Seated at the Gryffindor table after the supper in the Great Hall, Ron, Harry, and Ginny looked at Hermione with mirror expressions of pity. At first, Ron had laughed when Hermione had told them that Draco Malfoy was Head Boy, but when the brown haired girl didn't smile, Ron's demeanor changed. He wanted to punch Malfoy, but Hermione reasoned it wasn't Malfoy's fault that Dumbledore made him Head Boy.
Ginny tried to cheer her up by suggesting she charm his shampoo to become blue hair dye. Hermione smiled a tiny bit at this, but shook her head; she didn't want go near Malfoy, let alone his belongings.
"How am I going to get through the school year knowing that I have to see Malfoy nearly every waking moment?" Hermione moaned. "It's just not fair, that's what it is."
"Perhaps you can sleep in the library?" Ron suggested. Harry snorted, spraying Neville, who was seated across from him, with pumpkin juice. Ginny punched Ron on the arm and gave Harry a disapproving look.
"Don’t be stupid," Ginny said to her brother, handing Neville a napkin. "Madame Pince would never allow it."
"Why not?" Ron asked, rubbing his arm. "Hermione's in there all the time anyway."
Ginny looked like she wanted to say something, but kept her mouth closed. Instead she turned to Neville and began talking to him about Herbology and Mrs. Sprout. Neville's face lit up; he excelled in that class, and was delighted to talk about it.
Hermione opened her Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7 and began reading. She needed to take her mind off of this awful situation. She was not looking forward to tomorrow evening, when she had to make the required rounds before heading off to bed. She and Malfoy had to roam the halls for two hours tonight...together.
Professor McGonagall was adamant about this. "For the first week, starting tomorrow evening, you two will be required to patrol the halls together for out-of-bed students. After you are comfortable with making the rounds as a pair, you can choose to split up, but that is entirely up to you. Both of you, however, must return to your dorms by eleven o'clock each evening," she had told them, when they reported to her upon arrival that afternoon.
Malfoy had looked as though Professor McGonagall wanted him to swallow poison. Hermione had stood there, numb. Two hours...with Malfoy? Professor McGonagall was asking for a miracle.
Malfoy hadn't uttered a word to her since revealing himself as the Head Boy. He smiled an awful lot during the train ride, even as he swept past her in the passageway between the compartments. She'd also heard Pansy Parkinson laughing after Malfoy found her, apparently bent on telling her his news.
Hermione wished that anyone else...even Crabbe or Goyle...had been made Head Boy. Malfoy was a pest, an insufferable sod who would get under her skin. He would torment her and call her names until she couldn't stand it any longer.
She wondered how long it would take before she'd have to hex him?
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What's the first thing you're going to do to her?" Pansy Parkinson asked Draco, as she, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were seated at the Slytherin Table in the Great Hall. Pansy had practically beat it out of him on the train ride to Hogwarts to reveal the new Head Girl's name. At first, Pansy tried crying, but when that didn't work, she resorted to wheedling.
Annoyed, Draco just blurted out Granger's name...anything to shut the blasted girl up. In response, Pansy had collapsed into a fit of giggles, and began plotting ways for Draco to make Granger mad.
Some of the ideas Pansy had were stupid; he certainly wasn't going to go into Granger's room and put a freezing charm on her underthings! Although, he thought silently, I wonder what kind of things she does wear under that uniform? Wouldn't it be just like Granger to wear woolly long-johns? A laugh escaped his lips, and Pansy, Goyle, and Crabbe looked at him oddly.
He realized Pansy had repeated her question; he thought quickly and said, "I'll charm her hairbrush to make her hair fall out."
Pansy shrieked with laughter. Goyle turned to Draco and asked, "Does she even own a brush?" Draco had to admit that was funny, even if it did come from Goyle.
He looked over at Granger sitting with the Weasleys, Potter, and Longbottom; she looked miserable. Good, he said to himself with a satisfied smirk, the Mudblood is probably worried that I'm going to do something. He knew he would, but Granger was smart; he'd have to catch her off-guard somehow, and Draco knew that wouldn't be easy. Besides, he didn't want to be stripped of his title as Head Boy on the first day!
Just take your time, he told himself. Make her worry until she can't take it anymore. All you'll have to do is breathe on her, and she'll fall right over the edge.
Draco smiled; being Head Boy was going to be fun!
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, classes began. Hermione was thankful that she and Draco didn't have to start their patrols until this evening, and was even more grateful--though she would never admit this--to Draco for not once bothering her last night. He simply went to his room that evening after supper and closed the door.
The Gryffindors had to endure a few classes with the Slytherins. The first was Charms. When Professor Flitwick had asked them to perform a basic summoning charm at the very beginning of the class, to review their basic knowledge of the spell, Harry and Ginny had gotten it on their very first try. Both had charmed their school bags to zoom across the room to land at their feet. Ron was more successful on his second turn, as was Neville, who was so thrilled, that he accidentally tripped over Harry's bag.
Hermione, however, was a great disappointment. She raised her wand three times and called "Accio Bag", but instead of getting her school bag, she'd gotten Professor Flitwick's hat, Parvati Patil's left shoe, and Trevor, Neville's toad. The Gryffindors were looking at Hermione with something close to horror. What was wrong with Hogwarts' cleverest witch?
Only Malfoy and the Slytherins were in hysterics; it was rather funny to see Granger so flustered. When Professor Flitwick asked Hermione if she was all right and if she wanted someone to help her, Malfoy immediately called out that he would be glad to do so. Hermione had barely let a second pass before she screeched "NO! I mean, no, thanks!" The Slytherins laughed, and Hermione went red; she didn't want to be anywhere near Draco before she had to.
Potions was no better. Malfoy sat as close as possible to Hermione, and he spoke so loudly that he made her jump, knocking over the cauldron she'd had a Deflating Draft brewing in. Snape took fifteen points from Gryffindor for that, and made Hermione clean it all up. Harry and Ron looked ready to commit murder, but couldn't help their friend, for Snape had taken to glaring at them all, and no one wanted to risk losing Gryffindor anymore points.
After Potions, Hermione ran all the way to the library and hid behind a huge stack of books while she cried her eyes out. This year was supposed to be wonderful, she commiserated quietly. Why did Malfoy have to go and screw it up?
To be fair, she inwardly admitted Malfoy wasn't entirely at fault, but he was doing his best to make her miserable, and it was only the first day of classes. What would he be like later on in the evening...or the rest of the year, for that matter? Would she be able to handle the constant mental assault from Malfoy?
She hoped to Merlin she could.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Draco was having a lovely day; Granger was seeing to that. He smiled to himself, knowing that he was the cause of her problems. If this is how she is today, Draco thought, who knows what she'll be like tomorrow or next week? Draco silently wagered it would be a week before Granger snapped and asked McGonagall to have the Headmaster choose another Head Girl.
He'd gone back to the Heads' Common Room and was relaxing for a bit before having to make his rounds with Granger. He looked at the door that lead to her room, and wondered what he would find there, if he were to go inside. She probably had books and more books and that stupid, ugly cat laying all over the place.
Draco wondered if a bookworm like Hermione even owned a mirror.
At that moment, a blur of color came flying at him. He jumped out of the chair, not knowing what it was. When he calmed his nerves and straightened his clothes, Draco looked at the spot where he'd been sitting; he saw Granger' ginger cat there, looking at him.
"What?" He asked Crookshanks snidely. "Don't tell me...you knew I was thinking about the Mudblood who keeps you."
Crookshanks continued to stare at Draco, to the point where Draco had to look away. He had the strangest sensation that the cat was trying to look beyond Draco's cold, bored exterior, into the real person he kept hidden deep inside.
"Stop that!" Draco said loudly. It was ridiculous, this cat making him feel this way. No animal can really do that, he thought stubbornly. But as a precaution, he went to his room and shut the door.
Hermione walked into the Common Room fifteen minutes later, and saw Crookshanks. "What are you doing?" She asked, not really expecting an answer. Hermione then noticed her cat staring at Malfoy's door. "What? Is he in there?" Crookshanks looked back at Hermione and blinked once.
"Hmm," Hermione said aloud. "I'll bet he’s planning on how to get me good this evening, isn't he? I guess I should beat him at his own game, shouldn't I, Crookshanks?" When the cat said nothing, Hermione walked over to Malfoy's door, pulled out her wand and murmured "Colloportus". The door sealed itself with a small sucking noise, like that of the vacuum her mother used at home. Satisfied, Hermione walked away, blowing on the end of her wand. "There," she said aloud. "That ought to take care of Mister Malfoy for a little while."
When Crookshanks made a noise that sounded a bit like disapproval, Hermione shrugged. "I know, I know; I shouldn't have. But he deserved it, Crookshanks, if only for being a prat! I'll let him out...eventually."