Carpe Diem
Chapter 1
*Disclaimer: Hello...? Does it really look like I ownHarry Potter? If so, then I would be extremely rich but alas, I'm no JK Rowling...*
It was a half hour before the train left for Hogwarts when Draco arrived at Platform 9 ¾, his face expressionless as his father gave him yet another lecture on upholding the Malfoy name and being the top of his class. Draco refrained from openly scowling or gritting his teeth, slowly tightening his grip on his trunk instead. Frustrated at his son's silent refusal to listen to him, Lucius Malfoy stormed off, leaving Draco's mother, Narcissa, to give her son a quick reassuring squeeze before hurrying after her husband.
Breathing a small sigh of relief, Draco picked up his trunk and went to find some of his housemates amongst the crowd of students and parents. Running a hand through his platinum blonde hair, which he stopped slicking back, he continued shoving his way through the crowd until he felt himself bump straight into someone, knocking them over. Looking down quickly, he saw that he had run into none other than Hermione.
His heart was silently racing at the sight of her, in her practical and conservative clothes, stuggling to get up off the floor. Keeping his emotions in check, he put a sneer on his face and said cruelly, "Looks like the Mudblood found where she belongs. On the ground, at the feet of a pureblood." At this comment, Hermione finally pushed herself off the floor and tried to glare at Draco, which proved to be harder than she thought, considering that she was only 5' 5'', while Draco stood at 6' 1''. Craning her neck back slightly, she met his cold gray eyes, trying to suppress the rising anger bubbling through her.
Speaking in a calm, even tone, she shot back "Well if you had been paying attention to where you were walking Malfoy, you wouldn't have knocked me over. Also, if I were you, which that Merlin I'm not, I would watch what you say to me, after all I am Head Girl."
"I'm not stupid, Mudblood, that old crackpot fool put that in his letter. It's also not my job to watch out for Mudblood who are in my way." Draco retorted.
Silently fuming with anger, Hermione though to herself, Oh god, what did I do to deserve having to share a common room with this prick? Glaring at Draco again, she spat back "Just shove off, Malfoy, and go find some of your little Death Eater friends to bother."
Ignoring the pang he felt in his heart, he wordlessly picked up his trunk and walked off, his blonde head still visible over the crowd. Hermione watched him walk away for a moment before turning around and spotting the heads of her two best friends towering over the crowd.
Draco managed to spot Blaise Zabini leaning against the wall near the edge of the crowd, crossing his arms and looking bored as Pansy Parkinson stood nearby, blabbing on about her summer and some boy that she met while vacationing in France. Meanwhile, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle stood there, munching on a few cauldron cakes. As Draco got closer to them, Blaise finally uncrossed his arms and stood up straight, giving Draco a curt nod. Pansy, noticing Blaise's sudden change in stance turned around and smiled when she spotted Draco. He stopped in front of them, putting his trunk down before returning Blaise's nod and giving Pansy a small smile. Draco stood there slightly awkwardly until Pansy choose to break the awkwardness by asking Draco about his summer. Draco relaxed a little as he recounted a few mission his father and the Dark Lord had sent him on. Now, Draco wasn't exactly proud of the fact that he had become a Death Eater the previous year but it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He had been trained from a very young ago to be a Death Eater by his father, one of Voldemort's closest followers. Glancing at the clock, he saw that they had about 10 minutes until the train departed. Motioning to the others, they all grabbed their belongings and made their way towards the train.
Once they were inside the train, they headed towards the back of the train to where their usual compartment was. Suddenly, they were stopped by the sight of the Golden Trio and Ginny boarding the train down the aisle and walking in their direction unknowingly. Draco's gray eyes hardened at the sight of Hermione walking with Scarhead and the Weasel. Inside though, Draco's heart started racing inside his chest again, thumping madly against his ribcage. The way her eyes lit up in excitement and how the corners of her mouth curled up in a broad smile sent a pleasant wave of chills down his spine. The minute she spotted him though, the excitement in her eyes suddenly turned into a cold glare of hate, specially reserved for him, a frown quickly forming on her face. Harry and Ron started scowling as well, slowly moving into protective stances on either side of Hermione.
"Well look who we have here, Potter, Weasel, and the Mudblood" drawled Draco in a mocking tone.
His face reddening in anger, Ron moved to punch Draco as Hermione grabbed the back of his shirt and held him back.
"Let me go Hermione! This bloody ferret deserves a good beating!"
"Calm down Ron! We all hate him but there's no need to get into trouble before the train even starts moving!"
Ron lowered his fist reluctantly as he took a step back. Pansy snickered from her place behind Draco while Blaise scoffed at how easily Ron backed down. Hermione shot Ron a warning glare before turning back to Draco and his crew.
"Don't' you have anything better to do with your time, Malfoy? Just leave us alone for once."
With this statement, Hermione angrily shoved her way past the group of Slytherins, leaving Harry and Ron to follow after her quickly, ramming into Draco's shoulders as they passed by him. Draco slammed the compartment door open and flopped down on a seat next to the window, moodily staring out the window. The other Slytherins quietly slipped in the compartment behind Draco, shutting the door behind them and sliding into a seat, afraid to disturb him.
A loud whistle pierced the silence as the train lurched forwards, finally departing from the station.
Draco took no notice of this, continuing to stare out the window, his thoughts turning towards a certain bushy-haired Gryffindor. It wasn't until he remembered that they were supposed to have a meeting with the other Prefects before they reached Hogwarts that he snapped out of his reverie and left the compartment to remind Hermione of the meeting. Stopping in front of the compartment door, Draco took a moment to compose himself before sliding the door open, only to be momentarily shocked by the sight of Hermione and Potter cuddling to his left. Recovering quickly from his shock, he turned to Hermione, completely ignoring both Potter and Weasley, and said coldly "Meeting. Prefects. Now." Without waiting for a response, Draco abruptly turned on his heel and stalked off towards the compartment where the meeting was to be held with only one thought cycling through his mind: Damn that Potter. Always has to get everything, including Hermione.
Shortly after Draco arrived at the compartment, Hermione slipped in, with Ron trailing behind her. Turning to face the other 22 prefects, ignoring Draco's presence, she greeted them all and then started the meeting.
"So to get down to business, this year Dumbledore expects us to plan several balls this year, one for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's, and a graduation ball for the 7th years. Aside from that, just remember the rules and don't abuse your positions as prefects."
With this comment, Hermione shot a hard glance at Draco and the other Slytheirn prefects.
"The password for the Prefects' bathroom is licorice snaps"
Everyone looked at her strangely until Hermione shrugged and replied, "Dumbledore."
The rest of the meeting went by fairly quickly, with Hermione doing all the talking and Draco simply leaning against the wall, crossing his arms in boredom.
Before Hermione adjourned the meeting, she said "Oh, and I almost forgot, since rumors have been spreading about You-Know-Who has been getting stronger and has begun planning an attack on Hogwarts, Dumbldore thought that it would be wise to have us do nightly patrols in pairs. You'll be paired with the other prefect from your house and year with the exception of Ron and Parkinson. You two have to pair up since, as Head Boy and Girl, Malfoy and I are being forced to be partners."
Ron and Pansy were glaring at each other for a good few minutes before Hermione cleared her throat and left them all to go change into their school robes before arriving at Hogwarts.
As Draco made his way back to his compartment, he couldn't help but think: I can definitely use this to my advantage. I'll make her forget all about Potter, and then I can start with my plan.
Please leave a review! I want to know if this fic is worth continuing after this chapter... :3