He found that Miss Lovegood was too formal, even for him. While Draco had been raised with proper manners and had been taught to reciprocate it as such to those who showed him the same gesture, it didn’t feel right to address the girl as such. Perhaps if she was closer to his age or older, he may feel more compelled to give her a more formal greeting. For now he had to settle for the very informal use of her first name as if they were friends. There was the unspoken option of calling her ‘Lovegood’ but he decided against it. While he was thinking about the delicates addressing one another, he failed to realize she had also inquired as to what to call him. “Draco is fine.” He quickly brushed off her question, wishing to just carry on. He didn’t want to be in the situation but he would rather they get moving and do whatever it was needed to be done, the more awkwardness, the more things would be prolonged.

Then he was prompted to follow her, which he did. As they walked, he caught up to her stride rather easily so it didn’t look as though he was suddenly taking orders from someone else, especially from a girl no less. He glanced to her and couldn’t stiffen the small groan he made when he heard that Miss Know-it-all Granger had volunteered to help. That was no surprise but it still added salt to the wounds. If he stood back and considered his relationship with Granger, Potter and the daft other one, Draco knew things could have been mended but what was done was done. He had called Granger some horrible things and why? He couldn’t really say but he knew that working with the girl would be very difficult and he wondered if Snape was doing this to test him, rather than torture him.

Luna was quiet for a few moments and the blond male watched her, almost daring her to mention the bad blood between the two Houses. She may be younger than him, but she was surely no fool. Luna ended up proving to be less foolish than he thought as she carried on and explained what his first assignment would be. It sounded boring at first but as he listened, he became more interested. He stopped when she did so she could continue scribbling something down though he found it a bit troublesome for her to be writing and walking and talking all at the same time. He would have snapped at her unless they didn’t have to wait for the damned staircases to move back to their proper places. In the moment of silence, he began to consider once again, why he was placed where he was.

Could his placement be some sort of test, rather than punishment?

While she and Harry sat together and hashed out the details of everything, Harry tried to remember what he had read in regards to the schools. “Yes!” She smiled, rather impressed that Harry was taking some interest in the event which was about to begin. He checked his answer to be sure and she spent some time looking over notes and possible ideas she had to help Luna with the paper. Harry spent some time reading and she was happy to leave him be, as she knew the feeling of being absorbed in one’s reading material. It was a comforting place to be and it felt rather addicting in her mind. As they considered the past they shared together, Harry brought up the query of Luna Lovegood. While Hermione hadn’t been properly introduced to the younger student, she had heard things from other friends.

Growing up as a muggle, Hermione did feel out of place and she knew how hard it was to fit in. She never felt truly accepted until she stepped into the warm foyer of Hogwarts with all the other First Years. She wanted to help Luna if she could but she also wanted to help shed light on the history and positives of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She was sure some competition would breew between the three schools but she wanted to help ensure that no one lost sight of the end result and that was coming together as a magical community to celebrate their progress and togetherness. Did she wish there was another way to do so that didn’t endanger people? Of course but she couldn’t really help it from her position. Perhaps in time, she might get a chance to write an editorial opinion piece about other options to strengthen ties other than through the use of risky endeavors but for now she knew they hard to start off small.

“Pardon?” Hermione looked to Harry, not sure what he meant. She looked to where Luna and Draco had entered. “Oh...I...I don’t know.” She frowned. “Professor McGonagall never mentioned him.” She frowned, getting a rather disturbed tornado of feelings in the pit of her stomach. The history with her and Draco was not a very favorable one and she was even reconsidering her involvement in the newsletter. Of course she didn’t want to just abandon Luna either. Hermione glanced back to Harry, her expression pained. Hermione knew the right thing was to give the newsletter a go and give Draco the benefit of the doubt but she didn’t feel happy about the sudden addition of the boy who tormented her and her friends for no good reason. “If you want to leave, I understand.” She placed a hand on his arm.

When he caught up with Lunba, he followed her into the library and found some relief that it wasn’t too crowded but that was to be expected. His eyes settled on the pair of Gryffindors not too far away. He hadn’t expected to see Potter which was unsettling. Hermione Granger, he could manage but Potter? That arrogant saint? He wasn’t sure and cast a look at Luna before the gap between the pairs began to close. When they finally arrived, Hermione got to her feet and held out her hand to Luna. “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Hermione Granger.” She smiled.

Draco glanced to the ladies and then back to Harry, not sure what to say except, “Potter.” He greeted stiffly. 

Hermione glanced to Draco and felt the tension increase dramatically. In order to try and keep everyone civil, she gestured to the two chairs. “Let’s sit down and just talk about the newsletter. Or whatever.” She said nervously, trying to stay more positive while avoiding the pitfalls of the past. Draco was a mean person but maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.