Chapter Ten
.
.
Hermione groaned when she saw that her seat was between Draco's and Harry's. "Harry swap places with me." She whispered urgently.
Harry smiled and shook his head. "No can do, Mione. We can't move the chairs and you know how old Minnie is about order." He sat down and reached for her hand.
"But, Harry." She pouted, holding his hand.
"If you don't like your seat, you're welcome to sit in my lap." Draco offered with a sly grin.
Harry burst out laughing when Hermione pushed the boy out of his chair. "Bad ferret!" She sat with a huff and crossed her arms. "This is so wrong." She glared at Harry, silencing his laughter.
Hannah and Padma took their seats, leaving an empty one next to Harry and two next to Blaze. Blaze barked out a laugh at the name on the chair to his right. "You won't believe who I get to sit next to."
Harry, Hermione, and Draco looked at him expectantly. "Do tell." Draco drawled.
Blaze grinned and covered the name with his hand. "You'll see."
With a minute to spare, Susan ran in and took the empty seat between Harry and Hannah. "McGonagall's not here yet?" Her shock showed on her face.
"Nope." Hannah answered.
Luna skipped in with a smile on her face and hugging a large fuzzy bag to herself. She sat next to Padma. "Morning." She greeted in airy voice.
Realization dawned on Hermione as to who was to sit next to Blaze. "No! That's not fair! Why does he get to sit next to her?" She yelled and pointed at the smirking Slytherin.
"Who?" Harry asked. He got his answer quickly.
"That's enough Miss Granger." Minerva's stern voice brought silence in its wake. She looked around at the students and smiled warmly. "Good. I'm glad you all could make it. Thank you Mr. Zabini." She took the seat he pulled out for her.
"My pleasure, professor." He said as he took his seat once more.
"Hermione, dear, quit pouting. There is a reason for all of this and I will get to it in a moment, once everyone has gotten their tea." She waved her hand and caught her cup when it flew towards her.
Draco pushed a steaming cup of tea in front of Hermione. She looked at uncertainly. "Come on, Granger, it's not like I slipped some love potion in it." She slowly picked it up and took a sip. "Or did I?" The tea sprayed out of Hermione's mouth and he laughed.
"Mister Malfoy!" Minerva snapped. She looked between the two students with a deadly glare. "The next person to interrupt this meeting with such immature behavior, will be spending their first week at school in detention." She stared at them moment then continued. "As I was saying, there is a reason for this seating arrangement. First of all, I trust you all have figured out who your Head Boy and Girl are?"
"Granger, obviously." Drawled Draco and Minerva nodded.
Harry and Luna observed the other students having a heated debated over Harry, Ron, and Terry Boot and why they would be Head Boy. Harry thought back over his last six years of school. Let's see. Who was the boy with the highest marks overall for all six years and was a prefect? He drummed his fingers on the table until he looked over at Luna. She smiled and winked at him and he threw his head back and laughed. Everyone became quiet and looked at him as if he had gone mad.
"Yes, mister Potter?" McGonagall's lips twitched.
He wiped tears from his eyes. "It's Draco." He looked around at the one's who had been arguing. He channeled his inner-Hermione. "You don't use your brains do you?" Hermione snorted next to him. "All six years he had the highest marks for the boys and was a prefect both fifth and sixth year. Not only that, in sixth year, he still maintained high marks despite the horrible things he was put through." He smiled and nodded approvingly at Draco.
"What a load of rubbish." Hermione scoffed.
"Harry is indeed correct. Draco is to be Head Boy. Now as for the seating, I wanted the Heads to sit next to each other, but I also wanted the students from the same houses to sit together. So I have Mister Zabini next me to allow Hermione and Draco to sit together. Miss Lovegood is the one who came up with all of this, so she sits to my right. You can fill in the rest for yourselves. Now, Miss Lovegood, will you kindly collect all the wands?" She nodded to Luna and sipped her tea.
Luna stood up and walked around the table with a glass box. Once she had the others, she added her own. She put her bag on the table and opened it. She stuck her arms and head in and they could hear what sounded like the drawers of a filing cabinet opening and closing. She reemerged with a stack of papers and a flat, square box. She placed her bag on the floor and tapped the papers with her wand, giving everyone two. Sitting down, she picked up her own papers. "Ok. If you'll look closely, you'll see that you have two papers."
"You don't say." Draco muttered sarcastically.
Luna ignored him and continued. "You'll also see your house crest and your name at the top of both. The first page is blank for you to write your concerns you have for your house. You'll fill it out and then hand it to Headmistress-"
"Pardon my interruption, Luna. You all may call me by either Minerva or McGonagall or professor. No need for formalities while we're here." She smiled at the students.
"Thank you, professor." Luna nodded to the older woman. "The second page is the goals we wish to achieve with interhouse unity. Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore and I have filled in the first three. Everyone is expected to give suggestions and bring up any problems that need addressing. My paper has been charmed so that whatever I write on the second page will also appear on the others. We also have good news and bad news and a solution for the bad news. Everything that is discussed today, will remain with us only. No telling anyone else, unless you have permission." She straightened her papers and smiled. "Any questions?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air. "What's in the box?"