Another chapter finished! Whew! Enjoy!
Thanks again to Daunting Darkness, who has stuck with me so far as my only reviewer. Lots o' hugs!!
September, part 3Once Hermione had organized her room to her satisfaction, she decided to go visit her friends in Gryffindor tower before doing her rounds. She bounded down the stairs to the common room and barreled out the door, not noticing the blond Slytherin sitting on the couch.
"Geez, Granger, where's the fire?" he muttered to himself. Turning back to his book, he found that he had lost his concentration. He closed the book with a sigh and looked pensively into the flames burning brightly in the fireplace. It was good to be back at Hogwarts, he thought. It had been a difficult summer. Lucius had been most insistent that Draco would join the Death Eaters and take the Dark Mark as soon as he was of age. His birthday had been that August, but luckily his father had been too busy with the Death Eaters to notice. Draco helped by staying out of his sight whenever his father was home. His father had always been a hard man, but since his time in Azkaban, he had gotten worse. He was never physically abusive, but Draco believed it wouldn't take much to push him to violence.
Draco wasn't sure if he wanted to take the Mark. He couldn't understand his father – he hated muggles, muggleborns and half-bloods with every fiber of his being, yet he continued to abase himself to Voldemort, a half-blood himself. It was so...hypocritical!
Sighing, Draco got up to go get his broom, thinking that a bit of flying might help him shake off his mood. Just then, a knock at the portrait sounded. Opening the door, he found several of his Slytherin "friends" wanting to check out his new place. Shrugging, he let Pansy, Millicent, Crabbe, Goyle and Blaise Zabini in. They would do almost as well to help him get his mind off of things.
Hermione walked into Gryffindor tower to find her friends all sitting around the fireplace with the new DADA professor, howling with laughter as Hannah told them what appeared to be an embarrassing story about Ron, by the looks of his bright red face.
"So," gasped Hannah, laughing so hard she was having trouble finishing the story, "Ron comes bouncing down the stairs, lands on his rear right in front of his mother, looks up at her and says, ever so casually, 'Hi mum. What's for breakfast?'" At this, another volley of laughter sprung up from the listeners, and Ron slumped down in his seat with his hand over his face. Eventually, though, he started to see the humor and began laughing along with everyone else.
Dean looked up and noticed Hermione standing just inside the door. "Hermione! How are the Head dorms?"
Ron sprang up and ran over to Hermione. He grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the couch where his cousin sat. "Hannah, here is my other best friend, Hermione Granger. She's the smartest witch of her age, and is usually the one that gets us out of the troubles we manage to get ourselves into."
"She's also the brains of our group," added Harry. "I don't know what we'd do without her!"
"Probably fail all of your classes, so you can stop sucking up to me now," retorted Hermione, although she had turned rather pink at the praise her friends had given her. "It's great to meet you, Professor. I look forward to your class."
"Thanks, Hermione, it's great to meet you too. Here, have a seat." Hannah scooted over on the couch so the younger girl could squeeze in. "We were just reminiscing about Ron and Ginny and their exploits when they were younger. Now, I believe that we've embarrassed Ron enough. Shall I now tell you about Ginny's exhibitionist phase? She was only about 5 when she..."
Hannah was interrupted by a shriek from Ginny, who flung a pillow at her cousin's head. Hannah laughed along with the others, then looked at her watch. "Oh dear. Look at the time. I'd better be heading back to my rooms if I want to get any sleep tonight, and I still have a ton of things to do! Have a good night, all. See you in DADA class!" She waved goodbye to everyone as she exited the common room.
"She seems really nice," noted Hermione to Ginny.
"Oh, she's the best, but she IS rather fond of those stories. I wonder if we could Obliviate them from her mind?" Ginny wondered.
"Are you kidding?" laughed Seamus. "I've never seen Ron turn so red. I can't wait to hear more from her!"
"Ok, kids, let's get right down to it," announced Lavender, who had retrieved a piece of parchment from the common room bulletin board. "Here is the notice for the singing competition. Who's going to audition?"
Hermione leaned over Ginny's shoulder to read the bulletin:
Can you sing?
Do you like performing for crowds?
Do you want to win 500 Galleons?
Then sign up for the
Hogwarts Singing Competition
(Fourth years and older only please)
The theme for the competition will be Muggle music,
Therfore only Muggle songs will be allowed.
Voting will be done by you, the students.
First Prize: 500 Galleons and 200 House Points
Second Prize: 250 Galleons and 100 House Points
Third Prize: 100 Galleons and 50 House Points
Auditions will be held on October 1, 2 and 3
There will no balls this year, as there will be parties held after every competition. The exception to this will be the Graduation Ball, where the winner will be revealed.
Good Luck!
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster
"Muggle music? What if we're not familiar with it?" Neville asked.
"Come on, Neville, even the WWN plays Muggle music. There aren't many people that haven't been exposed to it." Pavarti said. "I'm definitely auditioning. Anyone else?"
In the end, Neville, Dean, Lavender and Colin Creevey decided they would join Parvati in the auditions. Harry and Ron both declined, laughing that they were tone deaf and didn't want to do anyone an injury. Seamus claimed that all he could sing were Irish ditties, and that he didn't think that's what the judges would be looking for. Hermione sat silent through all of this.
"Hermione? Will you audition?" Ginny asked her. "Come on, it will be fun!" The seventh year shook her head. "I don't think so, Ginny. I don't think I can sing. What about you?"
"Of course you can! I've heard you singing to yourself before. You have a lovely voice. You have to do it!" Ginny persisted. "I think I will too, I just have to think about it a bit more."
"Translation: she has to check with James first." Ron piped up. He looked critically at his sister. "Gin, you can do so much better than James Sinclair. Listen to you. You don't need his permission," his voice tinged with disgust.
"I know, I just wanted to see if he'll audition too," Ginny replied defensively. "I don't need anyone's permission. Now, will you do it, Hermione? I'd love to see you up on stage singing."
"We'll see. Now, I have to get ready to do my rounds."
"How's the git? Did he give you any trouble?" Ron asked casually.
"No, he didn't, come to think of it. He was almost civil," replied Hermione thoughtfully. She shook herself and then got up to go. "Talk to you all tomorrow. Good night!"
On the way back to her rooms, Hermione thought about it. Malfoy WAS almost civil to her. Not once did he call her a mudblood. The password he suggested earlier almost seemed like his way of making a joke. 'He must be tired or something' she reasoned. 'No way is he going soft on us.' With that, she put him out of her mind.
Ok, I'm getting worried that A) no one is reading this, or B) people are reading this but don't like it enough to even flame me about it.
Seriously, I'm not above begging. Let me know what you think!
Don't make me use the Imperious curse on you. It wouldn't be pretty!