Getting through the first day proved much more difficult than either Hermione or Draco had imagined. There was the problem of which of their lessons to attend. Draco suggested that they attend Hermione’s classes before lunch and his in the afternoon; this way he wouldn’t be missing Potions with the rest of the Slytherins.
Hermione was very suspicious of Draco's generosity and questioned him closely, but only received biting remarks in return. The Gryffindors were not happy to see Draco Malfoy during certain lessons, but most people held their tongues.
Harry and Ron were most especially put out when they realized they couldn't talk to Hermione as they wanted. Ron had gotten a disturbing letter from his brother Bill that morning; the Order believed Voldemort to be behind a recent attack of an Auror outside the Leaky Cauldron. 'Kingsley Shacklebolt was on his way to meet an aquaintance of Mundungus' and was approached from behind as he walked towards the pub. Luckily, Tom was sweeping the step and scared the cloaked figure away...' Bill had written.
"You don't think it was a Muggle do you?" Ron asked hesitantly, rolling the letter. "They're always hanging about the area, looking shifty."
"I doubt it," Harry replied, watching Ron stuff the letter into his bag. "Muggles don't pay attention to us. And the guy was wearing a cloak, so it had to be a wizard."
Ron looked over at Hermione, who was standing in the courtyard with Malfoy. The Head Boy wore an expression of boredom as Hermione poured over a Muggle Studies textbook. Ron wanted to go over and tell Hermione what was going on, but decided that was a bad idea; Draco was likely to report to his parents whatever they discussed.
A group of Slytherins sauntered past Ron and Harry then slowed as they approached Hermione and Draco. Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and three others began whispering fiercely; Pansy suddenly let out a shriek of laughter. Hermione looked up momentarily from her book and Draco frowned at his cronies.
"Uh-oh," Harry muttered, standing up. "Come on," he said to Ron, "this doesn't look good."
Ron and Harry deftly made their way across the courtyard, coming up behind the Slytherins. By now the small group had stopped in front of Hermione and Draco and were openly speaking to them. Harry and Ron caught part of Pansy's speech.
"...stuck to a Mudblood, Draco? You seem to be taking it better than we expected. Why, I'm so disappointed in you, Draco."
"Shut it, Pansy," Draco snarled. "You know nothing about this situation."
"I know that you haven't tried to free yourself. We were just wondering what that is...and if we should still call you a Slytherin?"
Hermione slammed her book shut. "Parkinson, why don't you--?"
Pansy went on, ignoring Hermione. "Don't worry Draco, you might not be calling yourself a Slytherin anymore, but we have a wonderful new name for you."
"And I suppose you're going to enlighten me?" Draco growled, eyeing Pansy with anger.
Pansy clapped her hands together and shrieked, "DRAMIONE!"
The Slytherins laughed hysterically. Hermione's face flamed red and her gaze swung to Harry and Ron, standing behind the group. Ron's face was also crimson, but not from embarrassment. He pulled out his wand and yelled out a Hair Loss Curse. Pansy, the target, shrieked in terror as her hair suddenly disappeared. She placed her school bag on top of her head and raced away, the three unknown Slytherins following close behind.
Crabbe and Goyle, however, stood their ground. Too late, Ron realized he would catch the full brunt of an Engorgement Charm. Before his face swelled to unnatural proportions, Ron saw Crabbe and Goyle sprawled on the ground; Harry was hastily putting his wand away.
"Oh, Ron," Hermione scolded, moving forward to help her friend. She pointed her wand at his swelled face and murmured, "Reducio."
Draco looked amused. "You should have left him that way, Granger; it was an improvement."
Ron scowled and Hermione retorted, "Quiet, Malfoy, before I hex you." She turned back to Ron and Harry. "Since I witnessed that, I'll have to take ten points from Gryffindor."
Ron's jaw dropped. "But, Hermione, we helped you out!"
Hermione shook her head. "Everything was fine, Ron. I’m sure Malfoy and I could have handled it."
"Since when did you become a team?" Ron asked suspiciously, eyeing Draco with dislike.
"Uh, Ron?" Harry cleared his throat. "They are stuck together."
"Yeah, Weasel, you yourself made that very obvious when you blabbed it to the whole school over breakfast this morning," Draco drawled.
"Malfoy, stop it," Hermione muttered, seeing the look on Ron's face.
"Look, Hermione, we'll just be on our way," Harry said, grabbing Ron's arm. "We can talk to you some other time, all right?"
Hermione nodded and watched her two best friends walk away, feeling as though she were being torn in two. She bit her lip to keep from crying out, but the tears still threatened to spill over. Ron had been really upset and Harry had obviously wanted to talk to her about something. Hermione glanced at Draco; it would be impossible to speak to her friends with him around.
She was now regretting her part in the duel last night.
Draco glanced down at Hermione; there they were again--the tears. Draco groaned inwardly; he was bloody thankful that he wasn't some simpering girl. Cry over the most bizarre things, girls do, Draco thought sarcastically. If I were a girl, I'd feed myself to a dragon.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"So will you help me?" Ginny asked a copy of The Quibbler. She had found just the person she was looking for at the very end of the day, sitting on the floor outside Professor Binns' classroom.
The newspaper lowered to reveal Luna Lovegood; she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Danger and intrigue? Secrets and spells?" Luna said, her eyes going wider than ever before. "Of course. I'm surprised you had to ask, Ginevra."
"Great," Ginny breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll have to sneak out tonight and break into the library."
"Sounds like fun. Perhaps I can even write an article on espionage for my father to publish in The Quibbler." She held up the newspaper in her hand. "I'm sure it will help sell many copies." Luna paused a moment then said, "Not that it doesn't sell well now. Though I can't understand why no one wants to read about the positive effects of a Billywig bite."
Ginny, ignoring Luna's babbling, began pacing the corridor. "We'll have to do something about Filch, Mrs. Norris, and Peeves."
"Oh, that’ll be easy!" Luna exclaimed with a smile. "I know what to do."
Ginny looked questioningly at Luna. "What are you going to do? Stun Filch and his cat?"
"STUN HIM?" Luna shrieked with laughter, tipping over and rolling on the floor, causing Ginny jumped back in surprise. "Oh, that's funny!" Luna gasped.
"Shh, Luna!" Ginny hissed, looking about her, slightly embarrassed. Several students gave them strange looks, but Luna paid them no attention; her giggles died down and she straightened to look up at Ginny.
"Oh, no," Luna said dreamily. "I have something else in mind, but if it doesn't work, I just might have to do that; thank you for the suggestion, Ginevra."
Ginny frowned at the Ravenclaw and replied, "Um, okay then. Just meet me in the library around eight-thirty this evening. That should leave us with enough time between Madame Pince locking up and Hermione and Malfoy beginning their patrols."
"Sounds wonderful," Luna sighed happily. "But how are we going to perform the spell without either noticing?"
This time, it was Ginny's turn to grin madly. "Leave that to me."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The Slytherins continued their crude remarks and cruel laughter, calling the Head Boy and Girl "Dramione" at every turn.
Pansy Parkinson, having visited Madame Pomfrey, was now sporting a whole new hairstyle. The Slytherin took much delight in singing "Hey, Dramione!" every time she passed the pair in the corridors.
The other Hogwarts students had no longer found Hermione's and Draco's situation funny. The stares of disbelief had become looks of sympathy and a few offered advice on how the Head Girl and Head Boy could separate.
Seamus Finnigan told Hermione to roll around in a patch of four-leaf clovers and Neville suggested they rub Moonwort Fern on themselves.
The most surprising--and disturbing--advice came during dinner. As Hermione and Draco sat on floor, a large Barn Owl zoomed into the Great Hall and deposited a roll of parchment into Hermione's lap.
She unrolled it and quickly scanned the message. After a moment she let out a snort of laughter. "Are they crazy?" she shrieked.
Hermione flipped the parchment over, took out a quill, and scribbled the words 'NO, THANKS!'. She then rolled it back up and handed it back to the owl, who hooted its thanks then took flight again, back in the direction it had come.
"What’s so funny, Granger?" Draco asked, as he finished a treacle tart. "Who was that from?"
"Fred and George Weasley," Hermione replied with a chuckle. "It seems they've heard about our...misfortune."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Is there no one who has not?" he asked snidely. "What did they want?"
"Er, they wanted to help us."
"And?"
Hermione sighed, shaking her head. "Fred and George wanted to know if we'd like to be 'willing participants' in a field test for a new product called 'Sticking Shock'. If it works, we get a crate of free samples to give away to Hogwarts students."
"Bloody hell!" Draco snorted. "Those two don't have a brain between them! 'Willing participant'? It sounds like they want to torture us!"
Hermione laughed. "That's exactly what I thought. I declined, naturally."
"Naturally."
They finished their meal in silence, each thinking how odd it was to laugh with the other and not exchange ugly words. Surprisingly, Hermione and Draco found that it was somewhat pleasant; but neither would admit that out loud.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"You want to borrow what?" Harry asked in disbelief, looking up at Ginny, his Divination homework temporarily forgotten.
Ginny had cornered Harry and Ron in the Common Room after dinner and asked to speak to them. They had been jovial until Ginny put forth her demand.
She nearly laughed out loud at Harry's slack-jawed response. "Your invisibility cloak, Harry," she sighed. "Goodness, you’re thick."
"But how--how do you know I even have one?" Harry looked nervous.
"Yeah, Gin," Ron put in, setting his quill down. "What makes you think Harry even owns something so rare?"
Ginny scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Do you think I'm stupid? I know that you two and Hermione sneak down to see Hagrid all the time. As a matter of fact, just last April the three of you 'wandered' into the Dark Forest after midnight, though I'm pretty certain that wasn’t the first time. Besides," she added slyly, "I'm sure you wouldn't want McGonagall to know you've been out of bed past curfew."
"How can you know all of this?" Ron demanded. "We're not supposed to be seen under there!"
Harry groaned; Ginny's grin went wider.
"Why, thank you, Ron," she said sweetly. "Now, I'll be having that cloak."
Ginny's brother gave Harry an apologetic look. "She’s brutal," Ron sighed.
Harry, suppressing a grin, got up from the table and went to his dormitory. A moment later, he returned with a silvery cloak tucked under one arm. Without a word, he handed it to Ginny.
"I promise I will return this in the morning and in one piece," Ginny told Harry. "You don't know how much this means to me. Thank you."
"You’re welcome, Ginny," Harry sighed, "but you don't know how much that," he nodded his head toward the cloak, "means to me."
"What d'ya need that for?" Ron asked, frowning, as Ginny folded the cloak neatly and hid it beneath her robe.
"Let's just say I'm helping a friend," she replied with a smile.
"And what makes you think we won’t tell on you?" Ron shot her a triumphant grin.
"Well, let me think," Ginny said, tapping her chin. "You could tell on me, but then Harry might never see the cloak again, because I'd tell on you."
This time, Ron's jaw dropped. "You wouldn’t."
Ginny laughed and walked away from the two boys, her response drifting back to them.
"Try me."