Hey everyone. I'm back. I know, I know, it's been forever, but I'm sorry.
I've been busy. Now to thank my reviewers:
CA- Thanks. I think I'm falling in love with him, too. Your review really made my day. Thank you so much.
Maura Moynihan- Oh, thanks a lot. (sarcasm) Sorry you don't like it. I try my best to make it good, but not everyone can be happy, I guess. But thanks all the same.
littoxkigga- thanks for letting me know. I think I fixed it. Thanks.
zenni- yeah, me too. Thanks.
Emerald Flame- Me too!!! Glad it's fun. Sorry about the food. Thanks. Bye.
ILUVRONWEASLEY- Ok. Sorry you don't like Orli. Thanks, Though.
shadow_north- ok. If that's what you think. I'm just trying to show some detail. And I said at the very beginning that it would be out of character, so yeah. Thanks, though.
natyslacks- Cool. Sorry!!! Thanks so much. Bye!!
sweet-innocent-bookworm- Yes, it is. Good on you for pointing that out. Sorry about the music thing, but I like it. Thanks.
RikuNghts- That's good to know. Thanks.
Wedgie Antilles- Yeah, I know, but whatever. Thanks.
Thanks to: hopeless 017, FrighteninglyObsessed, smilies, my1-and-only, amy, u8mytwix, PenScribble06, sweet-soph, dracohermioneluver, A little lady's footprint, Amber, and princess-m.
And a special thanks to happigolucki616. You reviewed every chapter. That's really nice of you. In response: Chapter 1: yeah. Thanks. Chapter 2: yup. Thanks. Chapter 3: yeah, I know. Oh the visuals. He's so yummy. Thanks Chapter 4: yes, it's very mysterious, isn't it. Thanks. Chapter 5: Yup. I don't think I've stopped drooling since I wrote it. Thanks again.
Just a side note, I wrote something into this chapter that's kind of a hint/sign for something a bit after it in the chapter. The first reviewer that cam find what it is and put it in their review, gets to...be any guy they want's date to the ball, with the exception of Harry and Draco. Sorry. I know I'm taking away the hottest guys from you, but it goes with the plot. Alright, now on to the story:
#_#_#_#_#_#_#_#_#
A little bit after Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny came to breakfast, Professor McGonagall walked down the Gryffindor table distributing timetables to everyone.
"Hey, you guys, look at this," Hermione said. They looked down to a note on the bottom. It said:
"All 7th years are required to take flying as a sort of refresher course. Your new Professor will be waiting for you on the Quidditch Pitch."
"This is great!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeah I know," Ron said. "Easy A!" (AN: Alright, I know that in the Harry Potter world, A is probably a bad thing, but sue me. How would it look if I put 'easy O'? I thought so.)
Hermione looked horrified. "This is terrible!!!" she exclaimed.
"Why Herm?" Ron asked.
"Because if you had paid any attention in 1st year, you would know that I CAN'T FLY!!!!!"
"Oh," Ron said.
"Don't worry," Harry said. "We'll help you. It's the least we can do after everything you've done for us."
"Yeah. Look you guys, we have Potions with the Slytherins. Oh fun." Ron said, the last part being in a sarcastic tone.
"Let's go then," Hermione said.
When they entered the Dungeons, they were astounded to find a seating chart drawn on the chalkboard.
"Lovely, I'm by Goyle," Harry said.
"Guess what? I'm by Millicent Bulstrode." Ron groaned. They both turned to look at Hermione. "What about you Herm?"
"Malfoy," she said nonchalantly and went to her seat.
After the class had assembled, Professor Snape walked in. "You have seen the seating chart that you have been put in. These will be your seats for the rest of the school year. The person that you are sitting by will be your partner for all projects concerning this." Snape said. After waiting for the appropriate groans, he continued, "Today, and for the next few weeks, we will be working on the Parilus Potion. This potion works in many ways. The first is that when the drinker drinks this potion, they will have a vision about the person that they lay eyes on. Another effect is that the drinker will find out a secret that the first person that they lay eyes on has. The last recorded effect is that the person will see the face of a person that that the person loves dearly. If brewed right, the drinker can experience from one to all of these effects. You shall begin work on the potion today, while an outline of the different ingredients and what they are used for by themselves will be due on the day of the testing. This is not a group paper. It is to be done individually. You may begin." With that, Snape waved his wand, and the seating chart was replaced with the instructions for the potion.
Snape walked aimlessly around the room, complimenting the Slytherins and criticizing the Gryffindors. When he got to Draco and Hermione's table, he stopped and said in a low voice, "This seating chart is for your sake and my sanity. You'll find that it will be like this in most other classes that you share. Do try and refrain from getting into a shouting match in my classroom. And when we test the potion, if either of you see anything that could be of any importance, please tell me as soon as you can. Is that understood?"
Draco and Hermione nodded.
"Good," Snape said, and continued his roaming.
Soon Potions was over. Harry and Ron had to swing by their rooms, so Hermione was left to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts and meet the new teacher by herself. Whoever it was hadn't been at any meals, and no one really seemed to know who it was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm being haunted by a whisper
A chill comes over me
I'll be trapped inside this moment
I'm not a victim
Not a freak
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She looked up and saw Draco coming from the opposite direction. "Where are you going?" she asked, "I thought you had Defense Against the Dark Arts next."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free me
Before I slip away
Heal me
Wake me from this day
Can somebody help me?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I twisted my ankle and I'm going to the Hospital Wing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Da dadadadada)
I've seen the face of my affliction
Of my reality
I'm being tortured by the future
Of things they did to me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh," Hermione looked at his feet. He was limping a bit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm being haunted by a vision
It's like the morning never comes
I feel the burn of the fusion
Always searching
All around
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They crossed paths. Draco turned around. "Hermione," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free me
Before I slip away
Heal me
Wake me from this day
Can somebody help me
Somebody help me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She turned around. "Yes?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now I'm not a hero...No
Put the weight of the world on my soul
Whose image is burning my eyes
They're burning me up inside
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I need to talk to you. Will you be in the Common Room after dinner?" Draco asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
Free me
Before I slip away
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione looked at him. His features looked fatigued, his eyes troubled. He needed to let some of his troubles out. "You can count on it." She said. Draco nodded. They both started walking again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heal me
Wake me from this day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Draco turned and yelled back, "Hermione,"
Hermione turned around. "Thanks," Draco said. Hermione smiled, nodded, and continued heading to class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can somebody help me
Somebody help me
Somebody help me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Did Draco Malfoy just say thank you?' she asked herself. 'Wow. He must be changing more than I thought.'
When Hermione entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, she was met with a shocking sight. "Katie? Oliver!" she shrieked, running forward to hug her older friends. "What are you doing here?"
Oliver laughed. "Well, funny thing really," he said. "We were just sitting around, neither of us had jobs or anything, and Dumbledore came to us with this amazing offer. So now, here we are. Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts and Flying Professors."
"Cool," Hermione said.
"And that's not all," Katie said. "We're getting married!" she squealed and held out her hand so that Hermione could see the ring.
"Oh my gosh! Are you serious?" Hermione asked.
Katie nodded. "Yup."
"Well, I'd best be going," Oliver said. He kissed Katie goodbye and left.
"Congratulations," Hermione said.
"Yeah. Alright. Take a seat. I don't care where. You'll probably be up and about anyways."
"Cool," Hermione looked at her 18-year-old friend. Her blonde hair fell straight to a few inches past her shoulders. She was a pretty girl, tall and very poised.
"Blimey-Katie?" Hermione was jolted out of her thoughts by Ron;s voice from behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm your Professor." Katie replied.
"Really?" Harry asked. Katie nodded. "Cool." Harry and Ron took seats at the two-person table behind Hermione.
Finally, it was time for class to start. As Katie was about to begin class, the door at the back of the room opened. The class looked around. It was Draco, minus the limp from earlier.
"Mr. Malfoy," Katie said, "so nice of you to join us," she continued in a sickeningly sweet tone, laughing fakely. "Where were you?" her tone changed from too nice to flat.
"Hospital Wing," Draco said with a smirk, "You can ask Madame Pomfrey if you don't believe me."
"Fine," Katie said, "Take a seat." The class looked around, wondering where he would end up having to sit. Their eyes landed next to Hermione, where the only available seat in the room was. Draco sauntered over and plopped down next to Hermione.
"Alright," Katie said, shooting Hermione an apologetic glance. "In this class, there will be as little written work as possible. Most of it will be practical work. This means that there will mostly be no homework." There was a collective murmur of approval from the class. "Now," Katie continued, "let's begin."
*-*-*-*-*-*Later*-*-*-*-*-*
It had been a long, hard day. Sure enough, Draco and Hermione were paired together in every class they had together so far. Now, all that was left for the day was flying.
As the class walked onto the Quidditch Pitch, Hermoine, Harry, and Ron looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, and their moods reflected it. Hermione looked forward at Oliver. "Hey," she said, smiling. The sound of her voice brought Harry and Ron out of their thoughts. They, too looked forward at Oliver.
"Oliver, is that you?" Harry asked, grinning.
"In the flesh," Oliver said, beaming and moving to shake Harry's and Ron's hands. Being 21 had definitely done him good. His brown hair was longer and fell into his intense blue eyes, and his rippling muscles complimented his tall body well. Hermione could see why Katie was so in love with him.
"Been practicing hard?" Oliver asked.
"Yes, very much," Harry and Ron chorused.
"I heard a rumor that you replaced me as keeper," Oliver said, addressing Ron.
"Yeah, I've been Keeper since 5th year," Ron said.
"Cool. And Harry, they lifted the ban when Umbridge left, right?"
"Yeah," Harry replied.
"That's good," Oliver replied. "If you'll excuse me, though, I have to start class."
Harry, Ron and Hermione got into the line that was forming as Oliver called out, "Alright everyone. This class is a sort of refresher for everyone who hasn't flown since first year. For those of you who fly frequently and those that are on their House Quidditch teams, I will be working with you especially on different advanced techniques to improve your skill. As time goes by, some of you might move from the less advanced class on up. Now, for everyone who has their own broom, would you please summon it so we can get started."
*-*-*-*-*-*Later (Dinner)-*-*-*-*-*-*
Hermione ate quickly. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days.
When she was done, she quickly headed to her dormitory. While going through the Main Common Room, Blaise hailed her. "Hermione," he said, "What are you doing here?"
"Draco wanted to talk to me." She replied.
"Oh, ok then," Blaise said, "I'll let you be on your way. Bye."
"Bye," and before Blaise knew it, she was gone.
When Hermione reached their common room, Draco was not present, so she went over and knocked on his door.
"Come in," he said. Hermione entered. He was sitting in his bed. She walked over and sat next to him.
"So, you wanted to talk," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Draco began, "Well, this is the story of my life. Hmmm, where should I start," he asked, almost as if to himself.
"How about the beginning?" Hermione countered.
"Alright. Well, from the time I could talk up until he disappeared, my dad was constantly telling and teaching me that Muggles, and Muggleborns, were low, vulgar beings, much worse than us Purebloods," he sighed, "I was raised to believe all that, and told to treat them lower than low. If I didn't, I would be beaten and/or cursed. It was almost funny, in a way, hot he always seemed to know when I misbehaved.
"While the grieving made my mother absent-minded, she always remembered to talk to me about the error of my father's ways concerning Muggles and Muggleborns. Once he was gone, I realized that we are all equal, no matter what type of experience we have with magic. I mean, look at you. You're Muggle-born, but you're smarter than I'll ever be," Hermione blushed at this, "and there are some Muggles who are smarter than both of us put together. Look at that Einstein guy. E=mc squared. Pure genius," Hermione giggled.
"Anyways, I listened to her, and from being your friend, I realized that it really doesn't matter what lineage people are from. As long as they're good people, what's the difference?"
"You're absolutely right," Hermione said. "If we're done here, I'm going to look at some books in the common room. Wanna come?"
Draco smirked. "Typical you. Books, books, books." But he followed her out of the room anyway.
When they got to the common room, they separated, each taking a section and perusing the stacks.
Hermione was looking through her section when she found an odd book that she had never heard of. "Draco," she called as she pulled the book off of the shelf, "have you ever heard of this book?"
Draco sauntered over. "What's it called?" he asked.
"Secrets and Discovery," Hermione said when Draco reached her. "It's by someone named Saeida H Pedgns."
"Nope, never heard of it, "Draco said. He took it from her and started to flip open the pages. As he did so, the book started to emit some sort of light from its pages. A door appeared in front of them.
Draco and Hermione looked at each other, the look of bewilderment clearly showing on their faces. "Do you think we should open it?" Hermione asked.
"Well," Draco replied, "There;s only one way to find out." He reached forward and turned the knob, and they stepped into the secret doorway.
They entered a beautiful room with lots of modern-looking furniture. There were chairs all over the place, and a daybed against the far wall. The floor was furnished with a beautiful shag carpet in electric blue, and the walls were black, a beautiful color combination. The lights were plentiful, and made the room seem brighter bthan any other black room.
"Wow," was all Hermione could say. Her eyes fell on the daybed, where an envelope rested. She walked over and picked it up, curious as to what the content of it might be. It read:
"Draco, and Hermione,
Welcome. I am glad that you have stumbled on the HP, in other words, the hidden passage. For years, the Hogwarts Heads have been stumbling across this room, going to it when they want solitude, or just to disappear. This is a very secret place, and keeping this to yourselves would be good. I hope that you enjoy this as much as past Heads have.
Albus Dumbledore."
"Cool," came Draco's voice from behind Hermione. She jumped. She hadn't known he had been reading over her shoulder.
"Well, as much fun as this little getaway might be, I'm going to bed," Hermione said, yawning.
"Yeah," Draco said. So Draco and Hermione went to their rooms to get some rest after a long, hard day.
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^
Ugh!!! Finally!!! I'm done!!! Aren't you proud of me? Hehehe. Well, that's it for now. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. I figured out what I want their song to be, and, sadly, it's one that wasn't even on the list, and no one suggested it. But it's good, and it fits. I promise. Alright, well, until next time, hopefully much sooner than the last time, bye.
CA- Thanks. I think I'm falling in love with him, too. Your review really made my day. Thank you so much.
Maura Moynihan- Oh, thanks a lot. (sarcasm) Sorry you don't like it. I try my best to make it good, but not everyone can be happy, I guess. But thanks all the same.
littoxkigga- thanks for letting me know. I think I fixed it. Thanks.
zenni- yeah, me too. Thanks.
Emerald Flame- Me too!!! Glad it's fun. Sorry about the food. Thanks. Bye.
ILUVRONWEASLEY- Ok. Sorry you don't like Orli. Thanks, Though.
shadow_north- ok. If that's what you think. I'm just trying to show some detail. And I said at the very beginning that it would be out of character, so yeah. Thanks, though.
natyslacks- Cool. Sorry!!! Thanks so much. Bye!!
sweet-innocent-bookworm- Yes, it is. Good on you for pointing that out. Sorry about the music thing, but I like it. Thanks.
RikuNghts- That's good to know. Thanks.
Wedgie Antilles- Yeah, I know, but whatever. Thanks.
Thanks to: hopeless 017, FrighteninglyObsessed, smilies, my1-and-only, amy, u8mytwix, PenScribble06, sweet-soph, dracohermioneluver, A little lady's footprint, Amber, and princess-m.
And a special thanks to happigolucki616. You reviewed every chapter. That's really nice of you. In response: Chapter 1: yeah. Thanks. Chapter 2: yup. Thanks. Chapter 3: yeah, I know. Oh the visuals. He's so yummy. Thanks Chapter 4: yes, it's very mysterious, isn't it. Thanks. Chapter 5: Yup. I don't think I've stopped drooling since I wrote it. Thanks again.
Just a side note, I wrote something into this chapter that's kind of a hint/sign for something a bit after it in the chapter. The first reviewer that cam find what it is and put it in their review, gets to...be any guy they want's date to the ball, with the exception of Harry and Draco. Sorry. I know I'm taking away the hottest guys from you, but it goes with the plot. Alright, now on to the story:
#_#_#_#_#_#_#_#_#
A little bit after Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny came to breakfast, Professor McGonagall walked down the Gryffindor table distributing timetables to everyone.
"Hey, you guys, look at this," Hermione said. They looked down to a note on the bottom. It said:
"All 7th years are required to take flying as a sort of refresher course. Your new Professor will be waiting for you on the Quidditch Pitch."
"This is great!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yeah I know," Ron said. "Easy A!" (AN: Alright, I know that in the Harry Potter world, A is probably a bad thing, but sue me. How would it look if I put 'easy O'? I thought so.)
Hermione looked horrified. "This is terrible!!!" she exclaimed.
"Why Herm?" Ron asked.
"Because if you had paid any attention in 1st year, you would know that I CAN'T FLY!!!!!"
"Oh," Ron said.
"Don't worry," Harry said. "We'll help you. It's the least we can do after everything you've done for us."
"Yeah. Look you guys, we have Potions with the Slytherins. Oh fun." Ron said, the last part being in a sarcastic tone.
"Let's go then," Hermione said.
When they entered the Dungeons, they were astounded to find a seating chart drawn on the chalkboard.
"Lovely, I'm by Goyle," Harry said.
"Guess what? I'm by Millicent Bulstrode." Ron groaned. They both turned to look at Hermione. "What about you Herm?"
"Malfoy," she said nonchalantly and went to her seat.
After the class had assembled, Professor Snape walked in. "You have seen the seating chart that you have been put in. These will be your seats for the rest of the school year. The person that you are sitting by will be your partner for all projects concerning this." Snape said. After waiting for the appropriate groans, he continued, "Today, and for the next few weeks, we will be working on the Parilus Potion. This potion works in many ways. The first is that when the drinker drinks this potion, they will have a vision about the person that they lay eyes on. Another effect is that the drinker will find out a secret that the first person that they lay eyes on has. The last recorded effect is that the person will see the face of a person that that the person loves dearly. If brewed right, the drinker can experience from one to all of these effects. You shall begin work on the potion today, while an outline of the different ingredients and what they are used for by themselves will be due on the day of the testing. This is not a group paper. It is to be done individually. You may begin." With that, Snape waved his wand, and the seating chart was replaced with the instructions for the potion.
Snape walked aimlessly around the room, complimenting the Slytherins and criticizing the Gryffindors. When he got to Draco and Hermione's table, he stopped and said in a low voice, "This seating chart is for your sake and my sanity. You'll find that it will be like this in most other classes that you share. Do try and refrain from getting into a shouting match in my classroom. And when we test the potion, if either of you see anything that could be of any importance, please tell me as soon as you can. Is that understood?"
Draco and Hermione nodded.
"Good," Snape said, and continued his roaming.
Soon Potions was over. Harry and Ron had to swing by their rooms, so Hermione was left to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts and meet the new teacher by herself. Whoever it was hadn't been at any meals, and no one really seemed to know who it was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm being haunted by a whisper
A chill comes over me
I'll be trapped inside this moment
I'm not a victim
Not a freak
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She looked up and saw Draco coming from the opposite direction. "Where are you going?" she asked, "I thought you had Defense Against the Dark Arts next."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free me
Before I slip away
Heal me
Wake me from this day
Can somebody help me?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I twisted my ankle and I'm going to the Hospital Wing."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Da dadadadada)
I've seen the face of my affliction
Of my reality
I'm being tortured by the future
Of things they did to me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh," Hermione looked at his feet. He was limping a bit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm being haunted by a vision
It's like the morning never comes
I feel the burn of the fusion
Always searching
All around
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They crossed paths. Draco turned around. "Hermione," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free me
Before I slip away
Heal me
Wake me from this day
Can somebody help me
Somebody help me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She turned around. "Yes?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now I'm not a hero...No
Put the weight of the world on my soul
Whose image is burning my eyes
They're burning me up inside
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I need to talk to you. Will you be in the Common Room after dinner?" Draco asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
Free me
Before I slip away
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione looked at him. His features looked fatigued, his eyes troubled. He needed to let some of his troubles out. "You can count on it." She said. Draco nodded. They both started walking again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heal me
Wake me from this day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Draco turned and yelled back, "Hermione,"
Hermione turned around. "Thanks," Draco said. Hermione smiled, nodded, and continued heading to class.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can somebody help me
Somebody help me
Somebody help me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Did Draco Malfoy just say thank you?' she asked herself. 'Wow. He must be changing more than I thought.'
When Hermione entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, she was met with a shocking sight. "Katie? Oliver!" she shrieked, running forward to hug her older friends. "What are you doing here?"
Oliver laughed. "Well, funny thing really," he said. "We were just sitting around, neither of us had jobs or anything, and Dumbledore came to us with this amazing offer. So now, here we are. Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts and Flying Professors."
"Cool," Hermione said.
"And that's not all," Katie said. "We're getting married!" she squealed and held out her hand so that Hermione could see the ring.
"Oh my gosh! Are you serious?" Hermione asked.
Katie nodded. "Yup."
"Well, I'd best be going," Oliver said. He kissed Katie goodbye and left.
"Congratulations," Hermione said.
"Yeah. Alright. Take a seat. I don't care where. You'll probably be up and about anyways."
"Cool," Hermione looked at her 18-year-old friend. Her blonde hair fell straight to a few inches past her shoulders. She was a pretty girl, tall and very poised.
"Blimey-Katie?" Hermione was jolted out of her thoughts by Ron;s voice from behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm your Professor." Katie replied.
"Really?" Harry asked. Katie nodded. "Cool." Harry and Ron took seats at the two-person table behind Hermione.
Finally, it was time for class to start. As Katie was about to begin class, the door at the back of the room opened. The class looked around. It was Draco, minus the limp from earlier.
"Mr. Malfoy," Katie said, "so nice of you to join us," she continued in a sickeningly sweet tone, laughing fakely. "Where were you?" her tone changed from too nice to flat.
"Hospital Wing," Draco said with a smirk, "You can ask Madame Pomfrey if you don't believe me."
"Fine," Katie said, "Take a seat." The class looked around, wondering where he would end up having to sit. Their eyes landed next to Hermione, where the only available seat in the room was. Draco sauntered over and plopped down next to Hermione.
"Alright," Katie said, shooting Hermione an apologetic glance. "In this class, there will be as little written work as possible. Most of it will be practical work. This means that there will mostly be no homework." There was a collective murmur of approval from the class. "Now," Katie continued, "let's begin."
*-*-*-*-*-*Later*-*-*-*-*-*
It had been a long, hard day. Sure enough, Draco and Hermione were paired together in every class they had together so far. Now, all that was left for the day was flying.
As the class walked onto the Quidditch Pitch, Hermoine, Harry, and Ron looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, and their moods reflected it. Hermione looked forward at Oliver. "Hey," she said, smiling. The sound of her voice brought Harry and Ron out of their thoughts. They, too looked forward at Oliver.
"Oliver, is that you?" Harry asked, grinning.
"In the flesh," Oliver said, beaming and moving to shake Harry's and Ron's hands. Being 21 had definitely done him good. His brown hair was longer and fell into his intense blue eyes, and his rippling muscles complimented his tall body well. Hermione could see why Katie was so in love with him.
"Been practicing hard?" Oliver asked.
"Yes, very much," Harry and Ron chorused.
"I heard a rumor that you replaced me as keeper," Oliver said, addressing Ron.
"Yeah, I've been Keeper since 5th year," Ron said.
"Cool. And Harry, they lifted the ban when Umbridge left, right?"
"Yeah," Harry replied.
"That's good," Oliver replied. "If you'll excuse me, though, I have to start class."
Harry, Ron and Hermione got into the line that was forming as Oliver called out, "Alright everyone. This class is a sort of refresher for everyone who hasn't flown since first year. For those of you who fly frequently and those that are on their House Quidditch teams, I will be working with you especially on different advanced techniques to improve your skill. As time goes by, some of you might move from the less advanced class on up. Now, for everyone who has their own broom, would you please summon it so we can get started."
*-*-*-*-*-*Later (Dinner)-*-*-*-*-*-*
Hermione ate quickly. She seemed to be doing that a lot these days.
When she was done, she quickly headed to her dormitory. While going through the Main Common Room, Blaise hailed her. "Hermione," he said, "What are you doing here?"
"Draco wanted to talk to me." She replied.
"Oh, ok then," Blaise said, "I'll let you be on your way. Bye."
"Bye," and before Blaise knew it, she was gone.
When Hermione reached their common room, Draco was not present, so she went over and knocked on his door.
"Come in," he said. Hermione entered. He was sitting in his bed. She walked over and sat next to him.
"So, you wanted to talk," Hermione said.
"Yeah," Draco began, "Well, this is the story of my life. Hmmm, where should I start," he asked, almost as if to himself.
"How about the beginning?" Hermione countered.
"Alright. Well, from the time I could talk up until he disappeared, my dad was constantly telling and teaching me that Muggles, and Muggleborns, were low, vulgar beings, much worse than us Purebloods," he sighed, "I was raised to believe all that, and told to treat them lower than low. If I didn't, I would be beaten and/or cursed. It was almost funny, in a way, hot he always seemed to know when I misbehaved.
"While the grieving made my mother absent-minded, she always remembered to talk to me about the error of my father's ways concerning Muggles and Muggleborns. Once he was gone, I realized that we are all equal, no matter what type of experience we have with magic. I mean, look at you. You're Muggle-born, but you're smarter than I'll ever be," Hermione blushed at this, "and there are some Muggles who are smarter than both of us put together. Look at that Einstein guy. E=mc squared. Pure genius," Hermione giggled.
"Anyways, I listened to her, and from being your friend, I realized that it really doesn't matter what lineage people are from. As long as they're good people, what's the difference?"
"You're absolutely right," Hermione said. "If we're done here, I'm going to look at some books in the common room. Wanna come?"
Draco smirked. "Typical you. Books, books, books." But he followed her out of the room anyway.
When they got to the common room, they separated, each taking a section and perusing the stacks.
Hermione was looking through her section when she found an odd book that she had never heard of. "Draco," she called as she pulled the book off of the shelf, "have you ever heard of this book?"
Draco sauntered over. "What's it called?" he asked.
"Secrets and Discovery," Hermione said when Draco reached her. "It's by someone named Saeida H Pedgns."
"Nope, never heard of it, "Draco said. He took it from her and started to flip open the pages. As he did so, the book started to emit some sort of light from its pages. A door appeared in front of them.
Draco and Hermione looked at each other, the look of bewilderment clearly showing on their faces. "Do you think we should open it?" Hermione asked.
"Well," Draco replied, "There;s only one way to find out." He reached forward and turned the knob, and they stepped into the secret doorway.
They entered a beautiful room with lots of modern-looking furniture. There were chairs all over the place, and a daybed against the far wall. The floor was furnished with a beautiful shag carpet in electric blue, and the walls were black, a beautiful color combination. The lights were plentiful, and made the room seem brighter bthan any other black room.
"Wow," was all Hermione could say. Her eyes fell on the daybed, where an envelope rested. She walked over and picked it up, curious as to what the content of it might be. It read:
"Draco, and Hermione,
Welcome. I am glad that you have stumbled on the HP, in other words, the hidden passage. For years, the Hogwarts Heads have been stumbling across this room, going to it when they want solitude, or just to disappear. This is a very secret place, and keeping this to yourselves would be good. I hope that you enjoy this as much as past Heads have.
Albus Dumbledore."
"Cool," came Draco's voice from behind Hermione. She jumped. She hadn't known he had been reading over her shoulder.
"Well, as much fun as this little getaway might be, I'm going to bed," Hermione said, yawning.
"Yeah," Draco said. So Draco and Hermione went to their rooms to get some rest after a long, hard day.
^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^
Ugh!!! Finally!!! I'm done!!! Aren't you proud of me? Hehehe. Well, that's it for now. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. I figured out what I want their song to be, and, sadly, it's one that wasn't even on the list, and no one suggested it. But it's good, and it fits. I promise. Alright, well, until next time, hopefully much sooner than the last time, bye.