A/N Hey guys, so you're all really lucky today because, as I'm away tomorrow, I'm updating early for the first time ever so far. Don't expect me to do this all the time though, next update will be on Tuesday. Hope you enjoy, things are about to get feisty
Chapter 3 - The Word Mudblood
"Spero," Hermione murmured once she got to the portrait. Nothing happened. She looked expectantly at Draco. "Stupid mudblood, Spero!" Draco grunted. Hermione flinched but still, nothing happened. Draco snarled, took out his wand and hissed through gritted teeth, "Spero," but to no effect. Hermione smirked. Draco glowered and snarled, "Now what mudblood, your stupid professor friend has given us a false password!"
Hermione hitched her breath at that word, and let out a growl saying, "I don't know what deluded world Professor McGonagall was in when she made you a head boy, but you will not treat her with such low words!" Draco snorted and stepped sideways into the wall slightly, and swore very loudly. "SHIT!" he hissed, as he nearly stumbled into the painting. Hermione looked from Draco to the painting expectantly, then tentatively reached out to touch the portrait but, to her surprise, her hand went straight through. She felt around and behind the waterfall she found a button! "There's a button here," Hermione stated to Draco.
"Are you stupid or what?" Draco growled, "Press it!" Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at him testily, coming to the decision however to just open the door. She pressed the button. There was a click and the door swung open. Hermione took her hand out of the frame and walked inside.
Inside, there was a small kitchenette in the corner to her left, two sofas separated with a coffee table in the middle (also slightly to her left), and three doors on her right. There was a small bookshelf behind the sofas and a small fireplace next to it. There were no windows. A clock hanging to the right of the kitchenette read 9:10. She spotted her suitcase next to the sofas and walked over to it. Draco walked over to try the doors. There was a dorm behind the door closest to the frame, and another dorm two doors down. They were separated by a white tiled bathroom equipped with a shower, bathtub, toilet and sink. "What dorm do you want! One closest to the frame or the one on the other side?" Draco called from inside the bathroom.
"Frame please!" Hermione called back. She'd just said please to Draco Malfoy - idiot. After mentally recovering, she hauled her suitcase by the handle into her room and slammed the door shut. She opened her suitcase and a tear slipped down her cheek. She may not have wiped her parents memories, but they still seemed lost to her. She took out the framed photograph of her and her parents and stood it on the small desk. There wasn't much in the room. Opposite the door was a bed, to the right was a window, to the left was a desk, between the desk and the door wall was a chest of draws and on top was a wardrobe. "Accio clothes," she murmured, and all the clothes in her suitcase (which had an undetectable extension charm placed on it) flew into her arms. She dumped them in a folded pile outside her wardrobe and draws and began putting them in.
After all the clothes were away, she got out a miniaturised empty oak bookshelf, enlarged it to its full size, and levitated it next to the window. She then accio'd all the books and began placing them on the shelves in order of type and popularity - her favourite novels on the most accessible shelves, school textbooks below them, and non fiction above them. Other books were placed below the textbooks. She then moved the picture of her and her parents onto the bedside table (there were 2, one on each side of the bed) and put the picture of her, Ron and Harry on the desk. However, that photo moved. Her parents were still, and lifeless. Merlin she hoped nothing happened to them. Picture Ron put his arm comfortingly around picture Hermione, who smiled and pecked picture Ron on the cheek. Picture Harry pretended to vomit and then they all smiled at the real Hermione, who smiled back.
She put most of her school equipment in one of the cupboards in her bedside table, and the quills, ink and parchment on her desk. Then, Hermione took out her toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner and walked next door to put them in the bathroom. Walking back into her room, she put her cosmetics on her desk with her hairbrush. And that was it.
Draco had also finished. He walked over to Hermione, who was sitting on the sofa, and sat opposite her. She flinched. Neither of them spoke. "So," Hermione finally broke the silence, "we need to..."
"If you think I'm going to be civil to someone like you you're wrong, mudblood. Why in the name of Merlin would we be civil to each other?" Draco spat. Hermione gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes.
"Malfoy! We are sharing a living space for a year! We're even using the same toilet!" She half shouted.
"And what exactly will this 'civilness' require, mudblood?" Draco sneered.
"No unkindness directed at each other,"
"Oh come off it!" Draco interrupted, " I'm not going to be kind to a mudblood because we're working together!"
"Mudblood," she thought, the word pounding in her head as he said it, "Mudblood Mudblood MUDBLOOD!"
"FINE! No use of the word mudblood," Hermione said firmly, blocking out the chant in her head.
"You seem unusually touched by the word," he sneered.
"Shut up Malfoy," Hermione growled through gritted teeth, hands clenched and reopening the barely healed wounds. Nothing more than a slag, that's what that death eater had said. 'Mudbloods like you don't deserve magic.' Their previous row repeated in her head. Draco observed her tense stance and smirked. "I see no reason to do anything a mudblood wants," he drawled. Hermione gripped the table separating them. Mudblood. The word screamed in her head. Don't deserve magic. Draco could see a beam of sweat breaking across her forehead and looked at her puzzled. Why was she so affected by the word. "Mudblood," he tried, smirking, but instantly regretted it as Hermione launched all her weight into a backhand across his face. She wasn't going to risk getting blood on his face with a proper slap. She didn't want to think of what could happen then. "What the fuck is wrong with you mudblood?!" Draco yelled angrily, launching himself out of the sofa, knocking Hermione backwards and tumbling into her sofa. Stepping over the coffee table, Draco made his way over to Hermione, who had jumped over the back of the sofa and was aiming her wand at the sneering boy in defence. "Stay away from me," Hermione breathed. Draco thrust his wand out at her and flicked it. Hermione watched in horror as a small snake protruded out of the end of his wand, green in colour with red, gem like eyes. "Vipera Evanesca," Hermione choked, pointing her wand at the snake. The snake dodged and hissed angrily at the girl. "Vipera Evanesca!" She said more fiercely. A thin beam of sweat broke across her brow as the snake slithered across the floor towards her. Backing against the wall, Hermione cast spell after spell at the snake until finally, it burst into flames. Then, she aimed her wand at Draco, trembling in fury, and yelled, "Locomotor Mortis!" Draco dodged and sent a jet of white light at her, but she dodged and disarmed him with a powerful Expelliarmus. The wand flew straight into Hermione's hand. Draco did not back down for a second however, although he looked furious. "Give me my wand back mudblood!" Draco spat.
"No!" She retorted. Draco launched himself at her in anger, knocking her off of her feet and they both went tumbling down to the floor, Draco furiously trying to get his wand back. Hermione slapped him in the face, trying to get him off but he wouldn't budge. The wand went flying across the floor and Draco, looking smug, received it. "Incarcerous!" Draco yelled, sending three black ropes shooting out of his wand to wrap around Hermione's body. "Get off!" She screamed at him, "Get these off me or I swear I'll use them to strangle you in your sleep!" Draco laughed mercilessly, although something about her struggling made him feel put off. This made him angry. She was a mudblood, he shouldn't feel bad for her. Grinning, he tightened the ropes but Hermione just stood there, proud. However, a little tighter and Hermione was finding it difficult to breath. She looked at him with petrified eyes and tried to get the ever tightening ropes off. It was as if she were back in that street...
She started gasping for breath and Draco instantly released her, feeling a lump in the pit of his stomach. Why did he do that? Why did he just tie her up for his amusement?! It made him feel sick. "Stay away from me!" Hermione choked. Once she had rubbed the pain away, Draco turned and muttered, "Night mudblood," before walking to his dorm.
"Don't call me that!" She yelled back. He turned and looked at her curiously, before shutting his door, wondering what was affecting her so much about the word.
Once in bed and in pyjamas, Hermione grimaced at her photograph. This was going to be a long year. She turned over and tried to fall into a well deserved sleep. Half an hour it took for her breaths to become even.
On the other side of the bathroom, Draco too was finding sleeping with an enemy difficult. What was her problem with that word anyway. Mudblood. The word rang in his ears."Mudblood," he said slowly, letting the words roll over his tongue. Surely she wasn't as affected by it as she made out. After all, it was just a word. He kept his wand on his bedside table. Damn those walls were so thin! He could practically hear her sleeping and it was very disturbing. He turned over and managed to block out the sleeping mudblood with a wandless silencing charm. He was getting good at wandless magic.
Hermione woke in the early hours of Monday morning, and smelt a definite male deodorant in the air. Trying to place exactly why there was a male in the girls dormitory in her groggy state... She looked around and sat up. And then it all came flooding back to her. She wasn't in the girls dorms in her cosy tower, she was in the Head Girl dorm, with no one for company but Malfoy, and it had never felt colder on a bright September day. She groaned and took out a towel to take a shower.
Once the shower had warmed up, Hermione pulled back the curtain and stepped in. It was heavenly, as morning showers always were on a stressed being. She took her body wash from the side and lathered it on. Relaxation came as the steam filled her nostrils. She sighed at the prospect of having to share a dorm with her arch enemy for a year but she could always visit her dorm back in the tower if things were getting out of hand. However, she really didn't want to and she wouldn't do it simply because of the word mudblood. She didn't want Draco to think that she was a coward. Mudblood. She looked down at her slightly healed palms. Mudblood.
Likewise, Draco was thinking exactly the same thing on the other side of the wall. He was not going to his dorm because a stupid mudblood was pissing him off. The charm had wavered in the night and he could clearly hear the water splattering onto the floor on the other side of the wall. He could hear her, moans and all. "Merlin damn it," Draco muttered groggily. The shower sounds had woken him up and left him thinking. He tried another wandless silencing charm but to no affect. He was obviously far too tired for the spell to work. Swearing loudly, Draco pulled on a pair of loose fitting, black trousers, snatched up his wand and went out into the kitchenette and made a cup of coffee with a few swishes of his wand. He gulped it down and glowered at the now empty cup.
Just then, Hermione came out in her white dressing gown and gave a short scream of surprise (and fright) at the sight of Draco - topless - leaning on the kitchen cabinet. She hurried into her room and slammed the door. Draco smirked and put his cup into the sink, turned, and walked towards the bathroom, flicking his wand behind him at the sink to wash his cup. He reached the bathroom, inhaled, and grimaced. "Bloody hell," he murmured. He hated that mudblood's body wash - lavender - he hated that smell. He yanked at a clean towel and threw it next to the shower. He then went in for his own shower and tried to ignore the pungent smell of that mudblood Granger everywhere.
After the short shower, Draco dried himself and slipped back into his black trousers. He then used his wand to dry his hair. He stared at the mirror, before putting a little gel into his hand and putting his hair into his usual hairstyle. After that, he simply slipped back into his room and began to change properly.
Hermione was scowling. How could he not have the decency of putting a top on. And... After last night, she was downright petrified of him. Sighing through gritted teeth, Hermione hung up her dressing gown and began changing into her school robes. "Damn that self absorbed ferret!" she hissed into the eerie space in her bedroom. She was better than him at magic, he should be wary of her, not the other way round. Once changed, Hermione shouldered her empty school bag, picked up her beaded one, put the beaded one into her school bag, and walked out her dorm to have breakfast downstairs. She didn't know why she now took her beaded bag with her everywhere she went, it just seemed natural in a time of war. She needed to have that bag just in case. Just as she'd opened the portrait door however, Draco came out his room and called her name. "What?" Hermione spat.
"I came to say okay," Draco smirked.
"What?" Hermione demanded, confused.
"I will not call you mudblood, mudblood," Draco continued slyly. Hermione looked at him uncertainly. "As long as," he continued coldly, "You don't bring up anything to do with the end of last year, or my parents." Hermione looked at him for a moment, before she said, "Deal."
"Fine."
"Fine." Hermione muttered, turning to leave. Draco headed back into his room and grabbed his empty school bag and put a chain into the zipped pocket in it. He too, left to get some breakfast in the great hall. Just like Hermione, he needed to carry around the bizarre object. The chain was just important to him.
Once spotting them, Hermione made her way over to Harry, Ron, Luna and Neville. She eyed Luna curiously before yesterday night's conversation dawned on her. No house tables. She looked around. All the Slytherins were at their table, not allowing any others to join - typical Slytherin. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were using the two middle tables, joined by a few Gryffindors, but most the Gryffindors were grouped at the end table, where Hermione currently sat. "Hey guys," Hermione smiled, "Where's Ginny?" Just then, Ginny rushed in and hunched over, standing next to Hermione, panting. They all looked at her. Once her heart rate had returned to normal, Ginny sat and was shortly followed by Hermione. "What was that about?" Ron asked, as Hermione started pouring milk onto her cornflakes. Ginny looked at Hermione and said, "Nothing, I just wanted to ask the first question." Then they all looked at Hermione. Even Luna. "So," she pressed on, "How's the evil Slytherin Prince fitting with the brave Gryffindor Princess?" Hermione snorted. "Loving the new nicknames but," Hermione started.
"Oh they're not new," Luna smiled in her odd manor, "Everyone's been talking about it." Hermione choked on her first spoonful of cereal and stared at them. "Everyone has been talking about it," Ron growled.
Hermione looked at him, then to Harry who said, "Ron's wondering why you're not just sleeping in the tower. I mean, it is an option."
"I'm not giving Malfoy the satisfaction that he's won," she replied.
"So he hasn't said anything cruel," Neville asked.
"Nothing I can't handle," she smiled, although it faltered when she and Ginny made eye contact. The word mudblood might as well have been written across her face. Luckily, only Ginny noticed and thankfully didn't say anything. "Although," Hermione said slyly, hoping to brighten the mood, "I did slap him round the face. Twice." Everyone stared at her and laughed. Hermione absentmindedly glanced at the door and saw Draco walk in proudly and she - didn't care. She really couldn't care less what happened in that bastard's life. He wasn't worth it.
Once Ron had finished his last triangle of buttered toast, the six of them sat patiently, waiting for their timetables. Just then, McGonagall came round with the timetables. "Year seven... Seven seven seven... Aha!" McGonagall smiled, "Year seven timetables. Mr... Potter, this is yours," she gave Harry his, "and... Mr Weasley... Weasley... Here. And Miss Granger... ah yours is right under Ronald's , and Mr... Longbottom,"she handed the last one to Neville and started fishing around in a separate pile for Luna and Ginny's. "Here you go Miss Weasley, Luna," McGonagall finished with a thin smile and strode off to the next group of people. There was an audible groan. Looking up, Hermione saw Harry's expression and glanced down at her timetable just as Harry groaned, "Double Potions followed by double divination." Ron spat out a gulp of pumpkin juice and snatched at his own timetable. He scowled. "You should have given it up like me," smiled Hermione, who had double potions followed by double arithmancy.
Once everyone was ready, the six of them got up and left. Luna left them to go up to the Ravenclaw tower to pick up her bags, and Hermione followed suit soon after, heading off to her dorm to pick up her cauldron and potions ingredients. Once muttering the password, Hermione pushed the button and the door swung open to reveal the innocent looking living quarters of the dorm.
A/N I think it's cute how they're always fighting but they seem to still understand each other. See you all next Tuesday for another update! Keep reviewing guys, it may not seem it but your reviews meen a lot!