Hermione stood in front of the mirror in the Slytherin bathroom pondering the many possibilities that her hair held. She groaned. She usually put her hair up in a bun, but today… well today she had to figure something else to do. The last thing she needed was for people to ask her about her new fondness for body art.
She lifted her hair up, exposing the tattoo at the back of her neck. She examined it thoroughly. Its not that bad, she thought, it looks kind of sexy. Hermione imagined herself in a hip muggle club, dressed in a skimpy outfit showing it off. She snorted. Like that's going to happen.
Sighing, Hermione let her hair fall, tumbling down her shoulders. With a small shake of her head, the mark disappeared under a wave of frizzy brown hair.
Just the same old Hermione.
…
Draco rolled over in his sleep, a grin plastered across his face. He slowly woke up, feeling relaxed and comfortable. But that didn't last long.
Looking around the room, Draco noticed that the dorm seemed oddly empty. Not just oddly empty- he realized- completely empty.
"Shit!" He groaned, getting up. Checking the time, Draco realized he had already missed most of his morning classes.
No point in going now, he thought. He decided to take a leisurely bath and hang around the commons until it was time for lunch.
….
Hermione sat quietly in the Great Hall, slowly working away at her meal. Ron and Harry had only mumbled a few words to her before cramming their mouths full of food, as per usual.
"Did you notice that ferret wasn't in potions today?" Ron mentioned, having finished his meal.
"Yeah." Harry replied disinterestedly. "Probably was why Snape was in such a bad mood."
Hermione tried to tune out their conversation. She too had noticed his absence, though she assured herself she only noticed by chance, not because she was looking for him. She decided not to think about him, but Ron was making it very difficult for her.
"What a git. I'm still going to get him for what he did to you last night, Hermione." Ron complained loudly. She noticed that some Gryffindors were giving her strange looks.
Hermione flinched slightly. What? How did he know? What does he know? She thought about sharing the night with Draco, then about the mark, panicking slightly. She rubbed her neck anxiously, a nervous habit she had developed some time ago.
Some distance below, Draco winced as pain shot through his neck. "That girl, I swear…" he muttered to himself.
"I mean, the ferret had no right to act like that towards you." Ron said, oblivious to Hermione's distress and the eavesdropping Gryffindors. "I was about to kill him right there, I swear." Ron wrinkled his nose. "Disgusting. I'm scarred for life, I swear."
"Oh!" Hermione sighed. "You mean the thing with Salazar Slytherin!"
Ron snorted. "No shit. And I thought you were the smart one."
Harry, on the other hand, was giving Hermione a curious look. "What did you think he was talking about, Hermione?"
She faltered. There was no way she could explain to them, they would kill Draco. But she couldn't lie to them either.
"Uhh…" Hermione thought intently on an excuse. "I guess I was just trying to repress the memory." She joked.
Ron grunted in approval, but Harry didn't look convinced.
Hermione, noticing this, decided it was time for her to leave. "I need to go to the library." Hermione said as she stood up, gathered her things, and left.
"Figures." Ron mused before starting at a new plate of food.
Harry paused a few seconds, watching Hermione leave the Great Hall. He noticed, though not to his surprise, that she headed the opposite direction of the library.
I knew something was up, thought Harry.
"I have to go finish some work." Harry lied.
"Yeah, whatever." Ron said between mouthfuls of food.
Harry grabbed his bag and left the room, following the direction Hermione went, determined to figure out what was going on.
…
Hermione wandered aimlessly, lost in a world of her own thoughts. She contemplated the implications of having Draco's 'mark', but just ended up once again wishing she were someone else. Some one interesting, someone who didn't have to worry about doing the right thing, about getting good grades. Someone who would have actually gotten a tattoo willingly.
Thankfully eventually she snapped out of her self-pity and thought about something else.
Namely, her two friends who she had, once again, ditched in the Great Hall.
She sighed as she realized that every conversation they had since she moved into the Slytherin dorms ended in a fight. Or more accurately, her running away from a fight so they wouldn't find out what exactly has been going on down in the dungeons. She knew they wouldn't approve.
It was a few seconds before Hermione was paying enough attention to realize she had meandered down to the Slytherin dorms.
Not again! She scolded herself. Next thing you know Ron and Harry are going to pop out of the shadows and start arguing with me.
A few feet away, Harry, covered with his invisibility cloak, watched as Hermione whispered to an empty wall.
…
Draco sat in the commons, pondering if he should leave for lunch now, or wait until most of the first years had left. He decided on the latter and laid down on one of the many plush couches the Slytherin House contained.
Just as he was settling down, a small popping noise caught his attention. He knew that sound.
He sat up and looked down at a young house elf that was trembling in fear.
"A-a letter f-for you s-sir." The elf held out a red envelope.
"Fuck!" Draco grabbed the letter from the elf. He knew who this was from. He needed somewhere private to open this. He was a Malfoy; he wasn't supposed to get Howlers.
Glancing around the commons, he saw a few people lingering around, either finished with lunch or waiting like him. He dashed to the first place he knew he could be alone, the place where he went when he needed solitude. But as he passed through the painting of Scorpious Malfoy, he ran into something.
Someone, more specifically. And that someone fell on her ass.
Shit! He thought as the portrait closed behind him. Not in front of her!
Draco stood frozen in place, staring at the girl sitting on the ground in front of him. That was when he started to feel the letter in his hand grow warm.
…
"What the hell…" Hermione groaned before she looked up and saw Draco with a look of pure horror spread across his face.
"I know you dislike me, Malfoy, but running into me here shouldn't be such a shock." Then she noticed a red letter in Draco's hand that was starting to smolder. Hermione giggled in a malicious manner. "A Howler, Malfoy? I thought you were above such childish chastisements."
Draco opened his mouth angrily to respond, but didn't get the chance.
"DRACO MALFOY WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! PERFORMING THAT SPELL WITHOUT MY CONSENT! ON A GRIFFINDOR NONTHELESS! YOUR FATHER MUST BE ROLLING OVER IN HIS GRAVE! DO YOU INTEND TO MAR THE HONOR OF THIS FAMILY? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I EXPECT TO HEAR A VERY THOUROUGH EXPLINATION! Oh, and I hope you're having fun at school. Say 'hello' to Pansy for me."
The letter turned to ash on the floor where Draco had dropped it.
Hermione was sniggering, loud enough that neither Hermione nor Draco noticed someone else laughing from a nearby corner.
Draco glared at Hermione. He had been humiliated in front of the mudblood. He wanted to make her pay.
"What's so funny, Granger?" He growled.
"Your mother," she said with a snort, "sounded exactly like Molly Weasley."
A loud snort of laughter echoed from behind Hermione, and the two Head students turned and stared at the empty space.
"What the…" Draco started. But Hermione was faster.
"I can't believe you!!" She screamed as she clawed at the air where the noise originated. "Harry!"
Hermione connected and she ripped the invisibility cloak off of Harry, who was still trying to contain his laughter.
"I can't believe you!!" She screamed at Harry, who finally stopped his violent snickering.
Draco stood there, speechless. Harry Potter, wonder boy himself, had just appeared out of thin air in the one place he would never want to see him. And to top it off, he had been witness to his humiliation.
Draco was pissed.
