Unlucky Chapter 13!!!
Maybe I should just skip it and go straight to 14.
Now that we've finished the superstitions for the day.
I'm so sorry that it took me so long to finish this chapter (over a month and a half). It's undoubtedly the longest one that I've written for this story, and I didn't have time to write for two weeks because I was studying for finals, and then I had pink eye and my mom wouldn't let me read or write for fear that I'd drive myself blind or whatever. So after all that I finally finished.
Please, please pretty please review when you get done reading this because I'm not really sure whether this chapter really works, and need your opinion.
Disclaimer- I am not affiliated with Joanne Kathleen Rowling or Warner Bros. Company and do not claim to own any of the characters in this story except all the new students and professors. I am not making any money off the creation of this work; I am writing it solely for my own entertainment and the entertainment of others.
Additional Disclaimer- The names of the houses (Tashbaan, Pelimath, Oasis, and Harfang) are all locations in Narnia, the world created by C.S. Lewis. I do not claim to own them or have created them. Likewise, the Academy's name (Calorman) is also a place in Narnia. The name of the wizard who guards the Tashbaan entrance (Aslan) is not of my creation. It is also derived from the Chronicles of Narnia's lion king, Aslan. While I'm at it, I might as well say that the idea for a faun guarding the entrance to the teacher lounge comes from the character of Mr. Tumnus. The password for Tashbaan Tower (Son of Adam) is derived from the Narnians' name for humans. Anything else that I might have missed belongs to C.S. Lewis.
Please enjoy this next chapter and once you're done, please drop me a review. it'll make my day!!
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As they approached the stairs' paramount, the huge oak doors swung open, revealing a well lite hall within. The polished floor creaked slightly under their feet and frescos decorated the high, arched ceiling above them. A large archway lead into a room of great dimensions in which four long tables ran the length of the hall and a fifth one (presumably the staff table) stood perpendicular and elevated above the others. House banners hung above the four tables and the school's crest adorned the staff table. Hermione felt a brief pang of longing for Hogwarts.
Miss Williams walked past the entrance, past the grand staircase, whose presence dominated the hall and to a statue of a faun at the hall's end.
"Immoblia," Miss Williams said. The faun stood and moved to the side, exposing an archway behind it. They walked through it and found themselves inside a staff room. A few tables were placed in the middle of the room and a counter against the wall held a variety of kitchen appliances. The far wall had several doorways lining it, each with an ascending staircase behind it. Above the lintel of each doorway was a golden plaque inscribed with the name of a professor.
Miss Williams lead them up the staircase under the plaque inscribed with 'Callaway' and knocked twice on the door at the stairs' top.
"Come in," a slightly high voice called from within. The door opened to a very large, spacious office with picture windows lining the walls although the office had to be in the heart of the building. The interior architecture obviously varied from that of the exterior.
Professor Callaway sat behind an expansive desk pile high with folders and parchment. At the front of the desk, almost lost in the clutter, sat a name plate bearing the inscription 'Agnes Callaway, Headmistress.'
The headmistress was a large woman, well past her sixties. Her hair, Hermione supposed, at one time had been as red as Ron's, but now only a few strands of that remained among the gray frizz. She smiled widely at them, exposing two rows of slightly crooked teeth that made her smile appear as more of a leer.
"Welcome to Calorman Academy," she said, rising and walking around the desk to greet them. "I am Professor Callaway, headmistress here. We're so glad that you've finally made it here. You gave us quite a scare when you didn't show up." Her speech sounded slightly rehearsed and all Hermione could do was smile weakly. "We're so sorry for the inconvenience caused by your lost trunk Hermione, but I'm sure that your roommate would be more than willing to loan you clothing until your luggage is found. And speaking of roommates, I have a little something I need for you to do before you settle down."
Professor Callaway returned to her place of reign behind the desk. She uncovered a gilded box from under a shaft of parchment and brought it around to where Draco and Hermione were standing.
"This which you are about to experience is a centuries-old tradition that is uded to sort students into their houses."
"But I received a letter from my roommate in my info packet," Hermione said. Next to her, Draco was murmuring something along the same lines.
Professor Callaway smiled wanly at them. "I understand that, but over the week some students have argued that you should have to undergo the same sorting procedure that all students do when arriving here rather than being placed in the same house as the person with whom you've been exchanged.
"Now I must tell you that all the houses have produced outstanding witches and wizards and not matter where you are placed I'm sure that you will make great friends. Now, who wants to go first?"
Hermione and Draco glanced at each other, both thrown by the descriptor verb, 'undergo.'
"I'll go first." Hermione stepped forward a bit.
Professor Callaway opened the box to reveal a bracelet resting on a bed of midnight blue colored crushed velvet. The bracelet was an almond gold color with specks of color flashing from within it when it caught the light. It appeared metal on the velvet, but as Professor Callaway placed it on her wrist, it slid on like a rubber band, fitting itself to her and sending a small shock wave of warmth through her body. A second later, the warmth vanished, but the bracelet became heavier and looser. She glanced down and noticed that it had turned a solid gold and was dotted with emeralds the size of nickels.
"Congratulations. You've been sorted into Tashbaan house," Professor Callaway said sliding the bracelet off Hermione's hand as the bracelet returned to it's almond gold state. "Now you, Mr. Malfoy."
The bracelet was on his wrist for a few seconds before it began to turn black. Draco screwed up his face in a moment of concentration, and the bracelet quickly turned back into the gold and emerald one Hermione had seen only moments before.
"It appears that you too have been placed in Tashbaan, Draco. Congratulations. I'll call up your roommates." She began to search her desk for something.
"Hem, hem." Both Hermione and Draco jumped and turned around. They had forgotten that Miss Williams was standing behind them. "Seeing as how I'm no longer needed and I have a pile of paperwork waiting at my office, I think I'm going to head out."
"What? Oh yes. Thank you so much for bringing them Renée. If you want something for the ride back, I'm sure that the house-elves can whip something up for you."
"That's alright, Professor, I'll be fine. I'll contact you when I get word of Hermione's trunk." With that, she disappeared through the door.
Hermione got the impression that Professor Callaway had been Miss William's headmistress at one point.
"Aha." Professor Callaway pulled a small intercom system out from under a pole of spell-books. Seating herself in her chair behind the desk, she pushed two buttons on the machine.
"Will Scottie-Anne Colen and Clark Anderson please come to the Great Hall as soon as possible." She paused for a moment. "Will Scottie-Anne Colen and Clark Anderson please come to the Great Hall as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you."
Draco was biting down on his bottom lip, obviously fighting the same urge as Hermione.
"I'm sure that you would rather have your classmates show you around rather than me, so off you go, unless you would like for me to escort you down there."
"That's alright," Hermione said quickly.
"I'm very glad that you have arrived safely, and if you need anything please feel free to ask."
"Thank you, Professor," they said simultaneously before making a hasty retreat from the office. Draco started sown the stairs, and Hermione followed after him, keeping her eyes on his retreating form. Above them, the light bulb flickered out, sending the staircase into a realm of darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of the teachers' lounge at it's end.
Hermione tripped in the three inch heels Parvati made her wear and plummeted down the stairs, knocking over Draco as she went. They landed at the bottom, Hermione's back colliding with Draco's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. Hermione rolled off Draco, groaning.
"For someone as skinny as you look, you sure weigh a lot," Draco said, after getting his breath back. He stood and reached down to help Hermione up.
"Haven't you heard that it's rude to comment about a girl's weight?" Hermione joked, allowing herself to be lifted from the floor. She tested her ankle gingerly. "I'm sorry for knocking into you."
"You didn't kill me, so all is good."
"I guess that I'm going to have to try harder next time."
Draco smirked. "Is your ankle alright?"
"It'll be fine. It was the stupid boots."
"Ah. Those look like they would cause some problems. Why bother wearing them?"
"When they're being shoved onto your feet at one in the morning, a person usually finds themselves unable to argue with those insisting they wear them."
"Ah."
"You sure that you're alright?"
"I'm just slightly bruised. Now enough talking- our presence is being requested in the Great Hall."
"Right."
They made their way through the teachers' lounge and down the hallway without any major mishaps. As they entered the Great Hall, they noticed two new additions- a teenage boy and girl sat on one of the tables, chatting nonchalantly. When they noticed Hermione and Draco, they immediately curtailed their conversation, slid off the table and walked over, smiles spread on their faces.
"Hi. Welcome to Calorman!"
"Thanks." The twosome's smiles were contagious and Hermione began to smile as well.
"We're so excited that you ended up in Tashbaan. Everything was already decided and then Marleigh and her Oasis clan argued that you should be properly sorted. The only real reason why she wanted you in her house is so she would have a reason to take more shopping expeditions to London."
"Since Scottie-Anne is more concerned with giving you the latest gossip rather than extending common courtesy, I'm going to be taking over talking for her. I'm Clark Anderson and this is Scottie-Anne Colen."
He extended his hand to them. Scottie-Anne rolled her eyes at Clark before following in the suit.
"I apologize for the disgrace of my name. I think that my mom was high on pain-killers when she named me."
"I understand your pain. I'm Hermione Granger."
"And I'm Draco Malfoy. Unfortunately, my mother planned to name me Draco before I was born, so I can't blame it on the pain-killers." Everyone laughed.
"So, Draco. Callaway tells me that you play Quidditch."
"Yes, actually." He and Clark went off into a conversation consisting mainly of Quidditch terms, the least of which Hermione did not understand. Scottie-Anne didn't seem to comprehend it either.
"Hermione, I know that you are dying to hear they rest of their conversation, but could you bear coming up to the dorms? Everyone's waiting to meet you."
"I don't know if I could bear missing this," Hermione said sarcastically.
Scottie-Anne smiled. "Come on. They'll discuss Quidditch for the next twenty minutes then go out to check out the field for twenty more minutes. I doubt they'll even notice we're gone."
They walked out into the entrance hall. "Do you have a suitcase or anything?"
"It got lost somewhere between New York and here."
"I'm sorry. Until they find it, you can borrow any of my clothes. We're probably around the same size. And when we go into L.A. tomorrow you can get some stuff."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yep. You came just in time. We go every other week. There's muggle shops in the muggle world and the wizard shops in the wizard's world. You get the best shopping of both worlds."
"Never thought of it that way."
"Okay, our dorm is about the farthest from everything. We're in the western tower and the entrance is on the third floor. So we're close to Ancient Runes and that's just about it."
"What about the other houses?" They reached the staircase leading to the second floor.
"There's four house-Tashbaan, Oasis, Harfang, and Pelimath. Tashbaan is the house we're in. Undoubtedly the best. According to tradition, those in Tashbaan are bold, daring, speak their minds, etc. People in Oasis are supposed to be intelligent, witty, and ready minded, but many believe that evolution of Oasis skipped a few beats because the girls in our grade have the earned reputation of being sluts. And I don't mean that lightly.
"Harfang has a very dark bunch of people. There's a couple of decent ones, but most of them are interested in the dark arts. They're very power- hungry, if you want a less-derogatory term-ambitious."
"Is one of their colors black?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Yeah. Red and Black," Scottie-Anne said staring at Hermione oddly. "How did you know that?"
"Just a guess." Harfang sounded a lot like Slytherin and the bracelet had tried to place Draco there. But it didn't. Everything Draco told her she had believed, but there remained some doubt. This new revolution shattered the doubt.
"Anyway, the fourth house is Pelimath. They're the only ones who don't distinguish between the houses. Completely non-prejudicial. If you ever have a problem and need someone to talk to, they're the best. Only people I know who can put up with Marleigh and her posse for more than fifteen minutes."
"And who's Marleigh?"
"Marleigh Paris. The queen of Oasis. Her father's one of L.A.'s leading citizens. He owns a chain of hotels across California, the Paris Suites chain. She's his only child and his little princess."
"Ah. That kind of person." They reached the third floor and turned right. The floorboards beneath their feet were a honey-colored wood; fluorescent lighting lite the white plastered walls of the hallway.
"The entrance is right over here." Scottie-Anne stopped in front of a painting of a wizen wizard studying a crystal ball. He looked up as he saw them approaching.
"Good evening, Scottie-Anne. And who might your friend be?"
"This is Hermione Granger, our exchange student. Hermione, this is Aslan, guardian of the entrance. Son of Adam."
"Correct." The portrait swung open.
"Catch you later Aslan."
The common room was a large room, decorated in the Tashbaan colors of gold and emerald. Large, overstuffed green couches and chairs were the major space occupier, and a large screen television sat in one corner, surrounded by a group of avid watchers. A number of study tables lined the edge of the room, vacated for Friday night festivities. The room buzzed with excited energy. Scottie-Anne lead Hermione through it all, and up the right-hand staircase, going past all the other years before finally stopping at
"Here it is-Home sweet home," Scottie-Anne said indicating a door on which a plaque stating '10th grade' was mounted. She pushed the door open and walked in, closely followed by Hermione.
The room was smaller than Hogwart's. Four beds were lined up against one wall, broken by nightstands. Against the djoining wall were four dressers, their tops covered in make-up and jewelry.
Only one girl, seated cross-legged on top of one of the beds, was in the room. She looked up from the magazine she was reading as they entered and let out a squeal.
"You're finally here!" she exclaimed. "First we thought you weren't going to be in our dorm, then you didn't show up. You scared us half to death."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh not, you're fine. We're so excited that you're finally here. I'm Cara Emory."
"Hermione Granger." Cara had loosely curled, deep auburn hair that fell a few inches below her shoulders. Her shamrock green eyes were speckled with flecks of gold and stood out against her creamy skin.
"Nice to meet you. Everyone else is in the other room. Come on." She lead Hermione through a large bathroom to another room identical to the one they were just in except this one contained three teenage girls watching a movie on a small television screen. When they saw Hermione, Scottie-Anne and Cara entered the room, they all jumed off the beds and surrounded Hermione, asking questions and giving congratulations for her arrival and her being sorted into Tashbaan.
"Back away and giver her some room to breathe," Cara said jokingly. "Come on, now. You're completely badgering her and she doesn't even know your names. Hermione, this is Laurel Burke. And Juliet Lewis. And Melanie Winters." She paused for a moment. "Where are Sydney and Tamara?"
"They disappeared with Cody and Logan about 45 minutes ago and have been AWOL since."
"That would explain it." Cara turned to Hermione. "Sometime within the next 24 hours you'll meet Sydney and Tamara who are the last two members of our dorm duplex, and who are currently missing."
"Alright." Hermione could have kicked herself for her lack of intelligent response.
Introductions out of the way, the girls continued to bombard Hermione with questions. Fifteen minutes later Scottie-Anne called a stop to the wave of inquiries.
"Hermione has been on a plane for like, twenty hours and has been awake for god knows how many hours. I'm sure that all she wants is to take a shower and go to sleep." Hermione smile gratefully. The clock read 9:45, but her internal clock felt like it was hours past that.
"Everyone say good night," Scottie-Anne instructed. Even as the girls' mouths were beginning to open, Scottie-Anne was pulling Hermione towards the door leading to the bathroom.
"It was very nice meeting you all. I'll see you tomorrow," Hermione managed to say before she was pulled into the bathroom.
"Sorry I had to drag you away, but if I hadn't, they would have had you in there until tomorrow morning. They're not usually this annoying, but they're very excited right now."
"They were fine."
"Anyways, let's get you situated." She dug around in one of her dresser drawers for a moment. "Here are some pajama bottoms and a top. And here in the bathroom, we have your choice of shampoos and conditioners. There's non- tangle, smoothers, volumizers, ones for color-treatments, hair relaxers, you name it, we probably have it. They're arranged in alphabetical order by brand.
"And this rack has all the body scrubs. So, help yourself. Shower cubicles are on the left and they double as changing stalls. Towels are already in there. Usually there's a ten minute limit on showertime, but seeing that you've been on a plane for like forever today, we won't count it against you."
"Thanks," Hermione said, studying the rows of shampoo, undoubtedly the largest collection she had seen outside a drug store.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm just going to be in the dorm room."
"Alright." Scottie-Anne disappeared from the bathroom and Hermione turned back to the endless supply of shampoo, the bottles of which all looked the same. She finally chose the bottle that guarantied to 'relax even the most wild manes of frizzled curls' and an apricot body scrub,
On the left of the mirror and sinks were three cubicles, inside of which a shower curtain divided a pink tiled changing area. Hermione peeled off the clothing that had became her second skin over the past twenty-four hours and stepped under the steady flow of water emanating from the showerhead.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione stepped out of the shower, the layers of airport grime and the like removed, and she sighed with pleasure. She was completely at her own comfort although the lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on her. Pulling on the aquamarine cami top and patterned pajama bottoms, Hermione wrapped a towel around her hair and stepped out of the cubicle, into the surprisingly empty bathroom. She replaced the shampoo and body scrub in their alphabetically arranged spots and went back into the dorm room. Juliet was sitting on one of the beds reading a magazine while Scottie-Anne sat at one of the room's two desks writing something with a hot pink quill. Only a handful of auburn curls peeking out from under a comforter could attest to Cara's presence in the room.
"Feel better?" Scottie-Anne asked, looking up from her parchment.
"Lots. Thank you so much for letting me borrow your clothing."
"It's nothing. Anyways, Mrs. Angione dropped this by for you." She handed Hermione a large Ziplock bag. "It has a toothbrush, deodorant, all the necessities. Oh, and she also put in some pills that adjust your body clock so you don't have jet lag."
"Awesome," Hermione said, rifling through the bag.
"Hermione, we had a very attractive male visitor about fifteen minutes ago who was asking about you," Juliet said with a small smile on her face.
"What?" Hermione inquired, glancing up from the instructions on the side of the pill cask.
"Blond, sliver eyes, extremely attractive," Juliet elaborated. "Said to pass on the message that he would be in the common room for another half hour."
"Really?" Hermione tried to suppress a smile.
"Is there something that you want to tell us?" Scottie-Anne asked, nibbling thoughtfully on the end of her quill.
"No. We're friends, that's it. Do either of you have a robe I can borrow?"
"You don't need a robe."
"Well I can't go down there dressed like this!"
"Why not?"
"Because I just can't! I'm in my pajamas!" Scottie-Anne and Juliet exchanged glances.
"So? Nobody cares. If it makes you feel any better, there's probably no one down there right now."
"Fine," Hermione said swallowing the small purple pill from the container. "I'll be back in five minutes or so." She toweled off her hair the best she could. The relaxing shampoo had worked and her hair was drying into small ringlets so unlike her usual bushy waves.
"Alright, have fun."
Hermione smirked and walked out the door.
Down in the commonroom, only a few people remained seated around the television, Draco among them. When he saw her coming down the stairs, he excused himself from his conversation and walked over.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself. How's the Quidditch pitch?"
"It's excellent. The grass is very well kept." He paused for a moment. "So, how are you doing? Are your roommates nice and all that?"
"They seem very nice. Very friendly. How are yours?"
"They're nice as well. They have a very serious Quidditch program going."
"That's good." There was a moment of awkward silence.
"I just wanted to make sure that you were doing alright."
"Thank you."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." He leaned forward, embracing Hermione and wrapping her in a hug. Hermione let the warmth of his body surround her for a moment before breaking away.
"I'll see you tomorrow." With a smile, Hermione turned and hiked back up the staircase, the feeling of Draco's arms around her still coursing through her veins.
"And so. the verdict?" Scottie-Anne asked, spinning around in her chair as Hermione re-entered the room.
"What verdict? He just wanted to see how I was doing."
"Sure that's all," Juliet said poking her head in from the bathroom, a toothbrush hanging out of the side of her mouth.
"Jules leave her alone," Scottie-Anne said. "Hermione, we're just teasing you. Pay us no attention."
"Sure. Whatever." Juliet disappeared back into the bathroom, reappearing second later with the toothbrush gone. "Well I'm tired and I'm going to bed. See you girls in the morning." She climbed into the bed closest to the door and turned off the lamp on the nightstand next to it.
Hermione slipped into the bathroom clutching the bag Scottie-Anne had given her, and coming back out ten minutes later.
"So which bed's mine?" Hermione asked.
"The one between Cara's and Jules'. That was Aimee's bed."
"Thanks. I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright. We're very glad that you're here Hermione."
"I'm glad that I'm here too. Goodnight."
Even with the jet lag pill, Hermione felt exhausted and a moment after her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep, dream-less sleep.
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I feel like I may have slightly ruined Draco's character by making him such a softie, so tell me what you think. I really value your opinions and want to know how I'm doing. I can't change what I'm doing wrong unless I know that I'm doing it, so let me know.
And while you're in the reviewing mode, please go and check out my friend Emily's story, Shades of Gray, which she has been doing an absolutely fabulous job on, and for which she deserves more reviewers. So if you are in the mood for some well-written Hermione/Draco, please go check it out. There's a link to her bio from my bio so that you don't even have to look.
So go crazy and do a little reviewing!!
Kudos to everyone who does so!!!
Until I write again.
lana-la-banana
Now that we've finished the superstitions for the day.
I'm so sorry that it took me so long to finish this chapter (over a month and a half). It's undoubtedly the longest one that I've written for this story, and I didn't have time to write for two weeks because I was studying for finals, and then I had pink eye and my mom wouldn't let me read or write for fear that I'd drive myself blind or whatever. So after all that I finally finished.
Please, please pretty please review when you get done reading this because I'm not really sure whether this chapter really works, and need your opinion.
Disclaimer- I am not affiliated with Joanne Kathleen Rowling or Warner Bros. Company and do not claim to own any of the characters in this story except all the new students and professors. I am not making any money off the creation of this work; I am writing it solely for my own entertainment and the entertainment of others.
Additional Disclaimer- The names of the houses (Tashbaan, Pelimath, Oasis, and Harfang) are all locations in Narnia, the world created by C.S. Lewis. I do not claim to own them or have created them. Likewise, the Academy's name (Calorman) is also a place in Narnia. The name of the wizard who guards the Tashbaan entrance (Aslan) is not of my creation. It is also derived from the Chronicles of Narnia's lion king, Aslan. While I'm at it, I might as well say that the idea for a faun guarding the entrance to the teacher lounge comes from the character of Mr. Tumnus. The password for Tashbaan Tower (Son of Adam) is derived from the Narnians' name for humans. Anything else that I might have missed belongs to C.S. Lewis.
Please enjoy this next chapter and once you're done, please drop me a review. it'll make my day!!
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As they approached the stairs' paramount, the huge oak doors swung open, revealing a well lite hall within. The polished floor creaked slightly under their feet and frescos decorated the high, arched ceiling above them. A large archway lead into a room of great dimensions in which four long tables ran the length of the hall and a fifth one (presumably the staff table) stood perpendicular and elevated above the others. House banners hung above the four tables and the school's crest adorned the staff table. Hermione felt a brief pang of longing for Hogwarts.
Miss Williams walked past the entrance, past the grand staircase, whose presence dominated the hall and to a statue of a faun at the hall's end.
"Immoblia," Miss Williams said. The faun stood and moved to the side, exposing an archway behind it. They walked through it and found themselves inside a staff room. A few tables were placed in the middle of the room and a counter against the wall held a variety of kitchen appliances. The far wall had several doorways lining it, each with an ascending staircase behind it. Above the lintel of each doorway was a golden plaque inscribed with the name of a professor.
Miss Williams lead them up the staircase under the plaque inscribed with 'Callaway' and knocked twice on the door at the stairs' top.
"Come in," a slightly high voice called from within. The door opened to a very large, spacious office with picture windows lining the walls although the office had to be in the heart of the building. The interior architecture obviously varied from that of the exterior.
Professor Callaway sat behind an expansive desk pile high with folders and parchment. At the front of the desk, almost lost in the clutter, sat a name plate bearing the inscription 'Agnes Callaway, Headmistress.'
The headmistress was a large woman, well past her sixties. Her hair, Hermione supposed, at one time had been as red as Ron's, but now only a few strands of that remained among the gray frizz. She smiled widely at them, exposing two rows of slightly crooked teeth that made her smile appear as more of a leer.
"Welcome to Calorman Academy," she said, rising and walking around the desk to greet them. "I am Professor Callaway, headmistress here. We're so glad that you've finally made it here. You gave us quite a scare when you didn't show up." Her speech sounded slightly rehearsed and all Hermione could do was smile weakly. "We're so sorry for the inconvenience caused by your lost trunk Hermione, but I'm sure that your roommate would be more than willing to loan you clothing until your luggage is found. And speaking of roommates, I have a little something I need for you to do before you settle down."
Professor Callaway returned to her place of reign behind the desk. She uncovered a gilded box from under a shaft of parchment and brought it around to where Draco and Hermione were standing.
"This which you are about to experience is a centuries-old tradition that is uded to sort students into their houses."
"But I received a letter from my roommate in my info packet," Hermione said. Next to her, Draco was murmuring something along the same lines.
Professor Callaway smiled wanly at them. "I understand that, but over the week some students have argued that you should have to undergo the same sorting procedure that all students do when arriving here rather than being placed in the same house as the person with whom you've been exchanged.
"Now I must tell you that all the houses have produced outstanding witches and wizards and not matter where you are placed I'm sure that you will make great friends. Now, who wants to go first?"
Hermione and Draco glanced at each other, both thrown by the descriptor verb, 'undergo.'
"I'll go first." Hermione stepped forward a bit.
Professor Callaway opened the box to reveal a bracelet resting on a bed of midnight blue colored crushed velvet. The bracelet was an almond gold color with specks of color flashing from within it when it caught the light. It appeared metal on the velvet, but as Professor Callaway placed it on her wrist, it slid on like a rubber band, fitting itself to her and sending a small shock wave of warmth through her body. A second later, the warmth vanished, but the bracelet became heavier and looser. She glanced down and noticed that it had turned a solid gold and was dotted with emeralds the size of nickels.
"Congratulations. You've been sorted into Tashbaan house," Professor Callaway said sliding the bracelet off Hermione's hand as the bracelet returned to it's almond gold state. "Now you, Mr. Malfoy."
The bracelet was on his wrist for a few seconds before it began to turn black. Draco screwed up his face in a moment of concentration, and the bracelet quickly turned back into the gold and emerald one Hermione had seen only moments before.
"It appears that you too have been placed in Tashbaan, Draco. Congratulations. I'll call up your roommates." She began to search her desk for something.
"Hem, hem." Both Hermione and Draco jumped and turned around. They had forgotten that Miss Williams was standing behind them. "Seeing as how I'm no longer needed and I have a pile of paperwork waiting at my office, I think I'm going to head out."
"What? Oh yes. Thank you so much for bringing them Renée. If you want something for the ride back, I'm sure that the house-elves can whip something up for you."
"That's alright, Professor, I'll be fine. I'll contact you when I get word of Hermione's trunk." With that, she disappeared through the door.
Hermione got the impression that Professor Callaway had been Miss William's headmistress at one point.
"Aha." Professor Callaway pulled a small intercom system out from under a pole of spell-books. Seating herself in her chair behind the desk, she pushed two buttons on the machine.
"Will Scottie-Anne Colen and Clark Anderson please come to the Great Hall as soon as possible." She paused for a moment. "Will Scottie-Anne Colen and Clark Anderson please come to the Great Hall as soon as possible. That is all. Thank you."
Draco was biting down on his bottom lip, obviously fighting the same urge as Hermione.
"I'm sure that you would rather have your classmates show you around rather than me, so off you go, unless you would like for me to escort you down there."
"That's alright," Hermione said quickly.
"I'm very glad that you have arrived safely, and if you need anything please feel free to ask."
"Thank you, Professor," they said simultaneously before making a hasty retreat from the office. Draco started sown the stairs, and Hermione followed after him, keeping her eyes on his retreating form. Above them, the light bulb flickered out, sending the staircase into a realm of darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of the teachers' lounge at it's end.
Hermione tripped in the three inch heels Parvati made her wear and plummeted down the stairs, knocking over Draco as she went. They landed at the bottom, Hermione's back colliding with Draco's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. Hermione rolled off Draco, groaning.
"For someone as skinny as you look, you sure weigh a lot," Draco said, after getting his breath back. He stood and reached down to help Hermione up.
"Haven't you heard that it's rude to comment about a girl's weight?" Hermione joked, allowing herself to be lifted from the floor. She tested her ankle gingerly. "I'm sorry for knocking into you."
"You didn't kill me, so all is good."
"I guess that I'm going to have to try harder next time."
Draco smirked. "Is your ankle alright?"
"It'll be fine. It was the stupid boots."
"Ah. Those look like they would cause some problems. Why bother wearing them?"
"When they're being shoved onto your feet at one in the morning, a person usually finds themselves unable to argue with those insisting they wear them."
"Ah."
"You sure that you're alright?"
"I'm just slightly bruised. Now enough talking- our presence is being requested in the Great Hall."
"Right."
They made their way through the teachers' lounge and down the hallway without any major mishaps. As they entered the Great Hall, they noticed two new additions- a teenage boy and girl sat on one of the tables, chatting nonchalantly. When they noticed Hermione and Draco, they immediately curtailed their conversation, slid off the table and walked over, smiles spread on their faces.
"Hi. Welcome to Calorman!"
"Thanks." The twosome's smiles were contagious and Hermione began to smile as well.
"We're so excited that you ended up in Tashbaan. Everything was already decided and then Marleigh and her Oasis clan argued that you should be properly sorted. The only real reason why she wanted you in her house is so she would have a reason to take more shopping expeditions to London."
"Since Scottie-Anne is more concerned with giving you the latest gossip rather than extending common courtesy, I'm going to be taking over talking for her. I'm Clark Anderson and this is Scottie-Anne Colen."
He extended his hand to them. Scottie-Anne rolled her eyes at Clark before following in the suit.
"I apologize for the disgrace of my name. I think that my mom was high on pain-killers when she named me."
"I understand your pain. I'm Hermione Granger."
"And I'm Draco Malfoy. Unfortunately, my mother planned to name me Draco before I was born, so I can't blame it on the pain-killers." Everyone laughed.
"So, Draco. Callaway tells me that you play Quidditch."
"Yes, actually." He and Clark went off into a conversation consisting mainly of Quidditch terms, the least of which Hermione did not understand. Scottie-Anne didn't seem to comprehend it either.
"Hermione, I know that you are dying to hear they rest of their conversation, but could you bear coming up to the dorms? Everyone's waiting to meet you."
"I don't know if I could bear missing this," Hermione said sarcastically.
Scottie-Anne smiled. "Come on. They'll discuss Quidditch for the next twenty minutes then go out to check out the field for twenty more minutes. I doubt they'll even notice we're gone."
They walked out into the entrance hall. "Do you have a suitcase or anything?"
"It got lost somewhere between New York and here."
"I'm sorry. Until they find it, you can borrow any of my clothes. We're probably around the same size. And when we go into L.A. tomorrow you can get some stuff."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yep. You came just in time. We go every other week. There's muggle shops in the muggle world and the wizard shops in the wizard's world. You get the best shopping of both worlds."
"Never thought of it that way."
"Okay, our dorm is about the farthest from everything. We're in the western tower and the entrance is on the third floor. So we're close to Ancient Runes and that's just about it."
"What about the other houses?" They reached the staircase leading to the second floor.
"There's four house-Tashbaan, Oasis, Harfang, and Pelimath. Tashbaan is the house we're in. Undoubtedly the best. According to tradition, those in Tashbaan are bold, daring, speak their minds, etc. People in Oasis are supposed to be intelligent, witty, and ready minded, but many believe that evolution of Oasis skipped a few beats because the girls in our grade have the earned reputation of being sluts. And I don't mean that lightly.
"Harfang has a very dark bunch of people. There's a couple of decent ones, but most of them are interested in the dark arts. They're very power- hungry, if you want a less-derogatory term-ambitious."
"Is one of their colors black?" Hermione asked suddenly.
"Yeah. Red and Black," Scottie-Anne said staring at Hermione oddly. "How did you know that?"
"Just a guess." Harfang sounded a lot like Slytherin and the bracelet had tried to place Draco there. But it didn't. Everything Draco told her she had believed, but there remained some doubt. This new revolution shattered the doubt.
"Anyway, the fourth house is Pelimath. They're the only ones who don't distinguish between the houses. Completely non-prejudicial. If you ever have a problem and need someone to talk to, they're the best. Only people I know who can put up with Marleigh and her posse for more than fifteen minutes."
"And who's Marleigh?"
"Marleigh Paris. The queen of Oasis. Her father's one of L.A.'s leading citizens. He owns a chain of hotels across California, the Paris Suites chain. She's his only child and his little princess."
"Ah. That kind of person." They reached the third floor and turned right. The floorboards beneath their feet were a honey-colored wood; fluorescent lighting lite the white plastered walls of the hallway.
"The entrance is right over here." Scottie-Anne stopped in front of a painting of a wizen wizard studying a crystal ball. He looked up as he saw them approaching.
"Good evening, Scottie-Anne. And who might your friend be?"
"This is Hermione Granger, our exchange student. Hermione, this is Aslan, guardian of the entrance. Son of Adam."
"Correct." The portrait swung open.
"Catch you later Aslan."
The common room was a large room, decorated in the Tashbaan colors of gold and emerald. Large, overstuffed green couches and chairs were the major space occupier, and a large screen television sat in one corner, surrounded by a group of avid watchers. A number of study tables lined the edge of the room, vacated for Friday night festivities. The room buzzed with excited energy. Scottie-Anne lead Hermione through it all, and up the right-hand staircase, going past all the other years before finally stopping at
"Here it is-Home sweet home," Scottie-Anne said indicating a door on which a plaque stating '10th grade' was mounted. She pushed the door open and walked in, closely followed by Hermione.
The room was smaller than Hogwart's. Four beds were lined up against one wall, broken by nightstands. Against the djoining wall were four dressers, their tops covered in make-up and jewelry.
Only one girl, seated cross-legged on top of one of the beds, was in the room. She looked up from the magazine she was reading as they entered and let out a squeal.
"You're finally here!" she exclaimed. "First we thought you weren't going to be in our dorm, then you didn't show up. You scared us half to death."
"I'm sorry."
"Oh not, you're fine. We're so excited that you're finally here. I'm Cara Emory."
"Hermione Granger." Cara had loosely curled, deep auburn hair that fell a few inches below her shoulders. Her shamrock green eyes were speckled with flecks of gold and stood out against her creamy skin.
"Nice to meet you. Everyone else is in the other room. Come on." She lead Hermione through a large bathroom to another room identical to the one they were just in except this one contained three teenage girls watching a movie on a small television screen. When they saw Hermione, Scottie-Anne and Cara entered the room, they all jumed off the beds and surrounded Hermione, asking questions and giving congratulations for her arrival and her being sorted into Tashbaan.
"Back away and giver her some room to breathe," Cara said jokingly. "Come on, now. You're completely badgering her and she doesn't even know your names. Hermione, this is Laurel Burke. And Juliet Lewis. And Melanie Winters." She paused for a moment. "Where are Sydney and Tamara?"
"They disappeared with Cody and Logan about 45 minutes ago and have been AWOL since."
"That would explain it." Cara turned to Hermione. "Sometime within the next 24 hours you'll meet Sydney and Tamara who are the last two members of our dorm duplex, and who are currently missing."
"Alright." Hermione could have kicked herself for her lack of intelligent response.
Introductions out of the way, the girls continued to bombard Hermione with questions. Fifteen minutes later Scottie-Anne called a stop to the wave of inquiries.
"Hermione has been on a plane for like, twenty hours and has been awake for god knows how many hours. I'm sure that all she wants is to take a shower and go to sleep." Hermione smile gratefully. The clock read 9:45, but her internal clock felt like it was hours past that.
"Everyone say good night," Scottie-Anne instructed. Even as the girls' mouths were beginning to open, Scottie-Anne was pulling Hermione towards the door leading to the bathroom.
"It was very nice meeting you all. I'll see you tomorrow," Hermione managed to say before she was pulled into the bathroom.
"Sorry I had to drag you away, but if I hadn't, they would have had you in there until tomorrow morning. They're not usually this annoying, but they're very excited right now."
"They were fine."
"Anyways, let's get you situated." She dug around in one of her dresser drawers for a moment. "Here are some pajama bottoms and a top. And here in the bathroom, we have your choice of shampoos and conditioners. There's non- tangle, smoothers, volumizers, ones for color-treatments, hair relaxers, you name it, we probably have it. They're arranged in alphabetical order by brand.
"And this rack has all the body scrubs. So, help yourself. Shower cubicles are on the left and they double as changing stalls. Towels are already in there. Usually there's a ten minute limit on showertime, but seeing that you've been on a plane for like forever today, we won't count it against you."
"Thanks," Hermione said, studying the rows of shampoo, undoubtedly the largest collection she had seen outside a drug store.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm just going to be in the dorm room."
"Alright." Scottie-Anne disappeared from the bathroom and Hermione turned back to the endless supply of shampoo, the bottles of which all looked the same. She finally chose the bottle that guarantied to 'relax even the most wild manes of frizzled curls' and an apricot body scrub,
On the left of the mirror and sinks were three cubicles, inside of which a shower curtain divided a pink tiled changing area. Hermione peeled off the clothing that had became her second skin over the past twenty-four hours and stepped under the steady flow of water emanating from the showerhead.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione stepped out of the shower, the layers of airport grime and the like removed, and she sighed with pleasure. She was completely at her own comfort although the lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on her. Pulling on the aquamarine cami top and patterned pajama bottoms, Hermione wrapped a towel around her hair and stepped out of the cubicle, into the surprisingly empty bathroom. She replaced the shampoo and body scrub in their alphabetically arranged spots and went back into the dorm room. Juliet was sitting on one of the beds reading a magazine while Scottie-Anne sat at one of the room's two desks writing something with a hot pink quill. Only a handful of auburn curls peeking out from under a comforter could attest to Cara's presence in the room.
"Feel better?" Scottie-Anne asked, looking up from her parchment.
"Lots. Thank you so much for letting me borrow your clothing."
"It's nothing. Anyways, Mrs. Angione dropped this by for you." She handed Hermione a large Ziplock bag. "It has a toothbrush, deodorant, all the necessities. Oh, and she also put in some pills that adjust your body clock so you don't have jet lag."
"Awesome," Hermione said, rifling through the bag.
"Hermione, we had a very attractive male visitor about fifteen minutes ago who was asking about you," Juliet said with a small smile on her face.
"What?" Hermione inquired, glancing up from the instructions on the side of the pill cask.
"Blond, sliver eyes, extremely attractive," Juliet elaborated. "Said to pass on the message that he would be in the common room for another half hour."
"Really?" Hermione tried to suppress a smile.
"Is there something that you want to tell us?" Scottie-Anne asked, nibbling thoughtfully on the end of her quill.
"No. We're friends, that's it. Do either of you have a robe I can borrow?"
"You don't need a robe."
"Well I can't go down there dressed like this!"
"Why not?"
"Because I just can't! I'm in my pajamas!" Scottie-Anne and Juliet exchanged glances.
"So? Nobody cares. If it makes you feel any better, there's probably no one down there right now."
"Fine," Hermione said swallowing the small purple pill from the container. "I'll be back in five minutes or so." She toweled off her hair the best she could. The relaxing shampoo had worked and her hair was drying into small ringlets so unlike her usual bushy waves.
"Alright, have fun."
Hermione smirked and walked out the door.
Down in the commonroom, only a few people remained seated around the television, Draco among them. When he saw her coming down the stairs, he excused himself from his conversation and walked over.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself. How's the Quidditch pitch?"
"It's excellent. The grass is very well kept." He paused for a moment. "So, how are you doing? Are your roommates nice and all that?"
"They seem very nice. Very friendly. How are yours?"
"They're nice as well. They have a very serious Quidditch program going."
"That's good." There was a moment of awkward silence.
"I just wanted to make sure that you were doing alright."
"Thank you."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." He leaned forward, embracing Hermione and wrapping her in a hug. Hermione let the warmth of his body surround her for a moment before breaking away.
"I'll see you tomorrow." With a smile, Hermione turned and hiked back up the staircase, the feeling of Draco's arms around her still coursing through her veins.
"And so. the verdict?" Scottie-Anne asked, spinning around in her chair as Hermione re-entered the room.
"What verdict? He just wanted to see how I was doing."
"Sure that's all," Juliet said poking her head in from the bathroom, a toothbrush hanging out of the side of her mouth.
"Jules leave her alone," Scottie-Anne said. "Hermione, we're just teasing you. Pay us no attention."
"Sure. Whatever." Juliet disappeared back into the bathroom, reappearing second later with the toothbrush gone. "Well I'm tired and I'm going to bed. See you girls in the morning." She climbed into the bed closest to the door and turned off the lamp on the nightstand next to it.
Hermione slipped into the bathroom clutching the bag Scottie-Anne had given her, and coming back out ten minutes later.
"So which bed's mine?" Hermione asked.
"The one between Cara's and Jules'. That was Aimee's bed."
"Thanks. I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright. We're very glad that you're here Hermione."
"I'm glad that I'm here too. Goodnight."
Even with the jet lag pill, Hermione felt exhausted and a moment after her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep, dream-less sleep.
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I feel like I may have slightly ruined Draco's character by making him such a softie, so tell me what you think. I really value your opinions and want to know how I'm doing. I can't change what I'm doing wrong unless I know that I'm doing it, so let me know.
And while you're in the reviewing mode, please go and check out my friend Emily's story, Shades of Gray, which she has been doing an absolutely fabulous job on, and for which she deserves more reviewers. So if you are in the mood for some well-written Hermione/Draco, please go check it out. There's a link to her bio from my bio so that you don't even have to look.
So go crazy and do a little reviewing!!
Kudos to everyone who does so!!!
Until I write again.
lana-la-banana