A/N: Hey! So it's like 4 AM where I am posting this, and I'm super tired, so please excuse any and all potential typos. I think I caught them all, but you never know:) Read and Review! Thanks! - Lissa
Chapter 3 – Little Things
The rest of the meal passed in comfortable silence. At the end of the feast, Professor McGonagall stood again and dictated the basic rules for the new students, but she added a few new ones for the older students.
"Now, if I could have prefects lead the younger students to their respective houses, those have not changed. I need all seventh and returning seventh years to stay behind a bit."
There was a deafening roar as the majority of the school found their housemates and exited the Great Hall. Draco and Hermione moved up their table to be close to Professor McGonagall and in the process caught Ron's attention. Thankfully, Ginny was next to him and the threat of a bat bogey hex kept him quiet. Though his ears were nearly as red as his hair.
"Alright then. The majority of the changes to promote house unity will affect your lives much more than the rest of the students." McGonagall got straight to business. "During the reconstruction of Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore thought we should make some changes to the layout. The Room of Requirement has been fully restored, although the magic is a bit more intuitive this time, and allows for a lot more specific things, as well as a direct link to the kitchens. Now, I tell all of you this because I am hoping you will throw your little parties here instead of the common rooms where people will be disturbed by the noise. And, yes, Finnegan I have known of these parties. Also it is my hope that the younger children will remain naïve to these festivities. You lot are older, and they can throw their own parties."
"So you kept us here to tell us you've created us a secret party room?" Harry asked, not sure where she was taking this.
"Not just that Potter. The castle has also been renovated to include a new tower off the west end of the castle. Within the tower is your own house, if you will. Elements of each house's décor are present; however it is not to divide you but to unite you. The tower holds a common room and secret passage to the Room of Requirement, as well as dormitories everyone will share. I tell you of the passageway now so there will be no unneeded wandering of the halls. Also, it can be magically sealed off if I find any suspicious activity."
"So, we're all sharing this new tower?" Pansy spoke up.
"Yes, Ms. Parkinson." McGonagall sighed. "Every dormitory will house at least four students, some five. Your room partners will reflect the house unity aspect."
Everyone seemed intrigued by the idea. Well, everyone accept Ron. He just seemed overly annoyed by the whole thing.
"So if there are no more questions, I'll let you all explore your new homes. You'll find the entrance behind the tapestry of the four toadstools on the sixth floor. No password is needed; it will only open to residents of the tower. Goodnight."
Hermione jumped to lead everyone to their new tower with Draco in tow. Ginny caught up with her just then and launched into a flurry of excitement over a new dorm. Hermione laughed and chatted with her the whole way up, though she was constantly aware of the pair of eyes that drilled into the back of her head. She knew Ron was still angry, but she didn't care. She was equally as pissed at him. Who did he think he was to assume he had any control over her, like he owned her? He wasn't the only one to lose Fred and he had no right to act this way. So, like the adult she was silent treatment it is.
The group of 8th years stood outside the tapestry of toadstools and really studied it. They each had a small hidden animal at their base, and each had subtly different colors representing each house. It really was an appropriate picture, considering.
Hermione and Draco were the first through, letting everyone file in behind them. The common room was rather spacious, with two large fire places on either side of the room, each surrounded by a multitude of extremely comfortable looking squashy arm chairs, all different colors to go along with the unity theme. In the back left hand corner was a stairway leading up to the girls dormitory, and then another in the back right that led up to the boys. On the back wall in between the two stairways were two doors and a portrait of a very familiar looking willow tree. However, in this particular second the figure seemed to be curled beneath it, sleeping, and the willow wasn't remotely interested in wimping it.
The girls and boys went up the stairs to situate themselves with their new dormitories, each ending up with four people to a room. Ginny and Luna were roomed together with Pansy Parkinson and Astoria Greengrass. The two Slytherin girls didn't want to be split, Hermione could tell. There was a desperate spark in their eyes, however well they seemed to play it cool. It seemed like Luna noticed it too because she said "Well, it looks as though you two don't know how to properly ward off Nargles! Your heads are full of them!"
This made Pansy start snorting from laughter and Astoria roll her eyes. "Luna, pray tell. Just what might a Nargle be?" Pansy asked.
"Oh, they're silly little creatures that fly around your ears and make your brain go all fuzzy. They're also the main cause of ditzyness." Luna said bluntly. "Here, see for yourself!" Luna held out a pair of spectrospecs that she seemed to always carry around with her, and Pansy took them, still laughing, while she looked over at a still scowling Astoria.
"Yup, I see them!" Pansy squealed. "Guess we all know why 'Stori is such a ditz then!"
"Screw you, Pans, Screw you." Astoria said as she went and deposited her things on her bed.
Meanwhile, Hermione and Draco realized that there was no place for them in the dorms, and they couldn't find their things. While all of the other students were in their respective rooms, Hermione and Draco found themselves back in the common room, staring at the doors between the dormitory stairways.
One door, the one to the right of the painting opened to reveal another staircase, this one leading down, and judging from the smell, was the shortcut to the kitchens. The other door, to the right of the painting opened to reveal only a small, empty closet. Hermione was just about to close the door when Draco stopped her and pointed to the back of it.
Pinned to the door was a piece of parchment with the phrase "Some true love turn'd and not a false turn'd true" written across it. Hermione recognized the handwriting as McGonagall's and plucked the piece of parchment from the door.
"Some true love turn'd and not a false turn'd true," Draco read aloud, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's from Shakespeare." Hermione sighed.
"Who?" Draco was utterly confused.
"William Shakespeare, a famous writer." Hermione was appalled that he didn't know of the great English classic. "He wrote muggle plays and poetry. You know for being second in our class, you can be really naïve sometimes."
"Second? My grades are near perfect. You're sure I'm second?" he questioned, looking mockingly hurt.
"Pretty sure," Hermione said. "Mine are perfect."
"Oh, of course they are." He resigned, knowing full well she was the smarter of the two, if only by a little.
"It's from his play, A Mid-Summer Nights Dream, where fae folk mess with muggles, and create all sorts of love triangles. It's actually one of my favorites. I believe I have a copy if you would like to borrow it."
"Does he actually call them muggles?" Draco asked, uncertain. "And why is there talk of fae in muggle books?"
"There are a lot of magical things in muggle books. They have no way of knowing a world more fantastic than theirs exists, so their imaginations run wild. The ones that do know we exist and wrote stories, like Shakespeare, aren't exposing anything because they, the muggles, all think it's just make believe. And no, he doesn't actually call them muggles." Hermione finished her rant and walked up to the painting of the willow tree, studying it rather intensely. The figure beneath the tree looked oddly familiar, as well as the scenery. He looked up from his book and glanced toward Hermione and she gasped. There in the painting was her dear friend, and absolute favorite Defense against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin.
It wasn't until he stepped to the foreground of the painting though, that Hermione realized he was a much younger version of himself, yet his face showed he held all the wisdom he did when he died.
"Hermione! I was wondering when I'd see you next," Lupin exclaimed.
"Lupin! You're here! I mean, you can talk and everything!"
"Yes, yes I know it can be a bit of a shock, however, I am still deceased. My picture works just the same as any other in Hogwarts."
"I know that, but I can still talk to you!" Hermione felt so extremely happy about the 'return' of Lupin that she almost forgot about her quest for the head dorms.
"Excuse me, professor Lupin, sir." Draco piped up. "Would you happen to know how to get into the head dorms? We're kind of stuck."
"Draco! Good to see you're doing okay. I do hope your mother is doing better." Lupin addressed Draco with all the kindness he held towards Hermione and Draco was taken aback. Not used to the acceptance he's gained today.
"Thank you, sir. She's doing much better now that Lucius is away and her house is free of evil."
"I do imagine so; give her my best for me. Now, if you two can tell me which book I am reading you may have access to your dormitory."
"Mid-Summer Night's Dream." The two said in unison.
Lupin chuckled and nodded, "That is correct, here you go." The portrait swung open, revealing yet another staircase. However this one, much like the staircase leading to the headmaster's office, rose on its own, spiraling to the very top of the tower. When it finally stopped, Hermione and Draco stood in front of an ornate wooden door with the words Head Dormitory inscribed in gold. Draco pushed the door open to reveal a common room decorated in green and gold. Hermione was actually quite pleased with the colors, they complimented each other much better than red and green would have, as she had imagined. The couched in front of the epic fireplace looked extremely comfortable, and absolutely perfect for curling up with a book. There was a staircase that led to their bedrooms, Hermione assumed, and a door to the right of it that read Kitchen, again in gold lettering.
Hermione was intrigued by the thought of her own kitchen and made a point to investigate it in the morning. Right now all she could think of was the bed waiting for her in her new room. She followed Draco upstairs and they found their doors each inscribed with Head Girl and Head Boy respectively, directly across from one another. Draco opened the door to his room and disappeared inside with a quick "Goodnight." Hermione nodded back and stepped into her own room, casting a locking and warding spell on the closed door behind her, a habit left over from the war. Assured of the doors security, she turned around and took in her new room.
It was better than she had even tried to imagine. The walls were painted a deep cherry red, but the furniture was all white, including the giant four poster bed that was the center piece of the whole room. Hermione had a couple of dressers, a wardrobe and even a vanity, all a nice bright white accented with gold. The bedding was mostly white; accept for the gold silk sheets and a couple of matching pillows, with a massive white and gold striped duvet. The room was even carpeted in a nice plush white that made Hermione's careful footsteps all but silent. Hermione felt absolutely in awe of the whole thing, it was feminine and elegant and just perfect. Opening her dresser, she found all her clothes neatly folded away already. She changed into her night cloths, and crawled into her enormous bed, pleased with how soft it was. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into the easiest sleep she's had all summer.
In the next room over, Draco was studying his room as well. His was a lot darker, with his color scheme consisting of deep emerald green and bright silver, paired with mahogany furniture. His floor was carpeted with the same fluffy white as Hermione's, which lightened the overall mood considerably. Draco enjoyed it a lot actually, it was nothing like the bedroom at Malfoy Manor, and it was a lot more comfortable looking than the Slytherin dungeons. Draco changed and got into bed, an odd feeling of unease spreading through him at the sensation of being alone in the dark. He still hadn't gotten over the evils he had been near to in the war. Locking and warding his door, he wondered if he ever would. Feeling a bit safer, he was finally able to drift into a restless sleep.
A/N: Thanks for the comments, and all the follows! It encourages me to type more! ;) Hopefully I will get another chapter up soon, the transition from intro/description fluff to actual story meat is proving to be a bit difficult… but I have almost waded through it! I hope you're all enjoying! Thanks - Lissa