Hermione woke up late the next morning and found a note on her bedside table from Professor McGonagall. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. A small chuckle outside her door told her that Draco was already up.
She picked up the note. It was addressed to 'Head Girl.' Hermione unsealed the envelope and began to read.
'Dear Ms. Granger
I would like to invite you and Mr. Malfoy to my office at 11:30 this morning for sugar quills and to discuss your new duties as Head Boy and Head girl. Please do not be late.
Wishing you well,
Professor McGonagall'
Hermione put down the letter, wondering if her new duties would be different from her old duties as a prefect. She checked the clock on her bedside table and decided she would take a shower before meeting the Headmistress. She gathered up a fresh outfit and went into her personal bathroom through the door to the right of her bed.
When she stepped out of the shower fifteen minutes later, she saw that she only had ten minutes to get to the headmaster's office. She quickly got dressed and proceeded into her common room, which Draco was no longer occupying.
Down the hallway she wandered. Everyone must be at breakfast she thought, noting the deserted corridors. Once she reached the stone gargoyle, Hermione realized that didn't know the password.
"Err," she said, thinking back to the letter. "Sugar quills?" she asked uncertainly.
At once, the stone gargoyle sprang to life and leapt aside, allowing her entry to the spiral staircase. She stepped inside and climbed up until she reached the door to the office. Knocking lightly on the door, Hermione heard a brisk "come in." She pushed open the door.
Draco was already there, standing behind one of the chairs in front of Professor McGonagall's desk, gripping it so tightly that his knuckles were white. Hermione noticed that Draco's eyes were shut tight and he had a pained expression on his face. All of the portraits of the previous headmasters and headmistresses were pretending to be asleep in their frames, except for Dumbledore and Snape, who both had somber expressions on their faces. Whatever they had been discussing seemed to have been causing Draco a lot of discomfort.
"Good morning, Ms. Granger. Please, have a seat. You too, Mr. Malfoy."
Hermione walked forward and took a seat in the chair to the left of where Draco had been standing. He had already recovered and sat down before she crossed the room.
"Before we begin, there's a matter I would like to address. Ms. Granger, why wasn't Ms. Lovegood in the prefect's compartment on the train. It is her duty to set a good example for the younger years."
"Oh!" Hermione was caught completely off guard. "Professor, I wasn't aware that Luna was a prefect this year. She didn't tell me, and wasn't wearing a prefect's badge."
"I see," said McGonagall. "Well, no one is in trouble. But now that you are aware, I expect you both to hold the prefects responsible for completing their duties.
"Yes, Professor," said Hermione and Draco in unison.
"Now. I'm sure you both know from your letters that you now have new responsibilities this year. As the two brightest students of your year, I'm sure this won't be a problem. First, of course you will continue to set a good example for your peers. You will also be in charge of guiding the prefects during this year, especially the new prefects as they become accustomed to their new roles. Make sure students aren't doing any rule breaking, and reprimand them where fit. As Heads, you will now have the ability to hand out reasonably fitting detentions for any serious infractions committed.
Hermione and Draco listened attentively. When McGonagall didn't go on, Hermione asked, "what are our new duties going to be, Professor?"
McGonagall leaned slightly forward on her hands and looked sternly at both students sitting in front of her. She spoke again in a more firm tone, as if she wasn't to be debated with, "I know you two have had an ongoing rivalry from the minute you laid eyes on each other. But you're Heads and examples now, and I expect you to be at least civil, if you can't be friendly with each other because you will be spending more time together, alone. You don't have many new duties. But you will both now be responsible for patrolling the corridors on weekend nights and Friday nights from nine to midnight. These nights are particularly popular for rule breakers to be sneaking out of the castle, and in light of recent… events, shall we say…" Her voice trailed off. She took a deep breath and shuddered. It was clear that Professor McGonagall was referencing the battle.
At that moment, Dumbledore's portrait spoke from behind McGonagall, "at this time, we aren't confident enough to say that there won't be any threats wandering the corridors through the cover of the darkness. Of course, I'm talking about angry death eaters that have managed to escape their fate in Azkaban, coming back to take out their rage on our castle and avenge their master."
Draco clenched his eyes tightly and dropped his head again. It was such a subtle movement, however that Hermione barely noticed, and pretended not to. She knew he was struggling with the thought of Voldemort or his followers returning. Instead, she turned her head away from him and pretended to sneeze.
"Thank you, Albus," said McGonagall, regaining her composure. She continued where Dumbledore left off, "we have, of course, placed some very heavy and well cast protective enchantment around the entire grounds and Hogsmeade. But we are taking extra precautions where we can. So, while patrolling at night, you may both choose to patrol together or apart if you wish to each cover different parts of the castle, or to enjoy your own company. That is, with the exception of Sunday nights, when you are required to patrol together."
Hermione's heart sank. Patrol with Draco Malfoy? Alone with Malfoy for 3 hours at night? Oh, the things he could do to cause her harm or misery without having any witnesses around. Let's just hope that he really has turned a new leaf, she thought to herself.
If Draco was having similar thoughts, he did not show them. He simply said, "yes, Professor."
"Good. The seventh year prefects will be out as well on the weekends, but only from eight to ten. There will be an hour overlap between your schedules where they will be able to brief you on any notable events in the evening. Do either of you have any questions, concerns, or protests?"
They both shook their heads. "Good. That pretty much does it. If neither of you have anything more to discuss then you may be dismissed. And you can always come to me if anything changes."
Draco and Hermione both got up and walked out of the office. Neither of them said anything until they had reached the stone gargoyle.
"Are you headed for the great hall?" asked Draco. "You've missed breakfast, but you could probably still catch afternoon tea."
Hermione was slightly taken aback by Draco's casualness with her. "Um, no. I don't have much of an appetite to be honest."
"Alright. Well, catch you later then, Granger."
"Yeah, uh, you too, Malfoy," said Hermione, trying not to sound too awkward.
Draco smirked at her and chuckled as he strode away. Hermione could tell that she wasn't too convincing with her attempt at being nonchalant. She decided that she would go and find Ginny, and set off in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.
She reached the portrait of the Fat Lady fairly quickly. "Welcome dear," said the old witch from her gold framed portrait. "I thought you were Head Girl this year?"
"I am. Just coming to visit my friends," said Hermione. "Clarity."
The portrait swung open to allow her in. She climbed through the hole and landed in the all too familiar common room that had been a second home to her for the last seven years. "Ooh, it's good to be back," Hermione whispered to herself.
She looked around. Ginny was nowhere to be seen. The common room was almost completely deserted, except for a few fifth years sitting around the fire, and Neville, who was lounging on the couch.
"Hey, Hermione," he said, grinning when he spotted her.
"Hello Neville," she smiled back. "Is Ginny around?"
"She hasn't been down yet. But she should be soon, it's nearly noon."
"Alright. I suppose I'll just have to go find her then. Thanks, Neville."
"No problem, Hermione."
She walked over to the girl's dormitories just as the door flew open. She came face to face with a grinning Ginny.
"Hey. Are you just getting up?" asked Hermione.
"Nah, I've been up for about two hours. I've just been enjoying having the dorm to myself. I'm the only seventh year Gryffindor returning this year," Ginny added, seeing Hermione's expression.
"Ah. Yeah, I see a lot of students didn't return this year."
"Yeah, a lot of students that survived the war didn't feel safe coming back. Bit stupid, really, since now that there are no more death eaters as teachers, Hogwarts is back to being the safest place in the world."
"True. But there was a lot of trauma caused by this war. I don't blame any one of them for not coming back. It is sad though, Hogwarts has never looked so empty." It was true that there seemed to be a third of the student body missing from the crowds on the train or in the great hall.
"I know. It's really kind of sad. We have a lot of healing to do in our world." There was a couple seconds of silence before Ginny spoke again. "So what are the plans for today, then?"
"I was going to ask if you wanted to hang out in the head common room with me today?"
"Yeah, that sounds lovely. It'll be nice to just relax today instead of having to rush off for the first day of classes."
They headed back out of the portrait hole and down the corridors. Hermione heard Ginny's stomach rumble as they walked past the great hall. The sweet aroma of bacon and scrambled eggs still lingering from breakfast filled their nostrils.
"How about we go to the kitchens and get some food from the house elves if we're going to be in your dorm all day?" Ginny suggested.
"We have a little kitchenette that you can get something to eat in. It's there for when we've missed meals doing our Head duties or studying for our NEWT exams."
"Wow, maybe I should apply for Head Girl," laughed Ginny as they continued past the great hall and continued making their way to the dorm.
Half an hour later, the girls sat on one of the couches cross legged and facing each other with a bowl of fruit and cream between them. Draco was nowhere to be seen.
"So, have you had any rows with Malfoy yet?" asked Ginny.
"No, actually, listen to this."
Hermione told Ginny all about her conversation with Draco the night before, making sure to include every detail up to their departure after leaving McGonagall's office. When she finished, Ginny spoke.
"He's obviously playing you," she said simply. "Hermione, you know the kind of person he is. I'm just not sure what he has to gain from pretending he's good all of a sudden."
"Ginny, I think I really believe him. Of course I'll still be careful around him until he really proves that he's changed. But I don't think it's so farfetched to believe that he is capable of redemption. He's grown now, and done some stupid things as a kid. We all have," Hermione said before Ginny could interrupt, as she had opened her mouth to protest. "I just don't see the harm in giving him the benefit of the doubt."
Ginny sat silently for a moment. "Well, just don't expect me to be all buddy buddy with him. But, I trust your judgment, Hermione."
Hermione was pleased. "That's fair. And besides, it's not like I'm not better with a wand than him."
Ginny choked on a strawberry as she laughed. "Truly. Plus, he's great eye candy."
It was Hermione's turn to choke on her fruit. "Excuse me?!" she cried.
"What? It's not like I don't have eyes, Hermione. He might be a class A douchebag, but he's definitely attractive. Maybe being forbidden makes him hotter."
Hermione felt herself blush. "I suppose you're entitled to your own opinion." She grabbed her tea off the coffee table in front of her and took a sip.
"Maybe you two will get really close and make some little pureblood babies," said Ginny, waggling her eyebrows.
Hermione spit out her tea. "Ginerva Weasley! That is completely wild, and inappropriate. I don't even– I mean how could you say–, this is not something to joke about!" Hermione spluttered.
"Relax, Hermione, I'm only teasing you," said Ginny while gasping for air from laughing. "You should see how red your face got!"
It took ten minutes for Ginny to stop laughing and for Hermione's face to return to its normal shade.
"I am not the witch to carry on the Malfoy family tree," said Hermione.
"You're a pureblood. That pretty much checks all of the boxes," said Ginny.
"Don't say that too loudly," said Hermione, looking around.
"It's not like anyone can hear us. Your secret is safe."
"Yeah, I just really don't want it getting out. Everyone will treat me differently, maybe even think that I'm lying."
"It's not lying if you only just found out. You thought you were muggleborn for so long. You don't have anything to worry about."
"I hope not. Anyways, I still feel like a muggleborn. That's what I truly am at heart. I wasn't raised as a witch. If I had been a squib, I'm sure I never would have known. I know nothing's going to change."
"That's the spirit. Although, I am curious about one thing; if you're actually a pureblood, then why was your name on the list of muggleborns who didn't register with the ministry last year?"
Hermione was shocked. "I didn't even think about that!" She thought for a moment. It was true that when school started last year, Hermione didn't register with the ministry but instead went on the run with Harry and Ron in search of the horcruxes to end Voldemort's reign of terror. If Hermione really was a pureblood, then she wouldn't have been on the list of muggleborns that failed to register.
"Maybe… since I was raised as a muggleborn, and my parents are squibs who left the wizarding world to live as muggles, they didn't know?"
"Yeah, maybe," said Ginny.
"It's strange, but it's not something I want to worry about right now. What I do have to worry about are my duties as Head Girl, and being alone with Malfoy in the middle of the night."
"I thought you were convinced by his 'I'm a good guy' story?" asked Ginny.
"He still has to prove himself though." Hermione sighed and looked at her watch. "Hey, what do you say we go and pay Hagrid a visit?"
"Yeah, I'm in! Let's go," Ginny said, jumping off the couch.
And with that, they got up and walked out the door in the direction of Hagrid's hut, not realizing that they hadn't been as alone as they'd thought. Draco Malfoy was laying on his bed with his arms under his head, staring up at the ceiling above him. He had heard every word the pair of girls had just said to each other through his cracked bedroom door.