Disclaimer: I hold no rights to J.K. Rowlings works, never have never will...and that makes me sad a little.

Chapter 2: Dreams and Unwanted Announcements

Whisper

Catch me if I fall

Say your here and it's all over now

Speaking to the atmosphere

No one's here and I fall into myself

This truth drives me into madness

I know I can stop the pain

If I will it all away, if I will it all away

Don't turn away

Don't the pain

Don't try to hide

Though their screaming your name

Don't close your eyes

God knows what lies behind them

Don't turn off the lights

Never sleep never die

I'm frightened by what I see

But somehow I know

That there's much more to come

Immobilized by my fear

And soon to be blinded by tears

I can stop the pain

If I will it all away, if I will it all away

Don't turn away

Don't the pain

Don't try to hide

Though their screaming your name

Don't close your eyes

God knows what lies behind them

Don't turn off the lights

Never sleep never die

Fallen angels at my feet

Whispering voices at my ear

Death before my eyes

Lying next to me I fear

She beckons me shall I give in

Upon my end shall I begin

Forsaken all I've fallen for

I rise to meet the end

'And so I return to Hogwarts...' Hermione thought to herself while waiting to be joined by the Head Boy, who just had to be Malfoy. She had listened to her Evanescence CD before heading out and now the last song was stuck in her head. Not that it was a bad thing mind you, she loved all the songs in it.

Finally, 15 minutes after the train had left the station, Malfoy entered and sat down across from her.

"Granger," he drawled inclining his head ever so slightly.

"Malfoy," she said and started staring out the window to watch the green fields and trees race past the window faster and faster as the train continued to speed up.

Draco observed her while she totally and completely ignored him. She was just as she looked in Diagon Alley, and, as much as he hated to admit it, she barely had left any of his conscious thought since that nice slap she had left on his cheek. The woman sure was stubborn. Any other girl would have just blushed and giggled then done what he wanted; she was the only girl he couldn't have, not to mention she was the one he thought he definitely didn't want...until now. Now she seemed very appealing, and he had all the time in the world to get her to see things his way. Unfortunately he wasn't a very patient man.

"Granger, you know you like me. Why don't you just admit it?" he drawled.

"Like Hell! I wouldn't touch you any way except to cause damaged unless you were the last wizard on Earth!" Hermione snapped.

"Oh stop lying to yourself," he drawled as he moved over to sit next to her and place his arm around her shoulders. "You know you want me; I saw it in your eyes when I saw you at the Apothecary's."

"Get. Your. Fucking. Arm. Off. Me." she hissed through her teeth.

"Your so mean!" he pouted, still not removing his arm from her shoulders, which earned him a glare and got him pushed off the bench. "Oof! Why'd you have to go and bloody do that?"

"Uh, hello, ever heard of something called personal space?" she asked with a large amount of sarcasm.

Ha, funny," Malfoy drawled with heavy sarcasm. "You'll give in eventually."

"Don't think that just because we have to share a dormitory that gives you free reign over my body!" Hermione yelled at him, fists clenched, indignantly.

"You say that now, Mudblood, but you'll come around eventually. They all come around," he stated. Something in his expression sent shivers down her spine. He got himself up off the floor without loosing eye contact with her. "I will have you in the end." He said the last with such assurance she felt her body temperature drop a few degrees. He turned and looked out the window with out so much as another glance, which disturbed her more than anything else he had said or done, but it wasn't the type of feeling that files under "bad thing are to come" it was more like an irritation when being ignored as if she truly wished this conversation to continue regardless of the fact he was basically Mr. You-Know-You-Love-Me and egotistical.

"I'm going to take a nap, and if I feel my personal space breeched, you will have the largest black eye that could ever grace your pale ass face! Wake me up when we have 45 minutes left before

the prefects' and Heads' meeting!" she said, after she just couldn't stand the silence one minute longer. Before she black out she thought to herself, What is going on with me?

Hermione was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming because Draco wasn't being his dumb ass old self. In fact, he was acting really sweet.

They were sitting on a couch that was in Slytherin's colors, while the walls of the room were in Gryffindor's colors. It was the incarnation of the inter-house relationship that Dumbledoor wished them to have, but then it also looked like a set for some cheesy Christmas movie. The couch they sat upon was directly in front of a crackling fireplace. There was two arm chairs on either side of the couch that were gold and silver striped and over-stuffed. Off to the left side of the couch was a staircase with an unusual weaving of snakes and lion's heads where the snakes wound around the banister and every time there was a space between the coils on the side there would be a lion's head. Then at a great window with a balcony the staircase separated into two staircases going in opposite directions, and from the balcony you could see two rounded tower rooms out to either side with bay windows.

"So what would your father say if he saw you now?" Hermione laughed companionably.

"If he saw me now, there would be no me for you to ask that to!" Draco chuckled and stuck an arm around her waist. She leaned into him and laid her head on his shoulder. She breathed in his scent. It was one she'd never forget or be able to associate with anyone else. It was a wonderful mix of vanilla musk and dark chocolate, sweet and bitter and warm. She wished moments like these would never end.

Suddenly the portrait/door exploded.

Draco watched as she fell asleep. Some of her curls had fallen into her face and her chest went up and down slowing into a regulated rhythm. She looked so angelic and calm when she slept, there was even a little smile that grew across her face as she dreamed. Why do I always have to make such an ass out of myself when she's around? It's against everything I learned as a Malfoy to even look at a Mudblood as anything other than dirt beneath my shoe. Oh well what ever Dad doesn't know can't hurt him.

He decided that she probably wouldn't notice if he got a blanket. He got up and retrieved one from the compartment above her seat. He carefully placed it on top of her and started to sit down in his seat when he noticed that something was holding him back. He looked down and saw her hand latched on to his shirt. He tried to remove her hand, but it was just wouldn't let go. "Stay with me..." she whispered in her sleep.

"Okay," he whispered back. "Wingardian Leviosa." He levitated her and slipped into the spot beneath her head and lightly brought her back down. She snaked her arms around his waist like you would do a pillow. He raised an eyebrow. What was going on in that dream of yours? he thought watching her while she slept.

After a few minutes of observing her, he turned to look out the window again.

"DRACO!" she screamed bolting up from his lap.

"What? You grabbed me," he said, misinterpreting why she had screamed.

"Huh? Where am I?" Hermione muttered under her breath. "Oh, thank the gods! It was just a dream..." Slowly the realization that she had just been asleep returned. As the dream had continued, it had come to seem more and more like reality until she completely fell into her dream as if that was really her. She never wanted to do that again because that dream had terrified her. "How long until the meeting?" She said as she got into her school robes; you can never be too prepared, you know.

"It will be in about an hour," Draco replied still a little afraid of being hurt. Why did she scream out his name, his first name none the less? It must have been one weird dream. Then the realization she had been dreaming about him kicked in. "So what did you dream about?"

"It's none of your business," she snapped a little defensively.

"Well seeing as it was my first name you screamed out when you woke up, I think it is my business," he drawled.

"Ask me no more questions, and I'll tell you no more lies," she replied without truly answering him. "I don't see why you would care what I dreamed about anyway. And in any case, you probably couldn't understand it if I tried to explain. I'd tell you about the first part with us in the dormitory and you'd start saying things that aren't true like, 'Aw, does the little Mudblood have a crush?' and wouldn't let me get to the reason I screamed."

"Why would I ask you if you had a crush on me? Now you've got me interested. I have to know, Hermione," Draco drawled as he stepped up behind her and placed his arms around her. At first she leaved into him and inhaled his smell, but then her common sense came back and she pushed him away and hugged herself.

"No, Hermione, bad! This isn't your dream, and he's still an ass!" she yelled at herself...out loud.

He spun her around and looked in her eyes. "I think you better tell me, Granger," he said, slightly breathless at the fire burned in her eyes. She had a spirit like no other and that's what drew him to her more than anything, but it also was what made her infuriatingly stubborn.

Just then Harry opened up the compartment door. "There you are, 'Mione!" he said smiling until he saw Malfoy's hands on her. "Get your paws off my 'Mione!" he growled.

"I don't think I shall," Malfoy sneered. Hermione shook his hands off and ran over to Harry and buried her face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"What did you do to her?" Harry hissed while petting her hair to calm her down.

"We were just having a conversation. One that isn't quite finished, so if you'll please leave us," he drawled. He wouldn't admit it if his life depended upon it, but at the present moment he was jealous of the Pothead.

"Like Hell, I will!" Harry yelled. He turned to the girl in his arms and said softly, "Come on, let's get you out of there. You can have her back when it's time for the Heads' meeting." Then they left.

Draco stared at the door for a few moments then dropped his head into his hands.

"What did he do to you, 'Mione?" Harry asked her as they made their way to their compartment.

"I really don't want to talk about it right now. I'm sorry, Harry," she replied. 'And what would he think if I told him about that dream? No, it's best he doesn't know. At least not right now, though I do hate to lie to my best friend.

"Okay, if you're sure?" He didn't sound convinced. "If he hurt you in anyway, you know you could just tell me and we'd murder him in 2 seconds flat."

"Yes...I know that, but I want to deal with him on my own."

"Just don't get yourself expelled, okay?" Everyone in the school learned last year that Hermione was a force to be reckoned with, except of course Malfoy. During the constant short battles between the Dark Side and Dumbledoor's Army, she had taken out over 20 Death Eaters by herself. Now nobody had the guts to go up against her at school and that in itself is a reason to fear what will when Malfoy and Hermione took over the Heads' positions.

"Oh, I won't...You have to get caught first to get into trouble anyways." And those sentences also concerned him for that matter. She used to never stop thinking about what would happen if they got caught breaking rules, but now she could care less. This next year was going to be Hell for poor old Ferret-face.

"Gods, you worry me sometimes," Harry muttered under his breath.

When it was time for the Heads' meeting, Malfoy showed up to take her down to the Professor's Lounge. He couldn't help, but notice how much happier she was when surrounded by Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville. She smiled and laughed.

"You realize I still want to know what that dream was about, right?" he asked as they walked through the cars to the back of the train.

"You realize I still won't tell you, right?" she replied coolly.

"You'll come around eventually..." he drawled.

When she heard this she spun around on her heal and pointed her wand at his neck. "Silencio!" she commanded. Malfoy tried to speak and of course couldn't. "Now listen! If you repeat that, oh so annoying, phrase one more time, I will point a Shrinking Hex on you and the wand won't be pointing to you head, got it?" Malfoy swallowed hard and nodded.

Hermione opened the door to the Professor's Lounge, walked in, and sat next to Dumbledoor in the seat marked Head Girl. Draco took his and they waited for a few of the stragglers to show up, Ron and Ginny included. Finally when everyone was seated, the first Prefects and Heads meeting of the year commenced.

"Welcome back, students, welcome back. As first order of business, I would like everyone to know the new Head Boy and Girl are Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger. Congratulations to you both!" Everyone gave a respectful yet wary clap. "As you all know, security will be tight this year as the attacks by Voldomort," a few people cringed, "have become more frequent. There can be no wandering about the halls after 11 o' clock, except to you fortunate students, who are to make sure no one else is out of their common rooms. You will be given your patrolling schedule by your Head of House. No one is allowed outside the castle save the Head Boy and Girl after 7 pm, no exceptions. I will give you a parchment with your common room passwords as you exit, and I would ask Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger to stay here a little while extra for some special Head information. Thank you, and go patrol the train to make sure no one is acting up." He stood and handed each of the Prefects their common room passwords as they filed out.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, we need to discuss a few things. First off, when you get done with the feast go to the Professors' Table and I will show you to your new dormitory. Now the password to your common room will be needed to kept secret from anyone outside your most trusted friends. You each will have a password to you own room and the stairs to your room. I will give you all the passwords you will need when we arrived at your portrait hole.

"Now, as you know, this year will probably be one of the darkest that Hogwarts has ever seen, so the staff and I thought it would be a good idea if we could have a few dance, the Yule Ball and a Valentines Ball and maybe even one for Halloween, that will be up to you. What isn't up to you, however, is who you shall be going to it with. Now don't start complaining to me, but this school needs a little unity. So we have decided that you two shall go together and so will all the Prefects. I'll need you to inform the others about this. All of you will work on the decorations together and the themes as well. The posters announcing the time and dates for the dances will be posted in the House common rooms. In order for the posters to go up I will need to know the attire and if we will have a dance for Halloween. This information will be needed as soon as possible, so that we can decide when the first Hogsmeade visit will be.

"Another thing and then you can go, will you two try not to kill each other this year? I would hate to have to explain two dead students to their parent's and the media. Thank you, and I will see you after the feast," finished Dumbledoor. By this time, both Draco and Hermione's mouths were opened and they stared dumb struck at the place where Dumbledoor had just sat. I have to go to all the dances with HIM! This is so unfair, I demand a recount! Hermione thought furiously to herself. But hey, at least he can't come into my room at night. And with a password on the stairs he can't even knock on my door to disturb me while I'm sleeping. It might not be so bad after all. He didn't say I had to stay with Malfoy at the dance. I can go off and meet someone else to spend the rest of the night with after we start the dance.

"So 'Mione, what did Dumbledoor want?" Ron asked when she returned to the compartment.

"Your not going to believe it! I have to go to all the dances this year with Malfoy!" she replied as she sat down across from Ginny.

"What!" all five of them exclaimed at simultaneously.

"That is so not fair!" Ginny ranted.

"I know, but Dumbledoor said it so I have to. I just hope he doesn't get any bad ideas because of all this," Hermione said, totally exhausted from all the shocks of the day. "I'll deal with it as it comes."

"Just remember, 'Mione, if he hurts you we're here," Ron said.

"Harry said that earlier, and I'll tell you what I told him. I can take care of myself. He can try to hurt me, but if he does he'll do it when no one's around. If he can't get caught, I obviously won't get caught when I retaliate," she replied with a smile that screamed, 'Get in my way if you feel a little suicidal'. None of them had ever seen her smile like that so easily, and it freaked them out.

"Are you okay, Mia?" Ginny asked cautiously.

"Oh, I'm just peachy, though Malfoy won't be once I get done with him," she assured her with the same wicked smile plastered across her face.

"So Harry, when is Quidditch practice going to start up again?" Ron said to change the subject.

Hermione decided to patrol the hallway since they were almost at the school to make sure everyone had their robes on. She found a few first years that had fallen asleep and hadn't gotten dressed yet, but for the most part everyone else had already gotten ready. Soon enough the train pulled to a stopped in front of her favorite place in the world, and on top of a hill just able to be viewed from her present spot, the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry shown with the light of fires, candles, and torches to greet the students and proclaim the beginning of a new year.

A/N-Well there's the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Caren H- Thanks and yes I know about the typos. It annoys me, but they always show up somehow. One day I shall write a story with absolutely no typos, but unfortunately I'm not that good yet.

IrishTrinity- Thanks for the compliment! I'll update soon I promise.