Pure Happiness
Chapter 4-
Two Partners, One Huge Horror
* * *
Humiliated and tired, Hermione opened her dormitory door and slammed it shut. She leaned against the back of it, rubbing her temples. Merlin, how she hated Draco Malfoy! He was a pompous and arrogant prick who loved to tease her just for the fun of it. Just the thought of him at the moment brought tears to Hermione's eyes, but she regained her composure and headed over to her bed. She took off her blouse and skirt, and laid them down neatly on her bed. It was then that she noticed a white parchment note card lying on her pillow. Heart racing, she picked it up and read the neat cursive writing.
"Ahhhhhhh!" she screamed when she finished it. In a rush, she threw on her nightgown and raced down into the Common Room. Thankfully, it was empty except for a couple of first years who were studying. They looked clearly horrified at seeing the Head Girl in her sleepwear. They turned away quite quickly, and tried to resume working on their homework. Hermione took no notice of this, but raced up to the seventh year dormitories, and spotted Harry and Ron.
"Oh Merlin, you two, look at this!" she shouted. Harry snatched the note card out of her hands and he and Ron read:
Ms. Hermione Granger,
You have been chosen to compete in the Hogwartian Tournament this year. Please report to the Transfiguration classroom tomorrow at 8 o'clock sharp. There, you will receive your instructions for the first event that is to take place. Your partner is:
Draco Malfoy
Sincerely, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Bloody hell, that's awful, Hermione," Ron exclaimed. Harry nodded fervently, and Dean came up behind Hermione. He poked her shoulder, and she whipped around, getting angrier by the moment.
"What, Dean?" she yelled. He held up a Gryffindor robe, and she gave him a puzzled look. Ron came over, blushing, and said,
"Er… Hermione… you're barely wearing anything." Hermione raced over and looked into the mirror above Harry's dresser. It was true- the one nighty she had grabbed was a sheer white gown that… well… revealed her underwear quite a bit. She screamed loudly, grabbed the Gryffindor robe, and rushed out of the room.
Dean had fallen on Neville's bed (which, unfortunately, Neville was sleeping in) laughing hysterically. Ron was blushing crimson, and Harry was cleaning his glasses.
"Ha ha! Ron, I bet you loved that!" Dean shrieked.
"Why would I?" said Ron hotly. "She's just my friend… nothing more." Harry grinned at him.
"Right, Ron. Sure…," he replied. Ron opened his mouth, shut it again, and wrenched his hanging shut. "Temper, temper!" Harry laughed.
* * *
The next morning during breakfast, Draco was in a sour mood. He'd received a notice the previous evening about the so-called Hogwartian Tournament. He was to compete (that had been a given), but his partner was Hermione bloody Granger. Mudblood scum of the universe, as he so loved to call her. Draco put his hands on his ears and shut his eyes tightly. He'd thought that it had all been a bad dream until Dumbledore announced the partners earlier that morning. The sad part was that Pansy noticed that he wasn't eating anything, so she knew something was up.
"Draco, what's the matter? You haven't touched your sausages, and I know those are your favorite…," she inquired. Draco shot her a nasty look.
"Nothing's wrong, Pansy. Keep your nose out of my business," he spat. Pansy merely raised her eyebrows at him.
"No need to get your knickers in a twist, Draco," she said calmly. "Are you still upset about having that wench as your partner?" Draco sighed and nodded sadly. "Well, you're being an idiot about it," Pansy stated. Draco was instantly in an uproar.
"An idiot? An idiot?! I'm the one who has to put up with her... intellectual annoying-ness, and all that! Plus, she's a filthy Mudblood. If my father knew about this, he'd have canceled this whole thing immediately," Draco yelled. "I don't know how you can think this is okay!" Pansy put her hand over his mouth.
"Shut up!" she hissed. "Don't you see? This is our perfect opportunity to get revenge on those Gryffindorks. If they see we've done something to their precious Head Girl, we'll get them all upset and then they'll come after us. Then, before they'll know it, we'll hit them with the brilliant plan Theo's come up with." Theo, who'd been sitting across from them, silent as a mouse, nodded.
"It's great, Malfoy. The plan, I mean. And the angrier they are, the better. This is going to be the best!" he whispered.
"So calm down, Draco. We know it's awful, but you've got to get a hold of yourself!" Pansy murmured. Draco sent them both looks saying 'You don't know what I'm going through', but they didn't notice. They were too happy about the "plan".
'Still, wait 'til my father hears about this,' he thought. 'He'd set that old crackpot Dumbledore straight. In fact, I'll owl him as soon as I get out of Transfiguration today….'
* * *
Super short, I know. But I gotta finish packing for our plane ride tomorrow. Happy break!