Chapter 2

Harry couldn't focus. His mind was off in six different directions. That girl, Rowena was a student teacher, that's why she hadn't been wearing school robes. And her sister... what was her name... Milla? Herbology was going to be interesting... Of course, Harry had been far too consumed in these thoughts to notice that Professor Sprout had begun to explain a partner project that they would be assigned next class.

"Tomorrow, I will assign you a partner and a plant. You will then research the properies and history of the plant, and start caring for your own specimen. You and your partner will be expected to keep the thing alive, and then to present your plant and your findings to the class in two weeks time..." everyone else was looking around, wondering who they'd be paired with, but Harry was staring off into the abyss, not hearing a single word.

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After Herbology had ended, and Hermione and Ron had finally managed to get Harry to move, the three of them headed down to their Care of Magical Creatures lecture. As per usual, Hagrid had completely abandoned the plans and had brought out a few crates full of various creatures. The first crate looked suspiciously like Skrewts.

"Well, if everyone would gather 'round we can start." Hagrid saw his three favorite students and waved them closer.

"Hagrid, " Hermione started, glancing cautiously at the nearest box, "those aren't Skrewts are they?" They all jumped as a single spark of electricity sprang from the crate.
"No... they're not Skrewts.." Hagrid said shiftily..."They're Knewts."
"Newts?" Ron raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know newts could do that..."
"They're not lizards. I did some... experimentation over the summer..." Hagrid opened the latch on the crate and everyone stepped back about 2 feet. A small, cat-like creature stepped out into the now large circle. At once everyone knew what a Knewt was. Hagrid had 'experimented' breeding Knarls and Skrewts. How, was a mystery, but he seemed to have done it. The body of a Knarl, but with a stinger tail that was sparking with electricity every 5 seconds. The merest though of conception was mind-boggling.

"Now, there is no work to be done today," Hagrid explained to the crowd of students, "I brought these in for pleasure purposes only." Behind Harry, a small group of Slytherins snickered. Harry could just hear one of them (probably Malfoy) say, "Pleasure purposes? This is about as pleasing as a broomstick in the eye." Hermione heard them, and quickly grabbed hold on Harry's robe to stop him from doing something stupid. "You can't do anything. Just ignore them." she said quietly.

When class was over, and anyone who had been sparked by the 'Knewts' had been tended to (by Hermione, not Hagrid), they all made their way back to the castle for supper. Harry had managed to put the remark out of his mind, and was quite the opposite of furious. The adrenaline burst was still lingering however, and he shot past Ron and Hermione up to the bridge, stopping at the entrance to wait for them. Swinging his book bag around, and growing increasingly impatient by the second, he started to walk slowly backward the closer they got. When Ron started to walk faster, Harry turned to run to the end of the bridge, but instead ran into a person. His book bag flew out of his hands, and everything the person was carrying fell to the ground. Not looking to see who it was, Harry quickly bent down and started to pick up the books, scrolls, and various other things that had scattered.
"Sorry," he apologized, stacking the books, "I should have looked first–"
He glanced up and was face to face with the crashee. The unfortunate person he had collided with was Rowena. He felt his face get hot and quickly looked back down and continued piling up the items, a little more haphazardly...
"Don't worry about it." she smiled, and took the stack from Harry. "It was just a minor mishap. No harm done!" she walked past him, turned around for a moment,"Thanks." and walked down the hill to the lake.

Harry walked over to the stairs, picked up his book bag, shoving in the few books that had fallen out, and continued walking toward the castle. Ron and Hermione, who had been standing there, snickering the entire time, ran after him.

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Their next Herbology class came far too soon for Harry. He didn't think that he could face Rowena after crashing into her like that, so childishly. She's going to think I'm completely immature and stupid. As they were walking down to the greenhouses, Ron and Hermione kept glancing at Harry and then smirking. After a couple minutes Harry snapped.
"What's wrong with you two?" They just stood there, blank expressions on their faces.
"Hermione, what on earth is he talking about?" Ron said, most earnestly.
"I dare say, Ronald, I do not know!" Hermione replied.
Harry rolled his eyes and walked faster, leaving them two of them laughing like maniacs behind him.

"Today, you will be assigned your partner and your plant." Professor Sprout addressed the class, "Everything is chosen at random, so there should be no objections..." she let that last word hang in mid-air for a moment, then moved on.
"Let's start with partners. Julian Arnet, you'll be paired with...Patricia Ingles... Florence Battins with..."
Harry had zoned out...consumed by trying with absolute insistence to NOT look anywhere near Rowena. Suddenly, he felt as if someone was staring at him. The hairs stood up on the back of his neck, but he didn't chance looking up.
"Harry Potter..." He jerked his head up at the sound of his name, "will be paired with...Hermione Granger."
Yes! He looked over at Hermione, who smiled back at him. Easiest. Project. Ever.

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"So I got paired with that Milla girl." Ron said at supper that evening, his mouth half-full of mashed potato.
"Yes, Ron. We were there." Hermione sighed, already reading up on the plant that she and Harry had been assigned, the Chinese Chomping Cabbage.
"Her accent reminded me a lot of... " Harry broke off when Hermione and Ron looked quizzicly up at him. "Nevermind." He quickly changed the subject. "So, where are we going to keep the... er...cabbage... Hermione?"
Hermione had been staring across the room, in the general vicinity of the Slytherin table. "Hmm? Oh right, the cabbage." She started to go a bit red, "I though we should keep it in the greenhouse. I spoke with Professor Sprout after class and she agreed that it would be the best place." She buried her face in the book once more.
Ron, who had grown accustomed to shrugging off odd occurances just went back to serving himself a third helping of mashed potatoes.

COMMENTARY

pRoNgS-78: Alright, so this chapter isn't as long as the first, and it's certainly less exciting than chapter three's going to be, but I think it was a nice transition chapter...

Ron: Right, transition chapter... basically her way of saying that she couldn't think of anything better to write for this chapter, and is now blaming it on us.

pRoNgS-78: Now, I never said that... of course, it didn't help that the only really interesting thing was Harry running into Rowena.

Ron: You need some better material...Hey!..
muffled yelling

pRoNgS-78: Tune in next chapter to see Ron get pushed off a bridge.

Ron: hey... take it easy now!

pRoNgS-78: Next time I'll be talking to someone more appreciative. I let someone be partnered with the cute scottish girl and this is what I get... I'll see if Hermione's up for it. Night, all!