Chapter 9-

Disclaimer: You guys know the deal… if you can find it in a HP book or on rhapsody it's not ours… "Why Does It Always Rain on Me" is provided by Travis.

I can't sleep tonight
Everybody saying everything's alright
Still I can't close my eyes
I'm seeing a tunnel at the end of all these lights

Sarah awoke the next morning with a pounding headache and a knot in her stomach. She knew that her first impression with her housemates wasn't exactly something to be proud of. And although she would much rather have stayed in bed she decided to face the day with the best smile she could muster and went to get ready for her first day of classes.

Meagan, however, awoke refreshed and excited. She donned her new robes and eagerly headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Her first night at Hogwarts was spent amidst a crowd of new faces all eager to know about their new fifth-year. She made instant friends with two girls named Parvati and Lavender and couldn't help but noticed the attention of a shy young man that sat a few seats away.

'Yes', Meagan told herself, 'Hogwarts is everything I hoped it would be and more.'

The two sisters were able to meet each other outside the Great Hall and looked at their schedules together. In frustration Sarah noted that they only had three classes together; Potions, Transfiguration, and Herbology.

"Lovely, simply lovely," Sarah exclaimed under her breath, "I totally blew it last night and now, as if being friendless isn't enough, I get to endure my oh-so-charming housemates alone. I knew I should have stayed in bed."

"Oh, come now, Sarah. It can't be that bad. I'm sure things will get better," Meagan said encouragingly.

"Maybe you're right… I'll try to look for the silver lining, however much I doubt its existence." Sarah sighed, glumly.

Sunny days
Where have you gone?
I get the strangest feeling you belong
Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can't avoid the lightning

But Meagan was so dreadfully wrong. Sarah ate breakfast alone; Randy ate with Cassie, who Randy realized, after he was able to untie his tongue, had much more to her than just the ability to dazzle even when soaked to the bone. Needless to say Sarah's mood was no brighter when she entered her first class, Potions. Her spirits plummeted further when Professor Snape paired her with the infamous Mr. Malfoy, which, Sarah was convinced, he did purely out of spite.

"I refuse to work with that… that filth!" Draco exclaimed with indignation. "She probably can't even manage a boil cure potion, let alone a Confusing Concoction!"

"Your thoughts, Miss Abernathy?" Snape inquired.

"I don't believe the quality of my work would be affected either way, Professor." Sarah answered, truly caring very little.

"Very well, Miss Abernathy, I trust your judgment and I have too little patience with such things to force you to work together. Therefore, you each shall work alone." Snape replied dully.

Draco turned to Sarah with a smug sneer, satisfied that he had won. 'Oh, I'll get you yet, Malfoy. I have a special trick up my sleeve for rotten pigs like you.' thought Sarah venomously.

"He's so wrong about her." Meagan whispered to Ron, whom she'd been paired with, "Sarah got top marks in every course of Potions she's ever taken and she even got advanced placement because she's so good. She even tutored seventh-years back in Australia."

"Malfoy acts like he earns all his grades in this class but it's rumored that Snape's padded some of his grades."

"I suppose it's his loss then. Serves him right." Meagan replied.

I can't stand myself
I'm being held up by an invisible man
Still life on a shelf when
I got my mind on something else

The minutes ticked by slowly and before most of the class had really had the opportunity to perfect their potions, the dismissal tone rang through the echoing dungeons. Eager to escape the confines of the classroom, students hastily packed up their belongings and, dipping a sample of their potion into a glass beaker, laid their potion on Snape's desk and hurriedly left, lest any potion (or their professor's wrath) exploded.

Snape briskly approached Draco, placing a firm hand upon the boy's shoulder, stopping him from leaving. "A word with you, Mr. Malfoy," he said his voice quiet. Draco looked at his professor with a hint of confusion, but seeing no alternative he sat moodily in his seat, waiting as the rest of his classmates filed out, some pointing out his delayed departure with sniggers and jeers, automatically assuming that Draco was being held for a poor performance. Draco had to satisfy himself with simply watching as Snape hastened the departure of a couple students who were desperately attempting to salvage their potions, which were to far gone to even bother with. After Snape had disdainfully pointed this fact out to the pair, he effectively cleared the classroom, and approached his office, turning back in order to give Draco a look that clearly communicated that he should follow.

"Professor, I-" Draco began as he followed Snape down the cavernous hall that led to Snape's private office.

"You will hold your protests until we reach my office, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said coolly. Removing his wand from his inky robes, Snape muttered an unintelligible incantation that caused the doorknob to glow first yellow, then pink, then finally return to its original color. Snape waited only the shortest moment to open the door and usher Draco inside, shutting the door firmly behind him before situating himself once more behind his desk. "Mr. Malfoy," Snape began, "It is my impression that you have the belief that that little tantrum in class would be rewarded by your ability to work independently for the remainder of the year."

Draco frowned, knitting his pale eyebrows. "I am more than capable of the work, Professor…"

"Yes, but what makes you think that you have gained sufficient favor over the rest of the class for that outburst to go unchallenged? You know as well as I that as your professor, I am bound not to show any favoritism, and while I have shown some favor in the past, letting this go surpasses even my own boundaries," Snape said, raising an eyebrow in a sort of challenge for Draco to protest.

Seeing where the conversation was inevitably leading, Draco felt it only right for him to protest and interject his feelings on the matter. "But it is no less than punishment for me to be forced to work with that… upstart!" he argued.

"You have known Ms. Abernathy for all of a day and yet you can pass that critical judgment on her so assuredly?" Snape said with an emotion that could almost be called amusement, except that Severus Snape was never amused.

Sunny days
Where have you gone?
I get the strangest feeling you belong
Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
Why does it always rain on me?
Even when the sun is shining
I can't avoid the lightning

While Draco could point out a thousand things wrong with his professor's last statement, not the least of which was the hypocrisy of it all, he made the decision that it would not help his cause to do so. Instead, he settled for a mild eye roll and then prepared himself to argue his case, but was instead cut off once more.

"Mr. Malfoy, I understand your displeasure with being partnered with Miss Abernathy," Snape said, uncharacteristically understanding. "And while I cannot simply allow you to go the entire year working independently, I could allow you to earn your independence in a way. Since your primary argument, I assume, lies not in character but rather in ability," he said, pausing a moment as though daring Draco to say otherwise. "…I will propose a wager of sorts to you. If you are, indeed, a more competent student than Miss Abernathy, I will ensure that, so long as it is in my power to do so, you will never have to work with her. However, if indeed Miss Abernathy is a better potions student than you, it is within my rights to pair you two together for this year and potentially subsequent years," he said.

Seeing no better option, Draco reluctantly agreed.

Oh, where did the blue skies go?
And why is it raining so?
It's so cold
I can't sleep tonight
Everybody's saying everything's all right
Still I can't close my eyes
I'm seeing a tunnel at the end of the lights

After Draco had exited his office, Snape sat at his desk grading several papers and began to recall his discussion with Narcissa about her son. It was because of this discussion that he had paired the two together. From the moment he had been introduced to the Abernathys he knew that Sarah would be the perfect catalyst for Draco's change. This was reinforced when Snape read her school records from Australia. 'She's like no other girl he knows. She's intelligent and ambitious. She knows when to stand her ground. She's passionate and humble. She isn't boastful, that was proven during class, for she could have easily proclaimed her proficiency for the art of potion-making.

Draco exited the dungeons on his way to Herbology. As he trod the path to the greenhouses he ran into Harry and Ron.

"Oh look it's Potter and his pet, Weasel."

"I wouldn't be so coy, Malfoy. You're the one whose gonna lose to a girl." Ron replied with a crude version of a sneer.

"And who ever put that thought into your bungling brain? And you better fix your face lest it become permanently fixed that way."

"There's word going around the grounds that Sarah is a near expert on Potions. High marks in all her classes, collaborations with past professors, even tutored seventh years. You'd be hard tried to get better grades then her." Harry commented stonily.

"I'm not impressed. I hear tell the school in Australia isn't as stringent with their grades as Hogwarts is. No, I doubt I'll have any trouble getting and keeping better marks than her." Malfoy declared proudly.

"Prove it! If you can get better marks then we'll owe you 20 galleons. But if you can't, you have to pay us."

"Deal, but I don't want Potter's money I want yours, Weasel. I never lose a bet."

"We'll see about that. My pockets feel heavier already." Harry and Ron scoffed as they entered Greenhouse 5.

Sunny days
Where have you gone?
I get the strangest feeling you belong
Why does it always rain on me?
Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?
Even when the sun is shining
I can't avoid the lightning
Oh, where did the blue skies go?
And why is it raining so?
It's so cold
Why does it always rain on me?
Why does it always rain on...

A.N. We are soo sorry it took this long to post this chapter. Thank you for putting up with us lazy, unmotivated and /or extremely busy college student writer. We really appreciate it. And we promise that the next chapter will 1) be longer and 2) be about more than one class…. Sorry 'bout that.

Always With Love,

Cutebookworm and Writeonkate