, have switched places for the year. I would like you all to give Brianna Higginbotham a warm welcome." The people around Draco all clapped, but as usual, Draco just leaned back in his chair. Clapping just wasn't something he wanted to waste his time doing. "Now," Dumbledore started, "Brianna, if you will, sit on the stool and prepare to be sorted." Brianna smiled and walked over to the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.
The hat seemed to be taking it's time, and the whole hall was completely silent. Draco had never seen it take so long in his life, and just when he was about to give up hope, the brim of the hat opened and shouted,
"Slytherin!"
This time Draco clapped along with the others. Most of the other tables were giving small applauses.
Brianna strutted across the room to the Slytherin table with her head held high. She reminded Draco of someone...
She placed herself in the empty seat right across from Draco, between Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini.
"Hi," she said cautiously, glancing at the people around her.
"Hey," Pansy said, in her 'try-to-be-sweet' voice. Draco personally thought she sounded like a chipmunk with a bad cold. "Welcome to Slytherin. I'm Pansy Parkinson, this is Blaise Zabini," she indicated Blaise, "and-"
"I'm Draco Malfoy," Draco interrupted. He held a hand across the table to shake, and she took it.
"Nice to meet you all." Her voice was a bit snooty. And she was REALLY reminding Draco of someone.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and all heads turned to look at him. "Well, lets all tuck in!" Food instantly appeared on the plates before them. Brianna gasped and everyone began to dig in.
"First off," Draco heard Pansy begin (she was talking to Brianna), "you don't want to be making friends with the Gryffindors, or the Hufflepuffs." She indicated the two tables. "Some of the Ravenclaws are acceptable, but allot of them are just like that lot." She indicated the two tables again.
"What's wrong with them?" Brianna asked curiously.
"Well, first off, they're a bunch of goody-goodies. Second, allot of them are Mudbloods."
Draco saw Brianna's face pale for a second, but it quickly regained it's color. "I see," she said breathlessly, and began to dig in. There as something weird about this girl.
~H~
Hermione stared over at the Slytherin table. "Pity," she told Neville. "It would have been nice to have a new face around. She just had to be a Slytherin...Don't you agree?" Neville simply nodded.
When everyone was finished eating, Dumbledore stood up yet again. "I need the prefects and Ms. Higginbotham to stay afterwards for a brief meeting. Everyone else, Sweet Dreams!" There was a loud roar of scarping chairs and Hermione got to her feet and made her way up to the front with the other prefects and Brianna. "Ah yes, follow me," Dumbledore told them, eyes twinkling. They followed him out of the Great Hall and into an empty classroom in silence. He sat behind a desk and they stood around him, all curious of the meeting.
"Now, as you all know, we have an exchanged student among us," he gestured toward Brianna. "I and the other teachers agree that it would be a better experience for her if she took up a position as a prefect." Several of them exchanged glances. "So this year, we will have one extra. We could use the help anyway. Does anyone object?" They were all silent and he continued. "Now, as there are 17 of you, 8 from the fifth years and 9 from the sixth, the staff and I have decided to grant you all your own common room. A strictly prefect common room. Here, you will sleep, do homework, plan activities, etc. No one from your houses who are not prefects are allowed. But you all are allowed in your own house common rooms. If you'll follow Professor McGonagall, she will lead to it." He pointed to the stern-looking woman standing near the door.
The group followed McGonagall through the corridors and stopped in front of a portrait of Helam the Frockburry. He wore long black robes and his hair was a pale shade of blonde. "Password?"
"Wingding Bat," Professor McGonagall said, causing it to swing open and reveal a spiral staircase. She led them up it to an opening. Several of them gasped. The common room was decorated in Maroon and silver. There were several comfy looking chairs and a sofa scattered around a fireplace. Study tables were littered about, and a message board was standing near the door with several notices pinned to it. A large, crystal chandelier hung from the dome-like ceiling.
"Welcome to your common room," McGonagall said, smiling at their shocked expressions. "The girl's dormitories are on your right, the boys on the left." She indicated two doors. "There is a list of patrolling hours on the message board, and a map. The Prefect Bathroom is located just down the corridor. It's labeled on the map, along with the password."
They all nodded to confirm that they understood, unable to speak. "Well, I guess I'll leave it at that. Good night all," she said, and disappeared back down the spiral staircase.
Hermione was absolutely amazed, and excited. This was brilliant. There were only two problems. She would be away from Harry and Ron, and she had to share a common room with Malfoy.
"Jolly year this is going to be," she said aloud, and set off towards the dormitories to take a look.
Hermione headed toward the spiral staircase, but when she reached the first step, she bumped into somebody.
"Where are you going?" it was Ernie.
"Too my dormitory," replied Hermione as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But this is the boys staircase," Ernie shot back, with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Well then where's the other staircase Ernie?" asked Hannah, who joined them at the foot of the stairs. The three of them looked around, there was no other staircase in sight.
"Aren't there two staircases in Gryffindor common room?" Hannah asked anxiously.
"Yes, boys on the left one, girls on the right." said Hermione.
"Yeah, same with Hufflepuff, so I thought that's what she meant." Ernie said with a note of panic.
"There's also two in the Slytherin one," added Hermione.
"How do you know?" Ernie asked suspiciously.
"Oh," Hermione thought quick, "someone told me."
"What is the hold up here? Is this a common room or a chat room?" interrupted Malfoy, as he pushed them aside, and started climbing the stairs.
"There's only one staircase," Hannah shot at him."
"Do I have to do everything myself? I'll go check it out, you wimps just stay here." and With that Malfoy disappeared. They all continued looking around, and admiring the large widows over looking the lake. A few minutes later, Malfoy returned.
"It's just this staircase, with girls on the doors to right, and boys to the left. We each share our room with one person." He informed them. Hermione knew Hannah the best, so she decided to ask her first. Hannah agreed, and they climbed the stairs.
"Let's get one at the top!" Hannah squealed. Hermione followed her to the very last door on the right. The only room above it, was one for the boys. Hermione turned the handle, and when she opened the door, her mouth fell open. I thought they spoiled the prefects with the bathroom, but check out this!
It was a circular room, with two queen size beds. There were two huge wardrobes, and two big comfy chairs. The maroon carpet was soft and squishy, and the comforters on the beds were thick and soft, like feather pillows. The sheets were silver and silky, and the walls were covered with beautiful seascapes, where you could here the waves rolling in. Hannah had filed in beside Hermione, with her mouth hung open even more. There was a large window, that also held a stunning view of the lake. The girls had been so busy looking around, they had just noticed the ceiling. When Hermione looked up at it, she saw that it was exactly like the ceiling of the Great Hall, but with the stars dimmed a bit.
"This was definitely worth becoming a prefect for," Hannah beamed.
"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "Ron will be so mad that he resigned when I tell him.
"What's the deal with you and Ron anyway?" Hannah asked, as she finally shut the door, and sat down on one of the beds.
"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned her.
"Well," Hannah began, "It just seemed like you guys used to have something between you."
"Are you kidding? Me and Ron?" Hermione laughed. "No, we argue way to much, and he gets jealous too easy."
"Oh, right, I did notice you guys arguing allot," said Hannah, and she began to change into her pajamas. Hermione did the same, and with in a matter of minutes, she found herself snug in her soft bed, closing her eyes.
"Night," Hannah yawned from across the room, but before the words had reached her, Hermione had fallen asleep.
~D~
Draco walked over to the fifth year Slytherin prefect named Thomas. He seemed like the only other decent person here.
"Oy, want to share a room?" he asked.
"Sure!" replied Thomas, who seemed delighted Draco had asked him. He seems a little too excited, hope he's straight. They headed up the staircase behind some of the other boys.
"Looks like all these have been claimed," Draco sighed. Thomas, who was ahead of him shouted, "The top one's empty!" Draco hurried up to the top, and into the last room. Thomas was admiring the room, but Draco didn't really get overjoyed about things like room decor. He was very pleased with the bed though. He got changed and hopped into bed right away, shutting his eyes. This day isn't turning out too bad after all. This is really comfortable. Draco's last thought before going to sleep, was that he had completely forgot to see who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. Come to think of it, Dumbledore didn't even introduce one, hmm, maybe they didn't arrive yet. Too bad Umbridge had to leave, she got rid of Dumbledore, and gave me the power to take away points from the other houses. Maybe Snape finally got it, that'd be perfect, because it's my worst subject, and Potter's best...... Finally Draco's mind shut off, and let him rest. He had a peaceful nights sleep all the way until past dawn. He was dreaming that he was sitting out by the lake, under his favorite tree. It was night time, and no one else was around. The tree was swaying heavily under the breeze, and it was very chilly. He was looking down at the grass, when a sudden noise made him jump. When he looked up, he saw two light bronze legs.
"Draco c'mon, you don't want to be late on the first day back mate."
"What?" Draco began to stir in his bed.
"I said c'mon, everyone else is heading down to breakfast."
"Oh, right," Draco yawned, and emerged from the covers to get dressed.
A/N:
Gred: We've been working quite hard on that for a while, I mean, first it was just something to do becuz we were bored, but now we're getting into it. It gets better.
Forge: Much better! *Grins evilly*
Gred: Toodloo!
Forge: Later ickle fannickins!
Gred: That was my line!
Forge: Obviously not, it came out of my mouth!
Gred and Forge: Oy! Later!
Forge- Not claiming to be! 'appy Reading!
A/N: This fic was originally a boredom cure, but we're getting into it now. The first chap is just to get it started. It gets much better!
~H~ 16 year old Hermione Granger flipped through the pages of 'Potions For The Mind'. She should have finished this homework weeks ago, and was quite disappointed in herself for not doing so. Being tardy was just not Hermioneish. But due to a certain vacation, she was delayed. At the moment, she was sitting up in bed with a small lamp for her only light. It wouldn't have been like this is her parents would have let her come back early. But no....they just didn't understand the importance of good grades to her.
The next day she would be getting on the train to go back to Hogwarts for her sixth year, and she was chosen prefect again. She slightly hoped Ron hadn't been chosen, because the previous year he had been too busy with other things to keep up with prefect duties.
~D~
Draco shut the door to his bedroom. He was angry at his father for yelling at him, but vented his frustrations on the house elf. Dobby would still be there if it wasn't for Harry Potter. As this thought occurred to Draco, he got even more angry. "Stupid Potter and his stupid friends," he whispered aloud. He decided to pack his things for tomorrow, when he would be going back to Hogwarts. As he placed his new books in his trunk, he let out a yawn. He had to stay up late two nights in a row to finish all the homework they had been given over the holidays. The only one he had bothered to do earlier in the summer was his potions assignment, because that was his favorite class.
~H~
Hermione concentrated on the words in the book. The seemed to be all scrunched up and blurry. She glanced at the clock, which indicated that it was 3 a.m. "Merlin," she muttered under her breath. "I have to get this finished." Professor Snape, her least favorite teacher besides Trelawny, had assigned them homework the day before they left for summer break. He also said that they would be very sorry if they didn't finish it.
Hermione's head began to droop, and the comfort of her eyes being closed was all too much. She lay her head in her hands. 'Just a few minutes won't kill me,' she thought. 'I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes, then I'll finish doing my work...'
Soon, the snores being emitted from her sleeping form indicated that she wasn't going to finish her homework tonight after all.
~D~ Draco reached into his trunk and pulled out his green Charms book. They were supposed to write a three foot essay on the proper way to make things glow. He saw no purpose in this subject. What on earth would he be trying to make glow? An evil smirk spread across his face. Teeth...
That would be an excellent prank to pull on someone. He pulled out a parchment and quill and lay it on the desk beside his book. Then he launched into reading about the Glowing Charm.
Somewhere along the lines of learning how to pronounce it correctly, his eyes began to droop.
All thought of Charms left his mind and he began to dream.
~H~
"Hermione, come down here or you're going to be late!" Hermione opened her eyes and got out of bed.
"Coming mum!" she called down the stairs. She hurried around the room and got dressed. As she was walking down the stairs she remembered her unfinished homework that was lying upstairs. Hermione sighed, she couldn't believe she hadn't finished it.
"Now I'll have to finish it on the train, and Ron and Harry will never let me live it down," she thought aloud. When she reached the kitchen her mom had laid out some eggs and toast. Hermione sat down at the table, and ate in a hurry, so that she could finish packing. When she had gone back to her room and placed her last ink bottle in her trunk, she called her dad to bring it down stairs. He loaded it in the car, and they got ready to leave. Since she lived right outside of London, the trip was short. It seemed like no time had gone by when Kings Cross came into view.
~D~
"Narcissa, tell our son to get a move on, because I'm ready to leave," Lucious Malfoy's voice floated across the kitchen.
"Draco, bring your luggage downstairs, because your father is ready to leave," Mrs. Malfoy called through the door to Draco's room.
"Coming Mother," Draco replied, as he opened the door. He pushed his trunk downstairs, where his father was waiting impatiently. They walked outside and got into the Porsche. The trip to Kings Cross was long, and boring. Draco spent most of the time wondering about his friends, Crabbe and Goyle, and thinking about how much bigger they've gotten. They were both really usueful, but Draco still felt lonely. They would do anything he wanted, but he wanted someone he could really talk to. Someone who would listen to him, and carry on a decent conversation. Pansy Parkinson would go out with him in a heartbeat, but he wanted more than a giggling airhead. When they arrived at the station, Lucious Malfoy bid him goodbye, without offering to help him get a trolley. Draco got out of the car, and found one on his own near the entrance. He soon found himself facing the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He hurriedly walked through the barrier, and saw the Hogwarts Express .He headed toward the back of the train, where Crabbe and Goyle were in the usual compartment. He stowed his luggage in the rack, and looked at his two friends, both had grown allot over the summer, as Draco predicted.
"Well, I have to go sit up front with the prefects, but as soon as I can I'll come back down here," Draco sighed, heading into the corridor. Crabbe nodded, so Draco set off towards to front of the train.
~H~
Hermione crossed her arms and propped her feet on the seat across from her, revealing her long, tanned legs. She blew a bubble with the piece of Green Apple bubble-gum in her mouth, and just as she did so, the compartment door slid open.
~D~
The first thing Draco saw when he opened the prefect compartment was a pair of long legs. His eyes slowly traveled up the legs to the face of the person that owned those legs, and he was in a bit of a shock when he saw who it was. Who would have though that Granger had a pair of legs like that?
He quickly jerked his eyes away from her and leaned casually against the door frame. "Well if it isn't Granger," he said coolly.
She groaned. "Oh no, don't tell me you're STILL a prefect." It was more of a complaint than a question. He scowled at her.
"I'm surprised they let you stay on as one."
~H~
She dismissed this and turned to stare out of the window. Why the heck did he have to be such a pain in the arse? She dropped her legs off of the seat so he could sit down. it was getting a bit uncomfortable with him just standing there like an idiot. Right when she did so, he said down in the seat opposite it.
Hermione could feel his eyes upon her and shifted uncomfortably. Luckily the compartment door opened and he pulled his eyes away. Neville was standing in the doorway. "Whoa, you must be lost," Draco sneered. "This is a PREFECT compartment."
Neville glared at him and took a seat beside Hermione, who gave him a questioning look. "Ron resigned," he told her. "Dumbledore owled me this summer and appointed me to the position." He pointed at the badge on his chest.
"Oh that's great Neville," Hermione said smiling.
"I can't believe the trash they're picking these days. First Mudbloods, now idiots-"
He was cut off my Neville springing upon him. That was the good thing about Neville in Hermione's opinion. He was no longer a scaredy cat.
~BOTH POVS~
"Sit down Longbottom! That's no way for a prefect to act!" came the voice of Blaze Watson, the new head boy.
"Listen, I've got to go to the other compartment to give instructions to the new prefects, I hope you two work this out," he said, his eyes traveling from Neville to Draco. He left the compartment, and went to the next one where the fifth year prefects were waiting.
"Ha!" Draco laughed, "Two minutes as a prefect and you're already getting shouted at."
"Shut it Malfoy!" Neville said as he sat back down next to Hermione. Hermione just looked out the window. She had loved being a prefect at first, but now she was getting tired of everybody always watching, and expecting her to be perfect. Hermione the perfect prefect, she thought, that's what they'll always think of me. Her eyes traveled to two red heads, and boy with jet black hair. They were heading to the back of the train. Hermione knew she would have to go say hello later. A few minutes later the train began to move, and Kings Cross slipped away from view. Draco caught himself looking at Hermione's lags again. He was just wondering how he'd never noticed them before, when he felt a tug on his arm. He looked up and saw Pansy, who had came in with the other six year prefects right before the train departed.
"What were you looking at?" She asked, as she eyed him with interest.
"Oh, nothing, it was nothing, I was just thinking," he replied, and tried to suppress a smile.
"Well what do you want to do that for silly?" she giggled, and tugged playfully at his arm again. Hermione looked over to see where that annoying giggling was coming from. When she saw Pansy and Draco, she scrunched up her nose in disgust, and thought it was better just to look out the window, than watch the two people she hated cuddling together. Hannah and Ernie were talking to each other, and Neville was looking at a plant magazine. Hermione suddenly stood up.
"I think I'll go patrol the corridor now," She said, heading for the door. When she had slid it close behind her, she headed for the back of the train to find Harry, Ron, and Ginny.
~H~
Hermione found the trio in the very back compartment of the train, but they weren't alone. Sitting next to Harry was a girl that Hermione had seen around before, but didn't know her. And next to Ginny was Seamus Finnagin. Ron was sitting alone. "Hi guys," she said trying to sound cheerful.
"Hey Mione," Ron said grinning. "How was your summer?" He motioned for her to sit beside him and she did.
"Oh, it was fine," she replied. And that reminded her. She had to finish her Potions Essay. A fit of giggles made her eyes travel to the corner where Harry and the girl were sitting. They were practically all over each other. UGH! She turned to Ron. "Who is that?" she muttered under her breath.
~D~
Draco pretended to be interested in Pansy's tale of going to a muggle shopping mal. He would nod, and every now and then say 'That's awful', but his thoughts were elsewhere. They kept drifting back to the Mudblood. Much to his dismay. "Why can't I get her out of my head?" Draco thought to himself.
"It's ok, you don't like her," he reassured himself ,"it was just...she just...she just had nice legs, that's all." Draco grinned when he remembered Hermione's legs, but once he realized what he was doing he stopped. He heard a loud buzzing sound in his ear, and looked up. Apparently Pansy hadn't noticed him grinning at all, and she was still chatting away. It's funny, Draco could see her talking, but all he heard was bla bla bla.
"And so, like I was saying, that muggle girl was wearing a hot pink shirt with a baby pink head band! Can you believe that?" Pansy shrieked, and then doubled over with laughter, as if the girls head band had jumped off her head and did the moonwalk. Bla bla bla, that was Draco's key to laugh too, so he let out a fake laugh, and tried to think of an excuse to get away.
"Um,I think I'm going to go ahead and change into my uniform," he said once he finally came across a good excuse.
"Ok, but hurry back, tee hee hee," Pansy giggled. Draco stood up, and retrieved his uniform from the luggage rack. He then proceeded to the corridor.
~H~
"What did you say Hermione?" Ron asked, he had been to preoccupied catching Pig to hear what she muttered. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I said, who's that girl that's sitting next to Harry?" she whispered.
"Oh, that's Alexis, she's new. She had to sit with us because everywhere was full, and when she and Harry saw each other...well...let's just say they've forgotten I was here." Ron replied with a frown. Hermione looked at Alexis, she was short, with blue eyes, and light blonde curly hair that fell to mid-back. She smiled ,if Harry had a new girlfriend, which it looked like he did, she might have another girl to talk to that was her own age.
"Hey Hermione!" Ginny said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Hey Gin ,did you remember my brush that I left over when I spent the night last week?"
"Yep," said Ginny, "I'll give it to you tomorrow though.
"Ok," Hermione began, "Hello Harry, how was your summer?"
"What? Oh, hey Hermione, didn't realize you were here," laughed, as he looked at her for the first time.
Hermione laughed too, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your new, er, friend?"
"Oh yeah," Harry blushed, "This is Lexi, and Lexi this is Hermione, my other best friend. Lexi smile and then looked back at Harry.
"She's just your friend right?" she questioned Harry.
"Yes," Hermione interrupted before Harry could speak. "Yeah we're just friends, and if you need any help since you're new, you can always ask me."
"Thanks," Lexi replied, "I will."
"Don't you have to be in uniform to patrol the cooridor?" Ron asked.
"Oops!" Hermione suddenly got to her feet. "Yes, I better go change, but I'll come back later." They all said goodbye, as Hermione made her way back to the front to get her robes.
~D~
Draco wet to the first bathroom along the train, and shut the door. He had grown some over the summer, but he was still short. If only Weasley grew as slow as he did, than he wouldn't have to buy new robes every year. Draco let out a soft laugh, as he pictured Ron wearing pants that were three inches too short. He was thinking about whether he should go visit Crabbe and Goyle again, when he heard a knock on the door. He was about to tell the person to go to another bathroom, but he was done changing now, so instead he pulled the door open.
~H~
Hermione had slipped into the prefect compartment and grabbed her robes. She headed to the first bathroom closest to the compartment, and knocked on the door. No one answered, so she was just about to open the door, but when she reached for the handle, it opened by itself.
~BOTH POVS ~
"Oh, sorry I didn't know anyone was in here," she stammered when she saw that it was Malfoy.
He shrugged. "I'm done now," he said coolly and pushed past her, but not without getting another look at those legs.
'Crap, I gotta stop looking,' he thought angrily. 'This is a Mudblood we're talking about.' He made his way back to the prefect compartment slowly. 'A very good looking Mudblood...'
But just as he had only walked a few feet away from Granger, he felt someone watching him and spun around. Granger was watching him with an odd expression on her face. "What are you looking at?" he snapped, but not as coldly as he usually would have.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, jerking her eyes way from him, and disappeared into the loo.
~D~
"That was odd," he muttered under his breath.
The thought of returning to the prefect compartment where Pansy would surely be waiting for him, didn't seem to appetizing. It would just be more yack, yack, yack, bla, bla... He glanced down the corridor for any sign of her. She was no where to be seen. He would just make up some lame excuse and go find Crabbe and Goyle. Maybe they were in the mood for a bit of Potty/Weasel-tormenting.
'What the h3ll was that Hermione?' Hermione thought angrily to herself as she pulled her skirt on carelessly. She shook her head, quite disappointed in herself. 'First you don't finish your homework and now you're checking out your worst enemy.'
She hated admitting it even to herself. She had been checking him out. But she wouldn't admit to anyone else if they paid her. Just because he had muscular arms, charming blue eyes, and one heck of a bod, that didn't excuse the fact that he was a selfish, no good, muggle-hating, self- righteous, spoiled, pig!
Hermione was very disappointed in herself. What would Harry and Ron say? Suddenly, for a moment or two, she didn't care. So what if she had looked at him? It wasn't going to kill anybody just to look. There wasn't anything written in any books saying that worst enemies can't check each other out, and Hermione should know.
She finished dressing and walked back out into the corridor. She hadn't done anything wrong.
Nothing wrong at all. But still, what was does he in that giggling cow? I mean, even Draco can do better than that! Ahh! What am I saying? It's Malfoy, he deserves her. SMACK! Hermione had gotten so lost in her thoughts, that she walked straight into a second year.
"Sorry," she muttered to the boy. This reminded Hermione that she was supposed to be patrolling the corridor, so she hurried off in the opposite direction. She spotted two Ravenclaws playing tag up and down the corridor, and told them off. She felt satisfied that she had acted like a prefect for the first time today.
~D~
Draco found Crabbe and Goyle where he had left them. When he stepped into the compartment, he saw them both chowing down on tons of candy.
"What are you doing?" Draco asked them, a hint of disgust in his voice.
"We made the witch with the trolley come by three times!" Goyle said through a mouthful of food. That's probably his greatest accomplishment, Draco thought as he smiled. He moved over a pile of chocolate frogs and sat down.
"Well, I'm getting bored, so you want to pay a visit to Potty and the Weasel?" Draco asked.
"Sure," Crabbe grunted, and all three stood up. They only had to pass a couple of compartments before they saw Harry and Ron. Draco clenched his wand in his pocket, in past encounters with Harry on the train he had needed it. Once he made sure he had a firm grip on it, he opened their door.
"Uhh! I thought maybe in our two short months apart you would find a way to get rid of that ugly scar." Draco bellowed.
"And I thought you might have found a way to get your father out of Azkaban, but I guess the name Malfoy means is useless now!" Harry retorted.
"Get out Malfoy! We have enough trash in here without you," Ron said, as he pointed to their small pile of candy wrappers."
"I see what you mean," snarled Draco," Look at that big dust ball, o wait, that's your owl!" Ron jumped up, as Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles. Harry stood up, and noticed this too.
"Ron's owl is smarter than both of your bodyguards!" snapped Harry," I mean, you can't even fight your own battles can you? You have to have those two stand behind you before you can do anything!"
"We'll see about that!" Draco yelled, and turned on his heel. Crabbe and Goyle followed him back into their compartment.
~H~
Hermione returned to the prefect compartment awhile later, and sat next to Neville. The first thing she noticed was that Draco wasn't there. To her this was good news, because she wouldn't have to listen to him and Pansy's mindless talk anymore. She pulled out her books, and decided to spend the remainder of the train ride finishing her homework. With each sentence she wrote, the sky outside grew darker. Rain began splattering the windows, steadily growing harder. When they reached Hogwarts, it was a full fledge storm. Hermione packed up her finished homework and turned to Neville.
"The first years have to go across the lake in a storm again."
"Yeah," sighed, "But we'll still be soaked by the time we reach the castle. They stood up, and headed for the doors.
Hermione pulled her hood over her head before stepping out into the storm. She could harly see a thing, due to the rain blurring her vision. "Firs' years this way!" came an unmistakable voice over the roaring wind. Those poor first years. I'd hate to be in those rickety little boats...
Hermione pulled her cloak tighter and followed a crowd of people towards the carriages that were to take them to the castle. The first carriage she spotted, she clambered into, not caring who she had to share it with. It was empty. She sat down in one of the seats, teeth chattering like mad. There just had to be a raging storm on their first day back didn't there?
~BOTH~
The door flew open and slammed against the outside of the carriage with a bang. At first, Hermione thought that the wind had just blew it open and she stood and reached out to close it. But just as she was about to grasp the handle, something very solid collided with her head.
"OUCH!" came a disgruntled male's voice.
Hermione put her hand to her forehead. "Oh gosh! I'm really sorry, are you all..." She stopped talking when she saw who it was. Draco Malfoy pushed her out of the way and climbed inside, pulling the door shut and taking the seat across from her. His hand was also on his forehead.
"Watch what you're doing Mudblood! Why the heck were you out of your seat?" he snapped angrily.
"I was trying to close the door," she hissed, though she hadn't sounded as mad as she had wanted to. At that moment, that carriage began to bump along, causing her to have to grasp the edge of her seat to keep from bouncing too much.
"Why were you trying to close it when I was trying to get in?" His voice was less harsh, and Hermione knew that it must have been because his head wasn't throbbing as bad as it had been.
She let her hand fall to her side and sat back. "I thought the wind blew it open. Besides, why are you riding in my carriage? I would have figured that you didn't want my filth anywhere near you."
For a strange moment, Draco felt a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Her voice had a slight tinge of hurt in it, talking about her filth and all. What was that feeling? Draco had never felt before really. Cold it be guilt? Nah...I wouldn't feel guilty for THAT ."For your information Granger, you would have figured right. If I'd have known you were in this carriage, I wouldn't have gotten in it." But he knew that was a lie. He would have taken any carriage he could've got, anxious to get out of that weather.
"Good," she replied quietly.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. The only noise was the rumbling of the thunder and the rain splashing against the windows. When the carriages finally came to a halt, Hermione once again wrapped her cloak tightly around her and hopped out of the carriage.
~H~
Aw, screw finding Harry and Ron. She had to get out of this weather. She scrambled up the stone steps behind the rest of the students and walked into the Entrance Hall. A few of the teachers were standing near the wall and the students were lined up behind them. obviously they were using simple drying spells on them. Hermione got in line next to Parvati Patil.
"Hey Hermione," she said, not sounding very enthusiastic.
~D~
Draco jumped out of the carriage after Hermione, and landed right into a huge puddle. This day is not going good. He stepped out of the water and onto the stone steps. He reached the oak doors, but there were some boys in front of him.
"Get out of the way, or I'll give you detention!" she yelled, as he shoved them aside. He was about to enter the Great Hall, when he slipped, and skidded a few feet on the stone floor. He grabbed the shoulder of the person in front of him, to get some balance. The person turned around, and Draco found himself facing a scar shaped like a lighting bolt.
"Get your hands off me Malfoy," snapped Harry, pushing Draco's hand off his shoulder.
"I slipped," Draco muttered, and turned to walk away.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, ferrets don't have a good sense of direction," Harry laughed, and walked right past Draco into the Great Hall. I'm so going to get him back this year. And with that thought, he mad his way into the hall, and sat down at the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle were already there, and licking their lips as they looked at the empty plates. Draco noticed they were completely dry, and asked how they had managed that.
"You have to go up in line and get that drying charm thing put on you," grunted Crabbe. Draco looked up towards the staff table to see and line of students huddled in wet robes. Draco got up, and went to join them.
~H~ After the drying charm, Hermione found a seat beside Ron and Neville Longbottom and across from Harry and Lexi. "Hi guys," she said smiling.
Lexi nodded, and the rest of them smiled. Just as they did so, Lavender Brown came over and sat on the other side of Ron. "Hi Ron," she said sweetly. "How was your summer?"
He shrugged. "Aw, you know, same old same old," he stammered. His cheeks had a slight tinge of pink on them and Hermione couldn't help but giggle. Ron obviously didn't hear her. He was too busy trying not to make a fool of himself in front of Lavender.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked. She shifted her gaze to Ron and Lavender. "So?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, you are so clueless."
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore stood up and everything went silent. "Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts. Now, we will begin, with the Sorting Ceremony." He sat ack down and the great double doors reopened. Professor McGonagall glided in with a long line of first years behind her. There seemed to be a lot more of them this year.
One of them caught Hermione's attention more than the others. She had long straight, blonde hair that fell neatly to her waistline, and she had a sense of authority about her. But the thing that got her attention the most, was the fact that she looked much older than the other students. She looked to be around Hermione's age. Hermione nudged Neville, who was also looking at her. "Who is that?"
Neville shrugged. "Doesn't she look a little older than them?" He pointed at the frightened 1st years.
Hermione nodded. And she also took note that the girl didn't look nervous at all.
It seemed that the whole hall was pointing and talking about her now, but she didn't take notice.
"Now," begun Professor McGonagall, catching everyone's attention. "When I call your name, I you will come up here, " she indicated the stool beside her, "and I will place the sorting hat on you head to be sorted." Several of the 1st year's faces regained their color back.
"Allen, Kevin!" A blonde haired boy with shocking blue eyes nervously made his way up to the stool. On his way up the one step he tripped. Several of the people snickered and Hermione glared at them all. It wasn't funny at all. Professor McGonagall helped him onto his feet and over to the stool. Then she placed the hat on his head.
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted almost instantly.
~D~
As the sorting droned on and on, Draco watched the blonde girl with great interest. There was no way she could be a first year. Her 'rack' (was too large. (lol, sorry if that offends anyone.)
By the time McGonagall reached "Zeke, Jerry", the girl was still standing up there.
"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted. Jerry Zeke took a seat at their table and Dumbledore stood up.
"Students, this year Hogwarts has participated in the Exchanged student program. One of our students, and a student from The United States', Liberty School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, have switched places for the year. I would like you all to give Brianna Higginbotham a warm welcome." The people around Draco all clapped, but as usual, Draco just leaned back in his chair. Clapping just wasn't something he wanted to waste his time doing. "Now," Dumbledore started, "Brianna, if you will, sit on the stool and prepare to be sorted." Brianna smiled and walked over to the stool. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.
The hat seemed to be taking it's time, and the whole hall was completely silent. Draco had never seen it take so long in his life, and just when he was about to give up hope, the brim of the hat opened and shouted,
"Slytherin!"
This time Draco clapped along with the others. Most of the other tables were giving small applauses.
Brianna strutted across the room to the Slytherin table with her head held high. She reminded Draco of someone...
She placed herself in the empty seat right across from Draco, between Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini.
"Hi," she said cautiously, glancing at the people around her.
"Hey," Pansy said, in her 'try-to-be-sweet' voice. Draco personally thought she sounded like a chipmunk with a bad cold. "Welcome to Slytherin. I'm Pansy Parkinson, this is Blaise Zabini," she indicated Blaise, "and-"
"I'm Draco Malfoy," Draco interrupted. He held a hand across the table to shake, and she took it.
"Nice to meet you all." Her voice was a bit snooty. And she was REALLY reminding Draco of someone.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and all heads turned to look at him. "Well, lets all tuck in!" Food instantly appeared on the plates before them. Brianna gasped and everyone began to dig in.
"First off," Draco heard Pansy begin (she was talking to Brianna), "you don't want to be making friends with the Gryffindors, or the Hufflepuffs." She indicated the two tables. "Some of the Ravenclaws are acceptable, but allot of them are just like that lot." She indicated the two tables again.
"What's wrong with them?" Brianna asked curiously.
"Well, first off, they're a bunch of goody-goodies. Second, allot of them are Mudbloods."
Draco saw Brianna's face pale for a second, but it quickly regained it's color. "I see," she said breathlessly, and began to dig in. There as something weird about this girl.
~H~
Hermione stared over at the Slytherin table. "Pity," she told Neville. "It would have been nice to have a new face around. She just had to be a Slytherin...Don't you agree?" Neville simply nodded.
When everyone was finished eating, Dumbledore stood up yet again. "I need the prefects and Ms. Higginbotham to stay afterwards for a brief meeting. Everyone else, Sweet Dreams!" There was a loud roar of scarping chairs and Hermione got to her feet and made her way up to the front with the other prefects and Brianna. "Ah yes, follow me," Dumbledore told them, eyes twinkling. They followed him out of the Great Hall and into an empty classroom in silence. He sat behind a desk and they stood around him, all curious of the meeting.
"Now, as you all know, we have an exchanged student among us," he gestured toward Brianna. "I and the other teachers agree that it would be a better experience for her if she took up a position as a prefect." Several of them exchanged glances. "So this year, we will have one extra. We could use the help anyway. Does anyone object?" They were all silent and he continued. "Now, as there are 17 of you, 8 from the fifth years and 9 from the sixth, the staff and I have decided to grant you all your own common room. A strictly prefect common room. Here, you will sleep, do homework, plan activities, etc. No one from your houses who are not prefects are allowed. But you all are allowed in your own house common rooms. If you'll follow Professor McGonagall, she will lead to it." He pointed to the stern-looking woman standing near the door.
The group followed McGonagall through the corridors and stopped in front of a portrait of Helam the Frockburry. He wore long black robes and his hair was a pale shade of blonde. "Password?"
"Wingding Bat," Professor McGonagall said, causing it to swing open and reveal a spiral staircase. She led them up it to an opening. Several of them gasped. The common room was decorated in Maroon and silver. There were several comfy looking chairs and a sofa scattered around a fireplace. Study tables were littered about, and a message board was standing near the door with several notices pinned to it. A large, crystal chandelier hung from the dome-like ceiling.
"Welcome to your common room," McGonagall said, smiling at their shocked expressions. "The girl's dormitories are on your right, the boys on the left." She indicated two doors. "There is a list of patrolling hours on the message board, and a map. The Prefect Bathroom is located just down the corridor. It's labeled on the map, along with the password."
They all nodded to confirm that they understood, unable to speak. "Well, I guess I'll leave it at that. Good night all," she said, and disappeared back down the spiral staircase.
Hermione was absolutely amazed, and excited. This was brilliant. There were only two problems. She would be away from Harry and Ron, and she had to share a common room with Malfoy.
"Jolly year this is going to be," she said aloud, and set off towards the dormitories to take a look.
Hermione headed toward the spiral staircase, but when she reached the first step, she bumped into somebody.
"Where are you going?" it was Ernie.
"Too my dormitory," replied Hermione as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But this is the boys staircase," Ernie shot back, with a hint of laughter in his voice.
"Well then where's the other staircase Ernie?" asked Hannah, who joined them at the foot of the stairs. The three of them looked around, there was no other staircase in sight.
"Aren't there two staircases in Gryffindor common room?" Hannah asked anxiously.
"Yes, boys on the left one, girls on the right." said Hermione.
"Yeah, same with Hufflepuff, so I thought that's what she meant." Ernie said with a note of panic.
"There's also two in the Slytherin one," added Hermione.
"How do you know?" Ernie asked suspiciously.
"Oh," Hermione thought quick, "someone told me."
"What is the hold up here? Is this a common room or a chat room?" interrupted Malfoy, as he pushed them aside, and started climbing the stairs.
"There's only one staircase," Hannah shot at him."
"Do I have to do everything myself? I'll go check it out, you wimps just stay here." and With that Malfoy disappeared. They all continued looking around, and admiring the large widows over looking the lake. A few minutes later, Malfoy returned.
"It's just this staircase, with girls on the doors to right, and boys to the left. We each share our room with one person." He informed them. Hermione knew Hannah the best, so she decided to ask her first. Hannah agreed, and they climbed the stairs.
"Let's get one at the top!" Hannah squealed. Hermione followed her to the very last door on the right. The only room above it, was one for the boys. Hermione turned the handle, and when she opened the door, her mouth fell open. I thought they spoiled the prefects with the bathroom, but check out this!
It was a circular room, with two queen size beds. There were two huge wardrobes, and two big comfy chairs. The maroon carpet was soft and squishy, and the comforters on the beds were thick and soft, like feather pillows. The sheets were silver and silky, and the walls were covered with beautiful seascapes, where you could here the waves rolling in. Hannah had filed in beside Hermione, with her mouth hung open even more. There was a large window, that also held a stunning view of the lake. The girls had been so busy looking around, they had just noticed the ceiling. When Hermione looked up at it, she saw that it was exactly like the ceiling of the Great Hall, but with the stars dimmed a bit.
"This was definitely worth becoming a prefect for," Hannah beamed.
"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "Ron will be so mad that he resigned when I tell him.
"What's the deal with you and Ron anyway?" Hannah asked, as she finally shut the door, and sat down on one of the beds.
"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned her.
"Well," Hannah began, "It just seemed like you guys used to have something between you."
"Are you kidding? Me and Ron?" Hermione laughed. "No, we argue way to much, and he gets jealous too easy."
"Oh, right, I did notice you guys arguing allot," said Hannah, and she began to change into her pajamas. Hermione did the same, and with in a matter of minutes, she found herself snug in her soft bed, closing her eyes.
"Night," Hannah yawned from across the room, but before the words had reached her, Hermione had fallen asleep.
~D~
Draco walked over to the fifth year Slytherin prefect named Thomas. He seemed like the only other decent person here.
"Oy, want to share a room?" he asked.
"Sure!" replied Thomas, who seemed delighted Draco had asked him. He seems a little too excited, hope he's straight. They headed up the staircase behind some of the other boys.
"Looks like all these have been claimed," Draco sighed. Thomas, who was ahead of him shouted, "The top one's empty!" Draco hurried up to the top, and into the last room. Thomas was admiring the room, but Draco didn't really get overjoyed about things like room decor. He was very pleased with the bed though. He got changed and hopped into bed right away, shutting his eyes. This day isn't turning out too bad after all. This is really comfortable. Draco's last thought before going to sleep, was that he had completely forgot to see who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was. Come to think of it, Dumbledore didn't even introduce one, hmm, maybe they didn't arrive yet. Too bad Umbridge had to leave, she got rid of Dumbledore, and gave me the power to take away points from the other houses. Maybe Snape finally got it, that'd be perfect, because it's my worst subject, and Potter's best...... Finally Draco's mind shut off, and let him rest. He had a peaceful nights sleep all the way until past dawn. He was dreaming that he was sitting out by the lake, under his favorite tree. It was night time, and no one else was around. The tree was swaying heavily under the breeze, and it was very chilly. He was looking down at the grass, when a sudden noise made him jump. When he looked up, he saw two light bronze legs.
"Draco c'mon, you don't want to be late on the first day back mate."
"What?" Draco began to stir in his bed.
"I said c'mon, everyone else is heading down to breakfast."
"Oh, right," Draco yawned, and emerged from the covers to get dressed.
A/N:
Gred: We've been working quite hard on that for a while, I mean, first it was just something to do becuz we were bored, but now we're getting into it. It gets better.
Forge: Much better! *Grins evilly*
Gred: Toodloo!
Forge: Later ickle fannickins!
Gred: That was my line!
Forge: Obviously not, it came out of my mouth!
Gred and Forge: Oy! Later!