Author's Note: -squeal- I got reviews! My inner child is absolutely delighted! xD -snuggle-
moondust0109: Thank you for your concern. Hehe. And I'm glad that someone actually reads everything. I never get writer's block in the beginning. More like the fifth chapter and after that.
jessierox: Thanks for the suggestion… Maybe sometime in the later chapters. I found that this is a very common thing Draco does in many stories so I'm not sure.
Chapter Two: Writing
"Hermione, wake up!" Hermione felt someone shake her shoulder. She opened her eyes and found that they had stopped. She woke to see a pair of green eyes staring at her. "Thanks, Harry." She smiled and sat up. Stretching out her arms, she yawned and stood up. She made sure that her wand was safely in her pocket and followed Harry outside. A shivering Ginny and Ron Weasley were already there waiting for them. "Sorry guys." Hermione blushed at having to be waited for.
"No problem!" Said Ginny in her happiest voice. She didn't look too happy, though. Dark clouds moved over the night sky and covered the moon entirely. It threatened to rain down on them at any moment. The four of them rushed to a carriage and once safely inside, began excitedly chatting. Soon enough, they arrived at the castle and only then did it start to pour. Enormous drops of rain shot down from the sky. A few girls screamed and they saw everyone hurrying inside, pushing and shoving each other.
The four friends exchanged looks with each other and got out. They held hands and prepared joined the mass. Harry was on the left side with Hermione the only one holding his hand. Ginny was in between Hermione and Ron and Ron was at the right. Ginny giggled, despite the freezing rain and yelled, "CHARGE!" They all entered the crowd and made it almost halfway to the doors when Hermione's hand slipped from Harry's. "Harry!" She called out. Everyone was bumping into her and someone even stepped on her foot. Harry disappeared from sight and someone crashed into her arm so she had to let go of Ginny's. She held her arm protectively to her chest and somehow ended up being pushed all the way to the doors.
Hermione scanned the rabble (never thought I'd use a school word out of school…) for any of her friends' faces and sighed when she didn't see any. She made her way to the Great Hall. She would meet them there. Someone shoved her aside and she started to grow angry. "Watch it!" She yelled, and saw that it was none other that Draco Malfoy. "I'd advise you to do the same." He drawled and strode toward the Slytherin table where Pansy immediately jumped ran up to him and fawned over him.
She had just barely sat down before her friends arrived, soaking wet. "Someone closed the doors on us and it took forever for Filch to open them again!" Ron whined, thrusting himself in the seat next to her. Harry sat next to Ron while Ginny sat on the other side of Hermione. Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Probably Malfoy." She turned and glared at their enemy.
Someone loudly cleared their throat and Hermione directed her attention to the front of the hall where Dumbledore was standing. "The sorting of the first years will begin now." He announced and Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a patched old hat known as the Sorting Hat. She placed it upon a stool just as the first years entered the Great Hall cold and drenched with rainwater. Hagrid came in after them and gave a little wink to Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny. He seated himself at the staff table and the sorting hat began to sing its song.
When it was finished, Professor McGonagall took out a long roll of parchment and began calling out names. "Irkon, Kamren." She said loudly, and a frightened young boy edged forward. His black hair stuck to his forehead and he looked around anxiously. "Please sit down." The Gryffindor head of house picked up the sorting hat. Dennis sat down. The hat covered almost his entire head. After a moment, the hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!"
The Ravenclaw table roared with applause as the boy stumbled over there. "Waterson, Diandra." A fair-haired girl walked proudly to the chair and sat down with her back straight. No sooner had the Sorting Hat touched her head when it boomed, "Slytherin!" All of Slytherin clapped loudly and cheered. With a smug look on her face, Diandra marched over to the green and silver table. A various number of names were called out and pretty soon, all the first years had been seated at the proper houses. Gryffindor received at least one-third of the first years.
The headmaster stood in the front and waited for the conversations to die. Soon enough, the Great Hall was silent. "Welcome, welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" He bellowed, and many of the students applauded. "Now this year's Head Girl will be Miss Hermione Granger!" Hermione stood and the Gryffindor table roared so loudly, that she felt her ears were going to burst. She smiled and flushed, knowing that many were clapping for her. She sat back down.
"And our Head Boy will be Mister Draco Malfoy!" Draco stood and the noise erupted like a bomb. He stood proudly as the Slytherins cheered for him. He caught Hermione's eye for a split second and then sat down again. As soon as the cheering softened, Dumbledore spoke again. "This year, we will be having a new tradition. The Winter Ball will be the Saturday before the holidays and dress robes are required. All may attend and it will be during the time you eat supper, but we will have food there." He paused as everyone talked. "The Heads and prefects will be setting up this ball so I'm sure you will be pleased. Now there will also be a second ball at the end of the year. It is for seventh year students only, with the exception of seventh years bringing a permanent younger partner for the evening. All the prefects my join them as well and bring a partner of their own." He stood there for at least three minutes while everyone conversed excitedly.
"Now as last words, may I remind you that no one has the privilege enter the Forbidden Forest without the permission and company of a Hogwarts staff member. You may not leave the castle after hours and our curfew is nine o' clock. Prefects, Heads, teachers, along with Mr. Filch will be patrolling the corridors at this time and for the remainder of the night. If you are caught, you will have to serve detention. Now," He looked around the room. "Let the feast begin!"
Ron shoveled food on his plate and began to devour all of it at once. Hermione and Ginny exchanged looks and giggled. Harry just stared at Ron. "How can someone eat that fast and not choke?" He laughed along with the girls. Hermione piled food on her plate and started eating. It was a wonder how Ron could actually talk as he ate. "So who do you want to ask to the ball?" Said Ron with his mouth full of potatoes.
With a shrug, Hermione finished her plate. "Anyone other than Malfoy." She sighed and stood. "I'm going to go to the library." Everyone gave a nod and she said bye before heading off. At the hall doors, she was stopped by the headmaster. "Miss Granger, I think that now would be the appropriate time to show you your Heads' quarters?" He smiled, knowing that she would be willing to go with him. "Oh, yes Headmaster!" "Very well, then. Wait here."
Dumbledore took quick, long strides toward the Slytherin table and she saw that talking for a moment before Draco stood and they joined. "Come along." The old man cheerfully walked out with them and they went up the moving stairs. "Remember that the quarters are on the sixth floor and behind the statues of a snake and lion." He motioned for them to follow him and they turned left when they reached the sixth level. After only a minute of walking, they reached the polished, marble sculpture that Dumbledore had been talking about.
"Now you may choose your own password and just tell the statue if you want it changed but only if you are together and conscious." There was a twinkle in the headmaster's eye. "I think that you will find your common room, bedrooms and bathroom to your liking." He started to leave, but stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Head Boy is on the left, and Head Girl is on the right. Bathroom is straight ahead. In your rooms will be doors to your house common rooms and only you can go through it. Good day." He gave them a pleasant smile and walked briskly away.
Hermione exhaled deeply and faced Draco. "Now if we're going to choose a password, we have to do this civilly." She started to give him a speech about being nice and choosing the password together. "Quidditch will be the new password." Draco didn't sneer, but spoke in a tone that meant that they wouldn't argue about it. "Fine, that's okay I guess. Fiddlesticks." She said to the statue.
The snake slithering over the sitting lion and rested at its paws while the lion bent down and lowered his muzzle so that it was mere inches above the snake. A staircase dropped down from above and the Heads had to step back to avoid being crushed by it. The stairs were small and led to a door that appeared only a yard above the statue. Draco pushed past Hermione and climbed the stairs. He slammed the door open and entered it.
"Rude." Breathed Hermione and followed inside. She closed the door behind her and looked around. The common room had a two-seat couch sitting in front of a fire and two armchairs placed beside it. A warm, crackling fire welcome them. The rest of the furnishings included a table with two chairs, two desks, and a loveseat sitting near the corner. The whole room blended the Gryffindor and Slytherin colors so that it looked beautiful. As for the bathroom, there was a pair of white doors in front of them and it had shiny golden doorknobs. "This place is beautiful!" Hermione stared at the place in awe. It was the most elegant place she'd ever stayed in.
Sneering, Draco crossed the room to his room. "It's okay… I guess. I'd expect a mudblood to think that this place was a palace." With that, he locked himself into his room and she was left alone. Hermione made a face at his door and went to see her own room. She took one last look at the common room and walked to her maroon door.
She opened the door and gaped at what she saw. It was so much better than even her parents' bedroom! And they weren't exactly poor considering the fact that her parents worked as dentists. She took her time to examine ever inch and corner of it. In the middle stood a magnificent king-sized canopy bed with a gold canopy and maroon bed sheets. Six pillows were arranged beautifully on it and it just looked so wonderful. An oak dresser with elaborate designs carved on it stood on the left of the bed. Next to the dresser, on the other wall, was a tall, rectangular window that looked outside and down to the grounds. It even showed the beautiful lake. On the other side of this window was a golden vanity. Hermione smiled to herself. Ginny would love to have one like this. On the right of the bed was a beside table that matched the dresser well. She sighed and finally looked at the best. There was a desk straight across from the window and it also matched the dresser. It had three drawers on the left and one drawer on the right. Under the right drawer was an empty space where Hermione could put any text books or whatever. What a perfect room!
She guessed that her stuff was already here so she began to hunt down her diary. She looked through the drawers and finally found it isolated by itself in the right one. Hermione took a few minutes to admire and study its beauty before taking out the matching quill and opened it.
She'd expected the first page to be blank, but it wasn't. There was someone else's messy handwriting on it. As if it had been used before. She flipped to the second page. Empty. It looked quite new, actually. Puzzled, Hermione turned back to the first page and started reading it.
My troubles are not over. Father demands that I meet him during Holidays at once so that they can give me the mark. He suspects that I am not willing to meet him there. His master would be furious if I didn't, but I can't do it. I would leave them forever, but they would eventually find me and force me to join me… Or worse. But what is worse than joining their forces? Nothing in my life has ever been even remotely pleasing. Hogwarts is a place where I am an outcast. If only someone could understand me… Then I would at least have something to live for.
Hermione's first reaction was to wonder who it was that wrote it. It sounded so sad and she wished she could've helped the person. She turned to the next page and decided to write about her own troubles. The first of them was Draco Malfoy.
He is such a prat! No wonder all he's got is a bunch of dumb friends! He's such a rude, arrogant, egotistical jerk that doesn't even deserve to attend Hogwarts! Not only that, but I have to spend most of my year seeing him! I mean seriously! I came to Hogwarts to have a good time and he just spoils it for me! And it's only the first day…
She groaned in frustration and started to close the diary when she noticed a line of words slowly appearing on the third page. It was the same scrawly handwriting as the one on the first page. Hermione's first instinct was to throw the book away from her. The thought of Tom Riddle's diary popped up in her mind. But this person did say that they were from Hogwarts. They were probably a student. She shrugged and made a decision that it wouldn't hurt to read it.
Who's the prat? Sounds like someone I know…
And that was the beginning of Hermione's friendship with him. They found out about each other's true selves but never mentioned their own names or any indication of who they were. After a week of talking to him, she started to look forward to getting back to her diary and writing entry after entry. She would spend hours at a time locked up in her room doing this. She found herself wondering who he was time and time again. Sometimes she would ask, but she never got an answer. If only she could just meet him. He seemed so charming and thoughtful…
Author's Note: So what do you think so far? I think that this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Hehe. Sorry I had to make the ending so quick and make a whole week pass by. I didn't know what else to write. So don't forget to review! You can't truly love my story without reviewing for it!
MY INNER CHILD DEMANDS THAT YOU REVIEW FOR THIS STORY ;)
