Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, I would also be sitting in Edinburgh, Scotland in a vat of money.

A/N: Hallo everyone. Thanks to those who reviewed the first two chapters. Really, really sorry it took me sooo long to update; I've been planning, you see. Not to mention summer school got in my way. Must prop mah buddy Sarra for helping me edit the stories. She's starting today so don't blame her for the madness in the first two chapters. Cheers.

Chapter Three

After Arielle left, Draco grudgingly made his way down to the compartment he usually shared with Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy. He actually detested the lot of them, but remained associated with them out of habit. Not to mention that he was worried about what Lucius would do if he so suddenly distanced himself from them. Not that he would stay there for long; he just had to make a quick appearance and he'd be off.

'Oh, Draco!' Pansy shrieked when he entered. She threw her arms around his neck, nearly strangling him. 'I've missed you so much since...well, since the last time we—err—saw each other,' she said, flashing her own deformed version of a flirtatious smile.

The truth was that since Draco had made the fatal decision of taking Pansy to the Yule ball in their fourth year, she'd hung onto Draco with something that couldn't be described as anything short of a death grip. Much to Draco's despair, she had come to the conclusion that they were 'unofficially' going out. Draco had tried to shove her off with his usual insulting and threatening behavior, but she was completely immune to everything he threw at her. He often gave up and allowed her to fawn over him.

As for the last time they 'saw each other,' she had snuck into his room after one of the parties Lucius held for his Death Eater friends. She had taken a Polyjuice potion and Draco had unknowingly responded to the then beautiful girl's advances. The second the potion wore off, Draco was so angry that he accidentally set his bed on fire, chasing her out of the room.

Stupid po-faced whore, Draco thought, fighting the desire to throw her out the train's window.

'Yeah, me too. Crabbe. Goyle,' he said nodding in their direction. Crabbe blinked stupidly while Goyle grunted, staring at the floor. Draco rolled his eyes. He'd expected as much from them. They had actually become stupider since fifth year. In fact, their intelligence had been steadily decreasing since they had been born.

The four of them sat quietly for a minute. Pansy was staring at Draco as he did his best not to hurt her. This is ridiculous, he thought. Get me the hell out of here.

'I have a present for you, Draco,' Pansy said, ending the silence.

I think I liked it better when it was quiet, Draco thought testily. 'Oh really.'

'Mm-hmm.' Pansy licked her lips. 'And it's right here,' she whispered as she lifted his hand on to her breast. She leaned forward to kiss him.

'Well, I'm off,' Draco declared prying Pansy off. He made for the door, but Pansy blocked his path.

'Wait!' she squealed, grabbing his hand. 'Where are you going? Wouldn't you like to stay with us?' She fluttered her mascara-caked eyelashes. Neither wizard nor muggle makeup could do anything to hide that face, Draco thought again.

'You know I'd love to,' Draco said with the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. Pansy didn't hear it and pulled him closer.

'Then stay,' she said, tracing her finger along his jawline. Draco shivered with anger. 'Where would you be going anyway?'

'One,' he said putting his face even closer to hers, 'No, I will not stay.' Pansy pouted a bit, making her face even more revolting. 'Two, where I'm going is none of your bloody business. And three,' he said ripping her hand off his arm, 'stay the fuck off me.' Pansy whimpered and sat down. He rolled his eyes at how pathetic she looked. 'If you must know, I'm going to the Heads' Cabin.' She looked at him questioningly. Merlin, how stupid can you get? 'Because I'm Head Boy,' he finished for her.

'Oh Drakie, that's wonderful!!!' she said, reaching for him. Draco gave her a cold glare and she recoiled immediately. Draco snorted. He could have just left her there, but he chose not to. Why not mess with her head a little?

'I wonder who the Head Girl is... I get to share a dorm with her you know.' Pansy's jaw dropped and her eyes flashed with anger. Draco had to work to suppress a laugh. Before Pansy could say anything Draco said bye and glided out of the room.

Idiot girl, he thought laughing to himself. Seriously, what type of person stays around even after years of being treated like shit?

As he made his way to the front of the train, he saw Potter and Weasley sitting in a compartment with Arielle. Golden boy had already pulled her over to his side. It was bound to happen, her being in Gryffindor and all. Damn that idiot Scarhead. It was his fault that Lucius had been arrested, not that that bothered him, but what happened to his mother—no. Draco shook his head. Now was not the time to allow his mother's memory distract him. He saw the Heads compartment up ahead. Who was Head Girl anyway? Probably some Ravenclaw. Patil or someone. As long as it was not the Mudblood—Lucius would be even more on his case if that were the situation. But dormitory sharing; Draco smiled wickedly, imagining the possibilities. He was sure he'd have all sorts of fun sharing living space with this girl, no matter who she was, for a year.

Draco reached the cabin and looked inside. He saw a girl with long wavy brown hair. It was very thick and the girl was running her hand over it incessantly. From where he was standing she looked like a good candidate for Head Girl. Well, at least for his purposes. He opened the door and she turned around. His eyes narrowed and a low growl escaped his lips.

'Granger.'

Hermione heard the glass door slide open and turned around slowly. She knew that whoever walked through the door would be her roommate and partner throughout the year: The Head Boy. A bitter taste washed through her mouth when she saw who it was.
'Granger,' he growled. Hermione narrowed her own eyes at his tone. The stupid little prat had no reason to be growling at her. If anyone should be growling, it should be her, what with all the crap he'd put her through the last 6 years.

'Yes?' she asked softly staring at him poisonously. This year I will not let him get the best of me, she thought. I will not put up with all the rubbish he spews about Harry, Ron, and me.

'You're Head Girl?' he asked, wearing his notorious sneer.

Hermione snorted at the question. 'No, Malfoy. I just felt like sitting in the heads' carriage and wearing this Head Girl's badge.'

'Then leave, you stupid Mudblood,' he scowled angrily.

Hermione rolled her eyes and ignored him. WHY??? What on earth could have possessed Dumbledore to make the Slytherin Prince, the person whose father had attempted to sack Dumbledore on various occasions, the person whose father was an escaped Death Eater, Head Boy?! He's such a-a—ooh how I'd like to throttle the little prat!

'So what now, Mudblood?' Draco asked again, sitting down and putting his feet up.

'So now we wait for instructions, Malfoy. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me Mudblood. We are going to be spending loads of time together this year, so it'd be good if we were decent to each other.' Draco laughed horribly at her suggestion.

'Decent? Ha! In your dreams, Mudblood,' he said letting the word Mudblood drip with venom. He smirked at her then slouched down and closed his eyes. Hermione shook her head disdainfully. Damn the stupid ferret, she thought. He's going to make this year an absolute hell for me.

Hermione sat back for a moment just looking at Malfoy. He looked a lot less menacing now that his eyes were closed. He had certainly grown up since their first year. Sadly, only in body and not in mind. She could see that he was still as simple and prejudiced as ever.

Hermione looked once more at his softened features. Is he really all that bad? she wondered.

'Like what you see, Granger?' he asked opening one eye and smirking at the shocked expression on her face.

'W-What are you talking about, Malfoy?' she asked turning away quickly. Yes, yes, yes, he is that bad.

'You were staring at me and it was rather obvious what you were thinking,' he said. Sneering he continued, 'Too bad for you, I don't fuck Mudbloods.'

Hermione's jaw dropped and she struggled to find a comeback to such a comment. Then she smiled and said, 'Yeah, it's also too bad that interspecies relationships are banned in Britain, ferret.' Draco glowered at her and stood to approach her. Hermione felt a lump forming in her throat but outwardly, remained calm.

'Ahem.' Draco jumped away from Hermione when they heard the voice from inside the cabin. Hermione's eyes darted around the room and rested on a golden-framed mirror. Inside the frame, they saw the silhouette of a person moving around inside. The mirror cleared and they saw that the person was in fact Professor McGonagall.

'Oh, this mirror must be-'

'Cut the lecture, Granger,' Malfoy hissed. Hermione scowled.

'Good Morning, Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy.'

They murmured a quick 'Good Morning, Professor McGonagall,' looking rather sullen.

'I trust you've both had an enjoyable summer, but you are in your final and most important year at Hogwarts. Luckily for the both of you, your duties at school are even greater than the others in your year. Make sure to work quickly and diligently, so that you don't become swamped,' the two of them nodded respectfully.

'Now then, as for those duties, you will be taking turns monitoring the halls at night. You will sometimes be accompanied by a prefect, but more often than not, you will be alone. Make sure to take care during these dark times.' Hermione glared at Draco, but he pretended not to notice. 'I have left the full schedule on the table in your common room. You will also be planning school events such as the Hallowe'en Feast and Dance as well as the Yule Ball.

'Your common room is located on the sixth floor behind the portrait of the Four Founders. The password is Lignum Vitae. You will also create personal passwords for your bedrooms.' Hermione sighed, Thank Merlin for that. She frowned suddenly thinking, But sharing a common room will still be hell.

'Well, that should be all,' McGonagall said adjusting her glasses. 'And, please, do your absolute best to get along. We can't have our Heads bickering at all hours of the day.'

Hermione and Malfoy nodded and muttered a 'Yes, Professor,' glaring at each other.

'I will see you both after the feast; there's going to be a short meeting with the prefects at that time. Good day.' The Professor disappeared in a swirl of dark fog.

'I'm not looking to land myself in a shit load of trouble this year, Granger, so if you stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours,' Malfoy said picking at his neatly groomed nails.

Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Whatever, Malfoy.' She heard him murmur a couple curses under his breath. 'What was that, Malfoy?'

'What was what, Granger?'

She frowned at him then turned away to look out the window.

'Swotty bucktoothed bitch,' she heard him mumble under his breath.

'Would you stop?!'

'Stop what??'

'Stop that!'

'I'm not doing anything, you stupid Mudblood!'

It was going to be a long year.

A/N: yes, they are supposed to be that childish. If you have any questions about what some of the mad Brit words mean, comment/review and ill respond.