Chapter 1
"Harry! Ron! It's so good to see you!" Hermione exclaimed, running over to them. A whistle sounded so they said good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and boarded the train.
"C'mon, let's find a compartment before they're all taken," Ron suggested. He opened the door to the one furthest to the back. Mistake.
"What do you want, Weasley?" came a cold voice from inside.
"Watch it, Malfoy," Harry said with gritted teeth. He refused to start off their sixth year badly.
"Were you talking to me, Potter?" Malfoy asked; his voice tone was dangerous. Harry reached for his wand, but Hermione stopped him.
"It's not worth it," she told him calmly.
"That's it, Potter. Listen to the mudblood," Malfoy taunted, smirking.
"Hermione, no!" Ron yelled. Hermione had her wand out, pointed at Malfoy's chest.
"Call me a mudblood one more time, Malfoy, and I swear you will regret it," she threatened.
"What are you going to do? Force yourself on me?" he asked. "You're right, that is about the worst thing you can do." He pretended to shudder at the thought. Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back and glared at him. She was not going to let him see her cry, ever.
"Come on, Hermione, let's go," Harry said, shooting Malfoy a dark look as he gently directed Hermione away. After they got seated in their compartment, a fugitive tear escaped from her eye. She wiped it away furiously and focused her gaze out the window. Harry put his arm around her.
"Don't let him get to you," he said softly. "You're probably the best girl he could ever be with," he said, trying to cheer her up. "I mean that as a compliment," he added quickly.
She smiled. "Thanks. I really don't know what I'd do without you two."
"Probably end up murdering Malfoy and be sent to Azkaban," Ron joked, which made them all laugh.
The rest of the train ride went smoothly. Hermione immersed herself in the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6, while Harry and Ron took up their normal conversation of quidditch. Soon, they arrived, unloaded, and gathered in the Great Hall for the start-of-term ceremony.
"Being that I am famished, we'll eat before announcements," Dumbledore said after the Sorting. Immediately after this was said, food appeared on every table in the Great Hall and the students began to eat.
" 'is ih gooh," said Ron, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"What?" asked Hermione, hiding a smile by taking a drink from her goblet. Ron finished swallowing the potatoes, then said, "I said, this is good." Hermione and Harry mumbled their agreement.
In only twenty minutes, nearly everyone was full and the plates began clearing themselves. Dumbledore stood up, clapping his hands to catch everyone's attention.
"First years, and older students, are reminded that the Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden to all students. Classes starting first term begin tomorrow. Also, this year we will be starting a new type of program," he announced.
Throughout the Great Hall, there were murmurs about what could be happening this year. Older students were accustomed to expecting the unexpected, so they were a bit more worried than the first years.
"Most of the staff here at Hogwarts feel that there are too many...unpleasant feelings toward other students, especially with interhouse relations," Dumbledore said. Everyone knew this concerned mainly Gryffindor and Slytherin. Many students from those houses began to feel nervous. What were they going to have to do?
"Therefore, we will be assigning each student a partner from another house. Some will be chosen specially, and others will be random. You can consult the list on the bulletin board in your house common room to find out who your partner is. Being that this may be difficult for some of you, you are only required to spend one hour a day with your partner. Study together, talk, get to know each other. And those of you who think they can skip the hour each day will find that we have set up charms all over the castle. When you spend that hour, you will be detected and checked off for the day. At the end of the day, we will know who spent their hour and who didn't. I recommend you all suffice the hour, or you could be stuck with your partner for a whole week!" Dumbledore explained. "Now, I think that is all. You may proceed to your common rooms."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron had particularly dreading feelings about this because everyone knew their enemies.
"We all know who my 'partner' will be," Harry said grumpily.
"Yeah," said Ron. "Malfoy."
When they got to the common room, everyone was gathered around the bulletin board.
"Might as well go see who we got," Ron said, drearily. They looked at the list...
****************************************************************************
A/N: There's the first chapter. Bit of a cliffhanger. I have good plans for this story, so I hope you all like it. R/R!!
*muah* *~*Amber*~*
"Harry! Ron! It's so good to see you!" Hermione exclaimed, running over to them. A whistle sounded so they said good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and boarded the train.
"C'mon, let's find a compartment before they're all taken," Ron suggested. He opened the door to the one furthest to the back. Mistake.
"What do you want, Weasley?" came a cold voice from inside.
"Watch it, Malfoy," Harry said with gritted teeth. He refused to start off their sixth year badly.
"Were you talking to me, Potter?" Malfoy asked; his voice tone was dangerous. Harry reached for his wand, but Hermione stopped him.
"It's not worth it," she told him calmly.
"That's it, Potter. Listen to the mudblood," Malfoy taunted, smirking.
"Hermione, no!" Ron yelled. Hermione had her wand out, pointed at Malfoy's chest.
"Call me a mudblood one more time, Malfoy, and I swear you will regret it," she threatened.
"What are you going to do? Force yourself on me?" he asked. "You're right, that is about the worst thing you can do." He pretended to shudder at the thought. Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them back and glared at him. She was not going to let him see her cry, ever.
"Come on, Hermione, let's go," Harry said, shooting Malfoy a dark look as he gently directed Hermione away. After they got seated in their compartment, a fugitive tear escaped from her eye. She wiped it away furiously and focused her gaze out the window. Harry put his arm around her.
"Don't let him get to you," he said softly. "You're probably the best girl he could ever be with," he said, trying to cheer her up. "I mean that as a compliment," he added quickly.
She smiled. "Thanks. I really don't know what I'd do without you two."
"Probably end up murdering Malfoy and be sent to Azkaban," Ron joked, which made them all laugh.
The rest of the train ride went smoothly. Hermione immersed herself in the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6, while Harry and Ron took up their normal conversation of quidditch. Soon, they arrived, unloaded, and gathered in the Great Hall for the start-of-term ceremony.
"Being that I am famished, we'll eat before announcements," Dumbledore said after the Sorting. Immediately after this was said, food appeared on every table in the Great Hall and the students began to eat.
" 'is ih gooh," said Ron, his mouth full of mashed potatoes.
"What?" asked Hermione, hiding a smile by taking a drink from her goblet. Ron finished swallowing the potatoes, then said, "I said, this is good." Hermione and Harry mumbled their agreement.
In only twenty minutes, nearly everyone was full and the plates began clearing themselves. Dumbledore stood up, clapping his hands to catch everyone's attention.
"First years, and older students, are reminded that the Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden to all students. Classes starting first term begin tomorrow. Also, this year we will be starting a new type of program," he announced.
Throughout the Great Hall, there were murmurs about what could be happening this year. Older students were accustomed to expecting the unexpected, so they were a bit more worried than the first years.
"Most of the staff here at Hogwarts feel that there are too many...unpleasant feelings toward other students, especially with interhouse relations," Dumbledore said. Everyone knew this concerned mainly Gryffindor and Slytherin. Many students from those houses began to feel nervous. What were they going to have to do?
"Therefore, we will be assigning each student a partner from another house. Some will be chosen specially, and others will be random. You can consult the list on the bulletin board in your house common room to find out who your partner is. Being that this may be difficult for some of you, you are only required to spend one hour a day with your partner. Study together, talk, get to know each other. And those of you who think they can skip the hour each day will find that we have set up charms all over the castle. When you spend that hour, you will be detected and checked off for the day. At the end of the day, we will know who spent their hour and who didn't. I recommend you all suffice the hour, or you could be stuck with your partner for a whole week!" Dumbledore explained. "Now, I think that is all. You may proceed to your common rooms."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron had particularly dreading feelings about this because everyone knew their enemies.
"We all know who my 'partner' will be," Harry said grumpily.
"Yeah," said Ron. "Malfoy."
When they got to the common room, everyone was gathered around the bulletin board.
"Might as well go see who we got," Ron said, drearily. They looked at the list...
****************************************************************************
A/N: There's the first chapter. Bit of a cliffhanger. I have good plans for this story, so I hope you all like it. R/R!!
*muah* *~*Amber*~*
