Hermione stepped down from the carriage, her robes a tangle around her as the wind tried to snatch them away. Ginny hopped down beside her a moment later, closely followed by Luna and Harry. They hurried up the steps to the Entrance Hall in silence, the wind too much to attempt to talk over.

The instant they were inside and Hermione was adjusting her robes, she heard a familiar laugh. As she turned, Harry muttered, "I'm going to kill him."

Hermione frowned. They had both turned to look at Ron, who was a few clusters of people away. He was laughing at something Seamus had told him and Dean apparently.

She turned back to Harry. "Just forget it. I have. We can't make him come round."

She had been planning to approach Ron one last time tonight after dinner. Ron was always more agreeable after one of the feasts. But, Harry's arrival to her, Ginny's, and Luna's compartment thirty minutes into the train journey had changed her mind. Harry had shown up fuming and nursing red knuckles. Apparently, Ron had stopped writing Harry mid-summer to avoid Harry's lectures about abandoning his best friend and unborn child. Once on the train, Ron had tried to pretend like nothing had happened. They got into a row, and Ron ended up with a bloody nose.

"But, Hermione-" Harry began with a huff.

She waved a hand to hush him as she had just seen McGonagall headed for them. "We can talk later, Harry."

"Miss Granger," McGonagall said, glancing quickly to the rest of the group before darting her gaze back to the young witch. "After the feast, please come to the Headmaster's office. We want to discuss your duties as Head Girl tonight. Mr...ah, Draco will be there as well. He's Head Boy."

Hermione furrowed her brow but nodded. "Yes, Professor."

The woman gave a curt nod and vanished back into the crowd of students flooding the hall, undoubtedly on her way to receive the first years for the sorting.

"That was odd," Harry said as they followed Ginny and Luna into the Great Hall. Luna split off from them just inside the door, giving a dreamy wave of her fingers as she went to join the Ravenclaw table.

"What?" Hermione asked. She slid into a seat beside Ginny as Harry sat across from them. They had chosen seats at the end near the door. "I'm not terribly surprised he's Head Boy. You told me Ron didn't have the badge today."

"No, it's not that." Harry frowned. "She called him Draco, not Mr. Malfoy. She stopped herself. Do you think it has anything to do with his parents disowning him this summer?"

"Most definitely," Hermione answered. She had been ill most of the summer with morning sickness, but the fatigue and vomit hadn't blurred her mind so much that she forgot the Daily Prophet article from mid-July. She certainly hadn't missed the Weasleys' shocked reactions and Harry's rushed letter with the clipping enclosed. "He's probably not allowed to use the Malfoy name anymore."

"Do wizarding families make you change your name when you're disowned? Sirius didn't."

"Yes, but Sirius's parents didn't announce it to the entire wizarding world on the front page of the Daily Prophet."

"So what would he go by now?" Ginny asked.

"No idea," Hermione said.

Harry frowned, and she recognized it as the same look he gave his Divination homework.

"Stop trying to figure it out, Harry," she said. "We've been over it dozens of times. No one is saying why he was disinherited."

"But what could have been so bad that his parents made it known? That they would disown their only heir?"

Hermione shrugged. It was certainly peculiar. The article had been written to sound as if the Malfoys had made the scandal public knowledge of their own free will rather than a reporter digging up pureblood secrets. And then as suddenly as it had appeared, it was all hushed up. Not a single article with more information had followed, and a scandal of a pureblood family with such a steep reputation as the Malfoys should have been talked about for months. It was almost as if the Malfoys were afraid of being found connected to their son if the truth was ever revealed, so they had prevented an even bigger scandal by announcing the cutting off of their son immediately. But that still left so many questions.


I'm so amazed by how many people have already followed this story. And thank you to everyone that reviewed, faved, or followed this story or my account. You guys are awesome! Also, I can't wait for you guys to see what surname Draco has adopted.