Disclaimer: THIS NOT BE MINE! HARRY POTTER BE J.K. ROWLINGS.
Chapter 8: Blossoming
As Draco and I were doing our rounds, he was being surprisingly pleasant. "So how was your summer Granger?" Was this some kind of trick? I kept expecting him to interrupt me with "Shut up Mudblood, no one cares." But he continues to let me talk. "Well, it was pretty uneventful. Compared to past summers and this past year." I was not about to get into detail with my best friends archenemy. That just did not seem right. "Oh well that good. Mine was also pretty uneventful, but nice nonetheless. My father only had to serve a couple months in Azkaban, my mother utilized the time he was gone by remodeling the manner. She said she wanted to 'get rid of all traces of Voldemort.'" I was not too sure why he was telling me things about his parents or his home. But I am not one to be mean and turn someone away. Besides, talking to him was a nice change. He was exceptionally smart, and we could have intelligent conversations, unlike Ron and Harry. Those two were quite simple, and I had to make sure they could understand what I was talking about. "Yeah, that's nice Malfoy. So when did your father get out of the prison?" "Oh he gets out at the end of this month. He has been in there since the beginning of June. He only got 4 months. So honestly, it could have been a lot worse. I never really got the chance to say thank you to you and Harry. If it wasn't for you two, I might have died, and my father would be in Azkaban for life. So thank you. You saved my family." Needless to say, my jaw dropped. Malfoy was thanking me? And Harry? The world must be ending for real this time. I had stopped in my tracks, and was gaping and Draco Malfoy. This was the boy who previous years called me every derogatory name in the book. He teased and taunted me every chance he got, along with making Harry's life that more difficult. Now he was thanking us for helping him. Thinking back to the times before when we saved him, it never really crossed my mind to tell Harry to leave them in the Room of Requirement. And I highly doubt Harry was going to tell Narcissa Malfoy that her only son was dead. She didn't have to lie to Voldemort, so it proves there was some good in her. I continued to gape at him. He rolled his eyes saying "Merlin's beard Granger, stop staring at me. All I did was thank you. Don't act so surprised." I finally closed my mouth and nodded at him. "Well I am pretty sure that I can speak for Harry when I say you are welcome." We continued to walk around the castle, mostly in silence. As we were coming around the corner, we could hear some students whispering, trying to be quiet, but failing. We stepped around the corner and saw a couple of Hufflepuffs huddled around each other. "Excuse me, but it is after curfew, and you should not be out. Now please, make your way to your house. You will not get detention, seeing as it's the first day of school. But if we see you out again, you will." Draco snickered quietly beside me. "Yes, now off with you!" The students rolled their eyes, but walked off. "That was a mighty long speech you made there Granger. You could have just told them to scram now." Of course that is what he would do, but I felt like I should establish my authority first thing and let them know the consequences if they disobeyed again. "Sure Malfoy, that is what you would do. But I want people to respect me and know that I am not going to be walked all over this year. I plan on standing my ground and showing that I am a capable woman who can hold my own." I looked over and saw that Draco was just watching me. Not really gaping, but now glowering. He was just watching me. It was quite unsettling seeing those gorgeous gray eyes peering into my soul. Well at least that is how it felt. "What? Why are you staring at me?" Draco gave me a crooked smile that made my heart flutter. I wish it wouldn't. I didn't understand why these weird feeling kept popping up. "No reason Hermione. Just glad I got paired up with you. I think this is going to be a good year." With that, he turned the corner and went down a flight of stairs. I didn't realize we were so close to the Slytherin common room. I just stood there, not really sure what to do. Draco just said he was glad to be my rounds partner this year. He even made it seem like he was going to enjoy being around me.
I walked in a daze to the Gryffindor common room. As I walked to the Fat Lady portrait, she asked the password. "Quid Agis" The portrait swung open, and I walked slowly through the hole. I looked up to see Ginny sitting on a chair bent over some parchment. She looked up as I stepped through the end of the corridor. "Hey girl. How did the rounds go with sexy Draco?" I didn't roll my eyes this time, as I sort of agreed with her. "What? No sarcastic remarks back. No eye rolling. What's wrong?" I was battling whether I should tell her or not. Ginny was known to have a big mouth, but she did keep secrets if I asked her. "I will tell you later when we get to our dorms. I need a hot bath right now. I think I am going to go to the prefects bath." Luckily, being the head girl, I could use the bathroom whatever time I wanted, and make sure that I was alone. Being able to use the prefects bath was something I was very much looking forward to this year. It was very luxurious, and I loved all the different kinds of soap and the scalding water. It was an amazing place to think. I walked towards my dorm and grabbed a change of clothes and my toiletries. I could seem to get Draco out of my head and what he said to me. Hopefully this bath would get him out of my head at least for a couple of minutes. Merlin's beard, this was going to be a crazy year. But I was bound and determined to make it a different one, and make it good.