Chapter One
Hermione Granger breathed in a deep sigh of satisfaction as she smoothed the last wrinkle out of her comforter. She gazed over her section of the room and smiled, finding everything in its place. Her books were neatly aligned on her bedside table, held firmly in place with a bookend charm and on the other side of her bed, below the window, sat her trunks, stacked on top of one another to give her the most amount of space possible. Hanging above her bed were several framed portraits of her with Ron, Harry, and Ginny, and there were a few of her with her parents as well. Turning her head slightly she could see the empty beds of her roommates who had yet to arrive. Taking another deep breath, Hermione reveled in the quietness. Gryffindor tower would probably never be this quiet again.
As if to prove her right, at that very moment, the door swung open as Lavender and Parvati came flying in with all of their belongings floating after them. They were chit chatting eagerly about their summer vacation and all the fun things they'd done and how good all the boys looked having grown up while they were apart, but they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Hermione standing there.
"Hermyyonee," Parvati cooed, "what have you been doing with yourself?" she asked. Hermione raised her eyebrows, confused at what the girl was asking her.
"You look fantastic!" Lavender continued. "Your hair looks great like that, and your skin is amazing! Is that a spell?"
"We're not allowed to practice magic over the break, remember?" Hermione reminded them gently. "My cousin is practicing to become a hairdresser, and I let her use me as a test dummy. It didn't turn out so great, but I figure it's only hair."
"What do you mean, 'didn't turn out so great'? It looks wonderful!" Parvati chided.
"Hermione is in denial that she's become a total knockout," Ginny informed them, coming into the room.
"Ginny!" Hermione gasped. She most certainly had not become a total knockout. Maybe she had "filled out" a little bit over the summer, as her mother called it, but her hair was still a dull brown color, and thanks to her cousin it wasn't frizzy any more, but it was stick straight. "I wanted a different color, not these little lines, and I thought maybe she would make it kind of wavy instead of this boring straight business," she explained. Lavendar and Parvati exchanged glances as Ginny rolled her eyes.
"They're called highlights, Hermione, not lines," Lavender sighed.
"And straight is very in right now," Parvati informed her, "especially with your jaw line. Wavy hair would just make your face look too narrow."
"Witches spend millions of galleons on potions trying to get hair that color, you should be grateful," Ginny added. Hermione sighed. She could see that she was going to lose this argument.
"Alright, alright," she conceded. "I think I'm going to go see what Harry and Ron are doing," she decided, suddenly really wanting to leave the room.
"Have you seen Harry?" Parvati squealed. Hermione's eyes widened and she made a beeline for the door. Harry could be a brother to her; discussing how attractive he was was one of the last things Hermione wanted to do. She was down the stairs in the common room before she could hear another word.
Hermione eagerly took a seat in her advanced muggle studies class. She ordinarily would have sat in the front row, but the desks in the room were arranged in a circle. Being the first person to class, she got to watch the other students file in. This year the class was being taught by a new teacher, someone Dumbledore had personally selected right out of the teaching school. Hermione was a little bit disappointed at the turnout of students. There were only a few familiar faces, and only about eleven other students. A petite woman with blonde hair shut the door and took a deep breath. Hermione could tell right away that this woman had to be the new teacher.
"Well, Good Morning," she began. Hermione and the other students murmured their response, and the teacher smiled widely at them. "My name is Professor Samantha Meurteuil; I've just graduated from teaching school. I was first in my class, and I have a degree in muggle studies. When I attended Hogwarts, which was, oh gosh, four or five years ago, I was-" Samantha was interrupted by the door opening.
"A Slytherin," Draco Malfoy announced, coming into the room. Right behind him was Pansy Parkinson, who glided elegantly across the room to an empty seat. Hermione watched her go, envious. Pansy hadn't been the most attractive girl at the beginning of school but once she'd done some growing up, almost every boy in Hogwarts was drooling over her and her long legs. "Isn't that right, Sammie?" Draco asked, dropping his books on the only available desk in the room, which happened to be right next to Hermione. The crash from this action made Hermione jump instinctively. A sly smirk crossed Draco's face as he noticed this and quickly stuck his face almost nose to nose with hers. "Boo," he said, before turning to face Professor Meurteuil, who was now a bit pink in the cheeks but standing up straight.
"Yes, that's right, Draco, I was in Slytherin. But that doesn't entitle you to arrive late to class. I'm sure Uncle Lucius would love to hear that his precious only son just cannot get himself out of bed on time for class," she intoned
"Go ahead, Sammie, tell on me. He'll just inform the Headmaster that you can't handle your teaching duties," Draco crossed his arms and sat on top of his desk.
"Be on time from now on, both of you. Ten points, each, off Slytherin for your tardiness. Draco, you are to address me as Madam Meurteuil, just as the other students do. Have a seat, or leave," Madam Meurteuil insisted, finally finding a firm voice. Draco took his time walking around his desk and sitting down. Madam turned to face the rest of the class and took a deep breath. "Alright, now as I was saying, I attended Hogwarts up until about 5 years ago, and then after graduation I went to the teaching school. I've always wanted to be a teacher here, so as you can imagine, I was very excited when Dumbledore selected me for this position. I hope we're going to have a great year here," Samantha paused to check the expressions of her students. Hermione glanced around the room and realized it must be incredibly difficult to teach a class like this one where most of the students didn't seem to care very much about the class. "Alright, well, since I am new, I'm just going to start out by giving you all a comprehensive exam so I can get an idea of what we need to cover before you take your NEWTS at the end of next year. So everyone needs to take out a quill, and you'll have an hour," she smiled at everyone, and then the exams appeared on their desks. Hermione took a deep breath. She'd already read most of the text, but she wasn't sure about taking an exam without any sort of formal preparation. "Take your time, and answer each question carefully. The results of this test will determine how you spend the rest of your school year," Madam Meurteuil reminded them.
Hermione looked down at the questions in front of her. There was a short multiple choice section, but most of the exam consisted of short essay questions. Taking another deep breath she read the directions carefully:
Choose a country you are familiar with and respond to each of the following questions with respect to that country. . Describe the system of education. What do they study? What do these fields have in common? How many different types of education are available? For example, magic students in England attend one school for seven years, then may take an apprenticeship or attend a specialized school for further learning in a particular field. How is that country run? Discuss funding, protection, rights and responsibilities, and citizenship. Explain the social structure. Be sure to address the culture. Write a chronology of the important historical events that have made a significant impact on shaping the country. Be sure to explain the importance of that event.
Hermione sighed and started working. She was well into her twelfth
page of parchment on the first essay when Madam Meurteuil announced that time was up. Hermione felt her heart stop. She hadn't answered any of the multiple choice questions, and was only halfway into the first essay. Scribbling furiously she tried to put together some sort of a sensible conclusion, but the paper vanished out from under her quill and she realized all too late that she had written all over the desk.
"What's your name?" Madam Meurteuil asked her, standing right in front of her desk. Hermione cleared her throat.
"Hermione Granger," she replied nervously.
"Miss Granger, you will be serving detention for defacing school property with me after your last class. Please be prompt," Samantha informed her, giving her a look that said she meant serious business. Hermione couldn't believe it. It was the first day of class and she was already being assigned a detention, and she'd already failed an exam something that had never ever happened to Hermione before, not even in Snape's class, which lucky for her was next with Slytherin. She bit her tongue to keep from crying and headed for the door.
Draco was right on her heels, Pansy at his side, clutching to his waist possessively.
"So, Granger, trouble on the first day, what's next? Failing? Oh wait, you're already on your way to that," he chided her. Staring straight ahead, Hermione tried to ignore him, but she felt her stomach churning. How did he know she'd failed that exam?
Draco didn't stop making fun of Hermione the entire way to the potions classroom. It wouldn't have been so bad if Pansy hadn't been there, punctuating each really foul remark with a delicate laugh. Never in her entire life had Hermione wanted the floor to just open up and swallow her as much as she did in those minutes. Fortunately, the comments stopped as soon as they reached the door to the potions classroom. Professor Snape's ominous visage was waiting for them in the doorframe.
"Granger, station seven," He instructed, and made a shallow gesture with his arm. She headed across the room for the station with the big number seven floating above it and took a deep breath happy to be at least finished with the torment.
Her reprise lasted only the few blissful moments it took her to cross the room. Only a second after she'd set her books down on the desk her new lab partner arrived.
"Did you really fail that exam?" a soft throaty voice asked her. Hermione groaned inwardly and bit her tongue as Pansy walked around her to set down her books. Pansy's perfectly shaped golden blonde eyebrows were arched expectantly.
"I dunno," Hermione choked. Pansy drew her lips together sympathetically.
"It was a lot for the first day," she offered. "But at least we know what her testing style is so next time you'll know how to prepare."
"I guess," Hermione was shocked that Pansy was being so nice to her. She couldn't help but be almost completely in awe of the girl. Pansy was about six inches taller than Hermione with blonde hair that fell just below her shoulder blades. Her skin looked like she'd just come back from the beach, and her legs went on for days. Somehow her school uniform managed to not only meet regulations, but hug her tightly in all the right places; the knee socks accentuated her shapely legs, the skirt fell just long enough to reveal them so you wanted to see more. The green and silver Slytherin tie ran along her chest to draw your eye straight to where her cleavage would be if it weren't covered by her button down shirt and sweater. It was enough to drive any warm-blooded male absolutely nuts and make every other girl absolutely sick with jealousy.
"Ooh, Pansy, wasn't Sammie amazing?" a voice cooed. Hermione and Pansy both turned to see a girl that Hermione recognized from their first class standing across from them at the station marked with a six.
"Hermione, have you met Blaise?" Pansy asked. "Zabini?" she added when the name didn't register. Hermione shook her head no shyly.
"The name is familiar," she admitted. This made the two girls laugh.
"Don't be so blasé, Granger, you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Blaise Zabini," Draco informed her, joining the group of girls.
"Hush, Draco," Blaise instructed patronizingly. She smiled widely at Hermione and extended her hand. Her teeth were brilliant white, and her skin a lovely porcelain color which accented her dark brown ringlet curls. "Nice to meet you, Hermione," she said. Hermione blushed and shook Blaise's hand. "You don't really think you failed that exam, do you?" she asked.
"I sure hope not," Draco rolled his eyes. "We couldn't blemish her perfect record."
"Knock it off," Blaise whacked him across the chest, but Hermione saw the laughs she and Pansy stifled. She shrugged shyly and prayed for class to start.
"I think it'll be a good class," Pansy interjected. Blaise nodded excitedly.
"Sammie is absolutely brilliant," Blaise informed everyone within listening range. "She always has been, we knew she'd do something to make the family proud. We were a little worried when she got engaged, but she proved us wrong."
"You're related?" Hermione couldn't keep herself from interrupting. Blaise and Pansy exchanged amused glances.
"She's my sister," Blaise explained. Hermione felt stupid even though she knew there was no way she would have known that. "Anyway, she announced to us that she got the job this summer at her wedding reception. It was such a surpr-"
"Surprise?" Draco questioned. "Don't you mean scandal?"
"No," Blaise said flatly.
"I distinctly remember the news shocking everyone present for the announcement. And then the lecture about embarrassing the family in front of the press and all the guests," Draco tried to refresh her memory. "Or were you too far gone by then, Cuz?" he asked Blaise mockingly. Hermione wanted to interrupt again, but held her tongue. Blaise and Draco were cousins? "Blaisey here loves her champagne," he informed Hermione, putting his hands on Blaise's shoulders and kissing her cheek.
"Draco, your behavior is disgusting," Pansy heaved a sigh. Draco shrugged and stepped away from his cousin.
"If Draco and his Harem don't mind, I'd like to begin class," Professor Snape intoned, coming to hover menacingly nearby. Hermione blushed at being grouped in such a manner and tried to look busy reading her notes.
The class seemed to drag on and on, much to Hermione's extreme disappointment. Pansy was friendly, but Blaise was just downright patronizing and Draco was much worse.
"I'm feeling generous," Snape announced as his way of getting everyone's attention. "I'm only going to assign two rolls of parchment for today's essay. It is after all the first day," he pasted what could have potentially passed for a smile on his face. Hermione tried to smile gratefully at him as she gathered her books and headed for the door. Ron and Harry descended on her almost immediately.
"You looked downright chummy with Pansy there, Hermione," Ron said accusingly. He and Harry both looked expectantly at Hermione. She sighed.
"She was nice enough, but in a condescending way. It was torture. Blaise and Draco made up for the torture I didn't get from Pansy," she informed them. They gave her sympathetic looks.
"At least she doesn't reek. Crabbe smells completely foul. I don't think he's ever bathed," Harry complained.
"Well at least you two might get some help with your work. Goyle is practically illiterate," Ron sighed. Hermione had stopped listening though. Her mind was on the exam from that morning. She didn't think she could wait two more days to find out how she had done.
"You two go on to lunch without me, I've got to go see how I did on my exam," she told them. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes instinctively. "It's not like that," she assured them, her tone getting panicky, "It was an essay exam and I didn't even finish the first essay."
"Wow, Madam Meurteuil is pretty hard then?" Ron asked. Hermione sighed.
"No one else seemed to have any trouble," she admitted. Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
"Do you want us to come along?" Harry offered. Hermione shook her head.
"I think I'll just go alone. Grab me a sandwich?" she asked. They nodded.
"Care of Magical Creatures next," Ron reminded her, "Hagrid won't mind if you eat your lunch in his class." Hermione smiled and headed down to Madam Meurteuil's office.
"I haven't even looked at them, Hermione," Madam Meurteuil admitted, setting down her cup of tea. She eyed Hermione very carefully and could tell that the student was very distressed. "Let's look at it right now, shall we?" She offered, gesturing to the chair next to her. Lifting the stack of papers, Madam Meurteuil pulled out Hermione's paper. She looked it over quickly. "Well, it looks like you ran out of time," Madam Meurteuil began. Hermione nodded and tried to stay calm. "I really can't give you much of a grade on this, Hermione, you've only got one essay partially written," Madam Meurteuil explained. Hermione felt tears welling up behind her eyes.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked. Madam Meurteuil shook her head.
"It's a talent to be able to write concisely," she explained. "You have to decide what's really, really important and stick to that. You've written six pages about preschool, and six pages about elementary school. All you really needed to say was that this is where the students gather their fundamental skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics. If you'd felt the need to go into more detail all I really would have wanted to see was a little bit of discussion about the development of social skills. Two paragraphs tops. Be a little bit more realistic next time, Hermione. No one likes to read an entire encyclopedia when they can just read one article," she concluded. Hermione was in shock. No one had ever seriously told her that she was doing too much work before. "Let me put it this way. If you had written about twelve pages for each essay that would be close to fifty pages. If all fourteen of my students had turned in fifty pages, I would have to read seven hundred pages. I have no desire to do that."
"I understand," Hermione said, crestfallen. "Well, thank you for your time," she offered, standing up. Samantha watched the girl leave her office, obviously upset by her grade on the exam, and then began to read the portion of the essay in front of her. When she'd finished reading it, she marked the top with a big red A and set it aside before picking up the next exam.
"Cousin Draco," she mused, reading his name off the top. Quill in hand she leaned back in her chair to read what he had written.
Hermione Granger breathed in a deep sigh of satisfaction as she smoothed the last wrinkle out of her comforter. She gazed over her section of the room and smiled, finding everything in its place. Her books were neatly aligned on her bedside table, held firmly in place with a bookend charm and on the other side of her bed, below the window, sat her trunks, stacked on top of one another to give her the most amount of space possible. Hanging above her bed were several framed portraits of her with Ron, Harry, and Ginny, and there were a few of her with her parents as well. Turning her head slightly she could see the empty beds of her roommates who had yet to arrive. Taking another deep breath, Hermione reveled in the quietness. Gryffindor tower would probably never be this quiet again.
As if to prove her right, at that very moment, the door swung open as Lavender and Parvati came flying in with all of their belongings floating after them. They were chit chatting eagerly about their summer vacation and all the fun things they'd done and how good all the boys looked having grown up while they were apart, but they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Hermione standing there.
"Hermyyonee," Parvati cooed, "what have you been doing with yourself?" she asked. Hermione raised her eyebrows, confused at what the girl was asking her.
"You look fantastic!" Lavender continued. "Your hair looks great like that, and your skin is amazing! Is that a spell?"
"We're not allowed to practice magic over the break, remember?" Hermione reminded them gently. "My cousin is practicing to become a hairdresser, and I let her use me as a test dummy. It didn't turn out so great, but I figure it's only hair."
"What do you mean, 'didn't turn out so great'? It looks wonderful!" Parvati chided.
"Hermione is in denial that she's become a total knockout," Ginny informed them, coming into the room.
"Ginny!" Hermione gasped. She most certainly had not become a total knockout. Maybe she had "filled out" a little bit over the summer, as her mother called it, but her hair was still a dull brown color, and thanks to her cousin it wasn't frizzy any more, but it was stick straight. "I wanted a different color, not these little lines, and I thought maybe she would make it kind of wavy instead of this boring straight business," she explained. Lavendar and Parvati exchanged glances as Ginny rolled her eyes.
"They're called highlights, Hermione, not lines," Lavender sighed.
"And straight is very in right now," Parvati informed her, "especially with your jaw line. Wavy hair would just make your face look too narrow."
"Witches spend millions of galleons on potions trying to get hair that color, you should be grateful," Ginny added. Hermione sighed. She could see that she was going to lose this argument.
"Alright, alright," she conceded. "I think I'm going to go see what Harry and Ron are doing," she decided, suddenly really wanting to leave the room.
"Have you seen Harry?" Parvati squealed. Hermione's eyes widened and she made a beeline for the door. Harry could be a brother to her; discussing how attractive he was was one of the last things Hermione wanted to do. She was down the stairs in the common room before she could hear another word.
Hermione eagerly took a seat in her advanced muggle studies class. She ordinarily would have sat in the front row, but the desks in the room were arranged in a circle. Being the first person to class, she got to watch the other students file in. This year the class was being taught by a new teacher, someone Dumbledore had personally selected right out of the teaching school. Hermione was a little bit disappointed at the turnout of students. There were only a few familiar faces, and only about eleven other students. A petite woman with blonde hair shut the door and took a deep breath. Hermione could tell right away that this woman had to be the new teacher.
"Well, Good Morning," she began. Hermione and the other students murmured their response, and the teacher smiled widely at them. "My name is Professor Samantha Meurteuil; I've just graduated from teaching school. I was first in my class, and I have a degree in muggle studies. When I attended Hogwarts, which was, oh gosh, four or five years ago, I was-" Samantha was interrupted by the door opening.
"A Slytherin," Draco Malfoy announced, coming into the room. Right behind him was Pansy Parkinson, who glided elegantly across the room to an empty seat. Hermione watched her go, envious. Pansy hadn't been the most attractive girl at the beginning of school but once she'd done some growing up, almost every boy in Hogwarts was drooling over her and her long legs. "Isn't that right, Sammie?" Draco asked, dropping his books on the only available desk in the room, which happened to be right next to Hermione. The crash from this action made Hermione jump instinctively. A sly smirk crossed Draco's face as he noticed this and quickly stuck his face almost nose to nose with hers. "Boo," he said, before turning to face Professor Meurteuil, who was now a bit pink in the cheeks but standing up straight.
"Yes, that's right, Draco, I was in Slytherin. But that doesn't entitle you to arrive late to class. I'm sure Uncle Lucius would love to hear that his precious only son just cannot get himself out of bed on time for class," she intoned
"Go ahead, Sammie, tell on me. He'll just inform the Headmaster that you can't handle your teaching duties," Draco crossed his arms and sat on top of his desk.
"Be on time from now on, both of you. Ten points, each, off Slytherin for your tardiness. Draco, you are to address me as Madam Meurteuil, just as the other students do. Have a seat, or leave," Madam Meurteuil insisted, finally finding a firm voice. Draco took his time walking around his desk and sitting down. Madam turned to face the rest of the class and took a deep breath. "Alright, now as I was saying, I attended Hogwarts up until about 5 years ago, and then after graduation I went to the teaching school. I've always wanted to be a teacher here, so as you can imagine, I was very excited when Dumbledore selected me for this position. I hope we're going to have a great year here," Samantha paused to check the expressions of her students. Hermione glanced around the room and realized it must be incredibly difficult to teach a class like this one where most of the students didn't seem to care very much about the class. "Alright, well, since I am new, I'm just going to start out by giving you all a comprehensive exam so I can get an idea of what we need to cover before you take your NEWTS at the end of next year. So everyone needs to take out a quill, and you'll have an hour," she smiled at everyone, and then the exams appeared on their desks. Hermione took a deep breath. She'd already read most of the text, but she wasn't sure about taking an exam without any sort of formal preparation. "Take your time, and answer each question carefully. The results of this test will determine how you spend the rest of your school year," Madam Meurteuil reminded them.
Hermione looked down at the questions in front of her. There was a short multiple choice section, but most of the exam consisted of short essay questions. Taking another deep breath she read the directions carefully:
Choose a country you are familiar with and respond to each of the following questions with respect to that country. . Describe the system of education. What do they study? What do these fields have in common? How many different types of education are available? For example, magic students in England attend one school for seven years, then may take an apprenticeship or attend a specialized school for further learning in a particular field. How is that country run? Discuss funding, protection, rights and responsibilities, and citizenship. Explain the social structure. Be sure to address the culture. Write a chronology of the important historical events that have made a significant impact on shaping the country. Be sure to explain the importance of that event.
Hermione sighed and started working. She was well into her twelfth
page of parchment on the first essay when Madam Meurteuil announced that time was up. Hermione felt her heart stop. She hadn't answered any of the multiple choice questions, and was only halfway into the first essay. Scribbling furiously she tried to put together some sort of a sensible conclusion, but the paper vanished out from under her quill and she realized all too late that she had written all over the desk.
"What's your name?" Madam Meurteuil asked her, standing right in front of her desk. Hermione cleared her throat.
"Hermione Granger," she replied nervously.
"Miss Granger, you will be serving detention for defacing school property with me after your last class. Please be prompt," Samantha informed her, giving her a look that said she meant serious business. Hermione couldn't believe it. It was the first day of class and she was already being assigned a detention, and she'd already failed an exam something that had never ever happened to Hermione before, not even in Snape's class, which lucky for her was next with Slytherin. She bit her tongue to keep from crying and headed for the door.
Draco was right on her heels, Pansy at his side, clutching to his waist possessively.
"So, Granger, trouble on the first day, what's next? Failing? Oh wait, you're already on your way to that," he chided her. Staring straight ahead, Hermione tried to ignore him, but she felt her stomach churning. How did he know she'd failed that exam?
Draco didn't stop making fun of Hermione the entire way to the potions classroom. It wouldn't have been so bad if Pansy hadn't been there, punctuating each really foul remark with a delicate laugh. Never in her entire life had Hermione wanted the floor to just open up and swallow her as much as she did in those minutes. Fortunately, the comments stopped as soon as they reached the door to the potions classroom. Professor Snape's ominous visage was waiting for them in the doorframe.
"Granger, station seven," He instructed, and made a shallow gesture with his arm. She headed across the room for the station with the big number seven floating above it and took a deep breath happy to be at least finished with the torment.
Her reprise lasted only the few blissful moments it took her to cross the room. Only a second after she'd set her books down on the desk her new lab partner arrived.
"Did you really fail that exam?" a soft throaty voice asked her. Hermione groaned inwardly and bit her tongue as Pansy walked around her to set down her books. Pansy's perfectly shaped golden blonde eyebrows were arched expectantly.
"I dunno," Hermione choked. Pansy drew her lips together sympathetically.
"It was a lot for the first day," she offered. "But at least we know what her testing style is so next time you'll know how to prepare."
"I guess," Hermione was shocked that Pansy was being so nice to her. She couldn't help but be almost completely in awe of the girl. Pansy was about six inches taller than Hermione with blonde hair that fell just below her shoulder blades. Her skin looked like she'd just come back from the beach, and her legs went on for days. Somehow her school uniform managed to not only meet regulations, but hug her tightly in all the right places; the knee socks accentuated her shapely legs, the skirt fell just long enough to reveal them so you wanted to see more. The green and silver Slytherin tie ran along her chest to draw your eye straight to where her cleavage would be if it weren't covered by her button down shirt and sweater. It was enough to drive any warm-blooded male absolutely nuts and make every other girl absolutely sick with jealousy.
"Ooh, Pansy, wasn't Sammie amazing?" a voice cooed. Hermione and Pansy both turned to see a girl that Hermione recognized from their first class standing across from them at the station marked with a six.
"Hermione, have you met Blaise?" Pansy asked. "Zabini?" she added when the name didn't register. Hermione shook her head no shyly.
"The name is familiar," she admitted. This made the two girls laugh.
"Don't be so blasé, Granger, you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard of Blaise Zabini," Draco informed her, joining the group of girls.
"Hush, Draco," Blaise instructed patronizingly. She smiled widely at Hermione and extended her hand. Her teeth were brilliant white, and her skin a lovely porcelain color which accented her dark brown ringlet curls. "Nice to meet you, Hermione," she said. Hermione blushed and shook Blaise's hand. "You don't really think you failed that exam, do you?" she asked.
"I sure hope not," Draco rolled his eyes. "We couldn't blemish her perfect record."
"Knock it off," Blaise whacked him across the chest, but Hermione saw the laughs she and Pansy stifled. She shrugged shyly and prayed for class to start.
"I think it'll be a good class," Pansy interjected. Blaise nodded excitedly.
"Sammie is absolutely brilliant," Blaise informed everyone within listening range. "She always has been, we knew she'd do something to make the family proud. We were a little worried when she got engaged, but she proved us wrong."
"You're related?" Hermione couldn't keep herself from interrupting. Blaise and Pansy exchanged amused glances.
"She's my sister," Blaise explained. Hermione felt stupid even though she knew there was no way she would have known that. "Anyway, she announced to us that she got the job this summer at her wedding reception. It was such a surpr-"
"Surprise?" Draco questioned. "Don't you mean scandal?"
"No," Blaise said flatly.
"I distinctly remember the news shocking everyone present for the announcement. And then the lecture about embarrassing the family in front of the press and all the guests," Draco tried to refresh her memory. "Or were you too far gone by then, Cuz?" he asked Blaise mockingly. Hermione wanted to interrupt again, but held her tongue. Blaise and Draco were cousins? "Blaisey here loves her champagne," he informed Hermione, putting his hands on Blaise's shoulders and kissing her cheek.
"Draco, your behavior is disgusting," Pansy heaved a sigh. Draco shrugged and stepped away from his cousin.
"If Draco and his Harem don't mind, I'd like to begin class," Professor Snape intoned, coming to hover menacingly nearby. Hermione blushed at being grouped in such a manner and tried to look busy reading her notes.
The class seemed to drag on and on, much to Hermione's extreme disappointment. Pansy was friendly, but Blaise was just downright patronizing and Draco was much worse.
"I'm feeling generous," Snape announced as his way of getting everyone's attention. "I'm only going to assign two rolls of parchment for today's essay. It is after all the first day," he pasted what could have potentially passed for a smile on his face. Hermione tried to smile gratefully at him as she gathered her books and headed for the door. Ron and Harry descended on her almost immediately.
"You looked downright chummy with Pansy there, Hermione," Ron said accusingly. He and Harry both looked expectantly at Hermione. She sighed.
"She was nice enough, but in a condescending way. It was torture. Blaise and Draco made up for the torture I didn't get from Pansy," she informed them. They gave her sympathetic looks.
"At least she doesn't reek. Crabbe smells completely foul. I don't think he's ever bathed," Harry complained.
"Well at least you two might get some help with your work. Goyle is practically illiterate," Ron sighed. Hermione had stopped listening though. Her mind was on the exam from that morning. She didn't think she could wait two more days to find out how she had done.
"You two go on to lunch without me, I've got to go see how I did on my exam," she told them. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes instinctively. "It's not like that," she assured them, her tone getting panicky, "It was an essay exam and I didn't even finish the first essay."
"Wow, Madam Meurteuil is pretty hard then?" Ron asked. Hermione sighed.
"No one else seemed to have any trouble," she admitted. Harry and Ron exchanged glances.
"Do you want us to come along?" Harry offered. Hermione shook her head.
"I think I'll just go alone. Grab me a sandwich?" she asked. They nodded.
"Care of Magical Creatures next," Ron reminded her, "Hagrid won't mind if you eat your lunch in his class." Hermione smiled and headed down to Madam Meurteuil's office.
"I haven't even looked at them, Hermione," Madam Meurteuil admitted, setting down her cup of tea. She eyed Hermione very carefully and could tell that the student was very distressed. "Let's look at it right now, shall we?" She offered, gesturing to the chair next to her. Lifting the stack of papers, Madam Meurteuil pulled out Hermione's paper. She looked it over quickly. "Well, it looks like you ran out of time," Madam Meurteuil began. Hermione nodded and tried to stay calm. "I really can't give you much of a grade on this, Hermione, you've only got one essay partially written," Madam Meurteuil explained. Hermione felt tears welling up behind her eyes.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked. Madam Meurteuil shook her head.
"It's a talent to be able to write concisely," she explained. "You have to decide what's really, really important and stick to that. You've written six pages about preschool, and six pages about elementary school. All you really needed to say was that this is where the students gather their fundamental skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics. If you'd felt the need to go into more detail all I really would have wanted to see was a little bit of discussion about the development of social skills. Two paragraphs tops. Be a little bit more realistic next time, Hermione. No one likes to read an entire encyclopedia when they can just read one article," she concluded. Hermione was in shock. No one had ever seriously told her that she was doing too much work before. "Let me put it this way. If you had written about twelve pages for each essay that would be close to fifty pages. If all fourteen of my students had turned in fifty pages, I would have to read seven hundred pages. I have no desire to do that."
"I understand," Hermione said, crestfallen. "Well, thank you for your time," she offered, standing up. Samantha watched the girl leave her office, obviously upset by her grade on the exam, and then began to read the portion of the essay in front of her. When she'd finished reading it, she marked the top with a big red A and set it aside before picking up the next exam.
"Cousin Draco," she mused, reading his name off the top. Quill in hand she leaned back in her chair to read what he had written.