Chapter 20- The New Rule
Tension between Draco and Hermione was thick throughout Monday and remained so till Tuesday. Hermione had even taken to wearing her mood ring for very vindictive reasons” Jinx shouted comments like, “Blondie, Hermione’s still mad at you!” and “Blond Boy, you are annoying (technically, that was not stating Hermione’s feelings, but Jinx didn’t quite care)!” at regular intervals to reflect her owner’s obvious mood. The only time the mood ring ever kept quiet was in lessons, during which she would make snide remarks silently for only Draco to hear. The sole reason keeping Draco from grabbing Jinx and throwing her across the school grounds was the thought of Quidditch practice at the end of the day.
Usually practice was held on Thursdays, but it had been shifted to today instead because one of the Slytherin players had landed themselves in detention for the remainder of the school week (not very surprising, is it?).
It seemed that the sky was the only thing that had mercy on Draco that Tuesday evening. It was relatively clearer as compared to the past few days. Even the weather was not as cold, making it quite ideal for Quidditch practice.
“Goyle, try hitting the Bludger away from your own players, not towards them!” Draco shouted from the Slytherin stands. “What the matter with you?!”
“Sorry Draco!” Goyle apologized and, in panic, sent a Bludger hurtling towards Crabbe, who missed it by an inch.
Draco rolled his eyes. How he made friends with such idiots was beyond him. “Nott, I need you to try out the new formation with the other chasers!” he hollered, ignoring Goyle.
“Bloody hell blonde boy, quit shouting like a deranged banshee!” Jinx exclaimed angrily from Hermione’s finger. “I live in a very fragile environment and I don’t want it cracking from your voice!”
Draco looked at little ring fiercely and muttered something under his breath.
“You’re going to give yourself a sore throat if you keep yelling like that,” Hermione spoke from beside Draco, Potions’ textbook in hand.
“I thought you weren’t talking to him, Hermione?” Jinx questioned inquisitively.
“Yeah, I thought you weren’t talking to me, Granger?” Draco snapped, casting her an angry look. “And anyways, what is it to you?”
“I can’t concentrate with you yelling continuously,” Hermione retorted.
“How sad for you then,” Draco sneered.
Hermione sighed. She was use to this kind of behavior by now, especially since Monday. He was still obstinate on going with his friends to Hogsmeade and she with hers.
“There, there Hermione,” Jinx consoled soothingly, reading her owner’s feelings in a jiffy. “I know Blondie boy can be a real pain-in-the-rear-end at times.”
Draco scowled.
“Where’s your wand?” Hermione asked despite her conscious telling her not to bother.
Draco merely glared at her, making no action to produce it for her. Instead, he turned his attention back to his players. “Baddock, are your hands made of butter?! Grip that Quaffle properly!”
Not knowing what overcame her at that instance, Hermione stuck her hand into Draco’s robe pocket to look for his wand.
“Oooo,” Jinx mused out loud, “definitely no feelings of naughtiness there.”
The sudden sensation of a hand in his pocket made Draco gasp in surprise. A tickle ran up his spine. “What the bloody””
“There,” Hermione said, removing his wand from his pocket within moments. “Got what I was looking for.”
“You can just stick your hand in my””
“Oh, I think she just did,” Jinx cut in with a cheeky smile before Draco could complete his sentence.
She pointed the wand at Draco’s throat and said, “Sonorus!” Then she handed the wand back to him. “Now, you won’t need to shout and strain your voice.”
“What did you do?” Draco said and realized, with a start, that his voice echoed through the stadium, as though he had spoken through a muggle microphone.
Jinx raised an eyebrow. “Not very bright, is he?”
The Slytherin Quidditch members turned to stare at him. Slowly, Draco remembered that the spell Hermione placed on him throat was used to amplify one’s voice.
He did not say anything to her further and returned to instructing his players on what to do. Once he was satisfied with their mode of play, he sat down next to Hermione, but never took his eyes off them.
Hermione examined the Slytherin beside her, watching him as scrutinized each and every one of his players, picking out their flaws, analyzing their moves. His blond eyebrows were creased in concentration and his chin rested in the gap between his thumb and index finger as he slouched forward.
“Hmmmm…” Jinx whispered thoughtfully to herself, turning a strange greenish-pale pink color. “What is this that I detect in Hermione? Strange, but I sense…it’s barely there…the smallest possible bit…” Then she turned back to sea-green color of irritation. “And now it’s gone.” She frowned. “No point telling her about that then.”
“Are you still adamant about going with your friends to Hogsmeade?” Hermione asked, tearing her eyes away from Draco and looking down at her textbook.
“Are you?” Draco shot back, jumping slightly when his voice reverberated throughout the stands. He quickly pointed his wand at his throat and said, “Quietus!”, so that his voice would go back to normal volume. “Are you?” he repeated.
Hermione stuck her chin out defiantly. “Yes, I am.”
“Then so am I.”
Sighing heavily, Hermione continued reading her textbook. She knew it was useless arguing with Draco. Experienced had taught her so. And anyways, she was not one for giving up either.
“A word of advice, dearie,” Jinx piped. “There’s not point wasting your energy getting annoyed at a creature from the opposite gender. They’re born to exasperate. Believe me, I'm speaking from experience.”
Draco stared at Jinx in disbelief. Speaking from experience? What kind of a mood ring was this anyway??
“Hey Hermione!” a voice called out from behind her, causing her to start. She (and Draco) turned around to see Neville bounding down the Slytherin bleachers towards them.
“Hello Neville,” Hermione said warmly as he took a seat beside her, seemingly breathless. “What are you doing here?”
“Yeah Longbottom, what the bloody hell are you doing here? Spying on us?” Draco asked accusingly. “Are the Gryffindors that desperate?”
Neville ignored Draco, turning his attention to Hermione instead. “Professor McGonagall wants to see the both of you in her office right now,” he said in between breaths.
“Right now?” Hermione repeated, frowning. “Did she tell you what for?”
Neville shrugged. “No, she didn’t. She just told me to come get you.”
“Well, thank you then, Neville.” Hermione said with a smile.
“No problem, Hermione,” Neville returned her smile. “I better get going.”
“Nott!” Draco bellowed, nearly making Neville tumble as he climbed up the stairs. “I have to go see McGonagall! Take over, will you?”
When he saw Nott nod, he stood up and waited for Hermione to the same.
“What do you reckon she wants?” Hermione wondered out loud, slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder.
“I dunno,” Draco replied earnestly. “I just hope it’s not another lecture to get us to co-operate.”
Hermione remembered running into Professor McGonagall on Monday, when she and Draco weren’t exactly having one of their best moments. Who was she kidding? She and Draco never had good moments. Maybe decent moments, but good was too strong a word.
Jinx, who had been quiet for a rather long time by her standard, turned a bluish-grey color on Hermione’s finger. “You're feeling curious!” she announced in a singsong voice as they entered the Entrance Hall.
“Is it necessary to declare every single emotion that she goes through?” Draco asked disdainfully as he walked through the corridors with Hermione.
“Well, I'm a mood ring, knucklehead,” Jinx scoffed. “I announce people’s moods. It’s part of my job description.”
“I know that,” Draco retorted gruffly. “But do you have to be so loud about it? You just have to tell her how she’s feeling, not the entire world.”
“Does it annoy you?” Jinx asked.
“Hell yes!”
Within her black opal, the white-faced Jinx gave satisfied smirk. “Good then,” she said and Draco decided that it would be best if he stopped talking to the mood ring.
Upon reaching the Deputy Headmistress’s office, Hermione knocked before entering together with Draco.
“Good evening, Professor,” the Head Girl greeted politely, “you wanted to see us?”
“Yes, yes, I did,” Professor McGonagall said, looking up from her paperwork. “Take a seat Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy.”
They did as told and Hermione heard Jinx whisper, “Don’t be so worried, Hermione. You're getting worked up for no reason.”
Hastily, Hermione removed the ring from her finger and dropped it into her pocket. She did not want Jinx distracting her from her meeting with Professor McGonagall, who seemed to be in a very serious mood.
“I called the two of you here to discuss something rather important,” Professor McGonagall said gravely. “It’s about the Hogsmeade trip this weekend.”
For a fleeting moment, Draco thought the Transfiguration Professor was going to force him to go to Hogsmeade with Hermione and her friends. No, that’s not possible. How would she know that we have been arguing about the trip?
“Professor Dumbledore has decided to implement a new rule,” Professor McGonagall continued as she slowly gathered her papers and shuffled them together.
Draco eyed the Professor with mild curiosity. A new rule had not been implemented in Hogwarts since…since Professor Umbridge was a teacher in the school. Ah, what fond memories. The Inquisitional Squad, docking points from Gryffindor for absolutely no reason… It was happy days when she was around.
“What new rule, Professor?” Hermione queried, voicing Draco’s curiosity. And what does it have to do with the Hogsmeade trip? she wondered to herself.
Professor McGonagall did not answer immediately. She shuffled her papers around again and arranged a few items on his desk, as though purposely trying to buy some time. To Draco, it seemed like she rather not talk about this new rule.
“Professor Dumbledore has decided that starting from this year, the Head Boy and Girl will have to patrol Hogsmeade,” she finally said in a rush, “while the other students spend their day there.”
Silence filled the room for what seemed like eternity, when it was broken by Draco, who said, “You're joking?”
“No, I'm afraid I'm not joking, Mr. Malfoy,” Professor McGonagall said, giving him a sharp look. “I'm serious, very serious indeed.”
“Wait a moment, let me try to think this through,” Draco said, gripping the sides of his chair tightly, as if fearful that this very room was an illusion or a trick. “Not only am I stuck with Granger till the cows come home, but now I can’t even spend my Hogsmeade trips with my own friends?!”
“Mr. Malfoy, I will have to ask you to calm down,” Professor McGonagall warned with a stern glare.
“Actually, Professor, I quite agree with Malfoy,” Hermione piped in suddenly.
“You do?” both Draco and Professor McGonagall said in unison, the surprise in their voice not concealed at all.
“Yes, I do,” she confirmed. “We were looking forward to spending the day with our friends.”
“How exactly do you propose to do that in your current situation, Miss Granger?” Professor McGonagall asked, briefly pointing at the Love-Knot.
“We were going to figure that out,” Hermione said without the slightest hint of hesitation. “And we’ve had already asked our respective groups of friends. It’s not very fair to make us patrol, isn’t it?”
Professor McGonagall was render speechless momentarily, but she quickly found her voice. “I understand your feelings about this issue. However, you have to realize that as Head Boy and Girl, you have certain duties and responsibilities to the school. I'm certain that you have regards for the school rules, be it new or old,” She paused and gave Hermione a meaningful look, “don’t you?”
And Draco knew that statement more or less did it for Hermione. There would be no more argument on her part. Professor McGonagall was certainly well-aware of her Head Girl’s weakness. Hook, line and sinker.
“I don’t understand why you had to agree!” Draco said, infuriated by the whole patrolling Hogsmeade business. He and Hermione had headed straight for the Heads’ common room after the meeting with Professor McGonagall. Draco was no longer in the mood for watching the Slytherin Quidditch practice.
Hermione dumped her schoolbag on one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace. “We didn’t have much of a choice, Malfoy!” she snapped, plopping herself on the same seat as her bag. “Did it sound like Professor McGonagall was letting her choose whether or not we wanted to patrol?”
Draco marched over to the opposite chair and sat down irritably. “If you weren’t such a goody-two-shoe, I think we had a chance of refusing point blank.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco. “So what are you suggesting? That we could have started some sort of strike?” she asked, staring at the Head Boy questioningly. “Didn’t you hear what she said? We have responsibilities and we need to have regards for the rules and””
Draco stared at the girl in front of him as though she had a hand growing out of her head. “It was a load of rubbish, Granger!” he cried, his gray eyes bulging. “Didn’t you see the look on her face when she was feeding you that responsibility and duties nonsense? She knew that there was no way you could refuse after she said all that! And you fell for it!”
“Malfoy, Professor McGonagall would not do that!” Hermione practically yelled, coming to her favorite teacher’s defense at once.
Draco rolled his eyes. “She would and she has! She just did it with you!”
“Rubbish.”
“So much for wishing that the two of you would not quarrel tonight,” Salazar Slytherin’s snub voice floated from the wall above the fireplace. “Wishful thinking, you might say.”
“What seems the problem this time?” Godric Gryffindor asked, apparently not as annoyed as his Slytherin counterpart.
Hermione explained to him the new rule that was to come into effect the coming weekend. Once she was done, she was surprised to see that the two founders were not all that surprised.
“That’s it? That was what all the whining was about?” Salazar Slytherin yawned, looking even more bored than usual (if that’s possible). “As it is, the both of you are stuck to each other. Does it make a big difference that you patrol Hogsmeade together?”
Draco frowned. “But we were planning to go with our friends””
“Your friends?” Salazar Slytherin let out a dry laugh. “The both of you are always at each other’s throat, I cannot imagine what will happen if you go out together with your different little groups of friends.”
“If you want my honest opinion, I daresay it’s a blessing in disguise!” Godric Gryffindor chipped in.
This response from Slytherin and Gryffindor left the Heads vaguely taken aback. No big difference? Blessing in disguise? Not the choice of words Hermione and Draco had in mind.
“So I think you two should stop wallowing in self-pity,” Salazar Slytherin drawled, “and let us sleep.”
The two students stared at the portraits.
“Go on then,” Godric Gryffindor urged, “off to bed.”
Too stunned to do or say anything else to Gryffindor and Slytherin, Draco and Hermione did as told and headed up to Hermione’s dorm (they were due to sleep in her room tonight).
“Do you reckon Dumbledore has a purpose behind this?” Godric Gryffindor asked out loud once the two Heads were out of earshot. “Very curious of him to implement a rule like that on such short notice.”
Salazar Slytherin looked thoughtful. “I'm certain that Dumbledore has something up his sleeve,” he replied. “That man is one of the smartest Headmasters this school has ever had. Always has some purpose or another.”
Pansy did not take the news as well as Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin did. In fact, by the end of Draco’s explanation of the new rule during breakfast the next morning, she looked ready to bite someone’s head off, presumably Dumbledore’s. Hermione could have sworn that she saw Crabbe cowering beside Goyle as Pansy exploded into a string of obscenities that would have given Professor McGonagall a heart attack.
Reactions were no better with Harry, Ron and Ginny. In fact, after Hermione had told them about the rule at lunch, Ron launched into a series of very flowery language that sounded uncannily like Pansy’s, so much so that Hermione exclaimed, “Ronald Weasley! What would your mother think if she heard you saying that?!”
“Sorry,” Ron mumbled a quick apology, face still red with anger.
“I don’t understand,” Harry said, frowning. “What a strange new rule to implement. And so suddenly.”
“So what are you going to do during the trip then, Hermione?” Ginny asked. Her face was slightly red with anger too, but not as bad as Ron’s.
“Well, Malfoy and I will leave at the same time as the rest of the school, but we’ll only be given an hour’s worth of time to ourselves, after which we will have to patrol Hogsmeade and look out for students who are misbehaving or breaking any rules,” Hermione explained, recalling what Professor McGonagall told them after her little speech on “duties”, “responsibilities” and “regards for rules”.
Ron swore under his breath. “It’s a conspiracy, I tell you,” he growled. “Maybe Lucius Malfoy somehow managed to persuade Dumbledore to allow the two of you some ‘alone time’ during the Hogsmeade trip.”
Draco threw Ron a dirty looked, but chose to remain quiet because what Hermione said next disproved Ron’s conspiracy theory.
“That’s not possible, Ron,” she said contemplatively. “Honestly, does Dumbledore strike you as the sort of person to be so easily swayed by into a decision like that?”
Harry nodded. “She’s right, Ron,” he agreed. “Dumbledore isn’t so easily influenced by anyone.”
“Maybe Lucius Malfoy placed a spell on him,” Ron continued stubbornly.
“Come off it, Weasley,” Draco snorted with a roll of his eyes, causing Ron to sulk even more.
“Well then can’t you spend your alone time with us?” Ginny questioned, a hint of hopefulness tugging at her voice.
Hermione smiled sadly. “I don’t think there’ll be enough time. We only have an hour and I have to get stationery and other school supplies.”
Harry sighed and a scowl formed on his face. “There goes our plan for the weekend.”
“My plans are down the drain as well, you know,” Draco pointed out, looking utterly miserable.
“I still think Lucius Malfoy has a hand in this somehow,” Ron murmured to himself sullenly.
How wrong he was.
Author's Note: This one will be quick guys. I just want to thank EJAUS, who gave me a wonderful idea that helped me link and make sense of a whole series of ideas that I already had with in mind. (You know what I mean, EJAUS). Thank you so much!