Chapter 2

*Disclaimer: Yep, still don't own Harry Potter. The plot's mine though, with the exception of the Sorting Hat song. I borrowed that from OotP... I think.*

The sky had darkened considerably by the time that the train had arrived at Hogwarts, the anxious chatter of the students increasing in volume as they all exited the train. Hagrid's booming voice could be heard over all the ruckus and his gargantuan figure visible in the distance as he called for all the first years to come with him.

Draco sauntered off the train, not bothering to wait for the others, and made his way towards the carriages, robes swishing behind him. He smiled to himself as her remembered that he had to share a carriage with Hermione since they were Heads. Quickening his pace, he found the carriage near the front of the lineup with a gold-plated sign that read Head Boy/Girl mounted on the door. Opening the door, he could see that Hermione was already inside, sitting in the corner, reading a small paperback novel. Smirking at the sight, Draco settled into a seat across from Hermione, letting himself get wrapped up in thoughts about the brunette Gryffindor seated less than 3 feet away from him.

Soon enough, the carriage came to a halt in front of the bridge leading to the massive oak doors of the Entrance Hall. Not waiting for Hermione to move, Draco pushed the door open and slid out of the carriage, landing lightly on his feet. He turned back around slightly and glanced at Hermione exiting the carriage, from the corner of his eye. Draco fought the urge to stare at her retreating form before quickening his pace to catch up to her. Hearing footsteps behind her Hermione turned her head and spotted Malfoy's white-blonde hair not too far behind her, standing out in sharp contrast to their dark surroundings. The wind blew, sending a chill down her spine. Pulling her robes tighter around her, she continued walking at a brisk pace, shaking off the feeling of someone staring intensely at her. She knew that the only one behind her currently was Malfoy and that it couldn't possibly be him who was watching her so closely. But what Hermione didn't know was that Draco was indeed staring at her as she walked through the doors into the Entrance Hall and made her way towards the Great Hall await the arrival of the other students.

Once inside the Great Hall, both of them were greeted by Dumbledore and congratulated for making Head Boy and Girl. A table had been set up for the two of them off to the side of the staff table mush to Draco's delight and Hermione's dismay. As soon as they reached the table, the other students, with the exception of the first years, started piling in, talking loudly as they all plopped down on the benches of their respective house tables, eagerly awaiting the Sorting and the Welcome Feast.

Once everyone had settled down, the Great Hall's doors swung open, revealing McGonagall and the group of anxious first years filing in behind her, staring in awe at the enchanted ceiling and floating candles. They all gathered near the staff table where McGonagall was waiting with a three-legged stool and the Sorting Hat resting upon it. As the first years waited in anticipation, the Sorting Hat opened up at the brim and began to sing:

In times of old, when I was new,

And Hogwarts barely started,

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach"

The four good friends decided.

And never did they dream that they

Might someday be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

O how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there, so I can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those

Whose ancestry's purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose

Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those

With brave deeds to their name."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot

And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife

When first they came to light.

For each of the four founders had

A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,

For instance, Slytherin

Took only pure-blood wizards

Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest

and taught them all she knew,

Thus, the houses and their founders

Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four

Had once held up our school

Now turned upon each other and

Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school

Must meet an early end.

What with dueling and with fighting

And the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four

Were whittled down to three

Have the Houses been united

As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here

And you all know the score:

I sort you into Houses

Because that is what I'm for.

But this year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfill my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether sorting

May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger

From external, deadly foes

And we must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you...

Let the Sorting now begin.

With those closing words, McGonagall pulled out the list of first years' names and began calling them up one by one to the front of the hall to be sorted.

"Arnold, Kelly"

"Gryffindor!"

"Burns, Robert"

"Gryffindor!"

"Davies, John"

"Ravenclaw!"

The sorting continued until the last student, a rather small boy who was placed in Hufflepuff, was sorted and they were seated at their new houses' tables. Dumbledore then rose out of his seat and tapped on the side of his goblet to get everyone's attention. He then went on to give his traditional welcome speech. Most of the seventh years were about ready to doze off, having heard this same speech for the past six years, when Dumbledore finished this speech and began the feast. As everyone started digging in, Harry and Ron looked over at where Hermione was seated next to Malfoy and mouthed at her to meet them later. She mouthed back that she couldn't since she had Heads' duties. Draco, who had been watching this exchange, was highly amused at the look of disappointment on Potter's and Weasley's faces.

After dinner, the prefects led the first years to their common rooms while Draco and Hermione were asked to wait by Dumbledore. Once everyone had left the hall, Dumbledore led the two of them to their living quarters, which were located on the fourth floor behind a rather large portrait of Merlin, who was seated at the Round Table of King Arthur's court. Draco, knowing fairly little about the Round Table or King Arthur, was rather indifferent about the portrait but Hermione on the other hand was absolutely fascinated by the portrait. Chuckling lightly at their differing reactions, Dumbledore left them to explore their rooms after giving them the password for the portrait, which was 'unity'.

Looking around the common room, they saw a couch and a couple armchairs in front of a roaring fireplace. Portraits of their respective house founders were mounted next to each other, which they learned led to their houses' common rooms. There was a large bookshelf, much to Hermione's delight, opposite the fireplace. Two curving staircases, one with green and silver carpeting and one with red and gold carpeting, led up to their dorms with a door, which they guessed was the bathroom, in the middle where the two staircases met.

Completely ignoring him, Hermione rushed over to the bookcase and selected a rather large and heavy leather bound book and plopped down in an armchair in front of the fire, leaving Draco to explore his room. It had been decorated with forest green walls, which had lines of silver running from the ceiling to the floor. A large four-poster bed was situated opposite the door, with black silk sheets, deep green pillows propped up against the headboard, and forest green hangings. Turning to his left, he saw a mahogany desk placed against the wall and a large wardrobe was several feet away from it. On the opposite side, a set of doors led to a balcony, which connected to Hermione's room and had a couple of chairs and hammocks set up on opposite sides.

Draco headed inside and stripped off his robes, changing into a loose, gray cotton t-shirt and a pair of loose, plaid cotton pants. He grabbed a piece of parchment, a quill, and a new bottle of ink off his desk and headed down the stairs back to their common room.

Walking up to one of the armchairs, he smiled softly at the scene in front of him. Hermione had fallen asleep in her seat, the book she had been reading had fallen on the floor, the pages wide open and her arms were curled under her head. Picking the book up off the floor, Draco glanced at the title, Hogwarts A History. Shrugging, he set the book down on the table next to her and seated himself on the other armchair across from her, resting the parchment on the arm of the chair. He set the ink bottle down on the table and dipped his quill in it. Letting his mind wander, his quill scratched absentmindedly across the parchment. As Draco stopped doodling to get some more ink, he finally looked at what he had drawn so far. To his surprise, he saw the face of a girl, not just any girl but the face of Hermione. She seemed to be sleeping, as her eyes were closed and he seemed to have drawn a slight smile on her lips. Dipping the quill back in some more ink, Draco set to finish his sketch.

Seeing that the fire had begun dying out, he glanced at the clock and noticed that it was late and classes started tomorrow. He figured that he better wake Hermione up so that she wouldn't wake up with a crick in her neck. Throwing a pillow at her head, after tucking away the parchment with his sketch, he said rather loudly and obnoxiously, "You better go to bed Mudblood. I'd rather not have to come down here in the morning and see your ugly self lying there." Rubbing some of the sleep out of her eyes, she spat back, "What the hell, Malfoy?" She glared at him dangerously and, internally, Draco cringed at the way she said his name as if it were poison. She snatched the book off the table and stormed off to her room, cursing Malfoy under her breath. Draco made his way to the bathroom, hoping to be able to brush his teeth and escape to his room before she came out of her as he was about to walk off to his room, the bathroom door flew open and Hermione stormed inside, completely ignoring Draco standing there next to her. He slipped out of the room and into his room, flopping down on the bed and staring at the top of his four-poster until sleep claimed him.

Meanwhile, Hermione had finished in the bathroom and had managed to calm down a bit from her earlier encounter with Malfoy. Walking into her room, she looked around in awe. The walls were scarlet with lines of gold running from the ceiling to the floor. A cherry wood desk was in the corner to her right and a large wardrobe not too far from it. There was a large four-poster bed with scarlet hangings and goldenrod sheets. She spotted a set of double doors off to her left and walked towards them, opening the right side and stepping out on the balcony. Her face brightened at the hammocks and she ran back inside quickly to grab Hogwarts A History: Revised Edition and curled up in the hammock closet to her room, letting herself escape reality for a while.

Several hours had passed before Hermione crawled into her bed, thoughts of Harry running through her head.

Please please please review! The more reviews the more inspired I feel to continue writing this fic :3 ~Narcissa Felton