Chapter Two

The first week back to school was frantic. The first meeting with the Prefects wasn't going as Prefects were not happy with McGonagall's choice of Headboy.

"Sit down, Collins." I said severly, "And the rest of you lot, shut up!"

Slowly, the Ravenclaw Prefect sat back down in his seat and the rest of the Prefects turned to stare at me in silence. It wasn't very often that I raised my voice, so they were all rather surprised.

"Now, I know that we've had a rough history with Slytherins. All of us have. McGonagall chose Draco for this position for a reason and you will all abide by her choices. He is your Headboy and you will respect him! I do not care what your personal feelings may be about this matter, you will all grow up and prove to us that you are mature enough to handle your responsibilities or so help me, I will have you demoted and replaced. Have I made myself clear?" I said softly, a dangerous edge to my voice.

General murmurs of consent rang throughout the room. I nodded in approval and continued, "Now, as I was saying. You each hold a copy of your patrol routes in your hand. You are expected to patrol according to the dates and times listed at the bottom. After Christmas break, your routes, dates, and times will switch up. You are not allowed to dock points or give detentions until you have proven that you will not act as you just have here tonight. Your patrols start tomorrow evening. Goodnight."

As the Prefects filed out of the room in silence, I glanced at Malfoy. He was leaning against the wall, looking rather defeated.

"Thank you." He said quietly, "You didn't have to do that."

"I did. As much as I may not like you, you were chosen to be Headboy for a reason and therefore you should be treated as such. I will not stand for all this prejudice and judgment that, by all rights, should have disappeared after the war." I explained softly, "Now, I'm going back to the dormitory to work on homework."

I began to walk away and glanced back to see Malfoy following me at a slower pace.

Maybe he's not so bad anymore, I thought. Then I shook my head, He's still Malfoy. Arrogant, prideful, and infuriating.

I climbed through the portrait hole and settle down in one of the overstuffed chairs in front of the fireplace. As I pulled my books and assignments out of my bag, I noticed Malfoy settle down in the chair opposite me and quietly start doing the same. I chose to ignore him and carry on with my work. We worked in silence for a whole hour before I bothered to look up from my books. I felt a small smile form on my face against my will. Malfoy had fallen asleep. His head was resting against the back of the chair and his arms were limply hanging over either side of the chair. The books in his lap looked precariously close to crashing into the floor and the essay that he'd started had a large ink smear right across the middle of it.

He looks rather innocent when he sleeps.

I gently shook my head and set my books aside. I slowly made my way over to Malfoy and gently touched his shoulder. Malfoy jumped up violently, eyes looking around wildly until they landed on me. I was standing there, staring at him in shock. Upon seeing the look on my face, Malfoy quickly relaxed and raised a hand to rub the back of his head guiltily, his cheeks flushing.

"Sorry, Granger. Didn't mean to scare you. I should have warned you about that particular response. I'm kind of violent when I get woken up unexpectedly." Malfoy muttered sleepily.

"It-it's o-okay." I cleared my throat, "I'll keep it in mind for future reference. I was just going to tell you to head to bed. You fell asleep and managed to smear ink all over your essay."

"Crap. I'll have to rewrite it tomorrow, I guess." Malfoy said as he looked sorrowfully at his almost complete essay.

"Well.. Goodnight, I suppose." I said awkwardly

"Yeah.. 'night, Granger." Malfoy turned and walked into his room.

What would cause a reaction like that? Just from someone touching his shoulder? I stared curiously at Malfoy's now closed door. With a sigh, I extinguished our fire and walked into my own room, sleep was calling my name.

"So, how's living with Malfoy?" Ron asked sourly as we ate breakfast the next morning.

I sighed, "It's fine, Ron."

"Fine? Just fine? Not.. not terrible or ghastly?"

"Calm down, Ron. It's not like we see each other all that much. We have separate classes and bedrooms. The only time we really talk is during meetings." I explained

"What do you guys talk about?" Harry interjected

I sighed, giving up on eating as I was obviously going to be interrogated this morning, "We talk about all the Heads duties we have, what we have to plan, patrols. Just school stuff, Harry."

"Just school? Nothing personal? He never talks about his parents or childhood or Voldemort?"

"Give it a rest, Harry!" I exclaimed, "The war is over. People have changed. I don't like him much either, but for Merlin's sake, grow up!"

And with that I exited the Great Hall, Harry and Ron staring after me with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Ginny snorted into her pumpkin juice as I stomped away, causing me to smile just a little bit. Five minutes later, I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see Ginny catching up to me.

"I miss you, Mione. No one ever yells at them anymore and they've gotten quite the egos from it. They think they can say and do whatever they want now. We need you around to keep them under control. Dunderheads." Ginny chuckled

I smiled and we continued walking down the corridor in silence until Ginny asked, "Why did you defend Malfoy? Do you like him now?"

"No, I don't necessarily like him, Gin. I'm just tired of the immaturity. We just went through a war. Don't you think that old prejudices should be left behind? No, I don't like him, but we are civil to each other. We have to work together and he's obviously redeemed himself in McGonagall's eyes so I see no reason to not trust him. If McGonagall picked him to be Headboy, she had a good reason for it." I explained quietly

Ginny nodded in understanding. Situations like this were why I loved Ginny. She'd keep her emotions under control and think logically. Unlike Harry and Ron, Ginny would think before she acted. I was beyond grateful to have her as a friend. Before we parted for classes, I made Ginny promise to come stay with me that night. We were in need of girl talk desperately.

I was rushing down the corridor, trying to get to class on time, when I crashed into something solid. My book bag spilled all over the hall, mixing in with the belongings of whoever I'd crashed into.

"Ohh, I'm sorry!" I groaned as I bent down to gather up my books.

"It happens, Granger. Don't worry about it."

I froze and looked up to see Malfoy also bent down trying to gather his books, as well. No snide comment? I wondered

"Why are you staring again, Granger?" Malfoy drawled

"You didn't insult me. You didn't even comment on the fact that I just knocked all of your books all over the hall." I said in surprise

Malfoy rolled his eyes and stood, handing me a stack of books I recognized as my own. "We've all got to grow up sometime, don't we?"

And with that, Malfoy continued down the corridor while I watching his retreating figure in confusion.

What is up with that boy?