Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affliated with it.


Hermione's POV

We arrive at Hogsmeade Station, so Draco and I have to sit in the Head's carriage. This year I can see the thestrals as they lead us up to Hogwarts, I reckon most of the students can. I still can't believe I didn't know they existed till Harry made us ride them to the Ministry. Both Draco and I sit in silence, trying to take in the mostly dark view outside. It takes us about 20 minutes to get to the castle itself, about 20 minutes of silence between us, and another 10 to be able to get to the doors and get out of the carriage.

We walk into the hall, and I see that though there are the main house tables, the 8th years are all to share a table at the back. Draco and I sit on opposite ends of the table, while most of the returning students still sit based on house. Headmistress McGonagall stands up when everyone is seated, motioning for everyone to settle down and stop talking.

"Welcome students, to another year at Hogwarts. A big welcome especially, to our first years and our returning class of 8th year students. We will begin the sorting ceremony now." She then sits down and Professor Flitwick stands up to call the names of the first years.

"Carroll, Sharon" Says Professor Flitwick.

"Gryffindor!" Shouts the hat after some deliberation. The rest of the ceremony is pretty much the same.

"Doorley, Mavin"

"Slytherin!"

"Elkin, Dominic"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Grant, Alice"

"Ravenclaw!"

This process continues with a total of 7 new Gryffindors, 8 new Slytherins, 6 new Hufflepuffs, and 9 new Ravenclaws, a lot less kids than usual. I guess parents were hesitant to let their kids go to Hogwarts after what happened, not to mention Voldemort destroyed all the records of new muggleborns so they wouldn't have been able to send out letters to them as easily as usual. This year there are less insults called out from rivaling houses and I'm glad. I thought it was awful when Fred and George used to boo new Slytherin students, that was just plain mean. McGonagall gets up again to address us.

"Older students, I'm sure you remember all the rules. First years, no going into the Forbidden Forest, no walking in the halls after curfew, and no going into the Restricted section. I know a lot of students have been requesting this, so I'm sure a lot of you guys will be happy to know that we installed WiFi into the school during the repairs we made to the castle over the summer. The password is SherbertLemons, no space between the words, in honour of our late Headmaster Dumbledore. That will be all, remember that we are trying to encourage house unity, so try to be nice. Enjoy the feast!" I see many purebloods being very confused at the WiFi bit, and I laugh quietly to myself with many muggleborns and half-bloods.

At that, the tables filled themselves with piles of food. I immediately reach for the mashed potatoes, roast lamb, gravy, and roasted vegetables. I have a glass of pumpkin juice and some bread and butter pudding for dessert. Once everyone finishes, the prefects lead everyone to their dorms, and McGonagall calls Malfoy and I into her office.

We walk in and sit in front of her desk. She then looks at us for a moment and then speaks, "I know what the history is between you two, but I really believe that if you put aside your differences, you will realize how similar you are to each other. Please try to pretend to get along at least, we need to set a good example for our other, younger students. Alright, moving on, you do know where the Head's dorms are correct?"

We both nod our heads and she just says, "Okay." Before continuing onto the next topic.

"The password is currently Phoenix Wings, but you can change it once you've given the portrait the set password. If you have any problems with the accommodation, feel free to Owl me or just talk to me about it. I think that covers everything, so off you go."

With that she shoos us out and sends us on our way. We walk together in silence till we reach the rooms. The dorm is set one floor above the library down a quiet side hallway. The portrait is of a small boy and girls happily playing with a kite in a field. We state the password, and they let us in. We'll probably change it later on.

To the right is the common room, which has a light brown wallpaper with dark hardwood floors. There is a soft gold carpet next to the fireplace and the couch. The couch is a deep green with red accent cushions. The fireplace is the same colour as the floor but with gold and silver vines twirling around the edges and on top of the mantle. There is also a small wooden bench inlaid in the wall next to a window. The bench is covered with a small cushion that fits perfectly and and extra silver and gold striped pillow.

To the left is a small kitchenette with a white marble counter, silver oven, and gold edged overhead cabinets. There is also a small white fridge and wooden cabinets under the counter. The sink is stainless steel, has two sections in it.

Directly in front of us is a set of dark wooden stairs that spiral out of sight. We walk up the stairs together and there are two doors that would lead to rooms above the kitchenette and common room. The door on the left has a silver handle with small green vines twirled around it, and the door on the right has a gold handle with roses dotted on it. We walk into our rooms and shut the doors at the same time. My trunk is already at the foot of my bed, but I'm too tired to unpack right now.

I look around and see that the colour scheme is the standard red and gold. The bed is just like the beds in our old dorms, but slightly bigger. The closet looks like the one in Narnia, one of my favourite book series. There is a dresser drawer and a desk. Above the desk, the wall feels slightly sticky. I guess that means that you can place things on the wall without tacks or sticking charms.

I sit down on the edge of my bed and feel the mattress sink a little, but not too much. I pull out my phone and laptop and plug them into the wall socket. Then I unlock both of them and connect them to the WiFi. I'm glad I have WiFi, as it means that I can play music from YouTube as well. I put them down, and get up to briefly check out the bathroom.

I walk into it and see that it connects to both rooms. Yay, that means Malfoy could walk in on me if I don't lock the door and vice versa. The bathroom has two sinks; one with red accents and the other with green, two shower stalls; one with a red curtain and another with a green curtain, and one toilet cubicle in the corner. I'm about to leave when I hear Malfoy curse, "Ow! What the bloody hell?!" Curiosity getting the better of me, I open the door to Malfoy's room and see him holding his arm, a pair of tweezers, and sitting next to a wall socket.


Draco's POV

After Granger and I part ways, I walk into my room and explore a little bit. Most of the colours are silver or green. The bed is similar to our old ones, but slightly bigger. I put down my satchel on the chair in front of the desk and pull out my journal and wand. I put the journal with my wand and quill on the side table next to the bed. I'm about to sit down when I see a small rectangle on the wall with little rectangular holes in it. I've seen them before, but I never found out what they do. I walk over and sit down in front of it. I look at it for a while studying it. After examining it for a few minutes, I pull out a small pair of tweezers from my luggage and poke it into the hole. I feel a jolt go up my arm and after it feels like it's buzzing. More from shock than anything else, I curse, "Ow! What the bloody hell?!"

I hear the bathroom door open and see Granger looking at me. Then she bursts out laughing. She laughs like this for a minute or so till she calms down. The whole time I just glare at her. "You don't know what a wall socket is do you?"

I look down and mumble a "no". She still has traces of a smile on her face while she explains that it conducts electricity to 'charge' things like her laptop and phone, or power things like lamps. She explains that metal conducts electricity very well, and that I just got a jolt of electricity. I hope that this kind of stuff doesn't keep happening, I don't like not knowing what stuff is, and having Granger teach me does nothing to help my ego.

After she finishes explaining she just kind of stands there. I don't know why, but I suddenly say, "You can go now Granger. I don't need your mudblood filth contaminating my room." I can see an expression of hurt flit across her face, immediately followed by anger. Great now I've messed up everything again. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? Stupid habits.

"Seriously? After I just helped you twice today? Fine, but that's the last time I satisfy your curiosity on muggle items. Don't think I can't see your expression of wonder when I explain things to you. You're like Mr. Weasley in terms of your curiosity, you just hide it because you're too afraid to let go of your muggle biases." With that she storms off to her room and slams her door shut. I sigh before getting up to shut my bathroom door as well.

I change into my pyjamas and crawl into bed, trying to decide what to make of what Granger said. Do I really have a fascination with muggle technology? Why am I so curious about it? After spending about half an hour just thinking, I give up and pull my guitar out of my suitcase. I put an undetectable extension charm at the bottom of the suitcase that lets me fit my guitar in its case underneath everything. That way I can avoid questions about it from my friends and family.

I pull it out and try to remember the tune of the song she played on the train earlier today. Before I start playing however, I make sure to cast a muffliato to prevent Granger from hearing it. I start slowly at first, but by the end of the song it feels like I've known this song since forever. When I'm done, I put down the guitar and go to bed. This time I fall asleep almost immediately.


Author's Note: Please read and review. Feedback is always welcome. Thank you for reading, and have a nice week.