Author's Note
Just reminding everyone that of course nothing but the plot is mine, sadly, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.
Please R&R, thanks so much for reading!
Hermione's POV
Hermione woke up slowly, at the usual time of 7 am. Her room in the Heads' dormitories was amazing- it suited her taste perfectly. Crookshanks had already made himself at home, and was curled up on the end of her duvet. She stretched, and lay in bed for a while thinking about Life Studies. In the manual she had read on the train, she had found bonding exercises, housekeeping hints, as well as questionnaires and what looked like a list of popular names. Confused, she scratched Crookshanks behind the ears, and looked out the window. The sun was already rising, and it was going to be a beautiful sunny day. Suddenly, she heard a muffled thump, and a groan from down the hall. Crookshanks bolted off the bed, bristly tail held high, and trotted out of her room, to find the source of the noise. She snatched her wand from the bedside table, sighed, and threw herself out of bed. She padded down the hallway between hers and Draco's rooms, and found herself outside his door. She raised her fist to hammer on the door, only to have it flung open, and hit the 17 year old wizard in the chest. She looked up at him in shock, and laughed out loud at the bewildered expression on his face, after being punched so early in the morning. The bewilderment soon turned to a glare, and Hermione started rolling on the floor with mirth, tears streaming down her face.
"So glad you find me amusing, Granger."
"Your face, Malfoy! So, so brilliant!"
He huffed and stormed into the colossal bathroom, leaving a still shaking Hermione to pick herself up from the floor. She shook her head, chuckling, and retreated to her room to get dressed.
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Draco had already left for breakfast when she emerged from her chamber, so she walked down the stone staircases by herself, and sat between Ron and Ginny at the Gryffindor table.
"Morning, everyone." She said
"Morning, Hermione. What do you reckon this Life Studies class is going to be about?" asked Harry
"Well, I've taken a look through the manual, and it seems to be some sort of team building challenge. You remember how the Sorting Hat kept going on about uniting the houses? I think it's something like that."
"Muks shens I ghus."
"Oh, swallow first, will you Ron?" he did so.
"Makes sense, I guess."
"Mm."
Breakfast passed without incident. At the conclusion, Dumbledore stood up and asked that anyone under the age of 17 leave, meaning any students who were not 7th or 8th years. The younger students filed out, giving curious looks to the seniors. Once they were all out, Dumbledore smiled at the remaining students.
"On your timetables, you will see that you have Life Studies class right now. Professor Nettles is taking this class, so I ask that you stay silent and respect her as she informs you about the course requirements.
The students remained patient as the tall blond beauty took the podium.
"Good morning, students. Welcome to what is technically your first Life Studies class. Now, this class is utterly unlike any you will have taken under the normal Hogwarts curriculum. You will be partnered with a member of the opposite sex, regardless of house and personal preference. You will not be given a choice about whether you want to be partnered or not- last week, the ministry made it the law to teach this class at every wizarding school. Your partner will be determined by a personality test, and the ones with the most likely answers will be paired.
"You and your partner will have a house designated to you, based on your combined net worth. You will, essentially, be married for the year. You will also have jobs designated to you, based on your academic marks at this school. During the term 1 holiday, you will take a potion which will make the female member of the partnership pregnant, until the Christmas holidays. Then, she will give birth and the pair of you will be expected to raise the baby lovingly for the remaining 5 months. Now, this baby ages four times as fast as a normal magical baby for this year only, so by the end of the year, your child should be around 1 ½ to 2 years old. Do not mistake me. This baby is a very real human being, and the aging spell cast on it only affects the child for the remainder of this year. Once school is finished, the baby will age normally, and continue to become a fully-fledged adult wizard, and live out a long, complete life."
At this there was mumbling and worried discussion as the students of Hogwarts realized that their youth was about to be stolen away from them for the purpose of a school class.
"Quiet please!" Professor Nettles continued.
"At the conclusion of the year, you have to make one of two choices. Your first option is to go your separate way from your partner, and give up your child for adoption in one of the magical orphanages of Europe. Your second choice, however, is to marry your partner, the cost of which will be paid for in full by the ministry, and keep your child to raise it into adulthood. The jobs you will be given will also remain open to you after you graduate, due to the work experience you will collect this year. You will only be required to attend your job for 2 hours from Monday-Friday, and for 5 hours on the weekend.
"The ministry has decided to implement this programme throughout schools in Europe for two reasons. First of all, to teach you about responsibility for after you have left school. Many teenage witches and wizards do not realize the challenges of the real world, and after graduation, many struggle and fail to succeed further. The second, and most important reason, however, is that due to the great war, the magical population has decreased by about 20%. This is such a significant low in the magical bloodline that the ministry is set on doing all it can to replenish it. Either choice you make, a magical baby will be provided to the community.
"Now we shall commence the personality tests. I would like the girls to follow me, and the boys to follow Professor Slughorn. Hurry hurry!"
With that, the young teacher began to trot down from the podium, heading for the entrance hall. The girls still seated quickly followed behind. The boys grumbled their way out of their seats, and trailed slowly after, looking shaken.
Once in a small room all set up for exam-condition testing, Professor Nettles directed all of the girls to sit down and begin the paper. Hermione headed for a desk at the front of the classroom, and for once, slumped in her seat. She opened her test paper.
Question One.
What is your favourite colour?
Question Two.
How many siblings do you have?
Question Three.
How many serious relationships have you had?
And so on, for 177 questions.
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At the end of the test, Professor Nettles gathered up the test papers and headed back to the front of the classroom.
"Thank you, ladies. Now, please head back to the Great Hall so that the pairing can begin."
Once back in the Great Hall, the Goblet of Fire was brought out, this time to pair students together instead of selecting the most capable. The students shifted nervously, embarrassed to be forced to live with one another for a year. Some of the girls saw the plan as a sort of fairy-tale romance, but not Hermione. She was disgusted by the excited whispers she overheard about how cute the babies would be, or how they would decorate their new houses. The only aspect of the project that made it bearable was the opportunity for work experience, in her opinion. She turned her attention to the front of the room as the flame from the goblet turned white. Professor added in the girls' test papers at that point. Then, the flame turned black. Professor Slughorn added the boys' papers. The entire 7th and 8th year student body watched as the goblet burned, spitting sparks every so often. Hermione marvelled at how skilled the magic must have had to be to get an inanimate object to process and pair up the lives of real people without ever meeting them.
In a shower of sparks, the goblet glowed black and shot a scrap of paper out. Professor Slughorn caught it, and read out the name.
"Theodore Nott"
The goblet spat out another piece of paper while glowing white, and Professor Nettles nearly missed it.
"Pansy Parkinson"
The two students were summoned to the front of the room, where they were lead into a secret room behind the teachers' platform. Hermione assumed that it was where living arrangements were handed out.
The goblet continued in this fashion for about 15 more pairs, when,
"Harry Potter"
"Lisa Cullen"
The Gryffindor table clapped as the two Gryffindors made their way to the door.
Hermione was clapping placidly when she heard Professor Nettles' voice.
"Hermione Granger."
She sat bolt upright, waiting with bated breath to hear the name of the man she would have to learn to live with for the next year. Unfortunately, it came as pleasantly as a slap with a dead fish.
"Draco Malfoy"
The silence in the Great Hall was deafening.