The Mud-Blood Princess | Severus x Hermione

"Hermione, it's obvious isn't it?" Said a wide eyed Harry, turning round to face Ron and me. "What's obvious?" Asked Ron as his eyes darted between the both of us, unsure of what we were talking about to begin with. I scoffed, rolling my eyes and continued to stare out the train window. "Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater," I sighed, shaking my head in disbelief. He couldn't be; his father was but that didn't mean Draco was too. "It only makes sense!" Ron thought for a moment, remembering what we saw from the rooftop beside Borgin & Burks. "Hermione saw it for herself, it was a ceremony, an initiation! Why else would he be there, browsing for furniture?" Harry joked and I chuckled, resting my head against the window. "It's a creepy shop, he's a creepy bloke," Ron mumbled with a smile, causing both him and myself to crack a brief laugh before Harry stood up.

"Where are you going?" I asked, preparing to rise from my seat too, but he shook his head, grabbing something from his overhead luggage. "I need some air," he said shortly and disappeared out of the compartment door. I shook my head and let out a deep sigh. "He's going to get himself killed one of these days, isn't he." Ron shuffled up the seat so he was now opposite me, now also leaning against the window and replied, "yeah I reckon he will."

For context, the night before school started we had watched Draco and Mrs Malfoy doing some strange things in Borgin & Burks - I didn't want to believe Harry but it does make sense... But Draco? A Death Eater? I never would've thought he'd have to guts for that kind of lifestyle. The whole idea made me feel uneasy and constantly on edge. Siding with the Dark Lord was like signing your own death sentence in my eyes.
Soon enough, we had arrived at the platform but Harry was nowhere to be seen since he left to get air; I really hoped he hadn't done something stupid. We headed to the carriages and started off on our journey to the castle, accompanied by Neville and Ginny. "Where's Harry to? I thought he'd be with you two," Neville asked as he flipped through a book on South American Herbology. Ron and I looked at each other with a shrug. Hopefully he's already there, I thought to myself nervously, hoping he wasn't hurt. The remaining journey stayed void of conversation as Ginny and I panicked in silence, Neville read his book and Ron snacked on sweets and dozed off. Classic Ronald.

Once we'd arrived at the castle, the atmosphere was tense and uncomfortable. The Slytherin students appeared more confident and arrogant than ever and I noticed the platinum-haired Draco Malfoy - the apparent "Death Eater" - wasn't on the table with his slimy friends. He can't be a Death Eater, it doesn't make any sense... Staring at my bowl of food, my stomach felt tight as my heart rate quickened rapidly. I watched as Ronald scoffed his face, without a care in the world, and it was bugging the Merlin out of me! "Will, you, stop, eating?! Your best friend is missing!" I smacked him with a rolled up newspaper, earning a chuckle from his sister who sat opposite him. "Oi, turn round, ya lunatic!" He nodded in the direction of the Great Hall entrance and I saw Harry staggering towards us with a rag up to his face, soaked in blood. Ginny let out a gasp, "he's covered in blood again, why is it he's always covered in blood?" Harry plonked himself down and shook his head before we could ask what had happened, "Later."

Professor Dumbledore stood before his golden plinth and announced a few staff changes; Professor Snape was now the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher - which is what he's always dreamed of - and our new Potions teacher would now be Horace Slughorn - a chubby man with an awkward smile that insinuated he wanted nothing more but to be anywhere else. "Off to bed. Pip, pip," Dumbledore finished his speech and as everyone cleared out, I couldn't help but feel a huge wave of anxiety. Everything was going to change now that You-Know-Who was back, and the Ministry saw it with their own eyes. They will stop at nothing to make excuses for the events that happened last year. "Well that was cheerful," Ronald joked, rolling his eyes.
We steadily made our way to the Gryffindor common room, Harry receiving multiple snarky comments and dirty looks that infuriated me. "Welcome back, fellow Gryffindors!" A grey ghost smiled as he drifted past us, his head flopping about on his neck. "Good evening, Sir Nicholas," a fourth year replied. The dead man had always scared the living day lights out of me, ever since he showed us the meaning behind his nickname in our first year.