Hermione woke slowly to the hushed chatter that danced around the fifth year's dorm. She kept her eyes closed, hoping for a few extra minutes of blissful sleep. In her dreary state, she heard Daphne's laugh trail from the bathroom.
"I'm not surprised, Pansy. You and Draco make a perfect match." Daphne's voice crowded her head
"Well of course," Pansy's smug tone was enough to completely wake Hermione.
She sat up and rubbed away the black dots that clouded her vision, all hope for sleep was lost. She grabbed her folded uniform from her trunk that resided in front of her bed and snaked quietly between the other girls who were woken in a similar fashion to her. Once she reached the bathroom Daphne had gone to take a shower leaving Pansy behind as a frustrating roadblock.
"Hermione, have you heard?" Pansy smiled at the mirror and tilted her head, acting uncharacteristically kind.
Hermione shook her head and tried to inch her way past Pansy. Anything seemed better than falling into an obvious trap she had set out.
"Malfoy invited me to go to watch him play quidditch tomorrow," Her face was glowing, contrast to the typical sullen look on her face whenever Hermione was around.
"Oh, well that's very nice of him," She didn't understand how being invited to a quidditch game was such good news, especially good enough to make her mood do a complete 180.
"Yes… I think so too," Pansy's face suddenly shriveled up and she almost looked like someone's foot that had been left in the bath too long. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Granger?"
And just like that, almost as if a switch was flicked inside Pansy's brain, things had gone back to normal. Hermione nodded once again and made her way over to the showers. The bathrooms never looked grimy and always had a sweet smell wafting around. She was grateful that they didn't have to share with the boys, she's heard from some of them about frogs popping up, seemingly out of nowhere, and some putrid smell that never washes out. She could imagine it was worse than the communal bathrooms near the Great Hall. The thought alone could make her gag. Just as Hermione finished getting dressed, Daphne knocked on her stall.
"Hermione! Don't forget tonight!" She saw Daphne's polished black shoes turn and walk away from the crack in the stall.
"Bloody fantastic." Hermione groaned. She had almost forgotten the promise she made last to her friend last night. Though she wouldn't exactly call it a promise, she'd never hear the end of it if her word wasn't kept. She concluded in her head that she would stop agreeing to things when she was tired.
Once Hermione made her way out of the now crowded bathroom, she grabbed her book bag and made her way to her first class of the year. Potions. Daphne caught up to her just before she had opened the door of the dungeon that their class took place in. Hermione had missed breakfast, she didn't mind since breakfast food never appealed much to her.
"Potions first? This should be good, Hermione, Potter and his little weasel will be here soon. It's always fun to have a show on our first day back," Daphne led them to the table placed in the middle of the Slytherin's side. It was a compromise they made in their first year. Daphne wanted to sit in the back while Hermione insisted on the front. The middle ground was evidently the middle table.
"Let's just hope Weasley's cauldron doesn't explode this year. I had to wash my hair for hours after and I still found beetle guts in it for days." She shook her head in disgust. Before that, she didn't care much about Weasley and Potter, they never got in her way and didn't disrupt class often. Seeing the beetle guts fall out of her hair every so often was her final straw with the pair.
The girls discussed horror stories about the Gryffindors until class began. Snape floated inside the classroom and took a long surveying look at his students.
"No Potter this year, Weasley? How disappointing." His usual stone cold face gave no indication that he was disappointed with Potter's absence.
Just as Weasley opened his mouth to reply, Potter burst through the door.
"Sorry, professor, I uh, lost track of time this morning." He breezed past Snape and sat next to his red haired friend.
"Has the summer messed with your sense of time or are you merely incompetent, Mr. Potter?" Snape drawled as he turned his back to write their assignment on the board. "10 points from Gryffindor for being late."
Hermione heard Malfoy snicker from behind. He had walked in moments after Potter and snuck behind Snape while he was scolding Potter. The class continued smoothly. Hermione was diligently taking notes while Snape would say the ingredients and the effects of the potion that they were practicing today. It was a difficult potion that was supposed to end up as a swirly forest green color. Hermione looked around near the end of the lesson and noticed that many people's cauldrons held a sickly pale yellow concoction, but theirs was close to perfect. Somehow they managed to work together well enough all while Daphne was squeezing Hermione's arm with a deathly grip.
"Calm down, Daph, we got it," Hermione wrenched Daphne's hand off and pointed at Weasley's pot. "See, I think the weasel just vomited in his cauldron. Maybe he thought it'd earn him a decent grade."
"Fuck off will you, Granger," Weasley grumbled earning a chuckle from Hermione.
Daphne let out a breath of relief while she surveyed the other student's attempts and saw that theirs was much better than most.
"Malfoy's looks better. How'd you do that, Draco?" Daphne turned in her seat expectantly.
"I followed directions, Daphne. I also don't have a mudblood as a partner." He sent a sneer at the back of Hermione's head. She didn't need to turn around to see, she could feel the nasty face he was pulling.
"The results of today's potions were absolutely dreadful. These would not deflate anything swollen, these would perhaps be the cause of the swelling," Snape's voice rose above the student's. He wandered around the tables then stopped at Potter and Weasley's table.
"I believe Ms. Granger was correct, this is absolutely revolting." His nose scrunched in disgust. When Snape reached Malfoy's and Hermione's table he nodded slowly and decided to bottle Malfoy's.
"I'll be sending this to Madam Pomfrey, this was acceptable."
Once he was done he dismissed the class and sent them off to Transfiguration. Daphne had her arm intertwined with Hermione's while they walked through the corridors.
"We were close anyway, 'Mione, at least he didn't say ours was vomit." Daphne always called Hermione 'Mione' when she was trying to comfort her. It always made her feel a bit better, her parents called her that when she was little.
"I'd be fine if it was anyone other than Malfoy, I'll never hear the end of this," Hermione shook her head imagining the snarky comments she'll have to endure until their next potions class, possibly for longer.
"Granger, you doubt how humble I am," Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle in tow appeared from behind a corner. They blocked the girl's path but Daphne weaved her way through with Hermione attached to her arm.
"Congratulations Malfoy, you're on the path of becoming a decent person," Daphne said over her shoulder while they quickly jogged to class, giggling quietly.
"Where did they even come from? I swear he's always waiting for me to come by just to humiliate me," Hermione and Daphne reached the door and pushed it open together.
"Don't overthink it, 'Mione he's just a dick, nothing more," Daphne suddenly pointed to where Theo was seated alone. "I'll sit with you in the next class, I promised to sit with him for Transfiguration."
"That's alright, have fun Daph." She watched as her friend sat next to Theo and chatted quietly together.
Hermione settled in a seat to the front on the side with a perfect view of the board, her dream come true. She was digging through her bag trying to find her quill when her dream quickly became a nightmare. Malfoy's unfortunate familiar scent of subtle cologne made its way to Hermione's nose. He sat to her left unknowing that Hermione was within arm's length. She popped up her head, shooting Malfoy a deadly glare.
"Christ, Granger! What the hell are you doing here?" Malfoy's eyes widened slightly in fear but quickly changed his expression to disgust.
"I could ask you the same thing," She was tightly gripping her quill.
"Pansy was supposed to sit here, she said she would. Move, and quickly, will you. Your awful stench may linger if you're here any longer," He demanded and waved his hand as if she were a first year in his spot in the common room.
"Fuck off, Malfoy find a different spot, I was here first," She crossed her arms, standing her ground.
"Oh real mature, don't go pulling straws in hopes I'll give in," He spat out and leaned in closer. "I will not be sitting next to you for the rest of the year. You're lowlife, Granger, and you won't boss me around like your little friend does to you,"
"You're one to talk, all you do is boss around your so-called 'friends'. I hate to break it to you, but you won't be ordering me around either." She held his eye no matter how much the hatred burned. His cloudy grey eyes that held exhausted rings underneath, merely one day before had vanished and only showed his fiery anger.
"I won't tell you again, Granger. Move." Malfoy's hand was gripping his wand now, Hermione knew he wouldn't hesitate to hex her over a seat. She shifted carefully, ready to grab her things and migrate far to the other side of the room.
"Alright! Pipe down! Settle in please. Welcome back. Now, this year will be much more invigorating, I'm sure as you all know, you will begin prepping for your O.W.L's, I will not be accepting into my N.E.W.T class unless they have achieved Exceeding Expectations or higher." Professor McGonagall interrupted the two and began her lesson immediately.
Usually she would be grateful, she had always admired her professor's no-nonsense attitude, but now it was practically putting her life in danger. She could feel the arrows Malfoy was shooting through her head. If he could learn how to properly Avada someone with just a glare, Hermione would be the first to go. Alongside Potter. Dread filled her body and cold shivers were running down her back. She knew her fight or flight had kicked in, but had to stay put. Instead of turning and punching Malfoy, she decided to postpone that, and focused her attention on what Professor McGonagall was explaining.
The second her quill touched the paper, the arrows stopped and the only thing left was the hot anger dripping off of Malfoy. She figured it was a start and hoped he would calm down eventually. She found it much easier to focus after a few minutes and was able to perform the spell after only a few tries.
"You're doing it wrong you know," Hermione glanced over to her left where Malfoy sat, struggling to conjure a matchbox.
"Wonderful observation, Granger, good to know you don't need to share glasses with Potter," The anger had resided and was replaced with annoyance.
"It's too bad, really. I was just starting to believe all your 'purebloods excel over anyone' nonsense," She wore a smug grin. If this kept up, the rest of the year wouldn't be half bad.
"Count your days, mudblood," He flicked his wand in the wrong direction for the twentieth time.
"It'd be useless anyway, all it would prove is that I can count higher than you." She tried to ignore the pang in her chest that always followed when he called her 'mudblood'. Instead, she conjured another matchbox next to her first with a bored expression.
"Ms. Granger, these are lovely. I hope this level of skill continues, and I will have the pleasure of inviting you to class sixth year," Professor McGonagall examined the small boxes with a close eye then shot Malfoy a concerned glance.
"I expected better, Mr. Malfoy. Your wand movement is backwards and your pronunciation is off. I expect you to attend next class with a clear mind." She gave him a final stern look then walked to the next table critiquing Goyle's matchbox that was the size of a shoe box.
Malfoy corrected his technique and conjured three dark green matchboxes with a swirling gold lining the boxes. She endured his snarky comments about how hers looked like the mud beneath her boots then quickly gathered her things and scurried to the Great Hall. The food displayed looked as wonderful as it did the night before. She ate while writing the beginning of her potions essay.
"That isn't due until Thursday isn't it, Hermione?" Daphne sat down and they chatted for a bit about classes and what they were planning to do after class. Daphne informed her that Theo and his friends would be drinking with them tonight.
After lunch the pair headed to History of Magic then parted for their final class of the day. Hermione was taking Study of Ancient Runes while Daphne had Divination.
Hermione wormed her way out of having to take it with her, ranting for far too long about the uselessness of the class until Daphne gave in. They decided to take Care of Magical Creatures together instead. Daphne figured it would be easy while Hermione decided it would give her important information
Once dinner was over, Daphne and Hermione regrouped in the common room to come up with a plan for Hermione to snatch Firewhiskey without any of the elves noticing.
"Oh come on, Hermione, that was perfect," Daphne had her head down in defeat with her forehead pressed against the cool surface of the table.
"I'm not short enough to be an elf, dimwit," She was laying on the couch facing Daphne.
"Well, you'll just have to run in there when they're not looking, it worked the first few times I tried it," Daphne lifted her head up. "You'll have to be quick, or else they'll notice."
"Alright…" Hermione groaned and was dragged up before she could change her mind.
They threw on their cloaks and pointy hats and carefully snuck to the kitchens. On the way there Daphne spotted Peeves floating down the hall, giggling to himself.
"That boy had it coming, old Peevey knows, out after dark tsk tsk," He paused to giggle but glanced over his shoulder and sped away.
"PEEVES!" Malfoy crashed into a pillar attempting to chase after the long gone ghost.
Daphne covered her mouth, barely muffling her laugh and pointed to his hair. Apparently, Peeves took it into his own hands to punish Malfoy for sneaking out after dark by smashing raw eggs into his hair.
"We can blame the missing Firewhiskey on Peeves, we'll just have to douse Malfoy in some first," Hermione whispered. This time Daphne didn't muffle her laugh quick enough.
Malfoy snapped his head towards where the girls were hiding behind another pillar and shot a spell their way.
"Run!" Daphne grabbed Hermione's hand and they raced down the hall towards the kitchens.
Malfoy's distant threats were completely drowned out by the air crashing in her ears and the heavy breaths that were escaping her.
She was aware of Malfoy's heavy footsteps growing closer, so she led Daphne behind a large statue of a lion's head. She bent over and gulped up as much air as she could. Once Malfoy inevitably gave up searching for them, she left Daphne to go pillage the kitchen.
It was strangely quiet when she reached the doorway, so she assumed that the elves had chased after Peeves when he stole their eggs. She snuck inside and grabbed a bottle filled with the familiar dark red liquid. She only drank it once, and hated the way it burned through her throat and into her stomach. She also stole a few bottles of pumpkin juice on her way out, then shoved all the beverages into her bag.
On their way back they made sure to stay out of eyesight in case Malfoy or a teacher spotted them. Daphne opened the dungeon door once they finally made it back in one piece.
"This will be fun, I promise-" Daphne cut short when she looked at their sitting area.
Five boys were crowding the couches and seats that surrounded the fire. Theo and Blaise were playing wizard's chess listening to Malfoy complain about the eggshells that wouldn't wash out of his hair.
Hermione groaned.
"Oh yeah, this will be marvelous."