A/N: Hey guys! How long has it been since I posted ANYTHING?! Forever! You'll have to forgive me. Or else. You really don't have a choice…=)
Disclaimer: I sadly don't own these characters, or the actors, although Tom Felton is definitely high on my list. All I own is the awesome plot.
Chapter One: Passing the Crown
"Ron, what in Merlin are you attempting to do?" Hermione asked her lanky boyfriend as he tried, unsuccessfully to load her trunk onto the Hogwarts Express. He merely grunted in response, and Harry snorted a laugh from behind Hermione. She lifted her shoulder in reproach, hoping he would shut up and Ron wouldn't get too offended. Ron, however, remained blissfully unaware, wrapped up in his own ego as he tried to be the "macho boyfriend" who could carry his girlfriend's luggage. However, most "macho boyfriends" didn't have girlfriends who carried more books than clothing.
Harry finally, mercifully stepped forward to help Ron. Ron smirked at him mischievously and let go of Hermione's trunk once Harry got a firm grip. Instead of dropping the trunk, Harry lifted it with ease and pushed it in the compartment. He stepped back to admire his work, and Hermione pushed the heavy trunk in a few inches farther, while Ron just shook his head at Harry and marveled at Hermione's strength.
"How does it feel to have a girlfriend stronger than you, Weasel?" a low voice asked from the doorway. Hermione raised her eyebrows at the newcomer. Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, looking as distinguished and as dashing as ever. Ron spluttered from behind Hermione. Hermione and Draco locked eyes for a few seconds, and his gray eyes twinkled at her chocolate brown ones.
"Don't you have first years to be tormenting, Malfoy?" Hermione asked. Malfoy's silvery gray eyes shifted back and forth from Ron to her, and he smirked complacently.
"I could, Granger, but I thought it might be prudent to remind you and Weasel-King that there's a prefects and heads meeting in five minutes and I know you, of all people, would loathe being late," he sneered. Hermione, instead of sending back a cutting remark, nudged Ron and left the compartment, following the Slytherin down the narrow hallway.
The compartment near the front of the train was already almost full when Hermione, Ron, and Malfoy arrived. Malfoy weaved his way through the crowd and sat next to his loyal Slytherin, Blaise Zambini, on the other side of the compartment. Ernie Macmillian, Zacharias Smith, Terry Boot, and Padma Patil were already there and seated with their own Houses, which left a spot for Ron and Hermione next to the Slytherins.
Ernie leaned over Zacharias to shake Hermione's hand. "All right Hermione? Had a good summer?"
Hermione smiled politely at the Hufflepuff. "I sure did, Ernie. How about you?"
And Ernie prattled on. Hermione let her mind wander until the compartment door slid open to reveal the Deputy Headmistress in all her formidable glory.
"There isn't much business to attend to except the choosing of the Head Boy and Girl. Head Girl, of course, is Miss Granger," she paused for applause, which came from everyone except Padma and the Slytherins. "And Head Boy is Mr. Malfoy," again she paused, and the only clapping came from Blaise, which seemed to amuse Malfoy, who smirked.
"Obviously, prefects and heads need to patrol the corridor every now and again to keep the train calm. Let me know if you have problems," her glare told the group that they better not have any problems at all, or else. "And with that, I'll be off. You're dismissed."
Everyone else stood up and left but Hermione remained seated. Ron stood up and held out his hand, obviously waiting for his girlfriend. She shook her head. He raised his eyebrows and left. Soon, she sat alone in the now spacious compartment. After a few minutes, Malfoy reentered the compartment and shut the door behind him quietly.
"How did you manage to do that?" she asked.
"Do what?" he asked amusedly. "Get Head Boy, or look surprised?" Hermione let a smile slowly cover her face. He brushed his shaggy white blonde hair out of his eyes.
"Both."
"I know people," he said nonchalantly. Hermione laughed. He sat down next to her and leaned back thoughtfully.
"I should be getting new orders soon," he said with his eyes closed. "Now that we're back at school, it will most likely have something to do with you or Potter or Weasel. I just thought I should warn you." He opened his liquid metal eyes to stare at Hermione.
"Should I convey that message to Dumbledore?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I'm sure he already knows. What I'm interested in knowing is if you told the other two members of the Golden Trio about you saving my ferrety skin," he said slowly.
"I can't Malfoy, you know that," she said softly, now looking only at her lap.
"Why not?"
"They'll hate me for saving you," she reasoned.
"Even though I'm on your side?"
"They won't believe that you're on our side, especially with your tattoo on your left forearm. What we have to deal with, we have to deal with on our own. I will only tell them when I absolutely have to."
"Well, we won't have to communicate by owl anymore," Malfoy said, changing the subject in an effort to avoid a fight. "How will Ron take it that you're spending so much time with me instead of him?"
Hermione turned toward him, their knees almost touching. "I've already thought that out. Heads have their own common rooms. That way, we can work in there without questions being raised."
Malfoy still looked skeptical.
"Look, this has to do with our lives. Just us. So until the time comes, this," she motioned to the two of them, "is just going to be us. Got it?"
He smirked at her again. "When I save your life, you have to tell them. And not a day after, got it Granger?"
"Fine," she said childishly. "If that's the way it has to be, the day this mission is over, I'll tell them all about it. Until then, you speak, you pay." She held up her wand under his nose, and Malfoy pushed it away easily.
"You don't scare me, Granger," he said sternly, moving closer. Their noses were touching, but they weren't happy about it.
"Get out of my face, Malfoy," she said ferociously.
"As you wish Granger. But you might want to be careful," he said, not moving. "I have ways of ruining your life while still keeping you safe."
And in a flourish of robes, he left the compartment. Hermione sat there for a moment, brooding over his last words.
Before her compartment, she composed her face into a look of benign puzzlement. When she entered, she looked up like she hadn't really realized she had made it there. "Hey guys," she said.
"Where have you been?" Ron asked.
"I was in the compartment. It took a little while to sink in that I have to share a common room with Malfoy," she managed to spit out his name convincingly, and Harry and Ron nodded sympathetically.
"That's rough, Herm, but it could be worse," Harry reasoned, winking at her. "You could be sharing a common room with Ron."
"Oy!" Ron yelped, swatting Harry on the arm good-naturedly. Hermione laughed and let the boys talk about Quidditch the rest of the way to the school. She was content in her thoughts.
A/N: Review! Tell me your thoughts!