Disclaimer: See Prologue!

Those of you who reviewed: I absolutely love you! In the next chapter or so, I will begin listing your names to thank you individually, which means that you'll have to skip down to read the text, or read my little comments. This story is only on this computer, so it may drag a wee bit...I'm currently writing two other fics...one that has yet to be named or posted. It's a Hermione/Sirius type story for those of you who enjoy those. More information will be pending, I'm sure...I'm just currently on a major block as to what to do. Dumb Allison dug herself into a hole and can't quite get out of it yet. Never fear, however, I will find a way! As for the other story...it's posted...it's called Coyote Ugly and it happens to be a Severus/Hermione story...even though thus far Severus has yet to play a role as anything more than a couple of lines here and there. It follows the basic plot of the movie, with several changes that I added in to avoid plagiarism. Anyway...I'll stop babbling and let you get on with this chapter...the third chapter of By the Blood, I Commend You.

Oh! One more thing! If any of you would like me to email you with new updates, send me an email at I will add your email to a group of people to send notices to, and you will receive an email with almost every update that I make.

Always,

Allison

Chapter 2

"He's utterly horrid!" Hermione snapped as she forcefully put grape jelly on her toast. Harry, Ron, and Ginny watched meekly as she sent crumbs literally flying with each stroke of the knife. "That...that...that...FERRET has set my teeth on edge! He's going to ruin our whole seventh year!" She took a violent bite of what was left of her toast- which wasn't much- before looking at it in disgust and throwing it down. "I HATE peach jam..." She murmured.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shoved large bites of eggs into their mouth. Ginny was suddenly very preoccupied with the enchanted ceiling. It was Will Kern...the transfer student...who dared to speak. "But...Hermione..." To his credit, he didn't flinch under her glare. "That's Grape!"

"Oh..." Her wrath cooled by the utter stupidity of her actions, she looked down at her piece of toast. "So it is..." She picked it back up and began eating.

"So...what's our timetable like?" Ron asked Harry, who was studying his.

"Divination first." Harry groaned. "As if we don't have enough trouble coming up with new and imaginative deaths for ourselves without having to do it first thing on Monday Mornings..."

"Oh good!" Hermione perked up, picking her own timetable. "That means I have Arithmancy without..." She froze, staring at her schedule, toast halfway to her mouth. "OH MY GOD!"

Simultaneously, the Head Boy and Girl leapt from their seats, moving towards the teachers' table.

"The games begin..." Albus muttered to McGonagall as the students approached. "Ah, Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, what can I do for you?"

"There's something wrong with my timetable, Professor!" Malfoy said, softly.

"And mine!" Hermione added. "I've all my classes with Slytherin!"

"And I've all mine with Gryffindor!" Malfoy added.

"So..?" Dumbledore began.

"EVERYONE knows how well our two houses get along, professor!" Hermione said. "We simply CAN'T have our classes together! We...we simply can't!"

Albus sighed and studied the two of them. "I'm sorry, Hermione, Draco, but I just don't see the problem. Until you have a valid complaint and proof to back it up, I simply cannot change your schedules around."

Hermione and Malfoy looked at each other in mute horror before storming back to their own tables. Hermione sat down and grabbed another piece of toast, beginning to spread Grape jelly violently over the surface as she cursed under her breath.

That afternoon, Hermione stormed into the common room with Malfoy following after her. She flung her bags to the floor and turned to glare at him. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"HOW THE HELL IS IT ALL MY FAULT!" Draco screamed back.

"I DON'T KNOW! IT JUST...IT JUST IS! IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SUCH A PRICK..."

"WAIT A MINUTE, IF I HADN'T BEEN SUCH A PRICK! WHAT ABOUT YOU! OH LOOK AT ME, I'M HERMIONE GRANGER! I'VE GOT BIG BOOBS AND BLUSH LIKE A VIRGIN AND I KNOW EVERYTHING IN THE BLOODY FUCKING WORLD EVEN THOUGH I'M A MUDBLOOD!" He walked around, swaying his hips and sticking his chest out.

"YEAH WELL AT LEAST I'VE GOT CLASS! I'M NOT RUNNING AROUND SEDUCING EVERYTHING WITH TWO LEGS AND A PUSSY!"

"EXCUSE ME! WHO HAS CLASS! CERTAINLY NOT YOU! AND I DO NOT SEDUCE EVERYTHING WITH TWO LEGS AND A PUSSY!" She just glared at him until he finished the statement. "I SEDUCE EVERYTHING THAT'S NOT A MUDBLOOD WITH TWO LEGS AND A PUSSY!"

"OH, YOU'RE UTTERLY HATEFUL! IT'S NO WONDER VOLDEMORT IS SO INTERESTED IN YOUR SERVICE!"

"YEAH WELL AT LEAST SOMEONE CARES WHAT I DO AFTER SCHOOL! EVERYONE ELSE JUST ASSUMES SHIT!"

"LIKE VOLDEMORT'S NOT JUST ASSUMING THAT YOU'LL JOIN HIM!"

"IT'S EXPECTED!"

"IT'S STEREOTYPICAL!"

"IT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN PREPARED FOR ALL OF MY LIFE!"

"IT'S FOOLISH! YOU COULD GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

"Why Granger, I didn't know you cared!" He sneered.

"I don't. You're just another face to ignore through school." Hermione began to pace while Malfoy stood there watching. "There HAS to be SOMETHING we can do! It's like Dumbledore's trying to make us commit suicide! Or homicide!"

"Will you STOP THAT RACKET!" Natasha's voice came, irritably, from inside of a portrait as she stormed into the frame. "It's driving me absolutely CRAZY! It's a wonder the two of you get anything done at all, arguing as you do!"

"Dumbledore put us in all of the same classes!" Hermione screeched. "As if sharing a bleeding common room isn't enough of a pain in my ass!"

"That's PROFESSOR Dumbledore to you, Missie!" Natasha said, grumpily. "And Albus did no such thing. He doesn't schedule the classes or pick where the Head Girl and Boy will room any more than he picks who will or won't have magic in their blood when they're born!"

"What?" Malfoy looked up, sharply.

"Of course he doesn't! Its the same roster each year that does the planning! If the roster decides to place the Head Girl and Boy in all of the same classes, far be it from Dumbledore to question its reasoning!" Natasha snapped, sitting down in the big Victorian overstuffed chair in the portrait. It seemed that this was an alternate portrait for her to live in. "And the same goes for the Head Dormitories! Why the hell do you think I actually concurred to him when he brought you two miserable brats up here! You think I WANT my peace disturbed when you two have parties all night long, or when you sneak out at night? HELL NO! Not just no but HELL. NO."

"No need to be rude about it." Hermione said, one eyebrow arched.

"Indeed. It's not like we've done any of that yet." Malfoy added.

"It's the second goddamned day of the mother fucking year. Give it a while." Natasha stood up and stormed out of the frame.

Hermione met Malfoy's eyes and they both snickered before Hermione pulled a piece of parchment out of her bag. "Look...while we're being..." She paused. "Mildly civil...I think we should get the patrolling schedules down now. If we put it off, that just means that we have to patrol the whole school until we finish it."

"Agreed." Malfoy pulled a chair out from under their white oak table and turned it around, straddling it. "I can't patrol Fridays or Saturdays...those are the nights that I go partying."

"And I can't patrol Sundays or Mondays." Hermione said. "I want to be rested for the first two days of school each week."

"Okay..." They set to work, pairing Slytherins and Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, getting a schedule worked out nicely. Fifth and Sixth years patrolled Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and Seventh years patrolled Tuesday through Thursday...giving the two younger years two nights each- the rest to do their homework, Hemrione insisted- and the seventh years- who should, Malfoy said, already know how to juggle patrolling and homework quite well- three nights. The two Heads went to bed that night peacefully...at ease with the cease fire between them and both thinking that maybe, just maybe, it would last long enough for the Unity Campaign to end.

Not so.

The next morning, Hermione pounded on the bathroom door. It was at the very top of the flight of stairs that stretched upwards between their rooms. It was outside...but charmed to remain the perfect temperature and hidden cunningly so that no one could see it, even if they were flying directly overhead. It never fogged up, and the water never grew cold...the bathroom was a paradise

But there was one big problem.

There was only one bathroom.

"MALFOY! LET ME IN! I'M GOING TO BE LATE IF YOU DON'T HURRY!"

"THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM, GRANGER, SO SOD OFF!"

"MALFOY, YOU ASSHOLE! YOU TAKE MORE TIME IN THE LOO THAN PARVATI AND LAVENDER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, CURLING YOUR PUBIC HAIRS!"

"FOR YOUR INFORMATION, IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO LOOK AS GOOD AS I DO!"

"GOSH, TOO BAD IT DOESN'T WORK, HUH!" She screamed.

"WHY YOU!" She was already running down the stairs when the door was flung open and the angry blonde ran out after her. She scooted to one side and stopped. He overshot her, stumbling in his haste to stop. By the time he turned, she was already back on her way up the stairs. Quidditch had been good for him, and to his credit he nearly caught her...but the door slammed and locked just before he grabbed her.

"DAMN IT GRANGER!" He yelled, pounding on the door. Her breathless laughter was the only sound that met his anger.

Later that afternoon, Hermione walked with Will, Harry, and Ron into Defense Against the Dark Arts, not knowing what to expect. Just to be sure, she put her text book on her table and her wand beside it. She saw a flash of silvery blonde before her book was knocked off of the desk. Ron and Harry leapt to their feet, glaring fiercely at Malfoy, as Hermione picked up her book and replaced it on the desk, standing up with wand in hand.

Before they could so much as take the breath to begin another argument, Professor Raven Stryke stormed into the room. "Well?" She snapped. "What are you waiting for? You've been given partners in your Transfiguration and History of Magic classes, haven't you? They're the same damned partners in each one, aren't they? I won't pretend you're stupid and need it spelled out for you again, so get with your partners and sit."

Glaring at each other, Hermione and Malfoy plunked down into the front row seats, at the same table. Ron and Harry gave her sympathetic looks before going off to their partners, and Will smiled at her wanly before hurrying off to his own partner. Ron was paired up with a transfer student named Ian Stryke...who Hermione assumed was the son, grandson, or nephew of the teacher. Indeed, Ian didn't seem at all surprised with the teacher's brisk, no-nonsense manner.

"Put your wands and the texts away." At their dubious look, Professor Stryke narrowed her eyes. "What, did I stutter? PUT THEM AWAY!" The class jumped and hurriedly stuffed their texts into their bags and their wands up their sleeves. "No, no! Put the wands in the bags, too!" She snapped. Hermione and Malfoy exchanged a look before putting their wands into their bags. "Very good.

"This year..." The formidable Professor said, calmly. "We will be learning wandless magic."

"But Professor." Hermione's hand shot into the air.

"Yes, Miss..." She glanced down and to the side swiftly. "Granger?"

"Don't you have to have certain special talents to be able to do wandless magic?" Hermione asked timidly. Malfoy was nodding beside her.

"Pfft! How much special talent does it take to wave a wand and shout 'abra kadabra' Miss Granger?"

"Um...none? But, that's not a spell, Professor."

"Exactly!" Raven said. "And just how effective do you think Wandless magic would be if you waved your hands around..." She waved her arms like a bird. "And shouted ALAKAZAM!" The class burst into laughter.

This time, it was Malfoy's hand that went up. When the professor nodded to him, he answered. "It wouldn't be, ma'am."

"Exactly!" Raven said, again. "Which means that I'm taking you back to the very basics of wandless magic. You, my dears, are going to learn magic all over again this year in a way that you've never experienced it before." With that, she swept up to the chalk board and began to write. "Take notes, dearies, you're going to need quite a bit of parchment for the first week of class...and if your handwriting is illegible, I suggest quick quotes quills...they work wonders. I will even sell them to you cheap." She waved her wand and three more chalkboards popped up and writing began appearing on them while she wrote swiftly on the first one. The class groaned.