Disclaimer: As everyone knows, I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, you all are the best! I'm sorry I don't have time to post comments to each of you like I usually do, but I figured you'd rather have the next chapter than individual comments.
Hands out chocolate frogs to everyone for being so patient and understanding.
Please accept my apology for the delay in updating. But there were a bunch of people who I think were a bit disappointed with the last chapter, so I wanted to do my best to make sure that didn't happen again. Also I am still suffering from writers block, I know where I want to go with the story, but I can't figure out how to get there if you know what I mean.
But, just so you all do not think that I haven't been writing, I am happy to tell you that I have been writing up a storm, it's just that what I've been writing is all gonna happen later towards the middle and end. But it's a good thing that I've written it, cause I got some ideas that I think are going to make my story better, the only problem is they made it necessary for me to basically rewrite this and the next chapter.
So basically, the updates will probably be slow like this for a while, but towards the end they should get faster. Also I can guarantee you that it is going to get much more exciting, now it is just slow cause we're still in the beginning. I am almost certain that this fic is going to be even longer (maybe much longer) and the last one. So please be patient, I promise that I will never stop in the middle of this or any other fic no matter how long it takes me to write it!
Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 4: The Final Year Begins
At the start of term feast, once the new first years had been sorted, professor Dumbledore stood to address the school. "Welcome! Welcome both old and new, I have a few words to say, but they can wait until you have all been fed and watered. Enjoy!" And with that the feast appeared. There were a few stunned gasps amongst the new students, but most immediately began digging in.
After the last of the deserts had disappeared into the students stomachs, and the golden plates were once again sparkling clean, professor Dumbledore stood again and an immediate hush fell over the room. "Well, now that the food has been eaten, I believe it is time for some start of term notices," he paused and viewed the attentive students. "New students please note, and returning students please be reminded, that the forest is out of bounds, there is a list of forbidden objects posted outside Mr. Filch's office, and please, no wandering the corridors at night. First years, please follow your house prefects to your dormitories, and I would like to have a word with the Head Boy and Girl. Pleasant dreams!"
Following Dumbledore's speech, Hermione bid Harry and Ginny goodnight, while barely acknowledging Ron, then walked to the professors table where professor Dumbledore and Draco were waiting. "Good evening Miss Granger," welcomed professor Dumbledore, "now, I am just going to show you and Mr. Malfoy to your dormitory."
Hermione nodded, and then she and Draco followed professor Dumbledore with their hands intertwined. The Heads dormitory turned out to be in the same corridor as the Gryffindor common room, which didn't thrill Draco all that much. The portrait was grand in size, and enclosed in an ornate gold frame. The portrait was of the Hogwarts founders, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Salazar Slytherin.
"Ah," said Rowena, these two must be the new Head Boy and Girl.
"Indeed," answered professor Dumbledore, "the password is credo dans fatum, goodnight to you both!"
"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Hermione said as she nodded her head to the founders. With the exception of one, each founder smiled and nodded back to her in greeting. Salazar scowled back at her with a look of disgust, he was well aware that she was the type of student he would never have accepted into the school, and he resented the fact that she was the head girl. He however, was very pleased with the choice of head boy. As he examined Draco he smiled proudly, Draco was exactly the type of wizard Salazar wanted in Hogwarts.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both," Godric replied to Hermione's greeting, "so you two must be Hermione and Draco."
"Yes sir," answered Hermione with a smile. Draco meanwhile was focused on Salazar, who appeared to be silently sizing the two of them up.
"Nice to meet you Hermione and you as well Draco" smiled Helga, "and now if you will say the password, we can allow you into your dormitory."
The heads dormitory was spectacular. The common room was a tiny bit smaller than the house common rooms, yet its lack of dozens of students made it seem much bigger. The common room was a mixture of Gryffindor and Slytherin colors. It was vaguely divided into two areas, a study area, which contained two tables with chairs, and the walls contained bookshelves filled with all sorts of books.
The other area was more of a lounge, it was startlingly reminiscent of the private room the two had shared the year before to brew their potion. This thought seemed to cross their minds at the same time, and they both smiled mischievously at one another as memories of what went on in that room returned to their heads. The lounge area was complete with a large fireplace, two squashy armchairs on either side, and a large comfy couch in the middle. Straight ahead was a large window overlooking the grounds; they had a spectacular view of the lake, the forest, and even part of the quidditch pitch. On either side of the room was a door, one with the title Head Girl above it, and the other with Head Boy. Draco and Hermione went their separate ways to explore their room and unpack their belongings.
Hermione's room was covered in Gryffindor scarlet and gold. It felt incredibly warm and inviting. She had her own bathroom, which was covered with white marble and gold accents. The bath was huge and had several taps, much like the bath in the prefects' bathroom. Her bed was gigantic, and incredibly comfortable. With a sigh of happiness, she proceeded to unpack her things from her trunk.
Draco's room, was set up identically to Hermione's, but still looked entirely different. It was decorated with Slytherin green, silver, and black. Despite being quite comfortable, it was a very dark and mysterious room, much like its occupant. Draco's bathroom was decorated with black marble and silver accents. He liked his room very much, though it made have felt cold and intimidating to most, to him it felt familiar and comfortable.
Draco was finished unpacking first, so he changed into his green pajama pants and a black shirt, and then went over to visit Hermione. He heard her bustling about in the bathroom, so he took a little tour. He was very amused by the color scheme and atmosphere of the room, thinking to himself, 'I just had to choose a Gryffindor.' He decided to have a little fun with Hermione, so he took off his shirt, and hopped into the middle of her bed, lounging with a smug look on his face. After a minute, Hermione emerged from the bathroom in blue plaid pajama pants, a white tank top, and her dragon pendant.
She didn't notice Draco in her bed until he spoke, "Merlin you take a long time in there!"
Hermione squeaked in surprise, and whipped around staring at Draco, "Draco! You scared the shit out of me!"
Draco laughed, looking as relaxed as ever, "I know that's why I did it."
Once Hermione recovered from the shock, she put her hands on her hips, and raised her eyebrows, and tried her best not to stare at Draco's perfectly toned abs, "and just what do you think you are doing lying in my bed?"
"Oh, nothing really, just seeing if it's as comfortable as mine."
Hermione rolled her eyes, moved over to the bed, grabbed Draco's arm and tried to pull him off, "Draco Malfoy get off my bed!"
Draco allowed her to pull for a moment, and then suddenly he pulled back, causing Hermione to land next to him on the bed.
Hermione laughed with frustration, "Draco!"
Draco put on his best look of innocence, "yes?"
"Don't you play innocent with me! I know what you're thinking!"
"Really, so what pray tell am I thinking?"
"You think that just because we share a dormitory we're going to be sleeping together, but I'm telling you right now, that's not going to happen."
"I'm not the one who said anything about sleeping together, that was all you Miss Granger," he looked into her eyes, "though I know the temptation must be impossible for you to resist."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "you arrogant, little, . . . "
But Hermione never got to finish her sentence, because Draco leaned in and kissed her, it was the only way he had found of effectively silencing her.
Once this kiss was broken, Hermione looked into his warm gray eyes, "you can't stay in here all night you know," she said, speaking in barely above a whisper.
"Would you really make me leave?"
This time Hermione made the move; she leaned in and passionately kissed him on the lips. She then leaned back giving them just enough room to look into each others eyes, "no."
Hermione closed her eyes, and was about to lean in to continue kissing Draco, when Draco suddenly sprang off the bed. "Well, goodnight then!" he said happily, grabbing his shirt, and throwing it on over his head.
"Wha?" asked Hermione, in a daze watching him cross the room.
Draco leaned in and held her cheek with his hand. "I just wanted to hear that you didn't want me to leave. But you were right, we can't sleep together tonight, we have class in the morning, the Head Boy and Girl cannot be tired for the first day of classes now can we? Night!" With that he gave her a quick kiss and made his way to the door.
Hermione sat with her mouth hanging open in disbelief as he left; she could not believe that he got her to admit that she didn't want him to leave. She threw herself back on the bed and let out a frustrated cry, then shouted, "Draco Malfoy you're impossible!" unable to hide the laughter in her voice.
She looked up as he returned to the doorway, "I know, that's why you love me," he closed the door just in time, because Hermione threw a pillow at him. From behind the door he shouted, "I love you too Hermione!" Then he chuckled as he made his way to his room, feeling more at home than he had throughout the entire summer at the manor.
Hermione couldn't help but smile everything Draco said or did seemed to make her heart race. And while she really wasn't going to sleep with him per se, she wouldn't have minded a little company while she was sleeping. Still she smiled at the fact that he obviously was not in a rush to do anything, and as she drifted off to sleep she couldn't help but think to herself, 'what did I do to deserve a guy like him?'
- - - - - - - - - -
The next morning Harry awoke very suddenly, feeling his scar burning slightly. He rubbed it with annoyance, wondering why it was suddenly burning again. He hoped it would just go away, because he still didn't want to bring it up with his friends. But if it kept happening he supposed he would have to. Looking at the clock and seeing that it was five minutes to 7, he gave up any hope of getting back to sleep, and instead got up to prepare for the first day of classes.
Hermione, meanwhile, awoke to the sun shining through an opening in her curtains. It was only 7, so she had a lot of time to get ready, but she felt awake none the less. She took a shower, and dressed with her school uniform and robes, humming merrily to herself and wondering what classes she would be having that day. She also couldn't help but wonder how many classes she would have with Draco, last year they had been in nearly every single class together, and she hoped it would be the same this year.
She was not surprised to find that Draco was still asleep when she entered the common room ready to go. She supposed that he hadn't gotten very many full nights rests while he was at home. She hated the idea of waking him from his peaceful slumber, but she was not about to let him miss the first day of classes either. She silently slipped into his very dark room, and opened the curtains so that the sun was shining in his face. She smiled as she watched him scrunch up his face and turn around so the back of his head was too the window.
She rolled her eyes, and climbed onto the bed with him. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek and whispered "Wake up sleepy head" into his ear. He groaned with annoyance and refused to open his eyes. Hermione giggled and remembering what he had done the night before, she thought 'two can play at that game'. She gave him an Eskimo kiss with her nose, then planted little kisses on his nose, cheeks, and forehead before ending with a kiss on his lips. She lingered there long enough for him to respond and kiss back. Once he did, she slowly stood up, moving just enough so that he followed her so their lips remained together. Once she had him in a sitting position and he was finally getting into the kiss, she leapt off the bed and said in a sing-song voice, "meet you in the common room when you're ready!"
Draco who was now fully awake, and staring stupidly after Hermione trying to process what just happened fell back into his bed and shouted "you're evil!" only to hear Hermione respond with a laugh. He took a deep breath, and then got up showered and dressed for class.
By quarter after 8, the two Heads were arriving at the Great Hall, before they went in, Draco gave Hermione a quick kiss on the forehead, and then they made their way to their respective house tables. Once they had sat down and were enjoying their meals with their housemates, their Heads of House came by to pass out the class schedules. Hermione was happy to see that she would have Arithmancy with Draco, but besides that the only other classes they had together were Potions and Transifuration. At first she was disappointed, but then she figured it would give her more time with Harry and Ron, which was a good thing.
Once the bell sounded, Hermione scurried off to Arithmancy, while Harry and Ron trudged up to Divination. She walked into class with Draco, and naturally the two sat next to each other. "Good morning class!" greeted professor Vector. "It is lovely to see you all so bright and early this morning, and now, to see what you have retained over the summer, as this is the most important year in your magical education careers, I shall administer a quiz." Most of the class groaned, but Hermione perked up ready to prove that she hadn't forgotten anything over the summer. Professor Vector continued, "these will not count towards your grade; they will however indicate how much work we will have to do over the course of this year to prepare for your N.E.W.T.s. Everyone ready? You may leave once you have finished the quiz. And begin!" With a wave of her wand, tests appeared in front of everyone, and the students grudgingly began working.
Naturally, Hermione was the first to complete her test, but she knew Draco wouldn't be too much longer, so she waited for him outside the classroom. Just as she expected, within five minutes, Draco joined her. Together they wandered the halls, not knowing what to do before their next classes since they had an hour to wait. They decided to take advantage of the nice weather and take a walk outside.
They were happily enjoying the sunshine talking about each others summers when they heard some grunting noises coming from behind Hagrid's hut. Hermione led Draco, who wasn't too keen on going anywhere near Hagrid, around the back of the hut to investigate, and found Hagrid digging in the garden.
"Hello Hagrid!" called Hermione, "what are you doing?"
Hagrid turned to see who it was, wiping some sweat off hi face as he did "Hello 'ermione!" he greeted jovially, "nice ter see you!" He then turned to Draco and suddenly grew much colder, "Malfoy," he said simply, nodding his head.
Draco, matching merely nodded, matching Hagrid's cold tone with his cold expression.
"'ave a nice summer did you?" Hagrid asked turning his attention back to Hermione, "I s'pose I won't be seeing too much of you this year, what with all yer 'ead Girl duties and all?"
"Well, I will be busy, but I'm sure I'll be able to come down to visit every now and then."
"Right then," Hagrid looked suspiciously at Draco, "well I bes be getting back ter work," he said motioning to his shovel, "it was nice seein you again 'ermione!"
"Bye!" waved Hermione before leading Draco back in the direction of the castle. Once Hagrid was out of hearing range Hermione said, "Remind me not to bring you around next time I visit Hagrid."
Draco rolled his eyes, "I didn't ask to join you in your little visit with him," in his head he was cursing and calling Hargid a 'stupid bloody oaf', but he would never verbalize those thoughts in front of Hermione. "I still can't believe Dumbledore made him a professor, honestly."
"Hagrid knows more about magical creatures than anyone I know! He's perfect for the job!" argued Hermione, immediately coming to Hagrid's defense.
"Yeah, the creatures that can kill you, you have to admit Hermione, he only likes creatures with the potential to kill," reasoned Draco.
"Hmph, you're just still touchy about the Buckbeak incident third year," argued Hermione.
Suddenly Draco seemed to grow very sour and distant, they heard the bell ring, and Draco spoke without looking at Hermione, "see you after class," then plowed ahead to charms while Hermione shuffled to herbology.
Hermione kind of felt guilty for mentioning a subject that was obviously touchy to Draco, but she brushed it off with the thought, 'well it's his own bloody fault for not listening'. She then entered class, and forgot about it for the rest of the day.
By the end of the day, the seventh years felt as though they had been at school an entire week rather than just one day. Almost all the teachers had assigned review homework to assure that their students were up to date in preparation for their N.E.W.T.s. Hermione dropped her things off in the common room before meeting Harry, Ron, and Ginny for dinner, she planned on walking down with Draco, but she could not find him anywhere. She was curious, but decided to ask him about it later.
At dinner Harry and Ron were complaining about all the homework they had received, Hermione merely rolled her eyes and laughed wondering to herself 'how are they going to get their work done without me hounding them to do it this year?' She zoned out of Ron's rant about school and looked over to the Slytherin table. She smiled when she saw Draco, but he was deep in conversation with Blaise Zabini, and didn't notice Hermione staring at him.
"Hermione!" called Ginny to get Hermione's attention.
Harry and Ron looked to see what she had been staring at and turned back with looks of disgust, "Look Hermione," began Harry, "I know you're dating him and everything, but since you live with him now, do you think you could keep the staring to a minimum?"
"I'm sorry guys, it's just I think he got a little mad at me after Arithmancy, and I haven't been able to talk to him since to apologize."
"What happened?" asked Ginny.
Hermione told them about the visit to Hagrid, and how she had brought up the Buckbeak incident. When she was finished, Harry and Ron burst out laughing. "Ha! He deserved that one didn't he?" laughed Ron. "Remember the look on his face when Buckbeak attacked him?"
"Guys, shut up! It's not funny! He could have gotten seriously hurt!" defended Hermione.
"Yeah," agreed Ron in an unnecessarily loud voice, "you didn't seem to mind him being attacked at the time."
Hermione looked at him her eyes narrowed, and then turned to see if Draco had heard. Sure enough, her eyes met a pair of steel gray ones that did not look very pleased. He threw a disgusted smirk at Ron and Harry, and then turned his attention back to Blaise, not seeming to care about the distressed look on Hermione's face.
"Oh," she moaned, "now he's mad at me for sure. Thanks a lot guys!" she spat at Harry and Ron. She threw her fork down on her plate and crossed her arms pouting.
"Hermione calm down, and you shouldn't bring him up around us if you don't want to hear us make fun of him," challenged Ron with obvious annoyance in his voice.
"Fine, I won't" Hermione agreed stuffily. She figured that it was probably best that she avoided discussion of Draco anyway, especially since she really didn't want any relationship (romantic or friendship) hassles this year. She had had her fill of both types last year. She forced herself to put a smile on her face and focused her attention entirely on her friends, and gradual the smile became natural rather than forced. As usual, Harry and Ron began a quidditch discussion, so she and Ginny were left to talk to each other.
Ginny told Hermione about a Ravenclaw boy she had been paired with in charms that day. From the way Ginny was slowly turning pink, Hermione could tell that Ginny was already developing a crush on him. Hermione smiled, and approved of Ginny's taste when Ginny pointed him out to her.
After dinner, Hermione wanted to return to her common room, but Harry and Ron begged her to help them with the potions essay Snape had assigned, so reluctantly, she went to the Gryffindor common room with them. She stayed there until midnight finishing her homework.
Once she finally returned to her common room, she was absolutely exhausted and ready for bed.
"You're back late" spat Salazar when she reached the portrait door.
"Yes, I've been working," answered Hermione, doing her best not to sound rude.
"Well, hurry up with the password, I do not appreciate hanging around all night waiting for the likes of you to finally decide to come in!"
"Fine," snapped Hermione shortly, "credo dans fatum." The portrait door swung open and Hermione entered the dark and empty common room, mumbling about stubborn Slytherins under her breath.
She was not surprised to find that Draco had already gone to bed, although she had wished that she could have apologized for the Buckbeak conversations. She sighed, hoping that he wasn't mad at her. She walked to his doorway, and silently slid the door open. From his doorway, she whispered good night to his sleeping form, and then retreated to her room for the remainder of the night.
I hope you liked the latest chapter. Please send me a review to let me know what you think!