Like so many Head girls before her, Hermione Granger stood at the threshold of the Heads common room with a feeling akin to awe. The magnificent surroundings far surpassed her imagination and all this was meant for just two of Hogwarts most elite students, her and the head boy.
The one misfortune of being head girl would of course be her counterpart, the head boy. At some point along the road to brilliance, Dumbledore quite obviously had sacrificed some of his sanity and here lay the evidence. In between the luxurious scarlet and gold lay the cool green and silver. Hermione winced as the colours meshed before her eyes and grimaced even further as she spotted a shock of platinum blond on one of the settees.
Draco Malfoy eyed the head girl with care and gave a slow, acknowledging nod. Hermione gave him a tight smile in return, the best she could manage considering the circumstances and watched as he returned to his perusal of the book in his lap.
It seemed, that the ferret had matured somewhat. He had stopped calling her rude names, stopped pestering Harry and Ron and had even refrained from taking a stab at her blood line. All Hermione had to do was put up with the glare from his inhumanly blond hair.
With a thud, Hermione dropped her book bag at the foot of the long table by the window. Slowly, as if agonised by her actions she withdrew tomes and tomes of text books and lay them quietly on the table top. Slowly, she withdrew several quills and a bottle of ink before she unscrewed the bottle lid and purposely set the items neatly perpendicular to her parchments.
It wasn't long after she had seated herself that Hermione heard a quiet sigh and the gentle closure of a book. There was a rustle of cloth and quiet footsteps muffled by the carpet before she dared to raise her eyes from her writings. She watched as he turned and walked towards the exit, his steps elegant and carelessly arrogant. She admired the way his robes fit him, the way they seemed to hug his form and sway as he moved. Hermione watched in fascination as he raised a pale and slender hand to his hair and brushed it through his already dishevelled hair. It looked like a windswept mess and on him, it seemed utterly perfect.
Perhaps sharing a common room with Draco Malfoy was not such a bad thing after all.
Blaise observed his best friend with a sort of quiet attention which was customary to him every since his youth. Being labelled as the quiet Slytherin had its quirks. No one paid him any attention if he chose to ignore them...this gave him the opportunity to scrutinize his fellow peers without detection.
Now, as he watched Draco Malfoy strode silently towards him in the chilly Slytherin common room, he couldn't help but frown as his eyes traced the grim set of the blond's features, the purple circles beneath his grey orbs and the gaunt paleness of his skin.
He quickly gestured for the other boy to sit in the opposing armchair and shifted a little closer.
"You look like shit." Blaise had never been one to mince words.
Draco took no offence; he was used to how blunt his best friend could be, after all, they had been friends since before Crabbe and Goyle had latched onto Draco. Nonetheless, he answered as sardonically as he could.
"How observant of you."
Blaise didn't bat an eyelash at his tone. "You're getting worse. Stop dawdling."
Draco's frown became fierce and Blaise had to stop himself from shrinking away from the eerie glance his best friend now directed at him. The air surrounding them grew thick with tension. Draco's eyes seemed to glow eerily in the darkness of the dungeon before he took a deep breath and closed his eyes wearily.
"No. I won't force her." His voice was hoarse and there was little doubt to Blaise that Draco was deteriorating with every succeeding day.
The quiet Italian breathed deeply to control his own temper and clenched his fists against the leather armrests.
