Chapter 2
All the other students had filed off the train. I stayed back for some time, wanting to wait for the crowds to die down before leaving the solitude of my compartment. I took a breath to calm my nerves, not that it helped, and gathered up my bag. It still had the trusty extension charm, old habits. Hopping off the train I made my way to the carriages. I walked slowly toward the thestral, and couldn't help but morbidly think how many more people this year would be able to see the skeletal creatures. It made my heart sink. Trying and failing to shake the thought from my head, I hopped into the carriage and took a seat opposite some people I didn't know by name but recognised from the years below me. They stared, I forced a small empty smile, and no one said a word the whole ride. Thank the Gods. If there was something I hated more than fake smiles, it was fake conversation.
1..2..3.. I was counting my steps yet again trying to focus on anything but my surroundings. I shook my hair forward a bit so it covered my face either side, acting as a shield from the piercing sets of eyes that turned to me as I walked through the doors to the great hall. As I walked, I noticed the room get substantially more silent as I continued through. Great. I saw Professor, no, Headmistress McGonnagal stood up front with all the teachers behind her along the long decorated table. Without scanning the room too much, I tried to focus on her soft smile and continued to walk forward. One step at a time Hermione. As I got closer toward the front I noticed that instead of 4 house tables, there were five. The 5th new table, a lot smaller in length than the rest, situated below the front of the platform where the teachers were.
I noticed then who was sitting along the table, it seemed to be all the returning 8th years. Neville was at the left side on the end of the bench, smiling up at me as I got closer, to his right sat Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott next to her and then Seamus sat on the other end of the bench. Across from them, I saw the back of Malfoy, then to his right sat Nott, and then who I believed to be Millicent Bullstrode next to him opposite Seamus. I looked above the table and saw the Hogwarts Emblem holding all the house colours. Ah, house unity at its finest. I couldn't help but snort at my remark. Approaching the table I pondered where to sit, but knowing full well that absolutely everyone's eyes were on me at this stage and not wanting to stand looking like an idiot for too much longer, I took a seat opposite Neville, next to Malfoy. Keeping my distance as best as I could sitting on the end of the bench, I saw Malfoy stiffen in the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes and nodded at McGonagall, silently praying she would see the begging in my eyes for her to move the attention anywhere but me. She raised her hands to get everyone's attention and began to speak. I sent a silent thank you toward her.
"Welcome back everybody, for another year at Hogwarts. I am pleased to say that the castle has undergone the necessary repairs, and everything is somewhat as you remember it from your previous years."
I snorted once again, yeah right. This seemed to get Malfoys attention. I saw him look at me with an expression of, possibly, agreement? Who knows. All I know is that it is definitely not how I remember it from my previous years here. It never will be again.
"I am sure by now you have noticed an additional table along the front of the room." Oh great, good one McGonagall, get the attention back on us. I could feel hundreds of eyes burning into the back of my head. I kept looking forward past Neville's head, thankful I hadn't sat on the opposite side of the table.
"This will be the table for the returning 8th years who are finishing up their 7th year with us. Let them be your inspiration. This year as your new Headmistress, I plan to be focused on house unity, more than ever. Gone are the house prejudices from all the years before. There is going to be a new mandatory lesson, for all students apart from the 8th years, in which activities, both muggle and magical will be held and people from all houses will be given the opportunity to mingle, work together, and hopefully make friendships to last a lifetime." Okay, fine, that I must admit was a good idea. Probably more so because I don't have to participate. McGonnagal continued, sorting the first years into their houses, gave the usual speech about the same warnings we receive every year, and finished up requesting that after dinner the 8th years hang back in order to discuss some other important items on her agenda. This made my anxiety spike ever so slightly, what did she have in store for us? The food appeared then in front of us, and the Great Hall filled with conversation and clangs of cutlery on plates.
"Hermione, how was your summer? I haven't seen you in ages. I spent loads of time with Luna, she's doing great, it was so nice to have that time to relax don't you think?" Neville said while piling food onto his plate.
That small jealous feeling came back once again and I internally rolled my eyes. Fake conversation. Great. I spooned a couple of steamed veggies onto my plate before responding, trying to think of an acceptable answer to his question. Oh yeah it was swell, spent every day in bed, depressed, crying and anxious, slept less than 3 hours a night and woke up covered in sweat, thrashing and screaming. Night terrors, am I right? Hm, better not.
"Yeah it was great thanks Neville, you know just did the usual summer things. Went on holiday for some time to get away, you know, which is probably why you didn't hear or see from me" I lied, trying my best to sound upbeat and convincing, I have no idea if it was or not. I didn't really care. Before he could respond, a very unlikely third party entered the conversation.
"Where was that holiday too Granger? Anywhere I might know?" I turned to my right to see Nott leaning forward to look at me past Malfoy, he had a small smile on his face. Damn, did he know I was lying? Guess I wasn't that convincing after all. Why was he talking to me? Malfoy turned toward him and gave a slight nudge of his elbow into Notts' side, it was very subtle and unnoticed by most, but not by me. Was he wondering the same as me? I furrowed my brow slightly before pulling myself together. I guess we were doing this.
"Unless a fancy pureblood like yourself hasn't heard of Paris, which is very unlikely, then no" I said it with a bit more bite than I intended, but it couldn't be helped, why did Nott care? He smiled back at me, his dimples appearing looking like he was enjoying this way too much. Was he always this easy on the eyes? I went back to staring back at my plate pushing the veggies around.
"Oh Paris" Nott said with a dare I admit, extremely attractive French accent. "Beautiful place Paris, very romantic" Nott wiggled his eyebrows as he said this. What was he getting at?
"I went alone, not that it's any of your business Nott." Again, way more bite than I intended. Chill out girl!
"Oh?" His eyes darted toward Malfoy then back to me. "Well that is a shame. Nothing better than going to Paris with someone you love, I think everyone should experience that at least once in their life. Right Draco?" At this Malfoy seemed to jump ever so slightly, shocked at the invitation to join the conversation. I looked at Malfoy anxiously awaiting his response, though I don't know why I felt anxious. Why did I care about what he had to say about Paris? I didn't even bloody go. Malfoy stared at Nott for a beat, probably silently cursing him.
"Oh, yeah right" Malfoy said before once again cutting his eyes at Nott. That was it? Damn, I thought any chance to boast he would jump at it. Unless he has never been with someone he loved. I wondered then if Malfoy had ever been in love. I know I hadn't. Nott looked disappointed with Malfoys response and looked back to me.
"Well I most definitely think it is a must for the bucket list, take it from me Granger. When you find someone you love, Paris is the place to be" He smiled again, winked and turned back to his plate. The tiniest shiver went down my spine after the wink. What was that all about?
"Anyway" Neville interjected, seeming just as confused as me by the whole interaction. "I'm glad you had a good one Hermione. You deserve it more than anyone."
That last sentence sat with me then for the rest of the meal, my head reeling. Did I deserve my happy, albeit, fake summer? Did I deserve happiness at all? Why did I deserve it the most? I didn't feel like I deserved anything. There were many more people much more deserving than me of happiness. I felt mentally drained all of a sudden and willed for time to pass faster so I could get to bed. The meal ended finally, one measly baby carrot passing my lips the entire time washed down with water. I wasn't hungry. I wanted to go to bed and sleep this strange yet exhausting day off.
The bustling of all the other students leaving the hall finally ended and Headmistress McGonnagall came to stand at the end of our table. Here come the announcements.
"Welcome back everyone. I know this year is going to be difficult for you all, but I trust that if any of you need further assistance or have any struggles, that you will feel comfortable to come and talk to me whenever you want, my office door is always open. I will help where I can." She looked at me for a beat then continued.
"As you are all of course older now, myself and the other teachers have agreed that the usual rules and accommodation will not be suitable for you. During the repairs, another tower was added, and this will be your accomodation. There is a usual common room like what you are used to, but you will all be given your own rooms and en-suite bathrooms. Curfews do not apply to you and you are welcome to go where you would like on the weekends. All other school rules apply, but we want you to feel as comfortable as possible here this year."
I was beyond happy with this arrangement. No need to have to cast a silencing charm now before I go to bed, just in case my night terrors awoke my roommates. Plus no bathroom sharing, long baths whenever I want them. Bliss.
"All of your belongings have been taken up to your rooms already, and you will find your class schedules on your bed along with your uniform. You are all still in the houses you were originally sorted into, but of course you will eat at this table for the year together. I meant what I said about house unity. It is more important now than ever. The students will follow by example, and I expect you all to give good examples." Great, more expectations.
"Now if you'll follow me I will take you to your tower now." We all followed behind McGonagall, a buzz of excitement through the group to see the new tower. I must admit I was also excited, but most of that was because I was closer to getting to bed.
We came to a stop in front of a painting, it was a beautiful farming landscape. It looked peaceful and quiet. There was a small farmer in the background, walking along picking crops. He looked up as we approached, and turned toward us all.
"Manus in Mano" McGonagll spoke clearly, and the farmer tipped his straw hat, and the portrait swung forward. I made a mental note to find out what that meant. We all walked through the portrait one by one, I filed in last. I looked around the common room. It was cosy yet spacious, a fire was cackling to my right with 3 sofas situated around it.The fireplace was decorated with beautiful flowers and leaves engraved in the woodwork. The sofas were all a deep grey-blue colour and there was a wicker basket next to the fireplace holding blankets in all the house colours. In the middle of all the sofas sat a natural wooden coffee table, a small candle on it gave off an amazing pumpkin spice scent that filled the air. All the furniture was placed atop a large off white fluffy rug. Homely was the word that came to mind.
To the left was a small kitchenette, it had a small stove with a kettle and espresso maker atop of it and an arrangement of teas on the wooden countertop. Shelves were above this holding mugs and glasses. There were nice muggle touches throughout the whole place. I wondered what the purebloods would make of it, though so far they didn't seem phased at all. Straight ahead of me was the staircase I guess heading up to all the rooms and to the right of that was a large bookcase holding an array of novels, muggle, magical, fiction, non-fiction. I looked forward to exploring that further. Everyone was looking around taking it all in, my eyes stopped on Malfoy for a second who seemed to be staring at me with an intensity, again looking like he was arguing with himself internally. McGonnagall spoke again, causing us both to look her way.
"As you heard, the password is Manus in Mano. This won't change at all for the year. If you head up the stairs, you will find your rooms. Your names are each engraved on the door so there is no confusion as to whos is whos. Have a nice rest of your evening and a good weekend. As I said, if you need anything at all, please come and find me. Goodnight."
She left then, leaving us all standing around. one by one people filed up the stairs to go and find their rooms. I walked around the common room a little while longer, running my fingers along the spines of the books looking at some of the titles before walking around one of the sofas and sitting in the armchair. It was insanely comfortable and I wanted nothing more than to curl up by the fire and sleep. I turned to look around the room and Malfoy was talking with Nott, again in hushed tones in the kitchen. I rolled my eyes. I wish they would just speak normally, or go to their room to have a normal decibel conversation.
"Want a tea Hermione?" I looked over and saw Nott staring at me holding a mug in either hand. Nott knew how to make tea with a mugle kettle? Now this I had to see.
"Sure, I'll take a green tea. Thanks" He scrunched his nose up at my response.
"Green tea Granger, really? There are so many better teas out there. Ever tried honey and chamomile? Amazing for relaxation before bed." It felt like he emphasized the word bed, though that could have just been my imagination.
"I like green tea." I said matter of factly, he shrugged then and turned toward the kettle. Filling it with water he placed it on the stove then cast a spell to heat it. I rolled my eyes. Of course he didn't use it the normal way. I huffed out a small laugh and he turned back at me with an amused look on his face. He finished up the tea, handed Draco his and walked over to hand me mine and sat on the sofa opposite to the fire. Malfoy came and sat next to him, and as he sat Nott placed his hand on Malfoys leg. I looked for a moment and my eyes widened unintentionally, I didn't want to stare so quickly looked toward the fire instead. They both must have seen my expression and let out a low chuckle. The sound made me shiver.
I turned back to them, unable to help my retaliation. "What's so funny?" I ask innocently.
"Oh nothing Granger, you just keep looking at us like we have 3 heads." Nott said with an amused voice. I couldn't help but smile apologetically. "If I know anything about you, Granger, I know you're just dying to ask. So go ahead, ask anything you want I will be honest, I promise. Just don't ask anything you don't want the answer to" With this he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I blushed slightly cursing myself for doing so. Why was he affecting me this way?
I looked at Malfoy then, he was once again staring at me waiting for me to talk. Would he be okay with me asking questions? He hadn't stated otherwise. Oh why the hell not. I opened my mouth to ask my first question, when Malofy held his hand up. I stopped.
"Wait a minute Granger, you don't have the rest of the rules. You ask us a question, we ask you a question. Fairs fair, right?" Malfoy put his hand on Nott's leg and squeezed his thigh, I shifted in my seat. Bloody Slytherins. What could they possibly want to know about me? I didn't have anything to lose, I'm not that interesting. Fuck it, looks like I'm entering the snake pit tonight.
"Deal."