Hermione's first few weeks back at school passed fairly smoothly. She adjusted to being in Slytherin easily, and on a whole her routine didn't change much. Apart from the fact she now lived in the dungeons and her friends were all Slytherins, her life ran pretty much the same. Her school work was still her priority and she still spent a decent portion of her free time in the library. However, unlike her previous four years she didn't go to the library alone. The Slytherins actually used the library as well and she was always accompanied by one of them.
A few weeks into the term, Hermione was in the library with Draco. The pair were working on their Defence against the Dark Arts homework, not that Hermione thought it mattered. Shackelbolt had made his feelings on Hermione clear, and just like she suspected it showed in her results. Her marks in Defence against the Dark Arts were lower than they'd ever been, and Hermione knew it was only the result of Shackelbolt not liking her.
"I'm so sick of this," Hermione muttered, slamming her book shut. "Honestly, there's no point in putting in the effort. I could hand in the perfect assignment and still get rubbish marks."
"So why bother?" Draco asked with a smirk. "Why not just breeze through his class. Our O.W.L marks are based on end of terms tests, not officiated by any of the Professors. They bring in proper adjudicators to run the practical tests, and the written tests are marked outside of Hogwarts. You can still get the marks you deserve without slaving away for that git Shackelbolt."
"That plan has merit," Hermione replied with a grin. She would never normally dream of blowing off a subject in such a way, but then again she'd never been faced with a Professor who'd hated her before.
"Of course it does, I came up with it," Draco said.
Chuckling at Draco's cockiness, which she'd come to appreciate as part of his charm, Hermione began to pack up her bag. "Come on then, let's head back to the dorms. We can rattle off the end of the homework one break time."
"That's my girl," Draco said with a wide grin. "I always knew there was a rebel inside you, Granger."
"No, you did not," Hermione laughed. "Like everyone else you bought the good girl act. You thought I was a straight-laced little muggleborn just like everyone else."
"Okay, I did," Draco conceded as he packed his own bag. "But you played the part so well."
Chuckling about how well Hermione had played the part of the good little Gryffindor, Hermione and Draco left the library and ran straight into the Weasley twins, Fred and George. Hermione hadn't seen the Weasley twins since her return to school and she was slightly nervous in front of the two seventh years. She knew the pair were not to be underestimated, and their magical abilities were far stronger than people gave them credit for. She also felt slightly guilty for lying to them for four years, as she really liked the twins.
Draco moved to step in front of Hermione, but she put a calming hand on his arm and kept him in place beside her. She didn't want a fight, and Draco moving in to protect her would only result in things taking a nasty turn. Despite the fact he looked less than impressed by her move, Draco remained at her side and made no further attempt to get in between her and the twins, although he was shooting the pair some rather dirty looks.
"Hermione," George greeted in a lifeless tone that gave nothing of what he was feeling away.
"Hello boys," Hermione replied. "How are you?"
"We're just great," Fred answered, a clear bite to his voice. "Not only is there a dark wizard back threatening the wizarding world, but someone we trusted lied to us."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, genuinely meaning it. "I was just looking out for myself. It wasn't as if I could have come to school as myself from the beginning. Without my father around to protect me, I would have been in serious trouble."
"We heard about your protection," George said.
"I bet your Weasel of a brother couldn't wait to share the news," Draco sneered. "And did he mention that he and Potter attacked her without provocation? She was unarmed. What sort of wizards try to hex an unarmed witch?"
"Harry and Ron can act rashly at times," Fred remarked, choosing not to rise to Draco's taunts about his brother.
"Do it again, and they'll regret it," Draco said.
"Draco, stop it," Hermione ordered sternly. "Fred and George aren't Ron. I'm sure neither of them plan on attacking me."
"We don't," George confirmed. "You won't have any problems from us as long as you stay away from our family. We're hoping you're still the same girl we know, Hermione. If you are, there'll be no problems between us."
"We're not friends any longer, but we don't want to be your enemies either," Fred continued.
"I don't want to be enemies with any of you," Hermione said. She knew the day would come when her father would inevitably make a play for power, and that would align her against her former friends, but she also knew that day wouldn't be until she'd left school. Voldemort had already told her that she was more important than anything, and he wasn't going to do anything that would risk her safety while she was still at Hogwarts.
"In that case, we'll go our separate ways and there'll be no trouble from us," George said. "Goodbye, Hermione."
"Goodbye boys," Hermione replied with a sad smile.
As the twins turned to head off to their common room, Hermione took hold of Draco's arm and led the blond boy away from the two redheads. They'd barely turned the corner before Draco stopped her and started questioning her about the way she'd dealt with Fred and George.
"I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble," Hermione explained. "My father may have protection spells on me, but they only protect against curses and hexes cast by a wand. There are still other ways I could be in danger, and I don't want more enemies than I've already got."
"And what happens when your father's ready to act?" Draco questioned. "Sure he's lying low at the moment as he's gathering his forces, but what happens when he's got enough Death Eaters to be a serious threat? Even without doing anything, you'll have people out to get you."
"I'll deal with that when it happens," Hermione replied with a shrug. "Although by then I'll have left school, so things will be different. Besides, it's not as if I'm entirely useless. I'm more than capable of holding my own in a fight."
"I know you are," Draco replied with a chuckle as he thought back on the times he'd clashed with Hermione and the other Gryffindors. He'd never really worried about Potter and Weasley when they'd clashed, it had always been Hermione he'd watched out for as she had much better control of her magic than the dopey Gryffindor duo.
"So stop worrying, and let's forget about other people," Hermione instructed as she slipped her arm thought Draco's and the pair carried on back down to the dungeons.
As the pair headed back to their friends, they were unaware that their entire conversation had been overheard by Pansy. She'd been on the way to the library when she'd witnessed the scene between Hermione and the Weasley twins. Rather than reveal to Hermione she'd been spying on her, she'd remained hidden in an alcove when her and Draco approached. She hadn't expected the pair to stop and hold a conversation right in front of her, but she was glad they had. Now she knew that Hermione wasn't as safe as everyone thought. She would just have to find a way to hurt her that didn't included hexes and curses.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Even though Hermione had never been a fan of quidditch, she found herself agreeing to watch the Slytherin team practice. Draco, Vince and Greg were all on the team, and although Blaise and Theo had tried out for the team and didn't make it, they harboured no ill will towards the captain, Adrian Pucey. In fact they just brushed the entire incident off and announced they'd make the team the following year when a few of the players had departed.
Even though the practice itself wasn't overly interesting to Hermione, she was still enjoying herself hanging out with Blaise, Theo and Daphne. Pansy had refused their offer to join them, while Millicent and Tracey had opted out to finish some homework they were behind on.
"I can't wait until we're on the team next year," Theo enthused as they watched Adrian put the team through their paces.
"And what if you're not?" Daphne asked. "There's no guarantee's."
"I don't know, I would say we stood a good chance," Blaise replied. "Out of the four positions not occupied by our friends, three are in their last year. And I'd dare like to bet that Draco gets the captaincy next year. Come next year, he's the most senior player on that team."
"You really think Draco will be made captain?" Hermione asked. She actually thought Draco would make quite a good captain, but she couldn't see Dumbledore allowing it.
"Why not? He's the best we've got," Theo replied. "To be honest, I'm rather surprised Adrian got the position this year rather than Draco."
"Seniority," Blaise supplied. "Adrian's been on the team longer than Draco."
"But do you really think Dumbledore will let Draco be captain?" Hermione asked. "I mean, he wouldn't let him be a prefect."
"But Dumbledore doesn't choose the quidditch captains," Blaise replied with a grin. "The head of house picks the quidditch captain."
"And let's be honest, as quidditch captain it's not like Draco will have any power over anyone but the players on his team," Theo added. "It's not like being a prefect where he could have abused his power."
"You mean, like you do?" Daphne asked with a cheeky smirk.
"I do not abuse my powers," Theo huffed.
"You docked five points from a Gryffindor first year last week just for looking at you funny," Blaise argued.
"I docked the points because his shirt was untucked and his laces were untied," Theo argued. "He was a mess."
"If you can dock points for untidiness, you could have a field day with Weasley," Blaise laughed. "He always looks as though he's being wrestling with a troll."
"I thought he was the troll," Theo joked.
As the usual jokes about the Gryffindors began to flow, Hermione turned her attention back to the quidditch practice. It wasn't that she was bothered by the fact her new friends made fun of the Gryffindors, after all the Gryffindors did exactly the same thing in regards to the Slytherins, she was just distracted by Draco whizzing by at a startling speed.
"Impressive, isn't he?" Daphne remarked, noticing where Hermione's attention was focused.
"He's not bad," Hermione replied with a causal shrug of her shoulders.
"Not bad?" Daphne laughed. "Draco's one of my best friends, and I have no romantic feelings for him whatsoever, but even I fancy him slightly when he's playing quidditch. Let's be honest, the boy is hot in his uniform."
"I thought you were talking about his flying skills," Hermione replied with a laugh. "I agree, he's hot in his uniform."
"Please, his flying skills are impressive as well," Daphne snorted. "Apart from Potter, he can beat every other seeker hands down. And he could probably defeat Potter if he focused more on the snitch and less on the competition."
"I guess things are always a bit more personal when Gryffindor and Slytherin play each other," Hermione said. "There's such fierce rivalry between the two houses."
"And it's only going to get worse this year," Daphne predicted. "Mark my words, things are going to get heated following your deflection."
Hermione spent the rest of practice, wondering if Daphne was right concerning the rivalry between the two houses. By the time practice was finished and they headed down to the changing rooms to wait for Draco, Vince and Greg, Hermione had decided she was probably right. Most of the Gryffindors were still bitter about her switch of houses, and would probably love to see nothing more than Slytherin be flattened when they played one another. Plus, things had always been bad between Harry and Draco and her recent move won't have helped improve matters any.
Less than five minutes after they arrived at the waiting rooms the door opened and the captain emerged. Briefly nodding at Blaise and Theo, Adrian made a bee-line for Hermione. Adrian was one of the Slytherins who'd gone out of his way to welcome Hermione to her new house and he never passed on an opportunity to say hello.
"Did you enjoy watching practice?" he asked with a warm smile.
"I did," Hermione replied. "Although, you're a hard taskmaster."
"You've got to train the team hard if you want to win," Adrian replied. "Do you think we'll win?"
"I hope so," Hermione answered. "I'm used to supporting a winning team."
"You actually supported Gryffindor?" Adrian snorted in amusement.
"Of course not," Hermione said. "I supported Slytherin, and on a whole they won. Well, apart from when they came up against Gryffindor. I hope you can regain the cup this year."
"I'll do my very best," Adrian vowed. "And with you supporting us, how can we fail?"
Hermione was so caught up with chatting to Adrian she failed to notice when Draco, Vince and Greg emerged from the changing rooms. However, Draco noticed her the instant he emerged from the changing rooms and found her laughing and flirting with his captain.
"What's Adrian doing?" he hissed to Blaise and Theo, who were watching events with an interested smirk.
"I would say he's flirting with Hermione," Blaise answered as they heard Adrian offer to take Hermione for a fly sometime.
"You better act quick mate, or else you'll lose your chance with her," Theo said. "If you're not careful someone like Adrian will come along and sweep Hermione off her feet."
"She wouldn't fall for someone like Adrian," Draco snorted, before turning to Daphne and looking at her in concern. "Would she?"
"Possibly," Daphne replied with a shrug. "Adrian's pretty cute."
"Cute?" Draco scoffed. "I can do better than cute."
"Yes, you can," Daphne agreed. "But Adrian has got one advantage over you."
"What?" Draco demanded.
"He's initiated romantic contact," Daphne answered. "Just look at him, it's very clear he's openly flirting with Hermione. She'll know he likes her, but does she know you do, Draco? She probably think you just view her as a friend? Unless of course, you do just think of her as a friend."
"Of course he doesn't," Theo chuckled. "It was obvious from the moment we were properly introduced to her that Draco fancied her."
"Then if I was you, I would do something about it," Daphne advised, giving Draco a quick smile. "Let Hermione know how you feel before someone else gets there first and she starts seeing someone else."
Draco didn't have a chance to respond to Daphne's advice as Hermione said goodbye to Adrian and re-joined the group. Luckily, no-one mentioned the conversation they'd just had as they headed back to the castle together. However, it continued to play around in Draco's mind and by the time he went to bed that evening he'd decided he would ask Hermione out.