Chapter 3

According to many experts in the fields of runes and charms, the library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the single most impressive magical place in all of Britain until the Atrium at the Ministry of Magic was completed in 1929. Certainly, Bathilda Bagshot, author of Hogwarts: A History, wrote that the library was the, "Founders' crowning glory." and that it was, "easily more impressive than Diagon Ally and the Great Hall of Hogwarts put together." Harry was well aware of Bagshot's opinion of the great, cavernous room because Hermione often quoted the venerable old author to Ron in an attempt to make him more enthusiastic about having to go there to study. Legend has it that hundreds of witches and wizards had tried to figure out exactly how the books cleaned, maintained, sorted and repaired themselves to no avail. The brightest minds of the last millenium, Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel included, had not been able to figure out exactly what combination of spells and runes the Four Founders used to construct the library, and as such it was one of a kind, even in the magical world. None of this impressed Ron however, who muttered darkly to himself about "evil books" and how females were "bonkers" whenever Hermione started to lecture about how amazing the place was.

Harry, though not as fanatical about the library as Hermione was, always did like the ancient building. As he walked through the great iron doors he could not help but stop a moment to appreciate the magnificence of the architecture. The massive stone archways that lead to the different sections of the library were impressive enough in themselves to be worthy of special , every aspect of the room, from the spotless marble floors and the enormous arched windows, to the ornate central carved stone pillar that propped up the roof was a work of art. To top it off, the wooden desks, bookshelves and other trimmings were so exquisitely crafted that even after a thousand years of use, they still looked as if they had been lovingly put together by a master craftsman a week ago. Despite all this, Harry could not say that he was happy to go to the library. 'Especially not tonight,' he thought.

Harry nodded to Madam Pince as he passed the old witch's desk, then turned right and walked towards where he knew Greengrass would be waiting for him. The library was separated into five sub-sections of different sizes which branched off of a hexagonal common area. It was almost impossible to find a fellow student in and around the stacks and Pince often docked house points from students who loitered in the main room . As such, students had no choice but to meet each other in the desigated study area.

Sure enough, Harry saw his new partner sitting alone at one of the desks near the front of the room. Harry had never really paid attention to Daphne Greengrass's appearance. From a distance, he couldn't help but think that she looked a little bit like Narcissa Malfoy. She certainly had the same high cheekbones and cold grey eyes. As he got closer however, he noticed that the two women actually looked nothing alike. Greengrass's skin had considerably more colour, her hair was several shades darker and her lips were significantly fuller. They were roughly the same height, Harry supposed, but they certainly wouldn't be mistaken for being mother and daughter.

Greengrass looked at Harry with a mixture of distrust and frustration. Evidently she was not thrilled with the idea of being forced to work with a Gryffindor. 'Then again perhaps it's just beccause it's me. I haven't exactly endeared myself to Slytherin House after all.' At any rate, the expression on her face did not fill Harry with optimism. He knew that the only way this stood any chance of working is if they were both open-minded but Harry thought it looked like she had already given up. 'Then why did she invite me here?'

Although the entire student body wore the same robes, in terms of their design, the Slytherin girl's were evidently made with very high quality materials. The way the folds of fabric draped over her slender frame so perfectly also suggested that her robes had been tailored to fit, giving Harry the uneasy feeling that he was sloppily dressed. All in all, there was no denying that the girl sitting in front of Harry was exceptionally atttractive, and, in her own way, hugely intimidating.

"I wasn't sure if you'd come," Greengrass stated in a bored tone. Harry slumped into the chair directly opposite the girl, noticing for the first time that she was twirling her wand in her left hand. 'Constant Vigilance,' Harry thought, the voice of faux-Moody ringing through his brain.

"Just doing my bit for interhouse co-operation," Harry replied with a hint of sarcasm. Greengrass didn't look amused.

"I invited you here tonight so that we might discuss how we are going to get through the year without killing each other."

"Well, we could just not work together, you know, stick to ourselves and hope for the best," Harry ventured. It was juvenile, but he couldn't help but feel satisfied when Greengrass rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I considered that," she replied ruefully. "The Headmaster specifically said that the students who formed the strongest partnerships would get the best results."

"He also once told me that the thing he wanted more than anything else in the world was a new pair of socks." If there was one thing Harry had learned from the Weasley twins it was that the best way to dispel tension was to get people to laugh. Unfortunately for Harry, he was not particularly witty and his partner didn't show any signs of laughing anytime soon.

"Perhaps he was telling the truth," Greengrass said nonchalantly."At any rate, the point is that I've worked far too hard to have my grades destroyed on your account."

"On my account?" Harry couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at that. "Surely I can't be blamed for this."

"I suppose that was an unfair thing to say," she shrugged, "neither of us asked for this after all." Harry was surprised to see that she appeared to be more saddened by the arrangement than angered by it. If he was honest, he had expected his new partner to be aggressive and spiteful. 'I guess that's a good thing...'

"We just have to try and work out some sort of a system. " Greengrass gave Harry a curious look.

"Any ideas come to mind?"

"Not really, just, well..." Harry hesitated for a moment. He still wasn't sure how he felt about being paired with a Slytherin. Although Greengrass had been polite,so far, she was still a snakeand he wasn't looking forward to spending time with her.

"Well?" Greengrass asked gruffly.

"Well, to do well in the Engagements we are obviously going to have to work pretty hard on Charms, Defence, Transfiguration and Potions." Harry had been thinking about how they might make the process easier on themselves on his way to the library. "We are in the same Defence and Potions classes, so maybe we should work together during those classes."

Greengrass appeared to be considering Harry's proposition. She look deeply conflicted and let out a small sigh. "That makes sense," she admitted begrudgingly. "We'll still have to meet up a couple of times a week to work on Charms and Transfiguration though."

"Maybe we can find some way other way to communicate with each other so we don't have to meet so often."

"Owl post is too slow," Greengrass observed. Harry had come to the same conclusion earlier on in the day. It was not a good way to communicate because only one person could speak at a time. What they needed was some way to discreetly send each other messages in real time. At that moment, Riddle's diary came to mind. Surely there was some way to adapt that sort of magic to a book or piece of parchment so that two people could communicate back and forth without having to physically exchange letters. Not wanting to explain the diary to Greengrass, Harry chose to say that he would have a think about it and see what he could come up with.

"Is that code for saying that you are going to ask Granger?" Greengrass's voice had a superior tone that Harry wasn't too keen on.

"Would you prefer that I didn't," Harry asked diplomatically.

"No, just as long as you don't involve that idiot Weasley," she replied venomously. Harry could feel anger swelling up inside of him. He had spent the time after he received the letter tyring to convince himself that all he needed to do was keep calm and the meeting would go fine. Ty as he might, he couldn't ignore Greengrass's attack on his best friend.

"Don't insult Ron," Harry said in as even a tone as he could muster.

"Why not? He's a pathetic excuse for a wizard," Greengrass replied with a smug smile. She knew that she had a hit a raw nerve and was enjoying every second of it. 'And it was all going so well... Vindictive bitch.'

"You know what Greengrass? Fuck you." It was the only thing Harry could think of to say at that moment. He was too angry to think of a good come back. The shocked look on the Slytherin's face was priceless. Evidently, she wasn't used to being talked to in such a harsh manner.. "You can't expect me just to sit here while you berate someone I care about. I'm going to go, this was a mistake." Harry made to stand up, but was stopped in his tracks by his partner's angry voice.

"That's fine by me. What was I thinking? This was never going to be anything but a disaster.."

"Yeah, and why's that?" A tense silence settled over the room. Greengrass didn't appear to have a retort ready and so just stood there gaping. Calming slightly, Harry took a deep breath. "Look, Greengrass, this was never going to be easy, but there's no reason for us to start hurling insults at one another."

She seemed to relax slightly at that. Harry couldn't but notice how pretty the girl's face was when she wasn't angry. She looked serene, at total peace with the world. "You're right. Sorry, this is just so..." Greengrass didn't need to finish for Harry to understand what she was trying to say. It was overwhelming, it was stupid, the whole partners thing made no sense whatsoever. Why did they have to be paired with people they barely knew anyway? House unity be damned.

"Why don't we just start again. We had some good ideas, and I'm sure we can work out a way that will allow us to work together without interrupting our normal routine too much." Greengrass nodded her agreement.

"I suspect we both could have done a whole lot worse than being paired with each other. At the very least, you are a competent spellcaster and if the rumours are to be believed, you have a bit of experience with this sort of thing." Harry couldn't believe his ears, that almost sounded like a compliment.

"Err, thanks I guess."

"Don't get too excited. I'm just glad I didn't end up with We... Crabbe or Goyle." He knew she meant Ron, but was prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt for the moment. 'I can't be bothered with another argument, at any rate.'

"So it's decided then? For now, we'll just work together in Potions and Defence and we'll work out some other way to keep in touch with each other's progress in Charms and Transfiguration."

"It's a rough plan, but it will do for now. We'll work out the finer details later."

Harry took that as his cue to leave, so he stood and made his way back towards the exit of the library. Greengrass followed his lead in silence. When they reached the iron doors, he stopped for a moment and let his partner pass him by. "Goodnight Potter," Greengrass said with a courteous nod. She turned to the left and proceeded to the staircase that lead to dungeons.

Harry stood at the library doors for a moment longer and reflected upon how the meeting went. 'It could have been worse I suppose.' It had threatened to go off the rails, but he had managed to keep his cool and Greengrass had lost her appetite for the fight. There was definitely something to work with. The big challenge would be trying to keep their house allegiences to themselves. Mostly happy with the result, Harry began the long trek back to Gryffindor Tower.