A/N: Dear readers, y u no review? :(

Chapter 7

Hermione hadn't been prepared for the attention that her badge seemed to be getting today. She had spent most of her time being known as the nerdy, forgettable girl who was Harry Potter's friend and the brains behind all their adventures that now the sole spotlight over her threw her completely. She couldn't decide whether it was a positive sort of attention, she imagined that wearing that badge must give her an unapproachable vibe.

She watched a pair of first year girls stare at her with an awed expression. They clung to each other by their arms, hesitant to approach her. She had just begun to walk towards them when they backpedalled and turned to Ginny Weasley who happened to be standing close. They looked up to the red haired girl and began speaking in shrill, hurried voices. Ginny gave them one of her dazzling smiles, ruffled one's hair and answered back in her usual breezy manner. The girls grinned back and ran in the direction that Ginny had pointed.

Strangely affronted, Hermione waved at Ginny who caught her eye and walked over to her.

"Prefect at your service, madam Head Girl."

She huffed.

"What did those girls want?"

"Oh, those cuties? They just forgot the way to the girls' lavatory. I swear this ancient castle could do with one good map. Reckon you could look into it, Head Girl?"

"Oh stop it, you. But you're right. I'll discuss it with-" She had begun to say Malfoy but stopped as she considered the repercussions. "-with Professor McGonagall."

But Ginny didn't miss it.

"Oh, yeah. That. How's that situation coming through?"

She sighed.

"He's being a right arsehole, Ginny. I thought he'd have acquired some sense of decency over these years. But he can't utter a full sentence without throwing in 'mudblood'. What's worse is that he refuses to cooperate. He's an immature, bigoted ass." She said rubbing her forehead.

Ginny laughed as if the whole thing was highly amusing.

"Oh 'Mione. You can handle my brother, so I'm sure you're just as capable of handling him."

That was easy for her to say. She didn't know how much he hated her.

"Okay, I want you to inform all our Prefects about the meeting I'll be holding tomorrow evening. 5 pm sharp."

"Your wish is my command, Head Girl." Ginny mock saluted and made her way out of the great hall, a ballerina's grace in her step. She watched as quite a number of male heads turned to watch her walk away.

She looked around to see whether Harry was one of them but he wasn't around, neither was Ron. They must have left for the Quidditch pitch then. Harry had nursed a massive crush over the fiery redhead for quite a while and she could bet that Ron had no idea. He wasn't even aware of his own feelings, let alone Harry's, his best friend. She had long abandoned her girly fantasies that she'd associated with Ron. Cringing inwardly as she recalled the way she used to imagine themselves together…holding hands, sharing desserts, snogging… marrying someday in the future when the war was blissfully behind them, now she fought in a shudder at the picture. He was adorable, good looking, easy going and loyal, but he was also painfully dense. She just couldn't stand the thought of being with somebody who wasn't her intellectual equal, if not superior. Besides he was looking interested in Lavender Brown these days, who seemed to be perfectly happy receiving his attention.

Hermione couldn't help but think that she was getting too old for these things. Having spent three weeks of summer hiking with her cousins and travelling some of the exotic destinations in the world had left her feeling undeniably full. Full of knowledge and experiences and she wanted to share that with someone who could appreciate it, cherish it. And she would find that someone when the right time came.

Shaking her head at the direction of her thoughts, she began climbing up the stairs to the first floor. She still had all those timetables to finish. Malfoy was probably off for one of his dalliances.

The office was supposed to be empty around this time but as she walked in, she saw Anthony Goldstein sitting in one of the chairs presumably waiting for her.

"Hello, Anthony."

He turned and smiled back at her as he stood up.

"Hey, Head Girl."

She rolled her eyes at the address which she was now getting used to, but really, inwardly she was just marveling at how much he seemed to have changed. His longish dark hair hung around his bright blue eyes, giving him a mysterious air. Handsome face, quite nicely built too, she thought as she gave his body a discreet glance. She remembered him from their DA days but had he always been quite this fetching?

Being Ravenclaw, he surely didn't seem to have missed a thing but gave no indication of minding her perusal. In fact, he appeared to be doing the same to her.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Oh, I just came by to give you these."

He handed her two sheets of parchment that were filled with names of students written in neat, elegant handwriting.

"Names of all the Ravenclaws in Fifth year and below, just as you requested."

She remembered asking Padma Patil for them in passing but was grateful just as well.

"Thanks, that was awfully quick of you. You're the first house to have turned them in."

He grinned, cheeks dimpling on each side.

"Just doing my job."

"Well, then. Can you inform the rest of your prefects that there's going to be a meeting here, tomorrow at five?"

"Will do." He paused, seemingly making up his mind about something. "I saw the way you handled Snape back there in the train. I must say I was impressed."

She smiled at his choice of conversation.

"Oh that was just him being his normal self. You don't share many classes with us, do you? He behaves like that uniformly."

He nodded.

"I can imagine that but still, he seemed to have something specifically against you."

"You're right. Our discord goes way back to our first year. He dislikes us because he thinks we go out of our way to break the school rules. I think he made me Head Girl just so he could spite my friends."

"I disagree with you there; you were simply the best choice for the position."

She looked up to find him watching her intently. An unexpected warm feeling seeped into her belly.

Not knowing what to say she simply smiled and ended with "Thanks."

"Well, congratulations for the badge, Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow at five then."

He made to walk away but stopped at the sight of Malfoy leaning casually in the doorway. When did he turn up?

He gave no indication of moving from his perch at the door, purposely blocking the Ravenclaw's way.

"Excuse me."

With all the quickness of a pregnant seal, he grudgingly moved to the side.

"Git." She muttered under her breath and busied herself at the main table. She collected all the stuff from the morning, the thick bundles and spare quills, including the sheets with names from Ravenclaw. She would get farther with these if she went back to her own common room.

"What was that?"

Ignoring him, she made her way to her dorm.

"Hey!"

"What?" She gritted out, still facing away from him.

"What was that?" he repeated stupidly, as if she was mentally incapable of understanding him for the first time.

"What was what?"

"Why is he meeting you tomorrow?"

She turned to look at him, only to find annoyed curiosity on his face but he settled back to his usual sneer when she faced him.

She raised her eyebrows, "I have called a Prefects' Meeting in the evening. Seeing as you're quite busy wasting time, I saw it fit to invite the other prefects. Might as well get some work done. I seem to have missed Slytherin though, could you inform them on my behalf?" she asked, her voice mock sweet.

She couldn't see anything wrong with what she said but his mouth twisted into a snarl at her words.

"And you're telling me now? Didn't you see it fit to inform the freakin' Head Boy, Granger? Or did it slip your mind that you need to consult me first?"

Appalled at the sudden change in his tune, she spoke.

"What is your problem? You made it perfectly clear in the morning that you had no wish of doing the work. I called a meeting, big deal. What's it to you? You don't even have to attend. I'll handle it perfectly on my own. Why don't you spend your time entertaining your pals and rehearsing your theatrics?"

His angry face cleared. With rising irritation, she watched as the familiar smirk spread over his face.

"So. That's what this is about."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You're pissed about this morning. But really, Granger. All I meant was for you to take on those timetables alone. Meaningless scribble work does not become a Malfoy."

She gaped at him.

"Meaningless? I can't believe you. Work is work, no matter how small it appears to you. Why can't you get this into your skull that we're to do this as a team?"

He snorted, previous temper forgotten.

"I didn't say anything different, did I? You could handle them on your own; I would have simply taken up something else."

She refused to entertain his mocking ideas any further.

"Look, I don't care. All I ask of you is to share the responsibility that has been given to you, overlooking who you're supposed to be sharing it with. I didn't ask for any of this and I would love to have you kicked out from here. In fact, I'm looking forward to the moment when you mess up so badly that even Snape won't be able to save you."

She could see how her words affected him. His eyes glinted with fury and his jaw clenched visibly.

"You're forgetting who you're talking to."

She scoffed.

"No, Malfoy. How could I possibly forget when you're always in my face?"

She didn't see it happening, but suddenly she felt the pointed tip of a wand digging into her throat. She followed the wooden length with her eyes to his clenched fist, knuckles white around it. She looked up into his eyes, noticing for the first time that they were grey. Like cold, hard steel. For the first time in her life, being this close to him inspired a distinct flicker of fear in her blood.

Still refusing to get intimidated, she raised her hand and carefully pushed his wand to the side, all the while looking into his eyes. She watched the way his jaw ticked harder at this.

He looked like a living, breathing time bomb ready to explode. How could someone get so worked up at being simply reminded of their duties? Did he honestly think so highly of himself?

"If you wish to attend the meeting, you can meet me here tomorrow fifteen minutes earlier, so we can discuss about it." She enunciated clearly.

Seeing as he still didn't respond, she pulled her eyes away from his, clutched her stuff tighter to her chest and walked out of the office.

She yawned as she crossed out the last name from the list. The remaining prefects had owled her their complete House lists eventually by midnight and she had spent the last three hours putting all the names on their respective timetables. It was a menial, tiring job but she was no stranger to hard work.

She divided the timetables into four separate stacks, she would hand them over to the prefects in the morning to be distributed on Monday. She cracked her knuckles, wondering what Malfoy must have been doing all this while. Just the thought of him peacefully drooling on his pillow while she slaved away made her blood boil.

She stood up from her chair and stretched. She'd returned to her room when Harry, Ron and Ginny had started accusing her of being a bore in the middle of their small Every Flavoured Bean party in their common room.

She walked around a bit to get the blood pumping back into her bum and legs. Pure instinct made her open the door that lead to the office.

Lying on the ground, in pristinely knotted bundles of faded, yellow parchment were the timetables for Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Her tired eyes stared at them in horror. Not knowing what to do, Hermione Granger threw her head back and screamed.

A/N: So, how was it? Please tell me what you think, otherwise I'd have no way of knowing whether its going good or going downhill.. :)