A/N Thanks for all the support I got! It means a lot, please REVIEW. It makes my day. Not kidding, I love it, need it. Please. Alright now back to the story.
-Hermione
The Great Hall is the same, yet changed. The war has taken so many familiar faces from Hogwarts, but the school has preservered despite the losses it has suffered. We are back, and we are stronger than ever. The next generation of Hogwart's students is already sitting in the same seats we occupied not so long ago, readying themselves to be sorted into their Houses.
Hermione dropped her journal into the bag that was magically transported to her new quarters and walked into the Great Hall with her Gryffindor friends behind her. They filled in the table, raising the volume in the room a few levels higher than it already was. The excitement in the air was palpable, and the first years' anxiety was shown plainly on their young faces.
She turned around slowly, reveling at the familiarity of the four tables, the enchanted ceiling, the multitude of black robes… This was her home. When she was a muggle, an extraordinary little girl who loved everything she learned and had the ability to make strange things happen, she had never fit in. When she had her wand in her hand, she was herself, and not even a war could take away the feeling she got when she walked into the castle.
Settling in against her boisterous second family, Hermione watched as McGonagall took Dumbledore's old spot. The teen's heart saddened. Dumbledore was another bright spot the war had snuffed out.
Hermione felt an overwhelming surge of guilt overcome her with such a force she gasped aloud. Why did you live when one of the greatest wizards of all time is now dead? You know you can't even begin to measure up to his accomplishments, yet he is dead and you are alive. Hermione shuddered and bit her lip to distract her from her thoughts. McGonagall had begun speaking, and Hermione turned her attention onto the older woman.
McGonagall was donned in green and purple robes, her hat and glasses positioned on her head as usual. She was a pillar of strength, a force of life that never wavered in her position throughout the war, always fighting for her students and the light that Voldemort wanted to extinguish. Hermione had grown quite close to the elder witch, especially when the professor told Hermione she would be Head Girl this year.
Hermione hadn't understood why McGonagall had made her Head Girl and Draco Head Boy, but the elder witch claimed it would help to unite the student body the war had torn apart. Hermione of course accepted the position, but she was dreading working with Draco this year.
At least she would have her own private rooms, instead of the normal one connected to the Gryffindor common room. The common room connected to her new room would be shared only with Draco, who hopefully wouldn't notice the change in her. Hermione doubted she would have been able to be as cheerful as she normally would. She was different, wasn't the same person her friends were used to. Only Harry and Ron knew her well enough to accept her changes, as they were different themselves as well. The Trio was closer than ever, but maybe not as Golden as they once were. They had seen too much to be Golden, Hermione thought bitterly.
As the last first year student was assigned their House- Robert Zane, Ravenclaw- the feast appeared, and everyone began to eat. As Head Girl, Hermione could leave the feast at her leisure, something she was grateful for. After forcing down a few bites of cornbread, turkey, and collard greens, the brunette excused herself quietly and left the Great Hall.
When the doors shut behind her, Hermione let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Out in the quiet of the hallway, the noise she had come from was even louder than it had been when she was a part of it. She was separated from the swirl of happy chaos and chatter now, and it seemed unbearable from her new point of view in the blanket of silence the hallway provided. What was wrong with her? The war was over and she was out here, hiding from the friends that had flashed her worried looks when she had excused herself.
Walking down the hallway, Hermione planned to go to the library and reread some of her assigned books for this year. She had a schedule full of difficult classes, which wasn't unusual, but still stressful. The school had a new potions teacher this year as well, since Snape would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. The bright witch wanted to make sure the new teacher would like her.
Hermione bumped into someone, and fell on her butt on the stone cold floor of the hallway. "I'm sorry-" She stopped herself. It was Draco Malfoy, his muscular frame not even slightly affected by the harsh collision. Yet she ended up sprawled on the floor. How unfair.
"I know you are, Granger. What I want to know is why you are out wandering around when your Gryffindor friends are all at the feast. Don't tell me they got sick of you already- that would have to be a new record."
Hermione angrily brushed her cinnamon curls behind her ears, eyes flashing with the familiar spark she craved. The spark that was always easy to find when he was around.
-Draco
Draco had to get out of there. The sense of failure that he felt when the snakes he shared a House with glanced his way, whispering behind their hands, was too much. He had failed because he hadn't wanted to succeed. Dumbledore was important to Snape, and Severus was the closest thing to a father Draco had ever had. Draco could never kill Dumbledore.
The raucous laughter that filled the Great Hall would have once been a welcome sound, a welcome distraction. Now it just annoyed him. He wanted to go to his own dorms and practice some spells, maybe take a dreamless sleeping potion and let the emptiness consume him.
Draco hadn't had a good night's sleep in two years, since Voldemort's return. When he closed his eyes, his mind wandered to the horrid things he had seen after his biological father all but sold him to the Dark Lord. Draco had thought himself mature, that he could handle it. He didn't listen to Snape, hadn't wanted help. Now he knew that he was just a young, foolish boy, not ready for the terrors that awaited him at the hands of Voldemort. The things he had seen, had endured… he shuddered, not allowing his mind to dwell on the scenes that filled his nightmares.
As he turned a corner, a small object hit him and fell to the ground. He didn't even step backwards, but the girl had fallen to the floor from the force of their collision. His eyes traveled up a pair of slim, golden-tan legs, exposed due to the girl's robes flying up when she fell. They continued up, only to find Granger's face. Damn, he never knew she had legs like those hidden under her robes. Too bad she wasn't his type. He didn't do good girls, and she was the epitome of good. He could never be with someone so untarnished when he had been through so much horror. He doubted he could ever truly be with anyone again.
"I'm sorry-" she started, then saw who it was. He saw recognition flash in her eyes and the restless expression he saw her wearing in the Great Hall was replaced with a spark of intrigue. Draco smirked, recalling their last conversation. The way she had shivered when he whispered to her about how he had fucked her friends and left them begging for more.
"I know you are, Granger. What I want to know is why you are out wandering around when your Gryffindor friends are all at the feast. Don't tell me they got sick of you already- that would have to be a new record." Draco got his desired result. Hermione's eyes flashed with anger, and he felt better already. More alive, somehow.
"I could ask the same of you, Malfoy, but Slytherins aren't really known for having friends, are they?" Hermione said this while struggling to get up and straighten her robes, which was quite a feat as the black fabric all but swallowed her small frame. Malfoy stretched out his hand to help her, but immediately pulled it back, cursing softly at his near-blunder.
"You're wrong there, Hermione. We just aren't as vocal and weak about our friendships. That's Gryffindor, always so sappy and lovey-dovey."
Hermione had finally regained her footing. "Arguably, that's what makes us strong. Something you would never understand. Drawing strength from our friends is what keeps us sane."
Draco took a step forward, brushing a stray cinnamon-colored curl behind her ear in a way that might've seemed sweet to an onlooker, but was actually cold and borderline cruel. Hermione refused to flinch. "Then why are you out here, most likely headed to the library, alone?" Malfoy whispered, his tone disgusted and his molten silver eyes consuming her.
Hermione opened her mouth. Closed it again. He was right, she was avoiding her friends. And she had no excuse. "I don't know," she whispered quietly. He almost missed her softly spoken words laced with truth that made them more dangerous than any biting insult.
Draco blinked. Her honesty surprised him. He could never expect the expected with her, like he could with almost everyone else. He withdrew the hand that had tucked her hair behind her ear. The curl was soft and cool to the touch, and he wanted to grab a handful of her curls and pull, wanted to watch her mouth part in pain and surprise. He needed the reminder he could faze her. Could reach her.
"You're Head Girl this year, aren't you?" Draco didn't know why he asked this when he knew full well she was. He had found out from Nott the past summer. It wasn't like him to waste his breath on pointless words, but he needed to see her attention on him. It was addictive.
"Yes, and you're Head Boy." Hermione answered without a question in her voice. She had already known, like he had. And he would bet that she had been dreading the idea of working so closely with him all summer.
Draco slowly nodded, and watched as the girl bit her lip in thought. He took advantage of her inattention, looking over the brunette. Her cinnamon curls had calmed down since their first year and were now contained in those shiny curls that stretched down to the middle of her back. She was about a head shorter than Draco, which forced her to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. A smattering of freckles dusted her delicate nose, and her caramel-colored eyes were framed with thick, dark lashes.
She really was very naturally pretty, but not in the aristocratic, fake way that Pansy was. She was real. Someone you would expect to see walking through the streets, laughing with friends. Draco couldn't remember a time she had worn makeup, even at the Yule Ball when she walked into the room on Krum's arm looking like a princess in her light pink gown. She never changed herself for anyone else, not even when her unrequited love, the dim-witted Weasley, refused to give her the time of day. It was something he had to admire her for, even if he'd never say it out loud.
She wrinkled her brows in confusion at Draco's intense expression. The blond carefully arranged his features into a schooled expression of arrogance.
"Look Granger, if you're done, I'm going to head to my dorm now."
Hermione raised a brow. "You mean our dorm. That's what I was thinking about. How are we going to…"
". . . coexist without killing each other?" Draco finished.
"No, of course that won't happen. I just meant that we should have an agreement in place. Like for instance, I would assume we wouldn't go into each other's sleeping quarters. And the restroom connected to our rooms is large, but shared. We would have to decide who showers in the morning and who would shower at night."
Draco shrugged. "I'll take morning. I have to shower to wake myself up."
Hermione pursed her lips and nodded in agreement. She much preferred unwinding in a nice bubble bath after a long day anyways. "Then that's sorted, at least. I should probably write this down on a parchment, for reference…"
Draco watched her trail off, as she was already lost in thought again. "Look, Granger. If you want to make a list of rules, that's fine, but I'm not wasting my time making lists that we could figure out as we go anyways. There will inevitably be arguments either way, you know."
Hermione brushed past him, not looking back as she said, "I will slide the parchment under your door when I have finished it. Goodnight, Malfoy."
-Hermione
She had to get away from him and escape to her library. The look in his silver eyes had caught her off guard. It was almost one of… admiration? She definitely was going to make a list of stipulations that would hopefully keep him in check. She had to, or she would go crazy thinking about living that close to the unpredictable boy.
When she had gotten to the library, she was pleasantly surprised to see Padma Patil there, leafing through a magazine.
"Hello, Padma! I thought you'd be in the Great Hall with the others," Hermione said, gingerly taking her seat next to the raven-haired beauty.
"Hi, Hermione. I had a bit of a headache from the trip and wanted to escape the noise for a bit." She set down the magazine, and the two chatted about their upcoming classes. When the conversation turned towards beauty and boys, though, Hermione started to wish she were alone. She loved Padma, but could care less about what mascara was the best, or which boys were single.
"Oh, Hermione, did you know Malfoy's single now? He dumped Pansy on the train ride here!" Padma smiled mischievously. "He might be a bad boy, but my God, it looks good on him."
Hermione rolled her eyes, wondering if Padma was one of the girls Draco had… slept with and left. "I was aware he was single. Pansy came into my compartment and yelled at me, as if it was my fault he dumped her."
Padma looked shocked for a moment, but quickly went back into gossip-mode. "Was it? Did he dump her for you? I always thought there was some unresolved tension between you, and he always did play the nastiest tricks on you, but I had assumed it was just because you were friends with Harry and Ron. Maybe instead it was because he's had a crush on you all this time! How romantic!"
Hermione leaned back, aghast at her friend's long-winded conclusion. "No! Most definitely the breakup was not for me! He was just awful to me all these years, not exactly romantic, and do you not recall when I broke his nose? It was not attraction that made me do that, you know."
Padma just grinned slyly. "The lady doth protest too much! Hermione, do you have any plans for this weekend? It's the Hogsmeade trip, and with the Hallow's Eve Ball in a few weeks, a group of us are going to go try out that new dress shop, Madame Leid's. It's supposed to be like Amin-reader. It knows exactly what would look best on you. Would you come?"
Hermione sighed, wary of the subject change. She didn't really want to go shopping, and had planned on going with the boys to The Leaky Cauldron for a laid back trip. "Who's all going?" She asked, not wanting to say no outright.
"Oh, just me, Ginny, Parvati, and Lavender. A small group, really. Please?"
Hermione looked at her friend's pleading brown eyes, and knew she wouldn't be able to say no. "Oh, all right. It'll be fun, right?"
Padma smiled. "Of course it will be! I'll be there after all," she said, flipping her long hair and batting her eyes sarcastically. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at her friend's antics. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all.
-Draco
The blond was deciding if he should take a dreamless sleep potion or not when the door banged open. He popped his head out of the door to his room to see Hermione walk in with a smile on her face and a pile of books stacked up to the bottom of her chin.
Why was she so damn happy? Draco would bet that she never had to debate with herself over taking a dreamless sleep potion or not. If only he knew that tucked into her desk drawer, next to her journal, was her own stash of droughts for the exact same reason. Or that within the pages of her journal were thoughts that could not possibly belong to someone as incandescently happy as Draco thought she was. No, Hermione had her own inner turmoil, she was just distracted from them at the moment by one of her friends, one of the many ropes that held her from slipping into the dark recesses of her thoughts.
Since Draco could not possibly know this, he instead stalked out of his room and over to the brunette.
"Granger, have you made your list yet? I would like you to add a rule about maintaining a relatively quiet volume when entering the common room. I heard you coming a mile away, and I'm trying to sleep."
Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. She took in his messy blond hair and fitted t-shirt, obviously sleepwear. It was white, and he usually wore black. The light color made his skin look less pale, and the fabric strained against his muscles. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she jutted her chin out, placing her stack of books on the table in their shared common room. "If that was too loud for you, I apologize. I will try in the future to sound silent when normal people would make noise."
Draco smirked. "You're definitely not a normal person, darling."
Hermione's eyes widened for a fraction of a second at his use of the word 'darling,' but quickly recovered. "I'll add the rule of silence in the common room at night."
"And what about consequences?" Hermione noted Draco's sly expression, and chose her next words carefully.
"What do you mean? Consequences for what?"
Draco tilted his head to the side. "For breaking the rules. Without consequence, they aren't really rules as much as suggestions."
She seemed to contemplate this as she shrugged out of her robes. Underneath she was wearing her school skirt and fitted white, button-down blouse. She didn't slut up the outfit like most of the girls at school, but the knee-length skirt accentuated her slim waist, and her blouse was tight where the curve of her chest filled out the fabric. Even the fact that she didn't make it sexier made her more attractive. She didn't even try. "I think that consequences are a good idea, but they would have to be reasonable, and we couldn't tell anyone else about them. Too much judgement."
Draco agreed, though he was surprised she was open to keeping things from her best friends. He continued to watch her as she fluffled out her mass of long curls. "How about something like the person who broke the rules has to do a favor for the other?" He suggested. "Something like doing a homework assignment, or running letters to the owlery for the other."
Hermione nodded her consent, stifling a yawn. "That sounds reasonable. I might not finish until tomorrow with the list. I had planned to do it in the library, but I ran into Padma and got a little side-tracked."
Draco racked his mind. Was that the twin he fucked? Oh wait, he was with both of them that one night… he ran a hand through his hair. They were alright, a little too easy, but then that was everyone.
Hermione gasped, looking at him accusingly. "You… slept with her, didn't you?"
Draco lowered his gaze to hers, not missing the fact that she substituted his choice of words for the less vulgar version. "I don't lie, Granger. When I say you can ask your friends about me, I mean it. Let me guess… she already knew I was single? Hoping to be my rebound?"
Hermione ran back through their conversation. She had seemed interested in Draco. But she had wanted Hermione to be his rebound. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up as she remembered vehemently denying being attracted to the pure blood prince.
Draco watched the pink tinge creep deliciously up towards her face. Her chest was betraying how fast she was breathing, and he assumed he had been right in his assessment of Padma's actions.
"Goodnight, bookworm. Tell Padma I'm not interested if she asks about me again." With that, he turned on his heel and left her standing in the common room. He loved having the last word, and knowing Hermione would be thinking of him when she went to sleep made his victory that much sweeter.
When he got to his room, he didn't even realize that he bypassed the sleeping drought. Hermione had effectively distracted him.
Stretching out on his bed, he reviewed their conversation. He was excited to get the list of rules, because he intended to break each and every one. Just out of pure spite. He wasn't about to let the little witch order him about, after all.
A/N So no reviews yet? I promise I'm writing, but I need the reviews. I love hearing from you guys. Without it it's like I'm posting to empty space. Expect probably one more chapter this week. Review please!
