Signum Vitalis (a dramione story)

In which Hermione takes her seat

She wasn't sure which obvious fact she should state first. "We're in the middle of a conversation and there are still quite a few empty seats that aren't by me!"

"Yes, but I needed a seat flanked by two people."

"Er... what?"

"Dear Granger, don't you understand the art of avoiding someone?"

"Normally they are trying to avoid me as well, not interrupting my conversations," Hermione replied, mystified.

Draco brushed a hand over his mouth and looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Not you, Granger, I'm trying to avoid another daft girl."

"Well, good luck," Hermione angrily started gathering her things to move to the other side of Nintendo boy but Malfoy reached out and blocked her path with an arm. She started down at it, debating whether she should just push past it or verbally thrash him until he moved it himself.

"Please, Granger, she is giving me headache and I can't hear a word the Professors are saying. Surely as a bookworm you can pity me that much?"

Hermione bristled, "What, your usual lack of tact isn't scaring her off or..." Hermione thought of several things she could say about why he wasn't being rude to this girl but decided she didn't want him to know she had thought of any of them.

"Fine I'll try to reign in my 'lack of tack' just let me stay here, just for today. I haven't found any groupies to protect me yet."

"Poor Malfoy," She responded sarcastically, remembering some of his groupies with a sick twist in her gut. She had just decided to shove past Malfoy when Nintendo boy spoke up.

"Come on, lets take pity on him, Granger."

Hermione turned on him, trying to keep her expression from reading 'are you daft?'

"The guy is practically on his knees, she must be pretty scary," the Nintendo boy, John, said with an appeasing smile.

"She's-" Hermione stopped as she realized she had almost revealed she had watched Shandra chat Draco up and therefore knew who Draco was referring to. She tried to think of something else to say without making her look like a insensitive prat.

She gestured towards Malfoy and said in a wheedling tone, "but he and I aren't... on civil terms. If you know what I mean?" She tried to add a cute smile at the end, like she had seen Ginny use on Harry, but had a feeling she failed when Malfoy snorted. She shot a glare at him, running through her nonverbal spell arsenal to see if she had any she could use inconspicuously.

"It sounds like you guys have quite the history," John said instead.

Hermione wanted to strangle the boy. Was he being oblivious on purpose? "A history I don't want to be reminded of." She hoped he got the hint.

"There you are Draco!" came a girlish voice behind her that gave her flashbacks to Hogwarts. She turned reluctantly to meet the pretty face of Shandra.

"Draco, is that seat taken?" Shandra was again completely ignoring Hermione, who's bookbag still rested on said seat. Suddenly, Hermione felt irrationally possessive of the seat she had been trying to escape.

"Actually, er... Shandra, that's Granger's seat."

"Oh, you mean Hermione?" Shandra spared a disinterested glance. Hermione clenched her teeth.

"Please call me Granger," she said, staring Shandra down coolly.

"Good Morning class, I'm Professor Greythorn," a woman's voice echoed through the hall this time. Hermione's good student mode kicked in and she automatically sat down in the closest chair, turning her head attentively. When Sandra shoved past, Hermione remembered that she was still sitting next to Draco. She looked around for the nearest open seat and saw some towards the middle of the row. However, getting to them would require stepping over the feet of at least six or seven people while the professor was speaking. She sighed, settling back into her seat, and hoped that the class would be uneventful.

"I will be in charge of all of your clinical classes this semester," the Professor continued. "Here you will learn the charms that form a foundation for all of your other diagnostic spells. That means I expect none of you to slack off in my classes." Hermione idly wondered if they had been preceded by such an incompetent class that all the professors felt a need to drill diligence and honesty in their heads right off the bat.

This professor's orientation speech wasn't as bad as the previous one, but she still spent quite a bit of time breaking down magical concepts for her less educated classmates. The scratching of a quill on parchment distracted her. As far as she could tell, her American classmates didn't use quills or parchment on a regular basis: they all were very fond of their bic pens and lined paper. That meant the most likely culprit was sitting right next to her. Some dimwit asked the teacher about the relatively simple 'Reperio Alica' spell the Professor had already explained. The scribbling continued.

Hadn't they covered this extensively in fourth year charms class? Maybe she had been fooled about his intelligence in school. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Hermione pretended to be interested in something in the front corner but instead peeked sideways at Malfoy. He was pouring over a book and scribbling notes from it on a piece of parchment. As far as she could tell by the size and cover color, it was the textbook for this class, Basic Healing Charms and When to Use Them.

He was studying during class! What if the Professor actually said something important? She quelled her perturbation and started taking notes again, purposefully blocking out the sound of Malfoy's pen.

"The spells we've started talking about, Reperio Alica and Detectis Inaequalitas, as well as some basic spells to monitor vital signs will be the charms we will start on at the beginning of this semester. These will be studied and practiced within your lab groups. I would suggest practicing, at least initially, during school hours or within easy access of a wizarding hospital."

This caused a small stir among the students. Over the murmuring of her classmates Hermione strained to hear the next few sentences of the Professor.

"I have used your sitting arrangement to organize you into your lab groups," the Professor continued over the noise and waved her wand over the large board in front of the class. On it there were names arranged into clumps. Hermione's stomach clenched. "These groups will consist of five students that I have listed on the board, here. Feel free to come and look at them once class finishes. You will not need to meet officially until after next class period but I encourage to you to get to know your new lab group during the lunch break. Are there any questions?"

Hermione whispered "Oculi Accipitrem," and scanned the board with her stronger vision to find her name. Under a group labeled 'Alpha-Lambda' she found it, along with a name she didn't recognize, John Thomson, Shandra King, and Draco Malfoy.

She turned on him and whispered angrily, "this is all your fault!"

Malfoy looked up from his parchment and quirked his eyebrow. With the spell still in effect, she could see all the individual hair roots of that eyebrow. Disturbed, she cast a nonverbal 'Finite.'

"What are you on about Granger?"

"Because you decided to sit next to me, not only am I stuck with you in my group but Shandra as well!"

Malfoy grimaced at the board of names, "yes, it was part of my mastermind plan to get all of us stuck in a group together."

Ignoring his sarcasm, Hermione gathered her things and said sharply, "well, congratulations."

She heard him sigh, "Granger..."

"I cannot work with you for a whole semester. I'm sure the Professor will understand." She picked Professor Greythorn out of the crowd of students leaving for lunch break and started prepping her arguments as she shuffled past John and Shandra.

"Shit, Granger, wait!" Malfoy called behind her.