To the End of the Earth and Back [[Hr/D romance]]

Chapter Four

Tis true that you see me as a hat;
Much better than if I was a cat.
Just place me atop of your head,
I'll tell you where you should be instead.
If you work hard and enjoy fair play
Than Hufflepuff is where you will stay.
But if you are intelligent, full of knowledge, and wit,
With the Ravenclaws you ought to sit
Would you care to show your bravery?
Be with the Gryffindors who enjoy their chivalry.
Or are you cunning, resourceful, with plenty of ambition?
Than you shall belong to the great house of Slytherin.
Let me look inside of your mind,
I'm sure there is plenty for me to find.
I will place you in the right house,
If you're lucky, your new friends won't turn you into a mouse.

The Sorting Hat fell silent as the hall erupted with cheers. Hermione tried to supress a giggle as she watched some of the incoming first years stare at the magical hat in awe. There were a few students who looked like this was the most amazing thing that they were ever going to see. They were the muggle-borns of the group. At this point in time, she was able to pick them out from a mile away. She was just like them only a few years ago. She was sure that there was going to be at least one in the group letting the other kids know that the ceiling had an enchantment on it to resemble the night sky and that they had learned that in Hogwarts: A History. She smiled as they started to stare around at everyone who was sitting in the hall.

Professor McGonagall smiled at the first years as she moved to stand next to the Sorting Hat that was placed on it's three legged stool. "Welcome to Hogwarts, everyone. I am Professor McGonagall. Now, when I call your name, you will come up to the front, sit on the stool, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head. When the hat calls out your name, please make your way over to your new house table. Believe me, you will be able to tell which table you should go to as they will probably be cheering the loudest." Professor McGonagall smiled briefly before she unrolled the long roll of parchment that she had in her hands with the list of the new students' names.

The first three first -years were all placed in Hufflepuff. The table erupted louder than anyone has heard it before. But then most of the students were placed in either Slytherin or Gryffindor. It seemed like there were more students being sorted into those two houses than usual. Hermione almost thought that it was a little strange that the sorting would be more uneven than typical.

Draco, being on the complete opposite side of the hall, thought along the same lines as Hermione. Something was off. He needed to know what that something was. If he was going to go along with the plans that had been laid out for me months ago when the summer first started, he needed to know about every possible change that could take place. What if these changes messed up his chances of fulfilling his duties? Everything needed to go without a hitch. But as he looked up at the Head Table and saw Dumbledore sitting poised in his usual spot with his half-moon spectacles, he could feel his insides turn ice cold. How could he allow himself  to do something so horrible?

Ultimately, it's because of his father that he has to do this in the first place. It always came down to his father being the reason why he needs to do anything these days. Anything that deals with the Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy will definitely have had his hand in that cookie jar. The worst part was that Draco was unsure if he wanted to do this at all or not. He wanted to make his father proud and he wanted to live, of course, but there had to be a way that he could continue to live without going through with this horrible idea. The war was going to begin this year. It was going to fully begin and he was going to play one major roll in it's full on beginning.

Draco clapped his hands with the rest of his house mates as the very last first year was sorted into Slytherin. Jonah McGoy: a boy that he had already been told to take under his wing by, who else, his father. Jonah McGoy was Marcus McGoy's only son and Marcus had been good friends with Lucius since they were in Hogwarts themselves. He also was a well-known Death Eater to most people. If you brougth McGoy up in any kind of conversation, witches and wizards everywhere would listen to what was being said. He was a strong man. If you wanted to live, you would not cross this man. He was far from afraid to use an unforgivable curse. Jonah McGoy seemed to gravitate over to Draco with a smirk on his face. This boy was going to be a heartbreaker to the first year girls, and probably even a few second and possibly third year girls as well. 

"Hey Malfoy," he said, holding his hand out.

"McGoy," Draco replied, shaking the boy's hand. He had completely forgotten that this was going to be be the boy's first year. Now, on top of the mission that had been given to him at the beginning of the summer, he was going to end up mentoring young Jonah.

"Welcome, welcome!" the booming voice of Albus Dumbledore boomed through the Great Hall as he called everyone to order. "Another year is upon us! Enjoy this wonderful feast and welcome to a wonderful school year at Hogwarts." Everyone clapped and cheered at Dumbledore's welcome. It was short and to the point. They all knew that the instuctions on what they weren't allowed to do this year would come at the end when they were all full and expecting sleep.

The feast was one of the best. Some people, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, had forgotten what it was like to have more than enough food to stuff into their mouths and fill their stomachs. Others, like Draco and Pansy, were used to these types of meals. It didn't matter, though, which side of the food spectrum that the student sat on. They enjoyed catching up with their friends after not seeing most of them for three months and meeting the new students that were in their house.

"Delhara told me all about you," a very excited first year was saying to Hermione. "I'm her sister, Jelltra." She continued to prattle on about how her older sister, who was starting her third year, spoke about Hermione with so much respect. Hermione quickly realized that he had a 'Colin Creevy'. She was perfectly fine with taking the girl under her wing but knew that there would be some problems with her helping the girl since she knew that she was going to have to help Harry and Ron with whatever craziness it was that they were all bound to get caught up in. Something happened every year and this was going to be the year when something horrible happened. She knew it.

The girl finally stopped speaking to Hermione and started gossiping about something that they read in a magazine. She turned her attention to Harry and Ron who were both speaking highly of Fred and George's joke shop. Pretty much every student had already stepped foot inside of the shop but no one knew how well it was doing especially when the entire magic world was on it's knees in fear as the Dark Lord began to rise again. It was even more so than usual.

Slowly, Hermione picked at the contents on her plate, finding it difficult to swallow anything. She had been finding it difficult to really eat anything. She looked around the Great Hall, her eyes searching for something. She wasn't sure what, exactly, that she was searching for. Her eyes rested on Draco Malfoy across the room. She saw him laughing but she could tell that it was fake. There was something different about it, there was something different about him. She tried to push it out of her mind but then he looked up at her, his eyes not leaving hers for a couple of seconds. They were pained. It broke her heart to see them that way. It broke her heart whenever she saw someone in so much pain that iit was almost impossible to hide.

"Alright everyone! Now that your stomachs are all full, it is time for a few announcments to be made!" Dumbledore was on his feet and starting his typical, beginning of the year speech. "Nothing from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is allowed in the halls. If our caretaker, Argus Filch, finds them, he will confiscate them and you may or may not be receiving a detention. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is off limits. Also, there is going to be a strict curfew this year since Lord Voldemort has come back. Now, I ask that the Prefects all go and meet in the Entrance Hall. The rest of you will be released in just a few minutes. Now, I will leave you with the four words: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey."

Hermione let out a sigh as she and Ron stood to their feet and began to make it out to the Entrance Hall to receive their orders. Quickly, her eyes locked with Draco's as he, too, stood to go and receive his orders.

"We'll see you soon, mate," Ron said, saying goodbye to Harry.

"Watch it Weasley," Draco snapped as he moved in front of Hermione and Ron. He locked eyes with Hermione for a moment, not saying anything to her. He hoped that she could see that he wasn't going to do anything to upset her anymore. He at least didn't want to. If he was going to say something nasty to Harry and Ron, he just wasn't going to address Hermione. He needed to figure out what his feelings were for her.