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Chapter 3: Malfoy's Triumph
Eagerly, Hermione glanced around, taking in a heavy draught of her animated surroundings. Her senses were flooded with exotic smells, lively colours, vociferous voices-all of which were merely a commonplace for Diagon Alley. If there was anywhere that Hermione loved just as much as Hogwarts, it was here.
Habitually, she glanced down at her watch. They're late. Typical. She mused, still smiling. Right on cue, Harry and Ron became visible, pushing their way through the busy crowd.
"Mione!" they called cheerfully. She waved in return, beaming at the sight of them. Although they'd written often, she hadn't seen them since the end of term. As soon as they wee within reach, she jumped up and threw her arms around each of them in turn. But as she let go of Ron, she noticed that his ears were rather pink, and do were her cheeks. Feeling slightly awkward, she regained her composure and sat back down.
" It's great to see you both! What've you been up to?" she asked, once they'd all seated themselves around one of Florean Fortescue's tables.
"Oh, nothing much, mainly Quidditch practise. Have you finished that essay of Snape's? It took Harry and I nearly four hours, it was like the exam all over again!" Ron replied, shuddering at the memory of it.
"Oh, that… I finished it ages ago. I hope I wrote enough about the sleeping draught, my method was only three paragraphs..." she trailed off, noticing the frightened looks on both Harry's and Ron's faces.
"Three!" they gasped in unison.
"Oh, I knew it! I should've done more! Now I'm going to have to do it all again!" she wailed, throwing her hands up in the air.
"Hermione, we barely wrote one! How can you possibly worry? When have you ever not written enough?" Ron retorted exasperatedly. Hermione turned puce.
"Speaking of which, why aren't you wearing your Head Girl badge?" Harry asked, smirking at her. There wasn't a single doubt that she hadn't earned the position.
"Why aren't you wearing yours?" she retorted, realising too late her mistake.
"Because I'm not Head Boy." Harry answered flatly. "And neither is Ron."
Hermione gaped at them in astonishment. Who was it then? She was sure that it would've been Harry, or if not, Ron. This revelation had turned her stomach upside down. It meant that she would be paired with someone unfamiliar, and potentially hostile, for the rest of the year.
Sensing the awkward silence, Hermione stood up and announced,
"We'd better hurry up, we've got so much to buy this year. Did you see the size of the booklists?" And with that, they set off down the crowded street.
After a visit to Madam Malkin's, the Apothecary, Eelop's Owl Emporium and Quality Quidditch Supplies, they headed for their final stop, Flourish and Blott's. All three were chatting happily as they entered, but were rudely shocked out of their euphoria when they came face to face with their arch nemesis.
Draco Malfoy was standing by the doorway, with Pansy Parkinson clutching his hand in such a way that it was a mystery as to how his fingers hadn't dropped off yet.
"Well, well, well. Potter, the Mudblood and the Weasel. Fancy seeing you here." He sneered, adding another volume to a large stack of books nearby. He whipped out his wand, and Harry and Ron did the same.
But instead of mounting an attack of some kind, he merely began to levitate his book pile towards the counter.
"C'mon Pansy, if we stay here any longer we might catch something from them." He drawled, while Harry and Ron tucked their wands away embarrassedly.
As he strutted away he turned back and faced Hermione.
"Oh, and Granger, you're not Head Girl, are you?"
Hermione flushed crimson.
"What's it to you, Malfoy?" she replied, her temper rising.
"I was just wondering if I should buy this book," he answered smugly, as he levitated a brightly coloured paperback towards her. She snatched it out of the air and read the title aloud "Non-Verbal Curses and Jinxes For Enemies: They'll Never Know What Hit Them! But what does that have to do with whether I'm Head Girl or not?" she snapped, the anger rising in her throat.
"Perfect for when we're on patrols together, don't you agree?"
Hermione boiled over.
"WHAT!" she shrieked at him, causing the rest of the store to turn and stare. "YOU? HEAD BOY?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I thought you could read, Granger." He drawled, unaffected by her outburst, as he motioned towards two shiny badges on his chest. "Head Boy and Slytherin Quidditch captain."
Hermione couldn't take it any more. She whipped out her wand.
"I'll show you what you can do with that book, Malfoy!" she screamed.
Suddenly the book whizzed towards Malfoy and out of sight. Before anyone really knew what was going on, Malfoy yelped in pain and fled from the store, the book beating him about the head as he did so.
"Are you alright, Sweetheart?" Hermione's father called as he knocked on her bedroom door. "Can I come in?"
"No, I'm alright. But I'd just like to be alone, thanks." She replied between sobs.
Discovering that Malfoy was Head Boy had destroyed her. She'd imagined her final year to be one of happiness, enjoyment and responsibility, but now the prospects were of a constant living hell. Malfoy was determined to do everything in his power to ruin it for her. How could Dumbledore do this? He knows that Malfoy will abuse the position!
Feeling utterly miserable, Hermione lay down on her bed and wept.
Author's note: Thankyou so much to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it. Please give me your opinions on this. I welcome criticism, as long as it is constructive. And also, If you are reading this and know of/have written some good HGDMs please tell me so because I'll add them to my C2. (If you don't mind, of course!) Thanks again!