Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything affiliated with it.
Hermione's POV
*crack crack crack*
I let out a sigh of relief while yawning. Nothing is more relaxing than relieving the stress from my back; the fall I had has really made my whole body tighter. A glance at my watch tells me that it's 7:45; early for me. However considering the fact that my elemental charms essay is due tomorrow and the job applications are due on Friday, it's good that I'm up earlier.
The soft hiss from the bathroom tells me that Draco is showering so I pull out my application and sit at my desk to go over it. I've filled most of it out but I still need to write the essay about myself and my experiences. Now's as good a time as any to write it, my head is pretty clear and I have time to kill.
My name is Hermione Granger and I'm a young witch with a hunger for knowledge.
I studied at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry where I got my OWLs in Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures and I'm currently in the process of acquiring my NEWTs in Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, Potions, Transfiguration, Alchemy, Charms, Arithmancy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
I was a prefect for years 4-6 and Head Girl in our 8th year, added due to circumstances outside our control. In second year I created the Society for Preservation of Elvish Welfare which is focussed on protecting Elvish rights and campaigning for fair work. In fifth year I helped create and run a Defense Against the Dark Arts club to supplement our classroom learning.
I love reading; my favourite book has long been Hogwarts: A History. I enjoy organizing events and coordinating schedules. In my eighth year as Head Girl, I was in charge of planning events like our Halloween and Semi-formal dances, as well as leading the other prefects in their duties with the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy.
I taught Muggle Studies and created a series of lessons based on the curriculum, for first years all the way to eighth year, while we were short a teacher with the assistance of Mr. Malfoy.
I believe that I would be well suited to this position as I have plenty of experience in both the field and at a desk due to the war and my involvement with it. I have lots of knowledge in a variety of subjects as well as lots of experience in different sections of life.
As soon as I dot my last sentence, I hear a soft click and the sound of a door opening and closing. I place my feathered quill down on my desk and push my chair away from it to stand up. To stretch and release the muscles in my back that cramped while I was writing, I lean back and raise my arms above my head. I head to the bathroom and get ready so that I can wake up properly.
"Hey Draco, how's your essay for charms coming along?" He looks up from his breakfast and smiles at me after wiping his mouth with a napkin. He misses a small crumb on his nose however, and I choke a little on my cereal.
"My essay is going pretty well than- what's so funny?" By now I'm dissolving into hysterics. He's usually so precise and immaculately groomed so it's completely out of place. Ginny, who's sitting next to me, notices and starts to snicker. He begins to pout and I laugh even harder.
I point frantically at him and then my nose, trying to use gestures to communicate. However since my mouth is full of cereal and milk, I'm also trying to hide my face and get a napkin to wipe it.
"Hermione, what on Earth could possibly be so funny?"
"You've got food on your nose ferret face." Says Ron, his stuffed mouth making it hard to understand what he's saying.
Draco's cheeks redden and he hastily wipes the crumb off of his nose. He straightens up and carefully folds the now-used napkin, placing it by his plate.
"So how is your essay Hermione?"
"I'm almost finished my second full revision." I say.
"Blimey Hermione, how many more do you have?! Six?" Exclaims Ron.
"No, she has two more Weasel, shouldn't you know that by now?" Draco retorts.
"And you're sure you two aren't married yet?" I stiffen a little at Ron's comment.
"Well judging by the lack of a ring on my fourth finger, yes I'm pretty sure we're not." Says Draco, displaying his left hand for the table to see.
Some of the other nearby eighth year students snigger into their breakfast. Draco raises his eyebrows as if daring Ron to make another silly comment.
"You don't have to get so testy mate." He says, raising his hands in defense.
"I wasn't being 'testy' as you say, I was merely pointing out a fact." Draco then continues eating his breakfast, while the the table erupts in laughter. The only sign that he's aware of his surroundings and the ruckus he's caused, is a slight smirk on his face and the poise with which he eats his toast.
As we leave to hall to go to Defense, I walk next to Draco.
"Was it really necessary to challenge Ron like that?" I ask.
"Well the reaction of the table and the look on his face, in addition to the fact that I just really wanted to verbally spar with someone today, deems it worth the effort in my books." I laugh and he smiles back.
"I know the feeling. People can be very thick sometimes so it's nice to actually put them in their place."
"Oh my Hermione, are you saying that you may not be the perfect little goody-two shoes Gryffindor princess?" He covers his mouth with his hand in mock horror. "You know you sound quite Slytherin right now."
"Sod off." I say, rolling my eyes at him and batting his hand away.
Two passing fourth year Ravenclaws point to us and start whispering about our but I don't feel like reprimanding them for it.
We keep walking casually, a few minutes left before Defense starts, the golden light from the sunrise making me relax a bit. I can feel my head drifting towards his shoulder but I discreetly lean back the other way.
Draco doesn't seem to notice and for that I'm glad; it could have gotten very awkward if he did.
"Protego!" I focus on pushing my magic through my wand, holding up a strong barrier to Professor Lerwick's barrage of stunners. My shield lights up with streaks of spells and I struggle to not get distracted by them.
After a full minute of holding my shield, my focus begins to waver and so does my spell. She slowly lets off and then stops.
"Good work Ms. Granger! But remember to keep your chin up and follow through with your spell. You have very good technique and your wand work is very polished, but you need to relax a bit more and let the magic flow through you as opposed to forcing it out. It helps to extend your energy levels, especially in more challenging duels and battles." I nod and then walk over to rejoin the main group of students.
"Now who wants to try again?" All of my classmates look quite exhausted and no one steps forward. "That's alright, you guys did some great work today. I'm very impressed with your magical ability and endurance, a lot of the wizards I know wouldn't be able to perform as well as all of you. We have another 20 minutes left before this class ends, could you all practise casting your patronuses till then?"
We all form back into our Patronus partners and practise the charm. I've had much more practise since out first class so I can produce a fully corporeal patronus at will now. Draco has improved a lot, but he's still yet to produce more than a small silver wisp.
Draco pulls out his wand and screws his face up in concentration as he focuses on the memory.
"Expecto Patronum!" A burst of silver shoots out, before falling slowly to the dark, wooden floor boards. His shoulders sag a bit as he down at a desk, head bowed.
"It's been a week and I still can't do it right! Why is it so hard?" He exclaims, throwing his hands up in frustration.
Something occurs to me, something that professor Lorund just told only a few minutes earlier.
"Try relaxing when you cast it." Draco lifts his head as I try to communicate what I'm thinking. "Don't just think of your memory, immerse yourself in it. Play it back to yourself and experience what made you so happy. When you're relaxed enough, cast the spell. Let your happiness guide your Patronus."
"That makes sense." Draco gets up slowly and closes his eyes, his wand held loosely at his side. He takes a deep breath and releases it.
A smile slowly spreads across his face and he raises his hand. He opens his eyes and whispers the spell, gently performing the wand movement. Suddenly a giant snow leopard bursts forth, bounding up and around the two of us, settling back down on the floor next to Draco.
The leopard sits proudly, with dignity and grace. Draco reaches out to it and she cocks her head to the side before sniffing Draco's hand. When she's done sniffing she begins to rub against his leg, purring rather loudly. Draco's hesitant expression turns into a wide grin and he crouches down to get closer.
"Hermione! I did it." He whispers in wonder. Suddenly he shouts. "I did it! And she's so cute and warm."
They nuzzle against each other for another minute or so before Draco lets her face away. We both become acutely aware of the stares coming from our classmates, once she's gone and we both blush a little. Though at least I'm still standing, Draco is on the floor.
Professor Lerwick coughs to get everyone's attention and we turn to her.
"Right, so the bell will ring in about two minutes so you can all start packing your things up."
Our classmates reluctantly turn away but a few of them glance back every now and then. I help Draco up and brushes the non-existent dirt off of his pants.
"You did a really good job Draco, you held the charm for an impressive length of time considering that it was your first successful attempt at it." I say as he collects his belongings.
"Thanks, I didn't really know what animal to expect but I really like my snow leopard." He can barely keep the grin off of his face and after a while he stops trying to hide it. His excitement makes me happy too and soon we're both just grinning like idiots, though for different reasons.
Suddenly the bell rings and we head to our next class. A burst of warm between us grabs my attention and I see his patronus following him. I whisper an 'expecto patronum' of my own and my otter joins us. Murmurs of astonishment ripple and echo through the hallways but we continue on, walking confidently together.
Author's Note: Sorry for the later update! Happy New Year to all of you! I finally wrote the Patronus scene for Draco and now we know what animal his Patronus is. I don't know if you guys will agree with my animal choice but it took me a while to find an animal that I thought fitted. If you want to hear my reasoning, PM me and I can explain it.
Thanks for reading this, I can't wait to complete it and I'm sure you'll all be glad to stop waiting on my updates. Speaking of updates, I'm gonna stop having a regular updating schedule. It's not quite working for me. I'll just update when I finish a chapter and think that it's okay. I don't like not meeting deadlines so I"m not going to place one on myself anymore.
Please review, the feedback is very helpful! Thank you to everyone who's reviewed already. Have a great week, till next time!