Forbidden

By Leah

Chapter one

Famous Last Words

"God it's like Lavender all over again." Ginny muttered to Harry, who nodded mutely, as they sat across from Hermione and Ron, the couple was in the midst of a long lip lock. The red head and his girlfriend finally pulled apart when Ginny let out a particularly loud retching sound.

"Oh, sorry, did I interrupt you two?" The girl asked fake sweetness dripped from her words.

"For a second we thought you two died and were stuck like that." Harry said with a grin. Ron opened his mouth to retort, probably something about Harry and Ginny's near constant lip locking, but Hermione, who was more than used to the siblings arguing was no longer paying attention to the conversation. Her attention was focused on the steadily passing scenery outside the Hogwarts express.

This would the last time she would be on this train heading to school. It was the start of her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She looked at her friends out of the corner of her eye, a sliver of a smile slipping onto her lips.

Ron and Ginny were now arguing -possibly brought on by the topic of PDA's- and Harry was trying to referee. With another soft sigh, she let her thoughts drift to her summer. It wasn't really that eventful, but there were some exceptions.

She and Ginny were bridesmaids in Fleur and Bill's long awaited wedding. It wasn't even that bad, though Ginny did complain about the awful multicolored bridesmaids' dresses that were splashed with enough color to put a bag of Skittles to shame. Also, Ron had finally -as Ginny so nicely put it- "grown a pair," and asked Hermione to be his girlfriend, which she responded to with an overjoyed "Yes!!"

Hermione had also received the title of "Head Girl", it didn't really come as a surprise to anyone, but that didn't stop anyone from sending her their congratulations.

The real surprise came when she was told that none other than Slytherin's Draco Malfoy had made Head Boy. The mere thought of sharing a common room with the boy who had made it his purpose in life to ruin hers, made the bile rise in her throat.

From the moment she received the letter, she had been hoping that he decided to decline the position, or that he moved and would never be coming back to Hogwarts (as he had often bragged of doing but as of yet had to make her dreams come true.) Or if she was especially lucky, he got hit by a rampaging Knight Bus.

She, unfortunately, had no such luck.

As if on cue the door to their compartment was ripped open, and there in his Slytherin robes with his "Head Boy" badge pinned on, was –of course- Draco Malfoy.

"What do you want ferret?" Ron sneered, instinctively wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.

"You should watch your mouth weasel." Malfoy snapped his eyes rolling onto the boy, obviously hinting at his new position.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ron began, sarcasm lacing his every word. "What I meant to say was: what do you want, Head ferret?" The others in the car couldn't help the smile that slipped onto each of their faces. Malfoy glared at Ron for a second before turning his attention to Hermione, deciding to ignore his last comment.

"I came to get the mudblood," Hermione only rolled her eyes and put a hand on Ron's shoulder when made a move to throttle Malfoy, after 6 years it wasn't even worth it in her eyes. "McGonagall wants to see us." Hermione sighed and stood, after saying a quick "see you later" to her friends, she headed out of the compartment. However she didn't make it too far before Ron grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, placing his lips on hers.

"Bloody hell weasel! Some of us just ate!" The boy cursed, causing Hermione to pull away with a brilliant blush staining her cheeks.

Walking away from her boyfriend with a smile, she left the compartment with Malfoy. Her smile dropping immediately to a scowl as she trailed behind him.

The short walk to the front of the train wasn't exactly the most comfortable, and seemed to stretch for hours, both were more than relieved when they reached the head compartment. Unfortunately McGonagall had left and they were once again alone to enjoy the awkward silence that permeated the air.

Hermione dropped onto one of the couches in the spacey compartment, while Malfoy took a seat on the other side of the room. The girl sighed and looked around the room for anything that would interest her while they waited. Almost against her will, her eyes landed on Malfoy, his eyes were closed it seemed he was trying ignoring her presence wholeheartedly until McGonagall returned.

Decided to use the time to do something she never allowed herself to before Hermione's eyes roamed over the boys features. Absently she thought of how she never had much of a chance to really look at him before, they were always too busy throwing insults at each other to notice little things like each others' bone structure.

She did know he was handsome, any girl in her right mind knew he was handsome, but now as her eyes ran over his features, she finally realized what those other girls were talking about when they complimented his looks.

It didn't seem like he had any physical flaws, his shaggy blond hair hung over his face, reaching to his cheeks, he had stopped gelling it back years ago, she was sure he was attempting the "bad boy" look that all the girls at Hogwarts muttered about. His pale skin seemed to be perfectly smooth and -she noted with some envy- was not marred by even a single blemish. Her eyes trailed down, but the way he was sitting and his school robes hid his -as she had heard from other girls- toned body from view.

"See something you like Granger?" His signature drawl pulled her from her thoughts. His sharp blue eyes had snapped open at some point during her assessment and without a doubt caught her staring at him.

"No; just an annoying ferret with a superiority complex." She snapped, making the blond chuckle.

"Touchy today, aren't we Granger? Or are you going on the defensive because I took you away from your darling Potty, Weaselette and Weasel?" He smirked at the anger that flashed through her eyes.

"Their names," She began through clenched teeth, "Are Harry, Ginny and Ron!" She snapped, sending him a particularly icy glare.

"Oh, now are you upset because I've insulted your little shag buddy." He smirked when two spots of red appeared on her cheeks. "Honestly Granger, you're not especially horrendous, even you can do better than the weasel."

Whatever insult Hermione had died on her tongue, and she sent the boy an incredulous stare. "Was that an attempt at a compliment Malfoy?"

He scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself, you may not look horrible, but you're still below me."

Her stare dropped to a glower, "Why are you such a pig?" She grumbled, shooting him another hell freezing glare.

"It's part of my charm." Draco replied, his trademark smirk slithering onto his lips.

Hermione snorted, "You've got about as much charm as a flesh eating virus Malfoy."

"You are the witty one today, aren't you." He said, his smirk being replaced with a scowl.

"It's part of my charm." She answered, copying his smirk. Malfoy chuckled, he had to admit the girl was clever. He had to admit getting into a row with her was always more fun than anyone else, she was always so witty with her insults. With her it was an actual challenge, unlike with her two followers who would just call him a ferret and pull out their wands.

'Oafs.'

Unfortunately, their verbal sparing was cut short by McGonagall finally apparating into the room.

"Sorry to keep you two waiting." She began, taking her seat in the leather chair behind the desk in the room. "There was a problem involving some members of your houses that needed my immediate attention." She looked at the two over her glasses.

"Now then, I am sure that you are both aware of each others' new positions?" They both nodded and she continued.

"Good. As Head girl and boy you two will be spending a bit of time together, so I -along with Professor Dumbledore- advise that you two put aside your differences, just for this year." She paused to clear her throat.

"It is also advised that you two meet with the prefects to set up patrol schedules. The other professors and I will be doing patrol for the next two nights, but after that it is yours and the other prefects' job. You two will also be allowed to visit Hogsmeade whenever you like, but these visits must be cleared through Professor Dumbledore or myself. You will both also be in charge of coordinating the school dances, which include the Halloween Dance, Winter Formal and End of year dance." She went on for a few more minutes about what was expected of them as the new Heads, none of which Draco actually paid attention to, though Hermione hung onto her every word. Saying a curt goodbye she left them alone once again after telling them to come see her at teachers' table after the feast.

"Well that was informative." Hermione mumbled, getting out of her seat and stretching, Malfoy's eyes flowed her every move.

"Do you mind?" Hermione practically growled at the boy who was staring so openly at her chest.

"Not at all." He smirked, making no move to look away.

"You're such a prat." She snapped stomping over to the door. "If you need me, I'll be with my friends pretending that you don't exist." She said him another glare before stalking out of the room.

When she finally got back to her cabin, Harry and Ron were in deep conversation about -what else- Quidditch.

'Those two really need to get another hobby.'

Ginny, who looked bored beyond reason let out a relieved sigh when her friend returned to the cabin. "Oh thank Merlin you're back!" The red head said, practically throwing herself at Hermione, giving her a bone-crushing hug.

"Those two have been going on about the Chuddly Cannons for forever. I mean, I love Quidditch too, but for them, it's like a cult." They shared a laugh. "So, how was your meeting with the sexy new head boy?" Ginny asked, not even bothering to lower her voice.

"Ginny!" Hermione began in a shocked whisper. "Your boyfriend is right there!"

"So? A naked supermodel could walk in here and they wouldn't notice." The younger Weasley said, tossing a glance at the boys, who were still too deep in conversation to notice them talking. "So, how was your meeting?"

"Boring and uneventful. And, of course, Malfoy is back to being a git. He may have helped in defeating Voldemort, but he's still the same prat we've come to know and hate."

"Oh," The red head said, slightly deflated looking. "So I take it you two didn't get into a pleasant conversation, finding out you had so much in common, then he took you in his arms and confessed his undying love for you?" Hermione sent her friend a flat look.

"Sorry, I've been reading a bunch of mum's old romance novels over the summer." Ginny said a light blush tingeing her cheeks. "Anyway, what are you gonna do now, you know with the whole sharing a common room business?"

"I'm not going to do anything. Whenever we see each other, we'll exchange and insult or two then go to our rooms." Hermione said plainly.

" Hermione, I hate to break this too you, but you're going to be practically living with Draco Malfoy, or as he's known to over half of the Hogwarts female population, 'the Slytherin Sex God'!" The younger Gryffindor said, dropping her voice to a harsh whisper.

"OK first Ginerva, stop gossiping with Lavender and the Pital twins. And second, there's no way anyone actually calls him that, and lastly, we're not children anymore I'm sure we can learn to live with and thoroughly ignore each other for the next year."

The girl was not deterred. "He's practically got a line of girls for him to pick from every night, and -lets face it- he's bloody hot! I mean c'mon Hermione, the war's over, he's proved he's not a Death Eater, even you can't completely hate him now. And for the next ten months you two are gonna be seeing a lot of each other." Her tone was heavy with insinuation.

"Gin, I go out with your-"

"Brother, I know. Hermione, I love Ron, really I do, but let me be honest here and say, you can do better." She sent a sidelong glance at the boys.

"Oh yeah, and Draco Malfoy is so much better." Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes.

"'Hermione, even I wouldn't mine a quick shag with him."

"A quick shag with who?" Both girls looked up from their conversation to find two pairs of eyes glaring from across the car.

"Hey look!" Ginny said pointing out the window. "We're almost there, better change." Ginny ended and shoved the boys out of the compartment.

From behind the door they heard Harry's voice, "Shag who, Ginny?"

Draco slid the door open to the compartment he shared with Pansy, Blaise, Goyle, and Crabbe. He sighed and took a seat next to Pansy, the girl's eyes practically sparkled.

"So what happened with the old bat mate?" Blaise asked his friend.

"Nothing important." He mumbled as Pansy slid onto his lap, straddling him.

"So is it true, you're gonna be living with Granger?" Blaise asked, acting as if a girl nibbling on his best friend's neck was common place.

"Yeah, little bint would go running to Dumbledore the moment I sneeze too loud." Malfoy muttered, rolling his eyes. "Dammit Parkinson! I'm not in the mood!" He pushed her off his lap, making her fall on her bum with a squeak.

"She needs a good shag." Blaise continued, "Granger I mean," He sent a disgusted look at the girl on the floor.

"Good thing you're her room-mate then huh?" Goyle said sending an oafish smile to the Slytherin across from him.

"I don't even think Merlin himself could manage to get into her knickers before marriage." Draco said with a snort. "Besides, she's not like the other girls I usually go for."

"How so? She's pretty, no age difference..oh, she's not an idiot." Blaise said glancing at Pansy.

"Bingo."

Hermione stretched and followed her friends out of the cabin. She smiled at Hagrid as he herded the frightened First Years onto the boats, his lamp held high in his large hand.

"C'mon let's hurry up and get a carriage." Ginny said brushing past her friend her irritation clear in her voice, Harry was still nagging her.

"Sorry guys, I can't go with you." Hermione mumbled and stopped walking with her friends. "I've got to take the "Head's Carriage," with Malfoy." She spat out the words filling them with as much venom as she could.

"Alright, well we'll see you at the feast then right?" Ron asked hopefully.

"Of course." The two boys said bye to Hermione and went to look for an empty carriage, but Ginny stayed behind telling them she would catch up later.

"Just remember what I said Hermione." Ginny said and winked at her friend.

"Ginny! Nothing is going to happen!"

"But, in case it does-"

"Ginerva! Nothing is going to happen!" Hermione almost yelled before turning and leaving her friend, heading to the "Head's carriage".

Ginny sent a knowing smile to her friends retreating back then she went to find Harry and Ron, casting one last glance over her shoulder she smiled.

"Famous last words Hermione."