Title: In the Mind of the Walking Encyclopedia
Chapter Three
Rated: PG
Author: tainted black (penny@twistedcandy.org)
Disclaimer: Not mine.
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Ah, the sorting ceremony. The event that sets up your future at Hogswarts. Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. The one moment of fame for the Sorting Hat each year. The one--oh, who honesty cares? I certainly don't. After all, I've been through this since first year, and I have never missed a single one. And after a while, the kids all start to look the same to me.

I stare blankly at Harry and Ron, who are muttering about how hungry they are. They just ate all that food from the trolley, and they're "starving" already. I can't believe it--where does all the food go? Do they have endless pits for stomachs? Hey...this would make a good paper for....well, something.

"Zabott, Elaine."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Ziggy, Anthony."

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Zoobert, Mark."

"HUFFLEPUFF."

There sure seems to be a long list of Z's this year. I swear, it's been about thirty minutes.

"Zophun, Estella."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Zumerler, Celeste."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Zunic, Rayven."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Where are all the Gryffindors, I wonder. I look at the table and remember that we recieved the first ten people. Everyone had looked a bit surprised at the sudden onslaught of new Gryffindors.

"Zuvinch, Derek."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

That sounds like the end. I perk up instantly. Is it the end? Please say it's the end. I look over at Dumbledore, praying that no more names were on that list. I'm hungry. I'm starving. I haven't had anything to eat all day, except for one lousy pastry. Feed me! Oh, dear, I'm starting to pick up some habits from Harry and Ron.

Dumbledore stood up. "Well, we seem to have a lot of new students this year. Just a few announcements. The Forbidden Forest is still forbidden. We have a new teacher this year, Professor Silene, for the Defense Against Dark Arts, and... I don't believe there is anything else to say." He glanced at the other teachers and they all shook their heads. "So, dive in." He sat back down.

Instantly food appeared. Oh, my beloved food. How would I do without thee? I eagerly grab at some roasted chicken and pumpkin juice.... This looks good. Hmm, so does the mashed potatoes. I dump some on my plate as well. Oh, and corn won't hurt me a bit. I grab a bit of that as well. I need something green now. Can't have all meat without any greens. I dump some salad near my mashed potatoes. What about dessert? Ahh. Cream pie.

"Are you going to eat -all- of that?" Ron asks, staring at me. "That's a lot. Here, let me have some..."

He's threatening my food! I wack him with my spoon. "No!"

"Ow!" He sticks his injured index finger into his mouth. "That hurts, Mione. When did you get so bloody abusive?"

I grin. "You big baby..."

Harry smiles brightly. "I can't say I blame her for defending the food. I would do the same."

"Oh, yea?" Ron asks. With his other hand, he reaches out for Harry's food.

THRAWP!

"OWWWW!" Ron screeches, and sticks three of his fingers into his mouth. Now he has the grand total of four. I giggle at the sight. He looks so funny! Everyone else is simply staring at him. The first years around him scoot to their other side.

"I told you so," is all Harry says.

"You're both trying to kill me!" I don't know how on earth he can still talk clearly with all those fingers in his mouth. 

I smile wider and look around at the other tables. Silver eyes meet mine suddenly. I blink and then hiss. Malfoy. I stare at him, not wanting to loose this staring contest.

He smirks in response and mouths, "You will not win."

I cock an eyebrow up and mouth back, "You're on."

And we stare. And stare. And you guessed it--stare. That git, does he actually think he can beat me? He can't beat me in anything. Well...maybe Quidditch, but if I try hard enough, I can be some sort of competition for him. It's not like I can't fly a bloody broom.

"Hermione?" Harry asks. "Are you okay? You seem to be staring off into space."

I just nod my head and without looking away from Malfoy, I say, "I'm fine. I'm just... thinking."

Malfoy's still smirking. Come to think of it, he doesn't do much except smirk. One of these days, I'm going to perminately wipe that stupid smirk off his face. I glare.

"OY, HERMIONE, WATCH O--" Ron suddenly yells.

SPLAT.

...

I blink. Malfoy's laughing his head off. I feel something...wet...against my cheek. My hand reaches up and... it's red. Oh, Merlin, am I bleeding!? It's red!

"I'm bleeding! AHHH! I'm bleeding! OH MY MERLIN. I'M BLOODY BLEEDING!" I shout, jumping up from the bench. "I'M BLOODY BLEE--"

Ron and Harry share a look and burst out laughing. The other Gryffindors laugh as well. And the other tables are turning around to see why am I yelling, and they begin to laugh. What's so funny?

"Mione, it's just pie," Ron explains. He gets up and wipes off a piece with a napkin and lifts it to my nose. I sniff.

"PIE?!"

He nods solemnly. "Yes, pie. Someone threw a pie...and it missed me and it hit you."

"PIE?!"

He nods again. "Pie."

"PIEEEEEEE!??!?!"

"Pie."

"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" I turn towards the teachers, who are either looking away (like in McGonagall's case), smirking (blasted Snape), or simply looking...well, I don't know how to describe how Dumbledore is looking right now. "I demand you do something."

Dumbledore smiles reassuringly at me. "Of course we will, Ms. Granger. Minus ten points off Gryffindor."

Wait, no. I didn't mean like that! "Uhh...wait. Since it's the start of the term... Can I take it back?" I certainly don't want to get points off so soon.

"Well, since you put it that way. No points deducted," Dumbledore says, his eyes twinkling.

"Thank you." I turn to Ron and Harry. "Now, I have to wash this off. I'll be back in about ten minutes, okay?" They nod in unison.

I then walk out of the Great Hall and find myself heading towards Moaning Myrtle's bathrooms. She might need a visit, since I haven't visited her for a while. For a while, all I hear are my own footsteps echoing in the dimly lit hallway. It's quiet. I never realized just how Hogwarts was without any students rushing to get to class or Filch and Mrs. Norris hovering over a random corner.

I start to hum to myself. Suddenly, I hear something else. Someone else's footsteps. Adrenaline starts to become present in my system. Maybe it's Harry or Ron checking up on me, I tell myself. It still doesn't make my heart pump any slower. I stop and I hear the footsteps stop. Then I feel somebody behind me, each breath hitting my neck. Without a sound, I slowly turn around.

And I almost fall.

"MALFOY?!"

"The one and only," he snickers. "You should've seen your face, Granger, when you turned around. Your eyes were so wide!" He makes a goggly face at me. "Like this!"

"You stupid git! Why are you following me?" I get over my shock quickly and glower at him.

"Well, who can resist the opportunity of scaring you?" he responds, smirking.

"Merlin, do you ever stop smirking?" I ask him.

"Wha..what?" He looks surprised. Good. At least he isn't--oh, great. He's smirking again. "Why, now that I think about it, no. I smirk in my sleep, too."

"Go away, Malfoy. Can't you see I'm trying to go wash my face?"

"Washing your face won't help you at all," he comments. "You need to do a lot more than -that- to make yourself look decent."

"Go away." Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him...

He circles around me. "No, you need much more than a wash. I doubt even thirty consecutive baths in a roll won't help you. Maybe you need one of those -mud-baths." He laughs at his own joke.

"That was pathetic," I say.

He shrugs. "I tried. You just can't appreciate my sense of humor."

"There's no humor to be appreciated," I retort.

He shrugs again. "Whatever you say, Granger. By the way, you lost." 

With that, he walks away, leaving me a bit flustered about what just happened. Did he actually follow me just to tell me I "lost"? We haven't been on very good terms, but with every passing year, he seems to be a bit nicer to me. But then again, he, Ron, and Harry still have their little quarrels every now and then. Or maybe he's plotting something... I shrug and enter the bathroom.

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3.o9.o3 / Yay! A little more Draco/Hermione interaction. Why DID Draco follow her? What will happen next? Will they make wild passion love? (I doubt it, as it is rated PG, lol) Will they marry each other? Will Harry and Ron get into a fight with Draco? I don't know! xDDD I'm not being serious at all in this fic. Lol. My seriousness (is that a word?) has been installed into the other fic. (Have you guys noticed that they're updated on the same day?)

Thanks to Alexis Mclean for reviewing! Reviews will be very, very, very nice. ^^v Ciao.