After the feast, McGonagall grabbed Hermione by the shoulder. "This way please Miss Granger." She led her to Gryffindor tower, but instead of going through the portrait hole, she led her down the corridor and up to a statue. "The password is 'Floridium Vitae'."
When this was said, the statue began to spin, then rise, leaving behind it a spiralling staircase. "Goodnight, Miss Granger." McGonagall smiled proudly at her and left.
Hermione climbed the staircase and looked around approvingly. The room she stood in was perfectly round, with a window looking over the lake. There was a huge bookcase that reached the high ceiling and a ladder to get up to the top shelves. Surrounding the fireplace was two sofas and an armchair with a table in the middle. The whole room was red and gold.
On the table was a letter. Sitting on a sofa, she opened it and read it. It said this:
Hermione Granger,
Well done on becoming the Gryffindor Prefect. I hope you like the apartments you are staying in.
These will be your home for the next three years. You will be required to hold meetings with the Head Girl and Boy and the other Prefects of your year in the common room, so please keep the rooms tidy. The bedroom is up the stairs behind the picture of the lion.
There is a meeting at lunchtime tomorrow for all the new Prefects in the Head Girl and Boy's apartments. Go to the statue of the scholar on the fifth floor, the password is 'Tia Maria'.
You will be given all the information at the meeting.
Yours truly,
The Head boy, George Weasley
The Head Girl, Clara Redhill
She put the letter on the table and looked about the room. There was a painting of a regal lion, the Gryffindor emblem. She swung it open and found a narrow winding staircase leading upwards. At the top she found a door, she went through the door and found a room, semi-circle in shape, half as big as the common room, but still bigger than the dorm she had slept in the year before. It was decorated in red and gold again, and there was a king size four-poster-bed, on the duvet was a lion. Next to the dresser was a full size mirror and at the end of the bed was her suitcase.
Another door led to the huge bathroom, the same size as the bedroom. A bath the size of a small swimming pool was set in the floor, with about a million taps around the edge. There was a ladder leading to the bottom of the tub.
Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, she went back into the bedroom and changed into her nightclothes. Slipping into the bed, she found it deliciously warm. 'House-Elves.' She thought sharply, but couldn't think of the evils of slavery because she sank into a much-needed sleep.
Draco woke up to find himself in a cold sweat. Who was that damn girl who was supposed to make him so damn happy? He had caught a glimpse of blond hair before he had woken up. Pansy? Why would she ever cook anything? Nothing she does ever makes him happy.
He wandered into the bathroom and got in the bath. After that he went back into the bedroom and got changed. As he went to the mirror to fix his hair, he remembered what that Mudblood had said. His hair looked like a jerk? Wondering what she meant, he inspected his hair, which was now flopping over his eyes. He went for the wax to smooth it all back into place, but decided not to, and just combed it and let it hang over his forehead. He did it because he needed a change. He'd be damned if some fickle Mudblood was going to have any effect on what he does in life.
The next morning she awoke to the sound of a bird chirping outside her window. Her room smelt of roses. Lying with her eyes shut she marvelled at how a morning could be this peaceful. Most mornings she had woken up to in this castle was filled with giggling and the hustle and bustle of Parvati and Lavender putting on as much make-up as they possibly could without looking like they have any make-up on at all.
After a quick change and brushing her teeth, she left her apartments for breakfast. The feast felt a long time ago in the excitement of viewing her new quarters. Entering the Great Hall she quickly located Harry and Ron, and took up a seat next to them.
When the timetables were handed out, there was a note attached to them, telling the students that the teachers all had to attend a very important meeting, so lessons wouldn't start until after lunch.
"Perfect!" Ron beamed, "Hermione has time to show us her new room."
"I wonder what the meeting is about; they've never stopped classes before." Harry muttered darkly.
"I would have thought that obvious." Hermione slipped into her usual matter-of-fact tone. "Everyone knows that you-know-who has his eye on this place, his two worst enemies under the same roof!" They all shuddered. Hermione and Ron avoided eye contact with Harry.
"Well, we've beaten him before, and we'll beat him again!" Said Ron triumphantly.
"You most certainly will not!" McGonagall came storming up to him. "That's the sort of attitude that gets people killed. You will do as you're told and not go looking for trouble!" She glared at the three of them and stormed off.
"Touchy…" Ron whispered.
After breakfast, Hermione led them to her apartments. As soon as they got to the top of the staircase, Harry gasped and Ron whooped. "Woah, Hermione. This place rocks!"
Hermione beamed, "Sort of does, doesn't it?" She gave them a tour of the three rooms and then they went back into the common room and she gave them the letter to read.
Ron sat back after he read it, "I still can't believe that George made Head Boy! I don't think mum's ever been so proud in her entire life!"
"Yeah, George and Fred have been planning the parties all summer!"
They sat in discussion for a long time, eventually joined by Ginny, whom Hermione had given the password to at breakfast.
"Wow Hermione, you're so lucky!" She gazed about the room in awe.
Pretty soon a bell rang out. The four rose and left the common room. "I'll catch up with you guys later; I gotta get to the meeting."
"See ya later, 'Mione."
Hermione entered the Head Students common and looked about in sheer amazement. The room was easily twice as big as her common room and was decorated in the colours of Gryfindor and Ravenclaw. A red haired figure was lying on the sofa and as she approached, she saw it was Fred Weasley.
He looked up at her and smiled. "Hey Hermione, George is in the headmasters office, discussing something or other." It didn't really surprise her that Fred was there, him and George were inseparable, what did surprise her was that he hadn't gone with him to the Headmasters office. "Nice place he has here, isn't it? It's huge and he only has to share it with one other person!"
"That's not strictly true." Clara came out of her bedroom. Clara was a pretty girl with shoulder length blonde hair and widely spaced blue eyes. "I doubt that we will be able to get rid you."
"That's right, sweetheart" he grinned and turned back to Hermione. Adding in a whisper, "I think she likes me." He said it just so loud for Clara to hear, and she threw a pillow at him, before sitting next to Hermione.
"Get over yourself."
He threw it back, "you get over me." The frivolous chatter was cut short as George arrived with the other three prefects.
Fred wrinkled his nose. "Oh, you have a meeting. Well, as much as I'd love to stay, I'm kinda tired so I'll just take a nap."
"Well, if you do insist on throwing a party all night." Clara said sternly. Fred just stuck his tongue out at her and went into George's room. Hermione wandered why she had not been invited, and then realised it was probably because they had most likely just gathered everyone from the Gryffindor common room. She felt slightly lonely, but then remembered the wonderful night of sleep she got and quickly forgot her troubles.
"Right, now he's out of the picture, let's get on with the meeting." Justin and Padma sat next to Hermione and Malfoy took an armchair a little way apart.
"You're duties as first year prefects are to roam the halls at night, making sure there is nothing going on after lights out. This will be done in pairs. You also will have to listen to the students' problems and present solutions to the teachers. Every year we hold three balls, Halloween, Christmas and at the end of the year. Each year of prefects takes a different ball to organise. Yours is the End of Year Ball." Clara looked to George to continue.
"Now, we have to pick your pairs for monitoring the halls." He brought out a quill and a piece of parchment and wrote down everyone's names, which he then put in his hat. The hat shook for a second, and then spat out a piece of parchment, which Clara caught. "Padma, you're choosing."
Padma looked hopefully at Hermione then put her hand in the hat, drawing a slip of parchment. Looking at the piece of paper, she grinned. "Hermione, looks like it's you and me."
Hermione let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding in and hugged her friend. Justin grinned at Malfoy and slapped him on the back, "Well, we're partners, partner." Malfoy scowled dangerously at Justin. "Quite."
"Well, that concludes our meeting; Justin and Draco will patrol tonight. You will have a weekly meeting in one of your common rooms and meet here with us once a month. See you next month." Clara smiled at them as they left.