Karina-sweets: how's life you freak? Get back to CSa! We all Miss Yah here!!! ;)
anon11: yup it's my first fic! ;)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
I might not be able to update as often as I want to this week, coz I have quarterly exams and I'm getting this huge mental block...and I really need to study, coz I got the worse grades ever last quarter.
Chapter 11: Oct. 31st
Disclaimer: I don't own HP...and I bet you guys already guessed.
Hermione and Draco were running late the next day, because they had not gotten enough sleep last night. Hermione had to take the quickest shower, and so did Draco. Hermione couldn't even fix her hair up as neatly as she wanted to, and Draco didn't have time for some before-class reading. They kept quiet while getting ready, being that sleepy and all, and they only talked before they got out of the common room.
"Granger?" Draco said, and Hermione, who was smoothing out her robes, looked at him.
"Yes?"
"Er...thanks", Draco stammered, "You know, for last night"
"Sure," Hermione said dully, "and I have a first name you know?"
"Oh alright," Draco hesitated, "but only when we're alone"
Hermione rolled her eyes. Draco did treasure reputation more than anything. Typical Malfoy behavior. She opened the door, and got out, ready to face a new day.
--
At Care of Magical Creatures, Hermione caught sight of Harry and Ron. She tried to call their attention, but they seemed to be avoiding her, for some reason. Her face fell. She felt it would be useless to try and talk to them. They were stubborn, really stubborn. Draco noticed her sad disposition.
"Are you okay, Gra—I mean, Hermione?" he asked in a whisper.
"Harry and Ron's avoiding me", she said slowly.
"I can't help you there," he said.
"I'm not asking you to" she snapped, and then she turned to what she was supposed to do.
A few minutes later, a Ravenclaw third year came walking out to Hagrid's hut.
"Professor Dumbledore needs Malfoy and Granger", she squeaked, "in his office"
Hagrid nodded, and Hermione and Draco walked back to the castle. Draco held his pendant; it had a faint glow. Hermione was still feeling uneasy. She'd been bickering with Ron for a long time, but never had both of them turned against her. She felt friendless.
"I can't believe they'd just ignore me like that", she thought
Draco heard her, being able to read her mind, but he said nothing. What else could he say? He'd never really known this side of her. She was always bossy, and clever, or she's insult him. This side was different, sensitive, and quite sad. He'd never experienced this kind of thing either, because his friends feared him. He wasn't even sure if he'd call them his friends. They were just power-hungry people who followed him around, and nothing more. For the first time ever, Draco felt what it was like to be...alone.
--
They reached Dumbledore's office and went in. Dumbledore was sitting there with a pile of papers. Other prefects were there too, as well as the head boy and head girl.
"A week from now," Dumbledore said, "will be our Halloween feast. It will be different this time. There will be fireworks, courtesy of Weasley and Weasley, and our feast will be a buffet outside the castle, just in front of Professor Hagrid's hut. There will be more guests. Some ministry officials will be there, and some other friends of mine too."
"I need you prefects, head boy and girl, to supervise. I will need you on your posts. Each hour, a different pair of prefects will be on the two posts. One post will be on the entrance to the feast, and the other will be on the entrance to the forbidden forest. Fifth year prefects on the first and sixth years on the second. I will pair you up accordingly"
Dumbledore paired each one of them with someone else from a different house. Naturally Draco and Hermione were paired together since, well, there wasn't any other choice.
"Head boy and girl will take turns patrolling. You will be given a chance to enjoy the feast too, of course. Pairs will only be at their posts for an hour, and the celebration will last for about four hours." Dumbledore explained.
"You may leave," Dumbledore said, and then he turned to the head boy and head girl, "I must discuss decorations with you", he said to them.
--
Hermione looked at the piece of paper Dumbledore had given her.
"Second shift"
"Cool"
Hermione sighed. With Draco chained to her, she couldn't have that much fun. She was still sad after what happened in Care of Magical Creatures, and she just kept on thinking about different things and forgetting that Draco could hear her.
"I won't have fun with Draco chained to me," she was thinking.
Draco looked down. No fun? Draco was someone you'd want to celebrate with, but of course, Hermione wouldn't know that. He decided to give Hermione some fun, since she had helped him out last night. Father wouldn't be happy about helping Mudbloods, but who cared? Father was the reason Hermione had to help him in the first place.
--
The next day, Hermione and Draco got owls from the ministry about their essays. They had gotten good marks, and they had their next session the week after next, since they had to plan the Halloween feast and everything. They were both very thankful for that.
--
A week passed, and the Halloween feast was an hour away. Night fell and Hermione looked out the window of their common room to see the front of Hagrid's hut decorated with lights and a stage was being set up. She could've sworn she saw Fred and George down there setting up the fireworks, but they went inside the castle before Hermione got a closer look.
Draco was finishing up some Potions homework too. When he put his quill and parchment away, he looked in his trunk and took out something from it. He called out the bedroom window for his eagle owl, which arrived in no time, since the owlery was just beside their common room. He gave that thing to eagle owl and gave it some instructions.
"Draco?" Hermione called from the bathroom.
"Yeah?"
"Get ready, prefects should be early, remember?"
Draco smiled at how proper Hermione had talked to him. For the past few days, she kept quiet and they didn't bicker or anything like that. They were acting as if they just met and trying to get to know each other better.
"Maybe," Draco thought, "maybe I am trying to get to know her"
"Hold on", he called out, and he changed into a black shirt, and combed his hair.
He got out and waited for Hermione to come out. When she did, he tried his best not to look so surprised. She'd put some dark blue streaks in her brown hair, which was now sleek and shiny. She wore a baby tee and a short plaid skirt. She looked absolutely, perfect.
"You look different", he said, trying hard not to smile.
"Thought you'd say that", she said, smiling.
"How 'bout you? You look so plain"
"So?"
"Lighten up, Malfoy, its Halloween", she teased, "Like McGonagall said, let your hair down..."
She thought for a while, "...or in your case, let your hair up"
She took out her wand and said a spell. Malfoy's platinum blonde hair was now spiky with gel. It looked, in Hermione's opinion, cute.
Draco checked the mirror. "Fine", he grinned, and he and Hermione walked out of the common room to the open space in front of Hagrid's hut.
--
"Welcome" Dumbledore announced, "To this year's Halloween feast"
The bare buffet tables were now filled with different kinds of food. There was a salad bar, a dessert cart, every kind of food you could think of, and they all lined up to get some food.
Hermione and Draco ate two full plates, and after they drank a bottle of ice cold butterbeer, they had to go to their shift.
They had to yell at three different people who tried to get in the forbidden forest with their girlfriends. Hermione rolled her eyes as she told this dark haired fifth year that the forbidden forest is, well, forbidden.
"Get a room", Draco called out to this couple who were leaving.
"That wasn't very nice" Hermione gave him a warning look.
"Well it isn't very nice to make out in front of a prefect either"
"Guess so", and she smiled.
They talked, and Hermione's pendant flickered in the dark, until the next prefect pair arrived.
Hermione was about to turned back to the feast when Draco pulled her away.
"Shh", he whispered, "let's go somewhere else"
They went to the back part of Hagrid's hut and Malfoy whistled. His eagle owl came swooping out from a tree branch above them. He was carrying Malfoy's Nimbus. Hermione raised her eyebrows. Draco gave her a small smile.
"Let's take a ride?"
Hermione hesitated. "Come on," Draco tried to convince her, "You wanted to have fun, didn't you"
"Yeah but—", Hermione smiled, "Hey, how'd you know—"
"I can read your mind, remember?"
"Of course", Hermione said under her breathe. She had forgotten about that.
Then she nodded. Draco, who was already getting on, helped Hermione sit behind him. Draco took off steadily and they flew over the forbidden forest. They stopped and midair at this point where you could see the moon so clearly, that you'd have to stop and marvel at its beauty.
Hermione, who had held on tightly the whole time, loosened her grip and carefully moved to her right to see the full moon. It was pale and sparkling, just like Draco's eyes. She smiled at the moon, and it seemed to glow more brightly amidst the cloudless sky.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione said quietly.
"Yeah it is," but Draco wasn't thinking of the beautiful moon ahead of him, he was thinking about the beautiful girl behind him. It wasn't that clear a thought, so Hermione couldn't hear it. She was too busy anyway, thinking about the boy whose eyes so pale sparkled like the moon so bright.