A/N: Just a quick thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! The positive feedback, and the support is fantastic! Thank you so much, it's making writing this even more fun!

A little bit of a fun chapter, not much really happens - more was going to happen, but the DADA class just got a little out of control. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I hope you guys find it as funny as I did.

xBx

~ Chapter 11: Defence Disaster ~

Hermione and Draco didn't speak another word throughout the entire Arithmancy class. Draco was astounded that, after his outburst, Hermione would have the nerve to actually sit next to him. But then he reminded himself that this woman was at the front of the war on Voldemort, he had witnessed himself just how much she could actually go through and come out alive – compared to Voldemort and his Aunt Bellatrix, he must seem like nothing more than a temperamental puppy to her – no, a dog, a vicious dog, he decided. No one should think of Draco Malfoy as a puppy. He shuddered at the thought.

But, this is Granger; he thought to himself, if anyone is going to have the audacity to compare me to an effing puppy, it's her. He grumbled, internally.

Despite his slight discomfort at sharing a table with her, he let her stay. She had admitted she was in the wrong – something Draco didn't think she was even capable of; he was quite convinced that this was a first for the stubborn Gryffindor Princess. Furthermore, she had apologised, to a Slytherin no less, and Draco had to admit, that even his outburst probably deserved to be apologised for, though he wasn't quite calm enough to attempt it. At the end of the day, the pair was sharing a tower, they had to get along otherwise life would turn pretty sour, pretty fast.

As they both had their next class together, they ended up walking to Defence Against the Dark Arts side by side, despite no conversation being attempted by either of them.

When they reached the classroom half the students were already there: a healthy mix of returning and new seventh years. Draco stood to the side, allowing Hermione to enter first – Hermione felt a renewed twinge of guilt at her verbal assault: even after the venom that poured from her mouth, he was still being polite, though he still had a scowl on his face.

Hermione made her way to a table near the back, where Ginny was already sitting.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, as Hermione took her seat, taking in the vibes between her friend and the Slytherin Prince.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, half-heartedly, taking out her book and wand.

Ginny nodded her head towards the front of the class, where Draco had just taken a seat next to Blaise, a couple of rows from the front. "Looks like something happened already." She said.

Hermione sighed; Ginny was far too in tune with the people around her, it was almost like a superpower.

"Don't go there." She said, with a shake of her head.

Ginny chuckled, "Jeez, that bad and only day one? What did he do?" she asked, automatically assuming that whatever it was had been Draco's fault – after all, that was usually the case.

Hermione slumped forward and rested her chin on her hand, turning to look at Ginny, with a rather pathetic look on her face.

"He didn't do anything," Hermione admitted, "It was my fault. I just went off on one, for no reason."

Ginny nodded, and Hermione could see she was struggling to keep from laughing. But the struggle was in vain, and Ginny finally allowed herself a laugh with a shake of the head, and Hermione even joined in, though still retaining that pathetic look.

"This year's going to be a disaster, isn't it?" Hermione asked, but was spared an answer as Professor Fidelis entered the room.

"Alright," The Professor called, bringing the students to a quiet attention, their faces following him as he made his way to the front of the class.

"As far as I understand it, Defence has been pretty much the worst structured subject in the history of teaching." He said, getting right to the point, his comment causing a few laughs of agreement.

"And I believe we have a mixture of fresh seventh years, and returning seventh years in this class." He said, looking around the class who nodded their assent. "Which is going to really highlight the severely poor structure you've been forced to endure. Obviously, my aim is to get you all up to speed so you can confidently sit your NEWT exam in June. Now, the returning seventh years: those of you who sat your sixth year with Professor Snape are at a certain advantage, as you actually had a very competent teacher-"

Fidelis was interrupted by a scoff, which came from Zacharias Smith. Hermione hadn't noticed him when she had first arrived, and noticing him now set her teeth on edge, and she couldn't help herself from sticking up for their late Headmaster.

"Zip it Smith. You may not have liked him, but Severus was a bloody good teacher, you can not deny that." She snapped, and everyone turned to look at her: she received a few raised eyebrows at this remark.

It was common knowledge that Hermione, Harry and Ron had been on some sort of mission the past year, and a few knew they were pretty much a part of the Order of the Phoenix (though they had never been formally inducted) and were therefore on socially equal terms with certain members of the staff at Hogwarts.

And of course, after the final battle, Harry (with the help of Hermione, Ron, and the remaining Order members) had made sure that Severus was recognised as being the hero that he was. But still, referring to Professor Snape on a first name basis was a lot for them take in.

Zacharias looked at her with cold eyes, and raised eyebrows at the first name use. "He was evil, and a bully." He stated

"He wasn't evil, he was far from it actually. As many people are already aware, he was a hero. So show a little respect to his memory." She countered without a thought, her voice dripping with acid: Smith really got her back up, and his griping coupled with her lack of sleep and a bad start to the day, was doing nothing for her temper right now.

"And you know this how?" Zacharias asked sceptically.

"Is it really any of your business?" She asked coolly, but unable to restrain herself, she continued:

"But there was a side to him that no one saw while he was alive, except for one person – actually two: one of them died a long time ago, the other was Dumbledore. You may have kept yourself safe away in hiding during the war, but some of us were in the thick of it, and you learn a lot in certain situations. So don't make ignorant assumptions about situations you haven't got a clue about." Hermione snapped.

She was completely unaware that she had sparked the interest of several other students in the class: Draco, in particular, wondered what she knew about their late Professor, and he resolved to question her about it soon. Ginny was also giving Hermione an interested look, and like Draco she was also determined to get some answers later that evening.

Professor Fidelis chose this time to finally interrupt them, sensing this argument could escalate quickly:

"Can we move on?" He asked, without waiting for an answer, warily assessing the two bickering students and resolving to keep them as separate as possible throughout the year: He was well aware of Miss Granger's talents, and from an initial judgement he knew Smith might never recover from an altercation with the fiery brunette.

"As I was saying: for those of you who sat your sixth year last year, well, there was no defence taught, just Dark Arts, so you won't have the advantages that the rest of class have. However, a lot of what I want to teach you is going to be theoretical this year: we are going to look at the dark arts, as well as defence against them, in an attempt to understand them – once we understand what we are trying to defend against, the easier we can accomplish the defence." He informed them, adding: "Defence is not a solid concept, we have to adapt our defence strategies in accordance with the arts we are fighting."

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, the last time they had had a focus on theory, they'd had to resort to teaching themselves. Apparently they weren't the only ones to show this scepticism, and it wasn't missed.

The professor smiled knowingly, "I realise the last time you had a theory based defence class, you were suffering under the rule of Dolores Umbridge. Believe me, I have no intention of suppressing you like she did. Incidentally, I'm surprised how many of her students passed their OWLs – a handful with amazing grades." He said as an afterthought, with genuine surprise. "And if my calculations are correct, that OWL year would be the returning seventh years of the class, am I right? What was your secret?"

Hermione couldn't help but grin at Ginny, who sniggered, which caused Hermione to giggle likewise. This set off a few other knowing sniggers around the room, namely from Neville, Luna, Dean and Parvati, who were also in the class.

Their professor frowned, "I'm missing something here, aren't I?" He asked warily, correctly interpreting the noise.

Hermione took it upon herself to answer, not wanting too much to be said, and certainly not wanting Smith to start talking, which he looked very close to doing.

"A few of us may have took it upon ourselves to self-learn. The defensive magic which Umbridge wasn't teaching us, Ha- erm, someone else did." Hermione said evasively, "A study group if you will." She suggested innocently, at which Ginny snorted.

The teacher rose his eyebrows, "And Umbridge was okay with this?" he asked disbelieving, having encountered the woman several times himself he was familiar with her countenance.

"Apparently, she didn't know what was really going on." Offered Draco, speaking for the first time, when no one else seemed to want to answer the question.

"Oh she did," Ginny contradicted, adding with a gloat: "She just couldn't catch us at it and didn't want to admit the she was easily outsmarted by a group of teenagers."

Hermione rolled her eyes; this was going far more in depth that she would have liked. And seeing that further explanation was now needed, as the professor was looking intrigued and slightly disbelieving that a ministry official couldn't catch out a bunch of teenagers, she informed him quickly:

"Every week the time and day of the meeting would change, so even if someone was watching us, they wouldn't figure out a pattern. There were a fair few of us in the group, so to avoid unnecessary discussion, we communicated the time and date through some fake galleons, which I enchanted with a protean charm." Hermione explained to Fidelis whose expression changed from sceptical to impressed.

"That is very impressive magic, especially for OWL level. I know a lot of NEWT students have difficulty with that particular charm. Though it sounds like a lot of effort for a simple study group." He said warily: He couldn't deny that this group intrigued him and Fidelis was therefore forthcoming in allowing the students to continue their discussion – the best way to learn the group's dynamic was through listening to them and learning their history.

Hermione shrugged, but Neville spoke up, "It started out as a study group, but the DA became more than that quick enough." He explained with pride.

"DA?" Fidelis asked, clearly getting more intrigued by the minute: this was his first class of the year, and he was wondering if all the students were as apt as this set appeared to be – apt or trouble-makers he wasn't quite sure, but he was willing to be optimistic as he had the famous Hermione Granger in the room.

He obviously recognised Hermione Granger, and the redhead next to her he knew to be Ginny Weasley. He had heard about the antics of Ginny along with Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood – whom he also knew was in this class as well.

"Our name: we were Dumbledore's Army." Luna spoke up from next to Neville, slowly but surely the remaining members were having their say in this unexpected conversation.

"We still are." Added Ginny, her tone echoing the pride that Neville had shown.

"So who here is a member?" Professor Fidelis asked, looking around. Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna all raised their hands, as did Dean and Parvati, but when Zacharias Smith started to raise his arm, Hermione lost her patience for the second time in that class.

"Don't even think about it Smith. You may have come along for the free lessons, but don't get carried away." She warned.

"What are you talking about? It lasted a year, I was there for it all." He countered, sounded sulky.

"Are you fricking kidding me?" Ginny said, now also frustrated with Smith, "The DA continued, you prick, to the point where it pretty much became a stepping stone up to the Order of the Phoenix: we had links with the Order from day one. And when five DA members left Hogwarts they went right into the order." She informed their professor - apparently Hermione wasn't the only one who said too much in anger.

The professor raised his eyebrows at the outburst, but didn't say anything: he was learning a lot here that would help him understand this class a lot better, he felt.

"Five?" Hermione questioned Ginny quietly, momentarily forgetting her frustration.

"Yeah: You, Harry, Ron, Fred and George." She said quickly.

"Right, of course." Hermione nodded as comprehension dawned, having not spent the last year with the Order, she often forgot she was considered as one of the top members.

Meanwhile Zacharias continued to wine. "Well, how was I supposed to know what was going on, you didn't keep me informed."

"Didn't we?" Hermione said in mock surprise, "I wonder how that happed? Tell me, Smith, where's you're galleon?"

Zacharias scoffed, "I don't know, when it didn't burn for weeks, I probably misplaced it. Or spent it – they were pretty convincing counterfeits."

"Well, I know where it is. All DA members still have their galleons. I know because I regained possession of them all in July. Those who noticed that their coin had disappeared asked me about them, and I returned them. The rest went to the Ministry, with the extra one hundred I made at the Ministers request." She said, and to prove her point Ginny, Dean and Neville all pulled the string around their necks, from inside their shirt to show a galleon dangling on it, while Luna and Parvati held up their wrists to show their coins making part of a charm bracelet.

Hermione couldn't help but feel a kind of familial pride; the bond of the DA was one to rival the bond of the Order. The Pride flared momentarily, but quick enough she was seething at Zacharias once again.

"And don't start getting all high and mighty about us never using them, because we did." Hermione continued, in a voice that had gone dangerously low: the entire class seemed to be holding their breath at the sudden tension in the room, even the professor didn't interrupt to take control of the class.

Hermione continued: "Tell me Zacharias, where were you the night Dumbledore died? Where were you when we called an emergency meeting on the coins? We knew something was going to happen, we knew Dumbledore was leaving the school for a few hours that night, so we called for help. We knew we had the order stationed around the perimeter, but what about inside the castle? There was only the DA – and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember seeing you fighting the Death Eaters that came through the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement." She said in a conversational tone of threatening calm.

No one breathed for what seemed like an eternity, and Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat – he didn't want to think about that night, everything that had happened that night had been his doing, and he was ashamed of the part he had played in it: he had regretted his actions even as he was doing them.

He had never seen eye-to-eye with his father, he didn't particularly share his views, yet somehow, somewhere along the line he had found himself being branded with the Dark Mark, given a personal mission from the Dark Lord, and following in his father's footsteps – which, incidentally, had happened to be the last thing in the world he had ever wanted to do.

Thankfully, the teacher had now decided to continue the class,

"I think that's enough talking for today's lesson. I want to see how much you can remember: we're going to work on our non-verbal ability – it's something you should all be familiar with at this level of your education. Divide into pairs, one person is going to attack, the other defend how you see fit – be it a shield charm, a counter jinx, anything. Just make sure it's non-verbal. I want to see the level of wand work we're all working at." He declared.

"Maybe we should partner up with someone we don't really know." Hermione called out, continuing before the teacher could object.

"For example, I know Ginny very well, and having fought alongside her on a fair few occasions, even when she's casting non-verbally, I know her style well enough to know what she's about to do and when. In the real world, we won't know our opponents that well, so we won't have that advantage. So say I was to partner Smith, for example, well then that would be better practice, as I'm not familiar with his style of mediocre wand-waving which he presumes to call spell-casting." Hermione spoke calmly, as if it was merely a light-hearted suggestion, with innocently academic motives.

Ginny had let out a snort of laughter and covered her mouth, trying to control her laughter at Hermione's description of Smith's magic. Hermione could feel Ginny shaking with the silent laughter beside her, a few other students sniggered, and she even saw Draco smirk at her out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her focus on the professor, maintaining an air of innocence as if her suggestion was purely academic and had nothing to do with wanting to hex Smith into oblivion.

"Maybe not today, Miss Granger. Just stick with the person sitting next to you for now." He said with a hint of a smile, before shaking his head. "Clearly I am going to have watch this class carefully."

The class stood behind their desks and readied themselves to duel; Hermione turned to Ginny,

"Want me to go easy on you?" She smirked, adding for an extra irate effect: "I did promise Ron I'd look out for you, after all."

Ginny almost growled "Quit it, Hermione, I'm pretty sure I can take you. And also, quit with the smirks, you're turning into Malfoy." She retaliated: If it was one thing Ginny hated, it was her family's perpetual need to try and mollycoddle her.

Hermione dropped the smirk immediately, and gave Ginny what could only be described as a death glare – why was everyone suddenly comparing her to Malfoy? First Andie, now Ginny, Hermione was starting to get irate herself. But she knew she had riled Ginny, which meant she had an inkling of the curse she was about to hurl at her: no doubt it would be her infamous Bat-Bogey hex, that she had modified last year making it a lot harder to reverse, should you get hit.

Unfortunately for Ginny, what she didn't know was that Hermione had also modified a few spells herself, one of which was a repelling jinx, which could repel a spell and cast it back upon the sender. She hadn't intended to use this spell, but after Ginny's comment, Hermione was suddenly feeling a little less candid toward the redhead.

The girls readied themselves into their personal duelling stances. Hermione watched Ginny carefully, saw the tell-tale glint in her eye, paused for three seconds and then silently cast her own charm. Immediately, Ginny was engulfed in the giant bogies with bat wings that she had intended to send to Hermione, but that had now glued themselves to Ginny's hair and robes.

Hermione creased over in laughter, as Ginny shrieked. "Jesus Christ, Hermione! What the Hell have you done to me?!"

Hermione laughed even harder, "Me, Ginny? I believe that's your spell, I simply repelled it." She managed to laugh out, trying to sound innocent.

As the girls were one of the first pairs to start working, the commotion brought the attention of most of the class.

"You did more than repel it, didn't you?" Ginny yelled, clearly not as amused as Hermione seemed to be. "You've been modifying again haven't you, you bitch? The least you could do is tell me so I know what to expect. I bloody well told you, didn't I?" She complained, with exasperation, a hint of admiration and a tiny smile at her best friend's cunning.

Hermione continued to laugh: the best part about her modification was that only the caster of the repelling charm could lift the result – and unfortunately for Ginny, Hermione hadn't been told the counter-jinx to Ginny's modification.

As Ginny struggled to free herself of the jinx, getting more irate as every attempt failed, Hermione laughed harder, not realising how closely the pair of Slytherins at the front of the room was watching them.

The high peel of laughter conveying genuine mirth, and the accompanying chastising shriek, had immediately distracted both Blaise and Draco. Draco turned to see his new room-mate bent over double, one hand clutching her stomach, one hand clutching the table in an effort to keep her upright. At first he thought she had been hit with a severe tickling charm, but no, she was just that amused at what had happened to her friend.

Blaise had likewise been distracted, and couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the two usually unruffled Gryffindors looking so unrefined.

As Draco listened to the girls' discussion he soon fathomed that the jinx currently taunting Ginny was the redhead's own, Hermione was only responsible for the repelling. He was impressed, and couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

Draco and Blaise watched in silence as the Professor went over to try and regain some control over the situation – knowing the talents of the two witches in question, both boys knew it was going to be a losing battle for the Professor.

Draco mentioned this thought out loud, adding, "And from the look on Granger's face, she knows the teacher isn't going to be able to do jack shit. I think she has all the power here."

"You reckon?" Blaise said "Fifty galleons says the She-Weasley will get herself out of this fix, no help from anyone."

Draco smirked, "You're on. Fifty says only Granger can relieve Weaselette from her predicament."

The boys shook on the deal, and then leant back against their desk, arms folded across their chests, to enjoy the show with matching grins.

Professor Fidelis was standing next to Ginny, "What's the counter jinx?" he asked, "If you're going to use a modified jinx, you should at least know what the modified counter-jinx is." He chastised.

"I do know, but it's not working." Ginny explained indignantly, "At least, not when I do it." She added, glaring at her partner, beginning to suspect what Hermione's full modification just might be.

Hermione had now turned to face her desk, as another snort of laughter escaped her. Using both hands to steady herself, she tried to regain control of her laughter. She had a flush to her face that hadn't been there this morning, and the laughter had brought back the fire to her eyes, and Draco suddenly found himself admiring the view.

He didn't think he had ever seen Granger really let go like this; she was always so serious, as if she had a lot on her mind – which, considering she was at the front line of an impending war for nearly half her Hogwarts life, wasn't really that surprising. When he looked at her properly, especially when she was laughing like this, he was surprised to find that she was actually rather attractive. And the way she was currently leaning had allowed for the front of her robes to slip down, displaying the rather fitted shirt underneath; as the weather was still rather warm, and in preparation for the mini-duel, Hermione had loosened her tie and undone the top two buttons –

Draco shook himself, what the hell was wrong with him? This was entirely inappropriate, and he cursed Blaise – it was, after all, him who first put the idea of Granger's attractiveness into his head.

"I'm going to bloody well kill you." Draco muttered dangerously, his grin quickly turning to a scowl.

"What the hell did I do now?" Blaise asked, offended, and in genuine confusion as he tore his eyes away from the disruptive duo. He looked at Draco, and then followed his friend's eye line – Draco was still looking at Hermione.

Blaise smirked knowingly, "Ahhh. You've finally realised that Granger is actually a fine specimen to indulge the eyes, and you're blaming me for enlightening you to the fact."

"Shut it." Draco snapped, listening to the rest of the conversation developing between the two Gryffindors and the Professor, while Blaise chuckled quietly at his side.

"How did you counter the jinx Hermione?" The professor asked, after trying various counter jinxes himself, but to no avail. By now the rest of the class had stopped to watch the infamous duo.

"With a modified repelling charm." Hermione said through her laughter, now biting her bottom lip while still shaking, trying to keep the laughs from exploding out of her.

"Modified how?" Both the professor and Ginny asked at the same time, though the Professor asked it curiously, while Ginny breathed it through clenched teeth. Ginny's reaction only increased Hermione's mirth, she knew she was going to pay for this later, but at the same time Ginny had a great sense of humour, so Hermion knew she would be forgiven before the end of Lunch.

"Only the caster of the repelling charm can remove the effects. In other words, only I can lift Ginny's jinx from her." A Laugh escaped Hermione, "But she never told me the counter jinx for her modified jinx." She doubled over again. "So I can't do anything right now."

Draco turned to Blaise, a smug look on his face. "You owe me fifty Galleons." He said.

When Hermione had finally overcome her giggles long enough to release Ginny from her own brand of hell, the class was re-organised, and the rest of the lesson was spent discussing spell modifications. The class was dismissed at the bell, but not before they were given homework: a roll of parchment on the pitfalls to using modified jinxes and hexes. Apparently Professor Fidelis wanted to use Hermione and Ginny's little scene as a learning exercise.

The rest of Hermione's first day was uneventful compared to the morning, and by dinnertime, Hermione's mood had seemed to settle. After dinner, however, irritations seemed intended to be renewed. As she rose from the table, bidding goodbye to her new Gryffindor clique that had been inadvertently formed, Ginny stood up to leave with her.

"You owe me a tour of your tower." She said, in a tone that brokered no opposition.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Fine. But it's not going to be a full tour, I'm tired and I've got homework to do. I'll give you a proper tour at the weekend." She said, leading Ginny out of the hall.

As they travelled along the corridors, Ginny started to question Hermione.

"So, there's a lot that happened last year that you three haven't told me, isn't there?"

Hermione sighed, and looked at Ginny, slightly desperately.

"There's a lot that happened that we haven't told anyone. There were things that were bad enough living through once, we don't want to go through the retelling." She said, hoping Ginny would understand.

Ginny nodded, "I get that, I do. But I'm not talking about what really went on in Gringotts, or the aftermath of the Ministry. I'm talking about the things you found out: Like Snape for example. You can't just drop a bombshell like you did today in Defence, and not expect some questions." Ginny argued, sensibly.

Hermione sighed as they came to the painting that marked the entrance to the Head's Tower – the painted castle was now bathed in the late afternoon sunshine, that Hermione knew to be shining outside the real castle's windows. Hermione gave the password, and entered, closely followed by Ginny.

"I knew I was going to regret that little outburst," Hermione said, tossing her school bag up onto the large study table, then turning to look at her friend.

"I can't, Gin. It's not my secret to tell." She explained.

"Come on Hermione, you owe me." Ginny pestered, as the painting swung open, admitting Draco, who was closely followed by Blaise - apparently they were joined at the hip now, Hermione thought.

"After today's defence class, I deserve some gossip. What do you know about Snape that no one else knows?" Ginny asked.

"I second that question." Blaise said, catching the last of Ginny's speech, and inviting himself into the girls' conversation.

Hermione turned and frowned, "Zabini." She greeted, "This is supposed to be the head's tower, to allow us to get away from all the other students, why are you here?"

"Same reason as She-Weasley, apparently. I want to know the dirt on Snape." He said with his trade mark grin, clearly not at all offended by the less than warm welcome.

"I wouldn't mid hearing what you know, either." added Draco, dropping into a seat near the fire. "Start talking, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and sighed. She turned into the kitchen, flicking her wand at the large copper kettle, which refilled itself and started to boil.

"I'll happily talk," Hermione said, making her way into the kitchen to make tea, "But not about Severus." She told them as Blaise and Ginny also made their way to the couches.

"Technically, I shouldn't know this stuff anyway." She started ranting, as she was retrieving mugs from a cupboard under the breakfast bar.

"Severus gave his memories to Harry as he was dieing. Harry wouldn't have told me anything if I hadn't already guessed some of it anyway, based on my observations over the years, which were then confirmed with Severus' last words." She said, once again without thinking.

"You were there when he died?" Draco asked. Hermione lifted her head and saw Draco staring at her with a strange look in his eye.

Hermione mentally kicked herself; she really needed to sleep better, apparently tiredness caused a form of verbal diarrhoea in her, where she seemed to tell anyone absolutely anything.

She gave a small nod, and figuring she had already said too much, telling them exactly how he had died wouldn't make much difference now. "He was bitten by Nagini, repeatedly. But he wasn't eaten; he was just left to bleed out. And this conversation is now over." She said abruptly, turning around as the kettle began to whistle, to busy herself with making the tea.

"But can't you tell us just one tiny detail?" Ginny practically whined, "Like who was the other person who knew Snape's other side? And how and when exactly did they die?"

Not wanting to cater to the whims and demands of the two Slytherins, nor much wanting to indulge the nagging red-head, she made a pot up, and sent it to the coffee table on a tray with four mugs, a jug of milk and a dish of sugar. Hermione sat on the couch next to Ginny, and poured herself a mug of tea, then leaned back into the couch: the three pests can damn well make their own teas. Hermione thought to herself, before speaking out loud:

"That was two questions, Ginny. Neither of which I'm answering, by the way. There is only one person you can get that information from, and that is Severus himself." She said, with a note of finality in her voice, which told the other three that the conversation was most definitely over, now.

The other three continued to look at her, as she took a drink. "What?" She snapped irritably, lowering her mug.

"Nice hosting skills, Granger." Draco said, indicating the mug in her hand. "What about the rest of us?"

Hermione scowled, "I made a pot, didn't I? There are three more mugs there, isn't there? Milk and sugar, everything you need. What more do you want from me? You're not at your manor now, Malfoy. Suck it up and make your own." She told him.

Blaise sniggered; he had never heard anyone talk to his friend in such a way. If anyone had come close to even thinking of speaking in such a way, that person had been hexed pretty quickly and never indulged such a thought again. He turned to Draco to see how he was going to take this new level of disrespect, from the Gryffindor Princess no less. Blaise was expecting retaliation: angry words, snide comments, possibly even a wand drawn. What he wasn't prepared for was Draco's actual reaction.

Draco rolled his eyes and huffed. Muttering something about "insufferable Gryffindors" and "high and mighty" he leaned forward and proceeded to pour his own drink, while his friend looked on with raised eyebrows.

Hermione allowed herself a smug smirk at winning this particular argument, but decided not to gloat, as that was very un-ladylike behaviour to exhibit, especially in front of guests. She therefore simply stood, muttered something about homework, and made her way up to the large table where her bag was waiting for her. She was joined a moment later by Ginny, with her own mug in her hand, and the pair got out their homework and began to work in silence.

Blaise was still looking at Draco in amusement, when the blonde noticed, he sighed in frustration.

"What now?" Draco demanded, adding "Don't even think of asking me to pour yours, you can damn well serve yourself like the rest of us."

Blaise nodded, leaned forward to get his tea, and stifling a chuckle he asked:

"So, living with the Gryffindor Princess, how's that going?"

Draco heard the laughter in his voice, and scowled. "Last night was fine. This morning she seems to have got out of the wrong side of bed. Apparently she didn't sleep well, and that messes with her temper. She is going to be a nightmare to live with." He complained.

Blaise chuckled, "I reckon she'll say the same about you. I mean you're temper isn't exactly easy. Look at this morning, all it took was Pansy to turn you into a royal git." He said. "Once you get used to each other, you'll figure out how to live in relative peace I'm sure." He tried to reason.

When Draco refused to respond, deciding instead to just sit there and glare, Blaise decided to try another angle. "And plus, that shared bathroom can't be all bad: how much does the shower steam up?" He asked, with his cheeky grin back in place – Blaise had already been given a tour of the tower at lunch and was familiar with the facilities.

Draco put his head back and closed his eyes, "For the love of the Gods, Zabini! You have a problem, do you know that?"

A/N: Just a little bit of a fun chapter - I didn't originally plan for the first day to last so long, but once I got writing DADA it just kept coming to me. But we will be moving at a much quicker pace, as I am very excited to get to Hallowe'en and Christmas, where the clichés and real Dramione action starts to kick off.

The next chapter is almost finished, a couple more pages to go then I'll be posting it, I should hopefully have it up tonight :)

Let me know what you guys thought, your opinion means a lot to me.

Thanks again for reading,

xBx