Chapter 1
"Due to a rather unfortunate charmed fire in the Slytherin common room, some-er- special arrangements have been made. The Slytherin students will be living with the other Houses until the countercurse can be found. We are sorry for any inconvenience. The list of which Slytherin goes where can be found outside in the Great Hall."
Dumbledore's announcement was met with many grumbles and groans. As if having classes together wasn't bad enough, none of the Houses wanted to live with the Slytherins. The Slytherins weren't too happy about it either. Bunking with a bunch of Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs wasn't high on their to-do list.
"Great! Simply wonderful," groaned Hermione, "What if we end up with Pansy Parkinson? Or…or Malfoy!"
"Well…if Malfoy is stuck in with us, he'll be in the boys room. You won't even have to look at him. And as for Parkinson…well, you know a bunch of curses, right? Don't worry about it," replied Harry.
"Don't worry? Don't worry! Harry, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be stuck in a dorm with Pansy Parkinson all year!" cried Hermione.
"Alright, alright. Calm down, Hermione. What are the odds that we'll get stuck with Malfoy and Pansy?" said Ron, in an attempt to soothe her.
Without missing a beat, Hermione replied, "115 to 1." Ron and Harry just stared at her, then shook their heads. The trio soon finished dinner and went to the Great Hall to check the list. Here is what it said: Gryffindor: Year 6: Pansy Parkinson, Travis Miller, Alicia White, Millicent Bulstrode, Draco Malfoy, Jonathan Smith, Nia Harris, Michael Townsend.
"No way. No. Way. We did not get stuck with Malfoy and Parkinson!" said Harry. But, they were. Both Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were to reside in Gryffindor. Hermione gave Ron and Harry and 'I-told-you-so' look and furiously stalked off to the library, presumably to look for the countercurse to the fire. Harry and Ron shrugged and headed up to the common room.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was having an increasingly horrid day. First he had accidentally transfigured his desk into a kangaroo and then in Herbology, his Venomous Tentacula had spontaneously exploded. Now this…stuck with a load of Gryffindor. He didn't even have Crabbe and Goyle, his cronies, to back him up. He slowly dragged himself up the seven flights of stairs to the Gryffindor common room. After a getting a bit lost for a while, he finally reached to Fat Lady portrait. She looked down at him contemptuously.
"Password?" she asked.
"Damn! I don't even have the bloody password! Could this day get any worse?" cried Draco.
"Password's 'Gobbledegook'," said Hermione, coming up behind Malfoy just as he was about to lose it completely.
"I know the password, Granger!" he snapped, pushing past her as the Fat Lady swung open to admit them.
Malfoy's eyes scanned the room for his Slytherin fellows. They were all crowded around the common room message board. He strode over, but as he approached, the Slytherins all tried to block his view of the message board.
"What's that you're looking at? Let me through!" he snarled as he pushed a blonde girl out of the way. He stared at the message board, which read "Slytherin Room Assignments".
"Is Dumbledore that daft, he's got to put up room assignments?" Malfoy gave a short laugh, "Obviously, the girls go to the girl's dorm and the boys-". He stopped short as he read the list. His face slowly turned a burning shade of scarlet. "What is wrong with that man! Putting me in a GIRL'S DORM!" he roared.
All around him, delighted Gryffindors tried to suppress their laughter. Hermione had a particularly hard time of it, and finally a loud giggle echoed through the room. Malfoy whirled on her.
"Oh. So you think it's funny, do you Granger?" he said, slowly advancing on her. Hermione held her ground.
"Yes. As a matte of fact, I find it simply hilarious," replied Hermione coolly.
"Well, you listen here, you little Mudblood. You-" but Malfoy was cut off as Ron jumped up and rushed to Hermione's side. He drew his wand.
"No, Ron. Put it away, I can handle this," said Hermione, her eyes never leaving Malfoy's. The room was deathly quiet.
"Okay. Look here, Malfoy. You will not come into my House insulting me like that. I won't take it. If you know what's good for you, you won't say that word anymore. Got it?" growled Hermione, her voice barely above a whisper. Malfoy looked slightly taken aback. He recovered quickly.
"Is that a threat, Granger? Are you actually threatening me? Ha! You can't do anything to me, you filthy little Mudblood!" Malfoy replied. Hermione glared at him. Then she did something nobody expected. She slapped him. Right across the face. Malfoy clasped a hand to his face, shocked and speechless. Pansy Parkinson looked scandalized.
"How…how dare you!" she cried shrilly. Her face was inches from Hermione's, "My Draco is far better than you will ever be! You aren't fit to wipe his shoes! He's pureblood! He can call you whatever he wants! And you! You're nothing but a stupid, ugly, filthy, repulsive Mudblood!"
For a tense minute, the two girls glared into each other's eyes. The Hermione started to turn away. Pansy looked satisfied. That was, until Hermione turned back and smacked her across the face too. Pansy gasped.
"I told you not to call me that," said Hermione. Then she fled the common room.
Everyone in the common room was speechless. Pansy and Malfoy just stared at each other, shocked that Hermione had the guts to lay hands on them. The Gryffindors looked around at each other, very proud of Hermione. The rest of the Slytherins just looked away. Finally, someone coughed, breaking the silence. The students slowly returned to their activities. The Slytherins gathered their things and brought them up to their rooms.
A few minutes later, Malfoy sprang up and rushed out of the portrait hole, Pansy at his heels.
Hey people. I hope you liked this first chapter. I just want to sat to all the flamers: Don't bother reviewing if you are just going to point out trivial details. I've gotten all that already. Don't bother.
