Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by me. Talk like Yoda I must.
Chapter 2: Early Mornings and Surprise Announcements.
Falling out of bed was not generally the best way to wake up. Or so Hermione found out.
Especially at Hogwarts where the stone floors would dislocate your knee as soon as look at you. Wizards had obviously not heard about the miracle of carpets.
Hermione blearily decided that the reason for her falling was the fact that her bed had somehow managed to shrink without her permission. This wasn't exactly the most intelligent conclusion to come to, but there was no accounting for early mornings.
Looking up from her none too comfortable position on the floor Hermione managed to come to the decision that what she had been lying on was not her bed.
In actual fact it was her sofa. The old squashy sofa that ruled over the area underneath the window in her prefect's room. It was notorious – to Hermione at least – for trying to eat you if you sat on it for too long. Hermione was amazed that she had made it through the night without becoming sofa-food.
Rubbing her tired eyes Hermione finally got up off the floor where she had been sprawled for the past ten minutes pondering the mysteries of Hogwarts and life in general.
Then she remembered the night before.
She hurried over to her bed and pulled back the heavy blankets that invariably smelled of 'oldness', if such a thing were possible.
The prefect's bedrooms were obviously not high on the house elves' cleaning rota.
Damn, damn and double damn.
Why was he still there? Why had he not disappeared as soon as she woke up like the rather disturbing dream of Dumbledore doing the cancan she had been having before being rudely awakened?
Why hadn't she taken him to the infirmary?
Hermione realised she had been pacing her room rather wildly and stopped.
It would have involved far too much running for her taste. The route to the hospital wing from the Gryffindor tower had far too many staircases and sharp corners for Hermione's liking. She was not a natural runner.
Or exerciser, for that matter.
In fact the closest thing she got to exercise was probably lugging around her school bag from lesson to lesson but that most likely didn't count.
There was also the fact that Filch would be scuttling along behind her the whole way just itching to find out who she was so he could dole out the detention.
But the main downside, in Hermione's mind, surprisingly, was the running.
She stood at the side of the bed. It was rather odd that he hadn't woken up yet. Generally if people fainted they would wake up soon after. Or so Hermione supposed. She had never actually fainted or seen anyone faint apart from on television.
She prodded him thoughtfully in the cheek.
Nothing.
Glancing at her bedside clock she realised it was still quite early. Maybe she could sneak him out before any of the Gryffindors woke. Then maybe she could dump him in some unused corridor for someone else to find.
She hurriedly washed and dressed; barely stopping to muse why Hogwarts had showers but not carpets. Staring despondently at her reflection in the mirror Hermione decided that she thought far too much about life, the universe and everything. Ron seemed to bumble along, practically not caring about the world, Harry had far too much on his plate to ponder the mysteries of life and there she was, wondering why Hogwarts had no carpets.
It was pathetic really.
Then there was the hair.
She had always assumed it would sort itself out sooner or later. But no, it was still the pile of bushiness that sat on the top of her head like some sort of strange hat. It was far too much effort to do it like she had at the Yule Ball; besides, Hermione had always maintained that it was time she could use for studying.
Hermione snorted. She had bigger problems than her hair at this particular point in time.
She opened her door slightly and stole a look out into the common room. Unfortunately her door squeaked rather loudly, Hermione managed to trip over the doorframe and she stumbled into the common room.
At the noise Hermione was making Harry and Ron looked round from their seats on the sofa in front of the fire. They had decided to get up early and wait for Hermione, to make sure she was ok. Well, Harry had and Ron had reluctantly agreed even though it involved his least favourite activity of the day aside from Potions – getting up early.
They looked at Hermione expectantly whilst she tried to regain her balance, once regained she pushed her hair out of her eyes. Seeing her two best friends watching her with interest her eyes widened and an 'eep' escaped from her lips. She practically ran back into her room.
Harry slowly turned to face Ron.
"Well that wasn't the greeting I expected. How 'bout you?"
Back in her room, Hermione hastily covered Malfoy with the heavy blanket.
Then she realised that he would probably suffocate so she pulled it off his face. Murder was not another charge she wanted alongside kidnapping.
Smoothing down her mass of hair, she walked out of her room more calmly than her first attempt, making sure to lock her door behind her.
~~
Harry was sure there was something wrong with Hermione, even Ron had noticed. She had been jumpy all the way to the Great Hall and when Ron had attempted to make a joke about Malfoy she had practically leapt a foot in the air.
Trying desperately not to look over at the Slytherin table where she knew there would be a glaringly obvious empty space Hermione slipped into a seat that faced the Hufflepuff table. This way she would have her back to the Slytherin table and she could almost ignore her guilty conscience.
Ron began to talk about something but Hermione wasn't really listening. It involved a lot of hand swooping so it was probably Quidditch – it wasn't like she actually listened to Quidditch conversations anyway.
"Hermione?"
"'Mione, are you listening?"
At the sound of her name, Hermione blinked and realised she had been absentmindedly scowling at Susan Bones, who was looking back at her, confused.
Harry and Ron also looked confused. Ron was pulling the face he usually reserved for lessons and Harry looked slightly hurt. Ron was about to speak but stopped as the pile of wrinkles – known to most other students as Albus Dumbledore – stood.
"An event has occurred that does not, in general, happen at Hogwarts."
Practically all eyes were on Dumbledore. Except for Crabbe and Goyle, who were too slow to realise something was happening, and Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, who were staring at their plates hoping that this wasn't about the 'toilet incident'.
"We seem to have, how shall I say this, misplaced a student."
A ripple of gasps made its way through the students. Many people were glancing around their house tables trying to work out who was missing. The Slytherins, however, all put on looks of knowing and superiority – except, again, Crabbe and Goyle.
"The student in question is Draco Malfoy. He left his common room last night and no one has seen him since. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Mr Malfoy please do not hesitate to tell a member of staff. Thank-you."
The Gryffindor table, it seemed, could not hold their laughter in anymore. The whole table burst out laughing.
Draco Malfoy? The Slytherin Prince? Missing? Fantastic! This was just too, too priceless!
Hermione hoped everyone was too engrossed in laughing to notice her now bright red cheeks. She attempted a laugh but stopped due to sounding like a strangled sheep. Instead she made do with a weak grin.
To some people in the hall it seemed that Dumbledore was not worried in the slightest, no matter how hard he tried to bring it to the table that he was, and was in fact bowing his head to hid his grin.
"There is one other announcement."
The laughter gradually died away, a few Gryffindors wiped their tear filled eyes from laughing too much and everyone turned their gaze back to their Headmaster.
"Due to the success and positive feedback of the previous Yule Ball, the staff and I have decided to hold another. It will be held on the last Friday of term and fifth years and above are allowed to come. Besides, it wouldn't be a Fan Fiction if there was no Yule Ball, now would it?"
The last part was said more to himself than the school and caused more than a few bewildered frowns to appear on people's faces.
The second announcement pretty much took all the drama out of Malfoy's announcement – but really only the Slytherins cared.
Dumbledore sat down again and all the students began to talk at once, either about the mysterious disappearance of Draco Malfoy or the approaching Yule Ball. Hermione groaned into her cereal. The last thing she needed was the school to know about Malfoy, but also to have to worry about another Yule Ball was too much.
There was no Krum this time. She and Krum had broken up. Ron had taunted her about him walking like a duck so many times that she actually began to see a duck whenever she saw him. She had had to break it off.
So who would she go with?
There she went again. Her attention turning from her main problem to small stupid problems. Maybe she could just fake the flu and avoid the Yule Ball altogether.
Well, it was a possibility.
Hermione was pretty sure that Lavender and Parvati wouldn't let her get away with that option though.
She knew that they had been dying to do something, anything, with her hair but Hermione would let them come near it. She liked the way it kept her ears warm in winter.
She returned to reality. Ron and Harry kept switching conversations between Malfoy's disappearance and the Yule Ball. Ron looked rather scared about having to find someone to go with for the second time.
Hermione pushed her bowl away. Maybe she should just go check on Malfoy to make sure he hadn't woken up. She wasn't leaving him alone in her room.
An awake Malfoy was most probably an angry Malfoy.
She didn't want to risk having her furniture destroyed by a wizard in a temper.
A/N: What do you think? Read and Review!
Chapter 2: Early Mornings and Surprise Announcements.
Falling out of bed was not generally the best way to wake up. Or so Hermione found out.
Especially at Hogwarts where the stone floors would dislocate your knee as soon as look at you. Wizards had obviously not heard about the miracle of carpets.
Hermione blearily decided that the reason for her falling was the fact that her bed had somehow managed to shrink without her permission. This wasn't exactly the most intelligent conclusion to come to, but there was no accounting for early mornings.
Looking up from her none too comfortable position on the floor Hermione managed to come to the decision that what she had been lying on was not her bed.
In actual fact it was her sofa. The old squashy sofa that ruled over the area underneath the window in her prefect's room. It was notorious – to Hermione at least – for trying to eat you if you sat on it for too long. Hermione was amazed that she had made it through the night without becoming sofa-food.
Rubbing her tired eyes Hermione finally got up off the floor where she had been sprawled for the past ten minutes pondering the mysteries of Hogwarts and life in general.
Then she remembered the night before.
She hurried over to her bed and pulled back the heavy blankets that invariably smelled of 'oldness', if such a thing were possible.
The prefect's bedrooms were obviously not high on the house elves' cleaning rota.
Damn, damn and double damn.
Why was he still there? Why had he not disappeared as soon as she woke up like the rather disturbing dream of Dumbledore doing the cancan she had been having before being rudely awakened?
Why hadn't she taken him to the infirmary?
Hermione realised she had been pacing her room rather wildly and stopped.
It would have involved far too much running for her taste. The route to the hospital wing from the Gryffindor tower had far too many staircases and sharp corners for Hermione's liking. She was not a natural runner.
Or exerciser, for that matter.
In fact the closest thing she got to exercise was probably lugging around her school bag from lesson to lesson but that most likely didn't count.
There was also the fact that Filch would be scuttling along behind her the whole way just itching to find out who she was so he could dole out the detention.
But the main downside, in Hermione's mind, surprisingly, was the running.
She stood at the side of the bed. It was rather odd that he hadn't woken up yet. Generally if people fainted they would wake up soon after. Or so Hermione supposed. She had never actually fainted or seen anyone faint apart from on television.
She prodded him thoughtfully in the cheek.
Nothing.
Glancing at her bedside clock she realised it was still quite early. Maybe she could sneak him out before any of the Gryffindors woke. Then maybe she could dump him in some unused corridor for someone else to find.
She hurriedly washed and dressed; barely stopping to muse why Hogwarts had showers but not carpets. Staring despondently at her reflection in the mirror Hermione decided that she thought far too much about life, the universe and everything. Ron seemed to bumble along, practically not caring about the world, Harry had far too much on his plate to ponder the mysteries of life and there she was, wondering why Hogwarts had no carpets.
It was pathetic really.
Then there was the hair.
She had always assumed it would sort itself out sooner or later. But no, it was still the pile of bushiness that sat on the top of her head like some sort of strange hat. It was far too much effort to do it like she had at the Yule Ball; besides, Hermione had always maintained that it was time she could use for studying.
Hermione snorted. She had bigger problems than her hair at this particular point in time.
She opened her door slightly and stole a look out into the common room. Unfortunately her door squeaked rather loudly, Hermione managed to trip over the doorframe and she stumbled into the common room.
At the noise Hermione was making Harry and Ron looked round from their seats on the sofa in front of the fire. They had decided to get up early and wait for Hermione, to make sure she was ok. Well, Harry had and Ron had reluctantly agreed even though it involved his least favourite activity of the day aside from Potions – getting up early.
They looked at Hermione expectantly whilst she tried to regain her balance, once regained she pushed her hair out of her eyes. Seeing her two best friends watching her with interest her eyes widened and an 'eep' escaped from her lips. She practically ran back into her room.
Harry slowly turned to face Ron.
"Well that wasn't the greeting I expected. How 'bout you?"
Back in her room, Hermione hastily covered Malfoy with the heavy blanket.
Then she realised that he would probably suffocate so she pulled it off his face. Murder was not another charge she wanted alongside kidnapping.
Smoothing down her mass of hair, she walked out of her room more calmly than her first attempt, making sure to lock her door behind her.
~~
Harry was sure there was something wrong with Hermione, even Ron had noticed. She had been jumpy all the way to the Great Hall and when Ron had attempted to make a joke about Malfoy she had practically leapt a foot in the air.
Trying desperately not to look over at the Slytherin table where she knew there would be a glaringly obvious empty space Hermione slipped into a seat that faced the Hufflepuff table. This way she would have her back to the Slytherin table and she could almost ignore her guilty conscience.
Ron began to talk about something but Hermione wasn't really listening. It involved a lot of hand swooping so it was probably Quidditch – it wasn't like she actually listened to Quidditch conversations anyway.
"Hermione?"
"'Mione, are you listening?"
At the sound of her name, Hermione blinked and realised she had been absentmindedly scowling at Susan Bones, who was looking back at her, confused.
Harry and Ron also looked confused. Ron was pulling the face he usually reserved for lessons and Harry looked slightly hurt. Ron was about to speak but stopped as the pile of wrinkles – known to most other students as Albus Dumbledore – stood.
"An event has occurred that does not, in general, happen at Hogwarts."
Practically all eyes were on Dumbledore. Except for Crabbe and Goyle, who were too slow to realise something was happening, and Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, who were staring at their plates hoping that this wasn't about the 'toilet incident'.
"We seem to have, how shall I say this, misplaced a student."
A ripple of gasps made its way through the students. Many people were glancing around their house tables trying to work out who was missing. The Slytherins, however, all put on looks of knowing and superiority – except, again, Crabbe and Goyle.
"The student in question is Draco Malfoy. He left his common room last night and no one has seen him since. If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of Mr Malfoy please do not hesitate to tell a member of staff. Thank-you."
The Gryffindor table, it seemed, could not hold their laughter in anymore. The whole table burst out laughing.
Draco Malfoy? The Slytherin Prince? Missing? Fantastic! This was just too, too priceless!
Hermione hoped everyone was too engrossed in laughing to notice her now bright red cheeks. She attempted a laugh but stopped due to sounding like a strangled sheep. Instead she made do with a weak grin.
To some people in the hall it seemed that Dumbledore was not worried in the slightest, no matter how hard he tried to bring it to the table that he was, and was in fact bowing his head to hid his grin.
"There is one other announcement."
The laughter gradually died away, a few Gryffindors wiped their tear filled eyes from laughing too much and everyone turned their gaze back to their Headmaster.
"Due to the success and positive feedback of the previous Yule Ball, the staff and I have decided to hold another. It will be held on the last Friday of term and fifth years and above are allowed to come. Besides, it wouldn't be a Fan Fiction if there was no Yule Ball, now would it?"
The last part was said more to himself than the school and caused more than a few bewildered frowns to appear on people's faces.
The second announcement pretty much took all the drama out of Malfoy's announcement – but really only the Slytherins cared.
Dumbledore sat down again and all the students began to talk at once, either about the mysterious disappearance of Draco Malfoy or the approaching Yule Ball. Hermione groaned into her cereal. The last thing she needed was the school to know about Malfoy, but also to have to worry about another Yule Ball was too much.
There was no Krum this time. She and Krum had broken up. Ron had taunted her about him walking like a duck so many times that she actually began to see a duck whenever she saw him. She had had to break it off.
So who would she go with?
There she went again. Her attention turning from her main problem to small stupid problems. Maybe she could just fake the flu and avoid the Yule Ball altogether.
Well, it was a possibility.
Hermione was pretty sure that Lavender and Parvati wouldn't let her get away with that option though.
She knew that they had been dying to do something, anything, with her hair but Hermione would let them come near it. She liked the way it kept her ears warm in winter.
She returned to reality. Ron and Harry kept switching conversations between Malfoy's disappearance and the Yule Ball. Ron looked rather scared about having to find someone to go with for the second time.
Hermione pushed her bowl away. Maybe she should just go check on Malfoy to make sure he hadn't woken up. She wasn't leaving him alone in her room.
An awake Malfoy was most probably an angry Malfoy.
She didn't want to risk having her furniture destroyed by a wizard in a temper.
A/N: What do you think? Read and Review!
