Chapter 4
I woke up to a soft pillow under my head and the sheets draped over my body. My school robe was hung on the back of the chair next to my bed and my wand was placed on the bed table just within reach. Confused, I sat up to look around the room.
A desk was on the far side of the room with a quill and paper holder. A wardrobe was next to a window that shone with the light of the rising sun against the wall on the right of the desk. My bed was directly opposite to the window allowing me a lookout across the forbidden forest. The door to my room was on the other side of the window and it was cracked open slightly.
I got up and opened the wardrobe to find all of my clothes put away by the house elves that now worked for a wage in the castle. McGonagall and I had met early in the summer to discuss this as a reward for their courageous acts during the Battle of Hogwarts. This was only the beginning of the work that I planned to do considering the ethical treatment of magical creatures.
I grabbed a pair of grey sweatpants and my favorite blue cardigan. I pulled off my school uniform that I had worn overnight and pulled on my comfy clothes. The sun was barely above the horizon, signaling that it was only about six in the morning. I had some time before breakfast. I grabbed my toiletries bag and decided to head to the head prefect bathroom, which was attached to the edge of the combined suite.
I shambled out of my room and finally took a look at the common area of the head dorm. The door to the other side of the common was a brilliant emerald green that almost glistened in the soft light of dawn.
I shook my head and sighed. A year of close quarters with a Slytherin. At least no one from my year had appeared to return, and I never really spent time with the ones in Ginny’s year (which I was now a part of.)
Between our doors was a soft looking leather couch and two matching arm chairs that sat in front of an empty fireplace. Off in the corner was a stove with a kettle for tea next to a small counter space with an inlaid sink and a mini table with two chairs. Above the counter was a double cupboard, which I presumed would hold snacks and teas. A small icebox was set into the wall for cold drinks. In the opposite corner of the kitchenette was a brown door like the one leading out of our room. I figured this was the bathroom.
I shambled over to the bathroom, trying to be quiet so as to not wake my Slytherin roommate since it was still so early in the morning. Supposedly Slytherins would sleep until the last minute and get out of bed looking effortlessly perfect, bed hair and all. I slowly opened the door to the bathroom in fear that the door had creaky hinges. It swung open effortlessly.
I looked into a magnificent stone room. The walls were a white marble with streaks of copper. Large windows were behind a grand bath which was full of bubbles. I paused at the bubbles but I didn't see anyone so I deduced it as magic to fill the bath when one entered the room. I set my bag down on the marble sink to my right and looked in the mirror, sighing at the tangled mess that is my hair. The toilet was right behind me in a little room of its own with a sliding door that was open.
The mirror was starting to fog up from the heat of the bath so I decided it was time to get in. As I walked to the bath I stripped my cardigan off. As the fabric came over my eyes I heard a splash in the water. I yanked the shirt the rest of the way off to see a pair of grey eyes looking at me from amongst the bubbles. I shrieked as the person the eyes belonged to jerked back in the bath, creating another splash. I hurriedly grabbed the closest thing to me to cover my exposed chest, and it happened to be a green robe.
“Who are you,” I growled at the person in the bath, still not able to see all of them from the excessive bubbles that surrounded them. Pale hands came out of the water and pushed the bubbles away from their face, white-blonde hair and a pale face with familiar sharp features.
“Malfoy,” I gasped in disbelief.
“In the flesh, Granger,” he snarkily responded as he waded towards me by the edge of the bath. Luckily the bubbles covered him from the waist down making it impossible to see anything below. Water slicked off his chest, thin as if he was not eating enough. I glared at him as he slicked his wet hair back out of his eyes.
“Care to explain why you crashed my bath,” He asked sharply. “Perhaps you wanted to join me?”
“No! I thought the bath was empty,” I defended myself as I pulled the robe even tighter around my chest, noticing the faint scent of cologne that came from it.
“Well it's not, so unless you wish to join me in this delectably warm water…” He drew out with a cocky smirk.
“In your dreams Malfoy,” I spat at him as I turned on my heel and left the bathroom. As the door behind me shut soundlessly I thought I heard him whisper something after me
“Yes, alway in my dreams…”
I had to have misheard him so I went back to my room and waited until I heard the patter of his wet feet across the floors to his room before I left again. I hung his robe on his doorknob before returning to the bathroom to run my own hot bath, using the extensive collection of soaps to create my favorite mix of roses and pomegranate.
Soaking in the delectable bubbles, I soon washed away the pain of last night and the shock of finding out I have a ferret as a partner for the year.