AN: 2.01.18 I've been working on this story for so long and I'm halfway through the next chapter but I'm so incredibly depressed I don't think I'll be able to finish this. I've been putting this off for so long , thinking it was just a phase. I'm really sorry to anyone I've let down. But I have to take care of My mental health first and I might get back to this someday.
AN: 1.03.2018 I'm baaaaaack!
The second that Hermione walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, she knew that something was up.
Dumbledore was beaming, but that wasn't what alerted her to the fact that something was about to happen. Snape looked like he was seething in anger, instead of the usual mildly annoyed expression that he wore at breakfast. Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout wore identical stony expressions and the normally cheery Professor Flitwick looked abnormally dismal.
The other students hadn't noticed yet and were talking among themselves, oblivious to the atypical behaviour of the teachers.
"Ron," Hermione nudged him. He was shoveling bacon into his mouth like he had been starved for days. She did her best to keep the disgusted look off her face when he asked her, with his mouth still full of food, "What's the matter, Hermione?'
Or at least, she supposed that that was what he was trying to say. What it actually came out as ,was a garbled "whaa maddah 'mione?"
"Finish your mouthful before talking, you moron." she poked him playfully. "But do you think that the teachers look a bit odd today?'
He squinted at them for a second before shaking his head and resuming his quest to stuff his face with as much food as he possibly could before their classes began.
Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough.
She was correct, as she generally tended to be.
A few minutes before their breakfast ended, Dumbledore stood up. Most of the students continued their conversations and it took a few seconds before the hall lapsed into a silence which was only broken by the sound of someone sneezing.
"I would like to announce the beginning of an exciting new program that will be held this year at Hogwarts." Dumbledore paused for a few seconds and the students began whispering their theories excitedly.
-maybe they'll bring the Triwizard tournament back-
-probably a pen pal program with Durmstrang-
-as long as it lets me skip classes, I'm up for it-
Dumbledore waited for the whispering to subside before speaking again.
"We'll be doing a student exchange program between the houses!"
Behind him, Professor McGonagall covered her face with her hand as if she was asking God for patience.
The students clearly did not share Dumbledore's enthusiasm. The shocked silence turned into angry mutters that sounded collectively like the buzzing of bees.
"Your Professors and I have selected a group of people, a boy and a girl from each house to be switched to another house for this year. Since this is the first time and this is experimental, only the sixth years will be taking part in this program as the fifth and seventh years will be busy with their OWLS and NEWTS."
"Bloody hell." Ron muttered beside her, "I hope its not me who got selected."
Even Harry's face was ashen. "Imagine if I get selected and get put into Slytherin for a year. There couldn't be anything worse."
"We didn't come back for our final year at Hogwarts for this. This is as bad as Umbridge was. " one of the Weasley twins said loudly.
"Please keep an open mind," Dumbledore continued. "This is to foster unity among the houses. And now, the list of students to be exchanged..."
"From Hufflepuff, we have Zacharias Smith and Hannah Abbott." Loud protesting could be heard from Zacharias while Hannah stood there silently in mortification. "From Ravenclaw, Padma Patil and Michael Corner will be switched. From Gryffindor, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom and finally, from Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini."
Hermione turned to look at Ron and Harry with a stunned face. Their expressions mirrored hers when they looked back to her.
"You're not in Slytherin, Hermione. You'll probably be put in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw instead. You'd love Ravenclaw probably." Ron muttered to her, patting her hand.
"And now for the houses they will be switched into. Michael Corner and Pansy Parkinson will be in Gryffindor. Hermione Granger and Zacharias Smith will be in Slytherin. Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott will both be in Ravenclaw while Blaise Zabini and Padma Patil will be in Hufflepuff."
"Will the selected students please go and sit with their new house?"
Hermione hoisted her book back up. Her heart was thudding in her chest as she looked over at the Slytherin table. She saw people who had bullied her since the first year for being muggle-born, she saw others she didn't know, and she saw Draco Malfoy, throwing her a disgusted, yet smug look; like he had hell planned for her already.
She took a seat at the very end of the table,as far away from Malfoy as she could and smiled at the students surrounding her, hoping to make a friend. None of them smiled back.
Her heart sunk.
This year would be awful.
To say that Pansy Parkinson was having a bad day would be an understatement. She had stumbled out of bed in the morning with a headache and feeling ill from drinking so much the night before. To make matters worse, she looked and felt like a lifeless corpse. She wouldn't mind so much, but people had expectations. And if there was one thing that her parents had drilled into her head, it was to keep up with what people expected from you.
It was for that reason only, that Pansy had bothered to get up that morning. She'd brushed her hair and the clump of long jet black strands that came out in her fingers did nothing to improve her mood.
Just smile and look good and get this over with.
She forced a smile onto her lips and went to meet her boyfriend, Draco, so that they could walk to the great hall together.
When the announcement that there would be an exchange program for the seventh years came out, Pansy was excited. She was even more excited when her name was called. She had always wanted to be in Hufflepuff, not that she would ever tell her parents. They'd disown her. "Duty before Desire" was what they always said.
Being put into Gryffindor was not what she had in mind. She looked over at the table she was supposed to sit at. The Weasley twins grinned at her evilly, half of the table wouldn't even look at her (though she supposed she deserved that. She had been insulting them for years.) and worst of all, the girl she was jealous of, Padma Patil, had gotten sorted into Hufflepuff and she was already making friends with the other Hufflepuff students.
"Why don't you come sit with us Parkinson?" one of the Weasley twins called. She wasn't sure which one it was.
She gulped, trying to hide how scared she actually was. She looked back at Draco for some emotional support, but he wasn't even looking at her.
"Yeah, c'mon Parkinson." the other Weasley twin called out.
"No thanks." she tried to sound haughty and indifferent.
She ignored them and took a seat with some first years. Hopefully, they would be too scared of her to pick on her. She was used to being the one doing the picking on, but she was out of her own territory now.
"Wimp." the first Weasley twin called.
"Wuss." the other one added.
She wished that she had perfected her glamouring charm so she could disappear then and there.
Neville was quite happy when he was sorted into Ravenclaw. He already had a friend in that house- Luna Lovegood and he had sat next to her without having to think about it. The other girl who had also been selected for Ravenclaw, Hannah Abbott, was one of the nicer Hufflepuffs he had talked to. He had actually been nursing a small crush on her for a while, so this house exchange program would give him ample opportunity to get to know her.
He hadn't particularly liked being in Gryffindor anyway. He had never felt like he belonged in Gryffindor and he hoped that the house exchange program would help him feel like he fit in somewhere.
Padma Patil had always loved being in Ravenclaw. But her logical brain told her to make the most of the situation so she smiled at the surrounding Hufflepuffs. They were definitely the friendliest house so she already felt welcome. But honestly, she just wanted to go back to sleep. She had stayed up all night organizing her notes on the research on unicorns she liked to do in her spare time.
She did her best to fight a yawn as Dumbledore began speaking again.
"While you are in this house, you will be a part of this house. Any house points you lose will be lost from your new house. Any you gain will be added to your new house. The rest of the students can go to their classes, the selected students please stay back and talk to their new heads of houses. Also, would Draco Malfoy stay back."
Padma stood up and strolled over to where Professor Sprout was waiting for her. Blaise, the other boy who had also been placed into Hufflepuff sidled upto her.
"This sucks, doesn't it?"
She shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me, as long as it doesn't interfere in my work."
He gave her a weird look which she didn't even bother trying to interpret.
"We should be friends." Blaise suggested. "You know, to help each other out with coping with a new house."
She shrugged again. "Sure, if you want to be. As long as you leave me alone so I can do my own work. And no, you can't copy off my homework."
Blaise looked nonplussed by her reply. He was the Blaise Zabini. The pureblood, good looking and wealthy son of two respected parents. To top it off, he was also a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team, although he was in Hufflepuff now...
He had expected her reply to be a little more enthusiastic than that.
"Yeah, whatever then." He tried to look as if her reply didn't bother him.
"Let's just get this over with."
A/N: Hey guys :) leave your opinions on whether the changing point of views is too distracting or not please
Edited 18.07.17 to fix a mistake with the timing