A/N Thanks again, reviewers. I really appreciate your comments. The stuff keeps my juice flowing! And to clear up any confusion you might have--just keep that first chapter tucked in your mind. It's relevance will be revealed later on in the book.
Disclaimer: Not mine, again.
He glared at the common room as he plopped into a plushy green couch, watching carelessly as Pansy sidled up to him.
"Draco." Her thin, snake-like, lips curled into a half smile as she approached him. "Long summer, wasn't it?"
"Not long enough." Draco leaned his head back, focusing his eyes on the ceiling. He'd never noticed how intricately the snake on the ceiling was carved. He couldn't believe how tedious Hogwarts had become. It had always been monotonous, with Dumbledore as Headmaster, but this last year seemed like a stake through the heart. The only thing he looked forward to was being away from his father.
"Draco? Did you hear a word I just said?" Pansy was poking his shoulder, right on the pressure point.
"Ouch! No. Sorry." Draco winced. Of course, he wasn't really sorry. It was hard to feel sorry for a girl you couldn't stand. To be honest, he only tolerated Pansy because their families were close and he had to see her all the time. Even in summer. Pansy let out a frustrated sigh and sauntered off, finished with her half-assed quest to gain Draco's attention. Draco kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, groaning. This was going to be a long year. He'd have to find a way to entertain himself.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Hermione smiled at the warmth in Harry's voice as he placed a hand upon her shoulder. She set her trunk down at the foot of the stairs going to the girl's dormitory.
"I'm fine, Harry. Really." She nodded at him and made a move to grab her trunk once again.
"Let me." Hermione raised her eyebrows at him, surprised at his sudden change in behavior. "Seriously, Hermione. I feel really bad about earlier. Forgive me?" Hermione sighed.
"Of course I forgive you, Harry. Or, at least, I will. If you help me up these stairs." Hermione flashed him a cheeky grin and began her trek up the stairs, Harry dragging two trunks up behind her.
"Look, Hermione," Harry cleared his throat as he set Hermione's trunks by her bed. "I think someone needs to speak for Ron."
"And why can't he speak for himself?" Hermione cocked her head and frowned.
"Because he can't seem to speak a word to you without messing it up."
"What?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Harry cracked a half-crooked smile. "Ron fancies you." Hermione sat down on her bed, resting her chin in her palms.
"Don't tell me that, Harry."
"You don't feel the same way, do you?" Harry's face fell in sympathy for his best friend.
"No. I just want Ron to go back to thinking I have cooties so the three of us can be what we once were. Our friendship is simple. Uncomplicated. I don't even want to-"
"Just tell him that." Harry interrupted. "Ron cares about you. Sure, he's going to be his stubborn self and get a bit upset, but in the end, he'll get over it."
"You think?" Hermione raised her eyes to Harry's, smiling.
"I do." Harry nodded and turned to go.
"Thanks, Harry. Good night."
"Good night." Harry said, before exiting the room.
Hermione let out a breathy sigh and opened her trunk. She changed into her pajamas, slid the trunks underneath her four poster, and snuggled into the warm sheets.
Draco awoke early Sunday morning. "Sunday" kept reverberating through his mind like a drum. The last day before classes began and his mind would be numbed for an entire semester. He couldn't wait for this big waste of time to end. Draco could feel his stomach rumbling, but the Great Hall wouldn't be open for breakfast for at least an hour. Rather than wasting his time in the common room, he figured it would be better to wander the halls aimlessly.
Draco roamed, this castle seeming to creak in disdain at the early hours. He rather liked the morning. It was quiet. There was no one to bother him and he usually found himself in the highest spirits at these times. It was just that Draco was finding himself in a delightfully pleasant mood, that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley rounded the corner. Wonderful. His favorite people.
"Hello, Potter. And Weasel." Draco spat. He couldn't help himself. His contempt for the two boys no directly in front of him even rivaled his hatred of his father.
"Malfoy." Ronl said his last name like it was a curse word. Draco found it incredibly offensive.
"Piss off. I don't want to waste any energy on you two."
"Oh really, Malfoy?" Harry stepped forward, glaring.
"Stop acting so high and mighty. So fucking pretentious. Just because mummy and daddy left you here to rot, Potter."
"Don't ever talk about my parents that way." Harry waved his wand in Draco's face.
"Besides, Malfoy. I hear your mom has gone mental and is in a home. Couldn't put up with you, could she?" Ron grinned, proud of his comeback. Draco felt fury rising up inside of him. Before he knew it, his fist was balled up and had hit Ron, smack in the middle of the face. Ron tumbled backwards. Harry jumped forward and tackled Draco to the ground.
"Fuck off, Potter." Draco clambered to his feet and raised his fist to strike at Harry.
"Wait one minute, young man." Draco turned, mouth formed into a rather stunned 'o'. Dumbledore was standing in the hallway, his mouth twisted angrily. He flashed a disappointed look at Harry and Ron. "You three," he pointed to each of them in disgust. "Follow me." The three boys followed him in silence, save for Draco mouth "Fucker" every time he caught Ron or Harry's eye.
"Fighting is discouraged at Hogwarts, as you know." Dumbledore peered down at them over his glasses. "I expect better from all three you. A bad way to start off the year," Dumbledore removed his glasses and shone them on the sleeve of his robes, sighing. "I'm going to have to punish you all. First off, 200 points from each of your houses will be docked immediately. And I'd like you all to do a little…character building."
"Character building? My father will-" Dumbledore held up a hand to silence Draco.
"Harry, for the next two weeks, you will be banned from Quidditch-"
"But professor-" Harry spoke for the first time Dumbledore had interrupted the argument.
"I'd like you to use your excess time helping to clean the field. You know what a mess it can be." Dumbledore smiled apologetically.
"Ronald, I think you'll be excited to know that you will be helping Professor McGonagall by assisting her as her TA. I'm sure she'll appreciate the assistance in the coming two weeks." Ron frowned, but didn't dare say anything.
"And Draco," Dumbledore turned his head to him. "Your grades are quite high, though your common sense doesn't seem to match," he frowned for a second, shaking his head. "I've found an experience that I think suits you quite well. You'll be helping the prefects with their after classes peer tutoring sessions over the next two weeks." Draco's jaw dropped.
"Tutoring?" He said bitingly.
"Yes. Tutoring." Dumbledore's tone let them all know that the conversation was over, no arguments.
Hermione dressed slowly in the morning, still unfamiliar to the harsh sounds of the alarm clock by her bed. Summer had been a time for rest and she'd become accustomed to sleeping until she was good and ready to wake up. She started with underwear--plain, white, cotton bra and panties as usual, then slipped on her gray skirt (she noticed it was getting small--she'd need a new one soon enough), and buttoned up her white collared shirt. Then came the grey vest, knee socks, and Mary-Janes. Finally, on top of all this, she put on her robes. They were much shorter than last year, a few inches above her ankles. She smiled--at least this meant she had grown. Just as Hermione was about to leave the dormitory and get her breakfast, she was stopped by the shrill voice of Parvati Patil.
"Hermione? Did you hear?" Parvati was twirling one plait between her long, skinny fingers.
"Hear what?"
"Ron and Harry, they got into a fight with Malfoy!"
"What?" Hermione sighed. It was only the first day of school.
"They're in loads of trouble with Dumbledore, I hear." Hermione groaned and ran out the dormitory door. Harry and Ron weren't in the common room and when she yelled up into their dormitory, no one answered. They had to be at breakfast.
Hermione dashed into the Great Hall. "Harry! Ron!" She gasped as she found the two.
"Hermione, you'll never guess what happened-" Ron started to say. Hermione noticed with pity that his nose was red and puffy.
"You got into a fight with Malfoy? Parvati told me."
"Well that ruins the surprise." Ron frowned and playfully punched his fist into the table.
"Surprise? It's not like something to be proud of!" She scolded.
"Just look at him. We won, no questions." Harry pointed over to Malfoy and his group of friends. Hermione slid her eyes over to them, focusing in on Malfoy's face. Sure enough, his light complexion was marred by a bruise on his right cheek and his lip seemed to stitched from a cut. Just as she was about to turn to the boys and admit their victory, Malfoy's silver eyes met hers. They stayed, locked in this gaze, for what seemed hours. In reality it was only a few seconds…but it stretched on. Hermione turned her eyes back to Ron and Harry.
"Good job, I guess." Hermione turned back to look at Malfoy, surprised to see that his eyes had never moved from their aforementioned gaze.
Spooky.