Chapter 3

First Day Fun

Hermione had finally found Ron and Harry and replayed everything that McGonagall had told her and all about the Malfoy incident. She almost didn't tell them because they might start to think she condoned that kind of behavior. They were of course, ecstatic, and begged her to film it the next time she did it not matter how many times Hermione told them that firstly she wouldn't be doing it again and secondly, video recorders don't work inside Hogwarts. Didn't anyone else read Hogwarts a History? Ron didn't know what she was talking about of course, but he still agreed with everything that Harry said never the less.

After they had successfully worn out the subject of beating up Malfoy, that had already passed the Hogsmeade station, gotten into the not-so-invisible thestral-drawn carraiges with Neville and travelled up to the castle where the moon was just beginning to rise, though it was still light out. Hermione remained lost in her thoughts and only pretended to listen to Harry and Ron when they talked about Quidditch and how the next Quidditch World Cup would take place in Tajikistan. Ron was thoroughly miffed that it wasn't closer to Britain.

Hermione thought about how she was going to handle this year, what with keeping her grades as high (if not higher, she thought) and the Head's duties. Not only that, but Malfoy was sure to shirk his duties which would leave her with half of his responsibilities as well. He would probably pick on everyone, especially the Gryffindors and take away unnecessary points. She would have to be the one to get on his ass about it every single day, which could definately try on her nerves after a while.

When the carraiges stopped outside the Entrance Hall doors that led inside, Hermione whispered her goodbyes to her friends so she could see to getting everyone inside. This wasn't exactly a duty she had to fullfill, but she liked to go over and beyond that call of duty whenever she could. It made her feel like even for that one second; she made a difference. McGonagall, who was always stationed at the Entrance Hall gave a curt nod and a smile so small that Hermione wasn't sure if it was there at all. She knew that McGonagall had to like her, even if she wouldn't admit it.

In fact, it was hard not to like Hermione. Her personality caught on like wildfire and she wasn't so horrible to look at, persay. The only people who didn't like her were the Slytherins... specifically Malfoy, and of course the Death Eaters ... specifically the Malfoy's.

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The feast passed by in a blur, as did the sorting which was good to the Gryffindors who gained fourteen 1st years. The Slytherins gained 11, Ravenclaw 9, and Hufflepuff 10. Dumbledore made his speech which was somewhat the same as all the years before, except he warned everyone in a dire tone that Voldemort had indeed risen a little over a year ago, and to never travel alone if entirely possible. He also introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, which was of course, the infamous Ludo Bagman. Harry signed in a defeated sort of way when he heard this, even though he already knew it was coming. Their new professor waved jovially and announced in his great, booming commentators voice that he was happy to be everyones new professor and could Harry Potter please get a nice round of applause, please. Hermione stifled a violent giggle.

Dumbledore introduced the Heads of houses as well; Hermione getting a loud round of applause from the Gryffindors and and equally loud "Boo" from the Slytherins and Malfoy got the same... only in reverse. Dumbledore and McGonagall quickly exchanged glances, but the headmasters expression remained determined, although his colleages was questioning.

When the feast finally ended, much to Ron's displeasure, Dumbledore dismissed everyone, ordering the prefects and the Heads to stay behind for further instructions.

The prefects were told to make sure the students in each of their respective houses got back safely and the heads were to go with Professor Mcgonagall to the Heads wing so that they could become accustomed to their living conditions they were to endure for that year. Hermione grumbled at the thought of Malfoy living next to her for an entire year.

"What do you have to compain about mudblood, you get to worship my precious face everyday... not that you didn't do that anyways of course," Malfoy drawled quietly beside her as McGonagall walked ahead of them, showing them the way to their new rooms.

"You know, if you took five seconds to take your head out of your own ass, you might realize that no one really likes you, so shut up ferret boy and start acting your age," she spat back, quietly enough so that she woudn't get reprimanded by her stern professor.

The Heads wing was on the fourth floor, off in a part of the Hogwarts castle that neither of them had ever been. It was only a dimly lit corridor and shadows played all over the walls, creating a somewhat eerie presence. Hermione didn't care, however, because despite the dreary surroundings, she could not have been happier to have finally made it this far. Of course, she knew that almost the entire student population knew she was going to get the title, and some small part of her thought so as well, but actually having the recognition that she finally acheived was overwhelming.

Their footsteps echoed as they walked in a very uncomfortable and angry silence. Neither had anything to say that wan't insulting, so they remained silent until MCgonagall finally stopped at two large paintings of a man and woman. Each were side by side and almost connecting except for a solid black line in between to indicated where they opened. Each of them was wearing only greenary as clothing, leaves and such. The woman was laying next to a ripplping stream on a large rock and the man was leaning against a slender tree trunk. They looked at each other adoringly. Sickeningly, Draco thought.

"This is Isis," Professor McGonagall said, gesturing towards the beautiful woman, who smiled, "And this is Ingall. They will be each of your respective portrains for your new rooms. You can enter as soon as I leave, and you can make up your own passwords. Your class scheduals will be posted in the morning on the bullitin boards in your rooms, you can't miss them. Classes will begin in the morning and once again, you can choose whether or not you wish to come down to breakfast with the others. Goodnight to both of you and congradulations on recieving the heads position," she finished curtly. She then promptly turned on her heel and walked off, leaving the two Seventh years staring after her.

"Well, heres to me," Draco said, turning towards Ingall and saying very clearly his new password, "Mudbloods suck". The portrait looked at him sternly but opened none the less. Hermione growled as Malfoy snickered and sauntered into his room, the portrait door closing in his wake.

"Bouncing Ferret," she said laughing. Oh, how she would never forget the day when "Mad-eye Moody" turned Malfoy into the amazing bouncing ferret. Smiling, she stepped through the now open portrait hole, feeling it shut behind her.

The room was beautiful, completely white and black. It had high ceilings and wonderful mahogany wood all over. The kitchen had chairs that matched the white plush siga and had high backs on them. She checked out the bathroom which was as large if not larger than the prefects bathroom. Everything was white or black still and the taps were a sparkling silver. She left the bathroom and passed by the roaring fireplace and up a small set of stairs to what had to be her bedroom. Everything was so incredibly mafnigicent that it was hard for her to comprehend that she was to be staying here for her whole seventh year.

Her belongings were already in her room, compliments of the hosue elves, she thought dismally... if only she could have taken S.P.E.W. farther... She cleared her thoughts and grabbed a book to pass the time. She travelled back down into her common room to cozy up on the couch with crooksanks when...

"Malfoy! Get out of my room!" she yelled upon seeing him searching through a large bookcase next to the door that lead into his room. "What are you doing in here! Get out!"

"Settle down Mudblood. Don't get your oversized knickers in a bunch. Pansy is in there looking for me and this is the last place that she would look," he said quickly, putting back the book he was looking at and then walzing into her kitchen to begin rifling through some more of her things.

"First off Malfoy, stop going through my stuff, you're going to contaminate it with grease from your hair. Secondly, aren't you dating Pansy? Why would you be hiding from her in the first place?" Hermione scolded.

"I don't use grease in my... listen I'm not going to sit here and fight with a Mudblood who doesn't even know what it's talking about. Just sit down and read your precious book and stop flapping your lips," he growled and continued to search through her things, picking up a jar of pickles and examining it.

"So I'm and 'it' now am I? You know you think you're all high and mighty Malfoy, but here's a news flash. You're scum! So... get... out! Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione screeched in anger, causing Malfoy to drop the jar of pickles which promptly smashed all over the wood floor. Malfoy wriggled and screamed like a little first year as Hermione levitated him towards the door leading back into his room, only stopping to mutter another spell to open the door.

"Draco, hunny! There you are!" was the last thing Hermione heard before she slammed the door shut behind Malfoy, ignoring his blatant protests. She locked the door with all the spells she knew and went into the kitchen feeling miffed, but still happy that she had won the encounter.

"Reparo... Scourigfy," she muttered to the pickle jar in the middle of her kitchen. Ruefully, she set it on the counter, grabbed her book and trekked back up the staircase to her bedroom. She didn't even feel like reading now she was in a bad mood. She got ready for bed and laid in her bed, feeling the warmth surround her. She fell into a haunting sleep, and only one thing was for sure. She would wake up screaming.

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Hermione awoke with a start early in the morning, before the sun had completely risen. She had dreamed of the woman again, but this time she appeared younger. Her mane of long black hair was slightly shorter, and managed better. Her eyes were still as blank as they were before, but they didn't have the feeling of loss around them. Towards the end of her dream, a strapping man, around her age came into the scene; handsome in every way. He looked adoringly at her...

Why she woke up screaming, she didn't know, but she had and now it was too late for her to go back to sleep. Once she was up, she was up for good, so she decided to travel down to the kitchen to grab some hot chocolate and wait until the sun had really risen. Once she was finished, she trekked to the bathroom to start getting ready; a shower and to get dressed. When she emerged from the bathroom a full course meal, enough to feed 4 grown men rested on the kitchen table, compliments of Dobby. Though she scoffed at the servitude of the elf, she still happily loaded her plate with eggs bacon and pancakes. To waste time, she read a book and then headed down to breakfast, even though she just ate.

When she got there, Harry and Ron had just arrived. They all chatted about classes, and how their first period class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, then followed by Herbology and to their extreme displeasure, double potions. Despite the fact that the boys hated it, they wanted to continue on their quest at becoming Aurors and sadly persisted with enduring Snapes brutal disposition on a daily basis.

When breakfast was finished, the 3 seventh years traveled to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom where they would have Professor Bagman for the first time. The class was completely mixed with all students from every house. There were only two classes of 7th year Defense and this was the smaller of the two. Sadly, Pansy, Draco, Blaise, and the mysterious new Slytherin all managed to get in with the three Gryffindors in this one class. After scowling at the four of them, the golden trio found seats towards the back of the classroom with Harry hiding somewhat in the shadows as if that would deter Bagman from seeking him out. As soon as the class began, Ludo emerged from a back room that no one had really taken any notice of before.

"Hello and welcome all 7th years! I am Ludo Bagman and I will be your Defnse Against the Dark Arts professor for the remainder of this year. Ah, and I see Mr. Potter is in this class, hi ho boy! You'll be magnificent in my class! Anyways, I suppose a lot of you are wondering some of the things we are going to be doing in here, and after extensive research, I have decided to firstly plan a class fieldtrip to an castle that was built in the 1100's, almost as old as the castle you stand in at this very moment," he explained, getting a few ooh's and ahh's out of some Ravenclaw girls. "This trip will take place your next class, to start the semester out with a bang. A war between two empires was fought on the very ground you will be walking on, in La Mariette in France. I will explain more on the trip, but for today I have a story for you all. So two men walk into a bar..."

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Thank you for the reviews I got already I greatly appreciate them. Sorry it took a week or so to get out. Also, the next chapter is where the plot finally starts, and I'm really big on details so sorry about these three chapters if you didn't like them, they will get better! Review and let me know what you think!