Hermione woke up to the lovely sound of an argument.
"Malfoy, you have to come to the meeting! McGonagall told us it was mandatory for both you and Hermione!"
Ginny? Hermione thought, blinking her eyes open.
"And we don't even have classes today, so you don't have any excuse." floated in Zacharias Smith's unpleasant voice.
"Oh yeah?" retorted Draco. Hermione could just hear his sneer, even though she couldn't see him at the moment. "What about the fact that maybe I don't want to?"
After this point, all three parties started arguing at the same time, so nothing that was said was discernible to Hermione's ears anymore.
With a groan, she sat up, yawned, and padded over to the door. When she opened it, Crookshanks streaked out, curious to see who the newcomers were.
Ginny and Zacharias, wearing not their school robes, but just casual clothes, stood facing her, behind the couch, glaring at something sitting on it, which was evidently Draco.
"What's the matter, guys?" asked Hermione groggily. "Isn't it a bit early in the morning to be fighting?"
"Hermione!" squealed Ginny, running around the couch to hug her. "I'm so sorry I didn't try to find you on the train yesterday! Smith and I had to sit with all the prefects."
As the two walked over to where Zacharias was standing, he said stiffly, "Nice to see you again, Granger." in a tone that proved he didn't mean it at all.
Draco, sprawled on the couch, with Crookshanks next to his head, snapped, "Her name's Hermione, Smith. Show some respect towards the Senior Girl."
Ginny stared, her mouth slightly open. "How do you even know how to pronounce her name?"
"I'm Head Boy!" Zacharias protested pompously.
Draco ignored him. "I learned, duh. It's something every human being has to experience, don't you know?"
Ginny snorted. "Right. Emphasis on the 'human being' part."
Zacharias, glaring at Malfoy, again whined, "I'm Head Boy!"
"We heard you the first time." Draco sneered. "And quit looking at me. It's disgusting."
"I can look wherever I want!"
"You can close your eyes forever, all I care."
Hermione decided it was time to intervene, in case things got truly ugly. "So, why were you three arguing earlier?"
Ginny replied, "Professor McGonagall wants to hold a meeting after breakfast with just us four. She said all seventh years, and including you and Malfoy, won't start classes until tomorrow. Apparently, there are going to be big changes in procedures this year, and she wants to discuss everything with us."
"Oh," said Hermione. "So Draco, why don't you want to go?"
Before he could reply, Ginny interjected, "And you just called him by his first name, too, Hermione! What's going on around here?" she asked, bewildered.
"She and I called a truce." said Draco calmly. "Simple as that. We're friends now, you know."
Ginny turned towards Hermione again, an alarmed look on her face.
"I'll explain later." said Hermione hastily. "Draco, we're going. You'd better be ready after I'm done changing. Come on, Ginny, I want to show you my room!"
With that, the girls retreated to Hermione's room, leaving the boys, (including Crookshanks), in the common room.
Before Ginny could shut the door, however, Hermione heard Zacharias comment, "Wow, she looks hot in her pajamas, doesn't she?" followed by Draco saying, "Yes, just like you'll look like when I shove my wand up your ass."
As Hermione went to shut the bathroom door, too, Ginny put her hands on her hips, clearly demanding an explanation.
"Smith is so vile," said Hermione, trying to buy herself time.
"Thanks for stating the obvious, Hermione. And you are kind of just wearing a tank top and short-shorts."
Hermione blushed. Why couldn't Smith just have kept his thoughts to himself? Look at Draco… he hadn't said anything. But then again, maybe he had figured their truce would've been broken had he said something that inappropriate. And, he was Draco Malfoy, after all. No one was as hot as he in his mind.
"Well, to make a long story short, Draco and I kind of decided to start over last night. We both realized that spending a year in such close proximity hating each others' guts would probably not be the best approach to take. He's really changed, Ginny. He hasn't called me 'Mudblood' once."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to forgive him just like that, after all these years?"
Hermione debated internally… she wished to tell Ginny what Draco had said, but decided against it. She wanted to respect his privacy. "He said some… pretty personal things that convinced me he wanted to turn over a new leaf. And he listened to me, too, when I told him about… my parents…"
Ginny hugged her arms, and sighed, saying, "Just be careful, Hermione. If he really has changed, I'll treat him as you do, but remember, his new self might wear off, after a while."
"I'll try to remember," grinned Hermione. She started changing into a blouse and jean shorts.
Meanwhile, Ginny was looking around. "You have to share a bathroom with him?" she asked, disgusted.
"It's actually not that bad, Ginny," began Hermione. Seeing the look of disgust still on her friend's face, Hermione explained, "We each have our own sink, and there are separate rooms for the toilet and shower. We pretty much don't have to wait on each other at all."
"Awkward…" muttered Ginny, but she decided to drop it. While Hermione was in the bathroom washing up, she asked Ginny, "Have you heard from Harry recently?"
"Nope," Ginny replied sadly. "I'm sure he and Ron's owls will be making an appearance within the week, though. God, I really want to know where they are."
"Me, too." said Hermione. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!"
"Wand." Ginny reminded her. After Hermione grabbed her wand, she stuck it in her front pocket, and hid it underneath her blouse, so that she could feel the warm wood against her skin.
Ginny opened the door, and the girls went back into the common room.
Surprisingly, both Draco and Zacharias were still in one piece, and were in fact sitting on the couch talking to each other civilly. Crookshanks purred when he saw the girls, lounging on Draco's lap.
"What's going on?" asked Ginny suspiciously. "Honestly, I've already dealt with an unexpected surprise this morning, and I don't need another one."
"Well," drawled Draco, "since we're going to be working together a lot this year as the student leadership of Hogwarts, it's probably best to try and cooperate, isn't it?"
"Yeah," agreed Zacharias.
Ginny sighed. "All right. If Hermione can put up with it… so can I."
Hermione gave Ginny an encouraging smile. "Excellent. Let's go then!"
As the four of them filed down the staircase, Crookshanks leading the way, they managed to make almost-friendly conversation with one another. Crookshanks ran out the main entrance when they opened the door to the tower, presumably to hunt some breakfast. When the rest of them went into the Great Hall, Draco and Hermione simultaneously stopped, confused.
The Great Hall looked almost the same as before, but there was just one change: the platform where the High Table was. Before, the platform had been accessible by three steps up a mini-staircase that spanned the length of the platform. Now, there were two platforms. The first mini-staircase led to a smaller platform that held two small tables standing side by side, facing the rest of the students, each for two people, it seemed. Then a second mini-staircase behind the first platform led to the larger platform, where the High Table was stationed.
Ginny whispered to Hermione, "Yeah, I forgot to mention, McGonagall said those two tables are for us: one for me and Smith, and the other for you and Malfoy."
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"I don't know, I guess McGonagall will explain after breakfast!" replied Ginny.
After Zacharias explained what Ginny had just told Hermione to Draco, the four of them trudged up to the platform. This is going to be awkward, thought Hermione. Luckily, they were early, and the Great Hall was at the moment almost completely empty. None of the teachers had arrived yet, and only one or two students from each House sat at the tables below.
So Draco and Hermione sat down at one table, while Ginny and Zacharias sat down at the other. Both girls sat on the inside of the tables, so that they were next to each other.
However, breakfast passed mostly in silence. All of them were chewing thoughtfully, wondering what McGonagall's meeting would be about.
As more students arrived, Hermione grew more and more uncomfortable. They would stare at all four on the platform, but would additionally point to Hermione and whisper excitedly.
Draco, as if sensing Hermione's discomfort, patted Hermione's hand hesitantly, and whispered, "Just ignore them, Mione. They'll stop eventually." As he said this with his hand on hers, Hermione felt a surge of warmth shoot through her, and gratefully replied, "Thanks, Drake." Why does he always make me feel that way? she wondered.
The owl post arrived, and, as expected, no letters from Ron or Harry came. Damn, Hermione thought, I forgot to renew my Daily Prophet subscription! Well, I guess I have the rest of the day to do it.
After breakfast, when the rest of the students filed out of the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall came to stand in front of the small tables.
"Good to see you again, Professor." said Hermione warmly, while the best Draco could manage was a respectful nod.
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy." she acknowledged. "Let's all go up to your common room, shall we?"
She briskly turned around and started walking out of the Great Hall. Hermione, Draco, Ginny, and Zacharias were right on her heels. When they arrived in front of Lady Montecino's portrait, she immediately let them in, after Professor McGonagall announced her identity. She went in first, and sat down in one of the chintz armchairs. Hermione, Draco, and Ginny sat on the couch, while Zacharias claimed the other armchair.
Wasting no time, Professor McGongall immediately said, "This year will set the precedent for future years at Hogwarts, so listen up closely, you four."
Hermione, who was wedged between Draco and Ginny, leaned towards McGonagall slightly.
"First off, this common room will be the living quarters of the Head Boy and Head Girl starting next year, if it works well this year." Looking at Ginny and Zacharias's disappointed faces, she said, "I'm sorry you two won't get to use them this year, but we had to have a trial year first, and since Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy seemed the most suitable for the experiment, we decided to let them try it out. But don't worry; I'm sure they will let you two spend as much time up here as you want."
"Secondly, since the newest and foremost policy of this school is "House Unity," you four will be sitting up on the platform during mealtimes. This is so the highest leadership at this school will seem to belong to no House, so that House rivalries will become less emphasized. The students that hold the highest position at school will seem more neutral, and hopefully, your examples will be followed by the rest of the students. Next year, it will be just the Head Boy and Head Girl that will sit up there, though, since we won't be having a Senior Boy and Senior girl anymore."
"Lastly, the Valentine Ball. As you may have already suspected, you four will start off the dance with each other, so it is mandatory for you to attend. I hope you all brought your dress robes, in any case. Now, Mr. Smith and Ms. Weasley, have you established patrol times with the prefects?"
"Yes, Professor," Ginny answered. "We worked everything out on the train ride yesterday."
"Excellent." said McGonagall. "As I told the seventh years yesterday, you will receive your class schedules tomorrow." she said to Draco and Hermione. "So you can enjoy the rest of the day off. But I warn you, come prepared tomorrow. This year will not be easy." she said grimly. "Are there any other questions?"
"I have one." said Zacharias. "So who's in charge for real, the Head Boy and Head Girl, or the Senior Boy and Senior Girl?" Of course you would ask that. thought Hermione, internally rolling her eyes. Next to her, Draco sneered.
Professor McGonagall replied, "You have the same rank, but your duties will not be the same. You and Ms. Weasley are to lead the prefects, as is tradition. This year, the Senior Boy and Senior Girl will be in charge of promoting House Unity, such as organizing frequent events to bring the Houses together. Next year, both duties will belong to the Head Boy and Head Girl, but since it is new this year, we decided to split them up."
Looking at the others, she asked, "Are there any other questions?"
They shook their heads no, and so she bid them good morning, saying she had to head back downstairs. After she left, the four of them chatted politely for a bit longer, especially about the Valentine ball, until Zacharias and Ginny decided it was time to return to their own common rooms and check up on the other houses.
As the portrait door swung shut behind them, Draco turned to face Hermione, and asked, grinning, "So, what do you want to do today?"