Title: Giving Fate a Hand
Author: Heather-Lauren
Pairings: Hermione/Draco/Blaise
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Rating: MA
Disclaimer: I don't own anything sadly. JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, and Dumbledore's quote at the end of the first chapter is from Ever After.
Beta: Done by the wonderful Alexisrose
Summary: Dumbledore must push three students together to save the wizarding world, but not the three you may be thinking of…
Chapter 1: Wizarding Life 101
Hermione sat at her desk with everything organized in front of her. She pushed her frizzy hair behind her ears so she could lean down to get something from her bag on the floor. It was a new school year, and she was excited to start all of her new classes.
Suddenly, while she was lost in thought, someone walked into her, knocking her head into her desk. She looked up quickly to see Draco Malfoy walking away with a group of Slytherins.
"Oops, thought your hair was a bush. Fitting for a Mudblood, I suppose," Draco sneered. The group of the Slytherins around him cackled as if that was the funniest thing they had ever heard.
All but one, Hermione noticed. The dark-skinned Slytherin simply turned around and took a seat. Before Hermione could think more about it, her head started throbbing. She gently rubbed the spot that had been slammed against the wood of her desk.
"So why do we even have to take this class, anyway? From what I've heard it sounds pointless to me," Ron said as he slid into the desk next to Hermione. His pants had stains from breakfast on them, and his hair was greasy as if he hadn't had a bath recently. Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust of his lack of hygiene.
"Really Ron, if it was pointless I don't think Professor Dumbledore would make it mandatory to take," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. Harry smiled at the typical Hermione-like response as he took a seat on the other side of her.
"Do you know who is teaching it?" Harry asked Hermione as he scratched his head messing with his unruly black hair. She shrugged and dated the piece of parchment she had taken out to use for notes.
"There sure are a lot of people here," said Ron, stating the obvious. The room looked like a regular classroom times four with desks packed in.
"Well it's suppose to be everyone in our year," Hermione replied.
Then, the side door opened and out came Professor McGonagall, who silently walked up to the front of the room. She looked around, folded her hands, and then stepped up to the board. She wrote "Wizarding Life Class". As soon as those words were written on the board, everybody in the class started talking at once.
"Silence!" Professor McGonagall commanded. "Thank you. This is a real life scenario class. It will prepare you for struggles many wizards and witches go through. This class was created when many alumni came back to me and complained that school hadn't properly prepared them for life."
All students in the room looked shocked. It was nothing like they had ever taken before. Hermione's hand flew across the paper as she wrote down every word the Professor was saying.
"There will be six different situations that you will experience," Professor McGonagall continued. "Every Sunday night you will be notified of the following week's situation. The first one will be marriage."
The room was engulfed with whispers of shock. Professor McGonagall sighed in frustration as many students yelled out cries of protest.
"Remember that this is simply a scenario," McGonagall said. "As for whom you will be marrying, the couples have already been selected. Please come up to the desk to pick up your first assignment as I call your name."
Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked at each other with wide eyes. They then looked around the room as students' names were called.
"Harry Potter and Parvati Patil."
Harry stood up with an apathetic look on his face and slowly walked up to the podium. Professor McGongall handed both of them a scroll. The two gave each other an uncomfortable look and then walked back to their seat.
Hermione felt more uncomfortable now with Harry taken. She felt someone touch her hand, and looked over to see Ron trying to silently comfort her.
"Ron Weasley and Pansy Parkinson."
Ron's hand shot off of Hermione's as if a snake had bitten him. He looked around till he spotted Pansy, who didn't look pleased either. They both stepped forward as if they were walking to their execution. Ron went back to his seat and looked like he was going to be sick.
Names continued to be called; Hermione looked around the room and noticed most of the people around her already had scrolls. She had lost count of who was left.
"I would like anyone who doesn't have a pairing to come up."
Hermione quickly got up and walked to the front before anyone else. She felt confused when she noticed no one was up there.
"Okay, we have an odd number of students, so I want the three of you to work together," Professor McGonagall said, holding out three scrolls in her hand. Hermione's eyes grew at the word three and slowly turned around to see who was behind her.
Standing behind her, both over six feet, were none other than Draco Malfoy and the dark-skinned wizard she had seen at the beginning of class. She couldn't remember his name, but noticed written in cursive on his scroll was Blaise Zabini. Draco glared at the sight of Hermione and the three walked back to their seats.
"Oh no," Hermione whispered as she took her seat and gave herself a good hard pinch to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"You have exactly one week to plan your wedding," Professor McGongall said to the students. "Oh, and please do not forget that this class is for a grade. You will be graded on your participation and reactions to each scenario. Good luck."
Professor McGonagall then left the room. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other in shock, not even sure what to say.
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was going to be a long year.
On the other side of the castle, Professor McGonagall knocked on the door of the Headmaster's Office.
"Come in," Professor Dumbledore said to her. She opened the door and walked in with the look of worry on her face. "So I take it you told them?"
"Yes, and I'm still not sure this is a good idea," she said.
"We must get the three of them to care for each other. It is the only way we will win the war," the gray-haired wizard said.
"Yes, but can't we just hope that fate will help them care for each other?" Professor McGonagall replied.
"You cannot leave everything to fate. She's got a lot to do. Sometimes you must give her a hand," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously.