!Mine!

Part 2

This couldn't be happening. She knew there was going to be Slytherins in the meeting, in fact she wasn't surprised to see Daphne and Blaise. While she wasn't exactly pleased, they were probably two of the most tolerable Slytherins not to mention their grades were decent. Neither of their families had had very active roles during the fight, while they didn't side with the Order of the Pheonix she understood why. At the very least they didn't fight for Voldemort. 

But him? He was a whole different story. Out of everyone they could've chosen as head boy--for merlin's sake they could have chosen a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff! It didn't have to be from Gryffindor like her. Hell, she would've been content with any other Slytherin. But him? 

His aunt had been Voldemort's right-hand woman and had tortured Hermione to the point of wanting to die. The cruel wench had carved the most foul, loathsome word she could imagine onto her skin. He had been the reason Hogwarts was invaded. While he didn't succeed, he tried to kill Dumbledore. Out of everyone that could've been chosen for head boy, why him? He hated muggleborn's, especially her and she was supposed to work with him? 

A light squeeze on the shoulder from Ginny snapped her out of her stupor. Inhaling sharply, she tore her gaze away from Draco Malfoy and walked to the far end of the compartment--as far as she could possibly get from him. She steeled her face and lifted her head high; she was not going to let him get to her. She'd do all the work if she had to. 

They all waited in awkward silence until the last prefects came straggling in. They weren't oblivious to the tense atmosphere and quickly found seats--also as far as they could get from the Slytherins. Even kind Luna hesitantly squeezed in between Neville and Ginny, not wanting the short straw of sitting next to them. 

"This is ridiculous." Hermione groaned, not bothering to lower her voice. She stood from her seat--which was immediately taken over as the others shuffled farther down. She glared at them for a split second--but she couldn't blame them. She'd tried to get far away too. 

"Alright, let's get started then." She crossed her arms and swept her gaze over everyone there. " It looks like everyone's dressed in their robes so all that's left is assignments. I've developed a schedule so everyone can take turns patrolling the train. For today you will be paired with your house counterpart so you can get accustomed to working with one another." She paused as a few people let out quiet sighs of relief. 

"When we arrive at Hogwarts, I want you all stationed at different points to guide the students onto their boats and later into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. After that you know the drill, each prefect will lead their house back to their common room." 

"What about night patrols?" The Hufflepuff boy, whose name she didn't know, piped up. 

" I've been informed we only need to do a sweep of the castle to ensure no students are out of their dorms. The rest of the night will be handled by Filch...Peeves and the Bloody Baron." She winced as mouths dropped and a few started coughing. 

"Peeves? They're trusting that mangy ghost?" This time Blaise spoke, after speaking he seemed to regret his outburst as all eyes turned to him. 

"Unfortunately." Hermione sighed. "But at least we get to turn in a little earlier." She offered him a small smile. 

Blaise looked taken aback by the gesture but smiled back awkwardly, "Yeah maybe they'll sneak out less with those ghosts on the hunt." 

The small interaction between them seemed to settle the thick atmosphere a bit. Since Hermione wasn't hostile towards Blaise, neither he towards her, the others felt slightly more at ease. That was what she'd been aiming for. She knew the Slytherins would have a tough time this year, she wanted to make their time at Hogwarts decent. She felt bad for them a tiny bit.

"What about the heads?" Dean asked, daring a glance at Draco whose eyes were still trained solely on Hermione. 

Her eyes met his and she suppressed the urge to gulp. She hated how much of an affect he had on her, for some reason she always felt nervous around him. Not in a scared kind of way, she wasn't afraid of him. She'd proved that much when she broke his nose in third year. 

"We'll be taking instructions from headmistress McGonagall. Once we've done our jobs one of the teachers will lead us to our new common room." Her voice slightly quivered at the end. 

"I'm sorry, what?" Daphne chimed in, her head snapping to the side. She'd been pretty quiet the entire time, not seeming to pay attention to the meeting. She shot an accusatory glare at Draco which was mirrored by Blaise. 

"Were you not informed?" Hermione asked, looking between the two Slytherin prefects. Her brows were furrowed in confusion, they should've known--at least Draco would've told them, right?

"What do you mean by new common room Granger?" Blaise asked, crossing his arms.

"This year Prefects and Heads will share one Common Room. Don't worry, everyone gets their own room." She held up her hands placatingly. "It was a decision made due to castle expansions and because we have a lot more students than previous years with eighth years coming back." 

"Did everyone else know?" Daphne asked, looking around the room as the other prefects nodded. "Unbelievable! Draco you arse!" 

"Granger if I may, next time something comes up please inform us. Draco's not very reliable." Blaise glared at his best friend. 

"I just assumed your letters would have that information." Draco shrugged, speaking for the first time since Hermione had entered the compartment. Something about his voice seemed different to her. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him since Malfoy Manor--but his voice seemed deeper and smoother. It wasn't how she remembered. 

"I apologize for the lack of communication; I should've tried harder to find out who the other prefects were." Hermione said to the two Slytherins softly. 

"It's not your fault Draco decided not to do his job." Daphne huffed but gave Hermione a grateful smile. The blonde hadn't expected Gryffindors princess to be so polite to them after everything. Maybe sharing a common room wouldn't be so bad. 

"Alright, if no one has any other questions then we're good to go. Luna, Dean, you're up for first shift. Keep an eye out for two hours then find Ginny and Neville to switch for second shift. Third Shift will be Blaise and Daphne and Fourth will be Hannah and--" Hermione paused looking at the boy guiltily.

"Ernest Macmillan, you can call me Ernie though." He nodded. 

"Right, sorry." 

"Four shifts, that's eight hours. Who's taking care of the last hour?" Ginny asked, counting with her fingers. 

Hermione was unable to suppress a sigh. "That would be Malfoy and I..." If she had only known who head boy was, she would've arranged things differently. Though she supposed she couldn't avoid him forever.