Hogwarts was everything a magical castle should be. It was bright and strange and mysterious all at once and more. There were ghosts and moving staircases throughout the entirety of it, that terrible poltergeist, Peeves, the ever-enchanting ceiling in the Great Hall that reflected the sky outside. She'd heard rumors of secret passages and strange rooms that appeared out of nowhere. It was warm and wonderful, and it was quickly becoming home.
As long as she kept her time in the Gryffindor common room short, that was. Her fellow Gryffindors were not enthused with her company. She'd heard her dormitory mates making fun of how her hair looked in the morning, and boys complaining she was a know-it-all (just as Draco had predicted); moreover, many called her a traitor for her friendship with Draco who, while a Hufflepuff himself, was from a notoriously Slytherin family. It was an annoyance, but at least she had Draco.
And the professors had taken a shine to her for the most part. Professor Snape was not overly fond of anyone, though he slightly favored Slytherins and slightly disdained Gryffindors more than any other house. Professor McGonagall was fair but had high standards when it came to excellence. The tiny Charms professors, Professor Flitwick, was friendly with just about everyone and adored Hermione's enthusiasm. Professor Sprout was much the same as Professor Flitwick, though perhaps slightly less strict. Professor Binns was… well, he was a ghost, as much history as the subject he taught.
Professor Riddle was something in and of himself. His notes on her essays pushed her in a way mere corrections did not (telling her to cut anything not pertinent and be more concise); it was frustrating, especially since he didn't guide her in how to do that. Her made her figure it out on her own. Draco found it amusing. He'd said as much when she complained that Professor Riddle would only call on her once per class period.
"You are the biggest swot, Hermione. He's trying to give others a chance too." He shook his head. "I think he's good for you."
"How does he mark your essays?" She glanced over at his satchel, which he then held closer lest she grab for it. "He's always writing 'you don't need to define every term' and 'use fewer words'."
Draco tried to hide a laugh and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "You do go on," he said with a shrug.
"But all of my information is correct," she insisted.
Draco sipped his breakfast tea and lifted one of his pale brows. The Expression was every bit his mother whenever one of them said something she wanted to contradict. "As you say," he responded at last, when he was sure she had gotten the message. "We should get to class."
She sighed a long-suffering sigh but stood and shouldered her bag, following him out. It was foolish as his class was on the opposite side of the castle, but Draco escorted her to Charms. "Do you want to meet at the common room to walk to the feast together?"
Hermione nodded. "That would be great. I'll see you after classes?"
"Yes," he agreed. After watching her successfully enter the room, he continued on to Transfiguration.
Hermione was late. While they hadn't agreed on a set time, he and Hermione spent every free moment together, usually in his common room or at the library. While other students weren't traditionally allowed into the common rooms of other houses, Hufflepuff was the loosest with the rule. As long as you were there with a Hufflepuff and you abided by their standards you were welcome. Most students didn't take advantage, but Draco had made sure to check with the prefects before bringing Hermione in the first time.
"Alright there, Draco?" Ernie, a fellow first year, asked. He was a bit pompous, but he never balked at Draco as a snake-turned-badger. The same could not be said for everyone.
"Hermione and I were going to walk to the feast together. She was excited for our first Hogwarts Halloween."
"Perhaps she thought you meant to meet outside?" the other boy responded.
"Perhaps." Draco ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I'll go check. Thanks, Ernie." He brushed past the other boy, determined to find his friend and companion. As he suspected, she was not in the corridor. He thought through her schedule. She'd had Charms this morning, DADA, then Transfiguration. He darted up the stairs toward the classrooms, hoping he could catch students outside of them. Most of them were out and the students were slowly trickling toward the Great Hall. He frowned and thought through possibilities.
The DADA professor's office was on the same floor as the Transfiguration classroom, so he decided to try there first. He was winded by the time he reached the door, cheeks red and bright on his pale face. Draco rapped sharply at the door, which opened after the slightest pause. Professor Riddle sat at a desk, sorting through parchments.
"Mr. Malfoy, are you unwell?" the man asked with a frown.
"Looking for Hermione," Draco puffed out. "Have you seen her, professor?"
The frown deepened. "No. She missed class this afternoon. I was planning to discuss it with her Monday."
Draco took off before the sentence had ended, heading back toward the Great Hall. One of the first year Gryffindors had to be going that way by now. He skidded to a halt as a swarm of red drifted by. "Weasley!" Three redheaded boys looked back at him. "The young one," he clarified irritably.
"What?" said the lanky boy, his dark-haired friend Potter having stopped to speak to him as well.
"Hermione— we were supposed to meet before the feast, Professor Riddle said she wasn't in class—"
"Can't walk to the Great Hall without having her hold your hand, Malfoy?" Weasley sneered.
Draco nearly growled at him. "She's missing, you daft ginger."
"So?" the other boy said. "How is that my problem?"
He was getting impatient, tempted to grab the weasel by the robes and shake him until he told Draco what had happened. "I had hoped one of your lot might have noticed the only one with any brains was missing. Too much to hope for—"
"Oi!" Weasley took a step closer to him but Potter extended an arm in front of him.
Potter looked thoughtful. "Actually…" He looked over at Ron, then back to Draco. "He didn't mean anything by it, you understand," he said. "Ron's mouth just gets away from him sometimes."
"What did he say?"
"Don't blame me for this—"
"Ron," Harry said evenly. "Hermione is smart, a bit of a know-it-all, yeah, but she's not all that bad, is she?"
Draco's gaze flitted between the pair. Honestly, Weasley was one of the most hopeless of their year and he couldn't understand why Potter (whom he grudgingly admit wasn't a complete waste) put up with him. "I'm not going to wait all day, Potter."
"You see, Hermione corrected Ron during Charms and he said something a bit— a bit mean about her after class and she must have heard it, because she ran off." Potter looked distinctly uncomfortable and rubbed behind his neck. "She hasn't been in any classes since."
"What did he say?" Draco repeated in a low voice.
Potter side eyed Weasley. The latter sighed. "I might have made fun of how she corrected me and called her a nightmare." At the quicksilver glare, he said, "I was just blowing off steam, Malfoy, I didn't expect her to hear it. It's something you say to your mates, you know?"
"No, I don't know," Draco said bitingly. "Since Hermione is my friend, and she is not half so much of an arsehole as you are."
"Whoa—"
Draco continued over the protesting boys. "Do you have any idea how much she endures every day? She's a muggleborn living with a Pureblood family, going to Pureblood events where most of the people there call her a – a – you know what! And she gets here and hopes that maybe, just maybe she will be treated with a modicum of dignity and you have to go and be a prick!"
He ended quite a bit louder than he'd started and it was probably a good thing most of the students were already in the Great Hall. The two boys were gaping at him; had Draco's mother heard him, he was certain she would scorgify his mouth within an inch of his life. He wasn't sorry for it; his father still used 'mudblood' without a thought and Draco had decided that word was worse than any other he could say.
Potter recovered first. "We'll help you find her."
Weasley nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry, mate. I shouldn't have said what I did."
Draco stared at them, trying to calm his heavily drumming heart and the roar of anger through him. "Good," he said at last.
-AN: Okay, so. I'm gonna be honest here. I hate the setup for posting multi-chapter fics on . So i fell behind more and more. Now i'm gonna be posting bunches to catch up.