A/N: I do not own the Potterverse; I just borrow it when I'm feeling creative.
A spring thunderstorm was swirling around Hogwarts, sending most of the students inside the warmer rooms of the great castle. Hermione Granger was not one of those huddled by the Gryffindor common room fireplace; she much preferred to watch the storm come in from the top of the Astronomy tower, a warming charm applied to her cloak preventing the wind from chilling her to the bone. Despite constantly telling her friends that she did her best thinking in the library, many times she would instead climb up here and look out over the grounds of Hogwarts, thinking, watching the world go by, and generally trying to relax her mind. It was her fortress of solitude, and today was the first time in her Hogwarts experience that someone broke down that barrier.
"Granger."
Hermione turned to confirm her suspicion, but there was only one person at Hogwarts with that light, yet heavily aristocratic, tone.
"Parkinson."
"Awfully long way from the library, aren't you?" While the words normally would have carried an insult to Hermione's ears, she found herself pleasantly surprised to detect only genuine curiosity in Pansy's question. Still, Pansy's expression seemed a bit harder than necessary, so as she turned back to the window, Hermione contented herself with a terse "Indeed" in response.
"Oh, give it up, Hermione. You're not the only one who comes up here to relax, after all," said Pansy as she joined Hermione at the window.
Hermione looked at her in surprise. "Did…did you just call me by my first name willingly?" questioned Hermione.
Pansy met her eyes, before rolling her own. "You assume that because I'm a big, bad Slytherin, I must hate all the Muggleborn, not even deigning to learn anything about them? Shows why the Hat didn't put you in Ravenclaw, or Slytherin for that matter."
As Hermione stared open-mouthed at someone she considered her most-hated rival at school (she refused to consider Malfoy worthy of her attention, no matter what vile filth spewed from his mouth), Pansy continued. "It's not easy living amongst those who believe in the sanctity of the Pureblood Elite." Pansy's pronunciation left no doubt in the capitalization of those words. "If I didn't show condescension to you and the other Muggleborn in Hogwarts, I'd have much larger issues than pointedly ignoring your mild contempt of me. Namely, fending off Draco and his goons 24/7."
Hermione's brain finally reengaged at this point. "So, the aristocratic snobbery, the hate-filled looks and jokes, it's all an act? To stay in that tosspot's good graces?"
Pansy looked over again and nodded. "There may be hope for you yet, Hermione. While this is mostly a bit of relaxation for me as well, I had actually hoped to catch you here to talk about something very important. Well, I really need to get a message to Harry, but since I couldn't risk the wrath of the redhead brigade, I figured you would at least give me the benefit of listening and reacting without much prejudice." At Hermione's raised eyebrow, she quickly added, "You're still a Gryffindor, and I'm still a Slytherin. Our views are colored at least a little by that rivalry." She gave Hermione a slight smile, which eventually drew one back from the girl.
"All right, Par…Pansy," stuttered Hermione, receiving a much wider smile from Pansy for her effort. "What's the message?"
"Speaking on behalf of many Slytherin girls," said Pansy, "we want a promise from Harry that if we join him in the fight against the Dark Lord, he will offer us protection from Malfoy and his ilk."
Hermione looked thoughtful, then puzzled. "What kind of protection are you asking from Harry? We both know that he's magically powerful, but even one of him can't take on the whole of Slytherin House at once."
"That isn't their game, Hermione."