Chapter 7:
"Granger, Hermione!" The stern professor called her name. Slowly she let go of Draco and Blaise's hands, being the shy girl she was the few steps towards the rickety stool and tattered hat felt like ages. She could feel all the older students staring a hole in her back. She felt moments away from a full blown panic attack! Just breathe… Inhale… Exhale… In… Out…
Sitting down quickly the professor lightly put the hat on her head and almost immediately she heard a low voice right at her ear. Such a busy mind you have. You would be perfect in Ravenclaw.
"I want to be with Draco and Blaise. With my friends, please Mr Hat." She whispered, fearful of the curious ears straining to listen in on the conversation.
Want to be with friends, hey? You will be placed in-"GRYFFINDOR!"
Hermione smiled ruefully at Draco and Blaise, the trio knew that neither of the pure-blooded boys would get into Gryffindor and Hermione would be alone in her House. Sighing rather loudly as she sat at the still applauding table, Hermione tried hiding behind her hair. She noticed that to her left sat the prefect she met on the train, the one who sent her to search for Trevor the missing Toad.
"Hi there, welcome to Gryffindor."
Slightly surprised by his welcoming smile she turned her head automatically towards Dray, instinctively awaiting a yelled "Don't even think about it ginger! She's mine!" but instead she saw Draco turning his head away and staring determinedly in front of him. Hermione felt a sharp tug at her heart. His constant protective jealousy was her only confirmation that he still felt strongly about her, could it be that some other girl has already caught his eye? Looking over Dray's shoulder she saw Blaise whispering furiously into Dray's ear. Neither one of them looked up at her until Professor McGonagall called for "Malfoy, Draco" just after the famous Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, oh the joy.
Draco strode purposefully toward the stool overlooking the great hall. Sitting down gracefully, just as his mother taught him, he looked Hermione in the eye. I need to be sorted into Gryffindor, I need to protect her. She is mine. Draco continued this train of thought as he felt the edges of the smelly old hat tickling his hair; I need to be sorted into –
"SLYTHERIN!"
Draco's mouth fell open; the hat didn't even touch my head! His head snapped in Hermione's direction, pain and disappointment at the forefront of his mind. He would not get to be with her, Potter was in her house. He would be in close contact with her at all times. It would only be a matter of time before one of those dunderheads fell in love with her wonderful personality and her shy, cute smile that made you feel all warm and safe. No! She is my future wife and I will make sure every male in this ruddy castle knows it. Draco slowly made his way to the Slytherin table where his housemates were clapping respectfully for the Malfoy heir, sitting just so to have Hermione within his line of sight at all times and glaring viciously at Potter who sat beside her, his glare intensified when he heard Weasley being sorted into Gryffindor as well, one more red head to watch out for (Of course he didn't miss the older ginger smiling at her).
At long last Blaise was called up to the front, blushing slightly as some of the students started to moan for him hurry up, it wasn't his fault the sorting took this long. Blaise sat at the very edge of the stool, wringing his hands nervously in front of him. He looked at Hermione and then at Draco, wondering if he could manage to end up in Gryffindor and be with Hermione. This might be my chance to get closer to Mione and take Dray's place, he thought with a gleeful smile.
You want the muggleborn to fall in love with you? How rare of a pureblood. This shows courage, to go against the prejudice traditions of the Old Families. "GRYFFINDOR!"
This exclamation was met with complete silence. A Zabini was sorted into Gryffindor? The first to applause was Headmaster Dumbledore, followed closely by Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindor table. Hermione was smiling brightly, shooing Harry down the row to make space for her friend.
"Blaise, I am so happy you got Gryffindor!" Hermione hugged him fiercely when he found his seat. Blaise peeked at Draco from under her wild mane of hair and was not surprised to see the dangerous glint in his eyes, if he did not let go of her soon, Dray was going to skin him alive. He could still vividly recall the incident on the train.
"Welcome to Gryffindor Zabini, I'm Percy Weasley and the boy sitting beside you is-"
"Harry, just Harry, please. It's a pleasure to meet you Zabini." Harry stuck his hand out to Blaise and Blaise, being a gentleman, shook his hand firmly, feeling the other boy's fragile hand in his much larger one. Harry blushed prettily when Blaise smiled at him but was pushed aside by a skinny blonde girl sticking out her hand towards Blaise as well, "Lavender Brown, current Jnr Miss London at your service." She fluttered her almost non-existent lashes at him. Keeping himself from hiding behind Hermione he gently shook her hand with a quick "Pleased to meet you." And immediately turning his attention back to Hermione he noticed she was silently laughing at his expense. Nudging her shoulder he shot her his trade mark toothy grin. At that moment the Headmaster called for attention.
"Welcome to another wondrous year at Hogwarts. I am sure you are all anxious to start the new academic year, but first a few reminders and rules. Firstly, the Forbidden Forest is still forbidden to enter without the escort of one of the faculty members. Secondly, no magic is to be used in the hall ways. If you need to practise, please make use of the indicated classrooms. And lastly, it is not advised to go swimming in the Great Lake. Now eat up!"
And with the last echoing "up" disappearing in the distance, platters of dozens of different foods appeared on golden plates in front of the excited faces of new and returning students.
"So Zabini," began a shy Harry next to him, "how do you know Hermione?"
Blaise swallowed hard, how did this boy know Hermione? Have they met before? Seeing the confused expression on her friend's face, Hermione decided to enlighten him.
"I met Harry at Diagon Ally with Dray. I said something hurtful and then apologised on the train."
"You said something hurtful? Miss Don't-hurt-the-spider was mean to an actual living being?" Blaise laughed heartily at that. Both Hermione and Harry blushed bright red at his reaction.
"Anyway, to answer your question Harry, Hermione and I have been best friends since we were seven. We met through Draco." Blaise waved at Draco, a smile on his face, said person just glared at him heatedly. Draco was not happy. Potter was not only trying to steal Hermione from him, but he wanted Blaise to be his best friend too! Potter was trying to replace him, but why? He already apologised about what happened at the Ally. At least Blaise would not let Potter or any Ginger near Hermione, as much as it pained him to admit, he knew Blaise liked Hermione, and because of that Draco was sure she would be save with him there. But now the bigger problem was; How to keep Blaise from marrying his girl?
"What do you think, Drake? Are you even listening to me? You haven't! Why are you staring at Granger and Blaise? Don't worry Drake; you'll still be friends with them. And now we can finally focus on us without Granger bothering us." Pansy Parkinson, the bane of his existence, would not SHUT UP! If it weren't for his father, Draco would've shouted the words right in her face. He has tried to explain, many times, that there was no "us" and there never would be because he is betrothed to Hermione Granger and she is the only woman he would ever consider marrying.
"Honestly Draco, you should give up on her. She's in Gryffindor now and a Muggleborn at that! What would your grandparents think? And besides, we both know that she's in love with Blaise. It's just so obvious. The way she hugs him in public the whole time and she keeps whispering in his ear and – look! She's holding his hand!" Draco's eyes zoomed in on Hermione; she was, in fact, holding his hand. That's it! Draco sprang up and knocked over his glass of pumpkin juice. He speed walked (Malfoy's never ran) towards the Gryffindor table, ignoring the odd looks everyone was shooting at him.
"What is going on here?" He all but hissed at Blaise. Blaise looked up at Draco's furious gaze and dragged his hand from where Hermione was gripping it. If Draco was in his right mind he would've noticed that Blaise was gripping his wand and it was glaringly obvious that she was holding him back from hexing someone.
"I was just about to hex this git for insulting our Hermione." Blaise pointed thumb-over-shoulder indicating Ron Weasley. Before the words could register in Draco's mind, Hermione hastily gripped both his hands in hers, preventing him from drawing his wand. She looked him directly in his eyes and said in a calm voice;
"Dray, listen to me. It's no big deal, alright? Blaise was just over-reacting and I'm sure Weasley didn't mean a word he said."
Noticing how pale the ginger looked at the moment Draco felt a slight rush of triumph, now he knows I mean business.
"Weasley," Ron squeaked in response "never insult my fiancé." The heavy 'or else' hung in the air around them. Spinning on his heel, Draco dragged Hermione with him back to the Slytherin table, Blaise in tow with Harry staring longingly after them.