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As Hermione walked into the Common Room she was still in a daze from what she had just promised herself to. No longer wanting to shower or get an early start on her day, she sat in an armchair and pulled the book from last night, a complete record of every student that had attended Hogwarts, into her lap.
Harry and Ron had been asking her to get it for them - and she had wanted answers too. Who was the Half-Blood Prince?
"Morning, Hermione," Harry's tired voice called out, causing her head to snap back and look at him. He was now yawning and rubbing his eye underneath his glasses with a curled fist.
Snapped out of her daze, she forced a wide smile on her face and stood up. "You'll never guess what I've got for today," she said. She felt if she went about her day as normal, then Dumbledore would be right. Nothing will have changed.
Harry furrowed his brows and looked down to her hand and smiled, "So we really are on for tonight?"
She smiled at him, even wider than before, "Yes, we are."
"Ron's still asleep, he said he would meet up with us in Potions," Harry said, his voice starting to liven up as he began to truly wake. "Want to walk with me to the Great Hall?"
Hermione faltered - Dumbledore would be making the announcement this morning. That is when everything that had transpired earlier would become real. However, if she decided not to go, that would look odd. Presumably, she would want to be there for this announcement. It was an honor, technically. An honor, she scoffed in her mind.
"Yes," she gathered her books and bag in her arms. "Actually, there's something you should know." Harry gave her a concerned look as the two of them made their way out of the portrait hole. "It's nothing bad," she reassured, the lie burning as the words came out, "I met with Dumbledore this morning, and he's assigned me as Junior Head Girl." She forced herself to smile as she looked down at the books in her arms.
"Wow - that's great!" Harry said as he tossed an arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick squeeze. "That must be new, yea?"
"Yes. Dumbledore said that it would be good to have more role models for the younger students to look up to during times like these." Hermione had surprised herself with how quickly she had come up with that - and so soundly that she was sure no one would question it. "But along with that honor," that word again, "I am being moved to my own personal quarters, just as if I were actually Head Girl."
Harry balked as he came to a full halt. "You won't be living in the tower anymore?"
Hermione felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach as she swallowed. "Not technically. But I will still be there every day," she assured. "And you can always come visit me." The words slipped out of her mouth before she could register them. What about Malfoy? She thought. She knew she'd have her own entrance directly into her room, but the thought of Malfoy being feet away from her, Harry, and Ron made her lurch in her stride. Harry didn't notice.
"Well, I am happy for you Hermione," Harry said. "Who's Junior Head Boy?"
'Malfoy? The dirty, slimy snake? That is who Dumbledore wants younger students looking up to?'
Needless to say, Harry hadn't taken it well. Not that she had expected him to - not that she had, herself.
Hermione spotted Malfoy from the corner of her eye as they walked into the Great Hall and headed towards the Gryffindor table. While she had avoided his gaze, Harry couldn't keep his eyes off the blond Death Eater heir.
Harry was beet red in the face the entire breakfast.
Breakfast seemed to crawl on broken fingers as Hermione waited for the Headmaster to make his announcement, and when he did, there had been a very hot and cold reaction. Malfoy and Hermione were like two sides of the same coin - loved by one half of the school, and hated by the other. The reaction was very polarizing.
But it was out there, and now it wouldn't seem weird if Malfoy and Hermione were spotted together. The Slytherin and Gryffindor tables were abuzz with chatter and queries - to which Hermione answered politically.
When Hermione began to feel overwhelmed by the attention, she made an excuse to slip away. She felt his eyes on her - as though he were mocking her. At least, he must have been mocking her with his eyes.
As Hermione rounded several turns and made her way into an empty classroom, she dropped her bag and books on an old, dilapidated desk. From behind her, she heard the door creak open and click shut. Quicker than she'd realized, Hermione snapped her head around, catching sight of a tall blond wearing black, white, silver, and green. Malfoy.
"Couldn't have made your distaste of the situation more obvious, eh?" He asked coolly as he leaned his back against the door. His eyes ate her up in a way that made her skin crawl with self consciousness. "You didn't even bother to look abashed and gracious when the old coot announced you as the very first Junior Head Girl."
"Well forgive me for not feeling particularly celebratory, considering the circumstances," she snapped back with some venom in her tone. "I'm not as adept as you are in the art of wearing a facade."
Malfoy scoffed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked away from her. "Look, Mudblood," he sneered with derision, "I'm not here to console you or be a friend. I need to make something very clear to you." He pushed off the door and strode towards her with purpose in every step. "You better learn to wear a facade," he mocked in her own tone, "and I don't want to spend any more time near you than I absolutely have to. The last thing I need is to breathe in the dirty muggle air you huff out more than necessary."
Hermione's face tightened in anger. She opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off abruptly.
"Ah," Malfoy said as he wagged a finger in her face, "No more dirty air." He plugged his nose mockingly. "Just play your part. I will play mine. That means going back in there and acting the arrogant, self righteous, pathetic girl who would have been over the moon if this wasn't some falsified accolade."
Malfoy turned on his heel and strode to the door. "Well to be perfectly fair, Malfoy," Hermione called out, "The version of you that I have the misfortune to know would have been absolutely preening in the praise of his classmates. Yet, here you are."
Without another word, the tall, lithe blond slithered out of the room, leaving Hermione in the deafening silence of her own company.
Hermione went along with her day as normal. Harry and Ron had a great time in Potions, while Hermione scowled disapprovingly at them; she had half a mind to tell Professor Slughorn about the book, but she knew she never would. Malfoy was not present in this class.
In Charms, Hermione was the only person able to turn a piece of parchment into a mahogany door, earning five points for her house and collective scowls from across the room, minus one icy one she had grown used to. He was not present there either.
The day passed by rather fast and Hermione allowed herself to get lost in her excitement to get to the library tonight to find out who the Half-Blood Prince might be. It was good for her, she thought, to have this time together with Ron and Harry now that she was moved out of the tower.
It wasn't until dinner that she felt a bothersome tingle in her sternum. She shut her eyes and exhaled, hoping that maybe the feeling would pass. She looked around and noticed that Malfoy was missing from dinner as well.
She looked guiltily over to Harry and Ron, biting her lip. She hated, hated doing this to them; she felt guilt pool in her stomach as she built up to courage to lie. She tapped Harry on the shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear that she had an emergency meeting now. She promised she would meet him and Ron in the library with the book that evening. He understood, and waved for her to go.
Hermione felt confident that no one would see her heading down to the dungeons, for almost everyone was in the Great Hall eating their dinner. For some reason, something in the tingle of her chest let her know he was down there.
She would find him. And when she found him, she would have some very strong words for him.
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