A/N: Thank you all for the reviews on the first chapter, they are always appreciated! :)

This is a slightly shorter chapter, but still decently long, hence the break between updates. As mentioned before, I'm aiming for at least once a week, though I'll hopefully get to it a little more often than that!

Enjoy!

Hermione crossed her arms tightly across her chest, staring anywhere but at Malfoy, and silently willing the carriage to move. Why couldn't we have gotten in the first carriage? She chided herself, then we wouldn't have had to wait for the ones in front of us to go.

Luna shifted beside her, having only just lowered her Quibbler and noticed the unfortunate turn of events, "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Hello."

Draco nodded curtly, not meeting her eyes. Luna had seen quite a bit of him at the Manor when she had been imprisoned there last year, and strangely that time had lessened her dislike for him rather than increased it.

"You don't look well," she told him, honestly. Hermione laughed, unable to hold her stoic stance any longer. She had forgotten that Malfoy was the one outnumbered here – she had Luna and Ernie. And Luna wasn't about to make him feel comfortable.

Draco shot a quick glare at Luna, though his heart wasn't in it at all. Honestly, he found it difficult to even look at her, and not because of her strange ways or oddness. She was just another reminder of everything that he had done. Turning, he stared back out of the carriage, resting his chin on his folded hands and feeling the stares of the other three.

"Why did you even – " Ernie began, but cut off as the carriage jerked forward in a swifter motion than usual. Both Draco and Ernie were caught off guard and thrown forward, almost onto the girls across from them.

"Sorry!" Ernie gasped quickly, collecting himself. Luna simply smiled at him, not bothered at all. Hermione, on the other hand, glared at Draco, who glared back at her. Now that this had begun, neither wanted to be the first to admit defeat and drop their gaze. It took about thirty seconds before Ernie waved his hand in between them, averting their eyes,

"Hey! The carriage ride isn't that long, and we do need to figure some things out," he stated, giving Hermione an apologetic look. She had transferred her gaze to him momentarily, aggravated that he had made her admit defeat. Not that Malfoy had won, but she had enjoyed seeing the discomfort in his eyes, behind the glare. Finally, Malfoy was the one who was not in control of the situation. Which felt quite exhilarating; almost enough to make her enjoy his presence in their compartment.

"What do we need to figure out?" Hermione questioned, her mind having gone blank after the recent events.

"Great Salazar! Is this the first time you haven't known something, Granger?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows in a mocking fashion. Hermione shot him a nasty look, turning back to Ernie, but Draco couldn't let this moment slide. He couldn't remember the last time he'd known something that she didn't, and it gave him back a sense of control: "We're supposed to gain one fact about each person in our compartment," he told her, doing his best imitation of her know-it-all tone.

"You know, I don't think I asked you," Hermione responded coolly, her icy stare meeting his for the second time in about a minute, her hand brushing her wand.

"Guys!" Ernie broke in again, "Look, as much as I would love to see you hex him, Hermione, that isn't going to get us anywhere."

Scowling, Hermione took a deep breath and looked over at Ernie. Then a strange wave of embarrassment passed over her. What's gotten into me? She thought. As much as she despised Malfoy – and knew that his sentiments towards her were the same – she was acting strangely. Maybe McGonagall knew what she was doing when she didn't make me Head Girl. I'm not exactly wonderful at promoting the interhouse unity this is obviously hoping for. Sighing slightly, she eyed Draco again:

"Fine. Can we put aside our prejudices for one minute and just get this over with?"

Draco's eyebrows rose again, "Honestly, Granger, I wasn't the one about to pull my wand out. I would like to think I've been quite – civil – considering our history."

Hermione fought off the urge to glare at him again, sensing the sarcastic undertone in his voice. She had to admit that he might have a point. After all, civil between the two of them tended to mean not hexing the other into oblivion – and she was the one who had almost gone there. Then again, I didn't actually pull out my wand, she thought, if I had, he'd probably have done the same.

"I'm starting to think that my father might have made up Crumple Horned Snorkacks," Luna stated, out of the blue. The three others stared at her, confused. She simply tilted her head and smiled, "I thought that I might as well go first."

"You've only now figured that out," Hermione questioned, feeling all the tension of the earlier moment leave her. Luna had a habit of being able to do that.

Luna's face was entirely serious, "Well, it occurred to me last year. I had a lot of time to think, you know." Draco felt his stomach knot at this pronouncement, but Luna did not even look his way, "I expect the Wrackspurts are behind it. They come in your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. You can't think properly."

"Imagine that, a Ravenclaw who can't think properly," Ernie joked. Luna simply stared at him, as though she wasn't quite certain to what he was referring.

"Who's next?" Hermione questioned, trying to think of something to tell them that Malfoy couldn't use against her.

"I'll go," Ernie responded, "When I was born, I had blue hair. The doctors thought I was a Metamorphmagus or something, but it all washed away. They still haven't figured it out. It's pretty disappointing, honestly. I mean, have you ever met a Metamorphmagus? They're pretty incredible."

Hermione nodded, thinking of Tonks, and feeling that entirely familiar pang throughout her. Luna reached over and took her hand, squeezing it gently. Draco, who could really care less about Ernie's story, noticed this, and once again felt sick and terrible. He wished he could get out of the carriage; being with these people who had been on the opposite side during the War was almost unbearable. Not that he cared about Granger at all; he still despised her, really. But for different reasons than he once had.

"Malfoy?" Ernie stated, and there was no mistaking the tinge of hatred that laced the word. Draco considered; he absolutely despised having to talk about himself, but he didn't feel like facing whatever consequences McGonagall had for them back at the school, either. Finally, he sighed, thinking of one fact that really didn't matter at all:

"Once, when I was younger, I accidentally turned our family peacock orange. It's white, normally," He left out what had occurred after the incident – as if he was going to get into any of that.

"The Malfoy family owns a peacock?" Ernie scoffed, disbelief filling his voice, "That would have been the last thing I would have guessed."

Draco shrugged, and turned to look back out of the carriage. Thank Salazar that's over with, he thought. Hermione still had to go, but Draco could now simply listen and then ignore them. I'm going to kill Blaise and Astoria, he thought, wondering where the two of them had ended up. Certainly in no place worse than here. Besides, it's not like they are hated as much as I am, so it won't be nearly as bad. This thought brought back the flood of memories that constantly tortured him, and he closed his eyes, trying to shut down his brain.

After a moment, Hermione finally spoke, and Malfoy forced himself to listen: "I used to go to Muggle school, before I got my Hogwarts' letter," she began, feeling strange talking about her pre-Hogwarts' experiences, "And I failed one of my courses. Gym."

Ernie laughed, "I have no idea what gym means, but that's hilarious. Are you sure you actually failed, or did you just get an E instead of an O?"

"Oh, we didn't have E's and O's," Hermione stated, "We had numbers and things. Like percentages."

Ernie and Luna looked at her in confusion. Draco did an inward eye roll, but didn't turn to join in. He had considered making a sarcastic comment, but decided that would just force him back into the conversation, which he wasn't sure was a good idea.

"When I got my first marks back from Hogwarts, I was so worried," Hermione continued, smiling at the thought of her younger self "I thought I had all zeros, but they were O's."

"You don't need to brag, Granger. Everyone already knows you're an insufferable know-it-all," Malfoy scoffed, unable to help himself, "We don't need to be reminded."

"Shut up, Malfoy," Ernie stated coldly, quite a different tone from his regular voice.

"Besides, that's hypocritical," Hermione added, face flushed with annoyance, "Everyone already knows you're an insufferable git. We don't need to be reminded."

"Oh, throwing my insults back on me? How clever, Granger," Draco drawled, though for some reason her comment hurt him, "Not quite so quick without Potter and the Weasel, are you?"

"Don't you dare insult Ron," Hermione stated, burning with anger now, "Besides, if I remember correctly, he's not the only one with an animal counterpart." Draco's eyes narrowed, remembering what was one of his most embarrassing moments during school.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you," Hermione continued, smiling in spite of herself at the memory, which had honestly been one of the best moments of her life.

Hermione's smile caught Draco entirely off guard, and whatever comeback he had been about to make was immediately wiped from his brain. The honest truth of the matter was that he had forgotten what they had even been arguing about. It wasn't like it had mattered; arguing with Hermione simply took Draco's mind off of everything that was constantly tormenting him otherwise. It gave him a small semblance of normality in the midst of the chaos that was everything else.

Then her words came back to him – insufferable git – and he found himself feeling sick for about the hundredth time that day. There were so many things he wished that he could change. So many things that he would never be able to forgive himself for.

Hermione, looking up in confusion at Draco's lack of a comeback, saw a strange emotion flash through his eyes. Like a mixture of hurt and fear – or something along those lines. It was so unexpected that Hermione almost forgot who it was in front of her, and almost reached out to comfort him. Then she shook her head, clearing her mind and reminded herself that this was her sworn enemy.

"No comeback, Malfoy?" she scoffed, though the hatred in her voice felt strangely forced.

Draco's eyes steeled again, and he stared at her, "You're so childish, Granger."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione laughed, humorlessly: "I'm childish? I could point out many examples your immaturity rather than mine."

"Feel free," Draco responded, though he immediately regretted it. His desire to push aside his inner thoughts was causing him to speak without thinking. He knew Hermione probably had infinite examples of his immaturity stocked up in that brain of hers, and he didn't exactly feel like being reminded of them.

"Well, 'mudblood' for example," Hermione began coolly, recalling all the times Draco had insulted the fact that she was muggle-born. She had been insecure enough back then, without his tormenting her about her blood status, "That's a pretty low insult."

All malice in Draco's gaze left for a moment, as he met her eyes, "Look, I haven't called you that since, what? Third year? Fourth maybe?" He left out the fact that he had slipped and called her the name not three hours before, on the train. What she didn't know wouldn't kill her.

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, recalling watching Neville do the same not long before. It was true, when she thought about it. "Well, there was the Inquisitorial Squad in fifth year. And the Death Eaters in sixth. And, oh, keeping people locked up in your mansion, trying to turn Harry over to Voldemort, switching sides whenever it was convenient. You don't have a lot to commend you, Malfoy."

There it was. And, he thought, his stomach twisting viciously, she doesn't know the half of it. Draco felt as though the air had been punched out of his lungs, and he didn't even bother trying to respond.

This time, the look that passed through Draco's eyes was simply pain. And Hermione felt terrible for causing it, though she didn't understand why. After all, everything that she had said was entirely true. There should be no reason for her to be the one feeling bad. He deserved it.

You're not being fair, a voice inside her said, you're upset about Harry and Ron and everything that happened last year, and you're taking it out on him. It wasn't all Malfoy's fault. Guilt crawled up Hermione's back as she realized that this was probably true. She hadn't been thinking or acting like herself all day, and was taking it out on the nearest possible person. I wish Ron was here, she thought, feeling tears welling up in her eyes again. Her emotions felt entirely confused, and she had no idea how to respond. She wasn't used to feeling this way, and absolutely hated it.

The two avoided each other's gazes as the carriage slowed and pulled up to the Hogwarts grounds. Neither Ernie nor Luna bothered to break the silence; Luna had gone back to her Quibbler, and Ernie was looking out into the forest, purposefully ignoring the situation. As soon as the carriage stopped, the invisible boundary removed itself. Draco snatched his bags from the floor, and before Hermione knew what she was doing she reached out and grabbed his sleeve:

"Look, Malfoy, I – "

He pulled away quickly, "Don't touch me."

Hermione glared at him again, all feelings of strange compassion dissipating, "Oh, yeah, wouldn't want to get my mudblood germs all over you," she stated frostily.

Draco tensed, but didn't return her stare or comment back. Instead, he simply tightened his grip on his things and stepped out of the carriage, walking quickly towards the Hogwarts' gate. Hermione watched him leave, not sure whether she should feel good or bad about how she handled that situation. Honestly, she simply felt relieved.

It did bother her though, that Malfoy's eyes hadn't held the same hatred or coldness that they always had. In fact, now that she thought about it, he hadn't looked good at all.

"Thank goodness," Ernie muttered, turning back around to face Hermione, "I was about ready to hex him myself. If I never have to speak to him again, it will be too soon."

Hermione nodded slowly, reminding herself that Malfoy's mental state was hardly her concern. Only moments ago she had been ready to hex him, and with the worst spell she could think of. What had changed?

"He didn't look well," Luna said softly, peeking out over her Quibbler and answering Hermione's thoughts.

Ernie laughed scornfully, "You say that like it's a bad thing. It's about time those Slytherins – and Malfoy in particular – got a taste of their own medicine. I really should have let you hex him, Hermione."

Hermione smiled slightly at the thought. Maybe it would have been better if she'd hexed Malfoy after all – then she wouldn't be having these strange thoughts now. It's just your compassionate nature, her mind told her, it bothers you to see someone in pain, no matter who they are. He's still a git – and a death eater – he's not your concern. Hermione nodded, and then remembered that she was nodding to her own mind, which wasn't a generally accepted practice. And she wasn't certain she had herself entirely convinced, either.

"You okay?" Ernie questioned, "Honestly, I still can't believe you didn't hex him. He's such a git." Ernie grabbed his bags and jumped out of the carriage, setting them down before helping the girls out. Hermione studied his still tensed features, slightly confused. She hadn't seen this side of the Hufflepuff before

"Ernie," Hermione questioned, when the two were alone. Luna had walked off, reading her Quibbler and mentioning that she was going to look for Neville, "Did Malfoy seem different to you at all? Like, in any way?"

Raising his eyebrows in shock, Ernie's mouth fell slightly open, "Not you too! Hermione, this is Malfoy! There's nothing different about him. He's probably just upset – like the rest of the death eater's – that the Dark Lord was defeated. Nothing more."

Hermione considered this. It was possible, she supposed, but somehow she wasn't entirely convinced. Oh well, she decided, it doesn't matter anyways. You have enough to worry about without nosing into other people's business. Especially Malfoy's.

"You're probably right," Hermione conceded, looking back at Ernie, "Come on, let's get up to the castle and find the others."

Ernie nodded and the two walked through the gates and up towards Hogwarts.

"I hate you guys," Draco seethed, catching up to Astoria and Blaise, who had been in the two carriages ahead of him, "What were you thinking, putting me with her?"

Astoria gulped slightly, but Blaise just laughed, "Awe, c'mon man. It was just a bit of fun," he stated, punching Draco lightly on the shoulder.

"Well it wasn't fun. Not at all," Draco stated coolly, "I mean, of all people. Granger."

"What did she do, try to hex you?" Blaise questioned, voice light.

Draco nodded slightly, "Almost. I'm sure she would have if the Hufflepuff hadn't stopped her," he stated.

"Hufflepuffs, always the peace keepers," Astoria mocked jokingly, but Draco shook his head.

"No, it wasn't like that. He wanted her to hex me, but said we had better tell each other our little secrets first," Draco responded dramatically, trying to catch onto the light hearted nature of his friends, and knowing at the same time that it was pointless. Being in the carriage had made him feel even worse – and more confused. What was up with Granger? He wondered. Honestly, she had every reason to despise him, and had acted like she did, but then grabbing his sleeve? What was she playing at?

"Ooh," Astoria teased, drawing him out of his thoughts, "And what dirty little secret did you tell them?" She questioned, waggling her eyebrows humorously.

Draco sighed, "Can we just drop this?" Neither responded, but he could see them giving each other concerned looks "behind his back." Draco scowled, "You know what, never mind. I'll see you two at the castle." With that, he turned, and walked to the right. He wasn't planning on going anywhere; he simply needed to get away from them and away from people in general.

"Wait up!"

Hermione and Ernie paused at the sound of Neville's voice, and turned to see him, Luna, and Susan hurrying across the grounds to meet them. It took only a few seconds for everyone to catch up, and a few more for each runner to catch their breaths. As soon as Neville did he coughed out: "I had Daphne Greengrass in my compartment. It was kind of strange."

Ernie groaned, "You think you had it bad? Guess who we had?"

Neville considered this, and then his eyes widened, "No, you didn't!" he stated.

Ernie nodded. "Assuming we're thinking about the same person, yes."

"Malfoy?"

"Yup."

Both Neville and Susan looked at the other three with respect. "How did you survive?" Neville finally questioned.

"It really wasn't all that bad," Luna broke in calmly, "It truly could have been far worse."

Hermione found herself nodding, and then stopped, entirely confused with herself. What is going on? Only a few hours ago my entire day was almost ruined by the idea of Malfoy coming back; now I'm admitting that having to sit across from him for the carriage ride 'wasn't bad.' She shook her head to clear it, but found that everything stayed exactly the same.

"Wasn't bad?" Ernie questioned, awestruck, "It was awful!"

Hermione again nodded, and then forced herself to turn away from the group for a moment to gather her thoughts. Rather than being gathered they became more confused than ever, as she saw someone sitting alone on the edge of the forest. Someone with a shock of platinum blonde hair, which could only belong to Malfoy.

She hadn't realized that she had stopped before Ernie shook her shoulder, "Come on, Hermione. We should really get up to the castle." Hermione nodded absentmindedly, wondering why in the world Malfoy would be sitting by himself in the dark before the feast. It didn't fit with anything she knew about him; she would have expected him to be terrorizing the other students or something. Sitting by himself, he seemed so…

Normal.

Hermione bit her lip and turned to walk with the others. What are you thinking? He's a death eater! He's anything but normal, she chastised herself. Besides, he was practically the same old git he's always been not two minutes ago in the carriage. Something about these thoughts didn't fit, but Hermione forced herself to put it out of her mind. Not that it was likely to work. She was used to everything fitting together and making sense to her, and when something didn't she had a tendency to want to figure it out. It was like the Muggle puzzles she used to do with her parents – Hermione always hated leaving them undone. She would spend hours finishing it after her parents had gone to bed, unable to leave the picture unfinished. Which was all this was, of course. Hermione wanted to know exactly what was up with Draco Malfoy. Only here she didn't have all the pieces, which was even worse. Honestly, she probably only had one or two, and was trying to fit together the entire puzzle. Either way, as odd as it was, she didn't think it could end up being anything good.

Which made her think of Harry and his death eater theory in their sixth year. She hadn't believed him then, but he'd been right. And with all of these thoughts in her head, she ended up thinking of Ron again, and her heart ached. I knew it would be hard, but not this hard, she thought, I didn't realize how used I was to having him around all the time. Her hand felt empty, somehow, and she wished that he were there holding it.

He'll write, she reminded herself, and he'll visit.

It's not the same, her most internal voice told her, and you know it.

And she did. It made her want to cry, for about the fiftieth time that day. She needed to pull herself together; she was going to be here for a year without them and she needed to get used to it. But the idea of having to be at Hogwarts all year without Harry and Ron was still too fresh – and it pushed all thoughts of Malfoy's strangeness far from her mind.

Pull yourself together, Hermione, she told herself, you've got lots of other friends – just look around – you're going to be fine.

She had a strange feeling that she was lying to herself, if this was even possible.

Draco sat on a large stone, staring out into the forest. It wasn't nearly his favorite spot on the grounds, but good enough for the escape he had needed. What's wrong with me? He asked himself. Not that he expected an answer. For the last two years, ever since he had – taken – the dark mark, everything had been entirely messed up in his brain. He'd started questioning everything he'd ever known, to the point where he'd actually been relieved when the dark lord had been defeated. Something his father would not be happy to figure out, though of course he was already suspicious.

As much as the conversation with Granger had helped to clear his head, as arguing often did, it had also confused him and he didn't know what to do about it. He'd always despised the mudbl – muggle born – witch, but he now wondered if perhaps even that was just his upbringing.

Letting out a sign of aggravation, Draco ran a hand through his blond fringe, feeling increasingly frustrated. All he wanted was some semblance of normality – of clarity – and he couldn't even get that. Not even in a conversation with bloody Granger. Merlin, she just wants to stick her nose in everyone's business, he thought angrily, picking up a stone and tossing it at a tree, stupid mudblood. This time, the word entered his thoughts before he could fend it off, but he didn't feel all that guilty. He was too drained and puzzled to care anymore; all he wanted was to eat and then get to sleep. But to do the former meant interacting with people, which he desperately didn't feel like doing at the moment.

Why did I come back again? He questioned himself, though he knew the answer. He'd needed to get away, and he'd needed to write his NEWTs. Why it was so important to him he couldn't answer, like everything else lately, but it was. Plus, he'd hoped being with the other Slytherins would help him sort everything out. So far they'd only stuck him in a carriage with Granger and made everything worse. So much for friendship, he thought, though for some reason the thought now made him grin. Really, it was a small normality, if nothing else. It was certainly something they would have done a few years ago, before everything that had happened.

But everything had happened. Draco clenched his eyes shut for a moment, once again needing to fend off the images that threatened his brain. The ones he couldn't control, couldn't resist, and couldn't understand.

Merlin, he couldn't understand anything these days. He knew what his father would say – something about him being a Malfoy and Malfoy's never showing weakness of any sort. That had become his default mode – never letting anyone see the real him. He'd always thought his father was right, that it made things easier. Now he saw the true consequences involved in doing so for years – he no longer knew who he really was, either.

Draco heard the grinding of metal that meant the last students must have come through, and the gates were now closing. Turning to look, he confirmed this suspicion, proving that at least his logical powers hadn't been affected. Though he had already known this, of course. He also knew that he had better get to the castle; he didn't exactly want detention on his first night back.

Slipping silently behind the final group of students, Draco continued up the path to Hogwarts without a word. He noticed Theo a little ways up, and wondered how he had managed to fall so far behind the others. Draco hadn't gotten to know Theo well during his years at Hogwarts, but both had been 'forced' to become death eaters after their father's failures in the Department of Mysteries. Of course it was Draco, not Theo, who actually received a mission for the dark lord, which he had put down to his father's higher rank in the dark lord's group of supporters. And it was Draco, not Theo, who actually wanted the position and wanted to follow the dark lord. The two had come to know each other far better last year, and Theo had finally confessed that he had been forced to receive the mark. He hadn't technically resisted, but he never wanted it. Draco knew that if time could be reversed, he would feel the same.

Or did he know that?

Once again, Draco had to fight back the flood of memories that he was so sick up putting up with. And this time, he was pulled out of them by an unfriendly voice:

"Your facts?" Filch questioned nastily.

Draco hadn't even realized that he'd reached the Entrance Doors to the castle, he'd been so lost in thought. He frantically scanned his mind and came up entirely empty. This isn't actually happening, he berated himself, you were actually paying attention, too. He forced himself to focus on everything that they had said in the carriage, and finally recalled Ernie's being born with blue hair and Granger's having something to do with Muggle school grades. But Lovegood's? He had absolutely no idea.

For some reason, rather than admitting this, he just glared at Filch and didn't give over any of his facts, making him seem entirely guilty. But, honestly, he knew he didn't have anyone to back him up and no one would believe his word alone. You're an idiot, Draco, he told himself.

Filch's eyes narrowed and his face curled up into an ugly sneer, though it was quite clear that he was happy about the situation, "You just wait over there," he said in that cold drawl that was typical of Filch. Draco searched the ground for Mrs. Norris, and found her sitting only a few feet away on the other side of the Entrance Hall. He made sure to steer clear of her, as he moved over to where Filch had mentioned. Not that surprisingly, he was the only one there. Obviously everyone else had taken McGonagall's threat seriously – which he had meant to do – and were now safe in the Great Hall. Draco scowled, both at himself and also at the silly rule that had gotten him into this stupid situation.

A few moments later McGonagall appeared, which surprised Draco. He'd thought she would be in the Great Hall by now, but apparently her stupid carriage rule was actually important to her.

"Awe, Mr. Malfoy. I wish I could say it is a surprise to see you here, but while I hadn't hoped to see anyone, you certainly wouldn't have been the last on my list of those who would disregard my instructions," she stated crisply. Draco cringed inwardly, feeling slightly hurt by her accusation, especially because he legitimately had tried to pay attention.

"Professor, I – " he began, trying to defend himself.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, but I don't have time to listen to excuses at the moment. I believe I made myself quite clear that there would be consequences if one was unable to follow my – very simple – instructions," McGonagall began. Draco felt his eyes narrowing, conflicted emotions rising within him. In once sense he felt the injustice of the situation, whereas somewhere else a voice told him that he deserved it.

"As such," McGonagall continued coolly, "Your entire carriage group will be forced to report to my office tomorrow evening for detention."

Draco's head shot up and he met her eyes, "My whole group?" He questioned, feeling even worse about the situation.

McGonagall nodded sternly, "This was a group exercise, and as such the result is a group punishment. Who were the other students in your carriage, Mr. Malfoy?" she questioned.

Feeling slightly sick, Draco recited the three names: "Lovegood, Granger, and Ernie something."

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall questioned, eyebrows raised in disbelief. She found it quite difficult to believe that such an intelligent student could not think of a way to get three other people working together. Perhaps Ginny had been the better choice for Head Girl after all.

Draco nodded, just wanting this conversation to be over with. What a way to start the semester. Detention with Granger.

"Well, I shall notify them of the unfortunate results of your – display of teamwork. Though I am uncertain as to why they aren't also standing here?" She eyed Draco peculiarly, and he just shrugged. Obviously any excuse he made wouldn't make a difference.

"Well, you had better get into the Great Hall. There are some important announcements to be made, and I do not want them to be missed," McGonagall stated firmly, turning around quickly and heading for the Great Hall. Draco watched her go, feeling even worse than he had when he realized that he didn't remember Luna's fact. He was worried enough about being hated already; this would simply make him more of a target, getting three other students detention. Merlin, maybe father was right. Maybe I shouldn't have come back, he thought, starting to regret what now seemed like a terrible decision. All he wanted now was to head for the dormitories and sleep, hope things would look somewhat better in the morning.

But he knew that wasn't a great idea, not after that encounter. McGonagall would probably be looking to make sure he was there.

Some beast, that's what it was, Draco's mind chose now to remind him, Lovegood said she didn't believe in some creature her father had told her about. He had no idea of the name, but knew that probably would have been enough had he remembered it only two minutes ago.

With an aggravated sigh, Draco shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes and headed into the Great Hall after the Headmistress.

To be continued...

A/N: So, there was quite a lot of thought and not a lot of talk for quite a bit of this chapter - there will definitely be more interaction as they go on, just working to establish each character's perspective.

I'd love to know your thoughts, and thanks so much for reading! :)