The Prime Princess

Hermione sat at the lunch-table with a heavy book at least 1700 page long. She had made a trip to Library and frightened Madam Pince half to death as she asked about Ancients. So they did have a terrifying reputation. But which Ancients Saga meant? There was something like 12 different kinds of Ancients.

“Yeah, scream ‘Protect Middleverse from Ancients’ like that really sums it all up,” muttered Hermione and flipped through yellowish pages. She glanced up at the Staff Table and shrugged her shoulders to Snape. She had no clue from where to start.

“Light reading?” mocked Blaise sitting next to her. He lifted up the front cover and peeked at the title. “Is that for History class or have I missed something in the mean while?”

“Yes, you have,” sighed Hermione and slammed the book shut. “This is just pointless! Right, what you did in Care of Beasts?” asked Hermione ridiculing that class.

“Watched Nott getting bitten by a cu sith,” laughed Blaise and stole a carrot from her salad plate.

“A big black Scottish hound foretelling death? Guess Trelawney have been lazy on telling Nott of meeting The Grim. Again,” leered Hermione.

Over the Great Hall a pink paper airplane swooshed and came to stop above Draco’s head. It flapped idly its wings and waited for him to notice it. Along the edge of its wings was written in scratchy handwriting: To Draco Malfoy. URGENT!

At the far side of the Slytherin table, Draco looked up at the memo and pointed a wand at it. Second later it burst into dust. He sent a daring look at Head Girl and sneered. Granger got mad and stomped all across the Hall and made herself heard.

Hermione spied the whole thing and made a face like she had no idea what was going on. Blaise was still at her side and kept eating up her carrots like a little cute rabbit. Soon Draco stood up and marched straight down the aisle between Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables to a two seventh year Prefects.

“Prefects Meeting tomorrow night at 8:30 PM. We are gonna decide which House does the Halloween Masquerade,” growled Draco and gazed at Blaise who did his best to smirk back.

“Oh, will you just look at that. All mighty Malfoy came personally to us to tell about the meeting. Well, we are honored that you chose not to send us a PINK MEMO!” laughed Hermione evilly. She was enjoying her poisonous mind now that she knew sort of how it had developed.

“Ariston, I will…” started Draco whose face had turned slightly red.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So impatient to draw a wand on me, are ya,” mocked Hermione, reached up and grabbed at the front of his robes to yank him sitting next to her. “You behave yourself or I’ll make it so that you’ll never be able to play Quidditch again.”

Draco was seated at the bench with his back to the table but his thigh touched hers. Hermione leaned back a bit and was able to stare square at his face. He was gobsmacked.

“How is your hand doing?” asked Hermione with softer voice and patted his plaster cast hand. Draco managed to say ‘better’ but then pain lanced through him.

“You wench!” spat Draco and ripped his arm free.

“Sorry, just wanted to confirm that you are not able to play with Ravenclaw,” leered Hermione. Draco breathed hard and gritted his teeth but didn’t leave. He turned a bit around, put his left leg over the bench and straddled it. Looking right at Hermione, he took out a morning paper and laid it before her.

“Care to explain this?”

“I can not explain why you read the financial page,” snorted Hermione and wanted to start a conversation with snickering Blaise.

“I mean this photo,” growled Draco. Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked at the moving picture of her and Lucius at the café. She looked splendid as always when wearing dress-gowns. Picture was taken when they were still sitting at the table and eating chocolates. The bracelet with dozen brilliants and numerous diamonds graced her wrist and glistened in the light. Hermione sighed, relieved that on the picture she was not sitting in Lucius’ lap.

“Your father celebrated a successful buyout as you can read from the article below,” told Hermione and handed the newspaper back to him.

“Why are you on this picture?” he just couldn’t leave it alone.

“Lucius asked me to have a dinner with him and I agreed. What’s it to ya?” inquired Hermione and prodded him with a slender finger.

“I just wanted to know if I have to call you my stepmother from now on,” snapped Draco and left the table. Blaise burst into laughter and got hit by her.

“This is not funny, Blaise! I have a problem with my social-life and the problem is: I have too much of it!”
***
For the rest of the day and day after it no crazy Walkers buggered Hermione in any way. Probably it was just a stupid prank some ravenclaws played on her after eavesdropping at Ollivander’s. Using some Poly-juice and some mucked up ingredients was quite possible. Yeah, it was definitely that blasted Quidditch team of theirs that wanted to distract her from winning the game.

Hermione patrolled on the third floor and plotted on getting back to Ravenclaw at the Prefects Meeting where she could mop the floor with Michael Goldstein. That brick was the Captain of their team and one goddamn mean Beater.

She took out her chat-board and wrote a message to Blaise who was patrolling somewhere near Ravenclaw tower with Hannah Abbott.

‘So bored. Weasel isn’t much talkative.’

‘Too bad, while I have really good view at Abbott’s rear.’

Ron Weasley glanced shyly at Hermione as he walked besides her and fumbled nervously with a wand in his pocket. He was tall with broad shoulders and cute when he messed all things up and desperately needed help. But in this reality merely his presence irritated Hermione although a memory of distant friendship hovered somewhere in the back of her head.

The whole third floor was empty and only few ghosts were floating around, among them Peeves. Hermione let her quill go over mind-control and wrote about that she thought amusing.

“Weasel and his girlfriend,” shrilled Peeves singing, “Sitting under a tree!”

“Get lost!” shouted Ron, turning all red.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” bounced Peeves around his head and threw a vase at Ron.

“Impedimenta!” barked Hermione pointing her left wand to a beautiful Ming vase and raised her right one to Peeves. “Don’t push your luck or I’ll let Bloody Baron rip you apart,” she warned with a growl. Peeves held his hands up and swam through a wall but he wasn’t done with them.

“Um, thanks,” muttered Ron and ran a hand through his outgrown red hair.

“I wasn’t saving you, I pitied the china,” snorted Hermione and grabbed the vase from midair. Ron turned even more feverishly red and stomped away. Hermione rolled her eyes and settled the Ming back to its place. Moment later she heard his cracking scream. Huffing with frustration she went after him as her chat-board with scribbling quill hovered after her. Stalking around the corner, she spotted the redhead and something emerging from the tangible darkness. A silver candelabrum rose into sight and struck her without hesitation.

Chat-board fell to the ground with quill writing last thoughts.

‘Pain. Black void.’
***
In the West Wing of Hogwarts castle Blaise Zabini stared at his chat-board. He had been reading for the last minutes Hermione’s contemplation when something had troubled him. Blaise was walking behind Hannah to Prefects Meeting held in one empty classroom at second floor and started feeling fear for Hermione.

When the last shaky words emerged, he almost fell down to his knees. It was not her style to write something morbid unless really something bad was up. Blaise gathered his wits and took off running to the stairs leading a deck higher. Hannah yelled at him for speeding.

Reaching to next floor, Blaise dashed to East, hoping to find Hermione as quickly as possible. He didn’t even notice a blond slytherin step around the corner using a Marauders Map for orientating. Raven-haired wizard sent them both colliding into hard stone floor.

“Get off!” growled Draco and punched square at Blaise’s chest. Winded Blaise rolled himself off of him and scrambled up.

“What the bloody hell were you running here?” demanded Draco and stood up gracefully. He dusted his robes and glared daggers at Blaise.

“I… thought Mione… was in trouble,” gasped Blaise while massaging his sore ribcage. Draco eyed him with suspect and pursed his lips thoughtfully. Taking a look at the Map, he really did saw a dot on it named as HERA.

“The meeting starts at 15 minutes. You better get there or the Mudblood will hang you for being late,” told Draco in low warning tone, chasing Blaise away.

“But…” started Blaise.

“Do you want me to hex you?” snarled Draco, reaching for his wand.

“Fine,” hissed Blaise, turned around and left.
***
Draco walked through third floor corridors and ever so often glanced at the Map. The spot marking Hermione hadn’t moved at all. Although another one named Ronald Weasley was lurking near by. That irritated him a lot.

Taking a shortcut, Draco walked out of a cover-up broom-closet and faced the archway where Hermione was supposed to be. He looked one more time at the Map and made sure she was about 50 feet from him. Gripping the wand more firmly, he started moving in that direction leading him to Hermione. He heard someone’s plea for help.

“Lumos!” Draco pointed his wand at the source of the voice and saw Ron hovering over an immobile figure laying on the ground. His shaking hands were covered with blood.

“Alexo!” shouted Draco in pure rage and Ron was thrown into opposite wall with a cracking sound of his bones breaking. He rushed to her side and gasped in a dim torchlight as he saw dark blood dripping over her forehead and spreading into a puddle on the floor.

His heart sank into his sleeve as he put a hesitant hand onto her shoulder and rolled her over. Casting a purifying spell, he removed the crimson blood and spotted a flesh wound under her hairline. It was an easy thing to cure because Draco had gotten the hang of some healing spells while playing Quidditch.

“Ariston, hey, you hear me?” he asked in quiet voice and shook her slightly. She groaned groggily and turned her face away from the light. Draco sat down and gathered the semi-conscience Hermione into his lap. From distance he heard Ron grumble in agony and with an irritated flick of his wand, Ron was in complete Body-Bind.

Headache wanted to split her into half but something familiar kept her from falling into comfortable darkness. She felt a warm body pressed next to hers, a male body, strong and firm. A swirling mist danced before her eyes as she tried to open them.

“Draco?” she gasped in a dazed tone and lifted a hand to touch her forehead that felt like a serious concussion.

“Ya alright?” whispered Draco and slithered a hand behind her head to give some support. She saw despair and worry in his eyes but also distrust, hatred and hurt. All of the sudden the raging fire in her had subdued for a moment and she no longer felt the urge to slam him into next century. Tears pooled in her coffee brown eyes as she remembered all the nasty things she had done to him.

“I’m so sorry,” Hermione spoke softly and reached up to caress his sharp cheekbone. Her hand felt so cold next to his burning skin but he never flinched from her touch. Draco held her gaze and read all the confusing emotions running over her pale face. She was so different, almost just like she once had used to be.

“I never meant to…” she started to cry when Draco pulled her head to rest on his chest and wrapped his arms around her whimpering figure. A million thoughts came into his mind as he stared over her shoulder at the candleholder on the ground. It was heavy and made of pure silver…

“Hush,” murmured Draco and stroked her long messy hair. He inhaled her spicy scent and closed his eyes with a sigh. Hermione was back in his arms and everything seemed right again. Then something changed. She turned rigid and distant.

“Had enough already or do you also want to get a blow-job for bonus?” taunted Hermione and ripped herself free from his embrace.

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A/N: As always a new Prime chapter will be updated on next Thursday. So far I have booked the whole March and I hope I wont get a writers block 'cause this is LOOOONG! Nice thing to do when outside is -27 degrees by Celsius! Jeez, it's like living on Alaska! LUV YA ALL!!!