For disclaimer please see prologue.

A/N: At this point I would like to express my gratitude to my brilliant Beta-Readers Flair Verona, Madame Tibbles and Noesnifunifa. They've been a wonderful help. Thank you all so much for your support. I really appreciate it and should start worshipping you any minute now :)

Additional thanks go to hamadryad11 who kindly pointed out a few more mistakes. You were very helpful, thank you dear :)

x

x

Chapter 02: Interview with a Slytherin

x

"Not that I'm interested or something, but what do you do when you're not following Potter like some lost puppy?"

Ronald Weasley - Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Prefect and well-respected member of 'the dynamic Trio' as the combination of himself, Harry and Hermione had come to be called – turned purple. "I am not…" he squeaked out, halted abruptly and cleared his throat.

Pansy raised a carefully plucked eyebrow. "Finally hit puberty, Weasel?"

Ron, unable to think of a quick comeback, merely settled for what he thought of as a threatening and superior look; however, judging from the smile that tugged at the corners of Pansy's lips, he got the uncomfortable feeling that he did not necessarily achieve the result he was aiming for. "You may have noticed that I was given captaincy of the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year and…"

"Yes. We'll wipe the floor with you," Pansy smirked, watching the redhead's face redden once again.

"Just like you did the years before, right? Because if I remember correctly, we wiped the floor with you."

Pansy blatantly ignored the fact that the aggravating Gryffindor had made a perfectly correct comment and kept attacking. "That's because Potter was in charge. Now, however…"

Ron gulped instinctively at the predatory glint in her eyes and quickly went back to his parchment. "Erm…whatever. Look, Parkinson, just write the Quidditch thing down and let's get to the next point, o.k.?"

"Fine. What else do you do in your awfully fascinating life?" Pansy rolled her eyes and played with her quill. Merlin, this was boring! Not even bothering to suppress a yawn, the brunette's eyes sought out the form of her childhood friend Theodore Nott, who – halfway across the room – was facing a very different situation.

x

Sometimes life gave you the best opportunities, Horace Slughorn mused. The small professor smiled contentedly as he surveyed the room - his small, intelligent eyes resting every now and then on a particular pair of students before resuming their wandering. Yes, of course he was fully aware that the students were supposed to be partnered completely by chance but the opportunity had simply been too good to pass it up! So Horace did what he had always been most talented at: he connected people. In retrospect, he reflected with a smile, 'adjusting' the names on the parchment when the lots were drawn had been ridiculously easy, and – voilà! – Professor Slughorn's great project was in motion!

He leaned back into his comfortable plush armchair and folded his hands on his vast stomach, moving merely his eyes. There were Harry Potter and Justin Finch-Fletchley. Lots of possibilities. And just over there Blaise Zabini was flirting heavily with a rather flustered-looking Padma Patil. Slughorn grinned, and his eyes rested a little longer on the dark boy. He had never known a more charming and ruthless young man. Never, except back when...Wincing, Horace pushed the unwelcome memory of young Nicodemus Nott far out of his consciousness. What a waste of possibilities! Of talent!

Horace sighed deeply, moving on to the son of the unfortunate man. Theodore Nott, by some cruel twist of fate, seemed to have inherited none of his father's natural charm and spirit. If it hadn't been for the occasional mono-syllabic comment in class, one might even forget that he existed at all. If pairing him up with the most intelligent and curious witch in the whole year wouldn't get the young man to open up, then nothing at all ever could.

Slughorn finally found the objects of his interest seated near the entrance doors. He leaned forward. Could it be? Horace blinked and rubbed his monocle before putting it on again. He blinked once more and frowned. They were already boycotting his project!

x

He wasn't talking. At all.

Hermione pursed her lips in disapproval and gave a sniff of disdain. No reaction. She bit her bottom lip in thought and frowned. This was not how things were supposed to go. In order to interact you needed to talk. Or at least look at each other.

She cleared her throat and looked expectantly at the Slytherin in front of her. Nothing. He ignored her! He simply acted as if she didn't exist! Hermione pressed her lips together into a thin line of disapproval and glared at Nott's head. The dark-haired boy remained seemingly oblivious and unconcerned of the impending doom that was heading his way. Briefly Hermione entertained the thought that he might be mute. Definitely a possibility, right? Still, a conversation had to be formed, Hermione mused as she stared stubbornly at the shaggy brown bangs that fell into his eyes while he drew horrible little monsters onto the corners of his parchment. Dark ink was staining his fingers as he furiously added a few fangs here and another pair of claws there.

"Nott?" Hermione's patience was definitely wearing thin by now. She had to find a way to start a conversation before she'd give in to the ever-growing temptation of strangling him with his own stupid tie. So, keeping her eyes fixed on his head, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"You need a haircut."

The scribbling stopped and Hermione suddenly found herself looking into a pair of surprisingly

warm brown eyes.

"This is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black."

Whoa. Hermione's jaw almost dropped in surprise. He could talk! And he had a rather nice voice, too. And…Hermione frowned. Had he just insulted her hair? "Do you have a problem with my hair?"

A dark brow rose behind the curtain of his hair. "Do you have a problem with mine?"

'Not with you hair,' Hermione thought with a hint of desperation, 'But why do you needto have such a sensual voice?'

"Granger? Are you still with me?"

Goosebumps ran down Hermione's spine. How in Merlin's name could such an unpleasant person be blessed with such an extraordinary, velvety voice? She frowned at him. "I liked you better when you didn't talk."

He shrugged and pushed over his parchment.

Hermione blinked. What now? Frowning, she took a look at it. In an untidy scrawl he had written a little basic information about himself – just enough for her to write a paper about it. "And you want the same from me?"

Theo nodded.

Fine, Hermione reflected, the less he talked the better. Wordlessly, she took out her own parchment and started writing.

x

This would not do! Not at all!

Horace Slughorn did not like it when his plans didn't go as…well, as planned. So, to his complete and utter annoyance he decided that his intervention was needed. All in the name of inter-House communication, of course.

And off he went.

x

Theodore Nott's plan worked perfectly. He was determined to keep the contact with Granger at an absolute minimum, and judging from her eagerness to exchange notes on parchment instead of talking, she obviously felt the same way. He allowed himself a satisfied smile at his success and turned around, regarding the other students. 'Inter-House communication!' Theo barely suppressed a snort of contempt at the concept.

"If I am not sorely mistaken, Mr. Nott, a conversation implies talking," an unexpected voice startled Theo. He turned around and suddenly found himself face-to-stomach with his new Head of House. Carefully, Nott rearranged his features into a neutral expression.

"A member of my own House," Slughorn raised an admonishing finger, "I expected better from you. Or perhaps," Horace smiled behind his enormous walrus moustache, "perhaps the beauty of Miss Granger has impaired your eloquence and you find yourself tongue-tied?"

This time Theo really did snort. Beauty of Miss Granger? Little Miss Perfect? That infuriating bushy-haired Know-It-All? Eloise Midgen was more attractive than that!

His incredulity must have made its way to his face because Granger gave him a very dark and antagonistic look while Slughorn's face merely conveyed a far away look. Theo frowned. Surely the professor was planning something.

Finally a satisfied smile spread out over Slughorn's face. Theo was getting distinctly uncomfortable as he just knew that nothing good would come out of that. The smile was menacing and way too satisfied for his liking.

"Why Mr. Nott, I do believe that some additional time in the presence of Miss Granger is needed in order to help you to get over your shyness, young man." The smile became predatory and Theo gulped. No!

"No!" Theo blurted out before he could stop himself. Granger gave him a furious look. "What I mean, Sir, is just that…erm…"

"What he means to say, Professor," the Gryffindor's carefully controlled voice interrupted, "is that neither of us has the slightest interest of getting to know the other one better. May I suggest a change of partners?"

This time it was Theo's turn to look hurt. Was he really that boring to her? He stuck out his bottom lip just a bit and gave the bushy-haired girl a look the spoke of purest innocence. "Why no, actually, that is not what I'm trying to say. Truth be told…" A small evil smirk was sent into Hermione's direction, "I'd love to learn more about Miss Granger. She's been the object of my hidden fascination ever since I met her, but as you know my shyness has always prevented me from talking to her..."

The look of utter shock on her face was pure bliss. He leaned over and invaded her personal space. "You can close your mouth now."

Theo would never know what the furious brunette wanted to reply since Professor Slughorn, delighted but not deceived by the turn of events, chose this exact moment to put his plan into motion. He gave the teens a bright and seemingly well-meaning smile. "Then you'll be overjoyed to learn that you'll be spending more time with Miss Granger soon. Due to your less than exemplary start at this, I'll give you two the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better even outside of the project." Slughorn definitely felt a pang of satisfaction at the look of sheer terror that crossed Nott's face at the prospect. "You'll be serving detention together. Meet me on Saturday, eight o'clock in my office."

"No!" The protest came in perfect harmony. The kids were already learning to cooperate, Horace thought, ignoring the startled and disgusted looks that were immediately traded between the teens.

"Saturday morning? It's not even a school day!"

"But I need the time to revise!"

Professor Slughorn pushed the comments away with a careless wave of his chubby hand. "Better start talking to each other now, children, or I'll have to add another detention. Have fun."

x

xxXxx

x

A/N: Once again allow me to thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I really, really appreciate the fact that you care enough to let me know that you read this. It means a lot to me. Thank you:)

FlairVerona: Thank you once again for your wonderful review. You really manage to make me smile and feel very good about the whole story. I appreciate your opinion on the story a lot and, by the way, if you ever feel in the mood to beta read a story…well, I'm just hinting but I'd really love to hear your opinion on some things I have planned. For now, I thank you once again for your support hugs

JUST ME MYSELF AND I: Thank you hugs :)

Missing Fairy: Thank you for the kind review. I really hope you still like the story despite the rather 'tame' chapter. The next one will be a bit more dramatic – I promise!

SamathaBrookes: Thank you for the encouragement hugs So you're a Draco-fan? I'm afraid I'll only mention him in passing since he has left school and is off with Snape to parts unknown. However, perhaps there might be some flashbacks because poor Pansy misses him a lot. However, I am seriously considering giving Millicent and Blaise more prominent parts. What do you think:)

Sugarbomb53086: Thank you for the kind feedback (on both chapters! SQUEAL! And hugs!). There's not much Theo-Pansy interaction in this chapter but that will change in the next one. It'll get more light-hearted and we'll witness the return of more friendly banter.

Yeoldecrazy1: I hope this was soon enough. I really am trying for weekly updates but particularly this chapter was very stubborn and took me several attempts to write. Anyway, next week chapter three will be up. I hope it'll live up to your expectations :)