A/N: Here's my first story, it's set in their 7th year at Hogwarts. I
think, with how I'm going It'll be kind of long-ish, but I always enjoy
long fanfics, better details in my opinion, but I like short ones, too!!!
I hope you enjoy this, PLEASE r/r and PLEASE be honest, I enjoy
constructive criticism! Flames will be used to set off pretty Filibuster
Fireworks!
Disclaimer: Quite obviously and unfortunately, I own none of this, save the plot line. JKR deserves all the credit!
"I can't believe it our seventh year already." Thought Hermione Granger as she pulled up to King's Cross Station with her parents. She helped her father haul her large trunk out of the back of the car, gathered up her small bags, and walked in to the station. She got to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, leaned against it, her parents followed suit.
Suddenly the huge red train that was the Hogwarts Express appeared before her eyes. 'This is the second-last time I'll ever ride this train,' she thought wistfully. Glancing around the crowd, she finally spotted the shock of orange she was looking for.
"Ron!" she called out.
"Hey, Mione, come here!" he called back, motioning towards her. She held up a finger as to say "one minute" and turned to her parents.
"Bye mum," she said, and gave her mother a hug. She turned to her father, "Bye dad." hugging him, too.
"Hermione," her mother stared, "your father and I want you to know that we're so proud of you. You'll make an excellent Head Girl, and you'll make the Gryffindors and Professor Dumbledore almost as proud as we are. We love you very much, and no matter what, we'll always be so proud to call you our daughter."
"Oooohhh, Mum! Thank you, I love you two very much. Thank you for always supporting me!" She hugged her parents again, and they disappeared back through the barrier.
Dragging her things through the crowd, she made her way over to the Weasleys. When she was within 10 feet, Mrs. Weasley came over and gave her one of her trademark bone-breaking hugs.
"Oof! Hullo Mrs. Weasley!" she said. She turned to Ron and gave him a huge smile, "Ron, it's been 6 years, I think you can give me a hug, too, you prat." He grinned and walked over to Hermione and gave her a huge hug.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around.
"Oh, he should be here any minute. Sirius has a flat in London now, so Harry's much closer than he was when he lived at the Dursley's." Ron responded.
Hermione nodded, and looked around again. "Ginny?" she inquired.
"Oh. Ginny, she's, well, around." Ron said, shaking his head. Noticing Hermione's confused look, he said, "Well, she's decided that it's time for her to stop liking Harry, so she's made it a point to meet as many boys as possible, she's probably off working on her mission. I believe this week's flavor is named Malcolm!"
Hermione laughed, and began searching the crowd for more red, she spotted Ginny, talking to a rather attractive young man, and waved.
"MIONE!!!!!" she screamed, and ran over. Ginny embraced her friend and then pulled away, looking at her appraisingly. "You look fabulous, where did you get those jeans? What did you do with your hair? I can't believe how good you look!"
Hermione laughed. "Well, Gin, I went to America over the summer to visit my cousin Anna, she's a Muggle. She lives in a state called Connecticut, and she took me shopping in New York, which is a huge Muggle city with so much stuff there, you wouldn't believe! And I bought loads of clothes, and I also bought some Muggle styling products for my hair. I guess this is the result!"
Hermione and Ginny chatted about America for a few more minutes, when Ginny suddenly gasped.
"What is it, Gin?"
"Oh... my.... God!" Ginny said.
Hermione looked all around, but didn't see what Ginny was gaping at. "What are you looking at like that, Ginny?"
"M-M-M-Malfoy!!!" She responded.
"Malf." Hermione broke off as she spotted him.
The summer had apparently been quite kind to Draco. His hair that was usually silvery-blond was now an almost white-golden blond. He was surprisingly tan for some one so pale, and had grown about 5 inches. What was more, however, was that he had not changed in to his robes yet, and was wearing a form-fitting grey t-shirt that hugged his nicely developed chest, and a pair of khaki pants. No one had ever seen him in Muggle clothes before, and even Hermione admitted to herself that she wouldn't mind seeing it again.
'Oh!' she mentally smacked herself, 'That is MALFOY you're ogling, not some real person!' Then, it suddenly occurred to Hermione.
"Oh my God!" she gasped, "I'm going to have to WORK with him all year!"
Ginny spun around, startled, "WHAT?" she yelped.
"Didn't you know? He's Head Boy!" Hermione responded. When Hermione had first learned that she would share the great honor with Malfoy, she was shocked. It had never occurred to her that he was a good student, but his grades truly were almost as good as her's.
Ron's voice broke through her thoughts, "Harry! Oy! Over here, mate!" he yelled.
Hermione looked over at her good friend, and got the same reaction as she had when she looked at Draco. Harry was also looking quite well. He had grown in to his gangly-ness in the past 2 years, and was now quite the hottest ticket in the Gryffindor house.
"Hey Harry," she said as he gave her a hug.
"Hi, Mione, how was America?" he asked.
"Oh, it was great." Hermione knew she was telling Harry her story, but her mind was somewhere else. 'Harry. Every time I look at him, I get this FEELING, like, I should do something, but I don't know what it is. Ever since that first day, when I was helping Neville look for Trevor. Hmmm. we'll see, I suppose!'
"It's time to board the train." Ron announced. Everyone said their last goodbyes, and Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all clambered on to the train. They reached their usual compartment in the back, and had settled in when Hermione said, "I have to go look for Malfoy, I'll be back in a half hour, ok?"
Harry turned to her, and grabbed her arm, "Mione? Don't let him start anything with you, ok? You deserve it as much as he does, even more than he does, really."
Hermione looked into his sincere green eyes, and said "Thanks Harry. It'll be fine." With an odd feeling in her stomach, she left the small room.
She went up towards where Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle usually sat, and knocked on the door. "Come in." was the muffled reply. Hermione opened the door, and was surprised to see Malfoy sitting by himself. He looked up at her, surprised.
"Oh, hello Granger," he said in a voice that wasn't welcoming, but wasn't his usual sneer.
"Hello, Malfoy," she said cautiously, "May I sit down?" Draco nodded, and she plopped down in to the seat across from him. "How was your summer?" she asked.
"Fine," he said curtly. Hermione felt that it wouldn't have been taken well if she asked any more.
"So, I, er, thought that it would be a good idea just to come and chat, seeing as how we'll be working together the whole year," she choked out.
"All right, Granger, did you have anything in particular?" he asked, looking pretty uninterested.
"Well, no, not exactly, I was just hoping to break the ice, I guess," she replied uneasily. "How about, we just agree to a truce, for the sake of our houses and school, if not our own public reputations?" she offered.
Malfoy sized her up, and after a minute, nodded, extending his right arm. She reached out gingerly, and shook his hand. It was then that she noticed his left forearm. There was a large gash there, which looked as though it had been healing for only a few weeks.
Malfoy seemed to notice where she was looking and said, "Oh, that's nothing. I just cut it this summer while I was scuba-diving. I bought some gillyweed while I was on vacation, and decided to explore. and, well." he trailed off.
"Oh, ok, Malfoy, er, Draco. I guess we should start using first names." Hermione replied.
"Of course, good plan, Hermione." She had never heard him say her first name before. She enjoyed it for some reason. 'I guess I'm just happy that I don't have to worry about him being cruel and petty all year' she thought.
"Bye Draco."
"Bye Hermione."
Hermione slowly shut the door, and walked back to her compartment. Harry and Ron were playing exploding snap, and talking about Quidditch, Ginny looked like she was about to die of boredom.
"So, Gin," Hermione said as she sat down, "what do you think about Scotland's chances for the cup this year?" Harry and Ron both looked up with very surprised looks on their faces. Hermione burst out laughing. "I was kidding guys!"
"Oh, just dash our hopes of the perfect woman," Harry said slyly, "Cute, smart, and likes Quidditch." He sighed melodramatically, "Will the search NEVER end?"
They were all laughing, but Hermione was thinking, 'Did he just say I was CUTE? Oh dear. Oh, dear... Do I. LIKE Harry?'
"So, did Hogwarts favorite Death Eater have anything good to say?" Harry asked.
"We. we just talked a bit," Hermione said, and she thought for a moment, furrowing her brow. "And he's not a Death Eater, either."
"What?" Harry exclaimed, "But he's a Malfoy! He must be, how do you know?"
"I saw his arm, Harry, there's no Dark Mark." She looked up at Harry after a moment. He stared back at her, and looked out the window.
They rode in silence the rest of the trip. When they finally drew close to Hogwarts, Hermione put on her robes, and affixed her Head Girl Badge. Harry looked at her and grinned. "You're gonna be great, Hermione." Hermione smiled at him gratefully, and left their compartment.
Hermione and Draco ushered the nervous first years into their boats, Hagrid thanked them, and they got in to their own carriage to ride up to Hogwarts. Hermione gazed out across the lake.
Draco looked over at her with interest. 'Well, looks like everyone's favorite Mudb-, Muggle-Born finally grew out of her puffy-hair beavery phase.' Draco knew this was only a half-truth. Hermione had certainly grown in to full 18 year-old girl-dom. She was no longer the scrawny beanstalk type, but had everything in just the right place. Her new Muggle styling products had worked wonders, and being our in the sun brought out her golden highlights. Looking at Hermione staring at the lake, Draco couldn't suppress the 'Lucky Potter,.' that popped up in the back of his head. The sudden stopping of the carriage brought him back to reality. Hermione looked at him and said, "Well, this is it!"
Disclaimer: Quite obviously and unfortunately, I own none of this, save the plot line. JKR deserves all the credit!
"I can't believe it our seventh year already." Thought Hermione Granger as she pulled up to King's Cross Station with her parents. She helped her father haul her large trunk out of the back of the car, gathered up her small bags, and walked in to the station. She got to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, leaned against it, her parents followed suit.
Suddenly the huge red train that was the Hogwarts Express appeared before her eyes. 'This is the second-last time I'll ever ride this train,' she thought wistfully. Glancing around the crowd, she finally spotted the shock of orange she was looking for.
"Ron!" she called out.
"Hey, Mione, come here!" he called back, motioning towards her. She held up a finger as to say "one minute" and turned to her parents.
"Bye mum," she said, and gave her mother a hug. She turned to her father, "Bye dad." hugging him, too.
"Hermione," her mother stared, "your father and I want you to know that we're so proud of you. You'll make an excellent Head Girl, and you'll make the Gryffindors and Professor Dumbledore almost as proud as we are. We love you very much, and no matter what, we'll always be so proud to call you our daughter."
"Oooohhh, Mum! Thank you, I love you two very much. Thank you for always supporting me!" She hugged her parents again, and they disappeared back through the barrier.
Dragging her things through the crowd, she made her way over to the Weasleys. When she was within 10 feet, Mrs. Weasley came over and gave her one of her trademark bone-breaking hugs.
"Oof! Hullo Mrs. Weasley!" she said. She turned to Ron and gave him a huge smile, "Ron, it's been 6 years, I think you can give me a hug, too, you prat." He grinned and walked over to Hermione and gave her a huge hug.
"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around.
"Oh, he should be here any minute. Sirius has a flat in London now, so Harry's much closer than he was when he lived at the Dursley's." Ron responded.
Hermione nodded, and looked around again. "Ginny?" she inquired.
"Oh. Ginny, she's, well, around." Ron said, shaking his head. Noticing Hermione's confused look, he said, "Well, she's decided that it's time for her to stop liking Harry, so she's made it a point to meet as many boys as possible, she's probably off working on her mission. I believe this week's flavor is named Malcolm!"
Hermione laughed, and began searching the crowd for more red, she spotted Ginny, talking to a rather attractive young man, and waved.
"MIONE!!!!!" she screamed, and ran over. Ginny embraced her friend and then pulled away, looking at her appraisingly. "You look fabulous, where did you get those jeans? What did you do with your hair? I can't believe how good you look!"
Hermione laughed. "Well, Gin, I went to America over the summer to visit my cousin Anna, she's a Muggle. She lives in a state called Connecticut, and she took me shopping in New York, which is a huge Muggle city with so much stuff there, you wouldn't believe! And I bought loads of clothes, and I also bought some Muggle styling products for my hair. I guess this is the result!"
Hermione and Ginny chatted about America for a few more minutes, when Ginny suddenly gasped.
"What is it, Gin?"
"Oh... my.... God!" Ginny said.
Hermione looked all around, but didn't see what Ginny was gaping at. "What are you looking at like that, Ginny?"
"M-M-M-Malfoy!!!" She responded.
"Malf." Hermione broke off as she spotted him.
The summer had apparently been quite kind to Draco. His hair that was usually silvery-blond was now an almost white-golden blond. He was surprisingly tan for some one so pale, and had grown about 5 inches. What was more, however, was that he had not changed in to his robes yet, and was wearing a form-fitting grey t-shirt that hugged his nicely developed chest, and a pair of khaki pants. No one had ever seen him in Muggle clothes before, and even Hermione admitted to herself that she wouldn't mind seeing it again.
'Oh!' she mentally smacked herself, 'That is MALFOY you're ogling, not some real person!' Then, it suddenly occurred to Hermione.
"Oh my God!" she gasped, "I'm going to have to WORK with him all year!"
Ginny spun around, startled, "WHAT?" she yelped.
"Didn't you know? He's Head Boy!" Hermione responded. When Hermione had first learned that she would share the great honor with Malfoy, she was shocked. It had never occurred to her that he was a good student, but his grades truly were almost as good as her's.
Ron's voice broke through her thoughts, "Harry! Oy! Over here, mate!" he yelled.
Hermione looked over at her good friend, and got the same reaction as she had when she looked at Draco. Harry was also looking quite well. He had grown in to his gangly-ness in the past 2 years, and was now quite the hottest ticket in the Gryffindor house.
"Hey Harry," she said as he gave her a hug.
"Hi, Mione, how was America?" he asked.
"Oh, it was great." Hermione knew she was telling Harry her story, but her mind was somewhere else. 'Harry. Every time I look at him, I get this FEELING, like, I should do something, but I don't know what it is. Ever since that first day, when I was helping Neville look for Trevor. Hmmm. we'll see, I suppose!'
"It's time to board the train." Ron announced. Everyone said their last goodbyes, and Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all clambered on to the train. They reached their usual compartment in the back, and had settled in when Hermione said, "I have to go look for Malfoy, I'll be back in a half hour, ok?"
Harry turned to her, and grabbed her arm, "Mione? Don't let him start anything with you, ok? You deserve it as much as he does, even more than he does, really."
Hermione looked into his sincere green eyes, and said "Thanks Harry. It'll be fine." With an odd feeling in her stomach, she left the small room.
She went up towards where Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle usually sat, and knocked on the door. "Come in." was the muffled reply. Hermione opened the door, and was surprised to see Malfoy sitting by himself. He looked up at her, surprised.
"Oh, hello Granger," he said in a voice that wasn't welcoming, but wasn't his usual sneer.
"Hello, Malfoy," she said cautiously, "May I sit down?" Draco nodded, and she plopped down in to the seat across from him. "How was your summer?" she asked.
"Fine," he said curtly. Hermione felt that it wouldn't have been taken well if she asked any more.
"So, I, er, thought that it would be a good idea just to come and chat, seeing as how we'll be working together the whole year," she choked out.
"All right, Granger, did you have anything in particular?" he asked, looking pretty uninterested.
"Well, no, not exactly, I was just hoping to break the ice, I guess," she replied uneasily. "How about, we just agree to a truce, for the sake of our houses and school, if not our own public reputations?" she offered.
Malfoy sized her up, and after a minute, nodded, extending his right arm. She reached out gingerly, and shook his hand. It was then that she noticed his left forearm. There was a large gash there, which looked as though it had been healing for only a few weeks.
Malfoy seemed to notice where she was looking and said, "Oh, that's nothing. I just cut it this summer while I was scuba-diving. I bought some gillyweed while I was on vacation, and decided to explore. and, well." he trailed off.
"Oh, ok, Malfoy, er, Draco. I guess we should start using first names." Hermione replied.
"Of course, good plan, Hermione." She had never heard him say her first name before. She enjoyed it for some reason. 'I guess I'm just happy that I don't have to worry about him being cruel and petty all year' she thought.
"Bye Draco."
"Bye Hermione."
Hermione slowly shut the door, and walked back to her compartment. Harry and Ron were playing exploding snap, and talking about Quidditch, Ginny looked like she was about to die of boredom.
"So, Gin," Hermione said as she sat down, "what do you think about Scotland's chances for the cup this year?" Harry and Ron both looked up with very surprised looks on their faces. Hermione burst out laughing. "I was kidding guys!"
"Oh, just dash our hopes of the perfect woman," Harry said slyly, "Cute, smart, and likes Quidditch." He sighed melodramatically, "Will the search NEVER end?"
They were all laughing, but Hermione was thinking, 'Did he just say I was CUTE? Oh dear. Oh, dear... Do I. LIKE Harry?'
"So, did Hogwarts favorite Death Eater have anything good to say?" Harry asked.
"We. we just talked a bit," Hermione said, and she thought for a moment, furrowing her brow. "And he's not a Death Eater, either."
"What?" Harry exclaimed, "But he's a Malfoy! He must be, how do you know?"
"I saw his arm, Harry, there's no Dark Mark." She looked up at Harry after a moment. He stared back at her, and looked out the window.
They rode in silence the rest of the trip. When they finally drew close to Hogwarts, Hermione put on her robes, and affixed her Head Girl Badge. Harry looked at her and grinned. "You're gonna be great, Hermione." Hermione smiled at him gratefully, and left their compartment.
Hermione and Draco ushered the nervous first years into their boats, Hagrid thanked them, and they got in to their own carriage to ride up to Hogwarts. Hermione gazed out across the lake.
Draco looked over at her with interest. 'Well, looks like everyone's favorite Mudb-, Muggle-Born finally grew out of her puffy-hair beavery phase.' Draco knew this was only a half-truth. Hermione had certainly grown in to full 18 year-old girl-dom. She was no longer the scrawny beanstalk type, but had everything in just the right place. Her new Muggle styling products had worked wonders, and being our in the sun brought out her golden highlights. Looking at Hermione staring at the lake, Draco couldn't suppress the 'Lucky Potter,.' that popped up in the back of his head. The sudden stopping of the carriage brought him back to reality. Hermione looked at him and said, "Well, this is it!"