"Okay so Mr Malfoy and Mr Zabini if you could follow me to the fireplace, Miss Granger and Miss Lovegood if you would stay here then Mr Smith will show you the incantations needed for these tables." The slight witch took off with Draco following and Blaise trailing behind looking back at the girls and towards Zacharias every so often. The floating board followed behind them writing appearing on it as it went, noting down names and duties as well as time spent. It seemed as though they were being kept under a watchful eye.
"So Hermione, Luna, how can I help you two lovely ladies?" Zacharias appeared next to the girls as they turned away from the retreating Slytherins towards their appointed tables. Luna seemed completely unfazed, but Hermione was suspicious of him. He had turned his back on her before, and although he was charming and handsome, there was no way he could cover up what a complete arse he was. As if noticing that Hermione was not interested in talking to him, the Hufflepuff turned slightly towards Luna, effectively blocking her off. "If you would like Luna, I can show you the spells you need?" He spoke directly to her, once again ignoring Hermione.
"That would be wonderful Zacarias, I believe that Hermione would also need to learn them too, maybe you can show the both of us?" Hermione could almost have laughed, even though the girl seemed to have no clue, she was very effective at stopping Zacharias. Maybe that was why McGonagall put them together Hermione thought to herself as she watched a perturbed Zacharias turn to the table to his left.
"Well, um, it's just a slight change to a couple of transportation spells, along with some sticking charms and a bit of house elf magic." For all of his faults, Zacarias was good with his wand – not that Hermione would tell him that – and he had fully explained the process in a very short amount of time. When he wasn't being a complete creep he was actually pretty useful at teaching and was able to make the process easy to understand for the girls. After they had got the hang of the spells he left them to it, finally realising that he wasn't going to get anything out of them.
The teenagers worked through the rest of the afternoon, getting hungry as the elves prepared dinner around them rushing here and there in a panicked state. Hermione guessed that the castle was probably no more than a quarter full with volunteers and returning students, but the tables were piling high with food as usual. The elves were clearly only using the tables that had been restored, leaving the pairs of volunteers a clear path to the tables that needed to be worked on. By the time it was dinner there were only a third of the tables left bare a good achievement as the spells being used were complex and time-consuming. Hermione wagered it would take the four pairs another day to finish off the incantations on the rest, but they would definitely be ready by the time the students flooded in at the end of the week.
It was around six o clock when Lisa stood on a chair by the entrance to the kitchens and announced using a sonorous charm that everyone could down wands and head up to the great hall for dinner. On the way up to the dining hall the group of teenagers and volunteers chatted amiably, converging with another group on their way in from the grounds. Out of the corner of her eye Hermione saw a familiar face within the other group and rushed forward to greet him, surprising the giant with a hug and a massive smile. The group behind him contained one or two Slytherins who sneered at her display of affection but she did not care, Hagrid was like family to her and she was severely lacking in that department at the moment.
"Oh, Hermione! Good ta see you, how was your summer? Did those boys look after you?" Releasing him from her hug she had to step back to be able to see his face past the huge beard he was still sporting, that was pulling up at the corners of his mouth as he smiled down at her.
"Of course they did, we all had a bit of a rest after last year. Well, when we could get away from the reporters that is."
"That's right, I saw you in the prophet with Ron, and you two make a lovely couple" While Hermione stammered for an answer she didn't notice Blaise walk up behind her to save her from answering Hagrid.
"Hello professor, I was wondering if I could pinch the Head Girl for a moment? I have been hearing her stomach rumbling all afternoon and I would feel terrible if we kept her from her dinner a moment longer." Blaise shot a dazzling smile in Hagrids' direction and took Hermione by the arm without waiting for an answer. Hermione was still thinking of a way to tell Hagrid what happened, only noticing that Blaise had linked their arms and led her to the Great Hall when they crossed the threshold. It was an incredibly awkward situation, almost everyone was aware that the Head Girl and Ron Weasley, war heroes and two thirds of the golden trio, were dating at the end of the war. There had been articles galore, and press following them everywhere. Sure there had been speculation that they had broken up as their public appearances dwindled but they were just going out in public less full stop. They were both private people and agreed not to share anything with the press, which meant that no one except their friends were aware of the full story – not that there was much of a story to tell.
Finally Hermione noticed that Blaise had led her to one of the back circular tables that she had been working on earlier down in the kitchens, he sat her down and patted her arm as he let go. She looked around at the table to see that she was sat with a couple of her friends; Hannah and Michael, Neville, Luna who had followed behind Blaise and Theodore Nott. She smiled politely at the others at the table, muttering her greetings as they sat down to dinner.