Chapter 1
"Now then boys and girls, settle down! Dean Thomas, what have I told you about sitting next to Mr Finnigan? Yes quite."
Professor McGonagall said as tried to calm down the rowdy class of 5th and 6th years.
"Ok, now that you've all decided to settle, I have an announcement. As of next term, there is going to be a new school project. Because the Ministry of Magic have decided that home life and family are more important than ever, you shall learn how to cope, with a family."
At this the class erupted with groans of dismay (mostly from the boys) and also squeals of delight (mostly from the girls). Questions where launched from every direction at Professor McGonagall.
"Right we shall leave questions until the end, but for now, be quiet!" The teens hushed at the sound of McGonagalls voice. "We have sent out letters to your parents and guardians,"
'Oh great' thought Harry. 'The Dursleys will definetly want me to suffer with a baby screaming at me.'
"And all of you here have been allowed to take part in the project. The letter also specifies that you shall be staying at Hogwarts over an elongated Easter break, which is when the project shall begin."
"What exactly are we going to be doing Professor?" Called Lavender Brown from the back of the classroom winking at Ron in the process.
"I was just getting to that Miss Brown. We have devised between heads of houses partners from these two years, in which you shall take care of a virtual child for l months."
Once again there was an explosion of outrage and excitement.
"This will require a set of dormitory's for you and your partner, with THREE rooms to accommodate the both of you and your child. The dormitory's have been built in the east wing of the castle. I am now going to announce the partners for this project. Harry took in a deep breath and sneaked a glance at Ginny. She was whispering excitedly with her friends, much like the rest of the class. He could see the look in Ron's eye when he looked at Lavender, he was hoping to be with his girlfriend. He knew that Hermione would be heartbroken if he was. Professor Mcgonagall shook a long list of parchment to get the classes attention. It worked. "Now, when I call your name you are to stand outside the door in double file with your partner to be shown to the dormitory's. There is to be no swapping, no pushing and of course these are pretend babies that you are going to get, so please, let's not... Ummm" Pirofessor McGonagall cleared her throat. "Have any real ones shall we?" The class giggled and murmured at the Professor's discomfort.
"Ok, Abrahams, Joan, and Drake, Finley..." And so the list went on, sometimes the couples grinned at each other, however, more often than not, the girl got a farewell hug and the boy got a slap on the back as if to say good luck. Harry swallowed it was getting close to Lavender's name. He crossed his fingers in his pockets for Hermione.
"Brown, Lavender, and Finnigan, Seamus," Lavenders jaw crashed through the floor. Her eyes filled with tears and her chin started to wobble. Seamus dragged his feet after him as Lavender fluttered her hand goodbye to 'Won Won'. Harry saw Hermione trying her best not to smirk.
After a few more names;
"Granger, Hermione," the smirk vanished and was replaced with a face of desperate hope. "And Weasley Ronald." Hermione did an Oscar winning show of shrugging her shoulders and exiting without a fuss and Ron followed suit. Now Harry was left alone with no one to talk to and it looked as if he would be there a long time, Weasley was at the bottom of the register and that was what he was hoping for.
"Parkinson, Pansy, and Malfoy, Draco."
Malfoy sauntered out, obviously pleased, it was well known that Pansy was the fittest girl in Slytherin and also the rumour was that she lost her virginity in 4th year!
The list went on for what seemed like forever, until;
"Weasley, Ginerva, and... Oh wait a second..."
Harry held his breath as Professor McGonagall scribbled something out using her quill. (It appeared that Malfoy was on the list twice).
"And well, Potter, Harry." Harry let out a long breath and saw Ginny have a last giggle with her friends as they went through the door. Outside in the hall everyone was strangely quiet, with only a few whispers here and there. Harry and Ginny joined the end of the queue.