1Chapter Two- Last Days of Freedom
Hermione stood and dusted herself off with as much dignity as humanly possible, given the circumstances. "Well. That was... blunt."
"Pretty bloody blunt, Granger," Malfoy drawled, looking cross. Hermione opened her mouth to say something but was cut off. "Go back to your Tower, Gryffindor. Before someone gets into trouble."
At first, this completely mystified her. Then, she saw what he meant: a group of Slytherin bad-arses was currently rounding a corner towards them. Wordlessly, she cast an invisibility charm over herself and slipped away.
By the time she'd reached Gryffindor Tower, she was deep in thought. She had so many questions! How could their papers matched so exactly? And why was Malfoy being so...enigmatic? Sure, he'd always been kind of a freak-monkey, but now he was being just plain weird! How on earth was she going to survive the next three months with him!
Since the actual commence of the project wasn't for another week, most students took their remaining free time to either get to know their partner or live it up like it was their last days to live! Our heroine, as one might expect, chose the latter.
For the week preceding the project, the Golden Trio was completely ruled my its members' whims. Trips to Hogsmeade Village were wild, flamboyant events that usually resulted in too much money spent at the Weasleys' shop (they had a branch in Hogsmeade now) and once in each of the members of the Golden Trio acquiring pastel-coloured Pygmy- Puffs as incentives with their large purchases. Harry and Ron, of course, promptly gave theirs to Hermione and Ginny, relatively. (They were more than a little embarrassed at being seen with the dainty, fluffy little animals! Talk about masculinity-killers!)
Unfortunately, the week sped by faster than anyone cared for. The day of the project was fast approaching. As fast as twenty-four hours could, in any case!
The day before, in Life Skills (the class that came with the project), they'd devoted the entire class to making preparations. Joy abounded, of course.
"Today, you, my little victims, will be completing an inventory of coinciding and conflicting interests of yours and your partners. I will provide the form for you to fill out and turn in. If this isn't completed in class, then you'll have to finish it for homework," Snape informed them.
The class groaned. No one wanted to have to meet up with their opposite-house partner after class hours. Or at all, really.
"Move!" Snape barked like a world-class drill sergeant.
Hermione looked over at Malfoy, who nodded towards the seat next to him. She looked skeptical and motioned to the chair at her table that Harry had just abandoned. Typically, he looked away, refusing to negotiate. Sighing, she crossed to room to where he was sitting and dropped into the chair.
"Well?" she asked. "What now?" At his blank look, she summoned two forms from Snape's desk. Sliding one across the table in front of him, she said without any pretenses, " Look, if you have any desire to pass this class and not have to meet up later, it would help a little if you would get over yourself."
He didn't reply for a moment. Finally, he said,-
DUN DUN DUN
So sorry for the cliffhanger. Oh, wait-NO I'M NOT! MWAHAHAHHAAHA!
-AFC