A/N: They're back! I've got only a few more chapters left, and I hope it
turns out like
I planned!
Disclaimer: None of this is mine except the crap :^P
Hermione and Draco walked up the path to the castle, the grounds seemed eerily quiet on the chilly morning.
"Where is everyone?" Hermione asked nervously.
Draco shrugged, "I'm sure they're all inside. It IS Saturday, you know."
Hermione smiled at Draco halfheartedly, and they walked through the entrace to the castle. It was dead silent inside.
"Draco," she whispered, panicked, "where IS everyone?"
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, "I have no idea. get your wand out, though."
The duo took out their wands, and Hermione put her ear to the door of the Great Hall.
She looked up at him hesitantly, and slowly opened the door.
"SURPRISE!!" yelled the whole school.
"Ahh! Good Lord!" yelled Draco.
"Eep! Petrificus Totalus!" shrieked Hermione.
The lights came up on the Great Hall with enough time to see the Headmaster tumbling over on to the floor, his legs locked together. The Hall erupted into loud shouts of laughter.
"Oh my- Professor! Finite Incantatum! I am SO sorry!" Hermione squealed, her cheeks blazing red.
The Professor smiled at her, dusting himself off, "Quite alright, Miss Granger. And welcome back to you, too!"
Hermione looked over her shoulder, and saw her friend standing in a group, Ron and Harry were laughing so hard that they were doubled up on the floor. Ginny and Maya were standing there, smiling patiently at the hysterical boys.
Hermione went over to greet them, and gave the girls each a hug.
"Well, I'm glad to see someone didn't think it was that funny!" Hermioen said, still a bit embarassed.
"Well, actually we had quite a good laugh about it this morning when Maya told me it would happen," Ginny said cheekily.
Hermione laughed, and turned to greet Harry and Ron, who were still laughing.
"It's so nice to feel welcomed back."
"Y- you petrified Professor Dumbledore!" Ron roared with laughter.
"Oh, well spotted," she replied acidly.
Harry and Ron stood up to greet their friend, wiping tears from their eyes from laughter, and each gave her a hug.
"How'd everything go with you and everyone's favorite Slytherin?" Harry asked.
Hermione bit her lip and frowned a bit, "Harry. There's something I have to tell you and Ron, but I don't think I should do it here."
"It's ok, Mione, we know already," Ron replied.
"How? Did Maya tell you?" Hermione was slightly shocked. First of all, that they knew, and secondly, that they weren't hexing Draco yet.
Harry began to smirk a bit, "Well, he Owled us while you were over there, asking for our permission to, ahem, 'court you,' I believe was the term he used," Harry snickered.
Hermione turned to look at Draco, who was talking with his mother and sister, and flashed him a grin, he smiled sheepishly in return.
"We figured that he must have been serious if was willing to go to all that trouble to kiss our arses. Besides, I don't think ol' Lil would have taken well to a refusal. She can't stop talking about you! Every time she and Mrs. Malfoy come back, that's all she talks about," Ron added with a chuckle.
Hermione motioned for her friends to follow as she went over to see Draco, Narcissa, and Lily.
"Mine-ee!" a flash of blonde flew over to Hermione and firmly attached itself to her waist.
"Hiya Lils!"
"I missed you," Lily said with an earnest look on her young face.
"I missed you, too. But don't worry, I brought you presents!"
"Ooh, pwesents! We can open them aftew dinnew."
"You got it!"
She turned to Narcissa and gave her a hug, "Hello, Mrs. Malfoy, I hope you're well."
"I'm fine, dear, how are you? How was your trip? I can't wait to hear all about it!"
"Let's give our Head Girl and Boy a chance to get re-settled, and I'm sure they'll be happy to giove us a brief synopsis of their trip before dinner," Dumbledore suggested.
Hermione and Draco smiled gratefully at the old man, and took their things back to their room, promising to meet their friends in a few minutes.
"Oxygen," the spoke simultaneously at the Founders, and the picture swung open.
Hermione and Draco went into their rooms to drop off their luggage, and flopped back down on the large sofa in their study a moment later.
Hermione let our a large sigh, "Wow."
"Yeah," Draco replied.
They each sat there for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.
"Well, lets be pragmatic for a moment, we have to figure out what to say to the school," Hermione said.
"I've got another idea. how about YOU be pragmatic, and I'll watch you be pragmatic!"
"BRILLIANT idea, ferret boy," Hermione replied with a smile.
"You just called me ferret boy!" Draco cried in mock offense, "I was just going to call you the most lovely pragmatist I've ever seen, but now I'm not going to say it," he said with a pout.
Hermione laughed, and whacked him with a pillow. "If you plan this with me, we can have some spare time to concern ourselves with more interesting things," she said, raising her eyebrows.
Draco was not about to pass down THIS line of reasoning, and they finished quickly, then settled down to a nice long snogging session.
In an hour, they each went to their respective Common Rooms to talk to their friends. Draco entered the Slytherin room with a bit of trepidation. He saw that most of the house was in there doing work, playing games, or chatting. He walked over to where the Slytherin seventh years were, and say down.
"Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Millicent, good to see you all," he said in a friendly yet officious manner.
"Hi Draco," Pansy simpered.
Crabbe and Goyle grunted a greeting, and Millicent smiled grotesquely at him.
"So. anything interesting to report in my absence?" Draco asked.
"No, not yet. Snape's doing individual interviews with everyone, but I don't know why," Millicent responded.
"He's acting a bit strangely," Pansy said, "but I think it's because we're all on alert now."
Draco was confused, "On alert for what?"
Pansy looked at him, shocked, then she looked sympathetic, "I forgot that you don't hear any news, now that your father. Well, our side has gained a few important alliances, and it's going to be soon," she said in a hushed voice.
Draco's eyes widened, "Ah, I see. Yes, you're right, after my father's death, I haven't really been privy to too much information regarding. our side."
"Well, I think Snape's interviewing us to test and see if we're truly willing to sacrifice ourselves, and he's going to, you know, report back. I think he's starting tomorrow. I bet we'll get to go first, you know, the seventh years with loyal families," Pansy smirked.
Draco nodded, "Excellent. Well, it was nice talking to you all, I have to go see the Headmaster about some duty or another. See you all later." He walked towards the door.
"Hey Draco," Goyle called after him, "How did your trip go with the Mudblood?"
Draco smirked a bit, "I got a change to tell her exactly what I think of her."
The other laughed appreciatively, as Draco walked out the portrait hole.
"How was I ever friends with them?" he muttered to himself, as he strode quickly off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
Hermione walked into her Common Room to a much more welcoming crowd. She plopped down on the couch next to Harry.
"So. you're not under the Imperius, are you?" he asked.
"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," Hermione replied.
"Is he a good kisser?" Ginny asked eagerly.
Harry's mouth dropped open, "Ginny!"
Ginny smiled innocently at him, "It's only a question! And I think you're a fabulous kisser, Harry."
"GINNY!" Harry and Ron yelled simultaneously.
Ron looked incredulous, "You KISS my SISTER?"
Maya snorted (a ladylike snort, not Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality snort*), "What do you think they do in the Astronomy Tower, Ron?"
"Anyway!" Hermione interrupted, "The trip was fabulous, Venice is lovely. Although there was this girl that I'm a bit wary of."
Her friends looked concerned.
"What was her name?" Ron asked.
"Maria Venzetti," she replied.
Ron and Ginny gasped loudly and paled.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, now worried.
Ron and Ginny both became very preoccupied with the floor and biting their lips.
"Ronald and Virgina Weasley, you had better tell me right now!"
Ginny looked fearfully up at Hermione, "That's Alessandro Venzetti's daughter. He, um. he killed our mum's twin sister, and her husband and children when we were younger," she whispered.
Hermione's stomach dropped as Ron continued, "Mum used to be an Auror, but after Aunt Grace died. well, she just sai she couldn't do it anymore. That's why she's so overprotective."
"Well, are they Death Eaters?" Hermione asked.
Ginny nodded solemnly, "Our Uncle Alex, Aunt Gracie's husband, was a Muggle. The kids were so young, Alice was four and Simon was only 10 months old."
Ginny put her head down and sniffled a bit, Harry put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione said.
"Did she do anything to you, Mione?" Ron said.
"Well. I mean, besides the standard 'dirty Mudblood' thing, no. She was just rude and mean, but not violent or anything."
"Does she know about you and Mal- Draco?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded, "She does. She was none too pleased about it, either."
"This can't be good," Harry said.
All of a sudden, Maya, who had been sitting there quietly, gave a loud moan, and her eyes rolled back into her head while the others looked at her in shock.
"Oh my god!" Hermione screamed as Maya began to shake a bit, "we have to get her to Madam Pomfrey."
"No, she's having a vision, we have to take her to Dumbledore, lets go!" Ron said, as he picked Maya up into his arms, and carried the girl through the portrait hole.
The group ran through the winding halls, in the back of her mind Hermione was surprised that Ron was still able to carry Maya all that way. They stopped in front of Dumbledore's goblin statue.
"Toffee Chew!" Harry yelled breathlessly.
They dashed up the stairs, and were surprised to find Dumbledore, Draco, and Professor Snape there, already deep in conversation.
"SURPRISE!!!" yelled the entire school.
"Ah! Good Lord!" barked Draco.
"Eep! Petrificus Totalus!" yelped Hermione.
The lights came up just in time to see Professor Dumbledore tumble over, with a very amused statement on his face.
Hermione looked horrified, "Oh my- Professor! Finite Incantatum!"
She blushed deep red as the Headmaster stood up, and the Great Hall roared with laughter. Dumbledore laughed as he adjusted his hat.
"Pleasure to see you, too, Miss Granger," he said with a smile.
"Professor Dumbledore, I am SO sorry, I didn't know where people were, and I was a bit edgy."
Dumbledore held up a quieting hand, "No harm done, Hermione. Welcome back to the both of you! We're so pleased to have our Head Girl and Head Boy back with us."
Draco looked around, the entire school was there, and the Great Hall was decorated in Slytherin and Gryffindor colors, it was vaguely reminiscent of Christmas. There were large "WELCOME BACK DRACO AND HERMIONE" and "CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE!" banners hung about the place.
Hermione looked at a group emitting a particularly raucous round of laughter, and saw Harry and Ron doubled over on the floor. She smiled as she strode over.
"I'm glad you find this so amusing, you two. Pleasure to see you both," she said with a bit of good-natured bite in her voice.
Ron had tears running down his face, "You- you just hexed Professor Dumbledore, Mione! That was absolutely priceless!" he roared even louder with laughter, Harry joined in.
Hermione smiled up at Maya and Ginny, both of whom were smiling and shaking their heads. Hermione gave her friends each a big hug.
"Not as amused as these fine gentlemen, I see," Hermione said motioning to the hysterical Harry and Ron.
"Well, we had a good laugh about it this morning when Maya told me it would happen," Ginny said with a laugh.
Maya shrugged, "I can't help it!" She gave Hermione a little smirk, and leaned over to whisper something to Hermione, "Some things I'll leave to you to tell everyone," and she winked at the blushing Head Girl.
A/N: Oooohhhhh.. I'm horrible, but I don't have time to do thanks! I will next chapter, though, ok? I'm sorry, you know that I read allllllll of the reviews and everything, but now I'm at camp, and I don't have time to get them all off of ff.n because I'm not the only one using the computer now. But thank you all SO much, those of you who've been with me a long time
Disclaimer: None of this is mine except the crap :^P
Hermione and Draco walked up the path to the castle, the grounds seemed eerily quiet on the chilly morning.
"Where is everyone?" Hermione asked nervously.
Draco shrugged, "I'm sure they're all inside. It IS Saturday, you know."
Hermione smiled at Draco halfheartedly, and they walked through the entrace to the castle. It was dead silent inside.
"Draco," she whispered, panicked, "where IS everyone?"
Draco furrowed his eyebrows, "I have no idea. get your wand out, though."
The duo took out their wands, and Hermione put her ear to the door of the Great Hall.
She looked up at him hesitantly, and slowly opened the door.
"SURPRISE!!" yelled the whole school.
"Ahh! Good Lord!" yelled Draco.
"Eep! Petrificus Totalus!" shrieked Hermione.
The lights came up on the Great Hall with enough time to see the Headmaster tumbling over on to the floor, his legs locked together. The Hall erupted into loud shouts of laughter.
"Oh my- Professor! Finite Incantatum! I am SO sorry!" Hermione squealed, her cheeks blazing red.
The Professor smiled at her, dusting himself off, "Quite alright, Miss Granger. And welcome back to you, too!"
Hermione looked over her shoulder, and saw her friend standing in a group, Ron and Harry were laughing so hard that they were doubled up on the floor. Ginny and Maya were standing there, smiling patiently at the hysterical boys.
Hermione went over to greet them, and gave the girls each a hug.
"Well, I'm glad to see someone didn't think it was that funny!" Hermioen said, still a bit embarassed.
"Well, actually we had quite a good laugh about it this morning when Maya told me it would happen," Ginny said cheekily.
Hermione laughed, and turned to greet Harry and Ron, who were still laughing.
"It's so nice to feel welcomed back."
"Y- you petrified Professor Dumbledore!" Ron roared with laughter.
"Oh, well spotted," she replied acidly.
Harry and Ron stood up to greet their friend, wiping tears from their eyes from laughter, and each gave her a hug.
"How'd everything go with you and everyone's favorite Slytherin?" Harry asked.
Hermione bit her lip and frowned a bit, "Harry. There's something I have to tell you and Ron, but I don't think I should do it here."
"It's ok, Mione, we know already," Ron replied.
"How? Did Maya tell you?" Hermione was slightly shocked. First of all, that they knew, and secondly, that they weren't hexing Draco yet.
Harry began to smirk a bit, "Well, he Owled us while you were over there, asking for our permission to, ahem, 'court you,' I believe was the term he used," Harry snickered.
Hermione turned to look at Draco, who was talking with his mother and sister, and flashed him a grin, he smiled sheepishly in return.
"We figured that he must have been serious if was willing to go to all that trouble to kiss our arses. Besides, I don't think ol' Lil would have taken well to a refusal. She can't stop talking about you! Every time she and Mrs. Malfoy come back, that's all she talks about," Ron added with a chuckle.
Hermione motioned for her friends to follow as she went over to see Draco, Narcissa, and Lily.
"Mine-ee!" a flash of blonde flew over to Hermione and firmly attached itself to her waist.
"Hiya Lils!"
"I missed you," Lily said with an earnest look on her young face.
"I missed you, too. But don't worry, I brought you presents!"
"Ooh, pwesents! We can open them aftew dinnew."
"You got it!"
She turned to Narcissa and gave her a hug, "Hello, Mrs. Malfoy, I hope you're well."
"I'm fine, dear, how are you? How was your trip? I can't wait to hear all about it!"
"Let's give our Head Girl and Boy a chance to get re-settled, and I'm sure they'll be happy to giove us a brief synopsis of their trip before dinner," Dumbledore suggested.
Hermione and Draco smiled gratefully at the old man, and took their things back to their room, promising to meet their friends in a few minutes.
"Oxygen," the spoke simultaneously at the Founders, and the picture swung open.
Hermione and Draco went into their rooms to drop off their luggage, and flopped back down on the large sofa in their study a moment later.
Hermione let our a large sigh, "Wow."
"Yeah," Draco replied.
They each sat there for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.
"Well, lets be pragmatic for a moment, we have to figure out what to say to the school," Hermione said.
"I've got another idea. how about YOU be pragmatic, and I'll watch you be pragmatic!"
"BRILLIANT idea, ferret boy," Hermione replied with a smile.
"You just called me ferret boy!" Draco cried in mock offense, "I was just going to call you the most lovely pragmatist I've ever seen, but now I'm not going to say it," he said with a pout.
Hermione laughed, and whacked him with a pillow. "If you plan this with me, we can have some spare time to concern ourselves with more interesting things," she said, raising her eyebrows.
Draco was not about to pass down THIS line of reasoning, and they finished quickly, then settled down to a nice long snogging session.
In an hour, they each went to their respective Common Rooms to talk to their friends. Draco entered the Slytherin room with a bit of trepidation. He saw that most of the house was in there doing work, playing games, or chatting. He walked over to where the Slytherin seventh years were, and say down.
"Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Millicent, good to see you all," he said in a friendly yet officious manner.
"Hi Draco," Pansy simpered.
Crabbe and Goyle grunted a greeting, and Millicent smiled grotesquely at him.
"So. anything interesting to report in my absence?" Draco asked.
"No, not yet. Snape's doing individual interviews with everyone, but I don't know why," Millicent responded.
"He's acting a bit strangely," Pansy said, "but I think it's because we're all on alert now."
Draco was confused, "On alert for what?"
Pansy looked at him, shocked, then she looked sympathetic, "I forgot that you don't hear any news, now that your father. Well, our side has gained a few important alliances, and it's going to be soon," she said in a hushed voice.
Draco's eyes widened, "Ah, I see. Yes, you're right, after my father's death, I haven't really been privy to too much information regarding. our side."
"Well, I think Snape's interviewing us to test and see if we're truly willing to sacrifice ourselves, and he's going to, you know, report back. I think he's starting tomorrow. I bet we'll get to go first, you know, the seventh years with loyal families," Pansy smirked.
Draco nodded, "Excellent. Well, it was nice talking to you all, I have to go see the Headmaster about some duty or another. See you all later." He walked towards the door.
"Hey Draco," Goyle called after him, "How did your trip go with the Mudblood?"
Draco smirked a bit, "I got a change to tell her exactly what I think of her."
The other laughed appreciatively, as Draco walked out the portrait hole.
"How was I ever friends with them?" he muttered to himself, as he strode quickly off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.
Hermione walked into her Common Room to a much more welcoming crowd. She plopped down on the couch next to Harry.
"So. you're not under the Imperius, are you?" he asked.
"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," Hermione replied.
"Is he a good kisser?" Ginny asked eagerly.
Harry's mouth dropped open, "Ginny!"
Ginny smiled innocently at him, "It's only a question! And I think you're a fabulous kisser, Harry."
"GINNY!" Harry and Ron yelled simultaneously.
Ron looked incredulous, "You KISS my SISTER?"
Maya snorted (a ladylike snort, not Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality snort*), "What do you think they do in the Astronomy Tower, Ron?"
"Anyway!" Hermione interrupted, "The trip was fabulous, Venice is lovely. Although there was this girl that I'm a bit wary of."
Her friends looked concerned.
"What was her name?" Ron asked.
"Maria Venzetti," she replied.
Ron and Ginny gasped loudly and paled.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, now worried.
Ron and Ginny both became very preoccupied with the floor and biting their lips.
"Ronald and Virgina Weasley, you had better tell me right now!"
Ginny looked fearfully up at Hermione, "That's Alessandro Venzetti's daughter. He, um. he killed our mum's twin sister, and her husband and children when we were younger," she whispered.
Hermione's stomach dropped as Ron continued, "Mum used to be an Auror, but after Aunt Grace died. well, she just sai she couldn't do it anymore. That's why she's so overprotective."
"Well, are they Death Eaters?" Hermione asked.
Ginny nodded solemnly, "Our Uncle Alex, Aunt Gracie's husband, was a Muggle. The kids were so young, Alice was four and Simon was only 10 months old."
Ginny put her head down and sniffled a bit, Harry put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione said.
"Did she do anything to you, Mione?" Ron said.
"Well. I mean, besides the standard 'dirty Mudblood' thing, no. She was just rude and mean, but not violent or anything."
"Does she know about you and Mal- Draco?" Ron asked.
Hermione nodded, "She does. She was none too pleased about it, either."
"This can't be good," Harry said.
All of a sudden, Maya, who had been sitting there quietly, gave a loud moan, and her eyes rolled back into her head while the others looked at her in shock.
"Oh my god!" Hermione screamed as Maya began to shake a bit, "we have to get her to Madam Pomfrey."
"No, she's having a vision, we have to take her to Dumbledore, lets go!" Ron said, as he picked Maya up into his arms, and carried the girl through the portrait hole.
The group ran through the winding halls, in the back of her mind Hermione was surprised that Ron was still able to carry Maya all that way. They stopped in front of Dumbledore's goblin statue.
"Toffee Chew!" Harry yelled breathlessly.
They dashed up the stairs, and were surprised to find Dumbledore, Draco, and Professor Snape there, already deep in conversation.
"SURPRISE!!!" yelled the entire school.
"Ah! Good Lord!" barked Draco.
"Eep! Petrificus Totalus!" yelped Hermione.
The lights came up just in time to see Professor Dumbledore tumble over, with a very amused statement on his face.
Hermione looked horrified, "Oh my- Professor! Finite Incantatum!"
She blushed deep red as the Headmaster stood up, and the Great Hall roared with laughter. Dumbledore laughed as he adjusted his hat.
"Pleasure to see you, too, Miss Granger," he said with a smile.
"Professor Dumbledore, I am SO sorry, I didn't know where people were, and I was a bit edgy."
Dumbledore held up a quieting hand, "No harm done, Hermione. Welcome back to the both of you! We're so pleased to have our Head Girl and Head Boy back with us."
Draco looked around, the entire school was there, and the Great Hall was decorated in Slytherin and Gryffindor colors, it was vaguely reminiscent of Christmas. There were large "WELCOME BACK DRACO AND HERMIONE" and "CONGRATULATIONS ON A JOB WELL DONE!" banners hung about the place.
Hermione looked at a group emitting a particularly raucous round of laughter, and saw Harry and Ron doubled over on the floor. She smiled as she strode over.
"I'm glad you find this so amusing, you two. Pleasure to see you both," she said with a bit of good-natured bite in her voice.
Ron had tears running down his face, "You- you just hexed Professor Dumbledore, Mione! That was absolutely priceless!" he roared even louder with laughter, Harry joined in.
Hermione smiled up at Maya and Ginny, both of whom were smiling and shaking their heads. Hermione gave her friends each a big hug.
"Not as amused as these fine gentlemen, I see," Hermione said motioning to the hysterical Harry and Ron.
"Well, we had a good laugh about it this morning when Maya told me it would happen," Ginny said with a laugh.
Maya shrugged, "I can't help it!" She gave Hermione a little smirk, and leaned over to whisper something to Hermione, "Some things I'll leave to you to tell everyone," and she winked at the blushing Head Girl.
A/N: Oooohhhhh.. I'm horrible, but I don't have time to do thanks! I will next chapter, though, ok? I'm sorry, you know that I read allllllll of the reviews and everything, but now I'm at camp, and I don't have time to get them all off of ff.n because I'm not the only one using the computer now. But thank you all SO much, those of you who've been with me a long time
