Here is another chapter. I would love to hear from any of my readers. The good and the bad! Oh, and if you would like to see my fanart cover for this story head over to Tumblr, devotioninthedungeon. Also, shout out to Ithoughtwewereepic! Thank you for my very first review! I appreciate it so much!

(Again, I do not own any of these characters; they are J. K. Rowling. I just enjoy taking them out to play...)


"First Years, please follow your house's Prefects." Hermione shouted to the students in the large Entrance Hall.

Dinner had concluded uneventfully. After Headmistress McGonagall spoke of school rules, she announced (to Hermione's displeasure) the years new Head Students and the new Prefects. She felt the students looking at her as she studied her nails following the announcement.

She rushed from the Great Hall, following dismissal. She despised the feeling of eyes burning into the back of her skull. Even more, she hated that one pair of those eyes belonged to Malfoy.

"Bartimus, please ensure this first year catches up with the group ahead." Hermione said, gesturing to a small raven-haired girl. The older boy nodded and guided her away as a stray spell hit the wall to Hermione's left.

"10 points from Hufflepuff!" Hermione shouted, pointing a fifth year girl. "You're lucky I don't tell the Headmistress, Darbie!" The girl left the hall sulking, muttering under her breath.

"Trying to ruin the fun already, Granger?" a deep voice purred over her shoulder. She bit her cheek in retort, her hand clinching and unclenching at her sides. He was standing directly behind her, the heat off his chest radiating into her back. She took a deep breath, pushing the anger down.

"I'm doing what was asked of us, Malfoy, or have you forgotten?" She said as she stepped forward and turned, distancing herself from his heat, boring into her back. "I take this position seriously." She said behind clinched teeth. "I'm aware of your blatant disregard for the rules, but I will not be lenient just because the students are, having FUN, as you put it."

"Well, I would expect nothing less from the famous, Granger." he sneered. "All over the Prophet, all summer long." He glared at her. "After all... what is it they called you in the Daily Prophet?" He questioned, putting a long finger to his lips. "Oh yes, Hermione the Herculean Heroine." He paused. "Brains and Beauty of the Golden Trio." He smirked, looking down her body suggestively "and Omniscient Extraordinaire." He smirked, allowing his upper body to rest against the cold stone wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest, head cocked to the side.

Anger bubbled in Hermione's chest. "Do. Not. Call me that!" she said, emphasizing each word with a step forward until she was nose to nose with the man. Though, nose to nose was not correct. Her forehead barely reached his chin, though she was standing on her tip-toes, and he was leaning.

"Miss Granger! Mr. Malfoy! I'm glad to have found you...two together." Said Headmistress McGonagall's stern voice behind Hermione, there was a certain edge of warning to it.

Hermione's gaze dropped from Draco's blue eyes and rested upon her black Mary-Janes. She stepped back, blood and heat rushing to her cheeks in embarrassment. Surly McGonagall had noticed the precarious conversation they had just been engaged.

"I expect you two to behave yourselves this year." She looked between them. "As graciously as I have given you these titles, I will take them away just as quickly. Understood?" She had come to stand directly in front of the pair, Malfoy at Hermione's side, his arm softly touch her own.

"That being said, I have come to give you the passwords to you dormitories this year." She nodded in their direction.

"Oh. Thank you, Headmistress. I retrieved it from Nichole before she took the First Years up." Hermione said, her eyes meeting the old woman's,

"Though it is wise to know your prospective house's passwords, those passwords will be of little use this year. As such, this year you will have your own common room between the two of you." she announced, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"What?" Hermione and Draco questioned together. "I have to share a common room with him!? That's completely absurd and unfair, Headmistress!" Hermione whined.

"Oh, don't worry Granger, I don't want the likes of you anywhere near my room either!" He said, clear dissatisfaction on his face, his arms now folded tightly across his chest.

"Enough!" The stern teacher snapped. The two students cowering slightly at her tone. Hermione, embarrassed about her outburst, looked down at her feet.

"You two are in positions which, I would not have chosen on my own." She said pointing at the two. "As such, a silly fool of a painting, God rest him, ensured me that this was meant to be." she pointed at the two of them. "I followed this foolish paintings requests, but I will not have you stain to good name that Head Students! Is that clear?"

Hermione's shoulders fell, her eyes staring at the ground in shame. "Yes, ma'am." she mumbled. Draco said nothing, but shook his head, silently accepting the Headmistress's conditions.

With a deep sigh, the Headmistress handed each of them a bound scroll. "The directions to your common room lay within these scrolls." Her tone softened. "Truly think about what you plan on making out of this position. Do not make me regret this." She said turning, looking directly at Draco this time. "Draco, please follow me. There is a matter we need to discuss." she said, turning and walking towards the grand staircase, not bothering to look behind her.

Hermione watched as Draco's eyes followed the stern woman walking away. He moved past her with a glare, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his black pants. Hermione watched as the two made their way up the stairs. Draco's blond hair a stark contrast against the black robes he was wearing.

Hermione turned the scroll in her hands before opening the red ribbon which secured it. It was a map to a third-floor corridor. Hermione threw a glance back at the stairs to find the Headmistress and Draco gone. She shook her head in defeat. Well, at least she'd have no First Years to deal with in her dorm.


A portrait of a sleeping child hung in the location the map directed her. The tiny child, his tiny figure laying in a threadbare wooden bassinet with a patched quilt near his feet. She looked back at the map, to find the ink map had disappeared, in its place a single word.

"Amalgamation?" she said quietly, looking down at the paper. As she said the word, the small child before her rubbed his weary eyes and sat up in his cot. He looked up at Hermione and gave her a tiny nod. Behind her, she heard the distinct sound of stone sliding together. Turning around, she discovered a small doorway in the once solid stone wall, and a spiral staircase leading up.

With a deep breath, she took her first step into her new common room.