Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own any other characters in this fanfic other than Jessica. All others belong to the Great J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Starting my first PUBLISHED story. I've written others with friends but none of them have been published, mainly because I'm a lazy bum, but this one I promised myself I would publish and here it is! R for later chapters and swearing.

Summary: Hermione decides to attend summer school so that she will be completely ready for her seventh year at Hogwarts, but what will happen when she finds out that her worst enemy is also attending? DM/HG… R&R.

Chapter 1 – The Merlin School for the Magically Gifted.

The Merlin School for the Magically Gifted was really quite dreary, despite how the brochures described it. Not only were the stone pathways worn and mossy, but the buildings themselves looked as if they could collapse at any moment, and the dormitories weren't in much better shape. Hermione thought about this as she dragged her bags up the winding stairway, and decided that the appearance didn't matter as long as she got the experience she had been looking for when she enrolled in the school for the summer to earn extra credits and learn as much as possible before her final year at Hogwarts. As she reached the top and began to walk through the narrow hallway, she finally found where she was looking for and knocked on room 371 loudly. Immediately the door swung open and Hermione found herself facing a short spunky blonde girl in jeans and a tank top. "Hey!" The girl piped. "You must be Hermione! It's great to finally meet you. Here, let me take one of those for you." She said, picking up one of Hermione's suitcases and heading back into their room. Hermione followed timidly, and upon entering the room realized that its contents were nothing like the schools depressing exterior. The walls were painted a warm and welcoming yellow and exquisite antique furniture was spread throughout the room. Sunlight seeped in through large windows. An open door lead to a room with two beds and desks and that room lead to a small bathroom with a shower and toilet.

"This is… Amazing! Well… comparatively." Hermione said, pointing out the widow where the stump of a dead tree surrounded by browning grass was just visible.

"Yeah. This place is pretty much a shit hole." The blonde girl agreed.

"If you don't mind me asking… who are you?"

At this question the girl smacked herself in the head, "Oh god, I'm so scatterbrained! I can't believe I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jessica." She said, extending an arm which Hermione took and shook happily. "So what school do you go to?"

"Hogwarts."

"Wow! I've heard a lot about that school…Harry Potter goes there, right?"

Hermione laughed at this. "Yeah. Yeah, he does."

"Wicked. Have you ever talked to him?" Jessica asked, sitting down and resting her elbows on her knees. She seemed genuinely interested about this topic.

"Yeah, all the time. He is one of my best friends." Hermione responded nonchalantly.

"Wait a second, are you seriously telling me that Harry potter… THE famous Harry Potter is your best friend!"

"Well him and Ron."

"You're shitting me! What's he like?"

"Well… pretty normal actually. He's not stuck up or anything, if that's what you mean. In fact he really often pretends that he never did anything out of the ordinary."

"I never would have guessed."

"What school do you go to during the year?" Hermione asked her.

"Oh!" Jessica replied, snapped out of her thoughts about Harry. "I go here year round. I never really get a break… except holidays and such. How come you're here over the summer?"

"Well… I just love learning. And plus, I want to know as much as I can before I have to get a job after next year… I really would like to be an Auror, and that's hard work. So I took the test and passed… and now I'm here."

"Don't expect anything too great. Do you want me to show you around or something? Here, what's your schedule?"

Hermione handed her the floppy yellow sheet of paper.

"I have 3rd and 5th period with you… that's Charms and Divination."

Hermione groaned inwardly, although she had managed to escape divination at Hogwarts, that didn't seem to be the case at Merlin's. "Divination? I hate that class!"

"Why? Its one of my favorites, the teacher, Professor Ellens is great."

"Well… hopefully I'll have a better experience with her than the divination teacher at Hogwarts."

"Come on, Ill show you around the school so you know where to go when classes start tomorrow." Jessica said getting up and heading towards the door.

After Jessica showed Hermione all the classes and major places at the school they headed back up to their room, chatting and laughing the whole way along until all of a sudden she rammed into to something and came crashing down to the floor with a loud THUMP! After regaining composure she stared up to see what or WHO she had run into and found herself staring into the eyes of a very disgruntled…. DRACO MALFOY? At seeing each other they both immediately jumped to their feet.

"You!" He cried with a look of pure disgust on her face.

"And you!" She shouted back. "What the hell are you doing here!"

"None of your business! Why are YOU here?"

"None of YOUR business!"

"…Fine."

"Fine!" Hermione shouted pausing for a second in which there fell an awkward silence until she grabbed Jessica's arm and Speed down the Hallway to her room.

"Uh… who was that?" Jessica asked, bewildered.

"I can't believe HE is here of all people! What are the odds! Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me!"

"Slow down there, Speedy. Care to explain?"

"THAT was Draco Malfoy, a huge close-minded git who goes to Hogwarts with me. We've hated each other since our first year."

"Oh… That must suck. But how can you hate him? He is SO hot! I've been eyeing him for the last week!"

"What are you talking about…?" Hermione asked.

"Um… Didn't you look at him?"

Hermione pondered this question and realized that, in all her fury, hadn't looked at him. "Well… No." She replied truthfully, and then realized that it was Malfoy she was thinking about and quickly added "And I don't want to!"

"…Why?"

"Because he is my worst enemy!"

"But he is still hot."

"Is that all you think about."

Jessica paused for a second, her brow furrowing, and then replied simply. "Yes." Then added "Well… that and school work."

Hermione laughed at the inappropriate comment. "You seem so easy going though… not like most people who go to a place for 'the gifted.'" As soon as Hermione said this, she realized how rude it sounded and quickly added "I'm sorry! That must have sounded awful… Its just you seem like one of my friends, and none of my friends would even consider going to a school like this one year round."

Jessica smiled. "Don't worry about it… I get that all the time. But just because I like to have fun and don't have a stick permanently wedged up my ass doesn't mean that I'm a bad student." Then at seeing Hermione still looking guilty, she got up and gave her a warm hug. "I'm going to go to bed, tomorrow classes start and I want to get a good night of sleep. Don't worry, this is going to be a FUN summer! I'll make sure of it." She said, getting up and heading off to her room.

Hermione smiled at her new friend, and knew that (despite Malfoy being there) it was going to be a good summer. A summer to remember.

A/N: So there's the first chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I know the school name might be a bit on the unoriginal side, but hey, Merlin is such a famous wizard I figured SOME school was bound to be named after him. It is my opinion that the first few chapters are the hardest to write, therefore later chapters will be a lot more interesting. PLEASE review and leave comments/suggestions! THANKS!