A/N: Here goes another chapter...not too sure if the story's coming along well though, hope it does! Enjoy!
Agreements
Hermione and Sedgewick had retreated back to their private quarters after told to by Professor Nazri. She checked the time and realized that it was nearing 2 o'clock. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and said the password to her quarters. She entered first, followed by Sedgewick and climbed up the stairs to her room. Sedgewick followed Hermione up the staircase but turned right towards his room while Hermione turned left. Their private quarters was not that big and was comfortable. The common room had a black love seat and two white arm chairs to the right of their entrance, and stood in front of a fire place. The staircase, a spiral one, up to their rooms and the shared bathroom was directly opposite their entrance. To the right of the staircase was a bookcase with their schoolbooks and other random books that the two Heads had placed and a four-seater table with two chairs for the Heads to do their homework or just read. A door, which led to one of the meeting rooms, was located on the wall to the right of the entrance and a window was also located there. The left of the room was where a small kitchen stood, used mainly for the Heads to make drinks while they were inside the common room. The colour scheme was simple; solid colours and very little pattern. The only patterns were the house emblem of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw on large crimson and blue cushions that was on the floor in front of the fire place. The room had little colour in fact, since most of the walls were bricks. Their quarters was located slightly further off of the Room of Requirement and their portrait hole was actually a huge mirror. There were two meeting rooms for the prefects to conduct their meeting with the Heads, one towards the left of the Heads' quarters and another opposite.
Hermione went into her room and slipped into a pair of boxer shorts and an oversized t-shirt and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth just as Sedgewick left the bathroom in a pair of pajama bottoms and nothing else. They were used to seeing each other in their night clothes, or lack thereof, at night and were okay with it. Hermione had at first blushed when she saw Sedgewick's bare chest but got used to it as the year passed. They mumbled a goodbye before carrying on their activities. Hermione finished brushing her teeth and headed off to her room. She climbed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
The next morning, thankfully Saturday, she woke up with just enough time to get ready and head down to catch breakfast, though still sleepy and groggy from the time she fell asleep yesterday - or more like today for that matter. She entered the Great Hall and was greeted by the normal chatter of the student body. She walked over to the Gryffindor table and settled herself beside Ginny Weasley.
"Damn, Hermione. You looked dead tired! What happened?" Ginny asked worriedly, Harry and Ron looking at her through concerned eyes.
"I had a long night," was all she said. Hermione was about to reply when madam Pomfrey burst into the Great Hall. She took small bites of her breakfast, listening to her friends talk as they were finishing their breakfast. She looked up at the long table at the front where the teachers ate. Both Professor McGonagal and Professor Nazri looked tired from last night. Worry was still evident on the aforesaid Potions Master, though only slightly. Hermione wondered what the relation between the two were as they seemed quite close from the way the professor had reacted when he say the young man on the infirmary bed. Hermione was not allowed to think any further as her friends were beginning to drag her out her seat as she took her last bite of her breakfast. It was a Hogsmeade weekend that day and she was sure they wanted to be the first few out. She complied and swallowed her breakfast, following them out of the Great Hall and waited by the front door of the castle. Other students began filing out of the Great Hall and waited to go to Hogsmeade.
Hermione didn't spend much at Hogsmeade, buying some candy from Honeydukes and getting a mug of butter beer from the Three Broomsticks. They spent quite some time roaming the streets and window shopping. They spent a good part of their day there before heading back to the castle.
Back at the castle, they decided to head back to the Gryffindor common room and headed up. Hermione however, was called aside by the Headmistress as they passed her in a corridor. Professor McGongal led the Head Girl to her office, different from Dumbledore's as she had refused to move in there, located further down the corridor where Dumbledore's old office was. Hermione followed the Headmistress as she said the password to a statue of a phoenix and it moved aside to reveal a staircase which went down to McGonagal's office, where Sedgewick was already seated and waiting. Hermione seated herself at the armchair in front of the Headmistress' desk while Professor McGonagal took her seat behind the desk. Hermione waited patiently for the Headmistress to speak, wondering silently what she was here about.
"Miss Granger, Mr Blythe, I'm sure you know of young Mr. Malfoys's condition," She started, looking between the two. They just nodded, waiting for her to continue. "Well, we - that is Professor Nazri and I - have decided that it would be most appropriate for the both of you to care for him, with help from us of course," McGongall said, waiting for a response from the two Heads. Sedgewick, even though he doesn't like Draco Malfoy, agreed and made no fuss about it. Hermione, however, was a different story. She couldn't accept the fact that Draco Malfoy would be under her care!
'What did do to deserve this! We hate each other! This will never work out...' Hermione thought to herself, shaking her head slightly.
"Why me?" She blurted out before she could stop herself. She covered her mouth with her hands and mumbled an apology, lowering her hands and rested them on her lap.
"We chose you and Mr. Blythe here as one, you were the one who found him and thus know that he is in the school. Two, we can trust both of you to keep it a secret," McGonagall looked at the girl and gave her a look, which Hermione took as one where she was telling her to better shut her gap. "And three, there are two meeting rooms which are close to your quarters and we would be able to let him stay there until he is fully recovered and we know what to do with him," Hermione just looked at the Headmistress, letting all the reasons sink in and trying to find an excuse to not take care of Malfoy.
"But, he hates me, and I can assure you the feeling is mutual, Headmistress. Don't you think that he would rather die than be taken care of by me?" Hermione ventured, hoping it was a good enough reason to not take care of him, though she knew it was a weak excuse.
"I'm aware of the feelings both of you have for each other, but I assure you he will not harm you. For one thing, he has no wand, Miss Granger, thus will not be able to hex or curse you. Furthermore, we will be putting up protective wards to make sure no harm comes to you or Mr. Blythe and we would be alerted if someone casts a curse on either of you," Professor McGonagal explained. Hermione listened. She knew that it was a losing battle and she knew that she could not find a good enough reason to not take care of Malfoy. She hung her head and nodded slightly, agreeing. 'Not like I had much of a choice,' She thought to herself as the Headmistress went through all the details and such.
"I will be coming over to your quarters after dinner with Professor Nazri to set up one of the meeting rooms for Mr. Malfoy to stay in once he is well enough to leave the Infirmary. Is that alright, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall enquired while shuffling through several pieces of parchment, which contained details of what Hermione has to do and how to care for Malfoy et cetera.
"That would be fine, Headmistress," Hermione agreed, giving a single nod.
"Mr. Blythe?" Turning her attention to the silent Head Boy.
"That would be perfectly fine, Headmistress," He replied with a smile and a slight nod, which the Headmistress returned. 'How can Sedgewick be so...calm...on a time like this!' Hermione thought to herself, looking at a the aforesaid Head Boy, who was listening intently to the Headmistress.
"Good. Now, as for how you are to handle Mr. Malfoy..."
Hermione listened on, still not able to comprehend the fact that she would have to look after Malfoy for as long as it would take for him to fully recover and for the professors to find him a place to go afterward. Professor McGonagal had told her that she would not allow Malfoy to be free until she finds out why he was here and how he got injured. Professor McGonagal also wanted to find out which side he really is on and what his purpose was. Naturally, she was suspicious just like Hermione. Professor McGonagal had tried to get information from Professor Nazri but he had said that it was "up to Draco to tell what he sees fit". Hermione was still curious about the relationship between the two, but pushed it aside and listened as McGonagall went through spells and charms that Hermione would need to know to help care for Malfoy later on. She sat there patiently for one hour listening to McGonagal go through whatever she had to, nodding and enquiring when required. After an hour, Hermione and Sedgewick thanked the Headmistress and headed out to the Great Hall, realizing it was almost time for dinner. They walked up the office staircase and made their way down to the Great Hall to join their own friends for dinner.
The only thing she could think of at that moment was how her life would be now that she had to take of Draco Malfoy, a guy believed to have joined the ranks of Lord Voldemort and betrayed Dumbledore. She obviously could not tell anyone, for that would be breaking a promise she had made to both Professor Nazri and Professor McGongal. She mentally prepared herself to take care of a not-so-co-operative teenage boy who was prejudiced against her kind who were 'unworthy' of magic. The hatred that she had for Malfoy arose again. She had pushed it aside when the year began so that she could concentrate on more important things, but now, with him within the castle grounds, her hatred for him was bubbling up again. She told herself that she would not do anything rash unless he threatened or pushed her over the edge. She left it at that and entered the Great Hall and joined her friends for dinner.
"Where have you been since we got back?" Ron asked, taking a big bite off the chicken drumstick in his hand.
"Had to discuss some Head duties with Professor McGonagall at her office. Didn't expect it to drag on for so long," Hermione replied, loading her plate with some chicken, broccoli and and mashed potatoes.
"So, is there going to be any balls this year?" Ginny Weasley asked eagerly, sipping her pumpkin juice from the goblet and looking at her senior with excitement in her eyes. Hermione simply shrugged and ate her dinner. Hermione listened to her friends chit chat about various things, joining in their conversations where ever she see fit and giving her opinions or sharing her own stories. She would need a lot of happy thoughts and patience to go through the remaining half of the year with Malfoy, and she knew she could rely on her friends for entertainment and some stress relief.
A/N: There you go! Third chapter. How is it so far? please tell me so that I know whether it's good or not and whether i should continue writing ) Gimme lots and lots of reviews if you want to continue reading it…I'll be fair, 5 per chapter, alright? Ok!
