A/N: Well, this is, of course, the chapter four. I think it starts where the other left off, and this one's called, "In My Lies."

I'm trying to get all of these chapters around 1500 words… and this one is just over that amount. *grins*

If anyone wants to be e-mailed when I get a new chapter up, please leave your e-mail address and say that you want the announcement/thing.

Rating: PG-13 for suggestive language, etc.

Pairings: Harry/Pansy, Hermione/Draco, Ron/Padma, and Ginny/Neville

Disclaimer: We all know that if I owned this, I would not be posting it on fanfiction.net, I would be selling it and making millions of dollars. Well, if people can stomach the Harry/Pansy pairing, lol.

***************

Harry narrowed his eyes as he stared at Pansy. There was something familiar about her...more, of course, than the fact that they'd been going to the same school for almost seven years. But the only way that he would think that would be if...no. She couldn't be the girl. It was impossible. Unthinkable. Everyone knew that Pansy was an ice-bitch -- as much as it pained him to say it, seeing as how Harry really was a nice boy -- who sucked up to the Malfoys and other influential Death Eaters. He let the thought pass, and quickly dropped her hand.

It would be hard enough working on this project with her. It wouldn't help if he suspected her of being the first girl -- he gulped -- he'd ever had sex with. He almost wished that he hadn't. But there was another part of him that stomped on the guilt so quickly, he wasn't even sure it had been there in the first place.

They sat in silence a few more minutes before McGonagall glared at them, at which time they quickly got to work.

***

Harry packed up his books slowly, and was not surprised to find his two best friends waiting impatiently outside the room.

"Where were you?" Hermione demanded, frowning. They started towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I could have used your help out here," Ron said, scowling at Hermione.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's just upset because Draco kissed me."

Ron reddened. "Well he didn't have to be so..."

Harry laughed, trying to ignore the sharp pain in the area near his heart. "Let me guess. He started to just give her a peck on the cheek, but then you glared at him, and he pulled her into a passionate kiss." It was the same old story, every time. No matter how much he tried to get along with Hermione's friends, Draco couldn't resist annoying Ron.

Ron looked at Harry closely. He knew that Harry was in love with Hermione. It was why he had always chased away any boys that were after her. But Ron hadn't known about Draco's and Hermione's relationship early enough, before the two had formed an attachment. And so now it was almost impossible to get Draco to go. Ron was worried about Harry, plain and simple.

Hermione chuckled slightly before frowning again. "Well, what took so long? You know very well it doesn't take that long to pack up your books."

Harry shrugged noncommittally.

Ron eyed him. "It was Pansy, wasn't it? That bi--"

Both Harry and Hermione yelled "Ron!" at the same time.

"Pansy is not a bitch," Hermione said so slowly, it was obvious she was trying to keep her temper in check. "And I would think that after my dating Draco, you would be more accepting of the fact that not all Slytherins are bad." She brightened. "Did you know that she's fourth in our year? Only Draco, Brianna Evans, and myself are ahead of her. She even beat you, Harry," she said, nodding at her best friend.

Harry raised a brow. "Well, before today I might not have believed you. But I found out while we were talking about the project, where and when to meet and such, that she's almost as organized as you are. And she takes notes meticulously."

Hermione smiled at Ron. "See?"

Ron scowled at them. "Fine."

Hermione's smiled melted into a smirk as she looked at Ron. "So, how was Millicent?"

Ron shuddered. "Not good. She looked like she wanted to bite my head off."

They had gotten to the Fat Lady's portrait, and Harry gave the password, "Frog legs." The Fat Lady winked at them and opened the portrait.

As they walked into the common room, Hermione's smirk widened. "Maybe she wanted to bite somethi--"

"Hermione!" Ron gasped, attracting the attention of the other students in the common room. "You've been spending way too much time around Draco. Don't you agree, Harry?"

But Harry had already left for the dormitory.

***

Pansy lay back in her bed and sighed. They'd gotten a good amount of the work done, or at least the first part of it. Pansy was happy to say that Harry did quite well in Transfiguration. Of course, she'd been watching him for the past six and half years, but she had never gotten to see him really work. She would have been accused of trying to cheat if anyone had caught her taking a peek at his homework or a project he was working on. She sighed. It was one of the bad things about being a Slytherin.

The hat had wanted to put her in Ravenclaw, but she'd told it no, quite firmly, that if she didn't get into Slytherin, her mother wouldn't like it. The hat had conceded, if a bit unwillingly. She remembered the exact words so well, she knew they would be forever engrained in her memory...

"Ah, a Parkinson...your family has a history in Slytherin. Hufflepuff? Pfft. No, you're much too smart for Hufflepuff... You're cunning, as well. While they are all good qualities in a Slytherin, I also find ... honor, and loyalty. All good Gryffindor traits. But I do not believe that is the house for you ...  You've got brains, yes... Oh, yes. You would do quite well in Ravenclaw. No? Then it better be SLYTHERIN!"

Pansy shook her head, trying to shake the memory. The fact that she might have better chance with Harry if she had only let the hat do what it wanted always made her depressed. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad...

But she knew it was a lie. Her mother would have pulled her out of Hogwarts if Pansy had become a Ravenclaw. And then she wouldn't even have had the solace of being able to watch him.

Pansy glanced at the clock. It was a few more minutes till she needed to head to lunch, so she grabbed the Transfiguration homework McGonagall had assigned to them. Just because they were working on a project was no reason to neglect their other studies, especially with the NEWTs coming up. Or so McGonagall said.

After finishing the work, she realized that she was about ten minutes late for lunch. She quickly grabbed the books for her next class and hurried towards the Great Hall.

Unfortunately, there was another person late for lunch, and they were coming from the opposite direction, neither watching where they were going.

Not surprisingly, they collided. Books, quills, and scrolls went flying, but luckily, Pansy was stopped from falling by a pair of strong arms. She recognized them, although she knew he didn't know she did. She'd spent almost three hours with him on the third floor...

Pansy snapped herself out of her thoughts and quickly stepped back from the man -- for a man he was, much more than a boy in both mind and form -- and bent down to start picking up her things. She berated herself mentally as she picked up the quills and scrolls, and was startled when the man knelt down to help. He handed her the books, gave her a small smile, and headed into the Great Hall. Pansy stared after him, wondering if he knew how much the help -- not to mention the smile -- had meant to her.

***

Harry frowned into his chicken and ham sandwich. He was sitting in the Great Hall, trying to eat lunch.

"Harry? What's the matter?" Hermione, who was sitting on his right, asked him.

Ron, next to Hermione, nodded vigorously, his mouth full of food.

Harry shrugged. "Nothing." Hermione raised a brow superciliously. "Fine. I ran into Pansy out in the hall. Literally." But he stopped there.

Hermione nodded, obviously accepting the fact that he wasn't going to say anything more. Ron, however, did not. He and Hermione began arguing about Pansy again.

Harry drifted back into his thoughts. Why had he helped Pansy pick up her things? He would have thought instinct, but he'd noticed it was her before he helped. She'd seemed awestruck by his behavior, and he couldn't help but share her amazement. He knew that if Draco had knocked Hermione down in the hallway he would have sneered at her--

Harry jerked, almost visibly. No, he corrected himself slowly, that was the old Draco. The one before his father died. The one before the fall of the Dark Lord. The one still in fear of what would happen if he didn't live up to his father's -- as well as Voldemort's -- wishes and expectations. The new Draco... the new Draco would have helped Hermione just like Harry had helped Pansy.

And that disturbed him more than anything.