The war had been over for almost four entire months.
That meant four entire months of Hermione living with the Lovegoods.
Hermione had become close to Luna during her sixth year through the DA. So much so that after the war when Harry, the Order, and the Weasleys were too busy celebrating it all ending that they forgot about Hermione, Luna and her dad invited her to stay with them. She thought after a week maybe they would remember and she could go live with the Weasleys again, but that never happened.
Now it was August 25th, the day they got their Hogwarts letters. Sure it had taken a lot of hard work, but the magnificent school was rebuilt and fully functional again. All students had to go back for at least half the year as last year not much learning had actually taken place. Hermione woke early and helped Luna make breakfast for her father, Xeno. Halfway through all three were laughing at a joke Xeno had told when an owl with two letters with a Hogwarts crest were flown through to window.
"Well girls looks like your letters are here. Ready to go school supply shopping, I always love this time of year, the nargles fear the beginning of school."
"Sounds like Ron." Hermione supplied, Luna started laughing, and Xeno smiled at her as he retrieved the letters.
"Here you are Luna, Hermione. So let's hear it! Read it to me!" Xeno sighed dramatically. Hermione really did learn to love the Lovegoods the past four months, they were a very lively family; others thought they had just turned her as crazy as they were. The girls opened their letters quickly and scanned them. They started reading taking turns.
"Dear Luna Lovegood,
You are being welcomed back this year as an eighth year Ravenclaw for half the year. Please buy the following textbooks for this demi school year. Also bellow you will see the list of Hogwarts staff for the year, please send an owl with any questions or concerns and they shall be answered. You are also being awarded the privilege of prefect for the time being, thank you and have a great year at Hogwarts.
Minerva McGonagall,
Headmistress of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Wow they really need to spice things up. That had to be the most boring thing I've read this summer."
"Well what about teachers and you Hermione how did your letter go?"
"Well I got Head Girl; Head Boy is Dray. They are going to appoint new ones when we leave at Christmas." Draco and the girls had become good friends in the months following the war. He had apologized right after for all his transgressions, turns out he and Antonin Dolohov were spies, just like Snape. Hermione of course had known about Antonin since fifth year when he turned up just after cursing her and he healed her entirely.
"Oh goody! You can do what we were talking about last night!" Luna cut her off, she was smirking and Hermione joined her. Xeno looked a slight bit scared for the boy; he might love them both, but he knew they weren't the goody two shoes everyone thought they were.
"Plus it says here, to make us feel comfortable in sharing a common room, we can pick anyone to room with us for the year! Luna you're rooming with me in the Head's Suite." Luna nodded energetically. "Now the teachers list is as follows, wait there are too many. I'll just do the important ones; aka the ones we have and DADA because it's always changing. It's convenient we're both going into healing and taking the same courses.
"Okay so Charms: Filius Flitwick
Potions: Severus Snape
Herbology: Pomona Sprout
Transfiguration: Kali Nickels
History of Magic: Cuthbert Binns
DADA:" She paused at the name, of course it just had to be her biggest crush that was a new professor; at least she didn't need to take his class. "Antonin Dolohov." Luna gasped and smiled largely at Hermione.
"Okay, well we shall go to Diagon Ally in an hour to get your books. Oh and Hermione, if Luna tells you she will be playing matchmaker let her; it really is quite fun." He told them as he stood and left the room.
"I'm playing matchmaker." Luna stated. "I mean this is perfect! Antonin, your biggest crush, is going to be teaching this year, and we don't have him as a professor!"
"Fine play matchmaker; I just want to see you in front of Draco all year. You really do become mute in front of him. Maybe I will play matchmaker too, with you!" Hermione laughed as they ascended the stairs to the bedroom they shared. Sure there were plenty of rooms in the house but the girls liked rooming together, it was like a constant sleep over.
-o-o-
The girls and Xeno had gone shopping and were now on platform 9 3/4 saying goodbye.
"Boo." Draco said lamely when he walked up, they noticed he had a bloody nose, kind of hard not to when there is blood running down ones face.
"What happened to your face dray?" Hermione asked.
"Potty and the Weasel happened. They saw me loading a compartment for a first year and accused me of trying to corrupt them early. Then they punched me and I just left. I guess they didn't accept my apology as graciously as you did." He explained while Xeno fixed his nose.
"That's messed up." Luna said sadly. "Maybe we should prank them all year and reveal it was us at graduation."
"No they would suspect Draco first."
"Hey, Ferret; what did we just tell you? Nobody wants you here now scram." Ron told him as they approached; not even acknowledging who it was Draco was talking to.
"Well we want him here, and apparently so does McGonagall if he made Head Boy." Luna stated.
"Shut it Loony what do you know."
"A great deal more than you if her grades indicate anything." Draco supplied joining in to protect his secret crush.
"Well maybe if we weren't trying to save the school from filthy death eaters like you each year we would do better." Harry snipped.
"Hermione was helping and she's still top of our class and Head Girl and the smartest witch of our generation." Luna explained.
"Well Hermione barely did anything other than tell us to do our homework." Ron said
"Really, so you would've come to see me in the war, you would've known what a horcrux was and how to destroy one, and you would've known everything you needed to throughout the war without her help?" Xeno asked menacingly; he was a nice guy unless you harmed his daughters, and that's what Hermione was now; his daughter. Ron and Harry coward slightly and left for the other Weasleys while glaring at the quartet. Hermione, Draco, and Luna said their final goodbyes and went onto the train. They met Blaise Zabini, Draco's best friend and their new roommate, in the Heads compartment.
"Hey Blaise, how was your summer since we saw you last? You went to Italy right?"
"Yeah, it was great; met some beautiful women and some even better looking men." Blaise was bi-sexual and not afraid to show it, it always caused a laugh among the trio.
"That's nice Blaise; I don't want to know the details so spare me." Draco told him as he sat across from him. Luna took the seat between Blaise and the window and Hermione took the seat across from her.
"You know Hermione and I played a game for a week during summer. It was called Dare. For each day in our case you gave the other a dare and they would have the entire day to complete it. Hermione won of course as she was pretty sneaky; I swear if she wasn't muggle-born she would've been put in Slytherin before the hat even touched her."
"Dare huh? Are you guys playing again, maybe me and Blaise will join in?"
"Hey, don't volunteer me! I'm not playing with them!"
"I'm not playing but Hermione wants to. If she can find someone to agree she wants to play the school year one or two dares a month. I'm going to be officiator slash helper."
"I'll play and Blaise can be my helper slash officiator."
"Fine, this I can agree to, as long as I don't need to embarrass myself."
"You only participate in a dare if you choose to." Hermione assured him finally joining in.
"Good then it's settled. The first dare should be taken care of before the feast. I think this will just be a warm up one and not count as Septembers dare. We can exchange on the first of each month. Come up with your dares and shake hands." Luna planned.
"You could've just said it was Augusts dare." Blaise chimed in.
"Nope, that's too simple for Luna. I got mine when you've got yours Dray."
"Okay, you go first."
"I dare you to charm your hair electric blue for the school year, and you can't change it back later, only when you have permission from me." Hermione smirked.
"Dang, well okay then Blaise could you?" Draco asked indicating his head. Blaise did as requested, nodded, and conjured a mirror for Draco. "Huh, it actually looks good. Now Hermione, I dare you to Charm your school robes Slytherin Green for the rest of the school year, same conditions as my hair. Oh and you can't just get a new robe or not wear one." Hermione looked pale and Draco was smiling.
"Fine, but you need to help protect me from the other Gryffindors."
"This year will be very interesting." Blaise said and Luna nodded thinking of Antonin Dolohov and how to get the Russian to notice Hermione. The game would certainly help.
-o-o-
They had changed and Hermione had completed her dare, unfortunately as Heads they had to wait for the entire train to clear out and take the last carriage up to the castle, which meant a 'grand' entrance. As it was they also had to wait until after the first years were sorted and all four were to sit at a special table in the front as heads and 'deputy heads' of sorts.
"You know when we go in everybody's going to suspect we did this in a duel of some kind right?" Draco asked as the two waited for their cue. Luna and Blaise were already sitting at the small table and waiting for them. "Antonin is going to be laughing his pants off at my hair; he always said I looked messed up as a blonde."
"Are you and he friends or something?" Hermione asked curiously hoping she didn't sound eager.
"Antonin is like an uncle to me, he and Severus are friends and Severus is my godfather. I grew up around him in a way; he is a little younger than Severus so he was only a teenager when I was born, but still."
"And now allow me to introduce our head students Miss Hermione Granger and Mr Draco Malfoy." Cheers were heard and they entered the great hall, then silence. They both rushed to their table and sat. "Is you two fighting going to be a common occurrence?" McGonagall asked after the food had disappeared at the end of the feast and the only ones left were the teachers and the quartet waiting for their information and directions to their common room.
"Minerva I don't think they were fighting." Antonin said with a slight Russian accent.
"Isn't that right Draco?" Snape asked.
"Maybe we should tell the teachers; after all they won't know what is us and what's not." Blaise said.
"Nice going Blaise now they know!" Luna scolded slapping him on the head, the teachers looked on wide eyed at her abnormally lucid behavior.
"Well he's got a point." Draco protested.
"Just like your chin." Hermione joked; she heard two snorts from Snape and Antonin. "Whatever Luna, let's tell them; they look slightly suspicious now."
"Fine, but I think it would be more fun if they didn't know. Daddy knew and it took something out of it."
"Okay what's going on?" McGonagall asked getting fed up with the back and forth.
"Draco and I are playing a school year-long game of Dare. Each month, or every few weeks at least, we will dare the other person to do something. The player must complete the dare or lose the game and perform the forfeit; running through graduation day naked, except for the crest of the opposites house on their backs. Luna and Blaise are the helpers and score keepers of the game."
"As my first dare for Hermione she has to have her robe Slytherin green for the year and mine was to dye my hair this color for the year. Though I'm a little scared; Luna seemed scared to play and told us if Hermione wasn't muggle-born she would've been put in Slytherin before the hat even got near her head." They all turned to Hermione who was smirking.
"It was about to, but changed its mind due to my blood. I had the choice between all three of the other houses after that."
"Mine was similar. It really thought Slytherin but thought better of it. It gave up trying to call a house in a few seconds and just said Ravenclaw. I think it got sick of me changing my mind at the last second." Luna said innocently. The teachers were gaping at them and Antonin was laughing.
"Can we have our responsibilities now? And be shown our dorm, I'm quite tired, Xeno kept Luna and I up all night to help with the Quibbler." Hermione spoke, McGonagall looked at her curiously.
"Why were you staying with the Lovegoods instead of the Weasleys? Nothing against it but it is odd." She asked, Hermione's gaze turned to stone; a look that was only really ever seen on Slytherins.
"They left without me after the battle and didn't try to contact me all summer; none of the order did. That is except Draco, Luna, and Xeno. Draco stayed with us at the Lovegood residence for a week as well but other than that nothing. Actually I got a letter from Snape and Dolohov as well asking after me to see if I was okay after my torture. In short they didn't care enough about me to invite me."
"Oh, well here is the packet of your responsibilities and the drawing on the front will lead you to your common rooms. Try not to tell the other students their whereabouts." She said giving them a large envelope. They all smiled and Draco and Blaise started walking from the hall but turned by the door to wait for the girls.
"Look Luna they're behind the painting of Merlin!"
"The wizard? The Great Wizard? Are we going to see the great Wizard?!" She asked in a valley girl accent.
"Yes Luna, why yes we are!" Hermione responded they linked arms.
"To Oz?!" Luna asked.
"TO OZ!" Hermione exclaimed and they started skipping out of the hall singing very loudly.
"We're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of Oz! We hear he was a wiz' if ever a wiz' there was! If ever, oh ever a wiz' there was the wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things he does! We're off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of Oz!" Draco and Blaise were on the floor laughing by the time they reached the end of the aisle.
"You need to stop watching musicals." Draco gasped out. Even a few teachers were chuckling Antonin and Snape included. They looked so innocent it set off more laughter between the boys. They looked at each other and left the room without them singing softly the entire time.
"This is too much to handle." McGonagall stated rubbing her temples.