Back to Reality

Chapter Five

Believe it or not, they did think about what Professor Dessen said. Hermione thought about it as she returned to the book she was reading. Harry and Ron were thinking about it as they resumed their chess game. Blaise was thinking about it as she sat next to Draco, who was still brushing Pansy's hair. They too, were thinking about it.

They thought about how true Professor Dessen's words are. As a child in the Slytherin community one of the first things you're taught is that Muggleborns are inferior to you. They are anomalies. Them doing magic was just as ridiculous as a unicorn trying to walk on it's hind legs.

Ron, being the only one of his friends that grew up in the Wizarding World, recalled his mother and father telling him and his siblings before they started school to stay away from the Slytherins.

"They're dangerous," Mr. Weasley warned.

"They're shifty-," Mrs. Weasley added.

"Stay away from them!" They said in unison.

And Harry thought about how a lot of people said 'Slytherins' with almost the same amount of disgust people use when they call Muggleborns Mudbloods. What does it all mean? That-

'We are every bit as prejudice as they are,' Hermione thought. 'No one notices it because we're Gryffindors, the heroes, the ones who save the day in the nick of time. There's no way we could ever be prejudice, right?' She shook her head. 'Wr-,'

"-ong. So wrong," Pansy thought. 'Wasn't that what Mother had been trying to tell me all these years? That Muggles and Muggleborns aren't as bad as Dad makes them out to be? I mean, Draco's father went and got-,'

'That stupid, vile lady pregnant. And she knew he was married. She just agreed to be his mistress and that is low.' Draco paused brushing, thought for a moment, and then concluded, 'Okay not all Muggleborns are bad but there are still filthy ones, like that whore, who are beneath me just like how-,'

'Not all Slytherins are bad,' Ron thought as he got a checkmate. 'But-,'

'There are ones would kill me because of my blood-,'

'Like Voldemort,' Harry finished. 'Some of them are bad-,'

'But not all of them,' they concluded in unison.

'Dumbledore has been saying that since Fifth Year. Why did it only click when Professor Dessen said it?' Blaise thought.

'Because she talked to us like a peer, instead of a scolding parent,' Draco pondered. And just like that a new thought was on everybody's minds.

What do we do now?

Hermione shook her head. 'It's not like we can just go up to them and say-,'

"Hey, let's start over!" Draco suggested. "I'm sorry for all those years of calling you Mudblood, Hermione. It was wrong of me. And Weasel, I apologize for making fun of your family's poverty. It's not your fault that your family wasn't blessed like mine. Friends?"

"Friends!" Everyone got up to hug each other laughing and grinning. Then miraculously, all the bolts opened at once and then "Why Can't We Be Friends" began playing in the background. The love that was generating in the room exploded like fireworks into vibrant colors around them. Somewhere in his evil lair Voldemort woke up from his much, much, much, much, much needed beauty rest and he said to himself-

"I'm going to stop chasing after Mudbloods and Muggles. They're my friends!" He looked skyward and said, "Father, if you can hear me, I forgive you for abandoning mother when you found out she was a witch and I hope you can forgive me for killing you and your parents."

The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End?

Don't get it twisted, there was some truth to what I said up there. The six of them did think about what Professor Dessen said. Then the two little devils on either side of Pansy, Draco, and Blaise's shoulders said, "Pfft!" Here's what really happened.

Pansy ran her fingers through her chestnut locks. She stared at the shut portrait hole rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "What a drama queen."

Hermione sputtered, "God, could you be anymore heartless? Her mother was disowned from her family!"

Blaise scoffed, "Do you have any idea how many people in our family have been disowned?"

Draco counted off on his long thin fingers, "My mother's little sister married a muggle, her cousin hung out with Gryffindorks too much, and my father's older brother was gay."

Blaise counted, "My mother had a gay brother who ran off with Pansy's uncle on her mom's side, my father had an older brother who wanted to marry someone other than the person assigned and another brother attended the wedding."

Pansy listed, "Besides my mother's little brother running off with their uncle, my father's brother kept in touch with some of the others that were disowned. That's seven and you don't see us whining about it."

Harry shook his head, "Your families are more screwed up then I thought."

"Look here Potter," Blaise pointed a finger and countered, "Our families have rules just like any other family. Our punishment methods might be a tad bit harsher but every family is different."

Ron argued, "Don't give us that crap, your families are demented. They toss you out for the littlest reasons. 'Oh my God, you're gay? Get out of our house—no you know what? We'll pretend you never existed. Children, you no longer have a brother.'" He looked up from the game and snarled in disgust, "Who the hell kicks people out of their family in the first place? Percy sided with the Ministry instead of our family in Fifth Year and when he realized we were right we didn't shun him."

Draco smirked, "Well our families have high standards. Maybe if yours did they wouldn't be so poor."

Ron would have hit Draco. The minute Draco finished his sentence he'd stood up and pushed Harry away with anger-induced strength and he was well across the room until Harry grabbed his arm and held him back. Through all this, Draco had continued to brush Pansy's hair with the same slow strokes. He was (in Ron's opinion) annoyingly unperturbed at the fact his roommate wanted to rearrange his face.

Harry said, "Ron, leave it alone. He's not worth it."

Draco smirked, "Ha!"

Hermione put her book down and glared darkly at Draco. Harry turned around but still kept a grip on Ron's arm. "If you don't shut up, Malfoy, I will let Ron go and help him wipe that stupid smirk off your face."

"If the Weasel were to touch Draco, his father would sue you for everything he has," Blaise answered.

"Which isn't much," Draco snickered.

Ron spat, "My family might not have much, but at least my father didn't impregnate some woman while married to my mother!"

Harry dropped Ron's arms in shock and Hermione gasped, "Oh my God!"

Draco and Blaise sat frozen in their seats. Pansy was the only who did anything. She grabbed her hairbrush and threw it at Ron's forehead. Ron rubbed his head and cursed. Pansy stood up and strode over to him raising her hand to slap him. Her arm was in mid-swing when someone grabbed it.

Pansy turned around to see Hermione grabbing her wrist. Her lip snarled in disgust, "Let me go, Mudblood."

"That's it!" Hermione twisted her arm and pushed her to the ground. Pansy fell on her stomach and was startled when Hermione sat on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She gasped when Hermione pulled her hair to lift her face off the ground and yelled, "If you ever call me a Mudblood again, I will make you regret the day you were born!" Pansy growled and twisted on to her back. Hermione's eyes were dark with rage pinned her wrists to the ground and shouted, "Do you hear me?"

Pansy smirked, "Yeah, I hear you." Then she spat in Hermione's face. Hermione, surprised, let go and Pansy was able to push her off. She then stood up and dragged Hermione across the floor by her hair.

Hermione screamed, "Get off me!" She groped fruitlessly for Pansy's hand but the petite Slytherin was moving her hand in all sorts of directions to keep out of reach of Hermione's hand. Hermione put one hand on the base of the hairs being pulled (to reduce the pain) and a put her other hand directly on top and worked it slowly up her locks to locate Pansy's hand, which she pinched and twisted.

Pansy let go and rubbed her hand muttering, "Stupid Mudblood."

Hermione quickly got to her feet and slapped Pansy across her face. Pansy touched her quickly reddening cheek in shock then her face went from surprised to pissed off. She grabbed hold of Hermione's throat and started closing her windpipe. Hermione grabbed at her hand but Pansy had a surprisingly strong and firm grip. As energy started to leave her Hermione swung her dug her nails into Pansy's cheek and scratched. Pansy release her hold and then Harry bumped into her.

Hermione coughed for air and then tackled Pansy into the ground. Pansy was re-pinned to the ground but she fought hard to get her hands out of Hermione's clutch. She pulled her arms hard but her arms didn't give an inch under Hermione's weight. She then lifter her head in the air as far as possible and tried biting Hermione's face. She remained unsuccessful and then decided to aim lower. Before Hermione realized what she was doing, Pansy sank her teeth into Hermione's hand.

With a startled cry, Hermione let go and Pansy rolled on top of Hermione. "Scratch me?" she asked pointing to her face. "I'll scratch you." She dug both sets of nails on either side of Hermione's face and dug deep enough to draw blood. Hermione screamed and started kicking in the air.

While this was happening Draco and Blaise had snapped out of their stupor. Draco's eyes locked with Ron's and a fiery rage overcame him. The fire in the fireplace flared dangerously high as he lunged at the red head and punched him in his right eye. Ron grabbed his face and Harry grabbed Draco off his best friend. Before he got a chance to deck Malfoy, Blaise gave him a surprisingly hard shove. Harry turned to Blaise and said, "I am not going to hit a girl."

Blaise smirked, "Are you sure about that?" Then she swiftly dropped to the ground and did one of those swinging kicks to trip Harry. He gasped as the wind was temporarily knocked out of him. Blaise took this time to pull him by his hair away from her cousin so he could return to dealing with Ron. Harry chuckled to himself and tried sitting up saying, "I'm not going to hit you, Zabini."

Blaise gave him a hard kick in his chest that knocked the wind from him again and pinned him on the ground with a black Mary Jane. She shook her head at him and sneered, "You're more pathetic then I thought Potter." She moved her shoe to Harry's throat and slowly increased pressure. Harry grabbed her foot with Seeker reflexes and twisted it sideways. Blaise flew in the air and fell on her stomach. She felt Harry grab her by the wrist and winced as he twisted her hand painfully up her back.

"Get up," He ordered.

Blaise sneered but obeyed. She took her time but stood in front of the Gryffindor. She shifted uncomfortably in his grip and said, "I thought you didn't hit girls."

Harry replied, "I don't and I didn't." Blaise continued to shift and he asked, "Am I hurting you?"

Blaise rolled her eyes. "No this feels delightful. I love having my arm twisted just like that."

Harry almost laughed at her sarcasm but bit it back. He loosened his hold and then Blaise got her hand completely free and punched him in his groin. "Oh my God," he gasped and he grabbed his privates.

Blaise stood in front of him, massaging her wrist, and glaring. Harry's emerald green eyes looked into her cobalt ones. Then she kneed him in his nose and pushed him. He felt himself bump into someone and stumbled over his feet to the ground. Blaise sat on top of his chest and pinned him down, smirking.

"You have integrity. I'll give you that Potter, but it could get you killed someday."

Harry gasped under her weight. Blaise sat on his ribcage making it hard for him to breathe. "I'd rather fight honestly and lose then win by cheating."

Blaise studied him and said, "But if you lose, the whole wizarding world will go down with you."

Harry opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Hermione's screams.

Once Potter was pulled away Draco turned back to Ron who looked ready to spit fire. The two of them stared at each other for a moment and then they went at it. Ron managed to put Draco in a headlock.

Draco tried to push him off with no success. Then he was on the ground. Draco had kicked his feet out from under him. Now Draco was on top of him and beating his head to the ground repeatedly. Ron flailed his hands around in hopes of a lucky shot. He was granted a nice uppercut and had the satisfaction of seeing Draco Malfoy's head snap to the left but the feeling dissipated when Draco regained composure. He grabbed one of Ron's wrists, simultaneously maneuvering him to lie on his stomach, and twisted it up his back.

Ron tried to stop him with his other hand but Draco grabbed that as well so now both hands were captive. Ron struggled against Draco's hold but to no avail. Draco had an iron grip and would not let go despite his strains.

Ron growled, "Let go! I'm getting bruised." Draco responded with twisting his arm further. "Ow!"

"That'll teach you to talk about my family," Draco said as he tightened his grasp.

Ron sputtered in disbelief, "Malfoy you are such a (wince) hypocrite! Do you know how many (wince) times you've said stuff about my family in the last (wince) six years?"

Draco shook his head, "That is completely different."

"How?!" Ron asked. Draco answered by pulling Ron's arm up a notch on his back and another grip tighten. In all this Ron remembered Dumbledore telling them-

If you guys do any dueling or fighting besides for school . . . a letter to your parents and a game guaranteed to be missed of Quidditch

"Malfoy get off me!" Ron renewed his struggles to get out. "If they see these bruises they'll know we've been fighting."

"No, if they see them, they'll know we've been fighting and you lost," Draco smirked.

"We're not supposed to fight! We'll get a letter to our parents and miss a game of Quidditch!"

"Shit!" Malfoy immediately let go of the Gryffindors arms that were ,in fact, starting to bruise and got up from his back. Now that the Weasel mentioned it, he did recall Dumbledore saying that.

Ron got up, massaging his injured wrists. If any of the teachers saw him he'd definitely be out of one of the Quidditch games and he couldn't have that. He hated school. Besides his friends and Wizard's Chest, Quidditch was the only other source of fun. And his mother! She would already be ticked off about the "grounded" issue but if she got another letter about him she'd be furious. If he shut his eyes he could hear her screaming already ringing in his ears . . .

It took a moment for Ron to realize that the screaming he heard was real and it wasn't coming from his mother. He opened his eyes to see Hermione kicking and screaming under Pansy, who had her pinned to the ground. He was about to go help her when Draco went over and peeled Pansy away from her. Pansy stood breathing rapidly through her mouth and glaring down at Hermione. Ron walked over to Hermione to help her up and then he saw her face. On either sides of her cheeks were four-finger tracks of blood, running from her cheekbone to her mouth and they looked deep.

"Merlin," Ron muttered. He sat on the floor next to Hermione who, although was sitting up, looked frozen with shock. He looked up at Pansy and yelled, "What is wrong with you? Do you see what you did to her face?"

Pansy scoffed, "Did you see what she did to my face?" She turned her head to the left to reveal four tracks of blood that were no where near as bad as the scratches on Hermione's face. After snapping out of her stupor, told her so.

"What you did to me was way worse then what I did to you and you know it," Hermione said, tenderly touching the scratches.

Pansy shrugged Draco's hands off her shoulders. "I'd say we're about square, Granger."

Hermione scoffed and pointed at her neck, "You choked me!"

By this time, Blaise had gotten off Harry and stood by her friends' side and Harry by his. As they stood looking at each other they noted the damages done to both sides. Draco had a bruise forming and swelling on his right cheek and his neck was still red from the headlock Ron had put him in. Ron's back and ass was aching from the fall and he did indeed have bruises on his wrists. Harry and Blaise were both sore from when they tripped each other. Blaise's arms hurt a lot from when Harry twisted it but she'd never openly admit that. Harry's groin was throbbing, he had a bloody nose, and he'd busted his lip when he fell down. Besides the scratches, Pansy's cheek was still red from Hermione's slap and there was a bruise in the form of hand on Hermione's neck and a bite mark on her hand. This didn't look good. This didn't look good at all.

But it seemed that only Ron and Draco understood this. Pansy had sighed, "Well I guess we can tell who won that fight." She smirked and high fived Blaise who stared at the others pointedly.

"Well whoever 'won the fight' is going to get in the most trouble," Draco said surveying the injuries.

"What?" Blaise looked at him with disbelief.

Ron smirked, "He means you three are going to get in more trouble for fighting."

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Oh come on! We barely touched you!" Harry, Hermione, and Ron gave her "what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?" looks.

Pansy scoffed, "Well, that's not fair! We were provoked. Besides it wasn't just us. It takes two to fight, which means you're in trouble too!"

"Well, they don't have to know . . . do they? If we clean up before any of the teachers see us," Harry offered.

Ron asked, "Alright who knows Healing Charms?" Everyone looked at Hermione.

"Don't look at me; we're supposed to be learning them next week."

"Hermione…" Harry sighed. "You're slacking.

Draco looked at Pansy and Blaise. "Do you guys have any Healing Potion or something?"

"We'll check," Pansy said. She and Blaise walked over to their trunks and searched it for some sort of healing remedy. The remaining four looked on with crossed fingers and high hopes. Pansy searched everywhere. She could have sworn she had some left somewhere in there. Blaise had better luck.

"Found some!" Everyone sighed with relief.

She pulled out the blue glass vial and shut her trunk. She took a sip and passed it down the line, waiting for the potion to take affect. Pansy poured some in her mouth and passed it along to Draco, who passed it to Hermione, who passed it to Ron, who passed it to Harry and back to Blaise. She screwed the top back on and put it back in her trunk.

Hermione asked, "Why do you keep Healing Potion in your trunk?"

Blaise rolled her eyes and was about to say a smart comment when Ron interrupted, "Who cares? It's a good thing she did, otherwise we'd be out another game in Quidditch and my mother would have a hissy fit if she got another letter from the school."

"Thank you," Blaise said. After the brief silence she realized who exactly she was thanking. She added quickly, "Weasley." Then the familiar 'pops!' of the food sounded and they all sat down to eat.

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"Could you pass the . . . the . . ." Draco furrowed his eyebrows and snapped his fingers trying to get the word in English.

Ron looked up from his food and asked, "The what?"

"That," Draco answered as he pointed to the dish in front of him. "Le jambon."

"The what?"

Pansy spoke up, "The ham."

Ron picked it up and passed it to him. Draco added more to his plate and then handed it back to Ron. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Hermione pointed to the mashed potatoes in front of Blaise. She picked it up and handed it to her. Hermione thanked her and Blaise said, "This right here," gesturing at the whole dinner "does not mean we like you."

Hermione made a small 'unbelievable' smile and asked, "What does it mean, then? Tell me."

"It means the chances of us liking you have gone from negative 5 to 0. Meaning there's still no chance of us becoming friends."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever, Zabini. It shows progress. Maybe if we can get to a tolerable level, they'll let us out early."

Blaise snorted, "Don't hold your breath."

Harry suggested, "Let's just be civil in public tomorrow. I know they'll think we're faking but it'll show we're at least making an effort, you know?"

"Well what do you mean by 'civil?'" Pansy asked biting into a carrot. "Do you mean ignoring you guys instead of insulting like we usually do, which shows progress, or do we actually have to talk to you and make conversation?"

"No insults and I guess we'll . . . we'll try to make conversation but lets not push it, okay?" Draco asked eating the last of his vegetables. Everyone agreed, got ready for bed and then went to sleep.

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In the morning, the six students woke up and went about as usual. Draco, Ron, and Hermione joined Harry, Pansy, and Blaise for breakfast after having their morning showers and gotten ready. They ate their breakfast in silence each brooding over their first day of school 'grounded.' Before long Hermione checked her watch and said, "Time to go." Everyone gathered their stuff and slowly migrated to the portrait hole. In front of it they could hear chatter from the other side coming from passing students. Hermione took a deep breath and said, "Remember, be civil—no insults." The others nodded and waited as the portrait began to open.

Outside the hole was a crowd of students who had stopped to stare curiously at the painting. The students fell silent as the painting opened to reveal the six students in said portrait. The looks of confusion turned into looks of accusations. A Fourth Year Ravenclaw asked, "What's going on?"

"Yeah!"

"What is this?"

"All of a sudden you're friends with them?"

Hermione, Ron, and Harry were scared. They found themselves at a loss. Sure, they wanted to get off punishment but was it worth having the whole school looking at you like you're some kind of criminal that committed the ULTIMATE crime? Hermione and Ron have never been looked at in such a degrading way and Harry, who had gone through this in Second, Fourth, and Fifth Year still couldn't get used to the dirty looks. What were the professors thinking? They didn't have the power to unite the school together. They held no sway to the thoughts and opinions of the other students of Hogwarts. This wasn't going to work.

Hermione turned to Draco to tell him so but his intense glare stopped her. "Save it," he whispered. He aimed his gaze upon the crowd of students and announced, "No need to worry, folks. You could hardly call me and the Mudblood friends." Hermione forced herself not to flinch. She deserved that. She watched as Draco made quick sidelong glances at Blaise and Pansy, who followed suit.

Blaise smirked as she walked towards the other Slytherins, "Like I'd let The-Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die anywhere near me?" Draco and Pansy followed them. Pansy grinned and jumped on Goyle's back, "Ew, I would never let Weasel give me a piggy back ride. The guy can't afford to pay attention!" She and her Housemates laughed as they headed to their first period classes.

The other Houses watched them leave with disgust.

"They are so mean!"

"It must suck to have to live with them all the time!"

"How do you put up with them?"

Hermione, Ron, and Harry looked at each other with looks of guilt. The first tiny bump in the road and they gave up. What the Slytherins said had hurt, but they deserved every word.