AN: I noticed that my method of breaking up scene shifts and paragraphs didn't transfer over to the site, so hopefully the new method works. Thank you sophie for the story's very first review! Time to actually get into the story, now.
Hermione sat furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment as her classmates filed in around her, completely focused on what she was going to address in the prefect meeting tomorrow. There was so much to go over, she was having a hard time keeping the list short. She had begun to learn over the years that keeping things short was best, less she end up losing everybody's attention. Ron gave her an exasperated look as he settled in next to her, his eyes practically screaming 'are you seriously working right now?'. Hermione returned the look with a sharp one of her own; of course she was working right now. She was head girl this year! There was so much responsibility in that title. Prefect rotations and guidelines, detention set up, etc. Not to mention her completely full class schedule; she was determined to get in as many classes as possible before Hogwarts was behind her forever. It also helped in keeping her open in the career department, as she still hadn't quite determined what she was going to do after school. The ministry seemed promising, but there were so many different departments...
The feeling of being watched bore into her skull, and she looked up with a frown. A glare flashed in her eyes - there he was, looking at her again with that God awful smirk of his. And ugh, if he twitched his eyebrows at her one more time she swore she was going to hex them off. Hermione resisted the urge to growl when he wiggled his fingers tauntingly at her before growing bored and turning his attention to one of his friends. He really was going to do his best to dig at her all year, wasn't he? Hermione sighed, returning to her list. She supposed that thinking he would leave her be for sanity's sake was simply too much to ask for. Malfoy just wasn't capable of maturity.
The doors to the Great Hall swung open a moment later, and Hermione reluctantly tucked her list away as the first years began to file in. She always did love watching them get sorted. This, she realized with a pang of sadness, would be her last year seeing it, too. She chewed on her lip as they gathered before Proffessor McGonagall, their little faces staring up at the severe woman nervously. Had she really been that tiny her first year? It was so strange to think about.
The hat began it's song, crying out about strength in numbers and the need for unity in the four houses as they faced the dangers ahead. When it was finished, McGonagall unrolled her scroll and began calling out names, just as Hermione had seen her do so many times before. She paid close attention to the names and faces of the new students - in her last two years as prefect she had learned that first years had a particular penchant for mischeif - and cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindors when somebody was designated to their house. Snape followed with a rather short speech, and with that her final welcome back feast at Hogwarts began.
Hermione eyed the spread of food before her. She put a few small portions on her plate, chewing on her lip as she began pushing the food about the surface. With each passing minute she was realizing more and more how soon her time at Hogwarts was coming to an end, and it was doing wonders at killing her appetite as sadness sunk over her. Not to mention that at the end of the feast, she would be meeting first with Snape and McGonagall, then heading to her new rooms that she would be sharing with him. They would have to discuss the meeting tomorrow, they would have to decide on a password, they would have to agree on who gets what space - they'd have to interact. A lot. She was going to be dealing with him repetitively all year.
Regardless of what she'd said to Ron on the train, Hermione had been dreading this part of her seventh year. She had enough on her plate this year without having to worry about what the vile ferret would try to stir up. But she didn't want her friends to be more concerned than they already were so, as usual, she had mustered up a brave face and tried to reassure them that everything was going to be okay. But one person can only take so much stress, and as another glance at the still-smirking Malfoy told her, she was in for one stressful year.
Draco was bored. He swore the food got less impressive in this damn school every year, and he could hardly stomach the crap that had been placed before him this evening. It was nothing compared to the delicacies his family's top bred house elves prepared for him at home, and it certainly wasn't enough to distract him from remembering just how close that disgusting and irritating wench was going to be to him tonight, and every other night until he graduated. And of course, they had that stupid meeting tomorrow. Granger would want to beat plans for it to death, would be berating him about it, would drag it out far longer than necessary. He just knew it. But he held just as much power as her in this situation - if she was going to be obnoxious, he'd hit back. Harder.
When the feast - if you could even call it that - was over, Draco nearly forgot that he was expected to meet with Snape and McGonagall before heading to his rooms. Cursing loudly, he waved dismissively at his friends before he turned on his heel and approached the staffroom at the far end of the hall. Granger's bush of a hairstyle disappeared through the door ahead of him; it looked as if she had been sprinting. Draco rolled his eyes and strolled slowly into the room, his face bored as he settled into one of the chairs. He ignored whatever look McGonagall was giving him - he didn't care. Snape was headmaster, not her, and Snape liked Draco just fine.
Said head master swept into the room, bat-like as ever, turning sharply in front of the fire place. He crossed his hands in front of him as his black eyes settled over the two students before him, a stern look on his face. Granger sat upright and regarded her teachers eagerly, looking as if she would jump to the floor and play dead if one of them commanded her to. Draco forced himself not to snicker at the image flashing in his head as Snape began to speak.
"I have the utmost confidence that the two of you were the correct choices as head boy and head girl this year." Snape began cooly, his eyes locking on Draco as the boy snorted. "But don't think your...relationship has escaped my attention. I am well aware of your history for getting into arguments, some of them ending...violently," he glared at Hermione, who blushed. "Understand this. I expect a lot of the both of you this year. You are no longer children, but adults - you are required to act as such. Petty arguments can be set outside of your duties. It is time the both of you grew up and learned how to work together, because out in the real world you don't choose the people you get to work with." Hermione nodded at this, listening intently, and Draco rolled his eyes yet again. He didn't know who Snape thought he was fooling, McGonagall obviously picked Granger. What was the point of putting on this little show?
"Your duties are rather simple." McGonagall said. "You will create the schedule for the prefects of the school. You will meet all of the new ones in the meeting tomorrow, the rest of whom you both already know. You assign who watches over what detentions, where the prefects are patrolling, etc. Be cautious and fair when you are setting up locations. You both know how this school works well enough to understand who should go where. If a serious concern arises you are to come to the headmaster or myself. If we hear about any courruption, there will be serious consequences." Her glasses flashed as she looked at them, waiting for questions.
"You will be sharing quarters this year, as well." Snape broke in. "They are situated on the third floor, and set up similarly to the house areas. You will have a common room, a bathroom, and each of you your own bedroom. You are not permitted to have guests in your room overnight, and curfew for guests applies as it does for the rest of the students. The curfew no longer applies to either of you, but do not think that that gives your friends immunity. It is only the two of you and prefects on duty who may be roaming the halls after hours."
Draco liked how these two teachers were always keen on getting straight to the point. McGonagall may be a bloody Gryffindor, but she was far more tolerable than the other idiots who were allowed to teach here. And what with his new discovery of Snape's love of mudbloods, she was tied as his favorite. "Are there any questions?" She asked. Draco groaned. Why in Merlin's name did she have to ask that?
Granger, of course, came up with a dozen questions off the bat. Minutes ticked by into an hour, before Snape finally cut her off with a sharp 'enough.' The two of them were dismissed with directions to their room, and a final reminder to behave themselves.
"How many times do you suppose we have to be told to behave ourselves?" Draco mused outloud as they walked through the now deserted corridors towards their rooms. They were on the third floor this year - he was going to miss being able to see into the lake though the common room window.
"You can't blame them. We don't exactly get along." Hermione replied, her face stony as she looked determinedly in any direction but him.
"No shit, but why bother making us head boy and girl if they can't trust us not to murder each other? Professor Snape especially should know that murder is far too messy for me to get my own hands into." Granger's look of horror at him made Draco grin with success.
"Of course, don't even address the fact that it's completely wrong."
"Really Granger, does it even have to be said? I need to state the obvious? And here I thought you were supposed to be some kind of genius." Draco continued to grin as the flustered girl's cheeks began to darken.
"Just shut up, Malfoy." She snapped.
"Ooh, and such smart come backs, too. I can practically feel the sting." He sighed.
"We haven't been alone five minutes and you already can't resist being a pompous ass?" Draco raised his eyebrows at the tiny note of pleading in the girl's voice. Over a bit of downright playful banter? Pathetic.
"I am simply trying to make conversation, Granger. You were the one who attempted to push it into an argument. I, however, being mature and reasonable, am maintaining my composure."
Hermione scoffed. "Oh yes, you are so very reasonable," They arrived at their quarters, the large portrait of a rather pretty ghost girl swinging open before them. Hermione pushed inside. "You only hate half the student body simply because of the way they were born."
It was a moment before she got a response to this. Hermione looked back at him expectantly, her eyes flashing and her cheeks pink with irritation. That and the fact that she had speed walked the whole way here.
"That's not true." He finally said in what was a rather cold and quiet voice. Draco turned and walked towards the bedroom on the right, spying his things through the open door. Hermione's mouth parted slightly, a little too surprised for a quick response. When he began to disappear, she found her words again.
"Malfoy, we have to figure out the password to the dormitory. And what we're saying in the meeting tomorrow afternoon." He ignored her, slamming his bedroom door shut. "Malfoy! UGH!" She stormed out of the dormitory, growing more frustrated by the moment. She had to keep her cool - he couldn't keep getting to her like this. So much she had to focus on...he was the least important.
"Did you two decide on a password?" The ghost girl, Pandora by the frame's description, said sweetly. Hermione chewed on her lip for a moment.
"Mandragora." She said finally. Hopefully his brain wasn't so overly swollen with that disgusting pride of his that he couldn't remember the name of a plant. Pandora nodded politely and swung back open when Hermione told her she was going back inside. She wandered around the main room for a moment, examining it carefully.
It was decorated with silver and gold accents this year. They had a large window covering the back wall overlooking the grounds, and the entrances to their bedrooms sat on either side of it. The expansive bathroom was two her right, split into three rooms - bathing, loo, and the main room which held two sinks, two mirrors, and two cupboards for bathroom belongings. The common room area was spacious and welcoming - there were couches scattered all over the floor and a roaring fireplace on one end. She spied a chess board off in one corner and an astronomers globe by the window. Across from the bathroom was a study area, she supposed. There were two large, fancy desks on either side of the room and bookshelves lined every wall.
Her own room was decorated in red and gold, her belongings already there as expected. She had a small desk in one corner and her own fireplace; perhaps avoiding Malfoy this year wouldn't be overly hard. Outside their duties, anyway. Sighing, she changed into her night clothes and settled in at her desk with her list.
Hermione examined her list and added to it as her mind continued to buzz. What had he meant exactlly, when he'd said 'that's not true?'. Was he simply trying to confuse her? It was certainly working. Because everybody knew that Malfoy hated mudbloods, and barely tolerated halfbloods. He was just playing around.
Right?
