Abused

Arrival

The train ride was long and uncomfortable. Hannah Abbott tried to make conversation with everyone but everyone was only willing to say a few words. Finally, they arrived at Hogwarts.

          "It's so amazing to be coming back here after I had thought I would never see this place again!" Hermione exclaimed as they walked off of the train. 

          "Of course you think that," Draco muttered. Hermione heard him but chose to ignore it. Ron, however, didn't seem to be so forgiving. 

          "What was that, Malfoy." Draco opened his mouth to retaliate but Hermione beat him to it. 

          "Hey!" she said forcefully, drawing all the eighth years' attention. "We are all living together this year. I'm not going to put up with all this constant fighting. It was barely bearable all of the other years and that's when we all lived in different parts of the school. So no petty fighting. You all hear me?" Everyone nodded. Even Draco gave a little jerk of his head to signal that he understood. "Good. And nobody forget it." Hermione walked off towards the carriages. Ron and Harry shared a look and then followed her. 

          "I wonder what got into her soup?" joked Theodore. Blaise and Pansy snickered. Draco however remained silent. 

Hermione got into a carriage and Ron and Harry followed her. 

          "What was that all about, 'Mione?" Ron asked as he stepped into the carriage. Hermione sighed.

          "Just what I said. In past years, you and Malfoy's petty fighting has always exasperated me. You would fight about everything!" Hermione rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It got quite annoying and since we are now all going to be living in the same common room, we might as well try to get along." Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows. 

          "Get along with that git? Yeah right," Ron muttered. Hermione arched a brow.

          "Fine. You don't have to get along. Just try not to fight about everything." Harry and Ron were still for a moment. Finally, they nodded. "Thank you," Hermione sighed. 

After everyone had been sorted into their houses and the feast was over, all of the eighth years went over to Headmistress Mcgonagall to be shown to their common room. The students had been led down a series of stairs and corridors when they finally reached their common room. Mcgonagall turned to face the students.

          "Alright, everyone. I hope that I can guarantee that there will be no problems." All of the students halfheartedly nodded. Mcgonagall looked suspicious but she continued. "Good. Your password is 'Fortior concordia.' Understood?" All of the students nodded again. 

          "Strength through unity. How perfect." Hermione thought to herself. Mcgonagall led the students into the large room. All of the students gasped. The common room by itself was enough to fit all of Hogwarts' students. On each wall was a poster. Each one depicting a different house. The was a large bookcase in the corner of the room. Next to it was a fireplace with an ever burning fire. There were many couches and chair surrounding the fire, too. Hermione looked up at the high ceiling. The walls and ceiling were white with paintings scattered around them. On the wall opposite of the bookcase were tables and desks. 

          "Blimey," Ron whispered, almost to himself. All of the students, except Draco, were slowly spinning to take in all of the room. Draco rolled his eyes at how stupid they all looked. Mcgonagall quietly chuckled, snapping the students out of their trances.