Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: I'm sorry about the last chapter screwing up, I must have uploaded the wrong one. I changed it when I saw it but it seems to take a long time to reload a chapter. In the last chapter, their password is supposed to be ignis not ignus. It's Latin for fire. If that's wrong I'm sorry, I used a basic translator. Can people please find it in their hearts to review my story. PLEASE PLEASE! (For further pathetic begging, scroll to the end of the page) Any way, enjoy this chapter.
~*~*~ Talia and Jemmus~*~*~
"Attention please everyone!" Professor Dumbledore made his voice heard over the crowd. "You will find another piece of parchment in your little star. Yes, yes those bigger pieces. Now on them you will find three tasks, which will be due in two weeks. After complete these activities, you will receive another set and so on and so on. The forth task is a yearly assignment and will be due on the first day in June. All tasks will be graded and count to your total mark. If there are any problems, please ask your Professors. Now I think that you might a want to converse with your partner so I will leave you by yourselves for now. And please, if you feel the need to mortally wound someone, please think twice as our house elves find it extremely difficult to clean all the blood as it stains. Thankyou," and with that he disappeared through a portrait. The rest of the Professors also had mysteriously vanished, owing to the need of wanting to live longer than sixty.
Hermione turned back to Draco, "So Snape likes you, beg him to change partners."
"What; think that being with me might distract you for getting those perfect grades. I mean I know that my looks are irresistible and all but really, your staring is starting to get stalkerish," Draco drawled, covering his own viewing pleasures. 'Great what am I thinking, she is not hot. No actually she's not hot, but more an ethereal beauty. Angel like. Filled out a little more than last year. Nice legs, smooth. Whoa Draco. Stop right there and get your perfected ass out of this mess, other wise father dearest is gunna kill you.'
"Well you coming mudblood?" he started to walk over to the passage that takes you to the dungeons when a large banner swung from the air.
"Remember you can't change partners so don't try," Hermione read, "Great, just great." She sighed and grabbed Draco's shirt, ignoring his outraged cries Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her wrist; Draco was twisting it around. He pushed her into a secluded corner, (not that anyone would notice them any way, they were to caught up in their own business.)
"Now listen to me," he said in a dangerous whisper, "if we have to be together for this year, let me lay down the ground rules. One you never ever drag a Malfoy anywhere. Two you do as I say. Three don't touch me; ever. Got me?"
Hermione was backed up against the wall and her wrist still incased in his hand. The pain was starting to build up into tears and yet she still didn't give into him. Like lightening she brought her knee up to his groin area. Draco was to slow to react and now he was the one on the ground, nursing his own injures, "Fuck! You bitch!"
It's not as scary when he was on the ground nearly in tears Hermione thought. "Now Draco, let me get this straight I'm not Pansy or Crabbe or Goyle; basically I'm not any of your little tag alongs that live on this earth to serve the Malfoy name. Neither am I a first year or Neville who you can bully into doing your things for you. I want good marks and I bet that you do to. As much as I hate to admit it, we are the smartest in the year. So do the maths, if we make it through this year than I can guarantee the best damn grades Hogwarts has ever seen, understand? Oh, and don't ever touch me again or I will hex you so badly, that when you look in one of the many mirrors that you possess, all you'll see is a very bad case of leprosy and Ebola. Got me?" Not waiting for an answer, she walked back into the crowd and searched for Harry and Ron.
Before she could search very far, Padma and Adam rushed over to her, "Mione!"
"I take it you two got each other," she smiled at them, "this is strange, you'll never guess whom I got."
Adam stared at her and then it dawned on him, "you gotta be kidding, you got Draco?"
Hermione nodded grimly. Padma hugged her, "It's okay Mione, you can hide out at our place if he's to much of a conceited prick."
Hermione laughed, "Thankyou very much, I'll definitely remember that."
"Hey, don't I get a choice in this? What if I am secretly harbouring a vindictive grudge against Mione? Doesn't anyone care," Adam said mockingly.
Padma dramatically thought for a moment, "Umm, no." They all laughed. "Hey where is Draco?"
Hermione grinned, "Well I sort of injured him, so he's recuperating and or festering a dangerous feelings of hate."
"What did you do to him?" Adam asked with a slow smile forming.
"Err. I kneed him," her eyes flicked downwards on Adam.
"What. Oh!" Padma understood and cracked up. Adam winced as if imagining the pain, "the poor sod, no one deserved that."
"Hermione!" someone called out from behind her, "Mione! I want my partner changed!"
"Ron! I can't change your partner, the sorting hat gave them to you so stop complaining and be nice to them!" Hermione scolded him while turning around to face the two boys who were flushed from trying to find her. "Who did you get?
"Eloise Midgeon the Hufflepuff," Ron replied glumly.
Hermione snorted, "Ron, really I thought you got over that in fourth year. Stop acting like a five year old," she changed her gaze to Harry who was standing rather quietly next to Ron with a rather evil grin on his face. "Who's your partner Harry?"
"Nick Fares from Ravenclaw. It's pretty good, he's the new seeker on their team after Cho resigned and he's apparently smart, so I can copy his homework. Who did you get? Wait let me guess. Girl or guy?" Harry asked.
Hermione could feel her stomach do the tango with her heart; when the boys found out they would not be happy, "Guy."
"Do they play Quidditch?"
"Yes."
"Are they good?"
"Yes."
"Black hair?"
"No."
"Blond?"
"Yes."
"Please tell me they're not extremely stupid, surrounded by stupid friends," Harry begged.
"What who is it?" Ron asked stupidly.
"Well they have stupid friends, but no, they are fairly smart," Hermione winced at Harry's expression.
"No way you can't have."
"Malfoy go away you stupid git," Ron snarled. Draco suddenly stood by Hermione.
"Now, now Weasel I just wanted to talk to my year long partner," Malfoy smirked at Ron's expression. Harry had already prepared himself for it so he didn't give Draco the pleasure of a reaction.
"Your lying, Hermione, who really is your partner?" Ron asked.
Hermione didn't know how to reply to that, she had expected an outraged response from him, but not flat out denial. Luckily for her Harry stepped in.
"Ron you ass, look at her face; do you think she would have the expression that all school work had been cancelled, if she really had someone else?"
Ron looked at Hermione (who was hoping for at the best, a one hour trip to the hospital wing); then at Draco who was thoroughly enjoying Ron's disbelief.
"Mione, this can be fixed, I mean come one we'll go to find McGonagoll. I'm not letting you stay with this git all year," he tried to pull her away.
Hermione on the other hand didn't want to go to her favourite Professor, she was smart enough to know that there was no chance of changing people; she also had a sneaking suspicion that the partners were magically bound in some way so they had to keep that person. So she stood her ground and resisted Ron's tugging, this however was in vain as she was a lot less stronger than Ron was. The result was her slipping and half falling until Draco grabbed her waist and kept her steady.
"Get your hands off her Malfoy or I'll transfigure you into the rodent you are!" Harry had to grab the back of Ron's robes as he had taken out his wand and it was pointing directly at Malfoy's head.
Draco on the other hand was as composed as he usually was; being taught at such a young age to show no emotion had it's apparent advantages, "Hmm. you try and do that, though I doubt you even have the power nor the knowledge to even turn a mouse into a rat."
That was it, Ron dived at Draco, bring Harry with him. Draco dodged them and they all landed on Hermione who was sick of being treated like invalid who wasn't capable of looking after themselves, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron and Harry were floating in mid air; Ron still trying to take a swipe at Malfoy. Carefully she sat down Harry but left Ron in the air. "Ronald Weasley, I can take care of myself thankyou very much. I am quite capable of many hexes that you wouldn't have heard about."
Draco snickered. Suddenly he felt him self being lifted into next to Ron. "Granger put me down now!" he yelled angrily.
"Malfoy shut your ugly trap! You are a pathetic excuse for a human being. I don't care how much money you have, that gives you no right to put people down like that!"
"Mudblood, I'm gunna be lenient on you now because I know that you haven't had the pleasure of living like me and you can't be as smart as a pureblood also like me, so put me down now and I won't hex you into the next dimension," Draco growled above her.
To his surprise, Hermione laughed and nodded, "Okay then Malfoy," and she let the spell break. Ron and Draco slammed onto the floor she looked at Padma and Adam; "I'm going back up you coming?" They nodded and walked after her trying to contain their giggling. "See ya Harry." He waved back at her and pulled Ron to his feet.
~*~*~
About half way to their rooms Draco caught up with them but didn't say a word to Hermione. If he was embarrassed about being humiliated infront of the whole grade he didn't show any trace of it.
"Hey are you two going to decorate your rooms and portrait?" Padma asked when they got to the entrances.
"Yeah may as well, other wise we'll have no more time when classes start," Hermione replied.
"Tell me when you're finished and I come over," Padma squealed excitedly.
Hermione smiled, it was hard not to have caught onto to her euphoria. "Alright then, see you."
Draco wrote in the password and they climbed inside, he went straight to his room without acknowledging Hermione. 'Prick. Oh well he is not worth it.' By herself in the room gave her time to study her surroundings. The room it's self was about the same size as the Gryffindor common room but instead of being decorated in scarlet, it was a royal purple with silver trimmings. To the left side, there was a deep red, fluffy rug facing an enormous fireplace. To either side of the rug, there was two couches that when you sat down you would sink and mould to your body. One was green and one was red with the prefect's initials on the sides. In the centre, there was the staircase they used to get to their rooms, it was also carpeted and had a gold banister. If you walked around the staircase, you would find a gold door with famous wizarding authors signatures etched in the grain. Hermione traced over some of the ones she recognised, William Shakespere, Ernest Hemmingway, J.R.R. Tolkien, Enid Blyton and half of the Greek and Italian poets. Inside the door however was huge library, filled with books that the other students weren't trusted to care for. Padma and Adam shared this library, but it was so large that you probably could all be in there at once and not meet.
On the right side of the room there were four doors, one to the Slytherin common room, another for the Gryffindor room, one to get into the Prefect bathroom and one to get into the Padma's and Adam's room.
Hermione decided to start on her room, 'it should be some fun any way' Hermione thought. To enter her room, they were given their choice of password (Ring). The room was large by any standard, to one side there was a four-post bed facing her own balcony that looked out onto the lake and Forbidden Forest. There was a fireplace and love seat to the other side and a large desk next to that. A vanity was near her bed, with a walk in closet that fitted a lot more clothes than what Hermione had ever owned in her life. All these things were white however and looked extremely odd. Hermione was trying to think up a colour scheme and deciding that she didn't really care, she decided to make everything a different colour within reason. With flicks of her wand and little charms here and there, the room was now vibrant with colour and Hermione was quite pleased with the result.
Her bed was now purple and gold, deciding she like the common room so much she should put some of it in her room, the carpet and love seat were now red to remind her of her house, two of the walls were a vibrant yellow that shimmered magically and the other two were a shimmery blue. On her walls she conjured shelfs to hold her trinkets and charmed CD player. Deciding that the centre of the room was to bare, she conjured a water feature that depicted two little cupids sitting in a pond, spurting out water. The water however didn't go straight down but twirled in circles and spun around; eventually hitting the little garden below which had a pool in the center full of little fish and a river that changed directions when it felt like it.
Feeling contented with her work, Hermione was going to call over Padma when she found a door in the wall that she hadn't seen before. There was one to get to her toilet but this seemed to have popped out of no where. Carefully she opened it, inside there was a note floating in the air,
To only your eyes can this be seen, Unless you wish it to be viewed, By another that you deem, To be worthy of this pleasure.
'Cool, I wonder what it is' Hermione cautiously ventured inside the new room. To her surprise it was a little sanctuary. At once she felt a peace and much calmer. She looked around, now she was standing in the middle of a magical forest. Trees stretched to the sun and the flowers seemed to sing to her. She sat down in a shimmery hammock that was suspended between two trees. A noise interrupted her reverie. Someone was calling her name. Padma. Quickly she found the door and closed it behind her; she didn't really want any one to know about the room yet.
"Padma! I'm up here," Hermione yelled down the stairs.
Within seconds Padma and Adam were in her room, eagly looking around. "Whoa this is really cool Mione! I want one of this," Adam stared enchanted by the water feature.
"Mione, what's this?" Padma was goggling and the CD player. Hermione and Adam laughed, "it's called a CD player, it plays music listen," with a flick of her wand the machine turned on and played The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. "Damn, I gotta get me one of these," played with the buttons.
"Padma come on, we've got to decorate our portrait," Adam chided her.
"Alright," and she reluctantly left the CD player. "See ya Mione, come and visit mine later, it's not as good as yours but it's nice." Then she shut the door. 'The portrait. Oh crap this is not going to be fun. Please let Draco be in a good mood. Oh yeah, after you held him in mid air and then dented his Malfoy pride not to mention the whole, nearly destroying his pride and joy, be thankful that he hasn't killed you by now.' Slowly she went over to Draco's door and knocked. "Draco can we do the portrait now? Please?"
For a moment nothing happened and then he came out of his room with out a shirt on and his wet hair was strung over his face, "Fine, do you have any idea what you want on it?"
Hermione was struck by the change in his attitude, he was actually asking what she wanted, "Umm no not really."
"Good because I've got a really good idea," and shoved passed her. 'Well it was good while it lasted' Hermione sighed inwardly and followed him down the stairs. By the time she had gotten down, he had brought the portrait inside and had layed it on the carpet near the fire. In her hand she had the tasks that they had to complete, "Draco while we do this, I think we should start on this homework."
He nodded and nelt by the painting, "Well read them out or is that to hard?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat at the other side of the painting, "Okay so we have to complete this survey on each other that'll be easy, do a two roll of parchment assignment on the mannerisms, habits and basic behaviour of your partner that's not hard, you don't show any emotion what so ever, oh crap and we have to. in some way, prove that we trust each other." Draco looked up at that, "Well you can just fall and I'll catch you. Simple."
"Uh no see it must be an original idea and that is the oldest trick in the therapists book. Charms have been put in place to show that this has happened. Ahh well we have a whole two weeks to trust each other. Great, how do you trust someone that's called you names for the last five years? Any way the forth task is to discover how the sorting hat placed in partners. Malfoy what are you doing?" Hermione stopped suddenly when she saw him drawing what looked like a lot of squiggles and lines.
"Granger shut up will you and get your damn wand out and help me here," he snapped irritably.
She complied took her wand out, she recognised what he was doing and was surprised because it was an extremely complicated charm. Hermione pointed her wand at the canvas and a bright purple light shot from her wand to join the black squiggles. Slowly they melded and formed shapes; Hermione stared, entranced at what was happening. Draco too, looked eager to see what was going to happen. Suddenly a bright light flashed which blinded the two for a moment, when they looked back, an intertwined gold Phoenix and gold Dragon on a royal red background stared back at them.
"Hello my dears, I assume that you two were the ones that conjured us," the Phoenix asked in a motherly tone. They nodded back at her, "I'm Talia."
"And I am Jemmus," the dragon bowed to them. "I assume your password is still ignis."
They nodded again, "I'm Hermione and this is Draco," she pointed to him.
"Well I guess we should get to guarding your door then shan't we," Talia laughed.
Draco came out of his stupor and lifted the portrait back onto his hangings. When he came back he sat on his couch, opposite to Hermione, "your middle name doesn't happen to be Phoenix does it?"
She nodded, "I think my mom was still affected from the drugs," she studied him, he looked nicer now, not so scary. He actually reminded her of someone; "You look like your mom."
Draco looked back up at her, "Huh?"
"Well I mean I always thought you looked like your dad, but that's just the hair and your eyes," she said, slightly flustered.
Draco looked slightly stunned, "thanks, I guess." He then seemed to realise who he was talking to, "not that it really matters coming from a filthy mudblood like you." He sneered and went back up the stairs.
'And I have a full year of this,' Hermione thought sardonically.
~*~*~
The next day Hermione and Harry were walking to History of Magic as they had the first class together. Ron it seems was mad at Hermione for the incident the day before; he luckily had Herbology first any way so Harry was glad that he didn't have to sit through a class of uncomfortable silence. "Is Malfoy giving you grief?" he asked Hermione.
She scrunched up her nose; "well he's got these really weird mood swings. Like one minute he's cold and you can't tell what he's thinking and then for about two minutes he can be really nice, then he realises what he's doing and then he becomes snarky again. It's very confusing."
Harry laughed, "just remember if he lays another foot wrong I have learned some great jinxes and hexes from the twins and Sirius."
Hermione narrowed her eyes, but smiled and remembered the images of Draco covered in hex marks from forth year.
When they got into the classroom Professor Binns told them to sit next to their partners so Hermione wandered up to the back corner where Draco was sitting. Never before had she been so far from the teacher before, it was quite unnerving.
"Relax Granger, Binns can still see your bushy head if you want to answer a question," the slow drawl matched his posture; he had his chair pushed back and his feet on the desk.
"Please not this early in the morning Draco," Hermione shoved his feet from the table and placed her things down.
"Now everyone, this year among the curriculum you will be learning for your exams in seventh year, you with your partners will be undertaking an assignment which will require you to research a mythological or legendary race that has walked this earth, you may choose how to present your information. This will make up fifty percent of your overall grade. It will be due on the first of May," Professor Binns ignored the cries of agony from the class and started on his lecture for the day; the war between the sphinx and manticore.
~*~*~
"Malfoy we meet in our library at eight," Hermione told him after the class was over and walked away before he could protest. She had found he was much easy to deal with if he wasn't talking.
Hermione got to their library at quarter to eight to try and beat Malfoy there, to her surprise he was sitting at one of the mahogany tables reading a book again on transfiguration. He looked up, "beat you."
She just ignored him and sat down, "So what are we going to research? It can't be what everyone else is doing either, I want good marks for this."
He stared, "well that means we can't do most of the ones I thought of. Jeez Granger you think of one that some ones not doing."
She grinned and ran down a row of books, she was going to fast however and tripped.
"Clumsy mudblood, can't even stand on your own two feet properly, idiot," Draco waltsed down to her.
"Shut up Malfoy, any where this is where the elf books are," she brushed herself off and gave a few books to him.
"Elves? I am not researching singing and dancing nancys that sit and preen all day."
"What do you know? Sounds exactly like you Malfoy. Now do you have a better idea," Hermione stopped to glower at him.
Draco mumbled something incoherent and grabbed some of the other books. They worked in silence for three hours until Hermione decided to go to bed. She said good night to Draco who didn't reply and then when up stairs. She slipped under the covers and was asleep in an instant.
Her sleep wasn't peaceful though; her dreams were haunted with nightmarish images. She was walking through a deep wood; she heard a noise so she hid in the thick foliage. In a circular clearing three snakes slithered together and intertwined. They began to grow and shoot upwards they began to change, but what, Hermione never knew because she suddenly woke up in a cold sweat.
"It was just a dream. Just a dream." And she went back into a peaceful slumber.
~*~*~ I'm begging you people here!!! Please review!!! I only got six at the time I wrote this message, it's kind of off putting if you don't know if people like your story or not. PLEASE just a one-word review, like good or bad. Please pretty pretty please!!!~*~*~
A/N: I'm sorry about the last chapter screwing up, I must have uploaded the wrong one. I changed it when I saw it but it seems to take a long time to reload a chapter. In the last chapter, their password is supposed to be ignis not ignus. It's Latin for fire. If that's wrong I'm sorry, I used a basic translator. Can people please find it in their hearts to review my story. PLEASE PLEASE! (For further pathetic begging, scroll to the end of the page) Any way, enjoy this chapter.
~*~*~ Talia and Jemmus~*~*~
"Attention please everyone!" Professor Dumbledore made his voice heard over the crowd. "You will find another piece of parchment in your little star. Yes, yes those bigger pieces. Now on them you will find three tasks, which will be due in two weeks. After complete these activities, you will receive another set and so on and so on. The forth task is a yearly assignment and will be due on the first day in June. All tasks will be graded and count to your total mark. If there are any problems, please ask your Professors. Now I think that you might a want to converse with your partner so I will leave you by yourselves for now. And please, if you feel the need to mortally wound someone, please think twice as our house elves find it extremely difficult to clean all the blood as it stains. Thankyou," and with that he disappeared through a portrait. The rest of the Professors also had mysteriously vanished, owing to the need of wanting to live longer than sixty.
Hermione turned back to Draco, "So Snape likes you, beg him to change partners."
"What; think that being with me might distract you for getting those perfect grades. I mean I know that my looks are irresistible and all but really, your staring is starting to get stalkerish," Draco drawled, covering his own viewing pleasures. 'Great what am I thinking, she is not hot. No actually she's not hot, but more an ethereal beauty. Angel like. Filled out a little more than last year. Nice legs, smooth. Whoa Draco. Stop right there and get your perfected ass out of this mess, other wise father dearest is gunna kill you.'
"Well you coming mudblood?" he started to walk over to the passage that takes you to the dungeons when a large banner swung from the air.
"Remember you can't change partners so don't try," Hermione read, "Great, just great." She sighed and grabbed Draco's shirt, ignoring his outraged cries Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her wrist; Draco was twisting it around. He pushed her into a secluded corner, (not that anyone would notice them any way, they were to caught up in their own business.)
"Now listen to me," he said in a dangerous whisper, "if we have to be together for this year, let me lay down the ground rules. One you never ever drag a Malfoy anywhere. Two you do as I say. Three don't touch me; ever. Got me?"
Hermione was backed up against the wall and her wrist still incased in his hand. The pain was starting to build up into tears and yet she still didn't give into him. Like lightening she brought her knee up to his groin area. Draco was to slow to react and now he was the one on the ground, nursing his own injures, "Fuck! You bitch!"
It's not as scary when he was on the ground nearly in tears Hermione thought. "Now Draco, let me get this straight I'm not Pansy or Crabbe or Goyle; basically I'm not any of your little tag alongs that live on this earth to serve the Malfoy name. Neither am I a first year or Neville who you can bully into doing your things for you. I want good marks and I bet that you do to. As much as I hate to admit it, we are the smartest in the year. So do the maths, if we make it through this year than I can guarantee the best damn grades Hogwarts has ever seen, understand? Oh, and don't ever touch me again or I will hex you so badly, that when you look in one of the many mirrors that you possess, all you'll see is a very bad case of leprosy and Ebola. Got me?" Not waiting for an answer, she walked back into the crowd and searched for Harry and Ron.
Before she could search very far, Padma and Adam rushed over to her, "Mione!"
"I take it you two got each other," she smiled at them, "this is strange, you'll never guess whom I got."
Adam stared at her and then it dawned on him, "you gotta be kidding, you got Draco?"
Hermione nodded grimly. Padma hugged her, "It's okay Mione, you can hide out at our place if he's to much of a conceited prick."
Hermione laughed, "Thankyou very much, I'll definitely remember that."
"Hey, don't I get a choice in this? What if I am secretly harbouring a vindictive grudge against Mione? Doesn't anyone care," Adam said mockingly.
Padma dramatically thought for a moment, "Umm, no." They all laughed. "Hey where is Draco?"
Hermione grinned, "Well I sort of injured him, so he's recuperating and or festering a dangerous feelings of hate."
"What did you do to him?" Adam asked with a slow smile forming.
"Err. I kneed him," her eyes flicked downwards on Adam.
"What. Oh!" Padma understood and cracked up. Adam winced as if imagining the pain, "the poor sod, no one deserved that."
"Hermione!" someone called out from behind her, "Mione! I want my partner changed!"
"Ron! I can't change your partner, the sorting hat gave them to you so stop complaining and be nice to them!" Hermione scolded him while turning around to face the two boys who were flushed from trying to find her. "Who did you get?
"Eloise Midgeon the Hufflepuff," Ron replied glumly.
Hermione snorted, "Ron, really I thought you got over that in fourth year. Stop acting like a five year old," she changed her gaze to Harry who was standing rather quietly next to Ron with a rather evil grin on his face. "Who's your partner Harry?"
"Nick Fares from Ravenclaw. It's pretty good, he's the new seeker on their team after Cho resigned and he's apparently smart, so I can copy his homework. Who did you get? Wait let me guess. Girl or guy?" Harry asked.
Hermione could feel her stomach do the tango with her heart; when the boys found out they would not be happy, "Guy."
"Do they play Quidditch?"
"Yes."
"Are they good?"
"Yes."
"Black hair?"
"No."
"Blond?"
"Yes."
"Please tell me they're not extremely stupid, surrounded by stupid friends," Harry begged.
"What who is it?" Ron asked stupidly.
"Well they have stupid friends, but no, they are fairly smart," Hermione winced at Harry's expression.
"No way you can't have."
"Malfoy go away you stupid git," Ron snarled. Draco suddenly stood by Hermione.
"Now, now Weasel I just wanted to talk to my year long partner," Malfoy smirked at Ron's expression. Harry had already prepared himself for it so he didn't give Draco the pleasure of a reaction.
"Your lying, Hermione, who really is your partner?" Ron asked.
Hermione didn't know how to reply to that, she had expected an outraged response from him, but not flat out denial. Luckily for her Harry stepped in.
"Ron you ass, look at her face; do you think she would have the expression that all school work had been cancelled, if she really had someone else?"
Ron looked at Hermione (who was hoping for at the best, a one hour trip to the hospital wing); then at Draco who was thoroughly enjoying Ron's disbelief.
"Mione, this can be fixed, I mean come one we'll go to find McGonagoll. I'm not letting you stay with this git all year," he tried to pull her away.
Hermione on the other hand didn't want to go to her favourite Professor, she was smart enough to know that there was no chance of changing people; she also had a sneaking suspicion that the partners were magically bound in some way so they had to keep that person. So she stood her ground and resisted Ron's tugging, this however was in vain as she was a lot less stronger than Ron was. The result was her slipping and half falling until Draco grabbed her waist and kept her steady.
"Get your hands off her Malfoy or I'll transfigure you into the rodent you are!" Harry had to grab the back of Ron's robes as he had taken out his wand and it was pointing directly at Malfoy's head.
Draco on the other hand was as composed as he usually was; being taught at such a young age to show no emotion had it's apparent advantages, "Hmm. you try and do that, though I doubt you even have the power nor the knowledge to even turn a mouse into a rat."
That was it, Ron dived at Draco, bring Harry with him. Draco dodged them and they all landed on Hermione who was sick of being treated like invalid who wasn't capable of looking after themselves, "Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron and Harry were floating in mid air; Ron still trying to take a swipe at Malfoy. Carefully she sat down Harry but left Ron in the air. "Ronald Weasley, I can take care of myself thankyou very much. I am quite capable of many hexes that you wouldn't have heard about."
Draco snickered. Suddenly he felt him self being lifted into next to Ron. "Granger put me down now!" he yelled angrily.
"Malfoy shut your ugly trap! You are a pathetic excuse for a human being. I don't care how much money you have, that gives you no right to put people down like that!"
"Mudblood, I'm gunna be lenient on you now because I know that you haven't had the pleasure of living like me and you can't be as smart as a pureblood also like me, so put me down now and I won't hex you into the next dimension," Draco growled above her.
To his surprise, Hermione laughed and nodded, "Okay then Malfoy," and she let the spell break. Ron and Draco slammed onto the floor she looked at Padma and Adam; "I'm going back up you coming?" They nodded and walked after her trying to contain their giggling. "See ya Harry." He waved back at her and pulled Ron to his feet.
~*~*~
About half way to their rooms Draco caught up with them but didn't say a word to Hermione. If he was embarrassed about being humiliated infront of the whole grade he didn't show any trace of it.
"Hey are you two going to decorate your rooms and portrait?" Padma asked when they got to the entrances.
"Yeah may as well, other wise we'll have no more time when classes start," Hermione replied.
"Tell me when you're finished and I come over," Padma squealed excitedly.
Hermione smiled, it was hard not to have caught onto to her euphoria. "Alright then, see you."
Draco wrote in the password and they climbed inside, he went straight to his room without acknowledging Hermione. 'Prick. Oh well he is not worth it.' By herself in the room gave her time to study her surroundings. The room it's self was about the same size as the Gryffindor common room but instead of being decorated in scarlet, it was a royal purple with silver trimmings. To the left side, there was a deep red, fluffy rug facing an enormous fireplace. To either side of the rug, there was two couches that when you sat down you would sink and mould to your body. One was green and one was red with the prefect's initials on the sides. In the centre, there was the staircase they used to get to their rooms, it was also carpeted and had a gold banister. If you walked around the staircase, you would find a gold door with famous wizarding authors signatures etched in the grain. Hermione traced over some of the ones she recognised, William Shakespere, Ernest Hemmingway, J.R.R. Tolkien, Enid Blyton and half of the Greek and Italian poets. Inside the door however was huge library, filled with books that the other students weren't trusted to care for. Padma and Adam shared this library, but it was so large that you probably could all be in there at once and not meet.
On the right side of the room there were four doors, one to the Slytherin common room, another for the Gryffindor room, one to get into the Prefect bathroom and one to get into the Padma's and Adam's room.
Hermione decided to start on her room, 'it should be some fun any way' Hermione thought. To enter her room, they were given their choice of password (Ring). The room was large by any standard, to one side there was a four-post bed facing her own balcony that looked out onto the lake and Forbidden Forest. There was a fireplace and love seat to the other side and a large desk next to that. A vanity was near her bed, with a walk in closet that fitted a lot more clothes than what Hermione had ever owned in her life. All these things were white however and looked extremely odd. Hermione was trying to think up a colour scheme and deciding that she didn't really care, she decided to make everything a different colour within reason. With flicks of her wand and little charms here and there, the room was now vibrant with colour and Hermione was quite pleased with the result.
Her bed was now purple and gold, deciding she like the common room so much she should put some of it in her room, the carpet and love seat were now red to remind her of her house, two of the walls were a vibrant yellow that shimmered magically and the other two were a shimmery blue. On her walls she conjured shelfs to hold her trinkets and charmed CD player. Deciding that the centre of the room was to bare, she conjured a water feature that depicted two little cupids sitting in a pond, spurting out water. The water however didn't go straight down but twirled in circles and spun around; eventually hitting the little garden below which had a pool in the center full of little fish and a river that changed directions when it felt like it.
Feeling contented with her work, Hermione was going to call over Padma when she found a door in the wall that she hadn't seen before. There was one to get to her toilet but this seemed to have popped out of no where. Carefully she opened it, inside there was a note floating in the air,
To only your eyes can this be seen, Unless you wish it to be viewed, By another that you deem, To be worthy of this pleasure.
'Cool, I wonder what it is' Hermione cautiously ventured inside the new room. To her surprise it was a little sanctuary. At once she felt a peace and much calmer. She looked around, now she was standing in the middle of a magical forest. Trees stretched to the sun and the flowers seemed to sing to her. She sat down in a shimmery hammock that was suspended between two trees. A noise interrupted her reverie. Someone was calling her name. Padma. Quickly she found the door and closed it behind her; she didn't really want any one to know about the room yet.
"Padma! I'm up here," Hermione yelled down the stairs.
Within seconds Padma and Adam were in her room, eagly looking around. "Whoa this is really cool Mione! I want one of this," Adam stared enchanted by the water feature.
"Mione, what's this?" Padma was goggling and the CD player. Hermione and Adam laughed, "it's called a CD player, it plays music listen," with a flick of her wand the machine turned on and played The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. "Damn, I gotta get me one of these," played with the buttons.
"Padma come on, we've got to decorate our portrait," Adam chided her.
"Alright," and she reluctantly left the CD player. "See ya Mione, come and visit mine later, it's not as good as yours but it's nice." Then she shut the door. 'The portrait. Oh crap this is not going to be fun. Please let Draco be in a good mood. Oh yeah, after you held him in mid air and then dented his Malfoy pride not to mention the whole, nearly destroying his pride and joy, be thankful that he hasn't killed you by now.' Slowly she went over to Draco's door and knocked. "Draco can we do the portrait now? Please?"
For a moment nothing happened and then he came out of his room with out a shirt on and his wet hair was strung over his face, "Fine, do you have any idea what you want on it?"
Hermione was struck by the change in his attitude, he was actually asking what she wanted, "Umm no not really."
"Good because I've got a really good idea," and shoved passed her. 'Well it was good while it lasted' Hermione sighed inwardly and followed him down the stairs. By the time she had gotten down, he had brought the portrait inside and had layed it on the carpet near the fire. In her hand she had the tasks that they had to complete, "Draco while we do this, I think we should start on this homework."
He nodded and nelt by the painting, "Well read them out or is that to hard?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat at the other side of the painting, "Okay so we have to complete this survey on each other that'll be easy, do a two roll of parchment assignment on the mannerisms, habits and basic behaviour of your partner that's not hard, you don't show any emotion what so ever, oh crap and we have to. in some way, prove that we trust each other." Draco looked up at that, "Well you can just fall and I'll catch you. Simple."
"Uh no see it must be an original idea and that is the oldest trick in the therapists book. Charms have been put in place to show that this has happened. Ahh well we have a whole two weeks to trust each other. Great, how do you trust someone that's called you names for the last five years? Any way the forth task is to discover how the sorting hat placed in partners. Malfoy what are you doing?" Hermione stopped suddenly when she saw him drawing what looked like a lot of squiggles and lines.
"Granger shut up will you and get your damn wand out and help me here," he snapped irritably.
She complied took her wand out, she recognised what he was doing and was surprised because it was an extremely complicated charm. Hermione pointed her wand at the canvas and a bright purple light shot from her wand to join the black squiggles. Slowly they melded and formed shapes; Hermione stared, entranced at what was happening. Draco too, looked eager to see what was going to happen. Suddenly a bright light flashed which blinded the two for a moment, when they looked back, an intertwined gold Phoenix and gold Dragon on a royal red background stared back at them.
"Hello my dears, I assume that you two were the ones that conjured us," the Phoenix asked in a motherly tone. They nodded back at her, "I'm Talia."
"And I am Jemmus," the dragon bowed to them. "I assume your password is still ignis."
They nodded again, "I'm Hermione and this is Draco," she pointed to him.
"Well I guess we should get to guarding your door then shan't we," Talia laughed.
Draco came out of his stupor and lifted the portrait back onto his hangings. When he came back he sat on his couch, opposite to Hermione, "your middle name doesn't happen to be Phoenix does it?"
She nodded, "I think my mom was still affected from the drugs," she studied him, he looked nicer now, not so scary. He actually reminded her of someone; "You look like your mom."
Draco looked back up at her, "Huh?"
"Well I mean I always thought you looked like your dad, but that's just the hair and your eyes," she said, slightly flustered.
Draco looked slightly stunned, "thanks, I guess." He then seemed to realise who he was talking to, "not that it really matters coming from a filthy mudblood like you." He sneered and went back up the stairs.
'And I have a full year of this,' Hermione thought sardonically.
~*~*~
The next day Hermione and Harry were walking to History of Magic as they had the first class together. Ron it seems was mad at Hermione for the incident the day before; he luckily had Herbology first any way so Harry was glad that he didn't have to sit through a class of uncomfortable silence. "Is Malfoy giving you grief?" he asked Hermione.
She scrunched up her nose; "well he's got these really weird mood swings. Like one minute he's cold and you can't tell what he's thinking and then for about two minutes he can be really nice, then he realises what he's doing and then he becomes snarky again. It's very confusing."
Harry laughed, "just remember if he lays another foot wrong I have learned some great jinxes and hexes from the twins and Sirius."
Hermione narrowed her eyes, but smiled and remembered the images of Draco covered in hex marks from forth year.
When they got into the classroom Professor Binns told them to sit next to their partners so Hermione wandered up to the back corner where Draco was sitting. Never before had she been so far from the teacher before, it was quite unnerving.
"Relax Granger, Binns can still see your bushy head if you want to answer a question," the slow drawl matched his posture; he had his chair pushed back and his feet on the desk.
"Please not this early in the morning Draco," Hermione shoved his feet from the table and placed her things down.
"Now everyone, this year among the curriculum you will be learning for your exams in seventh year, you with your partners will be undertaking an assignment which will require you to research a mythological or legendary race that has walked this earth, you may choose how to present your information. This will make up fifty percent of your overall grade. It will be due on the first of May," Professor Binns ignored the cries of agony from the class and started on his lecture for the day; the war between the sphinx and manticore.
~*~*~
"Malfoy we meet in our library at eight," Hermione told him after the class was over and walked away before he could protest. She had found he was much easy to deal with if he wasn't talking.
Hermione got to their library at quarter to eight to try and beat Malfoy there, to her surprise he was sitting at one of the mahogany tables reading a book again on transfiguration. He looked up, "beat you."
She just ignored him and sat down, "So what are we going to research? It can't be what everyone else is doing either, I want good marks for this."
He stared, "well that means we can't do most of the ones I thought of. Jeez Granger you think of one that some ones not doing."
She grinned and ran down a row of books, she was going to fast however and tripped.
"Clumsy mudblood, can't even stand on your own two feet properly, idiot," Draco waltsed down to her.
"Shut up Malfoy, any where this is where the elf books are," she brushed herself off and gave a few books to him.
"Elves? I am not researching singing and dancing nancys that sit and preen all day."
"What do you know? Sounds exactly like you Malfoy. Now do you have a better idea," Hermione stopped to glower at him.
Draco mumbled something incoherent and grabbed some of the other books. They worked in silence for three hours until Hermione decided to go to bed. She said good night to Draco who didn't reply and then when up stairs. She slipped under the covers and was asleep in an instant.
Her sleep wasn't peaceful though; her dreams were haunted with nightmarish images. She was walking through a deep wood; she heard a noise so she hid in the thick foliage. In a circular clearing three snakes slithered together and intertwined. They began to grow and shoot upwards they began to change, but what, Hermione never knew because she suddenly woke up in a cold sweat.
"It was just a dream. Just a dream." And she went back into a peaceful slumber.
~*~*~ I'm begging you people here!!! Please review!!! I only got six at the time I wrote this message, it's kind of off putting if you don't know if people like your story or not. PLEASE just a one-word review, like good or bad. Please pretty pretty please!!!~*~*~