"Come on, Ronald, if you want to make the portkey."
They were taking a portkey this year instead of the Hogwarts Express; everyone going to Hogwarts from The Burrow were prefects, and were safe to trust with a portkey.
Ron groaned and rolled over in the bed. "Ten minutes."
"In ten minutes, the portkey will be leaving," Hermione informed him, leaning up against his door frame, her mass of bushy hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Ugh. Five minutes?" was the muffled reply.
"Must I get your mother?"
"I'm up, I'm up!"
Hermione grinned as the red-head fell out of bed, but then he looked at her, an she saw his eyes were red and puffy and his pillow case stained. She kneeled, the smile slipping off her face. When she was right next to him, she let her han cradle his cheek. "Ron," she said, "It's okay."
He nodded, but didn't say anything. Hermione leaned back and watched her boyfriend stand up, shaking out his mass of fiery hair like a lion's mane. Truth be told, this was normal behavior for him. He refused to get a haircut, he said, because he wanted his hair to look like Bill's, long and untidy, so he could put it in a ponytail. Whenever Hermione asked why, he'd just said it looked cool. As good a reason as any, she thought, but she liked his hair.
"Oi! Are you up yet?" Harry called from below.
"He's up!" Hermione shouted back, giving Ron one last smile before turning away so he could get changed. She closed the door behind her and then turned to her left, where her door was. She opened it, grabbed the huge bag of books and then her school bag, and closed her door again, lugging the heavy things down the three flights of stairs to the kitchen.
It was warm and would have been cozy, if not for the chaos. Harry's new owl, Crummel, was soaring around, clutching a piece of bacon and hooting like mad. It was a rather large tawny owl, its golden eyes searching the room for a place to land, and finding none. Harry himself was trying to grab Crummel and get the bacon back, but it was difficult. He was red in the face and sweating. Ginny was trying to eat, but kept choking with laughter every time Harry muttered a particularly foul word at the bird. George was sitting in the corner, moping a usual, but the corners of his lips twitched as he watched the spectacle. Mrs. Weasley would shriek and duck every time the bird came close to her, and Mr. Weasley was aiming Petrificus Totalus at it, without much success. Hermione laughed when she saw this, and her hand flew to her chest, dropping her school bag (but never the one holding the books - how on Earth could she have ever dropped so many valuable, wonderful books?!), and her fingers brushed her Head Girl badge.
She immediately sobered. She whipped her wand out of her pocket, aimed, and said, "Accio bacon!"
The strip of meat tore itself out of the talons and flew into her waiting palm.
"Thanks," said Harry, over the sounds of Ginny laughing and Mr. Weasley congratulating Hermione on her quick thinking. He wiped some sweat off his brow. Hermione smiled and handed him the piece.
Ron entered, carrying his trunk and Pigwidgeon in his cage. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes were still puffy, but better. His prefect badge glistened on his chest, as did Harry's.
There were more prefects that ever this year. Ron had been re-made a prefect, and Hermione had been named Head Girl, though on the list they all recieved she was simply listed as a prefect, as were Ginny and Neville. Luna and Cho had been made prefects for Ravenclaw, and Ernie Macmillan, Hannah Abbott, Zacharias Smith and Susan Bones were all Hufflepuff prefects. There were more prefects than ever before, and McGonagall was abandoning the one-of-each-gender rule. There were also the slytherin prefects, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Astoria Greengrass and Millicent Bulstrode being them. Really, there were enough prefects to make up an entire new house. If there continued to be an abundance of them, Hermione would suggest that to whoever the Headmaster was at the time.
"Grab the portkey, all of you!" Mrs. Weasley ordered. "It'll be leaving very soon! Don't forget your things - you have your wands? Good! Trunks? Pets? Yes, Ginny, fine, Arnold can go with you - George! Get to work! Alright, all of you? Here we go!"
Their hands all touched the jar of radishes, and they were flung through space. And then they were standing in the Great Hall.
As good as it felt to be back at Hogwarts again, Hermione remembered back in the sixth and seventh year, when the floor in here had been littered with bodies and debris, and spells had been flying. They were survivors of war, and she couldn't forget that, standing in this room. The cieling was, as was customary, bewitched to look like the night sky, something she'd known even before first year and had shared willingly. Truly, it was betwitched to look like the sky, so at that moment, it was slightly dark, because the clouds hid the sun, thought there was no rain that disappeared three feet under the enchantment. The walls looked old in some places and brand new in others, and that was because she knew they'd repaired the damage done to the castle. She wondered if the window Snape had jumped out would still be broken. But as soon as she thought that, she knew it would have been fixed, along with everything else. Ginny, right next to her, gave a small sigh that sounded both remorseful and relieved. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand. Ron was silent.
McGonagall stood in front of them, right beside the Gryffindor table, which had a long red-and-gold tablecloth, above which were magically hung red-and-gold banners. Each house table was decorated much the same way, but with their house colors. but in the middle of the room as a new table with a white tablecloth with the word Prefects embroidered over and over again in black thread. So they had their own table, not just common room.
"Ah, hello there," said the woman, wearing robes of emerald green. She walked toward them briskly. "Yes, yes, I see all of you here, and the others should be here shortly -"
There was a small pop! And Neville, Luna, Cho and Zacharias Smith stood behind them.
"Hello, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny," said Neville brightly. Luna smiled dreamily at them as a form of greeting.
"Hello Harry," said Cho slowly. "Hello Ginny, Ron, Hermione."
Hermione noted that she separated Harry's name from the rest of theirs. From Ginny's expression, she did too.
"Hello folks," said Zacharias lightly. "Professor."
McGonagall nodded. "Alright, now we're waiting on -"
There was another pop! And Ernie Macmillan, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones appeared. There was another round of hellos, and Hermione was pleased to see that people from different houses were getting along so well.
There were several more pop!s, and Hermione was pleased to see that almost everyone who was in the D.A. had been made a prefect - Katie Bell, Terry Boot, Lavender Brown, Micheal Corner, Dennis Creevy, Justin Finch-Fletchy, Anthony Goldstein, Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, Padma and Parvati Patil, and Alicia Spinnet were all there. Hellos flew around the room like owls bringing news.
Right when things were starting to settle down, there was one more pop!
And the Slytherins showed up.
Draco Malfoy was the first one visible. His pale blond hair and icy gray eyes were impossible to miss. But he stepped behind Blaise Zabini, an action that surprised all of them. They were used to seeing him leading a small group. Of course, Crabbe was dead, but still. Blaise nodded politely to all of them, and Theodore, next to him, did the same. Millicent Bulstrode simply looked at them, offering no form of greeting. Astoria Greengrass, next to her, shook out her long ebony hair and smiled, seemingly the kindest of all of them. Hermione smiled back a the room grew silent.
Everyone around her was so tense, she decided to act.
She strode right over to Astoria and held out her hand, smiling as welcomingly a she could. "Hello, Astoria," she greeted pleasantly.
Astoria looked shocked, there was no other word for it, but she shook her hand in Hermione's. "Hello, Hermione," she said back, her voice quiet, her blue eyes confused but not, gladly, superior.
Hermione moved on to Millicent. "Millicent," she said, holding out her hand.
Millicent thought for a moment, and then shook her hand. "Granger."
Though some people might consider it rude, Hermione really didn't mind being called by her last name. she greeted Theodore in much the same fashion as Millicent, but Blaise Zabini beat her to it when she was to greet him. "Hermione," he said pleasantly, smiling.
She herself wa shocked, but she shook the hand he offered her. "Blaise." She smiled back.
And then it was Draco's turn. Blaise stepped out of her way, and Draco was left out in the open.
"Draco," said Hermione quietly, holding out her hand, preparing for him to refuse.
Draco's hand quivered as it met hers and shook. His grasp was warm, but not sticky, or sweeaty, though his hand did have quite a strong grasp. "Granger," he said, his voice choppy. He dropped his hand. His eyes had never once met hers, like the others' had.
And then she heard Harry's voice. "Astoria," he greeted. She turned. Down the line, Harry, then Ginny, then Ronald, and then pretty much everyone else was greeting the Slytherins. Hermione watched in fascination as the Slytherins slowly grew more comfortable with the people surrounding them; all except Draco, who stood tense, staring out of a window that showed a view of the forbidden forest.
Harry reached Draco. "Malfoy," he greeted, using the last name without thinking.
Draco didn't look at him, but shook his hand. "You almost died in there, Potter," he whispered, his eyes still locked on the forest. His tone wasn't malicious, as normal, he was simply stating a fact.
Harry nodded. "Yup."
"During... during the war, I wished you had died in there."
"Why?" Harry's voice was a little see-through; it was calm, but Hermione could tell he was beginning to get angry.
"Because everything would have been so much easier. My father wouldn't go to Azkaban, my mother wouldn't grieve, and people would look at me like I was something to fear instead of something to hate." He still spoke in a whisper.
Harry obviously wasn't angry anymore, and even Hermione was impressed by the honest answer. "I like how you thought of your parents first," he said simply. And then he stood by Hermione, and let the line move along.
When everyone had been greeted, Astoria was beaming, Millicent was smiling, Theodore was grinning, Blaise was laughing, and Draco was still looking at the forest. Some people even struck up conversations with the Slytherins, although everyone left Draco alone.
"Alright," said McGonagall, getting everyone's attention. "Everyone here knows where the Room of Requirement was?"
"Was?" said Harry incredulously. "What happened to it?"
"The spell was paused when we conjured up your new common room," McGonagall explained. "It is now your common room, and nothing else."
Harry grimaced, but nodded.
"Alright. Girls' dormitory is on the right, boys' on the left. You are to eat at this new fifth table here, with the white tablecloth that says 'Prefects'. You are dismissed. Be here at eight p.m. for the Sorting Ceremony, and be prepared to take everyone to the house common rooms."
They all started for the stairs, billowing out of the Hall, chatting with random people. Hermione walked beside a still silent Ron until she realized that Malfoy's badge hadn't said Prefect.
It had said Head Boy.
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Alright, so I don't do author's notes often, because I find them unprofessional. But whenever I deccide to give my two cents and think it reasonable, I will. For example; for 'Good Poetry, Great Poetry' I did one becuase I added a picture (something I also don't do often). Have a nice time with the story, and this is typical, but rate, vote, comment!