The Fine Line

And here's the other one... R R, please.

The Rebels:

Blaise and Hermione left Potions together. They ignored all the looks they were getting from the other students of the school.

"...A Gryffindor and a Slytherin"

"...That's unheard of"

"...What does Granger think she's doing"

Blaise and Hermione reached the Great Hall, talking about finishing off their potion next week in Potions.

"Well, it takes until the full moon for the potion to mature. If someone were to drink it right now, they'd go insane" Hermione said.

"And here I thought you'd said you were losing your smarts. Doesn't sound to me like anything is wrong with you right now"

Hermione laughed.

"Oh look; there's Ron" she said, pointing at a thin, freckled boy with flaming red hair and a rather long nose. The boy was talking pleasantly with the two other boys opposite to him.

Hermione led Blaise to the Gryffindor table. As they walked, eyes followed them.

They reached the part of the table where Ron and the two other boys were talking. One of the two boys had been saying something, but interrupted himself as soon as he spotted Blaise.

"You're being followed by Slytherin scum, Hermione" the boy with the sandy hair said with a strong Irish accent.

Hermione frowned at him.

"Actually, Seamus, she's with me. This is Blaise Zambini and she'll be eating dinner with us today" Hermione said.

"''Mione have you lost your marbles? She's a Slytherin! She can't sit here"

"I know perfectly well who she is, Ron. Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you could see past the fact that she's in Slytherin, you'd know that she's really quite a nice person" Hermione began"In fact, I brought her to introduce her to you, because I thought you two would get along well"

"And how is it that you and her are so close all of a sudden"

"She's my potions partner."

"Why? Weren't there any Gryffindors left? How come you paired with her"

"You do all realize that I am right here" Blaise finally joined in.

The black boy sitting next to the boy named Seamus laughed.

"Well, I like her" he declared"and she's not to hard on the eyes either" he added, winking at Blaise.

Blaise blushed and smiled at him.

"Name's Dean Thomas. Pleased to meet you, Blaise" he said, nodding at her.

"Pleased to meet you too" she said, still smiling.

"See? If Dean can get along with her so can you" Hermione said.

"We'll see..." Ron said sulkily.

Hermione took a seat next to Ron and Blaise sat next to her. A few nearby Gryffindors glared at Blaise before returning to what they were doing.

"So what's the potion you two are brewing" Seamus asked, obviously deciding to give Blaise a chance.

"Draught of Truth" Hermione answered"Blaise and I think Snape's probably going to use against us all."

Ron snorted.

"Wouldn't put it past the bastard" he said, looking at Blaise as he insulted her head-of-house.

'He probably thinks I'm going to defend him.'

"Aren't you going to defend him" Ron asked, suspiciously.

"Why the hell would I do that" Blaise answered"I hate that greasy old-git as much as -if not more than- any of you. To him I'm not a Slytherin" she said, filling the plate in front of her with food.

"Colorful vocabulary" Dean commented, smiling.

"Well, personally, I think you shouldn't be in Slytherin. You're too good for them. I don't think the old hat was working properly when it sorted you" Hermione said, also taking food.

"I actually asked it to put me in Slytherin... My parents would have- well let's just say they'd have been upset if I had been sorted in any other house" Blaise started, beginning to eat her dinner. "Looking back now, I wish I hadn't asked it to though... I don't care what my parents think anymore; I shouldn't have asked to be put in Slytherin just to please them. The hat was actually going to put me in Ravenclaw it'd said."

"Your parents wanted you to be in Slytherin? What would they have done to you if you'd told them you'd been sorted into...say Gryffindor" Dean asked.

"Probably beaten me and made me go to Durmstrang or something" she replied.

"Beaten you" Seamus asked incredulously.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't live with them anymore" she said"I moved out last year."

"Who do you live with then" Ron asked, interested.

"Well, I work for this woman -Ms. Rastaban- and she feeds me, lets me live with her and gives me a small weekly salary."

"Hard life... What is it that you're planning on doing after Hogwarts" Dean asked.

"Well I want to become an Auror... I've got to keep my grades up so they pick me though."

"Auror, eh? Harry wanted to become an Auror" Ron said.

Hermione became silent.

"Oh. Sorry 'Mione..." Ron said, noticing that mentioning Harry had hurt Hermione. "Go on, cheer up. Harry wouldn't want us to be miserable thinking about him all the time... He'd want us to think about all the good times we've had."

"I guess... So how was Care of Magical Creatures class" Hermione asked, changing the subject.

"Painful," said a boy who'd just arrived behind Dean.

The boy's round face had many cuts on it and he had one black eye. He took a seat between Dean and Seamus and immediately began to fill his plate.

"Hagrid's found another "interestin''" creature for us to take care of: dugbogs," he said.

"You should go see Madam Pomfrey, mate. Those look painful," Ron commented.

"That one looks infected," Blaise added, pointing at a particularly large cut on his right cheek.

The boy looked up at Blaise and frowned.

"Blaise: Neville Longbottom. Neville: Blaise Zambini," Ron introduced.

"Aren't you in Slytherin" Neville asked, eyeing her Slytherin robes suspiciously.

"I am" Blaise answered, nodding.

Neville looked questioningly at his other four housemates.

"She's Hermione's new friend. They got paired together in potions. She wants us to get to know her" Ron explained.

"She's alright, don't worry" Seamus said.

"Well, pleased to meet you then" Neville said, returning to his dinner.

"Likewise" she said, doing the same.

They all continued to eat silently.

"Hey, I just got an idea... Why don't we ask Blaise if she wants to join D.A." Dean said all of a sudden.

"Great idea" Hermione said brightly.

Blaise frowned

"What's D.A."

"It's a sort of secret club we founded back in fifth year where we learn to defend ourselves against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. You know, seeing as we don't really learn that kind of stuff in class. Ron and I are in charge of it and anyone who wants to fight against Voldemort is welcome to join" Hermione explained.

"You're asking me to join your secret club? We hardly just met! What makes you so sure you can trust me" Blaise asked, surprised.

"Because you seem like a decent person. If you weren't, you wouldn't still be here. So do you want to join" Hermione asked.

She considered it.

'What better way to piss off my parents than to join the rebellers?'

"Sure. I'm in. Give me the details" she answered.

There you go. Pretty short. Next chapter soon. Oh and I almost forgot to mention Dazed and Utterly Confused. There you go, love.