The Return Of Draco…?

Chapter One

There were spectators in the Gryffindor Common Room as Ron and Hermione were having a heated argument. Harry was sitting placidly in his chair, rolling his eyes as he watched them. Ron and Hermione were circling the table, as two ferocious animals would circle each other, before a fight to the death.

Ron's ears were crimson. "I just don't understand why you're still in touch with him, Hermione!"

"I'm still in touch with him, Ron," she said calmly, pointing her finger at him as though brandishing a sword, "because he's smart and funny and he listens to what I have to – "

"Oh, come on, Hermione! The guy's in his twenties, and you're still at school! What the hell would you two have in common to talk about anyway?"

"Oh, shut up!" She whipped out her wand.

"It's really pathe – "

She jabbed her wand at Ron, not thinking about what she was doing. Ron dropped to the ground instantly, out cold. Harry leapt out of his chair, knocking his books and parchment on the floor, and was kneeling at Ron's side in an instant. "HERMIONE!" he yelled, "WHAT D'YOU DO THAT FOR?" but Hermione had already disappeared up the girls' staircase.

Hermione stood at the open window, looking out at the frozen, misty grounds, thinking. When everyone had thought that Hogwarts was close, her only thought had been that she wouldn't see Ron. Wow. She had changed so much since she had been a twelve-year-old girl immersed in countless books. How could her whole life now revolve around a boy when it used to revolve around the hunger for learning? When they had decided to keep Hogwarts open after all, Hermione had rejoiced at the thought of seeing Ron. Harry still spent every waking hour searching for the remaining Horcruxes, but for everyone else, this had been a time of moving forwards, and for Hermione, maybe a time for love…

Well, all that's gone out of the window, she thought, as she looked out of one now. She sighed and watched the sigh take physical form in the freezing air. The whole Krum thing… She was still in touch with him to make Ron jealous, but if she had known he was going to react this way…

She sighed again, and in the same instant became aware that there was another disturbance in the mist, one that was not caused by Hermione's own breath. A shadow. A figure. A person, moving at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Then it was gone. Hermione blinked, and squinted out into the unclear grey that was the school grounds. Had she imagined it? No, surely not. There was no one more sure of herself than Hermione. It was probably just Hagrid, doing some game-keeping thing in the grounds. Hermione closed the window and went to bed.