Chapter 4
That night, Hermione was so excited about going back to school, she barely slept. The next morning, everybody woke up at 6:30 A.M. to get ready and pack the things they bought the day before. As usual, the girls were ready before the boys even woke up. Hermione was wearing a tight baby pink sports T-shirt, that showed off her slim, yet curvy silhouette, with a pair of equally tight black capris that sopped right bellow her knees, revealing her well shaped calves, for the shoes, she went for the same flats as yesterday.
Her Hair was down and cascaded down her back in loose curls while her bangs were straight. She wore light make-up, after Ginny forced her to: her cinnamon eyes were contoured by very thin black eyeliner and a pale pink eye shadow to match her top, while her small, but full, pink lips had the slightest trace of lip-gloss.
" Oh my gosh! Hermione, you looked good without make-up, with it you're gorgeous! No guy can resist this!" she Ginny said pointing up and down at her. Hermione blushed then frowned when she took a good look at the red head's outfit. She was wearing turquoise, strapless ,baby doll kind of top that was tight around the chest area, but flowed down the rest of her upper body. For bottoms, she wore a black skirt , that was so short it looked more like a large belt then a skirt, and stilettos with three inches heels, that matched the color of her top. Her hair was down and had a charm on it to wave it, an as usual, her make up matched her outfit.
" Thank you, you look great too, but I your skirt is way too short., and I don't want people calling you a slut on our first day." Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but she quickly added "I know, I know, you don't care what people say, but still, really think your mom and Ron would let you out of the house dressed like that?" Hermione said her left eyebrow arched and a lopsided smile on her face." I don't think so."
" Fist off, I royally don't care about anything Ron says" Ginny said, annoyance in her voice, but then smiled and added " and second of all, you're right, am no Pansy Parkinson, am more respectable than that. But the thing, I don't feel like redoing my make up. And besides, except for the length of the skirt and the size of the heels, I really like this outfit, it's cute." She added in a regretful voice, wrinkling her nose. After a few seconds of thinking, Hermione grabbed her wand, pointed it at Ginny's skirt and mumbled a spell that made the it about 3.5 inches longer, making it only 3 inches above the knee, and repeated the spell to her sandals, making the heel an inch smaller.
" Much cuter, and less slutty" Hermione said proud of her accomplishment.
" Wow! Thanks, you're good, really good, you got to teach me some of you tricks sometime" Ginny said checking herself out in the mirror before reaching for her friends's hand and heading downstairs for some breakfast.
In the kitchen, was the usual first-day-of-school chaos. Mrs. Weasley was yelling at George Weasley for bewitching Ron's books, and making them chase him around the house, trying to bite him. Harry and Ron, who always wait for the last minute to do everything , were allover the place trying to get ready and gather the things they need, because they were leaving for King's cross station in half an hour.
It was only 9:00 A.M., and King's Cross Station's platform 9 ¾ was already boiling with student and their families. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Harry Ginny and Hermione pushed through until they finally reached an empty bench.
" Hey, I think I just saw Padma Patil, let's go talk to her!" she said giving Hermione a look, that clearly said 'just go with it'.
" Er.. yes, I think I just saw her too." Hermione said with confusion in her voice the older Weasleys didn't seem to catch.
"We'll be right back mum, dad," she said looking at both her parents.
" Alright, be back in half an hour minutes though, so we can have a proper good bye." Mr. Weasley said, giving them a kind smile.
"And please be careful! And stay together. Hermione, please keep an eye on her" Mrs. Weasley added slightly worried.
" Don't worry, I will." Hermione said convincingly, laughing at the face her friend made.
After leaving the rest of the group behind, Hermione and Ginny walked around the crowded platform looking for people they knew, their arms liked to avoid getting lost. Hermione couldn't help noticing all the boys, some of them who used to despise her, looking at her and giving her flirtatious smiles. She suddenly snap out of her trance by a familiar voice talking to Ginny, she turned around to see Lavender Brown greeting her friend and looking at her questioningly.
" Oh Ginny, I totally love what you're wearing, totally hot" Lavender said, being her usual preppy self " Hi am Lavender, a sixth year Gryffindor, are you new? Although you look sort of familiar, like I've seen you somewhere." Lavender asked smiling at Hermione. Taken aback by the question , she was speechless, and a thousand question were running through her mind. Ginny burst out laughing like Lavender had just said the funniest joke ever.
" Her?" she said pointing at Hermione, once she stopped laughing " She not new! It's none other than our good old Hermione!" She finished. Lavender's jaw dropped open, and stared at Hermione n amazement.
" Oh-my-god! No way! It can't be. Seriously?" She asked her eyes as wide as a Quidditch snitch. Ginny nodded, while Hermione stood awkwardly wondering how she should act. " Wow. You look amazing! You changed so much over the summer, so tell me, what's his name?" Lavender said smiling maliciously at Hermione.
" Why does everybody think I changed for a boy, I mean by now, everyone should know am not that type" She mumbled, as a blush spread across her face.
" Oh please! Don't think we forgot how you looked for Krum at the Yule Ball in our fourth year!" she reminded as Ginny giggled.
" She got a point." The copper haired girls added smiling, as Hermione shot her a glare. " Anyways, who do you think the head boy will be?" Ginny said changing the subject. " My bet is it's probably be either a Ravenclaw or another Gryffindor" Ginny said thoughtful.
" I understand why it wouldn't be a Hufflepuff, but why wouldn't it be a Slytherin? And what do you mean by 'another Gryffindor' ? she asked incredulously.
" Well, as Hermione was selected as head girl, I doubt McGonagall would be as crazy as make a Gryffindor and a Slytherin share a common room, god know what could happen" Ginny said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world " And whatever its, it wouldn't be pretty" she quickly added when she saw the malicious look on Lavender's face.
" Oh, no, I totally forgot, I have to meet the Patil twins soon" she said loking at her watch " And, congratulations on the title 'Mione! Am sure you'll make a wicked head girl, just try to keep it clean with the head boy" she said smiling devilishly and then inked at her, before disappearing into the crowed, leaving a scarlet Hermione behind.
After meeting and greeting some more students they knew, who were all as shocked by Hermione's appearance as Lavender, they headed back to where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting with Ron and Harry. The four teens spent the next half hour saying good bye to the older Weasleys and Tonks an Lupin, then Harry, Ron and Hermione headed towards the train, leaving a slightly disappointed Ginny behind. Harry and Ron lest to meet professor Flitwick while Hermione left to meet professor McGonagall and the other prefects/heads of the house.
Meanwhile, Malfoy was sitting on a bench against the wall, surrounded by his friends, and had Pansy Parkinson sitting on his lap stoking his platinum blond hair, when he saw Zabini staring at some girls. He leaned over and held his breath when he saw who Zabini was looking at, it was the pretty dark haired girl he saw the other day at that store on Diagon Alley. He kept following her with his eye, but then smirked when he saw she was with Potty, the Weasel and the Weaslette. He was them heading towards the train and suddenly remembered he had to meet McGonagall.
After separating from her friends, Hermione walked down the empty train until she found the Head's compartment, which was empty except for professor McGonagall who was already sitting sipping on a cup of tea.
" The train doesn't accept students aboard until 15'til 11:00 miss." the older witch said raising an eyebrow and looking at Hermione suspiciously.
" But professor, you're the one who told me to meet you here and at this time" Hermione replied slightly worried, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the letter with the badge, and hading it in to McGonagall.
" Oh, miss, Granger, I didn't recognize you. Take a seat, while we wait for the Head boy." She said in an emotionless voice. Hermione sat down opposite to her professor and looked out of the compartment window, trying to ignore the awkward silence between them. Aster a couple of minutes, the compartment door slid open, to reveal none other then Draco Malfoy stepping in.
" Great, now that the both of you are her, we can start. In know the two of you already know each other, but we still have to do this officially, so Mr. Malfoy, meet your head girls, Miss Hermione Granger, Gryffindor" When she saw his reaction, Hermione knew he was as displeased about this as she was. " Miss Granger, meet you head boy Mr. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin." McGonagall ignore both of their groans and continued " Now I presume you're wondering why professor Dumbldor, who recently returned, has chosen the both of you?" she asked before neither could ask. Both teens nodded, and she went on. " Well it's quite simple you see, with Voldemort dead and all, professor Dumbledore wanted to encourage the pureblood/ muggle-born relationship in the school, and by putting the both of you as Heads, you could hopefully collaborate with one another, and set an example." Hermione nodded hesitantly, while Malfoy simply smirked his trade mark smirk.
" As for your duties, the prefects will be patrolling the train from 11 to 1, then you two will take the shift from 1 to 3 and the rest will be done by the prefects. Your duties at school will mainly be to patrol the corridors at nine and make sure everyone is in their common room, making sure the rules are followed and give appropriate punishment if they're not, without any discrimination based on the houses, and finally organize two balls and the 7th years graduation party. Do I make myself clear?" McGonagall said her lips pursed and waited for their approval, and when they both nodded, she added " I will be ushering the students in with the prefects, you can go back to meet up with your friends if you wish, as long as you don't forget your train duties at 1:00." And then left the two of them alone in the heads compartment in an awkward silence. A few seconds after McGonagall left, Hermione groaned and then stood up to leave, when she heard Malfoy's cold voice.
" What are you complaining about granger, in case you haven't noticed, I'm the one stuck with a filthy mudblood." he said throwing up a coin and catching back in his hand " If anyone should be complaining, it should be- Before he could finish his sentence, Hermione stormed out of the compartment, slamming the door behind her so hard, it earned her the glares of many students, and went to find Ginny, since Harry and Ron would be doing prefect duties. By the time she found Ginny, she was fully crying and students were looking at her questioningly.
" Hermione! What happened to you?" Ginny in a concerned voice as she opened the door of her compartment.
" M-Malfoy" She mumbled the through sobs that were escaping her.
"What about Malfoy? Did the ferret hurt you?" She asked her green eyes flashing angrily.
" He...He's the...head boy!" she said as she cried harder. Ginny gasped and gave the brunette a tight hug, feeling sorry for her friend, knowing the ferret would make her friend's life miserable.
" Shh...it's ok, you know if he does anything to you, Harry, Ron and I are ready to hex him to insanity anytime." She said soothingly happy her friend was now smiling
"Thanks, you guys are amazing, I don't know what I would do without you, Harry and Ron." She said wiping her tears away with the handkerchief Ginny handed her.
After Hermione left, Draco went to find his friends' compartment. He couldn't believe her would be sharing a common room with mudbood Granger for a whole year. Although he would never admit to anyone else, he had to say, Granger had turned almost decent over the summer, she looked like a whole new girl, and besides, sharing a common room with her also means more chances to make her life miserable. This is going to be an interesting year, he thought putting on his trade mark smirk. His thoughts were however interrupted by a familiar squeaky voice that came from behind him, he turned around only to find Pansy Parkinson running up to him, pushing the students in her way and waving her hands in the air like a mad woman.
" Oh, Drakie, you missed our compartment, thank goodness I saw you." she said snaking her arms around his neck and leaned over to kiss him, however he shoved her to the side and turned around to go to his compartment, where he found Blaise Zabini, his best friend, looking terribly bored, as Goyle was telling him some lame story. Inside, he felt sorry for his friend, since he had experienced Goyle's stories, he knew they were compatible to a 7 years old's and could get extremely boring. As Draco stepped in, Blaise quickly sat up, obviously relieved he could talk to someone with a higher intellect level.
" So, who's the lucky head girl?" Blaise asked smirking , pushing back a lock of his silky black hair. "Is she hot?" he added his eyebrow raised. As soon as the second question was asked, Pansy sat up straight, nervously waiting for his answer.
" The mudblood, Granger" Draco mumbled spiting the girl's last name like it was poison, and decided to avoid addressing the second question.
" I over heard some guys talking about her earlier," he paused thinking of a way to phrase what he was going to say next. " I think I heard them saying she turned Gorgeous, first I thought they couldn't be talking about mudblood , but then most of the guys, and girls I crossed were saying pretty much the same thing. So I'm curious, is it true?" He asked waiting for the blonde's answer.
" Oh please, mudblood and gorgeous can't go in the same sentence unless the word isn't is between them." Pansy rolling her eyes, as the two idiots (Crabbe and Goyle) were shrieking with laughter. Before warning, Draco grabbed his best friend's arm and pulled him out of the compartement, leaving a confused Pansy and the two idiot inside.
" Remember that girl you pointed out at that new store on Diagon Alley?" Draco asked once out of earshot, Zabini nodded a bit confused, but smiling as he recalled the memory of the pretty girl.
" Yea, that chick was a hottie, though she looked sort of familiar , we would've talked to her, if it weren't for Pansy scaring very other girl around. But why are you asking?" the dark haired boy asked his amused look, being replaced by one of suspicion and finally one of understanding. " If Granger looks half as good as that girl, mate, she already beats half the girls in the school or maybe a bit more" Zabini said thoughtful.
" The girl was Granger." He said simply, as he watched his friend shocked expression.
" Seriously?" He asked, Draco nodded. " That's why she seemed familiar." Blaise murmure more to himself than Draco. " Well if that's the case, what the hell are complaining about? Mudblood or not, she's got a going-on, I mean, damn , who knew Granger had it in her?"" He finished, then winked at his friend before leaving for their compartment. Soon after, Draco followed.
Hermione was still talking with Ginny about the whole Malfoy thing when Harry and Ron entered the compartment, looking angry.
" Why didn't you tell us the head boy was Malfoy!" Ron billowed angrily, while Harry trie to clam him down.
" Well did it ever occur to you that maybe, I wasn't aware of it" Hermione yelled back annoyed with her friend's inability to understand her. Ron then mumbled something that sounded allot like ' then why didn't you decline the title'.
" Why would I decline? If you were my friend, then you would be supportive and tell me to hang on, instead of pushing me into giving up. By now Ronald, you should know I'm not a quitter" she said as she felt a new round of tears roll down her cheek.
" Don't worry 'Mione, he doesn't know what he's saying, we're your friends, and we''' support you 100 through it." Harry said hugging her, while thowing a sharp look at Ron over her shoulder. " but right now, don't forget you have head's duty. And be strong." With this reminder, the brunette gasped, and ran out of the compartment. She suddenly slowed down when she remembered she might have to go get Malfoy, considering her probably forgot.
Draco was sitting in his compartment, pretending to be listening to Pansy's rambling about how unattractive granger was, while Blaise was looking out of the window, a far-away look in his eyes. At that moment, Pucey, another fellow Slytherin walked in, gaining everyone's attention, then looked maliciously at Malfoy.
" Some complete babe's looking for you, she said something about head's duty." He said winking at the blonde. He would've broken into a smile, if it wasn't for the stupid 'Malfoys never show their true emotions' rule. So instead he rolled his eyes and tried his best to look annoyed. Then Pansy stood up, shrieking with laughter.
" You know you just called mudblood Granger a 'babe'" Pansy said trying, but failing to hide the jealously in the laughter.
" Oh, that was her? Oh well, the girl's pretty hot now" Pucey replied coldly. " Being Pureblooded doesn't exactly make someone anymore attractive. I mean look at yourself Pansy, not exactly what a guy would dream of." He said as Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle nearly choked to death laughing, while Pansy nearly turned purple. Pucey had never really had anything against muggle-borns, especially not Hermione, since he realized how nice she really was, when she covered-up for him when he stole veritaserum from Snape, since then, they didn't exactly become friends, but acquaintance.
" You filthy little blood traitor!" Pansy cried "Why don't you go find you little mudblood princess and have plenty of filthy mudblood babies, right Drakie?" she said as she sat onto his lap.
"A purblood and a mudblood give halfbloods you idiot !" Blaise roared still clutching his stomach with laughter. " And if Granger really is what everyone elses says, I doubt he would mind." He continued, cooling down.
" I got to do my patrolling, I'll see you guys later." He said making a motion to leave.
" Am coming with you" Pansy said grabbing his hand, " I don't want you to suffer alone with that mudblood." She said putting her head high. Draco felt a wave of anger creep up his body quickly.
" Sod off Pansy!" he yelled she opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.. " I think I can take care of myself without your help, thank you very much" he said sarcastically, walking out of the compartment. He was walking so quickly, he bumped into someone and knocked them down, he saw a wand rolling and piked it up. He smirked when he saw it was Granger. He liked the feeling of her being so vulnerable, without her wand, or Potty and Weasel to protect her.
" Well, well, well, if it isn't Wonder girl, mudblood granger!" He said. As she looked up, He took a closer look, and could now clearly see what Pucey and Blaise had been talking about. Damn! Granger actually has a face under that beast of her hair, and not a bad one! He thought, then mentally slapped himself for even cheking her out.
