Hermione woke up looking at the ceiling, and felt the softness of her mattress beneath her. What the… wasn't I sitting under the window?
Slowly, she sat up, and yawned. Maybe I actually crawled up to bed before passing out…
Her feet plopped onto the ground, right next to Crookshanks, who promptly darted under the bed, terrified.
"Sorry, kitty. Didn't see you there." said Hermione as she raised her arms to stretch. She dressed in her school robes and then went into the bathroom. Draco's door was still closed, and she wondered if he was up yet. Oh! Maybe he was the one that put me to bed! Hermione thought. She smiled, wondering how she hadn't woken up when he levitated her onto her bed.
Looking into the mirror, she was immensely relieved that her eyes weren't swollen or even red. She pushed all thoughts of Ron out of her mind. She would respond to the letters, still sitting on her nightstand, after dinner. She quickly brushed her hair and washed up, wanting to look fresh for the first day of class. Then she went back into her room, where Crookshanks, who had resurfaced, was waiting next to the door. She grabbed her book bag and wand, and walked into the common room.
Her jaw almost dropped. The room was drowning in the softest, most pure, golden light! She could only wonder how she managed to miss this yesterday, but maybe it was because of the commotion caused by Ginny and Zacharias. However, the sunlight streaming through the eastern side of the room made her feel like she was on the star itself! The Quidditch pitch was very visible, and she could see Hagrid's hut, too. The grounds looked like a rippling bright green sea, and the lake was sparkling like a diamond. It's beautiful! she thought.
Then Hermione frowned. Where's Draco? His bedroom door was still closed and she wondered if she would be intruding if she went in to wake him up. Well, he's been in my room before. But then again, I was conscious at the time. She internally debated for a moment longer, and decided he would probably be more upset with her if she just let him oversleep.
She dropped her belongings on an armchair, and then gently knocked on his door. When no sound was returned, she opened his door, peering in. The famous mop of pale blond hair was nowhere to be seen. But a lump under the covers told Hermione that Draco was wrapped cozily inside his blankets. Cautiously, she sat down on the edge of his bed, and grabbed what most resembled his ankle.
Squeezing gently, she sang, "Wake-up, Drakey! Don't be late for the first day of class!"
What she got, she wasn't expecting in the least. Draco, whose head was resting on the headboard, sat bolt upright. He let out a yelp as his skull collided with the part of the wood that jutted out slightly at the top of the headboard, and a frightened Hermione jumped up.
"BLOODY HELL!" yelled Draco at the top of his lungs, his eyes wide, hair rumpled, making him look slightly crazed. "MY HEAD'S RINGING!" He starting rubbing the top of his scalp with both hands and winced repeatedly, while managing to glare at Hermione at the same time.
However, Hermione could only stand there with her hands over her mouth, staring at Draco. He looked so much like an angry teddy bear that she couldn't help but start giggling, not even trying to control herself. "Good- ha ha- good- good morning- ha- Drake! Ha ha ha- s- sorry about- ha ha- tha- ha ha ha- that! Great peals of laughter were emitted as she fought to regain her composure.
Draco scowled. "Nice to see you're feeling better," he sneered, "but good Lord, what kind of a wake-up call is this? My ankles are highly sensitive, y'know."
Hermione stifled her remaining giggles, and said, "I really am sorry, truly. Does it hurt?" she asked, suppressing a smile.
"Of course not," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "I rather enjoy knocking my head into wood when I wake up in the morning. It's the best sensation in the world." He continued to massage his scalp, but the wincing had stopped. "Ow." he added, obviously in exaggeration.
Hermione replied, as seriously as possible, "Well, hurry up and meet me in the common room. The sun's pretty high up, and we should be heading down to breakfast soon. I can't wait to see our schedules!" Without another work, and ignoring the look of disgust on Draco's face, she skipped out his room, and shut the door quickly.
Crookshanks was scratching at the portrait entrance, so she let him out first, then flung herself onto the couch. Poor Drake. she thought, still amused. What a way to start off the day! And to think, I was going to thank him for tucking me in last night! Well, I guess that'll have to wait until later. She lounged on the couch, admiring the view through the window, and replayed the humorous scene again in her mind. That's a keeper! she thought giddily.
A few minutes later, Draco's door swung open. His school things swinging from his hands, and his pale hair neatly combed, the boy stomped in grumpily, to Hermione's increased amusement.
Deciding to try to make him feel better, she said, "Thanks, Drake, for scraping me off the ground yesterday night. I must ask, though; how did you manage to levitate me without waking me up? I'm usually a very light sleeper!"
Draco chuckled. "I didn't use magic. When I came into your room to see if you still needed a shoulder to sob onto, I accidentally left my wand in my room. Seeing that you had passed out stone cold onto the floor, I just carried you straight to your bed and dumped you onto it. You looked wonderfully pathetic; I was almost tempted to wipe the drool of your chin."
Hermione sat in stunned silence. He… carried me? As in held-me-in-his-arms-against-his-chest held me? She remembered to breathe again. The best comeback she could manage was, "Ha… ha. I don't drool in my sleep." She glared at him to draw his attention away from her momentary lack of guard.
"You're right," Draco smirked, thankfully not noticing her blush from a moment before, "I lied. You don't drool, but you sure do snore like a duck."
Hermione gasped. "I do not!"
"How do you know? Have you heard yourself sleep?"
"No- yes! Yes I have!"
"Right. Well, I was kidding again, anyways."
"You were?"
"About the duck part, sure." he conceded. "But you still, erm- breathe deeply?" he faltered, seeing the murderous look on Hermione's face. "Who's hungry?" he added weakly.
Without another word, Hermione grabbed her things and strode out of the common room. She was almost at the bottom of the stairs when Draco finally caught up with her. "What took you so long?" she asked curtly, without bothering to turn around.
"Someone needed to apologize to Lady Montecino for your lack of manners when storming out the common room." he muttered. "Anyways, are you mad at me?"
Hermione couldn't hold it anymore. She turned around, displaying a brilliant smile, and said, "Who could be mad at you, my dear ferret?" And with a playful punch to his shoulder, she dashed down the rest of the staircase, pushed open the already agape bottom door, and sprinted for the Great Hall, Draco right on her heels.
Her book bag thumping against her side, Hermione had almost reached the entrance to the Great Hall when she felt someone's arm catch her round her waist, forcing her to walk.
"And just where do you think you're running off to?" Draco's husky voice murmured into her ear. "At that speed, you could steamroll any unsuspecting first-year. How could you do it? After they've just survived their first day of school?"
Hermione elbowed his ribs playfully, while internally hyperventilating from their obvious closeness in public. "To breakfast. I'm hungry. Is there a problem?"
Draco rolled his eyes, and they were walking inside the Great Hall, where he let go of her, making her feel disappointed again. She really didn't care about Ron at the moment.
They had arrived even earlier than yesterday, for neither Ginny nor Zacharias were there yet. They were almost alone, save for Madam Hooch and the pair of first-year Ravenclaw girls Hermione had surpassed on the way into the Great Hall, who were busy reading this morning's edition of the Daily Prophet.
As the two sat down at their table, Ginny and Zacharias strolled into the Great Hall with Luna, who waved at Hermione before settling at the Ravenclaw table to talk to the first-years.
"Morning!" Ginny said brightly, taking her seat.
"Hey!" Hermione replied. Draco just deeply nodded.
Zacharias yawned as his salutation, which earned him the evil eye from Draco. He gulped, then added on, "Everyone sleep well?" nervously.
"Of course." replied Hermione smoothly, raising an eyebrow at Draco, who decided to drop it and poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice.
"So Draco," said Ginny, munching on some toast, "Are you going to rejoin Slytherin's Quidditch team? I heard one of my teammates say that Harper, the Slytherin Captain, is ready to welcome you back with open arms should you desire, without a tryout."
"I was just thinking about that last night, actually." replied Draco seriously. "I don't even know where my Nimbus is, though." he admitted.
"Aren't you also on the team?" Zacharias asked Ginny, as if he had been deaf to the last ten seconds of conversation.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes, idiot. I'm Gryffindor's Captain."
"Congratulations, Gin." Hermione said warmly, while Zacharias stared blankly, as if he couldn't comprehend what Ginny had just said. "I'm sure Harry will be ecstatic when he finds out."
Ginny smiled. "You got letters last night, too, huh?"
"Look, Draco, there's Harper!" Hermione pointed, hastily avoiding answering Ginny's question.
"Oi, Harper!" Draco called, catching the dark-haired boy's attention. "C'mere!"
Harper, surrounded by his friends and about to sit down at the Slytherin table, shyly came up to Draco and Hermione's table.
"Hey man." Draco greeted, trying to ease the uncomfortable boy. "Congratulations on the Captaincy. Listen, about Quidditch…"
"Malfoy." Harper said abruptly, but shyly. "Can you be Captain for me? I can't do this."
Draco's eyes widened, clearly shocked. "Of course not! I haven't flown in ages! And you were picked, not me!"
"I haven't flown in a while, either." Harper countered. "Besides, you have the most experience out of anyone here, and you're Senior Boy. You should be Captain as well."
"Harper, you're a damn good Seeker, and as for my being Senior Boy, well, it's just another reason why I shouldn't be Captain. My hands are already full."
"Malfoy," pleaded Harper again, "I'm begging you, mate. Just let me try out for Chaser, that's all I'm asking. I really need to work on my grades this year, and my heart isn't really into Quidditch. I'm only playing for my dad, since he's a Quidditch fanatic."
At the mention of the boy doing something only because his father wanted him to, Draco's heart softened. "All right," he said, as Harper breathed a sigh of relief. "But you'd better clear this up with McGonagall and Hooch first, and fill me in on the details later this week, is that clear?"
"It's your world, Captain." beamed Harper. "Thanks again!" He nodded respectfully to Hermione, Ginny, and Zacharias before returning to join his friends, who instantly crowded around him, presumably to question him all about his audience with the Senior Boy.
"So, I guess this means we'll be playing each other this year," Ginny said slowly.
Draco didn't respond, his brow furrowed, thinking deeply. Hermione patted his shoulder encouragingly. "You'll be brilliant, Drake." she murmured.
Zacharias finally piped up, "Wait, so you're Captain for Gryffindor's Quidditch team, Weasley? You can't be. You're just a girl!"
Hermione could see Ginny's hand twitching, and was immensely proud when she didn't attack Zacharias with her famous Bat-Bogey Hex.