"Blackbird"
(Partially inspired by the song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
Chapter 1
Hermione stood next to Professor McGonagall in unbelieving shock. The delight that had spread over her face only a moment or so beforehand was now nowhere to be seen as a deep scowl replaced it. Across from her, stood the potions master, Professor Snape, and her least favorite person of all time, Draco Malfoy. Malfoy didn't seem particularly pleased with the arrangements either, though he didn't let that interfere with the permanent smirk etched on his face.
"We hope that this year will be enjoyable for both of you," continued Professor McGonagall, hiding the fact that she knew very well how happy either of the two students were actually going to be during their long school year as Head Boy and Girl. "And that you will find it in your hearts not to murder each other during it. Your password is 'Stag.' Good night." Then, without another word, she spun on her heels and walked down the hall with the continually silent Professor Snape.
Without bothering to speak to the Head Boy next to her, Hermione briskly turned back to the painting of the lake, from which the stag had disappeared, and muttered, "Stag." The painting swung forward and Hermione stepped into what was to be her common room this year. The common room was rather small, but very cozy. In it was a fire crackling happily in the fireplace, a long sofa, and two stairwells leading out of it. Assuming the stairs lead to the bedrooms, she went up the left staircase while Draco went up the right. The stairs met at a landing with a balcony off of it, and to either side was a door. Choosing the door to her left, Hermione was pleased to discover a rather large bedroom decked out in Gryffindor colors. Immediately, she changed into her pajamas and fell into a warm sleep. The first that she had had in over a month.
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Hermione woke up to the sound of an alarm clock at five o'clock the next day. Aggravated, she charged over to his room and pounded on the door.
"Malfoy!"
"What?!"
"Open the door!"
The doorknob turned slowly, and Draco appeared before Hermione, a disbelieving look on his face.
"What?" he repeated.
"Why the fuck do you need to set your alarm clock for 5 in the morning? Breakfast doesn't even open until seven!"
"MY alarm clock? YOUR alarm clock woke ME up! So why don't you get your skinny little ass back over to your room and turn it off?!" Draco obviously wasn't a morning person.
"What?!" As far as Hermione knew, she didn't bring an alarm clock, and in fact hadn't even owned one her entire life. It was at that point that she realized the sound wasn't coming from either of their rooms. Malfoy realized this at the same moment, and they both started walking groggily to the common room. Hermione, however, was in such a stupor that she tripped over a loose board in the floor, sending them both crashing down to the hard wood below them.
"Ouch." Hermione said without much emphasis. She slowly got back to her feet, only to trip again over Draco as he started to get up.
"Fuck." she mumbled. They both slowly and steadily got to their feet. Hermione had twisted her ankle, and had started muttering a long string of curse words as she moved down the stairs.
When at last they reached the bottom, eyes hardly open, they noticed an alarm clock on the table in front of the sofa. It was still ringing like mad.
Sleepy and confused, they both sat on the sofa and watched it ring, trying to figure it out in their heads. Draco was the first to recover. He slowly reached over and pressed the little red button on top of the little clock. "Yours, Granger?" he asked, motioning to the clock.
"Nope."
"Whatever." Once again, they started walking, slowly and sleepily, back up to their beds.
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Hermione woke up at 7 once again and headed down to the common room with a few books to read before Draco got out of the shower. She sat on the sofa, skimming through some textbooks, littering the table with notes she had taken in previous years. Finally, she heard the shower turn off upstairs. She fetched a towel from her room then knocked on the bathroom door.
"What now?"
"What the fuck takes you so long?!"
At that moment Draco came out of the bathroom dressed in his school uniform, glaring down at her. She ignored this and pushed past him into the bathroom.
Draco went back to his room and finished drying his hair. After brushing his hair, and putting on his shoes, he headed down to the common room to catch up on some studying. However, when he got there, he saw that the table was completely covered in notes and books already. It was complete mess.
"Granger, do you find it absolutely necessary to completely ruin the common room within the fucking first five minutes you spend in it?!"
"Get over yourself!" Came the muffled reply.
"ME get over MYSELF? I didn't leave my crap all over the place you fucking hypocrite!" Hermione came down the stairs at that point, fully dressed in her uniform.
"WHY I ask, couldn't you fucking clean the place up YOURSELF? Eh? At home do you ALWAYS have someone doing something FOR you?! Can't you do ANYTHING by yourself?!"
"Hey, it's not my problem that you leave your fucking notes from second year all over the place! All I ask is that YOU keep YOUR shit in YOUR room, and I'll keep MINE in MINE! Okay? Do we have an agreement?!"
"Fine."
"That's swell." he said sarcastically, then turned and left the room, Hermione following closely behind.
"You know, we'll have to put up with each other if we're going to survive this year." Hermione pointed out logically.
"Oh, is that so, because I don't feel any particular desire to follow orders from YOU, which is what I'm sure I'll have to do in order to 'survive'."
"Okay, look. We have all of our classes together, after dark we have to patrol the hallways together, we have to share a dormitory, and we have to set a good example for the school while doing it. Understand?" She asked slowly, as if she were teaching a three year old always to look both ways before crossing the street.
"YES. I DO understand. Can you go away now, so at least I won't have to see you until transfiguration?"
Scowling and glaring at Draco, Hermione turned down a narrow hallway, while Draco went straight ahead to the Great Hall.
AN: I know this chapter is rather short, and that it is also fairly stupid, but please continue reading, because everyone knows that the beginning is usually the worst, right? Well even if you don't, follow that philosophy and PLEASE keep reading. Guaranteed to get MUCH better as the story unfolds.
Chapter 1
Hermione stood next to Professor McGonagall in unbelieving shock. The delight that had spread over her face only a moment or so beforehand was now nowhere to be seen as a deep scowl replaced it. Across from her, stood the potions master, Professor Snape, and her least favorite person of all time, Draco Malfoy. Malfoy didn't seem particularly pleased with the arrangements either, though he didn't let that interfere with the permanent smirk etched on his face.
"We hope that this year will be enjoyable for both of you," continued Professor McGonagall, hiding the fact that she knew very well how happy either of the two students were actually going to be during their long school year as Head Boy and Girl. "And that you will find it in your hearts not to murder each other during it. Your password is 'Stag.' Good night." Then, without another word, she spun on her heels and walked down the hall with the continually silent Professor Snape.
Without bothering to speak to the Head Boy next to her, Hermione briskly turned back to the painting of the lake, from which the stag had disappeared, and muttered, "Stag." The painting swung forward and Hermione stepped into what was to be her common room this year. The common room was rather small, but very cozy. In it was a fire crackling happily in the fireplace, a long sofa, and two stairwells leading out of it. Assuming the stairs lead to the bedrooms, she went up the left staircase while Draco went up the right. The stairs met at a landing with a balcony off of it, and to either side was a door. Choosing the door to her left, Hermione was pleased to discover a rather large bedroom decked out in Gryffindor colors. Immediately, she changed into her pajamas and fell into a warm sleep. The first that she had had in over a month.
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Hermione woke up to the sound of an alarm clock at five o'clock the next day. Aggravated, she charged over to his room and pounded on the door.
"Malfoy!"
"What?!"
"Open the door!"
The doorknob turned slowly, and Draco appeared before Hermione, a disbelieving look on his face.
"What?" he repeated.
"Why the fuck do you need to set your alarm clock for 5 in the morning? Breakfast doesn't even open until seven!"
"MY alarm clock? YOUR alarm clock woke ME up! So why don't you get your skinny little ass back over to your room and turn it off?!" Draco obviously wasn't a morning person.
"What?!" As far as Hermione knew, she didn't bring an alarm clock, and in fact hadn't even owned one her entire life. It was at that point that she realized the sound wasn't coming from either of their rooms. Malfoy realized this at the same moment, and they both started walking groggily to the common room. Hermione, however, was in such a stupor that she tripped over a loose board in the floor, sending them both crashing down to the hard wood below them.
"Ouch." Hermione said without much emphasis. She slowly got back to her feet, only to trip again over Draco as he started to get up.
"Fuck." she mumbled. They both slowly and steadily got to their feet. Hermione had twisted her ankle, and had started muttering a long string of curse words as she moved down the stairs.
When at last they reached the bottom, eyes hardly open, they noticed an alarm clock on the table in front of the sofa. It was still ringing like mad.
Sleepy and confused, they both sat on the sofa and watched it ring, trying to figure it out in their heads. Draco was the first to recover. He slowly reached over and pressed the little red button on top of the little clock. "Yours, Granger?" he asked, motioning to the clock.
"Nope."
"Whatever." Once again, they started walking, slowly and sleepily, back up to their beds.
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Hermione woke up at 7 once again and headed down to the common room with a few books to read before Draco got out of the shower. She sat on the sofa, skimming through some textbooks, littering the table with notes she had taken in previous years. Finally, she heard the shower turn off upstairs. She fetched a towel from her room then knocked on the bathroom door.
"What now?"
"What the fuck takes you so long?!"
At that moment Draco came out of the bathroom dressed in his school uniform, glaring down at her. She ignored this and pushed past him into the bathroom.
Draco went back to his room and finished drying his hair. After brushing his hair, and putting on his shoes, he headed down to the common room to catch up on some studying. However, when he got there, he saw that the table was completely covered in notes and books already. It was complete mess.
"Granger, do you find it absolutely necessary to completely ruin the common room within the fucking first five minutes you spend in it?!"
"Get over yourself!" Came the muffled reply.
"ME get over MYSELF? I didn't leave my crap all over the place you fucking hypocrite!" Hermione came down the stairs at that point, fully dressed in her uniform.
"WHY I ask, couldn't you fucking clean the place up YOURSELF? Eh? At home do you ALWAYS have someone doing something FOR you?! Can't you do ANYTHING by yourself?!"
"Hey, it's not my problem that you leave your fucking notes from second year all over the place! All I ask is that YOU keep YOUR shit in YOUR room, and I'll keep MINE in MINE! Okay? Do we have an agreement?!"
"Fine."
"That's swell." he said sarcastically, then turned and left the room, Hermione following closely behind.
"You know, we'll have to put up with each other if we're going to survive this year." Hermione pointed out logically.
"Oh, is that so, because I don't feel any particular desire to follow orders from YOU, which is what I'm sure I'll have to do in order to 'survive'."
"Okay, look. We have all of our classes together, after dark we have to patrol the hallways together, we have to share a dormitory, and we have to set a good example for the school while doing it. Understand?" She asked slowly, as if she were teaching a three year old always to look both ways before crossing the street.
"YES. I DO understand. Can you go away now, so at least I won't have to see you until transfiguration?"
Scowling and glaring at Draco, Hermione turned down a narrow hallway, while Draco went straight ahead to the Great Hall.
AN: I know this chapter is rather short, and that it is also fairly stupid, but please continue reading, because everyone knows that the beginning is usually the worst, right? Well even if you don't, follow that philosophy and PLEASE keep reading. Guaranteed to get MUCH better as the story unfolds.