Chapter 14: First Signs

The first few weeks of school came and went. Nina and Hermione were still best friends, but were usually pulled apart by the Slyterins. Draco continued to hit on Nina, until the last week of September, when something happened.

It was during potions. Hermione and Nina had been running an errand for Professor McGonagall and were late to class.

"Why, thank you Thelma and Louise, for finally joining us. Now please take your seats" Snape said.

The two took their seats in the very middle of the room at the table between Harry and Ron's and Draco and Blaise's. Snape looked at the class. His cold eyes staring at each student. It gave most of them the chills, Nina and Hermione had been drawing cartoons of Snape.

"Now, as I mentioned during the first class, there shall be a project for you to do. Each subject will be included. Your partners are to be discovered at the end of this class. Now, you are to concoct a potion, which should be finished by the end of class. It is simple, and according to the headmaster, I am to help you if you have any trouble." He looked at Neville. "The instructions are on the board. You are to do this individually and you have until the lunch bell rings." Everyone went up to collect the ingredients. Hermione, along with everyone else, was wondering who her partner was going to be. She gathered her stuff, but as she was reaching for the phoenix feather, a hand brushed against hers. She looked up into the eyes of Draco. He was staring at her, but the second he noticed she noticed him, he grabbed a feather and walked away, dropping a piece of paper. Hermione bent down to pick it up, but it was quickly snatched away by a smooth hand.

"Don't touch things that aren't yours mudblood," a cold voice said from above her. She looked up to see Draco. He quickly walked away. She took a feather and went back to her cauldron.

"Neen, has Malfoy asked you out lately?" Hermione slowly asked.

"No, now that you mention it, he's been pretty good lately" Nina slowly answered, thinking to herself. "Why?"

"Dunno. Just wondering"

"You so like him. Ever since the thing with the pig-boy." The two laughed at the memory of Dudley. "Remember that day I went to your house. We cried

so much, and yet I've never had more fun?" Nina giggled as she cut up her ingredients.

"Yeah, same here. Y'know what, Halloween is in a month, let's ask the heads if we can have a dance. Every year we have a feast, it'll be cool to do something different." Hermione suggested.

"Cool. So, how do you think this works?"

"Honestly, I don't know" Hermione whispered. It was a new thing for her not to know something.

"Really? You always seem like you know everything?"

"Well, this time I don't. How about if Snape doesn't tell us we'll go to the library after class. But please don't tell anyone that I don't know something." Hermione fake pleaded at Nina, getting on her knees and making a sad puppy face.

"Sure, but wait. We have lunch after this. Please can we wait 'till after I eat?"

"Fine Pig, but eat quickly."

"Yes sir." Nina saluted at Hermione and stood up straight, immitating a soldier.

The two began to baugh as they continued to work on their potions with some more interesting conversations.

Across the Room

'What doesn't she see in me! How can she continuously turn me down!' Draco violently threw his rose thorns into his cauldron. 'I mean, I'm rich, popular, powerful, and she did make out with me on the train! Wait! She was playing me! The bitch was playing me! No one plays Draco Malfoy!' He looked away from the two girls. 'Probably talking about how she made me look like a fool. What you want is for her to come crying to her. Maybe we can add some drama to this. But what can I do? Make her envious by making out with other girls in front of her? Nah. Play hard to get? Only girls like her do that. Blackmail? What! What can make this girl pay for making me look like a fool, especially with the mudblood?' He tried to think of something he could do for the rest of the period, continuously looking to his right, into the center of the room.

"Now that you have completed the first part, you must all take a piece of yourself and add it to the potion. It may be a drop of blood, a hair, even saliva. (laughter/ewwww's) You must do this as soon as the potion settles, which should take a few minutes, which shall give me a chance to explain what this potion is to do. As Dumbledor said earlier, you shall be in groups-"

"But you said he said that we would be working with a partner (A/N I'm sorry if I forgot to mention the oh so expected project before)," Crabbe asked

"He meant in a group. Now, when you add the part, your potion should either turn a color, or an image will appear. Today, if you have not heard, is a very special day. After lunch, you shall stay in the Great Hall to begin the projects. Now add!"

Hermione and Nina spit in their potions, while most people added a hair. Draco, though, took a knife and slowly cut his hand and let the blood drip into the potion. He figured that he may as well do something different. Most people were adding hair, stepping far back from their cauldrons as they did so. Hermione and Nina seemed to be trying to see who could make a bigger loogie. It was disgusting. He looked down to see his potion turn to a very light gray.

The bell rang. He cleaned up his area, poured his potion into a vial and left the room.

In the middle of the room

"Hey, mine is turning into a mixture of different shades of grays, hmm?" Nina said. "It looks kinda like confetti actually."

"Mine is turning into a really dark gray. Wait, it's swirling. Does this mean that we're not going to be together?" Hermione was worried.

"I don't know. Let's go to lunch. Do you wan to sit at my table?"

"Nah, last time I did, I spent the entire time getting death-glares from your house-mates. How about mine?"

"OK, my house-mates hate me too" They laughed as they finished cleaning up.

They put their potions into vials, one that they were allowed to keep, and headed to the Great Hall.

After lunch

"My dear students. The time has come for you to all embark on a journey deeper into yourselves. You have all done something in your first class that has given you a color. Now, I wish for all of you to hold you questions for after my long and boring speech. Your colors just appeared by chance, if you would call it that, this project is for you to search yourself, find who you truly are. The shade shows how you are. Maybe light, bearing almost no color because you feel empty and etcetera. This isn't much magic, though you will be using it. You shall understand this more as it goes along. Now, I have a record of the colors that should have been given out." He waved his wand and one area of the room turned purple, one orange, one red, one yellow, and one green. "Please stand in the area closest to your shade." Most of the students walked to their area, but when Dumbledore looked around, three students were standing where they were during his speech. (I'll give you a hint who, maybe no, I mean, it's so obvious). "Misses Nina and Hermione and Mister Malfoy, where are you supposed to be?"

"We don't know" Nina answered.

"What do you mean? What color were your, you were in potions, right, yes, what color were your potions?"

"Gray"

"Gray"

"Grey"

"But that was not supposed to happen. Well, please come up here while the professors go to the groups that they are in charge of."

The three walked to the headmaster.

"Now, please tell me exactly what your potions looked like."

"Mine was a bunch of different grays, like confetti."

"Mine was like a gray vortex."

"Mine was a very pale gray, but now that I think of it, there was a small dark grey blob in the middle that kept trying to get bigger."

"Well, this has never happened before. You three shall be a group together. I shall be in charge of this group. Now, your first activity shall be tonight after dinner. Please come wearing your favorite outfit."

The three stared at him in confusion, but nodded their heads (LIKE ME!). The confused prefects were dismissed and walked to the common room.

"So, I guess that we're going to be forced to actually be within yards of each other," Hermione said, trying to break the silence.

"Unfortunately, but don't think that I'm happy about it. In fact, I think that the loon is more off his rocker than usual, making us work together." Draco said.

"Just shut up both of you!" Nina said as she came to a halt. The two stared at her. "Malfoy, you never gave 'Mione a chance because of her blood. You two had a great time at the mall and shit during the summer, and don't you dare deny it. You two were actually able to spend a whole day and night together, what the fuck changed?"

"What changed to make us go temporarily insane, or what cause the bitch to run?" Hermione was getting upset at her friend. Draco wasn't supposed to know that she had a good time, though he probably did anyway.

"Who said I had a good time?" Was all Draco said.

"The past is what keeps our present," Nina looked into their eyes "and futures." With that, she left the two with a smirk on her face.

"What the hell?" Hermione said when Nina had turned the corner.

"She's your best friend. Why don't you tell me? And while you're at it, why don't you tell me why she thought that I actually had a good time with a mudblood, surrounded by muggles!"

"UGH! You're so damn infuriating! Why do you have to be stuck in your small box! Leave it! You experienced muggle life for a day and seemed to enjoy it! What happened that morning?"

"Do you want to know what happened? I woke up in a muggle house, after spending the day and night with a mudblood. I am not supposed to do that! I was scared that I enjoyed it! And shit, because that was out loud, why don't you just tell the world! I'm surprised that Potter and Weasley don't know!"

"They don't know because it's none of their business! What I do during my spare time is for me to know! They don't know everything about me!"

"Like that used a time-turner in the third year?"

"How did you know?"

"It was obvious, and I heard Snape complaining about it"

"But they found out."

"When? When you and Potter saved Black. Yes, I know all about it. I put pieces together." Draco tapped his temple. "I'm not that stupid."

"Well then, I owe you credit for your intellect, but I am taking it back for your being a bitch to me for almost half my life."

"Well, how about this. We leave each other alone, for the rest of the year. If you see me in a hall, turn around, I will do the same. I don't know how I was even able to associate with you for this long." With that, he turned around and walked away, even though he was going in the wrong direction.

"Yo! Dumbass! Wrong way!"

"Wha-I know! I was just, uh-"

"Whatever" She smiled and walked away, but it wasn't a smirk, or because of making fun of him. He just made her smile.

'What just happened?' Draco thought to himself. 'and did I actually say what I think I did?' He slowly walked to the common room, replaying the events that had occurred.

"Alohomora"

The portrait swung to the side. He looked up and saw Weasley. He was the only person in the room. He seemed to be deeply engrossed in a book. Draco walked to his room and closed the door behind him and locked it.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT!" That was Granger.

"Shh!" It was Nina. He walked to the wall dividing the two dorm rooms and put his ear to it.

"NO! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT WHOLE THING ABOUT!"

"Listen, if there's one thing I hate it's kicking someone when they're down." Draco was confused "It's obvious that something has been troubling him and you know what happens to me when that happens. I just had to help the bitch and I knew that he could be honest with you, I mean, remember when you told me about what happened over the summer? Also, Dumbledore obviously wants us to get along."

"I know that there's more to it. You're not telling me something"

Draco listened closely, but heard a knock on his door.

"Shit" Draco said as he turned to answer it. As soon as he got to the door, though, it burst open and Pansy was standing in the doorway. Draco could see Ron smiling from the bottom of the stairs.

'WHY ME? WHY NOW?'

"Hello Parkinson." He said, trying to hide his frustration.

She walked in, closing the door behind her. "Hey baby," she seductively said.

"Listen, Parkinson, I hate you. I don't want to be near you, now get out of my room."

She took off her robe and threw it on the floor.

"But Drakie, I just want to be with you." She pulled him into a deep kiss, but he pushed her away and spit.

"Take your robe and GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

She slowly turned around, put her nose in the air and walked out.

Draco turned back to the wall to try to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Totally"

"I know!"

"And it was just like, what the fuck do you think you're doing!"

"You have got to be kidding me"

Draco turned and walked to his bed. When he got there, he sighed and reached under his bed to look into his trunk. He rummaged around and then caught a glimpse of a piece of parchment. It said...

A/N Sorry, I know that I'm leaving you with a bunch of cliffhangers, but it's just to make sure that you all review. I want at least 10 new reviews if you want chapter 15...KISSEZ