Two Halfs make a -?
Disclaimer, Harry Potter does not belong to me, or much of anything for that matter. I won't be making any profit off of this in fact I'm probably losing money on the electric needed to run my Pc. Some business man I am.
There were not many things Harry hated more than potions with Snape and that was where he was, stuck in the classroom with his most hated teacher, the house which seemed to think it was their duty to antagonise him at every turn and two best friends doing there level best to ignore his existence. Things hadn't always been this bad for Harry James Potter. Well maybe they had one way or the other but this was firmly in his top three spot. The moment his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire things had gone downhill. Downhill like a bobsleigh, piloted by the world's best team adamant on breaking every speed record possible. The moment his name was called and he hesitantly rose to his feet, scarcely believing his ears yet at the same time not truly surprised the mutterings had started. By time he had reached the 'champions' room the Hall was practically a riot as students from all schools seemed outraged at his choosing. He had explained himself, calmly at first, when Moody had declared someone was trying to get Harry killed he had naively thought himself saved. Nope think again Harry no such luck for you. You would have thought that someone yet again trying to kill him would earn him some sympathy from the other champions not glares of anger like he was stealing their glory. Really he thought to himself. He Harry freaking Potter needing more glory and fame from some tournament. Ignoring the whole Boy who lived fiasco he was probably the most well known name just on Quidditch alone. What Harry wasn't prepared for though, was the reaction of his closest friends, he'd come back to the Gryffindor common room expecting a little understanding from Ron and Hermione, maybe together they would come up with a plan on how to stop him ending up dead, guess again Harry. It wasn't like he had saved Hermione from a Troll in first year, saved Ron's little sister in their second. They didn't owe him anything. To say that Harry was unhappy about how things had turned out was something of an understatement.
So there he was his first lesson since being declared Hogwarts second champion sat on a desk alone waiting for the rest of the class to arrive and another session of psychological torture to begin. A few minutes of Harry determinedly ignoring the comments from every Slytherin fan who passed by before Snape was strolling in, calling the class to attention. It seemed the fates had yet again, surprise, not favoured Harry; today they would be working in pairs and the oh so popular Boy who lived did not have a partner, at least Snape would be happy.
"Potter play nice with the other children, they're not trying to steal your glory" Snape sneered at him trying to anger Harry, what the potions professor didn't seem to realise was Harry was so far passed angry he didn't care what the professor said anymore.
"Are you sure sir, I have so little Glory compared to someone like you I can't afford to lose any of it" He probably shouldn't have said all of that, but it did feel good to nail Snape with some of his own sarcasm. Luckily for Harry, wait what? Luckily for Harry what just happened to reality? Snape was interrupted before he could respond by a Slytherin girl rushing into the potions lesson, She had shoulder length brown hair lightly framing her face Tracy Davis he remembered.
"Sorry professor I had to take Daphne to see Madam Pomfrey" she blurted out sounding slightly out of breath like she had been running.
Snape paused briefly frowning slightly at the girl "Very well miss Davis, I'm afraid I have bad news for you however, You will be working with a partner today and since miss Greengrass won't be joining us today, your only choice will be the imbecile Potter" he didn't bother to lower his voice so Harry couldn't hear. The insult was probably better than the detention he would have received had Snape not been distracted.
Tracy didn't seem to bothered by the notion shrugging slightly before coming to Harry's table and dumping her stuff on and around the desk.
"Congratulations you've won the lottery" Harry said drily. Getting ahead on the Gryffindor Slytherin hostilities.
She looked at him for a moment before answering "What?"
"Oh sorry Muggle thing" he said realising she probably had no idea what the lottery was.
"I'm not the imbecile Potter" She drew out Imbecile the same way Snape had just said it "I know what the lottery is. How do you figure I've won it?" She smirked seeing his surprise.
"You get to sit with Hogwarts very own Champion" he replied perhaps a little too sullenly.
"Oh I see" she said arching an eyebrow, god that looked cool Harry idly wished he knew how to do that "So are you such a potions prodigy that you will be completing the Task with a well brewed potion?"
"Probably not" Harry admitted not really knowing how he was going to complete any of the tasks but very much doubting it would have anything to do with potions "But how do you think I entered my name into the Goblet in the first place"
"Because you totally entered the Tournament yourself" Tracy replied sarcastically.
"You don't think it was me?" Harry replied surprised.
"You've blindly stumbled your way around the school for the past three years somehow I doubt over the last summer you grew a fully functioning brain. Besides I saw your face when your name was called" she stated simply.
Well wasn't that great the one person who realised that he hadn't entered his name into the Goblet was a Slytherin. Who probably couldn't care less about Harry's fate.
"So Mr Potter why did you think I've won the lottery" she eyed him smiling slightly.
"Quidditch star do it for you?" Harry tried jokingly.
"Normally yes, but seeing as how the Quidditch cup is off for this tournament I don't think so. You might be all washed up come next year's Quidditch season"
"You like Quidditch?" Harry asked.
"What's not to like, it's got everything. Boys, Brooms, Balls but most of all Balls hitting Boys off of Brooms, especially when Gryffindor play" She grinned at him wickedly, suddenly Harry realised how pretty she was, he had never really paid attention to that sort of thing and all of a sudden he found himself a little uncomfortable with how close they were sitting. "What else have you got Potter"
Harry sighed "I've got green eyes"
She didn't reply, instead she turned her head to look at him directly staring him in the eyes with her own blue eyes. Harry felt himself gulp. "They are very green" She mused. "I wonder if I could use them to see if a potion is the correct shade. What shade are they?"
"Harry Potter green, Patent pending" he replied quickly smirking back at her.
"Ooh a Business man how exciting" she deadpanned "Still I'm not sure that's a lottery I've won"
"I never said which share of the lottery you won did I"
"I think I can figure that out for myself. Let's see I invested Daphne into getting to sit next to you. Daphne is one of the best in our year at potions and you are... not." Harry wasn't sure if she was teasing him or just insulting him. Maybe a bit of both?
"Potter stop trying to force your Autograph on Miss Davis" Snape called tauntingly from across the room. Tracey and the rest of the Slytherins. Oh and all of the Gryffindors seemed to find it funny.
"I think he likes you" She whispered conspiratorially.
"You can tell, by how often he insults me" Harry replied drily.
"He gives you more attention than Malfoy even, that has to mean something." She said smiling.
"I'm not sure this is the sort of attention which proves he likes me."
"Of course it is, he's like a school boy who never learned to flirt. Treat em Mean keep em Keen" She recited to him.
"In that case the whole school must really like me" Harry replied thinking of the stares and glares he received just eating his breakfast.
"Stop being such a baby." Tracy teased.
"Easy for you to say" He told her bluntly.
"You know, you're not very clever" She sounded different.
"Sorry Snape I didn't see you there" he joked.
"Whatever, let's do some work before the real Snape comes and gives you a kiss"
"That's gross"
"It's what you deserve" She got up quickly to gather the ingredients for the potion. Leaving Harry confused. She had seemed sort of friendly at first, but the joking tone and slight smirk had disappeared out of as far as he could tell nowhere. Slytherins, he sighed they didn't make sense.
She wasn't away long. She dumped the ingredients in front of him and lit her cauldron. "You chop, I stir" Still angry.
"Err, Sorry" Harry said a little dumbly.
"You Chop. I stir" She repeated.
"No, I mean. I'm Sorry" He explained
"What for?" She was surprised.
"I don't know... you're angry" He felt like the biggest idiot. Usually it worked with Hermione.
"So you are apologising without even knowing what for?" Tracy rolled her eyes. Gryffindors.
"Yeah" he admitted, for the biggest idiot he felt incredibly small.
"Does it work?" She seemed curious, or amused, or something. He didn't know.
"I guess..." He looked at her expectantly "did it?"
"Don't count on it Potter." The smirk was back.
"I wouldn't dream of it Davis" He wasn't sure why he copied her use of Surnames.
"Eugh. Don't call me that" She complained, apparently she didn't like it either. But who really did.
"Don't call me Potter and I won't. Anyway you sound like Malfoy" He teased. Forgetting she was a Slytherin.
"What's wrong with sounding like Malfoy?" She challenged, although the way she said it, Harry didn't think she was being sincere.
"Oh I didn't realise you fancied him. Want me to get Pansy out of your way?"
"Yeah right. You just want to have an excuse to go after Pansy" Tracy quickly turned the conversation against him.
"I didn't say how I would get her out of your way. Never wondered what happened to Professor Lockhart?" he added mysteriously, wondering exactly what the rumours surrounding his second year had turned into.
She gave a non committal shrug "All I've heard is he's at St Mungos. Your doing?" She sounded sceptical.
"Sort of. It's classified." He grinned seeing a brief look of frustration on her face.
"I don't believe you Potter"
"Davis-"
"Fine Harry. Happy now?"
"Well my 2 best friends have abandoned me. But I got you to call me by my first name, I guess overall that's a win" He said sarcastically. He wondered if he sounded pathetic.
"Don't be so melodramatic. It's not becoming" She told him in mock sternness.
"Why should I care what you think is becoming" he asked in a non confrontational tone.
"The way I see it is, you are not very popular right now. Clearly you don't like that. Maybe Snape is right and you do want fame and popularity."
"I don't care what people think." He told her defiantly, it wasn't really true. Few people no matter how much they told themselves they don't care, could truly not care. "It's been obvious since second year everyone in the wizarding world is an idiot."
"Everyone?" She raised that one eyebrow again.
He bit back the angry response. "Not quite, but nearly"
"I guess that is true." She sounded a lot more serious than she had for most of their conversation. "So who is on the 'not an Idiot' list?"
"Anyone who doesn't think I put my name down for that stupid tournament" Harry grumbled.
She looked pleased or something he didn't really have a clue how to read girls facial expressions. Except Hermione's which varied between worried and angry. A sly smile had spread over Tracy's lips. He should probably stop staring at them.
"So Hermione is stupid?" She stated still smirking.
He didn't really know what to say to that, obviously Hermione wasn't stupid. But he was hardly going to include her in the 'good' list right now.
"No, but when she thinks she's right she can be bloody stubborn."
"Unlike you of course" Tracy stated.
"I..."
"I'm just kidding calm down" she laughed at his inability to answer.
"It's like last year, her cat was tormenting Ron's rat Scabbers and she wouldn't do anything about it" He left out the fact that Ron's Rat was an Animagus responsible for Harry's parents deaths. Probably wasn't going to help make his point. And he didn't want Tracy to think he was a serial liar.
"Do you think they will change their minds?" Tracy asked, obviously referring to Ron and Hermione.
"I don't know... I ho- Why do you care?" he didn't really want to talk about his relationship with his two best friends to some Slytherin just because she was being sort of nice.
"I-I don't." She clearly didn't like how he had answered. "Have you got anything ready yet Potter"
He looked down at the empty chopping board in front of him that she could clearly see. "err...no."
"Well hurry up. I don't want to get a bad grade because you were too busy moping." Great she was angry at him. With Tracy angry at him too, that made, one... two... everyone in Hogwarts.
He decided to just do as she said, not bothering to rise to the bait. They worked together in silence for the remainder of the lesson. Occasionally Tracy would give him a command, never a request. Harry just did as she told him; it was incredibly like working with Hermione. At least Tracy was better at potions than Ron, who Hermione was getting increasingly frustrated by.
Potions finished with Snape congratulating Tracy on "not letting Potter ruin the potion" and sneering at Harry. How he managed to sound nice whilst sneering Harry didn't know. Magic?
"Cheer up Harry. At least Snape still likes you" Tracy laughed quietly as she left him joining the rest of the 4th year Slytherins.
Going into potions Harry hadn't thought things could get any more confusing for him. How quickly that thought had been proven wrong. At least now his mind was split between: worrying about the tournament, being angry at his friends and the school in general, and trying to figure out the Slytherin girl.
He was sure she had been angry with him, but she had teased him in her weird but probably friendly. Or was that how she acted around people she didn't like. Who knew? He ran his hands through his messy black hair. It was more of a habit than an attempt at actually doing anything. Why could things never be easy for him?
A/n Please leave a Review if you want more on this story. For anyone concerned Harry Dursley is not cancelled, I've just always wanted to write a 4th year Gryffindor Harry + Slytherin Girl.