AN*Merry Christmas, and if you do not celebrate Christmas I mean no offence, so in all fairness Happy Chanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays to whatever you may celebrate this season and to all a Happy New Year!

this chapter is an action packed adventure with explosive cauldrons and girlfriends! But more importantly it initiates alot of the drama which will be picking up shortly, so without further ado, i bring to you chapter 3!

p.s.-i'm considering writing a Christmas story...or maybe a Chanukah story!let me know if i should please

disclaimer-please refer to the prolouge, for if you havn't already read it there, you weren't exactly planning on reading it here.

Chapter 3- Explosives

"Was I supposed to add the rats tail so it would reach a soft simmering blue, or after it already had?" Astoria mumbled to herself as she paged through her notes in order to double check.

BOOM

"After…" Astoria squeaked as she rubbed the ashes off of her forehead and made sure her eyebrows were intact. Her lashes were a little singed, which Orla was all to happy to point out with a harsh laugh, but Astoria was far to busy analyzing the damages of her mistake to have noticed.

"That's okay…it's alright, we can still salvage this." She reassured herself as she stared gloomily into the once sea green, now pomegranate red depths of her potion. Fumbling with her droxie roots, Astoria was sure to be a hundred percent exact with her measurements, she wasn't going to be making anymore mistakes.

Unfortunately in her haste she had slid, not only the nicely diced roots, but the remains of the stock as well off of her cutting board and into her cauldron with a large splash which made it out of the cauldron and onto the desk with a piercing hiss. The entire class turned to watch as Astoria's cauldron began bubbling violently and as she, in a panicked hurry, slammed a lid as the bubbles became clearly visible from the lip. This proved quite useless as the now crimson concoction seeped over the edges, deteriorating the outside of the cauldron with a deafening sizzling.

Between the potion eating away the inside of the cauldron, and the red sticky coating eating away at the outside it was no surprise when the cauldron disappeared altogether sending an acidic tsunami of redder then red liquid spilling over the potions bench. With a much more then audible scream Astoria jumped a good foot and a half away from the mess as the dense monstrosity, 'which ought to be an airy almost gas like mixture' Astoria thought, cascaded down the sides of the table, burning through her notebooks, text, quills and parchment. Not even her ink pot was spared.

Snape decided this would be a fine time to intervene seeing as the class now had plenty to laugh, point and jeer Astoria about.

Stewart started applauding in a highly sarcastic manner while Orla mockingly stated, "Well done Greengrass, I dare say Fred and George couldn't disintegrate a cauldron in as spectacular a manner as that!" To which Stewart, Owwwed, and wooted. Astoria flushed a deeper red then her potion, and at a much faster rate as Snape shushed in a manner only a sweeping glance he, and perhaps He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the devil, a Malfoy or Crockshanks, could produce.

"Another zero, Miss Greengrass." Snape drawled now that he had the classes full attention. "Third one this year I believe? And only five classes in. Pity." Snape said with anything but sympathy. One didn't need exceptional math skills to know that this was not a good way to start off the year.

"Professor Snape, please." Astoria began, freezing as Snapes icy glare was pointed at her. "Co-could I, ma-make it up, receive part marks, any marks, do another assignment, to make up for this one I mean, extra credit," Astoria rambled nervously.

"There are many ways to phrase, receive extra credit, aren't there Miss Greengrass?" Snape smirked, to which Orla had to stifle a laugh.

"Um…yes, sorry," Astoria muttered blushing further and concluding her sentence to her shoes. "Could I- would it be possible for me to, maybe, write a paper or a-an essay on-" Astoria fumbled around with her words until Snape cut in sharply

"No."

"Bu-but Sir, Professor, I understand-" Astoria began lifting her gaze from her shuffling feet to meet Snape's gaze.

"You don't understand it Miss Greengrass you remember it." Snape hissed just as the bell sounded. "Class dismissed."

Millicent sat anxiously in her first period Transfigurations class going through the list of excuses Pansy had composed for her birthday gift last year, which she kept in her bag at all times. She was trying to remember whether or not she had already told McGonagall that her owl had pooped on her homework before or if that had been for her DADA assignment. As she sat with her brows tightly knit in concentration Draco pulled up a chair beside her, as there was still a fair bit of time before class and Pansy and Daphne were busy discussing there morning hair routine. "Don't think so hard, your brain might implode." Draco smirked as he practiced balancing his chair on it's hind legs.

"Don't you mean explode?" Millicent corrected, abandoning her list seeing as the whole situation was hopeless anyway.

"Maybe…" Draco suggested. "So Crabbe didn't give you his essay."

"Oh no he did…" Millicent assured him, pulling the essay out from under her text book. "it wasn't on the spell that turned that thing into the thing though. No, he wrote about why Floppers come in so many colours." Draco burst into a fit of laughter which caused a decent amount more then a few odd stares. "He also included Blaise Zabini as his research resource." Millicent concluded, stowing the essay back into her bag.

After recomposing himself Draco asked Millicent if she was going to hand it in. To which she replied. "Oh most definitely." With raised brows and a big, fat, in your face, hint of sarcasm. As the bell sounded the students returned to their seats, and Millicent returned to her list. Perhaps she could get away with saying Goyle ate it, that had always been Pansy's favourite, although it never had exactly worked.

"Now, I assume you all have your essay's with you." McGonagall greeted in a manner that said, I am teaching a class of forgetful Hufflepuff's and lazy Slytherin's of course they haven't. Millicent decided her best bet would be number 37. A first year was practicing 'insert basic spell here' and set her book bag on fire, luckily she hadn't put her text book away yet. Yes, that sounded completely plausible. Wait. this only works before class, otherwise there all like, why didn't you report this wah, wha, wha.

Millicent was doomed.

The class filed before McGonagall's desk to either drop of there essay proving it was complete, or ramble about why it wasn't, Professor McGonagall commentating the exchanges.

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy.

Mrs. Greengrass this isn't ten inches…ten inches was the minimum Mrs. Greengrass no excuses.

Mrs. Parkinson sit down, unless you decided to do your homework for a change?"

"Oh Minerva, of course I did it." Pansy chimed with a lazy eye roll and tilt of her head.

"Then tell me Mrs. Parkinson why it isn't on my desk." Professor McGonagall challenged, crossing her arms.

"Please, call me Pansy." Pansy smiled warmly with her hand on Professor McGonagalls arm in a 'friendly' gesture. "It would be on your desk, however on my way to class I came across a particularly nasty imp, and-"

"Interesting story I'm sure Mrs. Parkinson, however, the school was eradicated of imps, and similar creatures just last week." McGonagall stated triumphantly.

"Bonus marks for the effort?" Pansy attempted weekly.

"Take your seat Mrs. Parkinson." Pansy stomped off and plopped into her chair with an over exaggerated huff.

"Mrs. Bulstrode, do you have an essay to turn in?" McGonagall sighed, as her quill scratched angrily against her marks paper just under Pansy's name

"Um, well actually-"

"She would have it Professor, had she been able to concentrate." Draco cut it, giving Pansy a slight nod.

"Oh yes, tragic really, surprised she was even able to make it to class today with the state Millie has been in." McGonagall raised her brows marginally amused. Draco slapped his face with his hand, for Pansy as per usual had turned the lie into something mellow dramatic.

"And what has caused Mrs. Bulstrode to enter such a tragic state?" McGonagall inquired, taking a seat as though this was going to be an entertaining story.

"Well," Draco began, glancing at the ceiling as though the answer would be written there. "As you are aware of, I'm sure, seeing as you are Deputy Headmistress, Mrs. Bulstrode visited home this past weekend for family reasons. For those more informed," Draco gave the Slytherin's a sweeping gaze. "know that it was for a funeral…her Uncle Tatum's funeral." Going on the glance Draco had given them the Slytherin portion of the class began nodding in agreement. "And yes the essay was assigned a week in advance, and she has started on it, but Millicent, unlike some." Draco stared Daphne straight in the face at this. "wouldn't want to mock you with a half completed essay."

"Seven inches is well over half!" Daphne huffed, attempting to redeem herself.

"If given just a few more days I'm sure she'll have it done for you." Draco finished seamlessly, as though he hadn't been interrupted at all. McGonagall turned to Millicent who nodded vigorously.

"And why Mr. Malfoy couldn't Mrs. Bulstrode tell me all of that herself?"

"Because-" Draco dragged the word out as long as he could without it becoming obvious.

"Slytherin pride Professor." Daphne finished with a slight shake of her head, sure to smile in a manner that said something along the lines of, oh how foolish, or that's just plain silly.

"You have until next class Mrs. Bulstrode. No longer." McGonagall announced, making note of it in her mark book.

"Yes, thank you Professor." Millicent nodded before returning to her seat. "Wow I owe Draco big." She mumbled to herself as she found a clean sheet of parchment.

"Mind explaining to me why you got Millicent an extension on her homework and not your girlfriend?" Pansy demanded in as menacing a tone a whisper would allow, leaning back in her chair so that she and her boyfriend were as face to face as one can be when one person sits in the seat in front of yours and both are feigning copying notes from the board.

"I needed the good karma." Draco explained, to which Pansy scoffed. "I rigged Longbottom's cauldron to implode." Draco elaborated.

"How's that different then exploding?" Pansy asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Draco smirked.

"Well, you could have gotten your good karma by helping me." Pansy snapped.

"Your story sounded great yesterday, how was I supposed to know they massacred that imp and his family. Besides, you weren't going to write that essay anyway." Draco concluded.

Pansy was about to retort when McGonagall spotted the two and sent her to the opposite corner of the room.

"Daphne," Pansy whispered frantically as she hurried into the girls dormitory, shutting the door as she entered.

"Mph," Daphne mumbled in acknowledgment of Pansy, for she had a quill held between her teeth, as she riffled through her trunk in search of a textbook.

"You don't think anyone's…going after Draco do you?" Pansy inquired with a worried crease above her brow. Daphne's quill fell from her mouth and further into her trunk.

"What?, wh-why, why would you ask that?" Daphne questioned franticly from the depths of her trunk wearing a worried expression of her own.

"BITCH!" Pansy screeched, kicking the nearest furniture item, which just so happened to be Olli's night stand, in her frustration, sending the picture of their first slumber party and a candle stick crashing to the ground.

"Pansy I can explain" Daphne began just to be drowned out by Pansy's continued cursing.

"How could she do this to me. That little home wrecker, that traitor, I'm going to kill her!"

"Wait her? Her who?" Daphne asked emerging from her trunk to settle herself on the floor.

"Don't play idiot Daphne, you were there in Transfigurations!" Pansy cried in exasperation. "Draco totally bailed Millicent over me! His girlfriend! She has a crush on him!" Pansy exclaimed, gesturing wildly all the while and taking up pacing the length of the room.

"Pansy don't'-" Daphne began, preparing to relax her friend but deciding to take a very, different direction. "Well they do get on quite well, always have."

"But he wouldn't leave me. No. Not for her. Right? No, no he wouldn't" Pansy

"Its always possible." Daphne shrugged.

"But, she's…you know, and I'm so much prettier!" Pansy whined.

"Yeah but does that matter?" Daphne pointed out. "I mean, he did still talk to you back in third year when all the other boys would bark after you when you passed them. He didn't care that you looked like-" Pansy gave Daphne a glare that just screamed, I dare you to finish that sentence. "…that they thought you looked like a pug." Daphne corrected, to which Pansy crumpled onto her four poster in despair.

"Oh my God your right!" She groaned. "He doesn't, which means…where the fucks Bulstrode!" Pansy demanded bolting up off the mattress and to her feet.

"Um, I think she went down to the kitchens with Olllie and some of the boys-"

"WHICH BOYS!" Pansy ordered griping Daphne by the shoulders.

"I don't…" Pansy abandon Daphne and whipped the door open, slamming it behind her so fast Daphne couldn't be sure she'd even opened it in the first place, but the evidence of it opening was there. Pansy was gone, leaving Daphne with her small victory.

AN* so what have we learned today? well, Astoria most definiatly needs a potions tutor, which is detromental. Millie is team Draco, which is very important later on. Daphne's a deceptive little be-ouch and Pansy wants Millicent's head.