Chapter 2
AN: Thanks so much to everyone who's reviewed! I forgot to do this in the first chapter, but I do want to give a warning. This fic will eventually deal with some darker themes. It won't be for a while, but I will try to give a fair warning once we reach it in case some of you are uncomfortable with that.
"…disgusting and evil. Who knows what kind of nefarious plans they've got in store for us this year" Susan Bones whispered to a fellow classmate. It wasn't much of a whisper though, because Draco could hear every word as he passed by. That was probably the point.
He gritted his teeth and continued walking down the hall, paying no attention to the gossip and slander around him, but he was so sick of it all. Everywhere he went, someone had something to say. A few of the braver ones had the gall to shout insults to his face, and walking away without retaliating had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. If it had been this bad for him, he was sure it was so for his friends as well.
And to think it was only the third day they'd been back.
The opening feast had gone as was to be expected. McGonagall had given basically the same speech that Dumbledore always had, though she did request a moment of silence for all the fallen who would not be returning this year. At this, nearly every eye in the great hall had fallen onto their table, hatred shining through. Moving on quickly, she'd announced Head Boy position had been given to Ernie Macmillan, and Head Girl to none other than Hermione Granger, though that surprised no one. Draco had clutched his fork a little tighter, wondering how on earth Ernie had gotten the position. As far as he knew, he wasn't even third in the class.
After that, the sorting had taken place. The new students were pretty evenly distributed throughout the four houses and received loud shouts and cheers anytime the hat called out Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Slytherin however, was met with much less enthusiasm, a few of the fifth years and under at their table clapping politely as the student scrambled to a seat. A few of the other houses even booed, though one look from McGonagall stopped those pretty quickly. She seemed to be the only staff member who cared, except for Slughorn.
Once the actual feasting had begun, Draco and his friends tried to eat in peace as well as try to get Pansy to eat something. She'd become much thinner over the summer, though Daphne and Astoria had tried relentlessly to keep her nourished. Only a few minutes after they'd begun eating, a chicken bone came sailing through the air and hit Blaise in the shoulder. Disgusted, he looked across the hall to see who had dared throw it, but no one met his gaze although snickers could be heard very clearly from the Gryffindor table. After that, more food had inconspicuously come flying at them, and by the time they had decided to just get up and leave, bits of food and bone were stuck to their clothes and hair.
On their way out, his friends were stopped by both McGonagall and Slughorn who inquired why they stunk so badly. Daphne relayed the incident on the train before their arrival, and McGonagall had them all sent down to Slughorn's office while she went to send a letter to the twins who owned the shop. She basically told them that if they did not send the antidote to the stink bomb recipe immediately, she would ban all Weasley products from the grounds, thus serving a detrimental blow to their business should they choose not to cooperate. An owl was sent half an hour later containing the instructions for brewing it, and Slughorn whipped it up in no time. At least now they didn't stink on top of everything else.
The first day of classes came and went without any major incidence. No one apart from their own house spoke to them, and even the teaching staff ignored them or gave them disgusted sneers. For their part, they stuck together and tried to keep a low profile as much as possible. They knew not to walk alone in the corridors, lest they be cornered and drawn into an unfair situation. He, Blaise, and Theo had also made an agreement to have at least one of them with the girls at all times, and if they couldn't, then they'd send Goyle. Though he wasn't the brightest or the most gifted wizard, they hoped his large size would be an intimidation.
Taunts and jeers were thrown around behind their back, and a few rather vicious notes found their way onto his desk during the middle of lessons. He merely threw them away or incinerated them without giving the culprits so much as a passing glance.
Once they'd gotten back to the common rooms however, they were in for a surprise. Many of the first and second years were huddled around the fireplace and furniture, each with mad, scared, or despondent looks on their faces. A few of the young girls even had tears in their eyes. Ever being the soft hearted one, Daphne approached and asked what had happened. Their answers were all the same. In short, they were being bullied mercilessly by the other houses, and especially upperclassmen. The news made Draco angry. What kind of arsehole did that to children? Even in his previous years, he had never gone after the younger students, choosing instead to focus on those his own age. Yes, that may have made him a bully as well, but he still considered that better than those other idiots.
Pulling himself mentally back to the present, he walked through the doors of the Great Hall and headed immediately to the Slytherin table. All of his group was already there and greeted him as he sat down, except Pansy who was pushing peas aimlessly around her plate.
"Any incidences?" he asked them as he began filling his plate.
They all shook their heads, and enjoyed a few moments of conversation just like old times. Thankfully, no food was thrown at them this time which he'd supposed was McGonagall's doing since she'd seen the state of them that first night. He was glad for the break seeing how he abhorred being anything less than squeaky clean at all times. Much too soon for their liking, lunch was over and they had fifteen minutes to get to their next class.
As he stood up, Daphne came to his side getting his attention. "Draco" she said in a hushed voice. "I was just looking over Pansy's schedule. She has Arithmancy next. None of us have taken that class this semester."
Draco frowned and looked over at the dark haired girl, whom was standing a little ways away and had resumed staring at the floor. She'd always been particularly good at that subject, and had a way with numbers. Since it was not on their required curriculum for their last year, most seventh years had opted not to take it, but Pansy must have signed up at the end of last year before…
Shaking his head to clear it, he turned back to Daphne and gave a sigh. "Alright, don't worry. I have charms next which isn't too far from her class. I'll walk her there."
Daphne gave a relieved nod. "Okay. Astoria has Care of Magical Creatures and Hagrid usually releases early. She can meet her at the end?"
Draco nodded. "Sure, but tell her to wait for me. I don't want them walking alone." With that he got up and approached Pansy, gently placing his arm on the middle of her back. "Come on Pans. Time to go" he said, guiding her out of the Great Hall. They'd been smart enough to hold back for a few minutes, making sure most students had already filed out and were on their way to classes. On the way, Draco talked to Pansy as he would have normally. Though she didn't respond, he liked to think that he was helping her in some way.
Once they reached the Arithmancy classroom, Draco stopped Pansy from going inside and steered her to face him. "Astoria is going to meet you here at the end of class. Stay here and wait for me before going to your next one, okay?" Pansy gave a slight nod in the affirmative and Draco gave her a tight smile.
"Mr. Malfoy" a sharp voice barked, and he looked up to see Professor Vector glaring down her nose at him (Although the sight was a little funny, considering he had a good five inches on the short, round woman). "Are you taking this class?"
"No Professor" he answered as politely as he could. "I was just walking Pan-"
"Then I suggest you get to your class immediately" she snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Miss Parkinson is more than capable of walking herself to class."
Draco gritted his teeth and nodded, taking his hand off Pansy's shoulder. It wasn't like he was going to be late to class, he still had five minutes. He turned on his heel and made it seem as though he were walking away, until he heard the rude woman retreating into her class. He turned around and looked into the classroom to find that Pansy had taken a seat in the back by herself, and stared aimlessly ahead, her eyes unfocused. He sighed and made his way to his own class, wondering if the girl he'd been friends with since childhood would ever be the same again.
Hermione made her way down the corridor as fast as she could without running. She was already late, but that didn't stop her from practically flying through the halls. Though it was only the third day of term, she'd already been bogged down with her Head Girl responsibilities. How was that even possible?
After holding a meeting with the prefects on the train, she'd made the rounds schedule herself and had partnered everyone together on her own. She'd given them out at the meeting last night, and since then had gotten nothing but complaints. This one didn't want to be paired with that one, that one couldn't patrol on this day because of quidditch practice, this one had already made plans for this day; the list went on and on.
Then there was the fact that she'd been practically stalked by the younger students her entire time back. They couldn't believe the Hermione Granger was here in the flesh and followed her constantly, asking ridiculous questions or trying to get her to recount her tales from the previous year. As if she wanted to relive that time in her life so soon after it had occurred. She'd tried politely declining, but once they started waiting outside her private quarters, she'd had to put her foot down and be much more forceful. They seemed to have finally taken the hint, because none of them followed her today though the staring continued. She felt like some kind of animal on display.
She hated all the new attention she'd gotten during the war, never having liked being in the spotlight. Her boyfriend Ron on the other hand, soaked it up and took to his new celebrity status quite proudly. He had no problem retelling stories from their time on the run and just last night had been entertaining a group of Gryffindors in their common room. Hermione had gone up after her prefect meeting, hoping to spend a little time with him after the stressful day she'd had, but Ron didn't even acknowledge her until he'd finished his tales. By then it was quite late and she'd decided she may as well just head back to her room and go to bed. Oblivious to her annoyance, Ron had given her a quick chaste kiss, then followed Seamus and Dean up to the boy's dormitory to probably discuss quidditch or something. She was more than a little irked with his behavior, but was too tired to do anything right then.
Her other friend Harry had opted not to return this year. With everything that happened last year, he needed a break and had gone into hiding. Only Hermione knew where he was, though reporters made many speculations. He was still in England, but had taken back to the muggle world and went by a different name to avoid being found out. He wasn't leaving the Wizarding World by any means, he would just return when he was ready. Hermione could understand that, even though she was upset that her other best friend wouldn't be by her side at Hogwarts like always. Oh well, it wasn't like he needed a completed education anyway. He was Harry Potter, the Chosen One who'd vanquished Voldemort, and he wouldn't have any trouble obtaining a job.
On top of her studies and Head Girl duties this year, McGonagall had told her that she wanted a Yule dance organized this year, and possibly one towards the end of the year. If things continued going the way they had been so far, she didn't know how she was going to find the time to plan for one, let alone two balls. It wasn't as though the Head Boy would be any help, seeing how he'd been successful in shirking his duties thus far. Seriously, how had Ernie even gotten the position? As far as she knew, he wasn't even third in their year!
She finally made it to her class, slightly out of breath. She took a few seconds to compose herself, then entered the classroom. Professor Vector stopped lecturing to see who had disturbed her class, but upon seeing Hermione, she smiled warmly.
"My apologies Professor, I was helping a lost student" she offered.
"No worries my dear, after all your Head duties are very important" Vector replied before turning back and continuing where she left off. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, then looked around the room. A few students were staring at her, but she noticed that all of the seats were full before her eyes fell to the back of the room. One seat was left open, but the seat next to it was occupied. The person sitting there made her frown. Pansy Parkinson.
This girl had been a pain in her side since her first year at Hogwarts, so she wasn't exactly jumping for joy at the thought of sitting beside her and sharing a table. However, it didn't seem like she had much of a choice. Letting out a sigh, she made her way towards the table quietly and sat down. Parkinson didn't even glance at her, nor had she even looked up when Hermione entered the room. Upon closer inspection, Hermione noticed that she was staring at her hands placed in front of her on the table, a melancholy look on her face. The Head Girl frowned, but quickly looked ahead and focused on Professor Vector's lecture.
Class continued for a while, the only sound being Vector's voice and the scratching of quills on parchment. Hermione noticed that through it all, Parkinson was not only not taking notes, but hadn't so much as even blinked since she'd gotten here. How odd. Hermione tried keeping her focus on the lesson, but her curiosity was getting the best of her. Maybe it was because she was surprised Parkinson wasn't taunting her like in recent years. Or maybe it was because the Slytherin just looked so…depressed. She definitely seemed a lot thinner, and Hermione could see dark purple rings under her eyes, making it appear that she'd gotten no sleep the previous night. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a lop-sided bun with a few loose strands hanging limply in front of her face. Her pale, ashen skin stood out, making Hermione realize that this was the first time she'd ever seen her without make up.
Professor Vector finished the lecture, then handed out an assignment for the class to complete. Hermione immediately got to work, finishing in record time, but going back to check and recheck her answers. Satisfied, she got up to hand her assignment in, then returned to her seat. Glancing over at the girl beside her, she was shocked to discover that not only had she not done the assignment, but she still hadn't moved at all. Before she could say anything, the bell rang signaling the end of class.
Hermione gathered up her things, then stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She watched as Parkinson slowly rose to her feet, grabbing her own bag and making her way to the door. She didn't miss the disapproving look Vector sent the Slytherin's way, nor the dirty looks coming from their peers. Once Pansy had reached the door, she was immediately greeted by both Astoria Greengrass and Malfoy. The other girl spoke to her in a hushed voice while Malfoy frowned as he watched their interaction. Still, Pansy was silent as she allowed her friends to lead her away.
Hermione stared after them for a few moments, wondering what could have possibly happened to the girl to make her basically check out of life.
