Summary: Hermione and Draco are going to an advanced Magic school, they're enemies (as you know) so things might get a little...awkward... They've just left Hogwarts via portkey and are arriving at FoxGrove...
Hermione realized, with a slight exhale of breath, that they called it FoxGrove's Manor for a reason. There was definitely a difference between Hogwarts and FoxGrove; she could tell this even without standing up from where she had fallen due to the Portkey. Hogwarts had more of a studious aura, but this, this was more homely. She fell in love with it at once, in spite of the fact that she had not stepped inside and that she had been gazing at it for only ten seconds. She smiled and stood up, brushing grass off of the back of her pants.
She shifted her gaze from the castle to look at the surrounding area, and found it breathtaking, but not quite as lovely as the castle itself. Vast mountains with snowcapped tops sat west of the castle, and to the east was a widespread forest, with birds and squirrels dancing around the edge. She glanced back to the mountains, and saw that, very distant, was a waterfall, cascading from the side of a jutted out piece of land. As she watched, a small puff of smoke rose from a small cave on the side. Dragons? She mused, bringing a small smile onto her lips.
She turned back around, and saw that several other students, mostly girls, were taken over by the castle and terrain the same way Hermione had been. They also gazed around with dreamy eyes and slight half-smiles. Hermione's gaze was interrupted very rudely as someone stepped right into her point of view, with a scowl on his face.
"Are you done day-dreaming?" a drawling voice, belonging to the scowling owner, asked Hermione.
"Don't you - " Hermione started, but was interrupted yet again, but thankfully this time, by a clap and a gasp somewhere on the right of the two glaring students.
They both jerked their heads over to look at the owner of the noise, and their eyes fell upon a tall, young woman with silky blonde hair and rather deep blue eyes who was striding toward them quickly. When she reached them she said in a voice that was almost as silky as her hair,
"Welcome! You must be the two students Dumbledore was talking about. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy I presume?" she smiled when she saw the confused looks on their faces and continued: "Professor Laurel, the one and only of professor Transfiguration at FoxGrove. You'll want to go in the castle and to your sleeping places, but first we must go to dinner and meet up with the lovely headmistress. Now, if you'll follow me," she gave them a smile, and began to stride toward the castle.
Draco followed her pace easily, but Hermione had trouble keeping up with them and ended up jogging most of the way. It wasn't that her legs weren't long - they were long, but she wasn't used to having to stride them that far for what they called walking.
Laurel led them up a set of marble stairs and to huge doors that were apparently made of a stronger marble. Hermione looked up at them, and up, and up… They were about three times as tall as Hagrid, and the two of them put together were five times as wide. Laurel had no trouble opening them, she merely touched them and they swung open, leading the three of them into a room that made Hermione's stomach drop.
It was evidently the Entrance Hall, but it was so different from the one at Hogwarts. Hermione felt herself as being tiny in this room that was so tall she could barely make out the paintings on the ceiling. It was silent, except for their footsteps that echoed off the walls, making Hermione feel as if they were making far too much racket for being so small.
The portraits on the wall were of lovely people, men with shining teeth and perfect hair; women with faces that looked like angels, and figures that looked as though the poor things starved themselves, even those that sat around tables full of delicious meals. The sight of the food made Hermione realize how hungry she was, and she prayed that her stomach didn't growl because she might die of embarrasment in front of the beautiful Professor.
Even Draco was amazed by the beauty of the place, though he didn't dare say so. He kept his face straight, but out of the corner of his eye he was examining the pictures of beautiful women that were no doubt veela, and of the men with muscles that were tracing lines in their robes. The Malfoy's house was extraodinary, but it couldn't even look this castle in the face. And the size! Draco couldn't believe how small he felt, how unimportant to the perfect floors and giant walls.
They followed the Professor up to another set of doors, though not as large as the first, which were at the end of the entrance hall. She reached out and touched the doors, and they swung open without any of her strength. They swung open to reveal yet another giant room, but this one was not quite as empty as the first. In fact, it was the opposite. This room had circular glass tables, around which sat students of every sort. Hermione saw the familiar robes and faces of the French students, although, she saw when she looked at the faces, minus Fleur.
Professor Laurel led them over to a table off to the right side, one that had students that Hermione didn't recognize. Laurel gestured for Hermione and Draco to sit down, which they did. Laurel then left, weaving through the tables up to a very large one where a number of important looking people sat. Hermione guessed that must be the Professor's table.
"I'm Matt," came a voice that had an accent, and Hermione looked to see where it was coming from, and a boy diagonal to her was gazing at her with a shy look. He had his hand stuck out, over the table, and Hermione assumed she was supposed to shake it. She did so, with a cheerful, "Hermione Granger."
This seemed to perk up the students, and soon she had shaken every hand at the table, even if she didn't remember names, they seemed satisfied. "We're from Elvton," said the first boy with a nod of his head. "It's in Australia," he said with a grin, and Hermione smiled as she placed his accent under 'Aussie'.
"Well, I'm from Hogwarts," Hermione said, and they nodded their heads appreciatively.
"You had the Triwizard a while back, right?" came a voice from a girl with dark brown hair and shining brown eyes.
Hermione nodded. "My friend was in it."
"Really? Who was your friend?" asked another girl. She had blondish hair and rather green eyes.
"Harry Potter," she explained, and a lot of gasps came from the table, and several students actually turned from other tables to see the cause of the commotion. Hermione would have seen Draco's annoyed look, but she was too busy watching the blonde girl who was pelting her with questions.
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"What? No!" Hermione exclaimed, and glared at Draco as he snorted loudly. He was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, gazing at the table of excited students with a nonchalant look.
"Oh… Does he have a girlfriend?" the girl's eyes lit up, and Hermione hid a smile.
"No, not that I know of."
"How close of friends are you?" "Have you ever kissed him?" "Does he let you look at his scar?" "Is he actually as good in Quiddich as the magazines say?" "Does he send you letters?" were all shot at Hermione at the same time, but luckily they were all distracted from hearing answers as a witch had stood up in front of the gathering of students and cleared her throat loudly.
All heads turned to look at her and she began to speak. "Welcome to FoxGrove's Manor of Advanced Magic! I am your headmistress, and you shall call me Professor Shelton. If you don't already know, you are all here because your headmaster, or headmistress has sent me a letter promising that you are all qualified to take his summer class. Now, I expect you to fulfill that promise over the course of these next two months. We have a set of rules, and I expect each and every one of you to follow them. They are as following:
"One: Magic will be practiced constantly for improving, because I fail to believe that all of you are perfect in every class. If you are higher than another is I expect you to go to that other and help them. If anyone fails," she glanced around at them as if daring them to fail, "everyone will receive the failing grade. No matter if they aren't in your school, or you don't know them. Get to know them and start helping. Communication is one of the standards of this school.
"Two: You will treat this school with respect. You will respect your teachers, and you will respect the land around this school. You will take care of the room you are sleeping in, and every morning there will be an inspection. If your room is not clean, and if your bed is not made, your grades will drop. Do what you need to, stick paper to the top of your canopy to remind you to clean, tie a string around your finger, or put a spell on the door that won't let you leave until the room is in order. I don't care what you do as long as this castle is kept stainless while you are here.
"Three: Tardiness is prohibited. You will arrive for breakfast during breakfast time, you will go to your classes when they begin, and you will eat when it is time to eat. You will be where you are directed to go always. The only exception is for weekends, when there are no classes. There will be no sneaking into the forbidden rooms, because I warn you now, we know constantly where you are.
"Four: Animals are allowed in your rooms, but no where else in the castle. They are allowed outside, but we are not responsible for them. You brought them; you take care of them. If however, your animal takes sick, bring it to the Care of Magical Creatures Professor and he will try and help it as much as he can. I warn you that if you have a highly dangerous animal and if it injures you or someone else, we will not take responsibility. We will treat you as much as we can in our hospital wing, and if still you cannot be fixed, we will take you to a wizard hospital, but we will have nothing to do with legal actions.
"Five: You will obey all the other rules, and this one. This one is short and cut right to the point. It is the following phrase: Honesty is the best policy.
"And that concludes our rules, each of them is written on the back of these sheets," and before each person sat a sheet that could not be ripped, Hermione soon found out as Matt began tugging on the corners of his, "that, on the other side have a map of FoxGrove and the surrounding land. The boundries are where the red lines are, and the forbidden rooms are the ones marked in blue. A small key at the corner will tell you each Professor's office, and your room. While you examine those, let us begin the feast!" she concluded and sat down. Hermione didn't notice this however; she was examining the map. It looked like a new and improved Mauraders Map, but without the dots and labels of people. At the top of the Map, before the actual picture began, was the name: Granger, Hermione J., colored purple. And down on one side of the map was a room that was colored purple. Hermione assumed it was hers.
No one noticed that food had appeared on the table, everyone was examining their maps. The first person to notice, a few minutes later, that there was food on the table was Matt, and he began piling his plate high. The clatter of forks seemed to echo through the hall soon after, and everyone began eating.
Draco however, was not. He was still gazing at his map with a rather amused look. Malfoy, Draco L. was written at the top in green. Draco's eyes lowered to the actual map, and saw that there was a room outlined in green, and he guessed that it was his. His eyes wandered off the paper, and saw Hermione's lying forgotten beside her plate. Purple, he mused, Granger's got purple. J? I wonder what her middle name is…it starts with J? A hand covered the paper, interrupting his thoughts. He looked up and saw Hermione's light brown eyes glaring at him. He put on a scowl, and heard Hermione speak.
"Don't you dare do anything to my room Malfoy, and I warn you to stay away from me this whole trip. I really could care less that you're here, because you probably just got in by bribery. Or everyone was afraid of your father, and he payed your way in," Hermione glared, and the eyes of the surrounding students fell on her and Draco.
"Is Malfoy his first name?" asked the blonde, and everyone's eyes swivled over to look at her, and she blushed. "Well, is it?"
"No," Hermione said, and her eyes moved to glare at Draco, "his first name is Draco."
"Why do you call him by his last name?" asked the blonde, and again all eyes were on her. "If he's your friend, why don't you call him by his first name?" Several people goggled at her, and she gave them a 'What?' look.
"He is not my friend. Malfoy doesn't have any friends. People just pretend they like him because they are in constant fear of his father killing off their family. I don't blame them, who could be Malfoy's friend? He's too much like his father," she spat, and Draco's lip curled and his mouth opened to retort, but his words were drowned out by the Headmistress, who had stood up and was talking loudly to the students.
If the students around Hermione and Draco's table had listened, they would have heard a speech similar to this: "Well, that concludes our meal, and your first day. I expect to see you all here bright and early at seven, tomorrow. Classes begin at eight, and your class schedule should be in your room. I wish you luck finding your way around FoxGrove, and if you get lost or confused, find me or one of your Professors, we would be glad to help you. Sleep well!" They would've noticed her leaving the room, and the students slowly draining out, but they hadn't, and Draco and Hermione were oblivious to everyone and everything, because this had happened right after the Headmistress stopped speaking.
Hermione had stood up and slapped Draco smartly across his face, and he had pushed her backward into the glass table, where he was hovering over her, hissing words that were too soft to be heard by the crowd. Hermione could hear perfectly well, and her tone was matching Draco's, the tone that made the bystanders back away cautiously.
"How dare you insult the Malfoy name, where you have none whatsoever. You think you can just march in, a little Mudblood, and offence my father? He has more power than you can even think of, and a simple word can get you thrown out of Hogwarts," Draco spat at her, knowing that half of what he said wasn't true - but that didn't matter. He wasn't quite sure why he was defending his father, but words kept spilling out of his mouth before he could stop them.
"That's not true," Hermione whispered, interrupting him. He lowered his face to look at her, his glare penetrating into her eyes. They were so close that Hermione could feel his breath against her face, and could feel his chest rising and falling as he breathed.
"You think it's not?" he asked, hissing words into her face, making her shut her eyes, but only for a second.
"Dumbledore is much higher than your father, or I would've been gone a long time ago. Your father only holds power, Malfoy, he doesn't make it. If your father got thrown out of the Ministry, your life would be in shambles and everyone would laugh at your family name. I know I would," Hermione stared up into Draco's cold face. She thought she saw something flicker across it, but she must have imagined it, because his face had gone as cold as ever.
"You only got here because Dumbledore is a Mudblood lover - "
"And you only got here because of your father. I came on talent, because Dumbledore favors no one," Hermione inturrupted, her face becoming as cold as Draco's.
"He favors Potter," Draco said before he could stop himself, and bit his tounge. His mouth almost puckered because of the taste of blood, but he held his expression and swallowed, thinking of things beside the blood, which wasn't quite that hard.
"You're jealous?" Hermione asked, and a smile came to her icy face. "You're jealous because Harry is famous, and you're only a name that everyone fears? You're jealous because he took down your father's Ma - " Hermione was interrupted as Draco was pulled off of her abruptly, and a pair of cold blue eyes were staring at her, framed by a pale face and long golden hair. Hermione found herself looking at a very angry Laurel, with hands on her slender hips.
"Get off the table, Granger," she commanded, ice raging through her voice. Hermione straightened up immediately, her coldness gone from her eyes, which were now very wide and very nervous. The ones that had been watching scattered and left the room that had been teeming with people, empty. Except for the three that stood beside the table that had previously been occupied by the Hogwarts and Elvton students.
"I am very disappointed in both of you," she whispered, and stared at the floor. "When Dumbledore owled me, he said that you were very good at magic, but he didn't say that you would act like five year olds." She raised her eyes to look at Hermione and Draco, and whispered, "if anything like this ever happens again, you will be thrown out of FoxGrove. Do you understand?"
Hermione swallowed and nodded, staring at her feet. Laurel moved her gaze over to Draco, her eyes asking the simple question, and he whispered, "Yes."
"Good. I'm going to take you to your sleeping quarters, as you seem not to be able to handle things yourself. Give me your maps," she commanded, and Hermione and Draco reached behind them to the table and grabbed their forgotton maps and thrust them into Laurel's extended hand.
"Hermione first," Laurel said after examining the maps. She turned and began to walk toward the giant doors that were the exit of the room. She didn't stride, but she didn't walk slowly - she just walked a normal pace. Hermione was hit with a pang of guilt and she examined the floor.
They walked through the huge doors that led them into the Entrance Hall. It had once seemed beautiful and enchanting, but now it was just plain. It's magic was gone, and the beauty seemed to melt away as they walked through it, cross and angry with each other. The pictures on the walls even seemed to droop, the lovely women now seemed normal, and not quite so gorgeous, and the men seemed to be ordinary; their muscles were normal sized and weren't amazing any more.
Hermione still felt small, and if possible she felt even smaller. Her head was drooped and she was watching her feet as they carried her after Laurel and Draco, not knowing how they could go on, but they did. They followed the Professor until halfway through the hall, where they stopped after Draco's before them. It was then Hermione glanced up, and her eyes fell upon what the other two were gazing at.
A staircase made of marble, like everything else it seemed, rose up from the side of the corridor, separated into two parts at a portrait of an angel, and continued on in different directions; one going north and another south. Laurel apparently decided they had looked at it long enough and without another word she began walking to and up the staircase. Hermione and Draco quickly ran to keep up with her and they ascended the staircase after her.
Hermione reached out, put a hand on the railing to steady herself, and blinked as she felt the soft, polished surface of the rock. It was unusually very cold; she hadn't expected it to be that cold, it was almost freezing. She drew her hand back but continued up the stairs after Draco and Laurel.
At the portrait of the radiant angel, they turned left, and went up a similar set of stairs. Hermione glanced over the railing and saw the drop to the giant room below them; it was at least twenty feet. Hermione's gaze was broken as she ran into Draco; he apparently had stopped, and she hadn't realized it because she was looking over the railing. He turned and gave her a quick, icy glare before turning around and looking at Laurel again. Laurel had too stopped and she was gazing at the map, because ahead of her were three passageways, one right, one left, and one straight ahead.
She appeared to have made up her mind and continued silently on, through the right passageway that led into a corridor full of tapestries.
Draco (you've been wondering about him haven't you? Haha!) hadn't said a word since the fight, and wasn't prepared to say one yet. He was rather preoccupied by the tapestries hanging from the ceiling; they were of people more wonderful than the pictures in the Entrance Hall were. Perhaps it was because the people in the tapestries were younger than the ones in the portraits, or perhaps it was the uncanny resemblance between Hermione and one of the younger ladies.
Each of the tapestry scenes held a girl, though in some she was hidden in a crowd of people, she was still there. Her shining bushy yet curly brown hair reflected light, and her brown eyes shone with joy as she laughed with others, or simply smiled. As Draco looked on, there was no doubt she looked like Hermione. In fact, if it was possible, it was though someone had taken Hermione and put her in the picture instead of the girl.
As they continued down the corridor, the tapestries changed to show the girl bigger, and more round; she was pregnant. She stood beside a man with shimmering light brown hair and glowing blue eyes, and they were usually surrounded by many people; laughing and smiling, touching the woman's stomach and laughing when their hand was kicked by the baby inside.
And then the tapestries held the girl again, she was thinner, and a little baby was cradled in her arms. The man was still beside her; his eyes were brimming with tears of joy as they both looked at the baby in her arms with smiles on their faces.
The tapestries continued to show the girl, who was now a woman, looking obviously older, and the baby was missing; a little girl clutched the woman's side and they laughed, pleased with something. The man was missing from the picture however, but the two didn't appear to be disheveled. Draco supposed he probably was just out hunting maybe, and that he would return to the scenes later.
But as Draco saw more tapestries stood down the line, he realized the man was not in any of them. The woman grew old, the girl grew bigger, and when the little girl grew to the age of five, the pictures ended. The last one was of the little girl hovering beside a bed where the woman lay, clutching the hand of the girl. The girl appeared confused, her bushy-haired head was tilted to the left, and her mouth was slightly open, and her eyes wide. A man stood in the door, but it wasn't the man that was in the previous tapestries. This man had shining blonde hair, with eyes of light blue. His body was thin and wiry, not broad like the other man. Draco's mind filled with questions, curiousity, and confusion, but before he could make anything of the tapestries, Laurel stopped.
A/N: Guess what..I've re-posted this chapter, too! Nothing major is missing for any of the three, I've just fixed a few errors, like grammar and spelling. I'll leave these "Thanks" up, incase you want to read them. I do need a beta, but don't expect to have the stories e-mailed to you at a regular basis. If I get inspired I'll write, and that's just about it, so the beta has to be very patient. Anyway, if anyone is still interested, e-mail me with the title "Beta for TLICC" on the subject line. Thanks for reading!
Thanks-
Nykto: for the first review!
Darjani: for the spelling fix (I don't think I've fixed it yet though) and for your correction of the computer (you got me laughing).
Indiana jones and rei: I (obviously) love D/H fics too!
Paradoxical Goddess: I was hoping someone would tell me it was well written! Thanks!
The Cat: Yes, the Draco in boxers bit should come back? I don't know about leathers...that's rather Cassandra Claire's Draco!
Arime Setta: I *did* have fun with the school! I'm rather fond of the pictures and I'm in love with the Entrance Hall.
Brightstar: Thanks for asking the question no one else did...what do *you* think? Are they going to get together? I *cough* do have this story under *cough* Romance...
Juliet: I agree with you...DRACO FOREVER!
Prongs: Thanks! Very short review you left me but at least it was filled with good stuff!
Luinthoron: It looks like you went through and read all of my stories, huh? Glad you liked this one, and glad you liked my parody!
Cherry: Thanks, no one has said: 'I love your writing' yet but you! Thanks!
Sila-chan, bezebees, Kay, Kathy, smoo, Emily, EA (if you want another funny story read my 'A Slash Gone Bad': I will write more!
Sorry if i forgot anyone, I tried to catch you all! ; )