Warning: This fic contains femslash, that is two females in a sexual and/or romantic relationship. If you dislike this, please don't read it.

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x Prologue x
A Forced Partnership

"Right," barked the sullen old, Professor Bartlett. Her black, hawk eyes took in the students that seemed to fill only half the Potions dungeon. "I doubt many of you know who I am, and you truly don't need to know, but I will tell you that I am an old friend of the Headmistress and am here on favor to her. It is through her hard work that this school is still open, and frankly, I'm surprised there are still this many students here."

She paused and cleared her throat. "Right. Now, as there aren't many here, though the balance from Slytherin and Gryffindor house seems even, that is how you will be split up into partners."

A groan echoed through the walls as she kept silent, waiting for it to fall. Then a hand shot into the air. Her eyes narrowed as she peered into the dark brown eyes of a Gryffindor girl.

"Yes, Ms. Brown?" she asked, not bothering to consult the student list. What the students didn't know, was that she knew each and everyone of their parents, and so it was hard to mistake their children. She held back a laugh as the girl's eyes widened, and her mouth stood agape.

"Er… why do we have to be partnered with another House? Can't we just partner with someone from our own house?"

"Indeed, Miss Brown," she said after pretending to give the suggestion consideration, but then smirked conspiratorially. "That is indeed a wonderful idea. However, I am the teacher here and so, naturally, what I say goes. You will be partnered with someone from another house, and since you so eagerly volunteered, shall we partner you up first, hmm?"

Lavender withdrew her hand from the air and shook her head, but Professor Bartlett had already begun the scan the students on the opposite side of the class. Her lip curled as they landed on a blonde haired girl who idly twirled a piece of gum on her finger, eyes looking up at the ceiling in a bored manner.

"Ah, Miss Parkinson," she said, her voice mockingly sweet. "I do believe that you wouldn't mind being partnered with Miss Brown, would you?"

Pansy's blue eyes lowered as the looked from the old woman to the girl in the first row, now looking up at her, shaking her head, brown eyes petrified. Her lips curled as she looked back up at the woman, and shrugged.

"I don't have a problem with it, Professor," she said, her voice just as sarcastically sweet. Professor Bartlett nodded with a triumphant grin before moving about the class and partnering the rest. Soon they sat next to their partners, most unhappy with their luck. No one was as unhappy as Lavender, and no one was as content as Pansy. She grinned at her partner just as the bell rang, and Lavender nearly tripped as she rushed from the class. By the smile evident on Pansy's face as she made her way out of the classroom, she knew that the year was going to be a very eventful one.