(A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Again, this one was short, but I just wanted to get this chapter out there. I want to thank you all who've stuck to this story. You guys are amazeballs, seriously. I actually don't know if anyone reads this, but hey. Now I have a better idea of where this story is headed, but it could change. This chapter might not be the best, but the next chapter will feature new characters some of my fellow bandom members might know, and I'm just really excited to put them in. If the updates are slow again, it's because I'm writing two other fics on another site. They're called "I Wish That I Could Wake Up With Amnesia" and "In Your Eyes" on Wattpad. My penname is the same as the one I have here which is hotel-calumfornia. I would love it if you guys read those stories and tell me what you think. I realize that this note is just a total mess, but it's not even part of the story so whatevs. Anyway, follow, fave, review and enjoy ^_^)
Chapter 11: First Day Jitters
A Fanged Flyer whizzed past Hermione's head as she walked into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with Harry, Ron, and Ginny.
Fred and George greeted the group at the front door, "Done shopping already?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised it didn't take that long," Harry answered. "It was a good idea to shop separately and meet up here afterwards."
"I think if we shopped as a group it would've taken longer," Ron added. "It would've been a bore to have to wait for Hermione to finish shopping at Flourish and Blotts. We would've been there for hours!"
Hermione turned to face Ron and widened her eyes. "Excuse me, what about you Mr. I- Can't-Decide-Which-Quidditch-Shirt-To-Buy," she scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.
"Ooo, shots fired," Fred teased.
"Would you like to try our new injury curing potion to apply to that burn," George chortled.
"Oh, bite me," Ron spat, walking off to the sweets section.
"He needs to loosen up," Ginny commented, rolling her eyes.
Harry turned to the twins. "Do you guys need any help," Harry offered, adjusting the position of his glasses.
The twins nodded and gestured for the group to follow them to the back room. Harry, Ginny, and Hermione took their new school supplies and walked to the back. They put their stuff down and waited for Fred and George to give them instructions.
"Hermione, can you restock some of the products in our sweets section," George requested, handing her a box of various candies.
Fred chimed in, "And when you're done, can you just make sure no one is stealing anything?"
The Head Girl nodded and smiled confidently, taking the box of sweets outside to the shop. She stopped in front of the sweets section and put her hair up in a ponytail. After opening up the box, she placed the sweets into their appropriate places.
In the middle of her task, her attention was broken when she heard wet, sloppy noises nearby. Hermione turned her head to find Ron pinned against the shelves, his lips pressed against those of someone familiar. Shaking her head, she resumed her work when she heard the girl giggle like an idiot. Merlin's beard, now I know who it is.
"Aren't you glad I came to see you, Won-Won," she cooed.
"Yes I am, Lavender," he voiced. Hermione could sense the apprehension in his voice.
"Ron, what is she doing here," Lavender asked, causing Hermione to turn away from her task to face the blond Gryffindor.
"She's just helping my brothers out," Ron verified, rubbing his girlfriend's arms in an attempt to calm her down.
Lavender's eyes narrowed in to slits as she tugged her arms away from Ron's grasp. She stepped forward to come face-to-face with Hermione. "You better stay away from my Won-Won, Hermione."
Hermione raised her eyebrows and chuckled. She wasn't scared of Lavender, and she made it very clear. "And what are you going to do if I don't," she asked, clearly bored and unafraid.
Lavender lowered her voiced and flipped her wavy, blond hair. "I'm going to make your life absolutely miserable. You're going to wish you'd never been born," she hissed, getting angrier with every word she said.
Hermione replaced her current facial expression with one that feigned a look of horror. "Oh no! What ever will I do? Look, I'm shaking in my combat boots," she wailed sarcastically.
"You better watch yourself, Mudblood, or I will-"
"Is there a problem here," Harry bellowed with his eyebrows knit together.
Lavender took away from Hermione and assured Harry, "No, there's nothing wrong; I was just leaving."
Harry's face turned into disgust as his ears filled with Lavender's obviously fake tone of voice.
Lavender threw one last menacing look at Hermione and stormed out of the twin's shop.
Like every other person at Hogwarts, Hermione found Lavender very annoying. Everything from her voice, to her melodramatic tendencies, to her obsession with Ron, made Hermione want to rip her hair out. Seeing her leave made Hermione a bit more upbeat.
"I'm sorry about that 'Mione," Ron sighed, reaching out to stroke Hermione's upper arm. She moved away before he could make physical contact with her.
"Save it, Ronald," she stormed, moving to stock the shelves on the other side of the section.
Before Ron could follow Hermione and talk to her, Harry stopped him by putting his arm up. "Ron, you're a git, you know that?"
"I know, Harry."
"No, you don't. Let's examine everything that's happened starting from her concert: you kissed her twice, both of you knowing that you have a girlfriend; and now this."
The red-head ran his hand through his hair and groaned in frustration.
"Ron, don't you see what you're doing?"
"I can't help it, mate! I love them both," Ron admitted.
Harry looked astonished at his best friend. "Really, Ron," he uttered, rolling his eyes. "You have an odd way of showing it. Hermione is your best friend, and you didn't even defend her or try to break them up. Some friend you are," Harry scoffed, walking off.
The next day came very quickly for the four going back to school. Once everyone was ready, they apparated to King's Cross Station and waited for the Hogwarts Express. Hermione fiddled with her Head Girl badge as she waited for the Hogwarts Express to arrive. She listened to her iPod and tapped to the beat of the song as her friends spoke animatedly to one another. "You ready for our last year, 'Mione," Harry asked, nudging his best friend's arm.
Abruptly, she took out one of the headphones and grinned. "Yeah, but I'm also really sad," she answered honestly.
"Me, too, Hermione. So many memories there," Harry sighed, placing his arm around Hermione.
The Hogwarts Express pulled into the station with its whistle blowing. As the train came to a full stop, students began pouring in.
"You ready," Harry asked, turning towards Hermione.
Hermione shrugged and sighed. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
With that, the four Gryffindors picked up their trunks and stepped into the train. After helping her friends locate an empty compartment, Hermione helped her friends put their trunks in the overhead storage.
"Guys, I'll see you guys at the welcoming feast. I need to meet with the Head Boy," Hermione informed. She turned to face Ron. "Remember that there's a meeting in the prefects carriage in fifteen minutes," she reminded.
Before Ron could say anything, Hermione quickly walked out the compartment and walked towards the back of the train and into the Heads' compartment. She slid the compartment door open and lugged her trunk inside. Thankfully, the Head Boy wasn't present, giving her some peace and quiet. As she sat down, she reached into her handbag, pulled out a book, and began reading.
Her attention to the book was broken when she heard the compartment door slide open. Hermione looked up, scanning the boy from the bottom-up. As she scanned up the boy's frame, the sunlight reflected off the Head Boy badge, forcing her to shield her eyes for a brief moment. When the light died down, she put her hand down and finally looked the boy in his eyes. Not knowing how else to react, Hermione's mouth hung open. Draco Malfoy is the Head Boy.
"Well can't say I didn't expect this," he stated coldly as he placed his trunk on the overhead storage. "Of course they would pick you, a teacher's pet."
Hermione didn't understand why he was being so rude. He was polite at her concert, so what changed?
She scoffed, "I'm not a teacher pet."
Draco's face broke out into a sarcastic smile. "You know what, Granger, you're right-you're an ass kisser."
"Draco, why are you being so rude to me," Hermione raised her voice, throwing her book back into her bag.
The Slytherin chuckled as if she said something amusing. "Because, Granger, you irritate me. Oh and we are not on a first name basis."
"If I irritate you, then why the hell were you so polite after my concert?"
"I didn't want to start a scene in front of muggles. Now if you don't mind, I would like some peace and quiet before the meeting with the prefects. Got that, Mudblood?" A sour taste accumulated in Malfoy's mouth as he spat those harsh words at the girl he liked. He wanted to show her how much she means to him, but he knew she would be freaked out. Instead, he planned to win her over by gradually showing her that he wasn't the same obnoxious Slytherin git. To him, this was the least obvious way of showing her that he likes her.
"I fucking hate you, Ferret Boy," she growled, getting up and leaving. She made sure she slammed the sliding door shut to emphasize her anger.
Her head began aching as she stepped towards the bathroom. Ignoring the pain, she changed out of her regular clothes and into the school uniform, pinning the badge when she was done.
Pleased with her appearance, she exited the bathroom and walked back to the Heads' compartment. Remembering that Malfoy was in the compartment, she took very small steps in order to delay the time it took to get there. Spending more time with Malfoy didn't sound appealing to her. When Hermione was at the halfway point, a light, airy, voice called out her name from behind.
"Hello, Hermione, have a good summer," the voice questioned.
Hermione turned around and greeted Luna with a hug. "Luna! It's good to see you. I've been alright. How was yours?"
"I spent my summer looking for more creatures, but I haven't found any. It's okay because I'll find them someday," she assured, grinning. "If you don't mind me asking, why were you walking so slowly?"
Hermione looked around the train, hoping to find a good excuse. "Oh, I was just-uh-cherishing the moment because it's my last train ride to Hogwarts," she stated.
Luna looked into her friend's eyes and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure it's not the nargles?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure," Hermione giggled. She checked the time on the clock hanging above her. "The prefect meeting is going to start in about five minutes. Want to come with me?"
"Of course," Luna breathed out. She linked her arm with Hermione's and walked the remaining steps to the prefects' carriage.
Upon entering the front section of the train, Hermione could see that the carriage was nearly full, meaning most of the prefects were present. The loud noise made her headache worse. The Head Girl tried to get everyone to be quiet, but no one heard her. She left Luna to sit with the Ravenclaw prefects and walked towards the front of the room. As she got closer to the front, the prefects gradually quieted down.
She stood near Draco and waited for the prefects to be completely silent. "Hello, everyone, and welcome back. Are all the prefects from each house present?"
The prefects counted the members of each house and stated who was present.
"Everyone is here, Granger. Can we please get on with the meeting," Lavender groaned.
Hermione rolled her eyes and rubbed her aching temples. "It's nice to see you, Lavender," she yawned.
Draco glared daggers at Lavender, expessing his annoyance with her rude attitude. He didn't understand how she was chosen to be a prefect; she clearly had no respect for anyone.
"Now then, let's go over the rules and regulations for being a prefect," Draco suggested, attempting to maintain his composure.
"Malfoy, all of us already know the rules," Lavender whined.
"Yeah, yeah ,yeah. Now, Weasley, if you could please control your pet ape, that would be great," Draco exclaimed, waving his hand dismissively.
To the Head Boy's surprise, Hermione giggled at his remark. She tried to hide her amused smirk, but she failed. Shortly, the prefects snickered at Draco's remark, causing Ron to stand up and defend Lavender.
Hermione attempted to calm everyone down. "Ronald, please sit down. The sooner we get through these rules the sooner the meeting will end," she soothed. Ron tried to say something, but decided against it and sat back down.
Draco's voice boomed, "Rule number one: All prefects will attend scheduled meetings."
"But if you're in the hospital, that's a different story. The point is you applied for these positions, now you must fulfill your duties," Hermione added. "I know that some of you have other obligations such as Quidditch, but please work your schedules around your prefect duties"
"If you miss any meetings or other prefect duties without legitimate reasons three times, you will be replaced by someone who actually takes the job seriously, end of story," Draco stated, shrugging his shoulders. "That's just the way it is, but hey, you lot know what you signed up for. I trust that you won't screw up."
The prefects listened to his blunt statements and nodded in understanding.
"Number two: You must complete your scheduled rounds each night you patrol," Hermione declared.
"In the event that you are unable to attend your patrol, you must notify either one of us," he gestured between him and Hermione, "within at least three days. Rule three: You must be reasonable in taking away house points or giving punishments for whatever reason."
Hermione looked out the window and realized that the train is still a ways away from Hogwarts.
"The rest of the rules and regulations are on this packet," she informed, holding up the stack of papers. "Seeing as we still have to patrol the train, I trust that all of you will read the packet over."
Lavender groaned, which everyone ignored.
Draco bellowed, "The first meeting is this Wednesday at 6:15 p.m . sharp."
"The meetings shouldn't take more than forty minutes, so you won't have to worry about the meeting carrying into dinner," Hermione explained.
"Any questions," Draco asked.
The group whispered among themselves and shook their heads.
"Okay, if there aren't any questions, we're finished here," Draco concluded.
The two Heads watched as the prefects slowly filed out of the carriage.
Hermione turned to Draco. "You handled that pretty well," Hermione remarked.
Draco's cold demeanor relax a bit at her compliment. "Uh, thanks," he uttered uneasily. He fast-walked out of the room, leaving Hermione alone, and began his rounds in the train. This is going to be harder than I thought, Draco thought.
After arriving at Hogsmeade Station, Hermione made sure all the students were out of the locomotive before looking for a carriage. When she was finished she walked towards the carriages and looked for her friends. After looking through numerous carriages, she found Neville and Luna waving at her. Smiling, she made her way towards the pair.
"Hermione, it's so good to see you," Neville greeted, giving Hermione a hug. "I heard you're the Head Girl."
"It's true," Luna confirmed. "And Draco's the Head Boy."
Neville's face turned pale at the mention of Malfoy. "What? He's going to make us miserable," he wailed.
In her light, soft voice, Luna soothed Neville while stroking his back. "It'll be alright, besides, Hermione won't let him hurt anyone."
"I promise you that as long as I'm here, he won't lay a finger on anyone," Hermione assured.
The ride to the castle was filled with conversations from their summer activities to their plans for the school year. Within minutes, the three arrived at the entrance to the school. They walked together to the Great Hall for the Welcoming Feast.
As Hermione and Neville headed towards the Gryffindor table, Luna walked in the opposite direction towards the Ravenclaw table. Hermione sat down next to Ginny and looked up at the floating candles in the night sky, beaming as she remembered the memories she had in the Great Hall.