Chapter 4
Hermione quickly slipped into the Transfiguration room, glad to be away from Ron, hurrying through the rows of empty desks to the office on the other side of the room.
"Professor McGonagall?" she called as she knocked. The door swung open and Hermione entered. The room was half the size of the classroom, with a high ceiling. A large spiral staircase sat in one corner, leading to a loft. There was a fireplace on the first floor, with several inviting, cushioned chairs and a bookshelf.
Setting her black bookbag on one of the chairs, Hermione climbed the wrought-iron staircase and emerged on the loft. Another bookshelf greeted her, as well as a large desk against the railing along the edge of the loft. There was another wall about halfway across the loft floor, with two large wooden doors. Hermione figured it was McGonagall's bedroom.
"Oh, Miss Granger, hello." came the professor's voice from the desk. Hermione turned and saw that the chair was empty. Raising an eyebrow, she leaned forward, over the desk, to see a mottled gray and black cat curled in the chair. Hermione almost giggled; the cat was wearing a pair of spectacles perched on it's angular nose. The cat lept from the chair.
With a swirl of colors and strange yowling sounds, the cat transformed into the Transfiguration Professor once more. Her green cloak swirled behind her as she returned to her chair, her spectacles magically adjusted to her human face.
"How can I help you?" she asked.
"I've come to ask you to show me where the Head's dorm is, Professor. Dr- erm, Malfoy is still in the hospital wing, but once he's released I'll be sure to show him myself." Hermione finished with a polite smile.
"Ah, yes, Miss Granger, I had been meaning to do that." McGonagall stood and pocketed her wand, starting down the staircase and beckoning Hermione to follow. As the professor swept from the room, Hermione grabbed her bookbag and slung it over her shoulder before following.
+++Several floors later...+++
McGonagall stopped on the 6th floor and watched Hermione, who was panting, emerge at the top of the staircase and trot down the hall. McGonagall motioned to the painting they were standing in front of. It was a dungeon cell, stone walls and mold and grime; the works. A man sat in a corner, leaning against the wall, his face in the shadows.
"Leonard? Leonard, are you awake?" McGonagall asked, tapping on the painting's frame. The figure moved out of the shadows. He was thin, most likely from lack of food and exertion(he was in a dungeon, after all), but he wasn't sickly; he was sort of solid, a thin layer of muscle rippling under his pale skin. He had a round face, thin as well, with a strong jawline. His deep brown eyes glittered under somewhat bushy eyebrows, which were so blonde that they were almost nonexistent. His dirty blonde hair was ragged, stopping just below his ears, and flopped over his left eye rebelliously. His thin, angled nose protruded a little. His teeth weren't as dirty and rotted as Hermione would have expected from someone living in a dungeon. Leonard noticed her staring at them and grinned wider.
"Yeah, nice, aren't they? The portrait was done not long after I'd been put in this hellhole; believe me, they got worse." he said. McGonagall gave him a stern look.
"Watch your language, Leonard, please." she reprimanded. He nodded and smiled politely.
"Sorry, Minerva. Who's this?" he asked, motioning to Hermione.
"I'm Hermione Granger, I'm Head Girl this year." she answered. He nodded politely to her as well.
"What would you like your password to be, Miss Granger?" he asked. His voice gave him to be about as old as the twins; somewhere around 17. Hermione wondered how old he really was; he was polite for a criminal.
"Hmm... how about 'Godric Gryffindor is my hero'?" Hermione asked with a sly grin. McGonagall gave a rare half-smile. Malfoy would kill her, but it was worth it.
"Let me guess... the Head Boy is not a Gryffindor, is he?" Leonard asked, grinning.
"Slytherin. Although he'd most likely rather sleep in the hallway then give you the password." Hermione said with a giggle.
"Good luck with that one. Well, here you are." he said as the portrait swung open. Hermione stepped through the rectangular portrait hole somewhat precariously- it was higher off the ground then she had imagined -and surveyed the common room. The walls were a deep cerulean color, with pristinely light blue carpet to match. A large fireplace was mounted on one wall; two dark blue armchairs sat in front of it, angled towards the hearth. A large bookshelf was against another wall, heavy with books in every subject, along with some not related to schoolwork, and it reached almost to the ceiling. On one end of the bookshelf was a large ladder with wide steps, and runners to slide it on attached to the length of the top and bottom of the bookshelf.
The other wall was different; the floor was raised about 4 feet off the ground with a carpeted blue staircase leading to it. Three black doors stood on the wall. Hermione hoisted her bag up onto her red-sweatered-shoulder and climbed up the short staircase, choosing the door directly in front of her; the middle door. Fumbling, she found a lightswitch and flicked it upwards.
She was standing in a large bathroom. The floor was a pristine white linoleum. To her left was a toilet and a large marbled countertop. Next to the sink sat several bars of soap, wrapped in paper with the Hogwarts seal, along with a small pile of green handtowels and a small pile of red ones. Hermione got a faint feeling of being in a hotel. The large mirror had lights around the edges, as would a stage makeup mirror, and there were several empty drawers for them to use.
On the other end of the room was a large bath. It was about 6 or 7 feet off the ground, and wide stairs wrapped around it. She climbed the stairs; at the top, it panned out into smooth linoleum for a few feet and in the center was a large bath. Stepping into it, Hermione saw that she was just barely taller than the edge, and she was around 5'8". Like the prefect baths, there were several different knobs that poured bubble bath into the water.
Climbing down from the bath (A/N: It's not that high, when she's on the ground it's just a little taller than her), Hermione noticed that across from the sink stood a shelf unit with bath towels and washclothes in red and green. There were even two terrycloth bath robes, one in red and one in green, for them to use. There were two doors, one on each side of the room, and she stepped through the one on the right.
She emerged into a room slightly smaller than the bathroom; it was Draco's room, she noticed, as the walls were a deep green, with almost obscenely white carpet. There was a polished desk next to a large armoire on one wall, a bay window between them. Another wall was blank save for a bulletin board and a small green (of course) couch, and on the last, his bed. It was a large, standard Hogwarts bed with dark green curtains and a dark wood finish. The bedcovers were shades of green with black pillowcases that bore the Slytherin crest. A small bedside table sat to one side with an elegant lamp atop it.
Leaving this room, she entered the bathroom and went through the other door. This was her room; it was painted a dark crimson, with the same blindingly white carpet as Draco's room.
'Malfoy's room. Malfoy.' she said sternly to herself. As was in Dr-Malfoy's room, there was a bay window in between the armoire and desk, hers bearing a red seat cushion as opposed to his green one. Her bed was draped in attractive cherry and crimson colors with black pillows as well, hers bearing the Gryffindor crest. She set her bookbag on the little red couch and saw that her luggage and trunk were sitting next to the bed. She unpacked, storing all of her clothes neatly in the armoire. She also took out several posters she had brought from home; one with a picture of Green Day, an English band Hermione was fond of, another with a painting of a forlorn fairy sitting in the dark woods, her gray wings spread behind her, and the last with Orlando Bloom, a handsome English actor she had recently "discovered". (A/N: winks)
Hermione took off her school loafers and replaced them with a pair of white tennis shoes, hiking her jeans up a little from where they had settled on her hips, and straightened her red sweater before pocketing her wand and leaving the dorms.
Stopping just before the portrait hole, Hermione pulled her wand from her front pocket, where it was jabbing into her thigh, and shoved it in a back pocket.
"Lose a buttock. Right." Hermione snorted, repeating the advice Fred and George had given them about wands in back pockets. She climbed through the portrait hole and set off for the Hospital wing.
++++++++++++REVIEWS!!!++++++++++++
TaurusGirl: update soon!
I will! I've already got Chapter 5 in the works! Thanks so much.
Zandreda DragonLove: Update soon! that was brillient! love Zand's
Thanks so much!
dramioneshipper: let me get this straight: Draco gets RAPED by his father? woah there... great story by the way, I can't wait until you update again! kis Marine
Yeah, it's sad. Lucius is evil. At first, when I read your review, I was like, what? That doesn't happen in this chapter! But then I got over my ditherspaz attack and realized you'd read from the beginning and then reviewed on the last one. smacks forehead Heh. Thanks for reviewing!
Weasly-Hater-Malfoy-Lover: WHOO! Yay! Poor Draco! Aww...Anyway,lost buttocks and Orlando Bloom? What will you think of next? lol Kudos to you!Weasly-Hater-Malfoy-Lover (P.S. I loved Orlando in Pirates of the Carribean, didn't you?)
Thanks! Whee! Kudos! That's a fun word...yes, anyhow. I lurrrve Orli in PotC as well!
Sunwinged: Very cute story. Love the witty dialouge. Just might want to check the spelling of some of the words, but it was still a really lovely read. Can't wait for the next chapter (hint, hint)...
Yes, I know, even though I AM a grammar obsessive compulsive, sometimes I don't catch mistakes, as I use Wordpad. For some reason, I just like it so much more than Microsoft Word or something. It's strange. But thanks for the review!!
Obnoxiously Peachy Twit 2008: Draco will have a lovely reaction to the password.hehe. he'll probably do something senile to her for that.
Yes, he's not going to be pleased, let me tell you... grins evilly Thanks for the review!!
Rebell: YEAH! green day and orlando Bloom! soulmates! lol... my favs! Brilliant! lol, i absolutely loved the password bit, and Leonard is totally awesome! whee, i'm really upsyched about this story, and i can't wait to read about Draco's reaction to the password... (snickers)
Thanks!
twinkle-pink-strawberries: tehe i like where this story is going and plus its funny woo lol
Thanks! Yay, so many good reviews...
Gi Xian: gr8 chappie, but Green Day aint English, they're American
Thanks! Oh...Why did I think they were English? Odd.
Broken Crayon Dreams :You know, I'm really kinda loving the way this story is starting out, keep it up! -Katie
Thanks so much!
Thanks SO MUCH to TaurusGirl, Zandreda Dragonlove, dramioneshipper, Weasly-Hater-Malfoy-Lover, Sunwinged, Obnoxiously Peachy Twit 2008, Rebell, twinkle-pink-strawberries, Gi Xian and Broken Crayon Dreams for reviewing!!
Charlotte
