Beneath the Façade

Knight In Shining Armor

'3…2…1…any minute now…'

Harry Potter sat at his usual table, trying to focus himself on the potion he and the rest of the class were making for the NEWTS Potions his dear potions master had given them to work on. But somehow, no matter how hard he tried, his eyes kept traveling back to the Slytherin brunette who was currently sitting behind his back.

'I can recognize that smell anywhere, but why would she help me? To spite Malfoy..? But Hermione's right, she never shows any prowess at any subject.'

'No Harry you prat! Haven't you seen the bulletin board this morning? She's clearly in tie with Hermione and maybe even better seeing that she can apparate inside Hogwarts!'

'But that would make her sound like she's even more powerful than Professor Dumbledore or Voldemo—'

"Huh?" Harry Potter awoke from his mind musings as the girl who had been the center of his thoughts suddenly stood directly in front of him.

"Err…" Harry stuttered as he suddenly felt like his tongue were glued all together disabling his ability to talk. "Yes..?"

"Professor Snape said we should pair up with that of the same beginning letter in the surname," Pansy told the Golden Boy without as much as any hint of emotion.

"Uh.., right…", Harry said, "so whose your partner..?" as he felt himself go red in the face.

"… ... …" Pansy just stared at the boy in front of her with a somehow expressionless face. "…you are."

"Oh."

"Honestly, Potter," Blaise Zabini said with a hint of amusement in his voice. "If I didn't know that you fancy that Ravenclaw seeker Cho Chang, I'd say the way you are staring at Pansy has made you as stupid as Crabbe and Goyle."

This remark made Harry look like a ripe tomato for the rest of the day, earning a lot of funny other remarks from the student body, especially since he was successful of turning Pansy's hair into forest green when they tested his potion.

"Oh Harry, you look horrible!" Angelina remarked upon seeing the tomato red Gryffindor.

"You look like you're catching a fever, mate," Ron noted.

"Honestly Ron!" Hermione. "Harry's not catching any fever, he's just… err—embarrassed, that's all…"

"Embarrassed?" George piped in.

"Of what?" Fred added.

"Not of what, of whom!" Seamus filled in as he came in with Ginny, his girlfriend, who was currently giggling like mad, no doubt already having heard what happened to the Slytherin princess.

"Oh no, come on guys!" Harry, as his beating red cheeks intensifying "It was just an accident!"

"Well it wouldn't be if you had paid attention to your potions work, would it?" Hermione chided Harry with disapproval in her eyes.

"What happened anyway?" the rest of the Gryffndor team asked in unison.

"Oh..!" the redheaded female Weasley eagerly started, "he and the rest of the 7th Years were in potions and Harry turned Parkinson's hair green!"

An eruption of laughter came after the revelation.

"Parkinson must have been scared out of her wits! Everyone knows she's in-love with her hair!" Fred chortingly remarked as he clutched his stomach, while Harry became grim, knowing that the real laughing matter was going to follow.

"Um… actually Fred, Parkinson seemed fine." Seamus.

"Wha..? Then what's so funny..?" questioned George.

"Harry is," Ginny interrupted, still giggling, "he was beating red all day because of what happened!"

"Shut up!" Harry cutted off as he suddenly made his way out of the common room and out into the hall.

"Hey mate! We were just joking!" hollered George.

"Honestly, what's wrong with our Golden Boy today?" Fred asked no one in particular, earning just a shrug from Hermione as the bookworm seated herself and started reading Hogwarts A History.

'I don't know, but it sure has a lot to do with Parkinson...' Hermione thought to herself, as she worried at Harry's odd behavior towards the Slytherin.

"Stupid potion… should have worked… stupid Snape… stupid Zabini…" Harry went on musing, with no particular direction as he walked around the castle hallway. Then suddenly, he stopped in his tracks as a peculiar scene unfolded in front of his eyes, Blaise Zabini was holding Pansy by the shoulders and was shaking her hard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" hissed Blaise, "You're going to get yourself in trouble, woman! Lucius Malfoy is not someone to challenge!"

"Let go Blaise," Pansy pleaded with genuine hurt in her expression. "You're hurting me…"

"I will not let go until you tell me what the hell you're playing at!"

"I'm not playing with anything!" Pansy yelled as tears formed in her eyes.

"Then explain why I'm sensing the 'other you' around! Explain why you're being your old s—" But whatever Blaise was going to say was long forgotten as Harry suddenly grabbed his shoulder, turned him around and punched him square in the face.

"Get your filthy hands off her!" Harry loathingly yelled at the Zabini heir, "can't you see she's hurt or do you honestly take pleasure in beating women?"

Blaise Zabini was flabbergasted at the outburst from the Gryffindor.

'Why would he step in front to protect Pansy like that?' Blaise mused, 'Unless…' Zabini's vision suddenly landed on the crying female Slytherin in the corner, who now looked like a lost child trying to hide in a corner like a crouched ball.

"Pansy, I—" The Italian tried to find the words, "I didn't mean—"

"Go away Zabini!" Harry glared with all his might at the Slytherin boy.

He didn't know why all of a sudden he was trying to protect Parkinson but it bloody well felt like it was the right thing to do, and as if it was some form of magic, the glare seemed to have worked as Blaise considerably lost all color and slowly backed away to the Slytherin dungeons.

"…hey." Harry said as he let his eyes rest on the crying girl.

"W-w-what d-do you wan-t P-Potter…?" Pansy asked with a tear-stricken face, "J-j-just leave m-me a-al-alone…"

"That's not a very nice way to thank your 'knight in shining armor'…" Harry stated as he tried to lighten the mood. 'What the hell am I talking about! Knight in shining armor my ass!'

The remark seemed to have amused Pansy Parkinson though as she released a clear laugh along with a gag as a result of her crying.

"You're hopeless, Potter…" Pansy said as her breathing started calming down.

"And this from the girl who almost past out from all her crying?" said Harry in a joking manner. 'Where the hell am I taking all these words I'm saying?'

This time, Pansy released a genuine laugh.

"I see you find hopeless jokes funny…" 'Her laugh sounds nice…'

"… … …" Pansy was giving Harry an almost scrutinizing stare.

"What?" asked Harry as he was suddenly reminded of the romantic scenes he used to watch his Aunt Petunia cry over. He was expecting a haughty thank you and maybe even a kiss, basing on those movies, but he sure did not expect what the girl in front of him suddenly said.

"You've been watching me."

"Huh?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Starting from potions throughout the rest of the classes, you've been staring at my back. So what's the big idea?"

"What, no thank you?" as Harry tried to laugh, in hopes of escaping the predicament of the question.

"… …Have it your way, Potter." Pansy Parkinson said as she turned to leave but was soon stopped by Harry suddenly grabbing her arm.

"Wait—err… I—I was trying to err… figure out…" and a series of mumbles came out of the Gryffindor's mouth. 'What the hell am I doing, I feel like I'm bloody love-si—WAIT! I'm not falling for her am I?'

"I don't know if you've noticed, Potter, but your so-called words didn't sound like they're eligible at all."

The remark suddenly made Harry stop talking.

'That was a bit Snape-like talk… Bloody, she's a Slytherin for Merlin's sake! Of course she'll talk like Snape!'

"?"

"Fine then, Potter." Pansy turned to leave. "Play your little game of 'mumbling like Longbottom' if you want… I have far more important business to attend other than listening to your unintelligible talks."

"Wait!" Harry heard himself stopping Pansy the second time, "I was—" 'Breath in, breath out…'

"Was what?"

"Was…" 'What the hell am I supposed to s—?'

"Look," Pansy sighed, "Thank you, alright? I really appreciate what you did but I have some things to prepare before going to Hogsmeade—"

'HOGSMEADE!'

"HOGSMEADE! Err—yes… about that. I was wondering if you err—uhm… wanted to err—go err—with… em… right, you see… err—"

"Are you asking me to go with you to Hogsmeade, Potter?"

"YES!"

'Bloody great, mate, BLOODY GREAT…'

"… … …"

"I-it's ok if you don't want to though, I w-was just err—I…"

"…ok."

Harry 'the boy-who-lived, golden boy, hero' Potter choked on his words hearing the answer of the Slytherin princess facing him.

"Y-you'll go with me!"

"Last time I checked, you WERE asking ME," Pansy replied with raised eyebrows, "but if you now changed your mind, then I can go proceed with my original plans—"

"NO! I- I mean, no… err—Thanks for uh—agreeing to go with me..?"

"… … …where?"

"huh? Where what?"

"Where are we meeting?"

"Meeting..? Oh!… Uhmn… Three Broomsticks?" Harry asked uncertainly.

'Hopefully, she's not like Cho or someone that would prefer more classy tea shops. Oh, She's a bloody pureblood for god's sake, what the hell am I talking about!

"That sounds fine, I guess I'll See you later then." Pansy Parkinson said as she left the golden boy thinking of why pureblood, Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson just agreed to have a date in a ruddy underclass pub like the Three Broomsticks with…him.

"This day just gets weirder and weirder…"