Chapter 4:
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Enjoy!
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The bright morning sun shone through the nearest window with the drawn-up draps. It was going to be a wonderful day because the brightness from outside and the quiet, easy awakening. She looked around and that's when she actually saw what woke her up; Malfoy was standing in his doorway with Chrookshanks standing infront f him, his orange hair on end and full hiss showing his pointed teeth.
Malfoy sat her looking over the back of the couch, he said, "Get your cat or I'm going to kill it," he backred furiously. She hopped over the top of the couch and grabbed him up into her arms shaking her head fuiriously. She knew that she looked like a big mess, but it was morning no matter if he saw her like that.
Malfoy's eyes went to her arms and he smirked. She looked at her arms as if forgetting she had a few burns.
"Looks like you were playing with fire and you got burned."
They weren't that big but they were still noticable. She shrugged, "Yeah, so." She thought that if she didn't make a big deal out of it, then he wouldn't either.
"Why weren't you asleep in your room? Are you scared of the dark? The monster under your bed?" He wiggled his fingers at her as if he was some kind of extra-terrestial monster.
It would've been fine to have this talk if they were both in their pajamas, but he was dressed and all ready for the day and she was still in pajamas with a nest of hair and eye boogers.
She didn't harass the subject but handled it calmly. "I guess," she said and pet Chrookshanks's head, she continued, "I felt like I was being watched, like an icy eye was staring me down and went through me. I don't know, it was weird," she recalled. "The couch is actually comfortable.
The cat in her hands wiggled to be let down so she let him down and he took off.
"I'm sleeping down here. Whatever is up there can have my room. It's the two of us so I can sleep on the couch without intruding on anyone who may want to sit on it." She pulled her arms over her head into a stretch and walked away into her room to get ready for the first class of the day.
She heard Malfoy snicker probably wondering why someone would want to do that.
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Ready for the day she went down to the Great Hall with the smells of a wonderful brekfast ready to be eaten. Harry and Ron were there already and eating so she squeezed between them, intruding and put some food onto her plate and began to eat.
"How was your night?" Ron was the first to askt the question that was on everyones mind. She could feel the sudden shift in attention from the people around them as if her answer meant anything to them.
She wasn't surprised Ron had asked it. He was waiting just for the tinyest sign from her to go and put him in place. He always had a protective side for her, even though he said and did the wrong things half the time. He still had her back and worried that Malfoy would one day harm her and nobody would be around to help her.
She felt like somebody else was waiting for her answer as well, but it couldn't be Malfoy because he was talking it up with his friends, loudly she might add, but somebody else. Somebody was setting her on fire with their eyes, but she let that bounce right off of her. She was going to lie though, incase there was someone really interested. It wasn't that she wanted to defend him; if he was ever on trial and she had to defend him then he'd be in jail.
The real reason was because she wanted to take all the problmes that they've accumulated and the many, many, many many more to ciome, to stay in the room for the two of them to handle. If anybody was to be thrown into the mix, then there would be even more problmes then there should be just for the two of them.
Putting some eggs into her mouth and with her eyes on her plate, focusing to put more on her fork, just for something to do, she said, "It's quiet," and nodded for emphasis.
"Really?" Harry countered, titlting his head to the side. He as well as the rest of them probably didn't believe her, but that was her story and she was sticking to it.
Seamus came by and handed them their schedules. For the last time she made more classes than the two of them which didn't bother them one bit.
Leaning over and looking at her schedule Ron questioned her why she was taking Muggle Studies again. As much as she wanted to explain about how she wanted to change a view, even to someone who didn't want to hear it, she just told him she wanted to get in every bit of knowledge that she could get before getting out into the real world and have her dream job.
Luckily for her Seamus was taking it as well so she wasn't going to be alone.
"Hermione finally wants to make her head explode," Ron said tapping her temple with his pointer finger and started laughing.
She turned pink but didn't let it get to her. He was just messing around and that was the way it was supposed to be. It was school and the topic of war wasn't supposed to be the place of non-worrying and just getting an education before they had to actually leave and face the troubles of the world that loomed on their heads every single day, whether it was subconcious or concious.
When it was time to leave for classes it wasn't lease to cease from their schedules that History of Magic was the first class of the day. The teacher was a ghost and he intended to make his lessions sought out like his after life, which ceased to denounce itself to him.
Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she pushed her hair back and came eye to eye with three Slytherin boys blocking her way.
"Hey Head Girl, we heard you were playing baseball with Draco last night," the littlest of the three said, and they all started laughing.
For one thing, she knew they didn't know what baseball was, and second she knew that they were not talking about the sport. They were insulting her and that was uncalled for.
Smirking she pushed past them with the comment, "Ten points from Syltherin, now having negative, for insultion of the Head Girl," left hanging in the air.
She pepped up her pace to catch up with her friends, but knocked into none other than Pansy Parkinsonm the 'head hancho girl' of Slytherin house. Sh was Draco Malfoy's girlfriend for who knew how long? They were always seen together, sometimes inappropriatly and seemed to be in a tight relationship despite the numerous rumors she heard about her.
"Watch where you're going Mudblood or should I say watch where I'm going anf stay away," she snided with the air of her stuck-up snobbish self.
This year she looked more dazzling than she did the previous. Most said she looked like her face walked into a wall but it was actually quite different. She was very pale in complextion with shiny, dark hair which flowed down her back. Was it fake or was it spelled? Hermionw would place money on those options because her hair was usually typically quite short and bobbed. The long hair fit her though.
Malfoy walked up to Pansy and put an arm around her shoulders. She became instantly comfortable with him, even if the snotty face she gave off looked like she had dung under her nose, she still had the unease of Hermione.
"Filth or scared of the dark?" he spoke as if it was some underlying joke. She pushed past the 'happy couple' and caught up to her friends and squuezed between the two of them. She felt secure with the both of them at her sides and it helped even more that they stood a head taller as well.
"You alright?" Ron questioned.
She nodded, but turned to Harry and said, "I was insulted."
"How?" He asked.
"Apparently three little Slytherin boys proclaimed that I was playing baseball with the jerk last ngith when I am sure that they do not know what baseball is."
Just proclaiming this to her best friends somehow made it funny and her and Harry started laughing about it while ron was left out of the loot.
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The first day was like any other that she had endured for the past six years. The introductions were the same, except the the teachers, every last one of them had a favorite line, "This is going to be the hardest year."
Why rub it in?
Mid afternoon Hermione said goodbye to her friebnds and went to her favorite class, Arithmacy. It was just so fascinating and all the answers that came out of it was very interesting.
Unfortunently Blaise Zambini and Draco Malfoy were in this class but she wasn't the only Gryiffindor in this class., she smiled at Dean.
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Later on, beofre they could go to dinner they had the last class of the first day, Potions. The class always seemed to be late in the day. It was going to be another year of 'favorites verses the rejects.'
"I don't thik that is true Harry and even if it was-" she looked into her bag and pulled out her Potions book and was about to finish gher statement when she was interupted-
"Granger, Granger," Malfoy called.
The three turned and glared at him.
"I called Granger not the two of you," Malfoy spit, causing attention to his fellow students who couldn't help but to enjoy the verbal abuse they knew Malfoy was sure to ensure upon the trio of friends.
Harry would not hear to that. He stood up and took a step in front of his chair.
"Leave her alone," Harry spoke loud and clear, which bounced around the quiet room, filled with an audience instead of the class of students that it was supposed to be.
Harry's wand was out and he was ready to take action, and it was all to protect his friend. Hermione loved him for that and all but sometimes he was the one to antagonize trouble when the situation coukd be avoided without confrontation.
"Harry it's okay," she grabbed his arm lowering it down, incase his reflex was working against him.
"Yeah, control your boyfriend," Malfoy let out, earning an earnest laugh. There ws no laugh track in this class, but she sure felt like there was one.
"What do you want?" she sighed. Just to be precautious she used her other arm and held it at her side where Ron was.
"I hope you can sleep tonight, I hope you don't die." He fed off the energy of the students around him and smirked.
Blaise looked at her with such hatred and Pansy looked at her, just shaking her head.
She didn't understand their hate. She never did anything to them and they just hated her because of what she was. She could understand if she did something wrong but she didn't.
Harry, from the statement alone was ready to let lose, but she held him back.
"I hope you die from-" she stopped herself and glared. Did anybody know he smoked? If she was to say and cause trouble with his people, it would cause more trouble, but why did she care?
He caught on to what he was saying and crossed his arms.
"What Granger?" he smirked, puffing out his cheeks. He was determinded to hear her say and cause the trouble. She would cause trouble anyways, but not say what he thought she would say.
Looking around she had a few to get her back, and even though she hated to admit the Slytherins still made her feel a bit uneasy.
"I hope you die from your own self-hatred," her mouth rain away and once she started, she couldn't stop. It felt good.
"All the nager you feel and harness inside of you from your upbringing will eat you alive, devouring your every will and strength. You will not make it farther and for what you want and seek to achieve witll all crumble and fall to dust."
Silence.
The class was silent. Like an act, it left the audience in silence ancipitating the next move.
Malfoy was boiling mad. His anger, holding by the fists at his sides, not his wand, shot up as he lunged at the girl with the tongue, but stopped.
Snape entered the room and everyone acted like nothing was going on except for Malfoy and Hermione who were so wrapped up in eachother everything else around them seemed to dissapear. Hands to themselves their eyes were locied, like they were fighting into eachothers souls.
They were were not aware of everyone sitting down and looking ahead like nothing was going on.
Hermione could not keep out of mind that she felt danger and was about to get hurt. She could not fight her anger though, to keep herself calm. He always did this. He always had a grudge and she never wanted it. It started in the beginning. His evil, 'favorite' word caused her such strong prejudice it made her unconcioulsy prejudice to the others. It was wrong but difficult to dislude when they did not make it any easier.
"Get out of my classroom both of you," Snapes voice boomed breaking the internal fight that now made clear that they were the only two who were dense and hard of hearing when it came to everything else.
The silent battle was over. Both were quite embarassesd but Hermions felt the worst of the pair. While he looked straight faced and ws that fear? She looked on the verge of tears. What Snape said went, so they both gathered their things and left.
Hermione could not believe it. She was mad at herself for it. How could she let herself get that far? She could have ignored him and turn the other cheek. Instead, she went along with the challenge like some ten year old. For the stupid appeal her grade was already damaged and whatever was being said she was not hearing.
This proved that she was going to fail and never get her dream job. Maybe she was meant for the Muggle world.
In thought she stopped walking halfway up the stiars and to the wall which she slid down into a sit. He leaned against the wall a few feet away.
The atmosphere was suddenly different. It just seemed that the fight was left in the Potions room and in her head, not in the hall. But even so, then why were they just standing there? Something was not finished. Ears alert everything was quiet and eerie. It was so quiet she could hear Malfoy's breathing.
She had to push him away and block him out. She had to get rid of all her attitude against him and let all the tension drop. She just had to pretend he wasn't there and that there was nothing wrong.
It wasn't going to happen.
But what was it about that statement he made about her in the classroom?
"I hope you don't die?" she battered, turning in disgust in his direction, "What does that mean anyways?"
Malfoy chuckled sinisterly and slid down the wall until he was sitting as well.
"You are so dispicable. You just seem to have it in for me this year. Well guess what? You don't scare me! I'm going to get you before you can get me." Her mouth once again ran away and he could only shrug.
"Fair game?" He challenged.
"Want to bet?" she challenged back.
"Yeah, the filth and the pureblood, two complete opposites. This should be interesting. What's the prize? You don't have any money, so what would it be?"
"Winner gets to choose their prize," she added.
"When is the deadline," he asked. He was enjoying it but eaferness flowed through both their veins. The challenge sucked in both sides. Nothing like a challenge to buiild a mini battle in a war.
"Deadline?" she asked.
"Christmas Eve," he said and somehow simontiously they both agreed and said at the same time, "Anything goes."
Akwkard.
Things became strained and silent.
"So do we go to Headmaster or leave?" she wondered aloud.
He wouldn't turn himself in. She might.
He stood up with his bag. "You turn yourself in for something stupid, I'm going to dinner early."
The two of them left the dungeons whne they heard a little girl crying and then saw her by a portrait of a little girl swinging. She sat hunched on the floor, her heair forming a curtain around her head.
Hermione had to help. Being bullied was something she was not strange to and if she could help someone she was going to, no wand drawn.
"What's wrong, little girl?" she knelt down to get on her eye level.
The little girl lifted her head and looked sadly at Hermione.
She was very adorable. Long, wavey blonde hair and blue eyes she looked like a mini Luna.
"I can't find my Common Room," she whimpered. She looked lost and Hermione didn't blame her. It was hard to find your way at the beginning of first year.
"What house are you in?" she questioned.
"Slytherin," she said proudly.
"Damn Granger what's with the ugly look," Malfoy snapped, causing her to jump a foot. She forgot that he was there.
Poor, poor girl.
"I'll show you where it is," she stood up and adjusted her bag. The little girl grabbed her hand and leading the way she smirked, even though he couldn't see. He probably wondered how she knew where it was.