"Harry, I'm telling you, it wasn't normal. The way they were acting was insane!" Hermione argued, getting more and more irritated. It had been a little over a week since the incident in the Slytherin common room. Harry still wasn't convinced that some of the Slytherins might be against Voldemort. They were standing in the entrance to the Great Hall, ten minutes before classes started. She had had enough of him denying it. She knew what normal was for those people and their recent actions was definitely not it! She would find out what was going on, goddamn it!
"So? They're Slytherins. Of course they were acting insane." Harry sighed. "I refuse to believe that arrogant purebloods like Malfoy and Zabini would ever give up everything to side with Light."
"Look at Nott! He's one of their best friends, a member of the Slytherin inner circle and he's just announced his neutrality and gained Dumbledore's trust." She was growing seriously impatient. Harry always thought the worst of everyone.
"Mione you need to stop thinking that these people can change. They can't! They've had blood purity and prejudice pounded into their head since the day they were born." He told her, sick of how she always hoped for the best.
"Obviously they're not the only ones." She whispered softly, turning on her heel and walking towards her first class, Ancient Runes. When she arrived, the only others students in there were Malfoy and Zabini. She was oddly fortunate; she had every class with at least one of them. She had been watching them closely. The two Slytherin bad boys currently had their heads close together, discussing something.
"Malfoy, Zabini." Hermione greeted them as she walked in. They both nodded and turned back to their conversation, but she wasn't done. "What's been going on with your House?"
"I don't know what you mean, Granger." Malfoy said loftily.
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean. You've all been acting very…odd." She told him, ignoring his arrogant attitude.
"Your use of description awes me, Mudblood." Zabini remarked dryly.
"Oh, can it Zabini. If you really believe in all that prejudice, then why is a good portion of your own House referring to your little group as blood traitors?" Both men simply stared at her, sizing her up. "I'm right, aren't I? You're going to switch sides?"
"And what reason would we have for doing that?" Malfoy's voice was low and smooth. Almost dangerous. Hermione felt herself begin to tremble slightly under his icy stare.
"I…I don't know." Malfoy and Zabini smirked. "But I will find out."
Their smirks faded. "You listen here, Granger. Don't go meddling in other peoples business." People were beginning to enter the classroom. They eyed the tense trio at the front of the class apprehensively. "You don't need to know everything. Just stay out of it. You'll know the truth soon enough." He turned and quickly went to his seat.
"Yeah, Granger. Wouldn't want our lovely Head Girl getting bitten by the snakes, now would we?" Blaise smiled charmingly before following his best mate to his seat. Hermione recovered quickly, walking to her own desk. One the way past them, she whispered,
"But what if I already know more then you think?" She gave them the most arrogant smirk she could muster before moving on. She was bluffing, of course. She knew absolutely nothing about what was going on with the Slytherins, but she was determined to find out. Snape's original assessment of her, that she took pride in knowing everything, was spot on. Her curiosity was insatiable.
Pansy sat in her last class of the day, History of Magic, trying to her hardest to ignore both the lesson and the students. Daphne and her little sycophants were trying there hardest to push her over the edge, while Granger of all people kept shooting her odd looks. Draco was ignoring her, something had clearly pissed him off and Theo actually liked this class. Strange boy. A loud snore shook the room, but Professor Binns took no notice. The Head Girl, however, did.
"Honestly Ronald," She whispered to him, shaking her head. Of course it would be a Weasley snoring like that. She examined his sleepy appearance. His red hair was mussed, his eyes heavy lidded, and he had a goody grin plastered across his face even as his fellow Gryffindors teased him. She sometimes wished Slytherin boys would be like that. Happy and laid-back, easily taking criticism without getting pissed off. But no, it was all about pureblood importance, any joking insult was a personal affront to the whole family and would be dealt with accordingly. She continued watching as Granger swatted him playfully on the head and ordered him to pay attention when she knew he probably wouldn't. Suddenly, he looked up and for just a moment, his smiling, cerulean eyes met her ice blue ones. She stared back boldly, daring him to say something. His goofy smile transformed into a devious little grin and she had to stop herself from smiling back. Narrowing her eyes, she gave him her patented sneer and looked away.
Lowering her head, Pansy buried a hand in her hair and closed her eyes, willing away Ronald Weasley and his stupid smile. It took her a few seconds to notice that the whole class was packing up around her. She jumped up and shoved her books in her back before hurrying from the class. She turned left, against the flow of the students, heading for the nearest bathroom. Someone called her name, but she kept moving. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts. Why would Weasley smile at her like that? She was a Slytherin and he was a Gryffindor. Natural enemies. Besides, everyone knew he and Granger had the hots for each other, but were too scared to do anything about it.
Calm down, breathe Pansy, breathe. She told herself over and over again, it was just a smile. Nothing more. For all you know, he was smiling at someone behind you.
'Umm wrong, Dumb-shit. There was no one behind you.'
Oh…right…still. Just a smile. That's it.
'A smile you happened to like very much…'
Pansy!" A voice cut in to her inner babble and she stopped walking. Draco was right behind her, eyeing her like she had three heads. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"What? Can't a girl use the loo with an interrogation?" She snapped, feeling gratified when he looked down guiltily.
His guilt only lasted for a few seconds before he was back to his usual self. "We have a problem."
She arched one perfect eyebrow, "And what would that be?"
"Grangers been very…inquisitive…since yours and Daphne's little spat."
"How very interesting. I noticed she was giving me weird looks." She thought on it for a second. "Why does it matter? There's not much to it. Our parents are dicks and we hate them, so we plan on leaving our families. Simple. Easy."
"You really think it will be that easy?" He sneered at her, "Our families will use every chance they can get to hunt us down and torture us to death. Especially considering you and Weasley's interesting connection in class today."
"You wipe that sneer off your face, Draco Malfoy!" She yelled at him, "I'm not some cowering little Hufflepuff. You can't scare me. There is nothing going on between Ron Weasley and me. Ron Weasley is nothing to me. Now fuck off. You can deal with Granger. Since your obviously so concerned with her."
Pansy stalked off, leaving him to deal with his own shit. Halfway to the girls' bathroom, she bumped into someone.
"Watch it!" Snarled, reaching out a hand to steady herself. She would have gone crashing down if strong hands hadn't caught her around the waste.
"You should really learn to not walk around while so deep in angry thoughts. Makes you rather clumsy." Ron Weasley told her, his face dead serious, his eyes bright and amused.
"Let go of me, Weasley. Like I need a filthy blood traitor like you to help a pureblood like me." She wriggled in his grasp.
"Fine by me." He let go of her rather suddenly, and this time she did fall, much to his amusement. He offered her his hand, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Parkinson."
She gingerly took hold of his hand, allowing him to pull her up. To avoid looking at him, she bent to collect her things, but his hand caught her under the chin, forcing her to look at him. "Don't let him get to you, okay? And stop calling me a blood traitor. We both know you don't care about that shit anymore."
He handed Pansy's belongings to her and walked away whistling. She never made it to the bathroom, instead going to the Hospital Wing for a Calming Draught. She skipped dinner and went straight to bed.
Draco exited the common room and waited outside the door for Granger. He couldn't believe his luck. They would be patrolling together tonight, giving him the perfect chance to figure how much knew, or how much she thought she knew. He didn't put bluffing past that stuck up bitch.
"You're here early," She said brightly, in a ridiculously good mood.
"You're awfully chipper, Granger. Had a nice snog session with the Weasel, did we? Or was it Scar-head?" He continued on as her face got redder and redder, "On second thought, its none of the above, now is it? The adjective 'nice' could never be applied when considering snogging Weasley or Potter."
"You just have to be a royal git, don't you Mafoy?" She snarled.
"I don't know about git, but royal does apply." He sneered at her.
"You just couldn't let me continue on having a good night! Just because you're miserable doesn't give you the right to torment everyone else." She paused to take a deep breath, "Can we just do our patrols? We don't have to speak." She stalked off, wand held tightly in her hand.
"Not so fast, Granger." He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "I want to know what the hell it is you think you know about my friends and me."
"I'm sorry, I can't answer that question seeing as it makes absolutely no sense. You see, slimy ferrets like you can't have friends. That would mean you're capable of caring about people and since your so obviously not…" She trailed off and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Alright, listen up, Granger. You may have everyone else convinced that you're the perfect little Golden Girl, but I see right through it. You're nothing more then an insufferable, know-it-all, mudblood who can't keep her ugly nose out of other peoples business. Now you tell me what the fuck it is you think you know, or I'll ruin you." He shoved her into the wall for good measure, keeping her pinned there. She was noticeably paler and shaking. Good. Fucking bitch deserved to be scared shitless for once.
"Alright, have it your way. All I know is that Slytherin house is divided, though not evenly. There's you and your little friends, plus a few others, on one side. Although what your side is for, I have no clue. Then there's all the normal Slytherins. They obviously stand for Voldemort and his lot." She finished, staring up at him with confused eyes, "Let me go?"
He lifted his arm and she slipped away, adjusting her robes. "So I guess the question still stands. What are you for?"
Draco knew that this would be the moment to change how she saw him. To mend fences, so to speak. But he was still a Malfoy and she was still a Mudblood. Nothing would ever change that. Still…a part him wanted to change, wanted to be better in her eyes. Despite all the insults he had just hurled at her, she was the embodiment if everything light side was fighting for. Compassionate and strong, he knew if there was ever a chance of redemption in the Wizarding World's eyes, it was with her. If she believed in him, she'd fight until the end to prove it.
But again, he was a Malfoy. He didn't deserve redemption. "I'm for me, myself, and I. Nothing else would be suitable for a Malfoy." He gave her his best sneer, but it felt weak.
She gazed at him for a second, before nodding, a strange resolution in her eyes. "Fine. Let's get a move on then… The Head boy and girl should not be slacking off on patrol. What kind of example does it set?"
He almost grinned. Typical Granger, always thinking of her duties and the example she was setting for everyone else.
Theo sat two bookshelves over from where Astoria was quietly studying, keeping a careful eye on both the door and the girl. Not many people understood how much danger Tori was in and from her own sister no less! He knew Daphne Greengrass. Had dated her back in there fifth year. She was an amazing actress, able to portray the perfect innocent if need be. Underneath her sweet girl act though, she was a bitter, cruel, bitch. Just like almost every other pureblood woman out there. At first, she Astoria as the competition, a danger to her position as the top Death Eater of the next generation. When she realized that her younger sister had no interest in being a Death Eater, she saw her as a prize. Capture and turn over the turncoat, giving them leverage over the other defectors because of how much they cared about her.
And they really did. Astoria was the baby of the group, the young innocent that everyone couldn't help but want to protect. Even Draco, though he would never admit it. Theo, though, Theo really cared about her. When he and Daphne had broken up right before the end of fifth year, Astoria had made him laugh.
He sat on the couch in the empty Slytherin common room, staring into the fire. It was four in the morning, no one should be up. But she was. Astoria quietly crossed the common room and sat down on the couch next to him, staring into the flames.
She hadn't said anything. There hadn't been a need. She had done what most Slytherins would have seen as weak: Offered her company to a friend in need. Hell, he wasn't even a friend. Just the boy her older sister had recently dumped on his ass. They sat there until the sun started to rise, neither saying a word. Finally, she turned to him, looking at him with her big, green eyes. He'd always thought she was perfect little copy of Daphne, but this close to her, gazing into her eyes, he could see the huge differences.
Where Daphne's features were sharp and angular, Astoria had a certain softness, a femininity about her that Daphne lacked. Her eyes were different in color, rounder, and more innocent. They were perfect, giving away nothing and yet everything. Theo didn't know if that made any sense at all, but that was the only way he could describe it. Astoria was all grace and poise, and he knew she didn't even realize it by the insecure way she always seemed to duck her head. He was dying to just tell her that if she'd look up for more then a split second, the world would see the delicate beauty that she was.
That was the only night she had ever let it show and he'd fallen in love with her right then and there.
"My sister's a cruel bitch and she was never worth your time. Just let her go on being the way she is, cause she will get hers in the end." She smiled lightly at him and pecked him on the cheek before silently leaving. If he couldn't still feel her kiss on his cheek, he'd swear he'd dreamed the whole thing.
The slamming of a heavy book drew him out of his memories. She was getting ready to leave. Dodging behind a bookshelf, he let her get down the hallway a bit before following her. He knew it was creepy, borderline stalker-ish, but he wanted to keep her safe. If they survived this war, he swore he would make her his one day.
Okay, so I originally planned for all the romances to be slow developing since I revealed who the couples would be in the summary, but then I realized there should some romance while everyone else tries to get there shit together. So here's a general overview of our future couples:
Draco/Hermione: The extremely slow to develop, up, down, and all around couple. She can't truly trust him because he's too much of a Slytherin to reveal enough of himself for her to actually know him.
Ron/Pansy: The sweet, hard to get couple. He's laid back enough to try and let her come to him, but eventually his impatience will out way his easy-going nature. She's too scared to say she actually cares for fear she will lose him.
Theo/Astoria: The couple with the long hidden feelings. Something has always gotten in the way of their romance whether it be family, age, or a full-blown war. Not to mention teenage stupidity. Times running out though, and neither is willing to wait much longer.
Blaise/OC: Blaise's ladylove hasn't been introduced yet, but it will be absolute love at first sight, even if he's the only one who can see through her act. One of them will need the others support to recover from the abuse he/she has suffered.
Well, that's all for the authors note, thanks for reading. I'd really love reviews, I mean; I know you're reading it. They make a traffic page :D Reviews would really be encouraging and I always try to make time to personally thank my reviewers and take their ideas into account. So…. Happy Reading everyone! R&R Please