Chapter 7
A/N: There goes another year and another chapter. I am soo sorry! But as you read this I am hard at work on the next chapter. Anyways, enjoy!!
Chapter 7 The Competition
It had been a nearly month since the night that Hermione and Draco kissed. Many things had changed since then. Hermione no longer hated Arithmancy. Instead of Draco calling her a mudblood things like, "Hey, Beautiful," would be the first thing that Hermione heard from Draco. All of his comments were still in an undertone so that no one but Hermione heard them but it made her feel special. Hermione still hadn't told anyone what had happened. It was a little secret that she kept to herself. She wouldn't have called Draco her boyfriend but they were spending more and more time together. Studying with Draco tended to last longer into the night. They had gotten closer over the last couple of weeks. They hadn't kissed since then or even talked about the kiss. Each was comfortable with the fact that it happened and it only changed things for the better between them.
About a week before Halloween, Hermione went down to dinner alone leaving the boys in the common room to an intense game of wizard chess. She sat down next to Ginny at the Gryffindor table.
"Where are Harry and Ron?" Ginny asked as Hermione sat down alone. "You guys aren't fighting again are you?"
"Oh no," Hermione replied, "They're upstairs being boys. I figured I'd come down to dinner before I starved waiting for their wizard chess game to end."
Ginny laughed as she put a spoonful of mashed potatoes on her plate. She stopped quickly however when she had noticed Professor Dumbledore was standing up at the head table awaiting everyone's attention. Ginny nudged Hermione with her elbow and nodded towards him. Hermione gently put down her fork filled with peas that was halfway to her mouth and gave her full attention to Dumbledore. Slowly other students caught on and everyone had turned their attention to the headmaster, including Harry and Ron who had just showed up and sat down across from Ginny and Hermione.
"Thank you everyone," Dumbledore began. "In light of the recent events that have happened these past two years I feel that as a school we need to become more united. I propose a competition of sorts. The entire school will be divided into groups of four. Each member of the team will be from separate houses in the same year.
"There will be two parts to this competition." Dumbledore continued, "The first part will be to build or create something to show unity using only muggle methods and tools, which will be provided for you. The unity you choose to exhibit can be about anything, inter-house unity, unity in the wizarding world or unity with muggles. The possibilities are endless in this part of the competition. You can build a statue, paint a portrait, take a picture, write a song or a poem, anything that you and your group feel unity is being portrayed in."
There was a pause in Dumbledore's speech as the students whispered quietly to each other about the competition. As the conversations subsided Dumbledore continued, "The second part of the competition will be to write a paper about one of the people in your group. Who you write about and how you choose to divide up the task is up to you and your group members. In the paper you will write about the past of the person and what they want their futures to be. I know some of you do not want to get that close to your classmates but I feel that as a whole this will help in the unity of the school. More information will be provided to you by your heads of houses following dinner in your common rooms. Any questions you may have should be brought to them. Thank you for your time and dig in!"
With that Dumbledore sat down. The Great Hall exploded into multiple conversations. At the Gryffindor table people were complaining loudly. Hermione heard Seamus saying something about not wanting to be stuck with any Slytherins. She heard Dean agree but Ginny didn't. Hermione wasn't really listening to anyone but looking across the room to meet Draco's eyes. She wasn't sure but she thought she saw him wink before looking back to say something to Crabbe.
"Hermione?" Harry asked again, although it was the first she heard him.
Hermione quickly looked back at him, "yea?"
"What do you think about all of this?" He asked exasperated.
"The competition?" Harry nodded and Hermione continued, "Well, I think it's a great way to meet other people from the other houses. Yes Ron, even the Slytherins. Not all of them are bad you know."
"This from the girl who has a Slytherin calling her names every other day." Ron said with a scowl. Hermione blushed slightly and looked down at her plate. She pushed her peas around for a while as conversations went on around her. She kept her eyes averted throughout the remainder of dinner.
Draco had been doing a lot better in Arithmancy in the last month. Slowly but steadily his grades had been improving. He was also beginning to understand the basics which had helped him out tremendously. When he wasn't in his lessons with Hermione he was busy thinking of a way to get out of becoming a Death Eater. This is what kept him up at night. In fact, the only way he could get to sleep was after working late into the night with Hermione. He was usually wiped out from so much reading. With thoughts of Hermione fresh in his mind it was easier to fall asleep.
Draco was becoming infatuated with Hermione. He couldn't think of any other way to describe it. He had stopped calling her mudblood and instead he gave her whispered comments when she walked into class. It made him feel good to not be so nasty all the time. He still had to keep up appearances though lest his father find out. There were so many spies inside the Slytherin house. Any one of them could write to his father in a heartbeat.
About a week before Halloween, Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table half listening to his classmates complain about other students and professors when he saw Hermione walk in. His heart leapt up into his throat and his stomach did a little summersault. Hermione however, paid him no mind and bee lined to a seat next to the Weasley girl at the Gryffindor table. After his heart had plummeted to his stomach he continued his half listening to the students around him, finally realizing that he was being addressed.
"So Draco what do you think?" Parkinson had asked him.
Draco took note that she, Crabbe, and Goyle had huddled in close to him and he knew what they were in some way talking about Death Eaters. "What do I think about what?" he sneered.
"What do you think the initiation is going to be like?" she whispered in an urgent need to hear his thoughts.
By this time Draco had noticed that Dumbledore was standing up and most of the student body had their attention on him. Draco leaned in close to the others and in a deadly whisper said, "Father won't tell me what's going to happen until I get there. I do however suggest that the next time you feel the need to discuss my private life you do so in not such a public place." He then put on a bored face and focused on Dumbledore. The others took note and did the same thing.
"Thank you everyone," Dumbledore began. "In light of the recent events that have happened these past two years I feel that as a school we need to become more united. I propose a competition of sorts. The entire school will be divided into groups of four. Each member of the team will be from separate houses in the same year."
Draco eyes shifted from Dumbledore's blue ones to Hermione's deep brown. She had not noticed that Draco had stared at her for the remainder of Dumbledore's speech. She would not know that he had been hoping that somehow the two of them would get paired together.
Dumbledore sat down upon finishing his speech. The Great Hall exploded into multiple conversations coming from every corner of the room. Draco was surprised when Hermione glanced in his direction. Was she thinking the same thing as he was?
"Can you believe this Malfoy?" Crabbe asked, "Imagine being paired up with a Hufflepuff or even a Gryffindor!"
Draco gave a slight wink to Hermione before looking on to Crabbe, "Do what I do. Sit in a corner and have everyone else do your work." Draco chanced a glance back at Hermione who had a slightly pink complexion as she played with the food on her plate. Draco turned back to his housemates and half listened as they complained, rather loudly, about not wanting to do the project.
After they had finished eating Draco and his fellow Slytherins left the table to make their way down to the dungeons. There was the usual traffic jam at the door leading out of the Great Hall. Draco felt something bump into his side and he could feel the anger growing in the pit of his stomach. When he looked back to see who had run into him he saw Hermione. A soft sorry had escaped her lips. This was the first time they had been this close with many people around since they kissed. Not wanting anyone to hear him say anything Draco gave Hermione a small crooked smile. The corners of her mouth went up slightly before they quickly dropped back down. Draco's heart fluttered a little knowing that had they been alone she would have given him one of her full beautiful smiles. As he looked over her shoulder he saw Snape staring right at him.
"Watch yourself, Granger!" he said roughly.
After pausing for a moment she replied simply, "Maybe next time, Malfoy."
Soon the Slytherins had pushed their way through the doors and down to the dungeons. The whole house was in the common room waiting for Snape to come in. If it was possible they were louder than they were in the Great Hall. It was clear to anyone who would walk in the room that the Slytherins were not happy with this project. Draco took his seat in his favorite wing backed chair closest to the fireplace. He stared into the spitting flames lost in his own thoughts when Snape entered the room. Draco turned his attention to Snape as his housemates complained loudly to their Head of House. It didn't take any more than an angry look from Snape to get the room to become completely silent.
"I detest this competitionas much as the next wizard." Snape started, "But seeing as the Headmaster thinks this is one of his more brilliant plans I'm afraid there is no way to get out of it. I suggest you simply go along with it. I will not tolerate any rule breaking from this house. If I get one complaint from anyone about one of you it will be detention with me in a heartbeat." He glared in the general direction of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.
"Now, there will be lists on the bulletin board tomorrow of who will be in your group."
Snape continued, "You are stuck with who you get. There will be no swapping partners and do not even think of coming to me to complain about your group. I had nothing to do with placement.
"Starting tomorrow, and up until Halloween, you will not be staying at your house tables for meals. Instead, you will be sitting with your groups. There will be assigned tables set up in the Great Hall so you don't have to worry about where to sit.
"One final item, the competition ends on Halloween with a ball." There was a chorus of groans from the students in the room which quickly subsided with a glare from Snape. "You will be required to dance with one member of your group. Don't think that you will be able to pick which song it is either. I suggest you pick a member of your group from the opposite sex, unless your door swings in the opposite direction. Any questions?"
A long hand stood out in the mass of black robes. Draco groaned inwardly, stupid first year, now they were going to be stuck here even longer. "What is it, Zoeller?" Snape snapped.
"Well sir, you said this was a competition, what's the prize if we win?" Zoeller asked timidly.
"You will be able to take a week long trip, with your group, to Lucerne, an all wizarding town in the south of France." Snape said already turning on his heel to walk back out the door. "There better not be anything else."
With that he was gone. The common room broke out in conversations again. Draco sighed and went up to his room. He had enough of listening to his classmates. As he leaned back in his bed with his Arithmancy book his mind began to wander. As much as Draco wanted to be in the same group as Hermione, it would be difficult to have to be in such close company with her and still have to treat her like she was beneath him. He didn't like having to put on that charade outside the Room of Requirement. If he hadn't been so terrified about what his father or the Dark Lord was going to do he would have told not only Hermione, but everyone, about his feelings for her. With the velvety green curtains pulled tightly around his four-poster bed, Draco drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
Hermione didn't know what to say to Harry and Ron on the trek back up to Gryffindor Tower. She had to hold them back after the little confrontation with Draco in the Great Hall. She couldn't tell them that Draco meant nothing by it, they would immediately know something was up if she were to defend him. There had to be some way to share her feelings about Draco with Harry and Ron. They were her best friends and she hated lying to them like this. When they asked her where she went on Sunday night's she had a hard time thinking of new excuses. She was lucky it was only one night of the week she appeared to be missing to them, as the other night she was tutoring Draco was during the Gryffindor Quidditch Practice. There had to be some way to explain to Harry and Ron that Draco had changed. He wasn't the same person they met on the Hogwarts express during their first year.
Lost in her own thoughts Hermione was surprised when she walked into the common room to see Professor McGonagall standing by the fire. "Nice of you to join us," she said curtly.
"Sorry, Professor," the trio murmured together as they took a seat at the only open table by the windows.
"Now that we're all here," Professor McGonagall began, but that was the last that Hermione had heard of her speech. She was, again, lost in her own thoughts of Draco.
Did she really want him to be in her group? Sure, he had changed for the better when they were on their own studying, but whenever they were in classes or the Great Hall he was different. He wasn't the old Draco Malfoy, the one that had called her mudblood at every chance he got; but he wasn't the Draco Malfoy she knew from the Room of Requirement.
Hermione's mind came back to the present when the door to the portrait hole closed with a snap. Had she really missed the whole speech about the competition?
"Well, this could be interesting." Harry grinned to Hermione as he pulled a book out of his bag.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, hoping it didn't sound as if she hadn't heard a word of McGonagall speech.
"Sitting with our teammates at meals," Harry explained. "I mean, think of all the hostilities between the houses. This could turn out to be quite… interesting."
"Who cares who I have to sit with?" Ron interjected, "So long as I get to go to the South of France for a week. I would even dance with Malfoy to be able to go!"
Hermione raised her eyebrows at this comment, "dance with Malfoy?" She asked disbelieving.
"Ok, so maybe I won't dance with Malfoy," Ron continued, "the point of the matter is I want that trip to Lucerne!"
Hermione shook her head in amusement, "I don't know Ron, I think it would be kind of fun to see you and Dra-." Hermione immediately stopped talking.
Ron and Harry stared at Hermione with wide eyes. "Did you just call Malfoy by his first name?" Ron nearly yelled at the top of his lungs.
Hermione blushed a deep red, "I don't know what you're talking about." She stood up quickly from the table, "I'm going to go up to bed." With that she all but ran up the girl's staircase to her room. How was she going to explain herself to them in the morning?
In the room, Lavender and Parvati were already sitting on their beds gabbing. "I wouldn't mind having my Slytherin be Malfoy." Lavender gushed.
"I was thinking the same thing," Parvati agreed, "either him or Blaise Zabini."
"Oh yea, he is so cute! Isn't he like Malfoy's best friend?" Lavender questioned.
Hermione tried her best to ignore her roommates banter as she got ready for bed. This was a very difficult task however as they kept shrieking. Hermione tried to sneak into her bed and avoid the conversation but that was not to meant to be,
"Who do you want in you group, Hermione?" Lavender asked from across the room.
"Oh, I don't know," Hermione sighed, "someone hard working, I guess. The trip to Lucerne sounds like fun."
"Then I guess Malfoy's out for you!" Parvati squealed. "He's the laziest person in our year!"
"No he's not," Hermione defended. "He's actually one of the top people in our class."
"Why are you defending Malfoy, Hermione?" Lavender asked. "I mean after everything he has done and said to you, it's a little weird."
"I'm not defending him," Hermione stated, "I'm just giving you the facts. You know how I love facts."
Lavender and Parvati looked at each other thinking the same thing. "You're into Malfoy aren't you?' Lavender asked breaking the silence.
"I am not!" Hermione said indignantly.
"It's okay if you are, Hermione," Parvati replied, "He is a total babe."
"I wouldn't call him a babe," Hermione said quietly.
"There's not much else to that boy besides looks," Lavender injected, "well, looks and money."
Hermione didn't have a reply to this so she bid her roommates goodnight and closed the curtains around her bed tightly. That was twice in ten minutes that she had a slip up about Draco. This could turn out to be a very long year.
A/N: So there you go! Hope you enjoyed it. Please R/R!! Keep Smilin' :)