DISCLAMIER: The ideas in this story are all my own; any overlapping ideas with any other story on are purely unintentional. Some characters are my own, and all the original ones belong to JK Rowling/Warner Bros.
Chapter 4: And the Lucky Person Is…
Date: September 23, 2004
Time: 7:30 AM
Subject: Draco Malfoy
Event: The Assignment
Place: The Ministry of Magic
Tradition pulled him one direction,
And Destiny fought to drag him the other way
Tug-of-war can only continue for some time
Because one side has to win
"Draco!" Narcissa Malfoy yelled, her voice echoing though the spacious corridors in the Malfoy Mansion.
Draco rolled over in bed, becoming tangled up in his silk sheets. He buried his head in his pillow, fruitlessly attempting to block out his mother's voice…
…With no success.
Narcissa walked nimbly down the hall; her small, elegant footsteps patting softly against the carpet, and leaving little matted down holes wherever her high-heeled shoes happened to land.
Upon reaching Draco's room, at the very far end of the hallway, she rapped her hands sharply against his door, waking him up from what she liked to call his 'beauty sleep'.
"Draco, dear, the Minister just called and left you a very important message. He needs you to come to the Ministry as soon as possible, before school starts." Narcissa carefully opened the door and slowly stuck her head in, to make sure the blonde haired boy was not still buried beneath the covers.
She was very well aware of his game…
…And she knew all the tricks.
Walking into his room, she waved her wand, illuminating the room in bright colored lights. She peeled back the covers and pulled out the pillow from under his head.
The only surefire way to wake up a teenager.
"Now, don't look at me like that. You heard me; get up."
Narcissa walked out of the room, leaving a very unpleasant Draco sitting upright.
xoxo
Now dressed, but still grumpy from having to wake up especially early, Draco walked into Cornelius Fudge's office.
"Ahh! Mr. Malfoy!" Fudge stood up and walked out from behind his desk to shake Draco's hand," I'm so glad you were able to come in, especially at this late of notice."
"Of course Minister. What am I being summoned here for?" Draco asked, getting straight to the point, in his typical, nonchalant way.
"Ah, never one for small talk, eh Mr. Malfoy?" Fudge replied, sitting back in his chair.
"Call me Draco sir; no need for formalities." Draco corrected, also sitting down across from Fudge.
"Of course, Draco. Now, I have a special case that has come up within the wizarding world. Under normal circumstances, I would be using a professional to do this job, but the problem is, this isn't a normal circumstance." Fudge began.
Draco nodded, indicating that he was still following him.
Fudge continued on, "You see," Fudge began, twiddling his thumbs, "this case involves one of the students at Hogwarts, your year I think, and I think it might be suspicious if we have an adult following her around at school. Since everybody already knows you there, less suspicion will be raised, and you will still be able to protect her…"
"Her?" Draco asked, now more interested in the case, "Who is it?"
Fudge, unaware of the rift between Hermione and Draco replied truthfully, "Hermione Granger."
Draco cursed under his breath and loudly scooted his chair back in outrage, "Sir, with all do respect, but I don't think I am going to be able to do this case. Me helping Granger would look more suspicious than any of your other employees." Draco stood up, and allowed his hands to fiddle with his belt loops.
"Oh?" Fudge asked curiously, "and why not?"
"She's a mudb- I mean," Draco paused, lost for words, "it's just a common fact that we do not get along."
"And all the more reason you will stay assigned to this case, Draco," Fudge scowled, "She will be waiting for you in compartment 12 on the Hogwarts Express; you are to go there straight away. She will brief you on the case when you get there."
Draco took a deep breath to control his anger, "Compartment 12, right," and began to walk out of the office, seething.
"Oh, and Draco, one more thing," Fudge yelled after him, "I will notify Professor Dumbledore about this case. You will hear from me shortly!"
Draco slammed the door and walked out of the room.
xoxo
The train was already ready for departure and student's bags were packed carefully in their compartments. Hermione was standing on her tiptoes, desperately trying to push her carry on bag into the overhead compartment.
Just as it was almost past the point of it falling over on top of her, Draco Malfoy ungracefully pulled open the compartment door and sauntered inside, startling Hermione and causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards; her bag landing on top of her.
"No wonder you need somebody to protect you, Mudblood," Draco mumbled as he pulled the bag off her and held out a hand to help her up.
Hermione ignored the hand and looked at it with utter disdain, helping herself up.
"You?" she said contemptuously, "Great, I'm going to need somebody to protect me from my protector."
Hermione snatched her bag out of Draco's hands and walked across the red carpeted, narrow passage, to the seat closest to the window, and furthest away from Draco.
"Your welcome," Draco snarled, and sat diagonally across from Hermione, who was busy looking out the window and ignoring him.
The trees and the clouds were one big rainbow blur. Every once in awhile you could see a flying car, similar to the one Ron and Harry had destroyed in years past. How could time have gone by so fast? It had only been 6 years ago since her best friends and her had encountered Voldermort, and 3 years since the Triwizard Tournament. What happened to all those years? All those memories still trapped in her mind, waiting to be released by her thoughts. And the memories of Draco and her; their hatred always evident in every one. Now that he was assigned to help her, would those memories still say the same? Of course they would; he was Draco Malfoy, pureblood, richest heir in the Wizarding world, and son of a Death Eater. And who was she? Sure she was known fairly well throughout Hogwarts; her grades being the finest of her year, and possibly throughout the history of the school, but when it came down to it, would she be remembered? She was muggle-born after all. Would she just disappear after Hogwarts, not bothering to continue on in the Wizarding world because of her heritage? Or would she continue on, burying her muggle ancestry and adding it to her closet of skeletons?
Knowing now was not the time to say anything, Draco kept quiet and stared at Hermione, studying her, and getting a feel for his new "client" as Fudge put it. He absentmindedly picked at the red pleather seat, forming a little rip, which became a bigger rip, and finally a noticeable tear, the stuffing coming out and spilling onto the floor, like cotton candy.
Hermione looked up, hearing the sound of ripping fabric, half expecting to see Draco rip his shirt off, which he was known to do in front of many girls. The fact that she was muggle born, and best friends with Harry Potter brought her back to reality.
"Reparo," Hermione muttered, and watched as the seat repaired itself.
Draco looked up at her, taken back by her action. His shock quickly wore off, and he replaced it with his familiar Malfoy smirk and one of his witty comebacks, "So the Mudblood can't let her precious Hogwarts property be damaged, huh?"
"No, Ferret," Draco cringed at her word choice, "I don't want to be charged with your vandalizing."
"Whatever, Muddy," Draco replied, nonchalantly, knowing how his affectionate nickname would effect her.
Hermione stood up, knowing that the name-calling wasn't going to work. "Listen," she took a deep breath, preparing herself, "Draco," Draco's eyes were now firmly attached to Hermione when he heard her say his real name, "If we are going to work together in this 'business relationship' we need to a couple of things clear."
Draco rolled his eyes, but allowed Hermione to continue.
"First of all, you work for me. You heard me right, don't go checking your ears, unless you think some of that ferret hair is still limiting your hearing; you were hired to help me. Therefore, and secondly, I can dismiss you at anytime I want. And thirdly, from now on, we are going to treat each other civilly. I will always still hate you, and you will still always hate me, but we can smile though closed teeth, right?" Hermione stared at him for another second, finalizing what she just said.
Contrary to the reaction she was hoping for, Draco burst out laughing. "But my dear Hermione," Draco began, making sure he had a Cheshire cat smile, and his voice stressed, "don't you remember in the Muggle world, you can quit your job at anytime."
Hermione smiled, her eyes glittering, "Not if you want to continue your precious job in the future with the dear, old, Minister"
Defeated, and shocked by her retort, Draco backed down, his smile becoming a barely noticeable pout not uncommon for the boy who always received what he wanted.
xoxo
The welcoming feast was always the best of the year; everything was back to normal and old friends were catching up on the excitements of each other's summer. Delicious food adorned every table, decorating it like a jeweled crown. Pumpkin juice was spilled on the first year's section of the table by those not used to the elegance of the china and golden goblets, and magically disappeared as soon as it had touched the fine linen. First years oh'd and ah'd at the tingling sensation that the magic and in the air gave to all unfamiliar with it.
Hermione smiled; she couldn't have been more excited about seeing all her friends again. Harry with his typical messy hair, scattered over his forehead and slightly covering his scar; and sweet Ron with his innocent boyish smile always found on his face.
It was good to be back, in every sense of the word good. She was so excited about the year ahead that Hermione had even forgotten about Draco and her stalker- for a couple hours at least.
The feast was soon over almost as quickly as it had started. The mirthful laughter began to fade away, and the tables had magically cleared themselves. All the students had filed out of the hall, lead by the Head Boy and Girl, which surprisingly wasn't Hermione and Draco, both top of their class; one of the reasons why Professor Dumbledore had requested the two stay behind, so he could talk to them.
Dumbledore walked down from the teacher's platform to greet the two students, standing at least 15 meters away from each other. "Ah Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. Who ever would have thought that oddest of friendships would be formed, in order to help one in need."
Draco interrupted him, "Excuse me Professor, but I think you might have mixed some of the facts up. Gra- Hermione and myself are more or acquaintances than what yours or my definition of friends might be."
Dumbledore's smile turned down slightly into a frown, but quickly recovered it, "Very well then, Mr. Malfoy. If you say so," now turning to face to the more pleasant Hermione, as well, "Shall I show you to your room?"
"Our room? As in singular?" Hermione asked, skeptically.
Draco's eyes widened, as Dumbledore nodded and continued on, "Well, not necessarily the same room, but the Minister requested that you have close living quarters, in order for Draco to do his job properly. Although I guarantee you Hogwarts is the safest place you will ever stay at, Miss Granger, Cornelius feels that you would be safer, just in case an accident like the Sirius Black fiasco, if Mr. Malfoy be near you."
Hermione nodded slowly, and bit her lip. This will be interesting, she couldn't help but think.
"Now, if you'll follow me," Dumbledore said, as he began walking with the two students in tow towards one of the many halls in Hogwarts, "I'll show you your rooms."
xoxo
Behind a beautiful portrait of a small garden nymph playing quietly behind the tall dandelions, lay a room that could only be described as a watercolor painting.
Splashes of red, green, gold, and black covered their shared common room. The walls were covered in gold foil, and if one could manage to scrape a strip of it off, they could make a decent golden ring. Big black overstuffed leather couches and chairs were placed strategically throughout the room, finding all of the cozy spots and making their homes there. Burgundy afghans were draped over the couches, and green velvet pillows of every shape and size adorned ever corner of the couches. They reminded Hermione of the ones her grandma used to make for her, comforting her in the coldest winters. Black, lacy drapes covered the gigantic windows, perfectly positioned to catch the sunset, which Hermione thought, as she noticed the small loveseat couch in front of it, could be a romantic spot- if she was living here with somebody other than a block of ice. A small fire was popping in the fireplace and Hermione decided that if she had to spend the whole year with Draco, at least she would do so in a nice living arrangement.
After allowing Draco and Hermione to take in their new surroundings, Professor Dumbledore led them to their own rooms, starting with Hermione's. A spiral, rod iron staircase led up to a small platform with an oaken door leading to Hermione's room. The colors of the room were similar to their common room, except there was no green and black. Oriental rugs covered the floor, and on top of them was a big queen sized canopy bed with millions of pillows decorating it. A few paintings festooned the wall, and heavy curtains, which Dumbledore said were for her own safety, were halfway open across large, arching windows. In the corner of her room was a door that led to her own bathroom similar to one of the perfect bathrooms.
Draco's room was the door next to Hermione's, both being on the top of the staircase. His was similar to Hermione's, except instead of a red and gold color theme, he had a mainly green and black room, with a completely black bed and silken sheets.
"Wow," Hermione remarked, when the tour was over, "This is wonderful, Professor. I hope we haven't caused too much of a trouble to get this all set up."
Dumbledore smiled, "There is nothing I wouldn't do to ensure the safety of my students."
"Yea, thanks, Professor. It's great," Draco said as he slowly retreated back into his room.
After Draco had closed his door, Dumbledore escorted Hermione back down the stairs and into the common room. "As you know tomorrow is Saturday, and since we have no classes then, I advise you to begin to inform Mr. Malfoy of your case, if he hasn't already been informed."
"Certainly, Professor. I was planning on doing it in the train, but circumstances arised and I figured it would be easier to tell him on a later basis. I will definitely do so tomorrow."
"Of course, Miss Granger. I will check in on you at a later date. Good night." Dumbledore exited through the portrait, leaving Hermione all alone in the common room.
She sat down on the couch in front of the fire, and took the blanket down, wrapping herself in it tightly. Shadows danced across the room as the flames in the fireplace changed shapes. She stared up at the ceiling, noticing how it was enchanted to look like the night sky outside. A shooting star raced across the ceiling, and Hermione couldn't help but wish that she would finally be safe at Hogwarts.
xoxo
A/N: Well, I'd definitely say that was a much quicker update, right? I'll try to update at least once a week from now on-most likely on Saturdays.
Thank you to everybody who reviewed- you have no idea how happy that makes me:
Dancing Flame
SwimGoddess
TheConductorsLEASTfavorite (Don't worry, I agree with every point you made, so I will definitely try not to let those shape my writing.)
X LiNdY LiCiOuS
Emma-Lizzy-Black Gopher2806
Whippy Bird (Yay! Thank you for the really, really sweet review!)
Venus728 (I'm so glad you stuck with it. I remember your reviews from the very beginning, so when I saw your name on the review… lets just say it made my day!)