When Hermione Fights

Slytherin

Slytherin

He led me deeper and deeper into the catacombs, which he seemed to know inside out. I looked at his tall, straight back, and his radiant blond hair, which seemed like a beacon in this darkness. I wondered what he wanted and where he wanted to go. This all went through my mind. I also knew that it was almost midnight and I actually had a date with the Twins at one o'clock. But as I followed him, my thoughts flew back to Snape. He had never been so close to me - Hermione, his student - since he always behaved very properly! I really must have aggravated him beyond reason and I refer to the whole evening, since I didn't think that only the mention of Draco had produced such a reaction.

Oh Goddess, I remembered as well that I had to thank Draco for the tip on the train. Oh man, everything just happened at once - one could only get a headache in this situation, but luckily my skull was very thick and stubborn. Finally, he stopped in front of a random stone wall, turned his head to me, smirking, and whispered so that I could hear it still, "Snake pit," and he ordered me to enter. If I hadn't been training for ages to suppress my emotions, it would've been a time for me to look astonished.

The Slytherin Prince itself brought me into the sanctuary of the snakes, to the common room of Slytherin. I was speechless, but I followed him. I would've liked to ask him if this was such a brilliant idea, but since he was the boss here, I thought he knew what he was doing. After all, I got to see the common room which I had only heard about from Harry and Ron in our second year, as they had gained access at that time with the help of the polyjuice potion and had had to leave me behind, to my great annoyance. My impression was that Harry and Ron had been blinded by their prejudices towards the snakes, as they had told me about the ugliness and coldness of the room.

Now I must say that the high room with the stone pillars, perforated by several glass panes through which one could gaze into the shimmering green lake, and the large circular spheres hanging from the high ceiling, the large fireplace with the voluminous, inviting resting area and the many armchairs - everything in matching colors of green and silver - had a certain chic, which met my taste very well.

Thus I was more than positively surprised to find such a beautiful environment. This was also much more spacious than the Gryffindor area, which was perhaps more homely in itself, but this room here had something majestic and impressive. Draco immediately walked to the seating island in front of the fireplace. The room was empty, as I had ascertained with a searching glance.

"Take a seat!" he pointed to the couch. So I sat down once again on the assigned place on the couch while he chose the armchair opposite me.

"What is going on between you and my godfather?" he came straight to the point.

"Your what? Godfather... ?" That caught me unawares. Snape was Malfoy's godfather, that just made total sense now, yet I briefly shook my head to sort out the idea in my head. Was that the reason for Snape's violent reaction? Did he want to protect his godson? Or something else? Yes, but what? Jealousy? I wondered. Nonsense! Fear I might spoil his beloved godson? Wasn't Draco already spoiled to some extent?

"Did the cat catch your tongue, Granger?" Draco teased in good spirits and leaned back casually.

"Mh-hm... that you two are so close wasn't clear to me," I agreed honestly.

"You didn't answer my question," he reminded me. "But wait. Twinks!" he shouted, authoritatively into the room and immediately there was a pop and a knee-high house elf appeared, which stared devotedly at Draco with flapping ears. "Master Draco. What wishes Master Draco?" the little thing squeaked submissively.

"Bring us two hot chocolates, with a shot of whiskey!" he demanded, waving his hand. Whereupon the elf served the desired beverages just seconds later, setting the hot, steaming, giant, dark brown cups in front of us. The sweet, sweet scent of the chocolate drifted towards me and made my mouth water.