Hermione's head was already buzzing as she entered the Great Hall.

She had always secretly suspected it would be she who was made headgirl, but she hadn't been fully prepared for the responsibility that had already been set upon her.

On the train she had been asked to deal with various petty first-year duels, a task that took a lot more effort than was usually needed when dealing with older students, as these younger ones had not yet learnt the respect towards their elders like the older ones had.

She had been told she was to attend a meeting with Professor Dumbledore once dinner was over, and that, during dinner, it was up to her and the headboy, Ernie Macmillan to ensure no "riots of any sort" broke out.

This was only a small section of the list of things Professor McGonagall had already asked her to do and Hermione repeated the full list to herself as she, Harry and Ron strode up the Great Hall and took their seats at the Gryffindor house table.

"Good holiday?" Seamus Finnigan leant over the table to address her. She nodded. "See you made headgirl, thought you would, of course. Well done."

Hermione turned to Harry and Ron, who were both staring fixedly at their plates, desperate, she knew, for food to appear. "I'd have thought you'd have learnt by now, gawping at your plates will not make them fill any sooner. We have to watch the sorting first." They grumbled hungrily, and Hermione smiled.

"So, uh, Hermione, you look… well." Dean Thomas told her shyly. Hermione blinked in surprise.

"Well thank you, Dean." He grinned sheepishly. It was no secret amongst the boys that Dean was beginning to harbor something of a crush on Hermione.

The chatter of the hall fell silent as Dumbledore got to his feet. "Welcome, welcome, welcome!" He called over the dying strains of conversation. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. We will, of course begin with the traditional sorting ceremony. I ask you all to please treat new students with the utmost respect and kindness."

The doors at the back of the hall flew open, and the crowd of first year students marched through.

The sorting was long this year. Ministry regulations had made magical education compulsory, and only now were the affects clear. Hermione ignored Harry and Ron's hungry moaning as she sat and politely applauded each student as they took their seats at the new house tables. It was up to her to set the perfect example.

Dumbledore stood once more as the final student sat down at the Hufflepuff house table. "Before I bore you all with rules and regulations, I invite you to eat and drink and enjoy the many splendors Hogwarts has to offer." He sat down to a resounding applause, and the school cheered as the golden plates filled with mountains of food.

Hermione filled her plate and began to eat. This time it was unsociable sounds of food demolition she had to ignore.

She found her eyes drawn to the Slytherin table, as they so often were, checking on what Malfoy and his followers were up to. She got a very great surprise. Her dark brown eyes met Malfoy's bright aquamarine ones and he smiled at her. Hermione looked around to see who it was behind her he could possibly be smiling at, but there was no one. She pulled her most disgusted look in return and turned back to her table.

"Whole buncha new Gryffindors this year! Did you notice?" Harry asked her, having temporarily set down his cutlery as he massaged his stomach.

"Yes, that is generally what sorting is all about, Harry. New students arrive and some get put into Gryffindor." Hermione tried to explain patiently.

"No! I know that bit! I just meant we got a quite a lot which makes a nice change." Hermione looked up the table and saw that he was right. There definitely were a larger number of new faces at the table than there had ever been in the years before.

When pudding had ended, the attention turned once more to Professor Dumbledore, who clapped his hands together merrily. "How wonderful it is to be back here! Now, I have just a few announcements to make. Firstly, Mr. Filch has told to remind you all the list of forbidden items not allowed inside the school premises is available to view in his office. Secondly, as our older students already know, no student is permitted to enter the forbidden forest." He smiled warmly down at them all.

"Thankfully, I believe that's all on the rules. We have a new staff appointment; Professor Chase will be filling the once more vacant position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I hope you will all make her feel very much welcome, and very much at home." He gestured to a small, middle-aged witch dressed in sensible navy blue robes who stood up briefly, and waved cheerfully to the mass of students.

"Now, I think that is all. Your beds await you! Prefects, kindly lead your new first years to their common rooms, headboy and girl to my office. Good night to you all." He sat back down.

There was a huge commotion as every seat in the hall was vacated, and students milled around the exit in a desperate attempt to get to their beds. Hermione followed dazedly, unable to get Malfoy's smile out of her head. She had never seen him smile before. It was kind of nice.

Why though? Why had he smiled at her? Did she have something stuck in her teeth of hair and his smile had actually just been a regular sneer?

She tried to push it to the back of her mind as she left Harry and Ron and headed towards the headmaster's office. She met up with Ernie on the corridor displaying the stone gargoyle.

"Good evening, Hermione." Greeted Ernie, his typical upper-class manner showing even through this simple pleasantry. She smiled vaguely, not wanting to strike up a forced friendship just because they were heads together. She liked Ernie well enough, but to call them friends would be pushing it.

They managed to ascend the revolving staircase in silence. When they reached the top it was Ernie who pushed open the door to Dumbledore's study. It was only then that Hermione realized this was the first time she was entering the headmaster's inner sanctum. The room buzzed with magical electricity and Hermione looked around, fascinated, at the many whirring contraptions described to her so often by Harry.

The headmaster was seated behind an ornate desk, and peered at the two students over his half moon spectacles. He smiled faintly at them and gestured for them to sit down.

Hermione perched on the edge of the cushioned chair, and waited for Dumbledore to speak.

"As I'm sure you are well aware, a few of our seventh years are joining the ranks of the deatheaters." Hermione blinked, surprised. "The Slytherins need to be carefully watched. I do not want to security of this school to be breached and students' lives to be at risk. I have already requested the help of the staff on this matter, but I would also like the pair of you, as well as any loyal friends of yours to be on the lookout as well."

He sat back in his chair. "I don't wish for this to be a priority, it is just if you notice any unusual behavior, or hear anything out of the ordinary that I implore you to tell me, or a member of staff, immediately, and encourage others to do the same."

"It is of course the students' own choice of which side to choose, but I will not risk the safety of others for the sake of a select few."

Dumbledore smile stretched. "I trust you will not disappoint me. That is all." They stood and turned to leave.

On the revolving stairway, Ernie cleared his throat. "That was… a bit much, don't you think?"

Hermione sighed. "I think it's a very important task. I agree though, it was a bit of a grim start to our duties, to know people our own age would not care if we were in danger."

They continued down in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Hermione wondered faintly if Ernie understood the importance of this as much as she did.

She found the common room deserted, people were eager to get to bed after the heavy meal in the great hall, as well as to rest up for lessons the next day. Hermione fell into a chair by the fireplace and gazed into it. Malfoy's smiling face swirled in the flames.

"It's you he means." She told it sadly. "You're the main deatheater hopeful, aren't you? You're so stupid." The flames flickered merrily and she found she couldn't look at them anymore.

The next morning found Hermione seated at the Gryffindor table cheerfully eating toast. She had already told Harry and Ron about what Dumbledore had asked of her, and they had volunteered to help spread the word to others. She felt like a leader of an elite group, though she knew she shouldn't. If this was made a priority with everybody, there would be many false alarms, she knew. People looking for trouble always found it.

"So what exactly did Dumbledore say?" Asked Harry, possibly for the hundredth time. Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"He said the Slytherins needed to be watched. That they're looking to join the deatheaters. He just asked me and Ernie to tell people to be aware, that's all." She shrugged, not wishing to make it seem like a big deal.

"So he's worried." Harry pondered over his spoonful of porridge.

Hermione scoffed uncertainly. "He's not worried Harry! I'm sure it's just something he asks every head boy and girl to look out for, you're just hearing about it for the first time now!"

"He never asked Percy to do it." Ron broke in. He took a mouthful of toast and continued talking without swallowing first. "If he had then Percy would have turned it into like a military operation and we were in our third year then, we'd have heard."

"Well then it's just because we've got idiots like Malfoy in our year." Hermione said. "Dumbledore specifically requested for this not to be a big deal so can the two of you please just respect that and leave it alone?"

Her two friends agreed, but she could tell it wasn't over.

Professor McGonagall was stood over her, and dropped a piece of parchment in front of Hermione. She tapped the parchment with her wand, and a week's timetable spread across it.

Harry peered over her shoulder. "You've got Potions first? I don't have it till third." He looked over to see Ron's timetable. "Neither does Ron."

"I am taking advanced Potions, the two of you are not. It does make sense when you think about it." She pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "Well, see you later then, got to get to charms!" He tugged at Ron's collar and the two of them left the great hall, leaving Hermione gazing over to the Slytherin where, once again, Draco Malfoy's smile had caught her eye.

Hermione found the corridor outside the potions classroom empty and it didn't make her feel at ease to think she may be taking these classes alone. She lent against the cold stonewall and breathed deeply, still unable to get the image of Malfoy's face out of her mind.

There were footsteps behind her and she turned to see a knot of Slytherins approaching, Malfoy leading the way. He dropped the smirk on his face as soon as he saw her, and relaxed into an almost pleasant look.

"You've got to be kidding me." Hermione breathed.

He sidled up beside her and a mass of amused whispering broke out amongst his five cronies.

"Good to see you, Granger." He crooned, and it made Hermione feel slightly nauseous. She sniffed dismissively, and the door to the classroom swung open.

Made for the desk at the front, knowing there was no way Draco Malfoy would ever be caught sitting at the front, but he followed her.

Draco smirked behind Hermione back and his friends egged him on. He left them behind and took a seat beside her. He felt her cringe and smiled.

"So." He began. "How was your summer?" Hermione looked at him in angry confusion.

"What are you doing? Just leave me alone."

Snape cleared his throat loudly. "Quiet please in my classroom." The lesson began.

"Why is it so hard for you to comprehend the possibility that I want to get to know you?" Draco asked with interest as he crushed ingredients for their silencing solution.

Hermione pushed her hair behind her ears and glared at him over her steaming cauldron. "Because I know it's an act. To you, I'm nothing but a muggleborn, and to me, you're nothing but a ferrety prat."

Draco blanched involuntarily. He gawped at her, unable to think of a way to drag himself out of this situation. Concentrating on his potion seemed like the cleverest thing to do.

The lesson dragged on, and Hermione left it feeling hot and irritated. How dare he manipulate her like that? She strode purposefully away from the classroom towards the transfiguration room, and vowed never to speak to Draco Malfoy again.

Thought I'd upload this a little earlier than planned.

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