By All Means, Enlighten Me

6 - A Bad First Day

Hermione woke in her gorgeous king sized bed and snuggled into the silky scarlet sheets, thanking Merlin again for this opportunity as Head Girl.

As she woke properly, she wondered what the time was and whether it was safe to shower with that royal pain in the arse in the next room.

She got out of bed quickly and grabbed her towel, bathrobe and wand. She opened her door silently and crept down the hallway to the bathroom.

Please don't be in here. Hermione thought to herself. She opened the door and was relieved to see that the room was empty. She closed the door and put up every security measure she could think of before turning the shower on to bathe.

As she waited for the shower to warm, she went to the toilet and upon washing her hands, noticed in the mirror her swollen, split lip. Grabbing her wand, she used a concealment charm to hide the wound. She was sure that Malfoy would be on the lookout for the person from the dungeon hallway and she didn't want to give him any reason to suspect her in any way.

She relished in the hot water as she washed her hair, letting the steam open up her pores and cleanse them thoroughly.

She finished her shower promptly and shut the water off, grabbing her towel and drying off.

Quickly brushing her teeth at  the sink, she wrapped her bathrobe around her and put her freshly washed hair in her towel. She grabbed her wand and opened the door heading towards her room.

"Argh!" Hermione yelled as she collided with something pale and hard on the other side of the door. "Malfoy! What the hell are you doing outside the bathroom door?!" She yelled.

"Why can't I get past?" He said in a croaky irritated voice. He was clearly not a morning person.

Hermione planned to bite back insulting his intelligence when she realized that it was probably because in her paranoia of him storming into the bathroom while she showered, she had put up an Anti-Slytherin charm and hadn't yet taken it down.

She quickly muttered the counter-charm and passed it off casually. "Maybe because I was in there and you have to wait your turn?" She shot at him.

Draco walked past her and slammed the bathroom door behind him. Hermione scowled at the closed door and carried on to her bedroom to dress for class.

***

Breakfast in the Great Hall was just as raucous as it always was. Children and young adults babbled noisily and Hermione took a seat with Ginny and Luna who had taken her usual placement at the Gryffindor table.

"Morning." Hermione yawned as she sat down.

"Moooorning." Ginny replied with a sly smirk plastered to her face.

Hermione gave her a funny look. "What's that tone for?" She queried.

"So," Ginny started. "How was your first night in the Head Tower with Malfoy?" She asked in an annoying sing-song voice.

"Ugh. As if!" Hermione retorted. "He's putrid!"

"Oh come off it Mines, he's not that bad." Ginny gave her friend a soft look.

"Maybe not physically but his personality is foul." Hermione responded.

"That is true." Ginny agreed.

"You will never guess what I stumbled upon though. Horrible horrible sight. Honestly." Hermione said to the girls.

Ginny's ears immediately perked up. "Tell me. Oh my God, it's been ages since I've had some decent gossip. Spill!"