Chapter Two

"First Years This Way!" bellowed the all too familiar voice.

"Hello Hagrid," the three said together.

"Hello Harry, Ron 'Ermione. It's good to see ya," the all hugged, and continued their tasks.

"Did any one else notice that there were less people here this year?" asked Hermione.

"I did actually," Harry said. "It looks like half the school didn't come. Parents must really be terrified, if they're not sending their kids to school."

"Yeah, what a shame that's got to be," Ron muttered.

Harry laughed, and Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on you two. We should hurry," Hermione lead the way to the carriages.

"Did you see how many first years there were?" Harry asked.

"Yes," answered Hermione.

"Ten," said Ron. "Only ten. Can you believe it?"

"Well, yes and no," sighed Harry. "With out Professor Dumbledore here, people do not believe that Hogwarts is still safe. Only about half of the school came back. I suppose we should be happy that we even have first years."

"You're right," said Hermione. "And it is up to us to make sure this year runs smoothly. We should plan some fun things to do this year. I'm sure, that as the top students in this school, that we could convince Professor McGonagall to let us do a few things that are out of the ordinary."

"Yeah, that shouldn't be too hard, since there's not very many people here," Harry said.

"I think I amthe only girl Gryffindor in my year," said Hermione sadly.

"Yeah, I think it's just us and Neville," Harry said.

"Really? That's good. He's doing a lot better. I'm glad he's back," Hermione smiled.

Everyone filled into the Great Hall, and the house sorting began. As soon as everyone was seated, the Headmistress stood up. "May I have your attention please? First off, I would like to welcome our new students, and welcome back our returning ones. Many things have changed this year. We now have a security system. Many powerful Aurors have been assigned to protect Hogwarts. They are here for your safety, so do not patronize them.

"Further more, no student will be allowed out of his or her dormitory after eight o'clock, except the Heads of course. The Forbidden Forest is still off limits to all students. There are many more rules and consequences, which are posted in every dormitory. One last thing, before we begin the feast. I would like to introduce the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." A woman, two seats to the right of Professor McGonagall, stood up, "Professor R," everyone broke out into applause.

"That's her," Harry whispered. "That's the girl from my dream."

"Now, let the feast begin," as Professor McGonagall finished, food appeared on the table.

"I was right," Ron stated, "she is a professor."

"She does look like she is our age," stated Hermione. "I wonder how old she is."

"This is going to be an interesting year," Harry said, as he filled up his plate.

"Atleat theyr stilfeeing us goo foo," said Ron with his mouth full.

"Ron, as a seventh year and a prefect, it is up to you to set a good example. Talking with your mouth full is not setting a good example," Hermione lectured.

"Well, I understood him just fine," Harry started to laugh, but quickly stopped, when Hermione glared at him.

"Why is it that boys seem to get more immature as they get older?" Hermione huffed.

When the feast was over, the prefects showed everyone to their rightful common rooms, while the Heads stayed behind.

"You know, if you have any problems, you just let us know. We'll take care of it," Harry said to Hermione.

"Yeah, we'll kill the prat if we have to," Ron added.

"Thank you both, but I think I'll be okay. Professor McGonagall did invite him back, and she did make him Head Boy. She has to know what she's doing, right? She's not as trusting and forgiving as Dumbledor was," Hermione gave a small smile.

"I hope you're right Hermione," Harry nodded.

"Good night."

"Night," the boys replied, before leading the Gryffindors to their tower.

"You must be excited," Draco said, as Hermione came up beside him.

"How could you tell?" Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Well, your cheeks are rosy, and it doesn't look like your smile could get any bigger," Draco replied.

"Well, I'll have to work on that, now won't I," she smiled, and turned to face the Headmistress, as she stepped in front of them. Draco looked puzzled.

"Follow me," Professor McGonagall walked past them. They looked at each other, and then followed her. Professor R followed behind them.

Once they reached their destination, Professor McGonagall turned to face the three of them. "You two," she pointed to the Heads, "will be staying here." She pointed to the picture of a tree. "The password is Finkleburry."

She then turned to the new professor. "You will be staying right across the hall," she pointed to a picture of three bear cubs. "Feel free to make your own password." She turned back to Hermione and Draco. "If there are any problems," she looked pointedly at Hermione, "just go see Ms… err… Professor R. Now, good night," with that said, she left.

"Better watch her. She sees and hears more than you could ever imagine," Professor R said.

"Yeah… right," Draco said, as he turned around. He was about to say the password, when the professor spoke to him.

"So then, you have no idea why she put me here?"

"Of course I know why it's you she put here," Draco said, turning back around.

"Good. Don't forget it."

"I'm sorry, but do you two know each other?" Hermione asked, looking between the two.

"Unfortunately," she replied.

Hermione looked over at Draco as she said this, and saw the hurt flash in his eyes, before he smiled cruelly.

"Better watch it. I know all of your secretes," he then turned back to the picture. "Finkleburry," he walked into the room.

"Wow," he breathed, as the door shut behind him. This place is even better then home, he thought, as he looked around. Just the room he was in was about half the size of the Great Hall. When he walked in, he noticed everything change colors. The room was now decorated like the Slytherin common room. The rooms were enchanted to change when the first two people walked in. As soon as the second person walked in, it would mix the two houses, and stay that way.

"I don't mean to intrude, but what was that?" Hermione asked.

"We don't get along very well anymore," Professor R answered.

"Anymore?"

"W.W.W."

"What?" asked Hermione.

"That's my password. If you ever need me, just come on in. But, please don't tell anyone else the password, unless they need it," she smiled, said her password, and went into her dormitory.

Hermione said her password, and went into her own dormitory. Everything suddenly changed colors. The room now had a mixture of Slytherin and Gryffindor colors.

"What?" Draco turned around, and saw Hermione standing there, with her eyes lit up. "Oh, right."

Hermione looked around. This place is beautiful, she thought. Then she noticed Malfoy.

"Enjoying the view, Granger?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I was until I saw you," she said vehemently.

"No need to be rude. I was just asking you a simple question," he smiled.

"Yes, well your questions always seem to have a hidden statement," she said, as she walked by him, toward the room marked Head Girl. She decided to have a look around later, when Malfoy was not there.

"Good night to you too," he said, as he headed to his room.

She turned around and stared at him. "What is your problem Malfoy?" she shouted.

"Why Granger, what ever do you mean?"

"You… you're acting really weird. This isn't you," she said, exasperated.

"What is me, then? Huh, Granger? You seem to know me so well, so tell me. Who am I?" he shouted back. When she didn't answer, he said, "You don't know me, so don't pretend you do." He went to his room, and slammed the door shut behind him.

Hermione jumped when the door slammed. "What is going on?" she asked herself, as she headed toward, what she hoped was, the bathroom. It was. She turned on the water, and waited for it to get hot. "The shower is the best place to think," she said aloud to herself, as she got into the shower. What is going on? We have a new teacher, who is probably the same age as us. Malfoy is not acting like himself. Maybe something happened over the summer. Maybe it was just the new teacher. They know each other. It is possible that she just freaked him out. And what's with her password. What could W.W.W. mean anyway? There is definitely something odd about her. No one is even speaking about Ginny.

Poor girl. Oh, and N.E.W.T.S. are this year. I can't wait. I hope I get them all. What am I talking about? Of course I'll get them all. But what if I don't? I shouldn't even be thinking about N.E.W.T.S. There are more important things to worry about. But, since I'm here, I might as well do my best, and get as many as I can. What could be the harm in that?

Plus, I'm the Head Girl, so it is my responsibility to make sure everything is right. I was hoping to set up some fun activities to do this year, and going to Hogsmead won't be one of them. Then there's Malfoy. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him, because there is no way I am going to let last year happen all over again.

Hermione went to bed with all of these thoughts, and more, going through her head. It wasn't until very late, that she finally fell asleep.

Draco was fuming. What the bloody hell is going on here? He ran a hand through his hair. What is she doing here, and how the hell did she become a professor? It was only his first night back at Hogwarts, and everything already seemed to be going wrong. He was trying to be nicer, since that's what he was suppose to do. He knew that Harry Potter would never trust him. Not until the end, but he, Draco, might be dead by then, and what good would that do anyone.

So far, the only good thing was the fact that everyone, including the other Slytherins, seemed to be more afraid of him. As far as any of them knew, he would have murdered Professor Dumbledore. He grinned, "Wait till they see what I have in store for them next. It'll blow them all away." He took off his clothes, and went to bed in his boxers, as he always did.

…………………………………………………

"Morning Hermione," Ron greeted, as she sat down across from him and Harry.

"So, is it time for me to kill Malfoy yet?" Harry asked, stabbing at his bacon.

"Was it horrible?" asked Ron.

"Well, he's definitely scaring me, but not fo-"

"I knew it," Ron said. "He's threatened you hasn't he? That bastard. We should-"

"No. Ron you didn't let me finish," she sighed. "He's scaring me, because he's… well, he's being… umm, civil."

"What?" both Harry and Ron looked at her.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ron stated.

"What reasons could he possibly have for being nice?" added Harry.

"Maybe it's all a ploy," continued Ron.

"Yeah, he didn't complete his task last year," Harry offered.

"So this year, he has to have a new task, to compensate for his failure," Ron added.

"And his new task involves being nice to us, or maybe just…"

"Hermione," they both said, turning to face her.

"Now you two are scaring me," Hermione said, as she stood up. "I'm going to the library."

"What for?" asked Ron, annoyed. "Classes haven't even started yet."

"Honestly Ron. Do you ever think of anything? She turned around and headed for the door, only stopping to receive her class schedule from professor Flitwick. Now that Professor McGonagall was the Headmistress, she had new duties.

"It sounds and looks like Hermione, but does it think like her?" Ron asked, as Hermione left the Great Hall.

"She is acting rather odd, isn't she? She definitely seems to be hiding something," Harry agreed.