Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. School really killed me this past week. Thank you so much for the reviews! They completely made my day. Well here's the next chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Draco sat down at the Slytherin table with Pansy hanging on him. Pushing her off he turned to look around the Great Hall. His gaze landed on a head of brown curls. For a moment he just stared at them, so soft and shiny, he vaguely wondered what she did to make them so beautiful. Arg don't look at her! He tried looking at somewhere else but no matter where he looked in the Great Hall he always seemed to find himself staring at Hermione again. Finally he forced himself to look down at his hands to keep from looking at her.
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Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table in between Harry and Ron. She was nervous as heck and she kept feeling like someone was watching her, but every time she turned around she didn't see anyone looking in her direction. She turned to listen to the first years being sorted into their new houses, clapping occasionally.
Noticing her skittishness Harry smiled. "Don't worry Mione no matter what happens we will still be proud of you."
Hermione smiled at Harry "Thanks Harry, you have no idea how good that makes me feel"
"No problem, I mean come on I'm the-boy-who-lived, I can do anything" replied Harry with a smirk that could have matched Malfoy's.
Rolling her eyes she elbowed him hard causing him to yelp. "Honestly some people just can't handle how amazing I am" Harry said to Ron with a fake dramatic air causing Hermione to fall into a fit of giggles. Harry smiled as he watched her laugh. "Now don't you feel better?"
"Yes" she said in between laughs "Thank you Harry what on earth would I do without you"
"ummmm...lock yourself in the library for the rest of your life and have no fun at all?"
This caused them all to laugh. As their laughter died away Dumbledore stood up signaling for quiet. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I trust we all had a relaxing summer and are looking forward to another exciting school year. Now as we all know..."
Harry leaned over to whisper in Hermione's ear "Besides Hermione, Ron and I probably wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for your smart thinking in the past; we'd be goners without you"
Hermione gave Harry a quick smiling as she blushed slightly. It was always good to know that someone needed you.
"...this is the beginning of another year here at Hogwarts. Now as we all know each year we pick 2 people to be Head-boy and –girl. Traditionally they would have already been chosen but it was a bit more...difficult this year. Well enough beating around the bush...
Your head-boy is Terry Falcin from Ravenclaw!
and Your head-girl is Anna Marie from Hufflepuff!"
The Great Hall exploded with applause for them, mainly because a Slytherin hadn't been picked. Hermione hung her head silently for a moment before sitting up straight and applauding along with everyone else, quickly masking her true feelings. She would not let them see her disappointment! Dumbledore knew what he was doing and would pick whoever was most suitable for the job. There of course was a logical reason why she wasn't suitable for it and everything would work out better with them as Heads. Hermione felt a hand and on her shoulder. She looked up to see Harry and Ron giving her reassuring smiles. She sighed wondering how on earth she could have become friends with the two most amazing people in the world. She looked across the Great Hall to see Malfoy also looking a bit disappointed.
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Draco scowled slightly at the new Head-boy and –girl. One neither of them was a Slytherin. Two he was much better looking and therefore more suitable for the job. And three he had worked his butt of to get to 2nd in his class (Hermione being the first). It was tradition that the top 2 would get that position, although that meant working with a muggleborn he still was willing to do so in this case. He looked towards the Gryffindor table where he could see Hermione looking just as disappointed as him. He saw Potter put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder and a knot seemed to form in his stomach. Quickly looking back down at the table he tried to calm himself down. "Gods why does she have to affect me like that...But then again many girls have affected me in some way, but why is it different with her..." A shiver ran up his spine as he felt someone's eyes watching him. He looked up into a pair of brown eyes staring back at him. For some reason he couldn't look away. Those eyes held so many emotions...emotions that he was feeling as well. Disappointment, confusion, anger...it was all there.
"Ummm Draco?"
Draco quickly snapped out of it at the sound of his name. Looking over he saw Blaise looking at him with a slight smirk on his face.
"Yes Blaise" Draco replied trying to sound natural.
"Any particular reason you're staring at the Gryffindor table?" asked Blaise. "Or were you staring at a certain...person?" he said with a smug smile. Being Draco's best friend, Blaise knew what other people didn't about the Slytherin Prince and was able to see through Draco's lies.
At this Pansy sat up straight with a look of malice on her face. "Looking at who?" she cried out indignantly.
Draco rolled his eyes at girl sitting next to him "No one Pansy, I was just trying to get a glance at Grangers face after she found out that she didn't get Head-girl. After all when hasn't that know-it-all gotten everything?" Draco replied hoping no one would think he actually cared whether or not Granger was upset.
Pansy relaxed at this. "Oh I'm sorry Drakie; I should have known you would never look at another girl besides me in that way" she smiled up at him "We'll always be together right Drakiepoo"
Draco grimaced at her question. He looked down at the person who had taken his arm into a death grip. She really would have been pretty if it wasn't for how clingy she was. Sighing he took his arm roughly from her grasp.
"Pansy you know I would only stare at a real woman, honestly why would I look at someone if they weren't anywhere near as perfect as me" he asked pointedly looking away from her."
Pansy brightened instantly. "Oh I knew you would Drakie! I'm the only girl in your life!" she cried hugging him around the waist.
Draco looked at Blaise who was trying his hardest not to burst out laughing at Pansy's ignorance. Dinner was coming to an end and all Draco wanted was to go to his dorm and sleep.
Dumbledore stood up again. "As I presume we are all finished with our meal I would ask the house prefects to help the younger students find their dorms. You are dismissed, but would Ms. Granger and Mr. Malfoy please see me before you leave."
Hermione looked at her two best friends. "I'll catch up with you in a few minutes ok?"
"Are you sure Mione? I don't like leaving you here with Malfoy" said Harry giving the Slytherin a glare from across the room.
"I'll be fine. I promise. Dumbledore is here so I'm sure nothing will happen." Smiling she got up to see Professor Dumbledore. As she did she noticed with a small amount of satisfaction that Malfoy was shaking off Pansy to do the same. Reaching the head table at the same time they gave each other a look of acknowledgement before turning to Professor Dumbledore.
"You wanted to see us sir?" asked Draco as politely as he could manage. After all one never knew what this man would do. He had come up with some pretty hair brained ideas before this.
"Ah yes Mr. Malfoy, Ms. Granger. Well I might as well not beat around the bush if you will...As you know Anna and Terry are our Head-boy-and –girl. I know that you two must feel a bit cheated in that...but there is a reason that this was done..."
"Finally" thought Hermione "some real answers." Draco was thinking along the same thoughts.
"We felt that it was too much to have houses that hated each other so much to be the heads at this time. So we chose Terry and Anna to see if they would be able to work together and not crack under the amount of pressure. If they are unable to perform at the level needed they will be asked to step down, hopefully though we will not need such course of actions. The two of you though will be given another job as we could not give you this particular honor. You will become my personal assistants. You will take on the same types of tasks as the Heads but they will be a bit more difficult and more in depth. You will also be going over the Heads jobs to make sure things are not out of control."
Draco and Hermione stared opened mouthed at their Headmaster. Draco was the first to recover and regain his composure. Hermione however was still staring awed at Professor Dumbledore.
"I do realize this is a bit of a shock, but I would like to make it up to you..."
Suddenly Hermione threw her arms around him. "Thank you Thank you Thank you!" she cried. Dumbledore smiled knowingly and hugged her back.
"Well I think I know whether or not Ms. Granger likes the idea, what about you Mr. Malfoy?"
"It will do..." replied Draco his voice free of any emotion, but his eyes were wide with excitement. Seeing this Dumbledore smiled.
"Well now that that's settled how about we show you your new rooms?"
"New rooms professor?" questioned Hermione "We won't be staying in our house ones then."
"No Ms. Granger you will not be. You and Mr. Malfoy will be staying in a dorm similar to the Heads but it's...shall we say a bit higher on the scale?" replied Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eyes. With this he got up and motioned for them to follow as he lead them to their new rooms. As he led them down a complicated route towards their new rooms Draco and Hermione remained silent. Walking side by side Draco glanced at the girl next to him. He knew that she was just as excited if not more as him about this job. It was also an excuse to see her without anyone questioning his motives. Who knows maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
As they came to a halt, Hermione looked at the picture in front of them. It was of her and Draco standing next to each other. The painting of Draco would look at the painted Hermione with a look of love but when she would look up at him he would turn away with a look of indifference until she too turned away. The Hermione would sneak a glance at Draco. And the process would repeat itself.
Hermione smiled up at the picture. "This is where I leave you, between the two of you come up with a password that you both agree upon. No one besides your selves is to be allowed into the dorms unless it is an emergency and under no circumstances are they to spend the night." said Dumbledore "Have a good night. I would like to see you both in my office to talk more about your responsibilities tomorrow afternoon 4pm sharp. Goodnight" and with that he walked swiftly away down the hallway.
Hermione turned to look at Draco, but was suddenly drowning in his blue eyes that seemed to bore through her with more emotion than she thought possible. "What should we make the password?" she asked quickly looking away from his eyes.
"How about Bellus Regina Roseus?" asked Draco softly not taking his gaze away from her.
"Umm...ok" she nodded slightly to the painting. The Draco in the picture smiled at her with a smile that made her head spin and opened to reveal their new common room. Draco moved to walk through, but was stopped by a voice behind him.
"Wait...what does that mean?" she asked not wanting it to be something rude or inappropriate.
"It means Beautiful Queen of Roses" Draco replied over his shoulder before leaving a speechless Hermione behind him. "Are you coming?" he asked
Hermione stood there for a moment more before following Draco into the common room. "What has gotten into you Hermione...don't let that smile fool you...he's never this nice or this excited about anything...he's just trying to use you to get to Harry...maybe that picture has got something to do with why he's acting so wierd..." she thought to herself before stopping in her tracks as she finally looked around at her new home.
Please Review Review Review! I'm already working on the next chapter, sorry about the cliff hanger but it was getting a bit too long so I figure I would cut this a lil shorter.