Author's note: Not the most thrilling chapter, but we're getting there. I was getting frustrated in how long its taking, but I feel that this part needs to be kind of slow to establish relationships and whatnot.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the world of Harry Potter, I just play in it.
The next morning in the Great Hall, Hermione sat with the Gryffindors, pushing scrambled eggs around on her plate.
"Do you have any new information about Romania?" Harry began, before stuffing a forkful of hash browns into his mouth and chewing contentedly.
"Uh—no, I, erm," Hermione stuttered, caught off guard, " I didn't get a chance to get to the library. Head duties and all," she quickly lied. The boy shrugged and swallowed before opening his mouth again.
"Well, its ok. Its just the sooner we get more information, the better. You know."
"Yeah, I know and I'm sorry," she apologized, mad at Harry for making her feel as if she'd done something horribly wrong.
"Well….yeah. OK, then," Harry didn't know what else to say to her.
"We're counting on you," Ron said through a mouthful of toast.
"Yes, Ron, I'm aware," she managed to grind out before excusing herself as politely as possible before nearly sprinting out of the Great Hall.
That morning, she had avoided any uncomfortable encounters with Malfoy by rising and washing early before heading off for breakfast before he had even woken up. She wasn't stupid, she knew she would be forced to talk to him or interact with him at some point—they were the Heads—but for now she wished to put off the inevitable for as long as she possibly could. Instead of returning to her dorm and running the risk of meeting with Draco before she absolutely had to, she scampered off to the library to retrieve the book she forgot the night before. As she thought of the events that led to her leaving without the book, she felt a blush creep onto her cheeks. Shaking her head, she was loathe to discover it was not an etch-a-sketch and a simple shake would not erase what was engraved in it.
Recovering the discarded book, she hurried up to Madame Prince's desk to check it out of the library.
"Miss Granger, I'm not surprised," she said in her usual emotionless tone. The blush returned to Hermione's face.
"Yes, well, you know. I have to get a jump on research if I'm going to be able to keep my marks." The humorless librarian just nodded mutely before handing her the book back, which she took gratefully. She stood at the desk for a moment, pondering her choices: she could stay at the library and sit in one of the rigid chairs and read through it in plain sight where someone may question her motives for looking through a book pertaining to Romania, or she could return to her comfortable, not to mention private, dorm where she risked seeing Draco. While the thought of seeing the boy downright appalled her, she decided it wasn't worth the risk to sit in the open in the library with such a sensitive topic manner involved. Thanking the aging librarian, she hurried out the heavy doors and off towards the Heads' room.
Two corridors over, she literally nearly ran into Harry, Ron, and Ginny as they left breakfast.
"Oh—hey," Ron stuttered, looking guilty.
"Hey guys, Gin."
"We, er, I should apologize," he continued, the other two remaining quiet after nodding her in greeting. Hermione sighed, yes you should, she thought.
"No, it's alright. I've been really stressed with the whole coming back to school, being a Head and all, and this new stuff for the Order," she motioned to the book she had in her hand, glad to finally be able to work further on the new lead.
"Well he still shouldn't have been so rude to you," Ginny pipped up, shooting her brother a look that caused him to shrink back with a grimace.
"You do know we value you for more than just your information seeking skills and homework help, right?" Harry said, reciting a speech Ginny had clearly just finished giving the two of them. If only, she sighed.
"I know. We all have a lot on our minds these days. It isn't fair that we can't be normal students, normal people, but someone has to put up resistance or the whole world would fall to darkness." She sighed, looking past Harry's right shoulder.
"We're getting close though!" Ginny supplied hopefully.
"Maybe," Hermione corrected, "but I probably should be off. This book won't scour itself." She shifted on her feet, somewhat uncomfortably. It wasn't anyone's fault in particular, but the four of them didn't fit together as perfectly as they had as children. Now the trio being 17, and Ginny only one year behind, their eyes fought to cover the age and wariness they might betray. A pair of sixth year Ravenclaw boys strolled leisurely past, laughing about an encounter they had with an attractive girl that morning. Hermione narrowly suppressed the urge to stick out her foot and trip them.
"Well, ok then," Ron sighed, leaning in to hug Hermione goodbye.
"I guess we will see you later today? If not, there is always class tomorrow," Harry shrugged before Hermione planted a light kiss on his cheek.
"Yeah, I will talk to you later, guys. Bye, Gin," she said, squeezing Ron's sister before strolling past the group so she could finally look through the book that she has forgotten she was holding.
Before she gave the awaiting stallion the password, she leaned in towards the portrait and tried to listen to see if she could hear any sounds of life past the frame. Yielding nothing, she straightened up and hoped the room was deserted as she said "Doxycide" and stepped carefully through the doorway. Her eyes fell to the couch, and her stomach dropped. This morning she hadn't been so lucky—the blonde lounged lazily on the couch, a book open in his lap and his arm thrown lightly across the back of the cushions, his face hidden by a curtain of smooth hair. He gave no indication that he knew she had entered the room. Sliding carefully across the rug, she nearly made it to their kitchen area before she heard his voice rumble from behind her.
"Morning, mudblood," he drawled. She stopped, closed her eyes and took a steadying breath before turning around to face him. He still hadn't glanced up from his book.
"Yeah, whatever, Malfoy" was all she could lamely manage. He glanced up and smirked at her.
"How very eloquent." She simply scoffed as a response this time.
"So I've left you speechless, huh?" he was still leering at her in that infuriating way.
"Not quite, Malfoy."
"Six words. Very nice, Granger."
"I don't want to hear it. Twelve for you." She said rather snarkily.
"Whatever happened to you wanting to be civil and all? You seemed more than OK with it last night."
"Malfoy, lets pretend last night never happened. It was terribly unprofessional and I should never have let it happen."
"But you liked it," he accused.
"I wouldn't go so far," she shot back.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Granger. Although I'm sure the memories will help you sleep for months to come." As he said this, he ran his tongue over his lips suggestively. Hermione gagged.
"You're revolting."
"You want me."
"Not to mention full of yourself."
"You still want me."
"And delusional." With that, she spun on her heal and opened their small, stainless steel fridge and grabbed a small carton of milk before heading up to her bedroom.
"Aw, afraid to sit with me, then, Granger?" he teased from behind her. She swung around and plopped down on the sofa next to him, not wanting to seem intimidated by him. His eyes widened slightly before he recovered and returned to his book. She tugged open her carton and laid the book open in her lap to look through the table of contents for help.
After sitting in silence for about half an hour—Hermione perusing her new book and Draco reviewing techniques for Potions—Malfoy became bored with the volume in his lap and decided to antagonize the girl sitting stiffly next to him.
"…..Granger?!"
"WHAT?" she practically yelled.
"You weren't responding," he crooked an eyebrow in apparent amusement at her frustration.
"I was reading, Malfoy," he hated when she spoke to him in the tone she would speak to a slow child with.
"Yeah, clearly. What is it that you are so engrossed in?" he said, while tilting over slightly to catch a glimpse of the text.
"Its none of your business," she snapped, quickly pulling the book from his prying eyes.
"Merlin, a little testy, aren't we, Granger?"
"I don't see how any of this is your business," she retorted, somewhat childishly. He just raised his eyebrow again at her, pleased with her frustration. After five more minutes, she couldn't stand being in his presence, and stood to leave their dorm.
"Leaving so soon?" he cooed after her. She didn't bother gracing with him with a reply before exiting the room, thinking of a pleasant, quiet spot near the lake that would be perfect to sit and further examine the text. He smirked to himself, proud that he could overcome his repulsion at his own actions and keep up his precious image in light of the situation.
That Thursday night, Hermione and Draco found themselves speaking to the large, diverse group of prefects, lecturing them on their goals for the students and school for the upcoming year. Well, Hermione was lecturing, Draco was standing beside her with his arms crossed against chest, a bored look settled comfortably on his face.
"-and the curfew FOR ALL HOUSES is 11pm sharp, and we expect all of you to patrol the halls before and after that time. If you could please get a schedule of the evenings and nights you would prefer to do your rounds to either me or—well, I guess you better just give it to me—we can set up official patrol shifts and whatnot," Hermione paused for a second to consult the list of items she had wanted to cover in her meeting. Inter-house unity. A quick glance to Malfoy assured her that he had nothing of value he wished to share. She plowed on, eager to get through her list so she could return to the comfort of her common room to continue perusing the book she checked out from the library.
"Mark, really? Can't we just get through one meeting during which you spend more time paying attention to me than watching Julia?" The boy blushed a deep crimson and was suddenly the most attentive listener in the room. Snickers traveled amung the students before Hermione shot them a silencing glare and continued. "Although every year, we student leaders encourage inter-house unity, the staff and ourselves—" she motioned between Malfoy and herself "—believe that this year we should impress the idea onto our students even more so. With the upcoming battle, we must learn to get along with those around us even if they weren't sorted into the same house as us. If we're all fighting for the same thing, there is no reason we cannot all get along here." At this, Draco was rolling his eyes and shifting his weight around on his feet, clearly not in support of the message the mudblood
was spreading. To him, kids from the other houses could not be trusted just because they all went ot the same school. Many of the students held incorrect philosophies and ignorant morals that would lead to the downfall of the wizarding population.
"At any rate," she growled, frowning at Draco, "we will be holding a dance to celebrate school unity during which each student will have a black bracelet which will know which house the wearer is from, and will not allow the student to dance with anyone in the same house. It will also prevent large groups of students from the same house from forming. The teachers and ourselves hope this will encourage our message this year. The administration is also considering wiping any and all identity between the houses and the tables in the Great Hall away." She took another big breath and surveyed the group for more wandering eyes. Pleased to see that all eyes were, although not comprehendingly, towards her, she looked at the last topic on her list. Dances and school activities. Another glance towards Malfoy yielded no change in his behavior. She noticed the students shifting uncomfortably; it was lunchtime and they were hungry.
"This year we will have numerous dances and school actives, including weekends at Hogsmeade and Sleepovers in the Great Hall, in which you as prefects are expected to take part in the planning process. Your display of your leadership and organizational skills this year will benefit those of you looking to take Malfoy and my own spot as Head Students here at Hogwarts. Remember that the more you put into your positions here, the more you and those around you will get out of it. You were all picked for a reason; please don't disappoint those who chose you." She surveyed the crowd, now looking hopeful that the meeting was reaching it's end. Hermione sighed and gave Malfoy another sidelong glance. "Is there anything you'd like to add? I'm sure you must be winded from all that you've said today."
"No, I think you covered everything for the entire year. Merlin, I've been to shorter Quiddich matches than this," he drawled, pushing himself off the wall and carefully adjusting one of this rolled-up sleeves. The group twittered as Hermione colored, but she kept mindful control over the pitch of her voice as she steadily swung her gaze back over the prefect's heads.
"Well, if Mr. Malfoy is done being a smarty-pants, this meeting is over. Please, at some point, return to your houses and inform your students about what we went over this afternoon. Don't forget to remind them the forest is off limits, about their 11pm curfew, and, most importantly, encourage school unity. This begins within your own common rooms. Ok, ok!" she rolled her eyes as panic washed over the huddle of students, fearful that she would launch into another speech, "get off to lunch. All of you!" She waved her hands at the group, as if dismissing them, and the students quickly dispersed before she could decide she wanted to continue any one of her lengthy topics.
When the last prefect had disappeared, Hermione rounded on Draco, drawing a menacing finger up into his face. He raised his eyebrows a tad, but his face only betrayed amusement.
"If you ever attempt something like that again, don't expect—"
"Like what, my dear?" he smirked, placing his hand on top of hers and pressing it down. It merely sprang right back into place, shaking with rage.
"You know exactly what. That Quidditch comment! I can deal with you keeping your filthy little mouth shut while we have our meetings, but I will not tolerate you undercutting my authority in front of the group like that. You need to learn how to properly conduct yourself as a Head Boy, and that most certainly does not include trying to turn the prefects against the Head Girl. While you may think its funny, you vile cockroach, it merely reflects poorly on yourself and your position."
"Merlin, Granger, did you recently get a stick shoved up your ass or has then been an ongoing problem for you?" he scoffed, folding his robe carefully before draping it over his arm.
"And have you been an insufferable git your entire life, or is this just a new development?"
"Tsk tsk, Granger, that's not how a Head Girl conducts herself! Think about the honor of the position! You wouldn't want to reflect poorly on this school, would you?" He chucked as she lowered her finger and spun on her heel, removing herself from the situation.
"Why must I always be the bigger person here? Why am I always the one walking away, Malfoy?" she called out as she reached the door and turned back towards him. Her stomach growled, reminding her that lunch was nearly over. A horrible, malicious noise burst from Malfoy's mouth, and Hermione realized that he must have thought he was laughing and wrinkled her nose at him.
"There is no situation ever in which you could consider yourself the 'bigger person,' you know that, right?" he gasped between peals of 'laughter.' He exaggeratedly wiped tears from his eyes and took a deep breath to settle himself back down. Hermione merely rolled her eyes at the actor and swept out of the room and turned towards the Heads' room, already planning her lunch menu.
