Chapter 12- And A New Term Begins
Draco’s bad mood was entirely forgotten the next day, therefore the bickering between the two Heads continued throughout the day. Hell, it continued for the rest of the holiday, right into the New Year. Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin chose to visit other portraits whenever the two started their pointless fights. They only stayed when they were in the mood to be amused and entertained by the two ‘hotheads’ (a nickname given to Draco and Hermione by Peeves. Go figure).
Over the holidays, a number of people had raised questions about the Love-Knot to both Draco and Hermione. The two chose to stick to the story that Hermione had told Parvati: that it was someone’s idea of a joke. The majority bought it, but there were those who had tried to twist the story around or add on to it (“I heard Professor McGonagall sent it to the two Heads. A last attempt to try to make them get along,” Draco had heard a third-year Gryffindor girl tell her friend. He nearly cursed her into oblivion if it was not for Hermione).
Few Slytherins had stayed back for Christmas. All of Draco’s seventh year friends had gone back home to their families. But those who had remained behind, especially the girls, were not taking the story too well. They were highly upset that Draco Malfoy, the alleged Prince Of Slytherin, was tied to a lowly Mudblood.
On the other hand, the students from the other houses took pity on Hermione instead.
On a Thursday afternoon during the Christmas holidays, a fourth-year Hufflepuff girl whom Hermione did not even recognize, came up to Hermione and said to her quietly, “My condolences to you.” Then she sashayed away, leaving Hermione to wonder that she didn’t quite realize just how many weirdos, aside from Luna, this school had.
The two Heads still slept on the sofa in the common room every night, mainly because of their pig-headedness. They refused to sleep in each other's rooms and refused to let the other sleep on the bed. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were brought to them at fixed times in the same classroom by Harry, Ron and sometimes Ginny.
Meanwhile, Hermione continued her research on the Love-Knot. She had gone to the library a number of times over the vacation period (despite Draco’s objections), but her research was still unproductive. The library did not seem to contain much information about the Love-Knot, as unlikely as that may seem. Nonetheless, Hermione continued pouring through large volumes to find what she was looking for.
Both Draco and Hermione had somewhat resigned to their fate of being stuck to each other, but that did not mean they particularly liked this fate.
However, if they thought that life was bad for them during the holidays, it was just about to get worse with the re-opening of school.
On the first school day of the New Year, Draco and Hermione woke up extra early in the morning. They took their respective showers, dressed in their robes (not in front of each other, of course) and left for the classroom where they had scheduled to meet Harry and Ron for breakfast an hour and a half before their first class started.
“Where’s Pottyface and Weasel Boy?” Draco asked once they reached the second classroom on the third floor.
“Will you quit giving my friends insulting and not to mention stupid nicknames?” Hermione snapped. “You should appreciate what they’re doing for us.”
“They’re doing this for you, not us,” Draco corrected. “Where are they anyways?”
“They should be here soon,” Hermione assured. “Probably still having breakfast themselves.”
“They better not be late because I have every intention of arriving for my first class on time,” Draco told her. “Oh wait, I mean our first class,” he added with a smirk.
Hermione scowled at his statement. “There’s no need to be all smug about it. You’ll be attending my classes tomorrow.”
The day before, Hermione had decided to go for all of Draco’s lessons on Monday, after a whole lot, and I mean A WHOLE LOT of arguing with him. Draco would then have to attend all of Hermione’s lessons the following day, and they would keep alternating as long as they needed to. Classes that were already attended by the both of them would be skipped.
Draco sat himself down on a chair in the classroom and Hermione sat opposite him. They made eye contact by accident, but looked away almost immediately. This was followed by an awkward silence, which Hermione covered up by pulling out a book from her school bag. She flipped it open and started reading.
Draco drummed his fingers on the wooden desk, his impatience rising as he waited. He casually glanced over at Hermione and found himself unconsciously examining her.
Her chocolate brown eyes darted across the page of her book and she frowned ever so slightly in concentration. Her brown hair was in an organized mess on her shoulders and there was a stray strand that kept getting into her eye. She flicked it away a couple of times, but it refused to stay tucked behind her ear.
Draco’s lip twitched into an unknowing smile when her frowned deepened, as she grew more irritated with the unruly brown lock.
Finally, she grabbed a hair tie from her bag and twisted her hair into a bun behind her head, making sure that the stray strand of hair was tightly tucked in the bun. That was when she caught Draco staring at her. “What?” she asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
It was Hermione’s voice that snapped Draco out of his thoughts and the smile faded. “Nothing,” he said, quickly looking away
The second awkward silence of the day ensued.
“We’ve got detention today,” Hermione said, breaking the silence that was between them.
“I remember.”
“Thought I’d just remind you.”
“I didn’t need reminding,” Draco said icily.
Hermione remained quiet and chose not to answer back. Why she even tried initiating a conversation in the first place was beyond her, but she knew it was probably something to do with that unexpected, two-second smile that she had spotted on Draco’s face.
After thirty minutes of waiting, Draco looked down at his watch and saw that there was only an hour remaining before Charms lesson. “Granger, you're beloved friends aren’t here yet and I don’t think that they’re not going to show up,” Draco said, an edginess in his voice.
Hermione bit her bottom lip and stowed her book into her bag. She had a sinking feeling that he was right. Harry and Ron had been late before, but never this late. “Maybe we should give it another fifteen minutes and see if they show up,” she suggested.
Draco merely snorted in response and begun drumming his fingers on the wooden desk again.
The fifteen minutes passed relatively quickly. “They’re still not here,” Draco informed Hermione, who had spent her fifteen minutes anxiously looking at the door. “And I'm starving. What do you propose we do now?”
Hermione was getting hungry as well. Her stomach had been emitting low rumbles over the past several minutes. “I…I guess we’ll have to go to the Great Hall for breakfast then,” she said slowly.
“You're joking,” Draco said, arching a blonde eyebrow. But the blank look on Hermione’s face suggested that she was in no mood for jokes.
“So you want us to grab food from the Great Hall and come back here again, right?” Draco asked tentatively, dreading the answer.
“We won’t have time for that,” Hermione responded, mentally calculating. “It’ll take us about ten minutes to go there and ten minutes back here if we bring food back from the Great Hall, which only leaves us fifteen minutes to eat. Not to mention that we’ll have to make our way to the Charms classroom before lesson starts, leaving us with less than fifteen minutes then.”
“This is all Potter and Weasley’s fault,” Draco spat angrily. “Where are we going to sit when we get to the Hall?”
“The Gryffindor table,” Hermione said automatically.
“Why not the Slytherin table?!” Draco asked.
“Because I'm going to spend my whole day with the Slytherins and I don’t want to ruin my breakfast with them too,” Hermione said, folding her arms.
“I don’t want to ruin my breakfast by sitting with the Gryffindorks,” Draco sneered in response. “I won’t have any appetite to eat then.”
“All right then, why don’t we just sit here and argue until class starts?” Hermione said dryly. “Then we can just starve as well.”
Draco threw Hermione a dirty look. “Fine, we’ll have it your way for now then. But I want to sit at my house table during lunch, and you’ll have no other choice but to sit with me.”
“Lunch?” Hermione repeated, frowning. “Harry and Ron will bring lunch for us here, like we agreed.”
“Not a chance,” Draco said, bringing his fist down on the table. “I don’t trust Scarhead and Weasel-breath anymore. I never did in the first place. And I was getting sick of them sitting with me for each mealtime. I, Draco Malfoy, had to sit and dine with my archenemy, Harry Potter, every meal of the day, for the whole holiday period! I'm not going to put up with that any longer.
“We’ll alternate sitting at each others’ house table for every meal. Even though I have to put up sitting with the pathetic Gryffindors occasionally, at least I don’t have to see Potter and Weasley during every single meal. In any case, that way I can be with my own people once in a while. Agreed?”
Hermione took a while to contemplate what Draco had said. “I’ll only agree if you quit calling Harry and Ron peculiar nicknames. And stop insulting Gryffindor. We’re a far better house than Slytherin will ever be.”
“Whatever, Granger,” Draco grunted.
Hermione took that as a yes. “Let’s get going then. We don’t have much time.”
Draco remembered the response he and Hermione received the first time they entered the Great Hall during the holidays, with the Love-Knot tied around their wrist. But if they thought that was terrible, today’s reaction was even worse. Dreadful, in fact, especially since the Great Hall was more packed with students who had returned from their holiday. Draco had not realized just how many students had gone home for the holidays until today.
The last time Draco and Hermione walked in together, students ogled like they were stark naked, but today, it was like they were stark naked wearing over-sized sombreros and dancing the salsa.
“Draco! What did the Mudblood do to you?!” Pansy shrieked dramatically as Draco walked in with Hermione.
There was an audible gasp from the students as well as the teachers.
“Miss Parkinson!” Professor McGonagall huffed from the teacher’s table. “I will not tolerate such language in this school! Thirty points from Slytherin and you’ll serve detention with me Thursday evening at five.”
Pansy whimpered slightly before returning back to her food.
“We thought they were just rumors, Draco,” Crabbe said as his revered leader walked by the Slytherin table.
“We din think they’re true,” Goyle said. “How did it happen?”
“Who sent it to you?” Blaise asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Draco replied quietly. “During Charms.”
The whispers among the students of Hogwarts almost rose to a deafening proportion as Draco and Hermione walked on. Murmurs, pointing, nudging and staring, none of which were discreet.
Luna Lovegood jogged up to Draco and Hermione, as wide-eyed as ever. Probing the Love-Knot with the tip of her wand, she gawked at them in what appeared to be amazement and jogged back to her seat at the Ravenclaw table.
“I think that will be enough,” Professor Dumbledore’s loud and firm voice echoed through the Hall. “I know most of you are excited and curious, but Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger do deserve to sit down and have a decent breakfast.”
It was a wonder that Hermione and Draco made it to the Gryffindor table. They took a seat opposite Ginny and Draco felt the eyes of the whole Gryffindor set on him.
“What are you staring at?” he snarled and immediately, they went back to minding their own business. I cannot believe I'm sitting here, he thought, cursing his luck. This Love-Knot has made me sink to rock bottom.
“Ginny, where’s Harry and Ron?” Hermione asked as she helped herself to a glass of juice.
“I thought they went to meet you early in the morning,” Ginny replied, frowning. “Didn’t they bring you breakfast?”
“If they did, we wouldn't be sitting here, would we?” Draco retorted.
Ginny ignored Draco and continued looking at Hermione. “I can’t believe they didn’t turn up. Overslept, I suppose.” She sighed. “I'm sorry, Hermione. If I knew they’d do something like that, I would have brought food to you myself. At least you wouldn't have to face everyone in here like that.”
Hermione gave her redheaded friend a smile. “It isn’t your fault, Ginny. And anyways, maybe it was about time Malfoy and I stop hiding from everyone. Who knows how long we would be tied to each other. We couldn't keep hiding.”
Just then, Harry and Ron burst into the Great Hall and sprinted over to the Gryffindor house table.
“OK Harry, start piling that food,” Ron instructed, oblivious to the fact that Hermione was already sitting there with Malfoy. “Hermione’s going to kill us if we don’t hurry.”
“Yeah, and imagine the look on Malfoy’s face,” Harry said, trying to catch his breath as he flung large amounts of food onto an empty plate.
“You won’t have to imagine, Potter,” Draco said coolly, glaring at Harry and Ron.
“And I'm most certainly going to kill you,” Hermione said, her voice sounding as cool as Draco’s and her eyes narrowed.
Ron gulped hard and dropped a piece of bread he was holding. “We’re finished.”
Hermione had never felt so ill at ease before as she did now, not even when the entire school was staring at her in the Great Hall. As Draco took a seat next to his fellow Slytherins in Charms, every pair of eyes was on her. All of them threw her looks of contempt, as though it was her fault that Draco was in tied to her.
Little did they know it was quite the reverse.
It was thanks to Lucius Malfoy that they were stuck to each other. Imagine the looks on their faces if they ever found out the truth, Hermione thought as she tried to act normal under the Slytherins’ accusing glares. At least the Hufflepuffs, who were sitting on the other side of the class, seemed to be taking pity on Hermione’s situation.
“We come back from Christmas holidays and we find you tied to her. Tell us Draco, how did this happen?” Blaise asked taking his eyes off Hermione to focus on his friend.
At once, Draco lunged into his story. Hermione pretended to be interested in her Charms textbook, but was in fact listening intently. She was relieved that Draco had told them that the Love-Knot was someone’s idea of a joke. She figured that he was too embarrassed to declare that he thought his own father did it. That would make Draco the laughing stock of the Slytherins.
“I'm telling you, Draco, it must be her doing,” Pansy said, placing her arm protectively around Draco’s and staring disdainfully at Hermione.
Hermione slammed her textbook shut and turned to Pansy. “Why would I do something like that? Do you think I like being stuck with your darling Malfoy like that?”
Pansy gave an indignant sniff. “Maybe you secretly fancy Draco.”
“I agree with Pansy,” Draco said before Hermione could reply, leaning back in his chair and hiking his feet onto the table. “It’s quite possible that you sent it. You might secretly fancy me and want me all to yourself, all the time.”
“Rubbish,” Hermione said, trying to ignore the smirk on Draco’s face. “That’s the most absurd explanation I've ever heard.”
“Actually, it does make sense,” Blaise quipped. “Perhaps you purposely sent the Love-Knot addressed to yourself and Draco just to make it look like someone else sent it to the two of you. Then once you're stuck to him, you’ll have him with you all the time. Imagine the possibilities,” he added with a bold wink. “Better have your fun with her while you can, Draco.”
Hermione’s cheeks burned wild roses as the Slytherins roared with laughter. She presumed that it was their fantasy to torture and humiliate a Gryffindor like that. It was a good thing she was saved from any more embarrassment with the arrival of Professor Flitwick.
“Good morning, everybody,” the short teacher greeted as he climbed on top the pile of books he normally stood on. “Wands out everyone. Let’s do some revision first to see if you remember what we did before the holidays.”
“Ah, Miss Granger,” he said when he spotted Hermione next to Draco. “Professor Dumbledore did inform me about your circumstance. I suppose I won’t be seeing in the first class I have with Gryffindor and Ravenclaw then?”
Hermione shook her head. “No, sir.”
Professor Flitwick gave her a kind smile. “All right then, let’s begin.”
In the middle of the Charms class, Pansy, who was sitting on the other side of Draco, nudged him gently in the ribs and passed him a note. “It’s from Vincent,” she whispered.
Draco opened the note and skimmed through it.
Draco, didn’t you scedul the first after holidays Quidditch meeting this Thursday? How are you going to fly with the Mudblood stuck to you? Do we need to find a new Seeker and Captan? “Crabbe
Draco crushed Crabbe’s note and chucked it away angrily. He, Draco, had spent most of his holidays trying not to think about the Quidditch meeting set on Thursday. And now, thanks to that idiot who did not even know how to spell ‘schedule’ and ‘captain’, he was reminded about Quidditch again.