A/N: All right... I've been told by a couple of reviewers that this is a Mary Sue fic. And you know what? That sucks! I don't want to be predictable, so I'm gonna let things be a little different. Infact, depending on where I end up going with this it could be a Draco/Hermione fic. I don't really know. All I know is that the plot I had in my head fit that Mary Sue thing to a T, and that pissed me off, so it's had a good tweaking... and I think it might work now. Bear with me, and I think you'll be happy with the result. Thanx to those of you who were kind and constructive in their reviews. And to those of you who weren't... If you take the time to read my fic and then take the extra time to review, just to tell me it was boring or it sucked, then shut the HELL UP! You're just wasting my time by writing a pointless review. That's all for now, on to chapter 4!
Hermione woke up early. Too early. Six o'clock early. She had slept fine, but was a little stiff seeing as she was used to her own bed. No sense being awake and having no one to talk to. She thought, but did she go back to sleep? No, she woke Ginny up. "Gin... Ginny, wake up." Hermione said, poking Ginny in the arm. But all Ginny did was moan, swat at Hermione's hand and roll over. "Dammit Ginny! WAKE UP!" She yelled rather closely to Ginny's ear. This worked. Ginny was jolted into waking and then, surprised by Hermione's closeness, flung herself out of the bed. She landed with a hard plunk, which woke Harry in the next room, who in turn woke Ron.
By the time they all reached the stairs they could smell bacon, eggs and... was that pancakes? Ron pushed Ginny out of the way, and ran as quietly as he could past Mrs. Black's portrait down into the kitchen. When the others arrived Ron already had a plate and was busy shoveling a little bit of everything into his mouth. Ginny threw him an ugly look, which he didn't notice, and helped herself to breakfast. Hermione and Harry followed suit. Just as Harry was sitting down at the table, the kitchen door was flung open and an odd sight met them. It was Fred and George, looking very tired and very disheveled, but it appeared that something had gone wrong in the clothing process. Fred's red shirt didn't match his brown pants very well at all, and George was wearing one of his own shoes and one of Fred's. Which of course left Fred with one of is own shoes and one of his twin's. Everyone started to laugh, but the twins didn't seem to get the joke, they just got their food and sat at the table in a deep trance like state. "Would someone please go get Draco, he's still asleep." Asked Mrs. Weasley. At this everyone snapped into attention, even the half asleep twins. "I'm not doing it!" Everyone said at once. But Mrs. Weasley threw them an evil look that plainly said that someone was going to get him. "We'll play rock, paper, scissors for it." Harry declared, and everyone nodded. Two do-overs later, Ginny had to go get Malfoy, and she grumbled all the way.
She knocked on his door and heard him groan inside. Ha! He hates getting up as much as I do! She knocked again, but he didn't answer, so she let herself in. He was sound asleep on his stomach, the pillow thrust forcefully underneath his head. A slightly upset look was on his face and as she drew nearer he started to toss over, but he then fell into deep sleep again. A mischievious look came to Ginny's face, this was going to be fun. She walked over quietly and poked him right between the shoulder blades. He nearly jumped right out of his skin. Without a moment's hesitation he drew his wand on Ginny(it had been under his pillow), who was, by now, equally frightened. He looked upon his 'attacker' and let out a long breath. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked quietly. "Well good morning to you too." She said shakily, a Death Eater had just drawn his wand on her! "Are you ok?" He asked, even though he knew he hadn't hurt her, she looked pretty shaken up. "Oh I'm fine, but now you're gonna get it!" and before Draco had a moment to contemplate what she said, he got a faceful of pillow! Ginny started laughing hysterically, then had to run downstairs to get away from him. After a few moments of chasing her around the kitchen table, Draco realized where he was and how he looked. His hair stuck up at odd angles, his shirt was wrinkled beyond belief, and he was wearing his forest green boxers!
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Everyone in the kitchen had been chatting happily until Ginny ran in followed by a very amused looking Malfoy. No one had any idea what was going on, but there were no wands in sight so Fred and George decided to watch it like a spectator sport. As Ginny and Malfoy ran haphazardly around the table Mrs. Weasley yelled at them to stop while Fred and Goerge cheered Ginny on. Suddenly Malfoy stopped and looked around, then looked down at himself, his cheeks started to turn a slight pink color as he cleared his throat and said, "Umm... Please excuse me." And dashed back upstairs. As soon as he left everyone but Mrs. Weasley was laughing like madmen. Fred and George were congratulating Ginny on a job well done when Malfoy returned. He was now completely dressed, not a wrinkle in sight, and his hair, though not slicked back, was combed and at its place just below his ears.
"Eat up Draco, we have a busy day today." Molly ordered kindly. Draco declined, saying he wasn't one for breakfast, but Mrs. Weasley didn't approve of his skipping meals, so she sat a plate brimming with bacon and eggs in front of him. He looked at it as if it would bite him, but he grabbed his fork and ate it anyway. "I'm going to go get my booklist; I haven't even looked at it yet!" Hermione said excitedly, and Draco couldn't help but snort at her; however, he had just been swallowing a mouth full of eggs, so his mockery was lost to a round of coughs. No one even noted the fact that he was possibly choking, but that didn't shock him either.
Suddenly a horrible scream was heard from upstairs! Everybody jumped out of their seats and rushed to Hermione and Ginny's room, ignoring the now shrieking Mrs. Black. Harry got there first, but stopped suddenly just in the doorway. "Hermione? Are you ok? What were you screaming about?" He asked urgently, but found himself gasping for air as Hermione, for the second time in two days, was hugging him to death. "What? What is it?" He asked again, as she mumbled something against his chest. "I was made Head Girl! I was made Head Girl!" She was near hysterics. "Is that all?" Draco drawled coldly, "I mean honestly! Did you really expect anything different. Plus we got the booklists yesterday, I mean you should've already known... I did!" He wasn't happy. He was letting his breakfast get cold to see if Granger was ok. Something just didn't add up in his mind. Food before Granger, Malfoy! Not the other way around! He reprimanded himself. "Can we go now? My food is getting cold!" He added as an after thought. He turned and was half way downstairs when Hermione stopped him.
"Hey Malfoy!" She called.
"What now, Granger! I want to eat, because if I don't eat that food, Mrs. Weasley might prepare an entirely new plate, which means I won't be going anywhere today because I will be too sick to move... So spit it out!" He nearly yelled at her.
"Bloody hell, I just wanted to know if you were Head Boy, but damn, just go eat! You're worse than Ron!" She yelled back.
"Of course I'm Head Boy! I thought you were supposed to be smart!" He didn't even get a chance to revel in the anger his smirk would give her, because she slapped it right off his face. Before he could be extremely stupid and retaliate, she stormed downstairs to the kitchen. Ron came up to Draco and whispered, "That's what happens when you make Hermione mad, although you are the only person I've ever seen her slap. Multiple times." He was trying to rile Draco up, but he just replied, "You don't have to remind me, a slap from Hermione stings for a long time, both on the face and the ego." He then walked gracefully and silently down the stairs.
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Diagon Alley. Hermione had been waiting to go there all day, she wanted her books and she wanted them now, they weren't doing her any good sitting on the bookstore shelf! Malfoy had had to Floo there first and then give them plenty of space to come through, so that it didn't look like they had come together. He quickly and quietly bought his books and other stationary necessities, like parchment and quills, and then moved on to restock his potions ingrediants. Hermione, Ron and Harry were much more noisy and slow, but definitely had more fun. It took the four resident students of Grimmauld Place, three hours to get all the things they would need. Draco had been done and waiting for two of them. It has to be Granger... there is no way Potty and Weasel could spend that much time shopping for school! It's just not possible! They were to all show up at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and order something, then they would, one by one, Floo back to Headquarters.
Ginny showed up an hour and half into Draco's wait. It was just getting dark, and he could see the Golden Trio walking up the street, when he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his left forearm. Shit! This is very not good! Fuck! He stood up quickly, Ginny gave him a questioning glance which he ignored. He walked quickly onto the street, where he 'accidentally' walked into Hermione. He grabbed her tighlty by the arm and whispered forcefully, "I have to go, Molly will understand." She looked at him, he glanced at his arm, she gasped, then nodded her head. Before Ron and Harry could ask any questions Draco apperated away.
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The burning was no longer a sensation, it was now very painful, and Draco was beginning to wonder if cutting the Mark off his arm would even dull the pain, when he arrived at the designated meeting room. It wasn't really a room at all, it was a tomb, and it gave him the creeps. His father was already there, as was Snape. Draco stood in his position in the circle quietly, waiting for the others to arrive. This part always made him nervous. He was the newest member, and even though his father was the right hand man, Draco was still not completey trusted, and now was the best time for the Dark Lord to take a peek into his mind. It made Draco paranoid, the idea of being raped, essentially, of having his thoughts violated. But there was nothing he could do; he had very limited abilities to keep his thoughts safe, just enough to protect the Order... that was all. Everything else became fair game for Voldemort's amusement. The loud cracks and pops of Death Eaters apperating into the tomb brought the Dark Lord to his feet. Soon every place in the circle was filled, everyone was there. The fun was about to begin. Oh joy...
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Hermione had been having a great day, and although she was forced into spending alot more time in Quality Quidditch Supplies than she wanted too, she knew it was only fair, seeing as how she had forced Harry and Ron to spend an hour in Flourish and Blott's. They were anticipating the ice cream waiting for them at Fortescue's, when suddenly Malfoy ran into Hermione, grabbed her arm viciously, and whispered cruely into her ear. There was a moment of silence between them, she gasped and he apperated away. "Hermione. What was all that about?" Ron asked worriedly. "Not here! We have to go! Ron go get Ginny and Malfoy's things! NOW!" She had gone into full on boss mode, Ron knew there was no point arguing with her here. She had already gone when Ron, Harry and Ginny started towards the bookshop where they would Floo back to Grimmauld Place. When they arrived back in the kitchen Dumbledore was there trying to calm Mrs. Weasley down. She was very upset that Hermione wouldn't tell what she knew until everyone was there. "Molly, listen to me," Dumbledore was saying, "Hermione is right. This news should only be said once, the more it is repeated the better chance it has of being overheard by the wrong set of ears."
As soon as everyone who lived in the house was together, Hermione said what Draco had told her to. "He said to tell Molly he had to go and that she would understand. His Mark was burning, he left in such a rush, we had to bring his stuff back." Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to want to believe Hermione's story and looked to Dumbledore, who nodded solemnly. "This is Mr. Malfoy's first meeting, besides being inducted. It is certain that things will not go well for him. Lord Voldemort," Everyone but Harry shuddered, "likes to test the boundaries of his new minions' loyalty. Knowing Draco, he will be able to endure more than most inductees, but that only makes his suffering worse." Even Dumbledore looked slightly distraught, though he couldn't compare with Mrs. Weasley. "But Albus, is there nothing we can do? He's so young! He shouldn't have to know what happens at those meetings, let alone take part in it!" It seemed that she had already made Draco her second adopted son, to the abhorrence of the actual Weasley boys. "I'm sorry Molly, but Draco must face this on his own. The most we can do is be there for him when he comes back." Suddenly Hermione found her voice, "But sir, what if he doesn't?"
Dumbledore didn't answer, which only proved how very possible it was that he might never come back.
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Draco apperated back into Grimmauld Place around midnight. He knew Molly would still be up, waiting for him, so he headed down to the kitchen, not even thinking about how he must look. He stepped in quietly and said as evenly as he could, "Mrs. Weasley? I'm back." But before he had even finished her name she embraced him in the first real hug he had had in years. However, when she felt him flinch and then stiffen, she realized she was hurting him. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you ok? What happened? Are you hungry?" He had to laugh at her line of questioning. She noted how is laugh and voice seemed different now. In the matter of five hours his immaturity seemed to be forgotten, and she immediately thought of Remus, how he seemed older than he was. That was what had happened to Draco Malfoy tonight.
She knew that the old Draco Malfoy had been lost forever tonight, and she was wondering if, when all was said and done, they would miss the Draco that would laugh and smirk, because Hermione had been right... He might never come back.