A/N: This is an A/U story. There was no return of Voldemort. Therefore, none of dark and gloomy misfortunes happen throughout Harry's schooling at Hogwarts. I'm writing this purely because I had an idea I enjoyed the thought of it. If you enjoy the story as well then that would be incredible. Thank you to my beta Aurora Borealis 1234 for all the help and support.
Friday, Term 1, Week 3, 1997
Hermione's POV
"This is a no time for arguments, Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall raises her voice. The Slytherin and the Gryffindor houses have once again been at each other's throats in the halls.
"Ron's just saying that it wasn't our fault. Luna is a friend, and we'd never intend to hurt her." Harry tries to reason with Dumbledore, Snape and McGonagall.
I can tell that Harry is deeply upset by the incident. If I were to look over at him, I know his eyes would be flickering to and from the door of Dumbledore's office, eager to see Luna's condition. I don't look at him though; instead, I continue to stare in frustration at the lines in my palms.
I'm only able to recall brief moments of the events. Malfoy had irritated Harry, Harry had snapped, Blaise Zabini had interfered, Ron had gotten defensive, and then somehow Ginny, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass and I had all gotten involved. Charms and hexes had been cast. Luna, who had been on her way to the Great Hall for supper, had stopped to gaze upon the commotion. Even now, no one seems to know who had casted the offending spell, or even what the spell had been. Yet, it had landed upon Luna. Her eyes had widened before they'd flittered shut, and she'd fallen to the floor. The crossfire had stopped, and Professor McGonagall had arrived just a moment too late.
"Don't blame this on us, Potter!" Malfoy spits. My eyes dart towards him and I glower. Malfoy started this whole incident. How could we not blame Luna's incapacitated state on the Slytherins? Sometimes, actually all the time, when I gaze at Malfoy, I really wish looks could kill.
"Quite. The both of you." Professor Snape draws out, seeming more than disinterested in the problem at hand. "You are all at fault." Snape addresses the group before him, though his eyes linger on Harry a little longer than on the rest of us.
Dumbledore steadily rises up from his desk, asking to discuss with Minerva and Severus. Dumbledore casts a silencing charm over them. My eyes stop glaring at Malfoy as I return them to study my palms, letting my eyes travel over the creases. I breathe in and out slowly, attempting to distract myself from thinking about Luna in her unconscious state.
No one says a word; we're all too deep in our own minds to consider the others surrounding us; that is, until Dumbledore has finished the discussion with his staff.
"Using magic against one another is forbidden at Hogwarts," Dumbledore begins to explain. "Especially in the manner in which you all used it. Parental or guardian notification and immediate expulsion, is an appropriate punishment for this situation…"
Everyone gapes at the headmaster. No one, not even Blaise, the boy who has the best poker face I've ever witnessed, can hide their surprise.
"Sir! I really don't-" Harry begins, rising from the book shelf he's been sitting on.
"Let me finish Harry," interrupts Dumbledore, waving him to sit back down. "However suiting this punishment may seem, you are some of the brightest students Hogwarts has ever come across. It would be a shame to let your potential go to waste."
Hope simmers in the eyes of the students. Hogwarts is a second home to each of us, and none of us could dream of leaving it before our time.
"As much as we are willing to let you stay," Dumbledore continues, "We need you all to tolerate being in proximity to one another at the very least. In between Hagrid's Hut and the Hogwarts Castle, there is an old house, which was once used for teachers to board. You will be, from tomorrow onwards, living there. All of you."
All of us? Dumbledore means to say that the eight of us will be living together? Gryffindors and Slytherins living together in the same house?
"You will wake up, go to school, and be back at your new house of residence by five in the afternoon. Are there any questions?" Dumbledore concludes, leaving both the Slytherins and the Gryffindors extremely disgruntled.
"What about food?" Ron asks, always with food on his mind.
"You will be preparing your own meals, as there will be no assistance from House Elves at all." McGonagall replies. The Slytherins gasp.
"You're joking!" Pansy squeals, not believing what she's hearing. Daphne shakes her head. Ginny then raises her hand ever so politely. McGonagall nods her head to her.
"What about weekends?" Ginny questions.
"You get to reside in your new residence. How lucky you are." Snape responds extremely monotone. More sounds of disgust rise from us all.
"You want us to be confined in a hut on the weekends?" Daphne exclaims, exasperated.
"What do you expect us to do there?" Harry inquires, clearly annoyed with the arrangement.
"We expect you to socialise with one another; maybe then you will learn to get along." McGonagall answers.
"This is insane!" I speak up, throwing my hands into the air for dramatic effect.
"As insane as it may be, Miss Granger, it will be happening… unless you'd rather be expelled of course." Suggests Professor McGonagall.
"That's not sounding like a bad idea at the moment." I hear Blaise mutter to himself.
Malfoy starts "My father will-"
"Hear about this?" Dumbledore finishes Malfoys sentence, "You can go right ahead, Mr Malfoy. I'm sure that your father will be pleased to hear how you have almost been expelled, broken school rules, used magic against another student, and ended up putting an innocent girl into a state of perilous unconsciousness." Malfoy looks at the headmaster and opens his mouth as if to respond, before abruptly shutting it. "I expect each of you to have packed all your items and be at the house by late tomorrow morning. Follow the path to Hagrid's Hut until you reach a fork in the road. Take the bend to the right and follow it until you come upon the house. I'll see you at 11."
My house and the opposition stare each other down with pierced eyes, before we Gryffindors race off to see Luna. For a split moment, I'd forgotten about the state she was in, and I am now feeling extremely guilty. In the hospital wing, Luna is laying very still.
"Oh, Luna!" I run to her side and hold her hand. Luna's face is paler than usual, but she seems at peace. A dreamy expression embraces her face, but her lips appear to be tinged with a blue hue; her eyes are lightly closed, as if she's about to wake up, but isn't able to for the moment. Her hand sends chills up my spine; it's colder than it should be. I stay for a while, making sure Luna is okay, relatively speaking. The situation is weighing heavily on all of us, and we are mostly quiet for our time in the hospital wing. I speak up after some time.
"I'm going to pack." I turn to my friends. The boys nod, and Ginny says she'll accompany me. I look over Luna's pale face one more time and then stand to leave. Harry moves to sit in my place as I walk through the doors of the hospital wing and off to the Gryffindor Dormitories. On our way, Ginny and I take to expressing our hatred for our new housemates to whoever we come across. When we reach Gryffindor Tower, we start packing in Ginny's room.
"And can you believe that Malfoy tried to take the heat off himself?" Ginny exclaims, throwing another sweater into her trunk; this one's a navy blue. Ginny's cheeks were heating with anger and I couldn't help but stifle laugh at my friend. "Prick!"
"I know!" I respond from my reclined position on Ginny's bed, faking my interest in the conversation.
"And those stupid Slytherins and their house elves! The elves have souls, just like us!" Ginny added fiercely, opening up her cupboard and chucking shoes into the bag.
"Yes they do!" I agree, slightly fearful of Ginny's tone, but full heartedly amused by her sudden passion for S.P.E.W.
"Oh and don't get me started on that knob head Blaise! Up on his high horse like he's better than us!"
"That's right!" I begin to admire the pattern on the roof, twiddling my thumbs in the process
"And why aren't you helping me?" She turns to me, and I sit up and sigh.
"You know, I have a charm to pack your luggage." I throw in casually. Ginny switches her glance from me to her luggage and back again.
"Now you tell me!" I giggle and perform the charm on Ginny's belongings. In mere seconds everything is organised and stored neatly in Ginny's trunk. We head to my dormitory. After I've finished my bags, I sit on my bed with my legs crossed from Ginny. I think for a moment.
"Ginny, what do you think will happen?"
"What do you mean?" she responds lazily. It's ten now, and Ginny's exhausted from the rather eventful Friday we've had.
"With these boarding arrangements. Do you think Slytherins will continue in with the attitude they have for the past six years? Do you think we'll be able to tolerate each other?" My brows knit together at the thought of how the year's going to be. Ginny collapses forward, wrapping her hands around my pillow and digging her face into it.
"I don't know 'Mione," she murmurs through the pillow. "We can only hope that the tension fades as soon as it started."
I nod in response, lost in thought. We may be the current Gryffindors and Slytherins at Hogwarts, but this house rivalry went back as far as the founders themselves; how forcing us to live together is going to do anything but make us all miserable, I can't imagine. A short while later, I start to hear Ginny lightly snoring. I look over at the passed out Gryffindor and shake my head in hilarity. I grab a spare blanket and pillow and lie on the floor, dreading the events of the following day.