Title: All's Fair in Love and War
Author: Silverhair Theory
Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.
Chapter 1
It was the morning after the night of arrival at Hogwarts, and as the sun rose outside the windows of the Gryffindor Seventh Year Girls dorm, Hermione appeared to be the only one up. There were no noises from the common room and no footsteps on the stairs. All around her sleeping girls breathed softly. She had been right, no-one else was awake yet.
She sighed, and reached for the book she had been pursuing the previous evening. It was called "Witches and Wizards, a Relationship Guide" and although it wasn't her usual material, she had felt it was somewhat required.
Over the summer she had been thinking about her relationship with Harry Potter and she there had been something bothering her all holiday. She didn't want to trouble Ginny with it as she knew Ginny had a few issues about her and Harry Potter together. Doubtless Lavender and Parvati, resident beauty queens and all out girly girls would know exactly what to do, but she didn't want it spread around that she was having problems, and those two were the worst gossipers in Gryffindor. So she had finally turned, in near desperation, to the only things which she knew wouldn't tell on her and had no problems with her relationship at all; books.
She simply wished she could have some way to have seen him before the train journey. Near the end of the holidays she had received an owl from Ginny Weasley about him, as he had been staying at the Burrow at the time, but she had not mentioned whether he had talked of their relationship with Hermione at all, probably because Harry knew as well as herself that Ginny wasn't best pleased with their relationship.
Hermione knew it was immature, but the thing was, she had wondered if their love could stand the test of distance. She had told herself that she was only being paranoid - but she really worried about her relationship with Harry. He was the great Harry Potter and she was just a clever girl who had bushy hair and orange cat hairs all over her robes. She really felt like she needed some pointers and reassurances, and had decided to read up on background information just in case.
Although, Hermione scolded herself, love wasn't a thing that you could become an expert in through reading, because according to this book, true love was different for every person. She really had to get her mindset correct, even more so today because he was going to be there at breakfast and was going to want to talk to her. At least, she hoped he would. What if something was up with their relationship? What if something had happened over the holidays?
Stop it. You'll only make yourself feel worse. Anyway, Hermione chided herself mentally, you'll see him at breakfast, won't you, and you can tell then if something's wrong.
Just in case though, she turned back to her book. She had nothing else to do until breakfast, in any case.
SGSGSGS
Draco Malfoy was not a morning person.
He was moody and sarcastic and the other boys in the dormitory had learnt to keep well away from him until after a good cup of strong black coffee. Add to that the fact that as a "Welcome to Seventh year" celebration all of the boys in his dorm had all been up very late drinking Oggden's Old Firewhisky, with a few additions, of course, added by none other than Draco himself, potions expert that he was.
Oh, and he had a head-splitting hangover.
"Oh bugger." He declared sullenly "My head hurts!"
Had there been anyone around to hear this, they might have felt sorry for him. However, considering how if they had heard it, they would have had to have been there, and if they had been there, they would have seen the mess of bottles scattered round the whole room like litter, ranging from empty to hardly touched, maybe they wouldn't have felt sorry after all.
As Draco's eyesight gradually straightened he sat up, and glanced at the debris of the night before, groaning. Then he tried to get up and promptly fell off the bed, with the blankets tangled round him in a heap.
"Ooof." He exclaimed, followed rather promptly with an "Ouch." as he realised that he had sat, rather heavily, on a half full bottle of Firewhisky, and now had brownish stains on his pajama bottoms, and also, surprisingly, on his skin.
"Must have been those powdered fwooper feathers I put in. I knew they looked out of date..." He muttered to himself as he got to his feet, getting more stains on his soles.
Regaining what little Malfoy composure could be gathered when the world seemed to be violently disagreeing with him, Draco stumbled over to the door of the bathroom, and proceeded to wash away the mess with a long, cold shower.
SGSGSGS
Breakfast on the First day of the school term was always a noisy one. On the previous evening, many students were too tired from the long journey to school on the Hogwarts express, and the first years were always exhausted from the ride across the lake, so much of the catching up and gossiping from the summer was often left until the next morning when all and sundry was discussed over a piece of toast and a goblet of pumpkin juice.
At their places near the head of the Gryffindor table, Ginny, Ron and Hermione filled Harry in on what had happened in the wizarding gossip channels over the summer. Ginny and Ron were explaining about Bill's emotional break up with Fleur Delacour, the pretty Triwizard champion from Beauxbatons, when Hermione nudged Harry and they watched Professor McGonagall enter the great hall and hurry over to Dumbledore to whisper something in his ear.
Dumbldore nodded and waited for McGonagall to leave the room again before tapping clearly on his glass. The sound rang through the whole room and all faces turned to the High Table.
Dumbledore cleared his throat "I have an announcement to make" He said, "Hogwarts school has decided to host an exchange program with Beauxbatons, as a declaration of unity and friendship. Four of our own students were notified during the Holidays, two boys and two girls, from sixth and seventh year. That is the reason, if any of you were wondering, we are missing four of our company..."
He paused, as a smattering of giggles and exited chatter burst out among a group of sixth year girls on the Hufflepuff table, who were silenced under his icy blue gaze "...and that is why we will also be joined shortly by four students from Beauxbatons, who, I have just been notified by Professor McGonagall, have arrived."
A buzz of chatter had descended over the tables, as students muttered among themselves about what it would be like having foreign students with them. The chatter was cut short, abruptly, by the great doors opening and Professor McGonagall striding down the aisle between the tables, followed by the Beauxbatons students, who clustered by the doorway as if scared of attack.
Trailing behind McGonagall was a short, tubby boy with messy brown hair, who looked positively terrified of all the people looking at him and was nervously twiddling his fingers. There was a taller, more sophisticated looking boy who had ice blonde hair which half hid his equally icy face. He reminded Harry of Malfoy with his slouched posture and disapproving look. Beside him, there was a dark haired girl who had very pale skin and an aloof expression. Lastly there was...
"Fleur!" Harry heard Ron exclaim and looked a bit closer. It did indeed look like Fleur Delacour, who seemed to have grown even more beautiful than when she was at Hogwarts three years before, and had a haughty, I-hate-this-place kind of look.
Dumbledore cleared his throat again and everyone pried their gaze away from the new arrivals "Mr. Truman, Mr. Belledévre, Miss Chevin, Miss Delacour, I welcome you to Hogwarts. Please sit wherever you like."
The boys walked over and sat down on the Slytherin table, quite near Pansy Parkinson and her gang, and the girls immediately leaned over and started chatting the blonde one up.
The girls decided to spend a little longer deciding where to sit, but Harry, Ron and Ginny gave them friendly waves, and they nervously made their way towards them. Hermione didn't wave, because she was watching Pansy Parkinson flirt with the blonde boy from Beauxbatons, flicking her hair and leaning over to show off her cleavage.
It was disgusting, Hermione thought, especially for someone with a boyfriend. Thinking this made her glance over to Malfoy, to see if he had noticed his girlfriend chatting up another guy. With a shock, she realized he was staring right at her, or perhaps at the French girls who had just sat down next to them.
Ron turned round to see what Hermione was staring at, and caught Malfoy's glare. "Blimey!" He exclaimed, "Harry, does Malfoy's hair seem more blonde since last term? Because I think it does. Do you think he dyed it?"
"Honestly Ron!" Ginny squealed, sounding just like Mrs Weasley, "Say hello to Miss Chevin and Fleur, don't be so rude!"
"Oh, sorry." Said Ron gruffly, and suddenly realized that he was sitting next to a girl with Veela blood in her veins. "Er..um...hi!" He said nervously, and started playing with his piece of toast until Harry kicked him under the table.
"Fleur?" The girl who looked like Fleur said, in a surprisingly English accent "My name is not Fleur! Fleur is my sister!"
"What is your name then?" said Hermione, as surprised as the rest of them.
"My name is Gabrielle. Wait... you... "she pointed at Harry, "you are the boy who pulled me out of the lake in third year! You must know Fleur from when she came to see your school for the Triwizard tournament!"
"Oh right!" Harry said. "Cool! How are you?"
"Fine, thanks" Gabrielle replied "You have all grown so much!"
"So have you!" Ron exclaimed. "Grown more beautiful, I mean..." Ron blushed, ashamed of his outburst. Gabrielle giggled.
"What is your name?" Hermione asked the other girl.
"Brie," she replied, "I am 'een the same year as Gabby 'ere." She said softly, with a slightly heavier French accent than Gabrielle.
"Cool!" Harry said. "I'm Harry, this is Hermione, that's Ron, and that is Ginny. Hey look, Timetables!" He pointed out. Soon the sound of munching was replaced all over the hall by flipping of paper.
"Oh no..." Ron groaned. "Potions with the Slytherins again! I think another year of Malfoy's snide comments will push me over the edge!"
"Malfoy? Which one is he?" asked Gabrielle, inspecting the lines of students. "Is he on the same table as Ciel and Ranger?"
"Who and who?" said Ron, looking at Gabrielle in puzzlement.
"The two boys who came with us. Ciel is the blonde one, Ranger has brown hair. Is Malfoy sitting with them?"
"Oh, yes. His girlfriend Pansy is chatting up Ciel at the moment though. He's the blonde one sitting five seats to the left of Ciel."
"Right. Don't you like him then?"
"No! He has spent all of seven years making our lives darker and more depressing, he is so irritating, he's arrogant and conceited and vain and disdainful and rotten and he...he...he just..."
"Okay! Okay! I can see I have touched a tender subject!" Gabrielle laughed. She had a deep, warm laugh, so unlike Fleur's, Ron thought. "He should have great company with Ciel then. Ciel is the vainest boy in Beauxbatons. He has been out with most of the girls in our year, and broken each and every one's heart, including mine. Some he breaks twice!" She gave a sympathetic glance to Brie. "He messed with poor Brie's heart so badly she hasn't even looked at a guy since, have you Brie!"
Brie sighed and looked woeful. "No. 'Ee ees a rotten bastaird. I 'ate 'eem!" She said the last bit with such force that they were surprised. Hermione started babbling about classes or whatever, to try and lighten the mood, but Harry wasn't listening to her. He had just noticed that Ginny was very quiet, watching Brie, who was looking back. Brie looked confused and Ginny looked puzzled.
He glanced around the table, and saw Hermione, eyes glowing with the subject of her current choice, Probably Arithmancy thought Harry. Next was Ron, who was pretending to listen to Hermione but actually sneaking glances at Gabrielle, who in turn was doing exactly the same thing. Then he glanced at Ginny and the Brie. They were both pretending to listen as well, but it seemed to Harry like Ginny kept twitching and her face kept turning towards Brie before she pulled it back to where it was. It was the strangest thing, like watching someone fight with their own body.
Well what have we here, thought HarryBut just as he was making a move to say something to Ginny, everyone started moving out of the Great Hall to go to lessons. As students surged past him, he pulled Ginny aside.
"Ginny, will you meet me at lunch in the astronomy tower? I need to discuss something with you." He said, then hurried away before she had a chance to complain.
The rest of the morning passed fairly uneventfully for Hermione, unless you count Ron actually falling of the desk he had been lying his head on and causing Professor Binns to give him detention for "Not paying full and utter concentration to the events of his noble past." Many mutterings had been aroused by this and several students had been up to Ron to congratulate him on finally getting Binns to shut up for a few seconds.
Now, sitting here in Potions, she mentally shook herself as they were preparing a very powerful drug called Velieris Vicissitudo which had gave the drinker the power to change people's appearances. Snape had warned them to be careful, because if they did it wrong then they could be stuck with that appearance.
She glanced at Ron, who was sitting chopping up strangle vine roots next to her, then at Harry, who was crushing some pixie wings, then over at Draco and Pansy's table, neither of whom were doing anything constructive, but talking quietly to each other. Probably whispering sweet nothings to each other, thought Hermione, and turned back to her dried troll skin, which needed to be mashed into powder, a task requiring a fair bit of effort.
---
"But Draco, she's a stuck up bitch who deserves it!" Pansy whispered, sitting on the other side of the room to Hermione. "And anyway, its not as if it would worsen her appearance, because that's practically impossible."
Draco groaned. "Look Pansy, I really don't care about the Mudblood, but if you do something to her, then the whole class will be disrupted and Snape said we really need to know how to do this potion. Please Pansy? For me?" He looked at her with pleading eyes.
"Well... I suppose..." Pansy sighed, the grinned and whispered evilly in Draco's ear "As long as you give me more than a goodnight kiss tonight!" With a seductive smile, she turned back to her sliced serpent scales to leave Draco to brood over whatever he brooded about.
Still, Pansy thought, It would be cool to get Granger back for that...thing...with the letters... yes, I think I will do it after all, no matter what Draco thinks! And with that thought, she carefully added the shredded remora fin that would make her potion that bit more powerful than anyone else's.
---
The subject that Draco was brooding on at the moment was his general state of mind at Hogwarts. He was having a bit of trouble adjusting to the hustle of daily life and the jolliness with which everyone conversed. Back at the manor he had had only two decent conversations all summer, with a 'cousin' who had eventually turned out to be a banshee, and at the very beginning of the holidays with his father...
"So Draco," Lucius drawled, "How will you be spending your summer?"
"I don't know, father." Draco replied. "I suspect you have something nasty in store for me, haven't you?"
"No-one knows me better than you, son. We will be departing for the Dark Lord's keep in two days. There I hope to make you the youngest Death Eater in history. How does that sound?"
Draco did not answer. He was reeling inside, dreading and anticipating the moment promised by this sudden revelation. Finally, the thing his father had been promising, threatening since he was old enough to understand, would happen. He would have the Dark Mark burnt into his skin and then he would become one of the evil side. "I..I am a little stunned, father." He mumbled, "Are you sure that..."
"Speak up boy! And don't you dare say that you think it's a bad idea." Lucius' voice took on a soft, dangerously kind tone. "Of course, if you need some encouragement..."
"No! It's alright." Draco said hurriedly. "I was just going to comment that Dumbledore or one of the other teachers might notice a whopping great skull on my arm."
"True..." mused Lucius, "But I shall enchant it so that not even the mighty Dumbledore can see it. This is the final year of Potter's youth, and our last chance to destroy him before he comes into full adulthood. We must act before then!"
"I agree, father." Draco said. "Potter will no doubt face his final year with more saintly enthusiasm than all the other years put together."
"That is why you must get close to him, boy. Learn his weaknesses. Then pass them onto us so that we may finally bring the Dark Lord back to power!"
"Indeed father." Said Draco quietly, "May I be excused now? I need to go tell the house elves not to pack my velvet dress robes. That fool Crabbe spilt Itching powder down the front at the last ball and now I cannot wear it without scratching my..."
"Yes, yes. Off you go." Lucius said quickly. He watched his son walk out of the room and pause and the bottom of the stairs, glance back at him, then run up the steps two at a time.
"Your potions should be ready now. Pour two flasks, one to bring up to my desk, the other to drink." Snape's voice shook Draco out of his daydream. He poured out two flasks of the potion, which was a deep blue, and carried the smoking drink up to Snape's desk. Then he went back to the desk and took the potion in his perfectly manicured hands.
"Everyone ready?" Snape asked. "Good, now drink." There was a silence in the room as everyone downed the liquid. A few seconds later, the coughing began. Everyone, from Neville, who knelt on the floor and clutched his chest, to Blaise Zabini, who was just coughing ever so lightly, was affected. Draco was fairly controlled, with lots of small coughs. He looked over at Potter and his friends and felt smug when he saw that Potter was having to hold on to the desk to keep upright.
As the wheezing subsided, Snape came out from behind the desk and started organizing people into pairs. "Weasley, come and partner Zabini. Miss Parkinson, come and partner Miss Granger. Potter, come over here and go with Malfoy." Draco grimaced as the dark-haired boy slouched over, scowling. Once the whole class was paired up, Snape went back to his desk and gave the signal to begin.
It was mayhem. Draco saw Zabini make Weasley's hair flash traffic light colours, and Weasley turn Zabini's skin shocking pink. Longbottom was covered in fluff, and was clawing the hair out of his eyes as he tried to see his partner, who was grinning and stepping round him. Potter was advancing on him and Draco found that his own skin was covered in slimy scales making him appear a human shaped snake. "Very fetching, Potter." He drawled. "But I think that look would be better on you." At once, Potter was also in snake guise and the two snakes, one fair, one dark haired, pulled out their wands and started hexing each other.
The case was the same all over the classroom. Out of the corner of his eye Draco could see Snape trying to break up a fight between a person whose skin seemed to be made of a deep red liquid and was dripping off them, and another person who had been turned entirely black, from the eyes to the fingernails. The noise of people shouting was incredible. Jets of coloured light flew here and there as partners cursed each other, and there was a shrieking, clawing bundle in the corner as what looked like two girls with acid green skin and bright violet hair were spitting and pulling out chunks of each other's hair.
Then suddenly, someone screamed. Up till then, it had been shouts of anger, or surprise, but this scream was so full of pain it caused everyone in the room to stop and turn to look at the cause of the sound.
Hermione Granger was screaming, writhing on the ground as she fought to free herself from her skin. It was on fire. No, more than that, it was made of fire. Her hands flailed out and scorched the table near her as she fought to get away from the person standing over her, who was startlingly unscathed and appeared to be all the correct colours. Pansy Parkinson stared down at the ball of flames she had created, and smiled as the fire reflected in her sky blue eyes.
---
Harry yelled. He couldn't help it, the sight of his beautiful girlfriend in so much pain was horrific, and he tried to get close to her without burning himself.
He felt the rest of the class back away to the edges of the room and he cursed them silently for being such cowards. He grabbed his wand and shot jets of water at Hermione, but they evaporated before they even touched her.
Snape was yelling for him to get out of the way but he couldn't think of anything except how to get to her. He pushed Pansy out of the way and ignored the shriek as she knocked her head on the stone floor and passed out.
Ron was calling him, pleading with him to let Snape help Hermione, but Harry ignored him too, how could Ron let Hermione go to the mercy of the foul potions master!
He felt a hand grab the back of his robes and yank him backwards, and he fell sprawling on the ground and felt hands hold him there as he struggled. He heard Snape cast an incantation and Hermione's cries fell to moans. He made a great effort to sit up and he saw Hermione lying motionless under a bubble before he was forced to lie back down.
"Harry, Harry!" Ron's voice said in his ear, "Stay still or Snape will stun you! He's put a bubble round her to stop the fire from having enough oxygen to burn so fiercely. Madam Pomfrey is coming in a minute and then Hermione will go to the Hospital wing. Lie still!"
Harry finally slumped, breathing heavily and felt the hands let go of him. His vision seemed to be a bit blurry and Ron's face was swimming in front of his eyes. He heard Madam Pomfrey come into the room and dazedly watched Hermione float out on her stretcher.
"Potter, I think you had best come too." He heard Madam Pomfrey say, and felt Ron's arm hoisting him up. He glanced back and saw the rest of the students crowding fearfully round Snape, as if Harry might go mental at any moment and attack them. Pansy lay discarded on the floor and he saw Malfoy looking at her with a strange look in his eyes. Then the world span and he passed out on Ron's shoulder.
Draco stared at Pansy's unconscious form, not even noticing Potter being half-carried out of the room by Weasley. She was disheveled, her usually perfect hair in a mess like a halo around her head. Her robes were unruly and one arm was lying at a funny angle.
"Professor, I think Pansy is hurt as well." he said and Snape glanced over, looking almost as disheveled as Pansy. He was obviously under a lot of stress, considering how his class had been disrupted and two students had been put in the hospital wing. He was currently trying to settle the remaining students back to their desks, but without much success.
"Merlin! This is just too much!" He spat. "Class dismissed! Mr. Malfoy, take Miss Parkinson to the Hospital wing. I have to clean up."
Draco picked up Pansy and took her out of the mess of a classroom, beginning to walk towards the Hospital Wing. Suddenly she stirred, almost making him drop her.
"Draco...where am I..." She murmured.
"I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing." Draco replied. "Potter and Granger are already there. Merlin Pansy, what were you thinking!"
"I got her...I got her back for sending me those owls this summer...she...oh Draco..." Pansy whimpered, and Draco had to lean close to her to her what she was saying. "She knows we're against Dumbledore, Draco. She knows!"
Draco stopped dead. "What?" He said. "How can she know?"
"I don't know! But she sent these letters to me, and horrible things, like poisonous plants and stuff. She threatened to kill me! I was only getting her back, you know, striking first!"
"Pansy...you know that Mudblood could never kill you! She doesn't have the power, the killer instinct, whatever!"
"Draco...why are you defending her? You don't like her! She hates you!" The sky in Pansy's eyes was filled with clouds of doubt. "Wait...you don't have feelings for her do you?"
"No!" Draco was shocked she could even entertain that thought! "She is too far below our status, Pansy! And even if she was pureblood, I wouldn't like her. She's just...too clever for her own good."
"Good..." Pansy whispered, before her head lolled back as she fell unconscious again. Draco shook his head, banishing the unworthy thoughts that had crept up, and started walking again, trying to make his echoing footsteps force all thought from his mind.
SGSGSGS
Author's Note: Soooo, How is it? I hope you guys like it, this was the first fanfic I ever wrote, so I hope its okay.