Those Wrong, Yet it's Right, Things

Chapter 1

Life is something that happens when people can't fall asleep at night.

~Unknown

A sleep-deprived Pansy made her way to the great hall the next morning. Double potions first thing and she couldn't have looked more like hell. She had spent the whole night tossing and turning, waking abruptly to thoughts of war and her parents right when sleep was about to consume her. Her dirty blond hair was pulled in a high ponytail that fell halfway down her back and the poor girl had given up on make-up saving her face a year ago. She knew she wasn't pretty, by far, with her scrunched up features and her rich blue eyes, but she hadn't really thought of herself as ugly until she looked in the mirror this morning and it said 'man in the girl's dorms.' Intended as a joke, Pansy hadn't found it very funny.

So, around six she'd rolled out of bed and haunted the dungeons, contemplating Snape's target of the day and the lingering revelations of last night. Around seven as she decided it was safe to make her way to breakfast, Pansy stumbled--I wish I didn't mean that literally--upon a solution. Starting today Pansy wasn't going to be who everyone thought she was. And although Pansy had sworn this to herself several times since September, she felt today was different. She thought she might really mean it.

Entering the Great Hall Pansy could see it was an early Monday for everyone. It was nearly half full and she could see dirty plates from where some people had already evacuated, no doubt to finish up forgotten homework. Making her way to her usual seat by the Price of Slytherin himself--going on dramatically about some near-death experience no doubt--she changed her mind. Pansy stopped suddenly, noticed by much of the hall, some of who tried to stifle giggles, and changed tactics. Instead, she followed the beautifully dark oak table its length to the end and sat, by herself, a good five feet from everyone else.

To most, Pansy Parkinson had gone unnoticed. They knew her name and the face, but she had been a hood ornament of Malfoy's too long to actually be bothered by. However, this simple maneuver caused the hall to break out as though they were her best friend and were simply in disbelief by the action. Pansy shrugged off the echoes of her name and began to eat.

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Harry Potter skidded to a halt outside the doors to Snape's classroom beside his best friend, Ronald Weasley. Breathing heavily, he tried to calm his hair and straighten his tie, watching Ron fumble helplessly with his shoelace. Hermione stood near, making a clucking sound with her tongue, telling him she thought them irresponsible. But honestly, how were they irresponsible because the bloody alarm didn't go off?

He looked around and saw Parvati and Lavender staring at him disdainfully before turning back to Dean and a few others and continuing their morning gossip. Draco Malfoy was in the corner with his usual cronies smirking at something genius he just said, no doubt. Harry hated Mondays.

Down the hallway there was a girl leaning against the wall by herself. Harry strained his eyes to try and make out the figure. After several moments Harry jumped back as it dawned on him who it was: Pansy Parkinson.

No need to make Harry even more of a hero and say he had always noticed her and sat in bed at night thinking she wasn't who she pretended to be. No, Harry was just as guilty as everyone else: he had never paid much mind to her. But seeing her alone in the hallway instead of clinging to Malfoy or yelling shrewd comments at Hermione, Harry studied her for a minute. She had the same blonde hair, though it was pulled up when usually it was down, and the same puglike face.

Being in war Harry didn't need to be told that not everything is as it appears to be. The Order had been carefully recruiting teenagers from Hogwarts with the help of the Golden Trio and several others. However, they had yet to try to persuade a Slytherin into joining their ranks. They were aware how dangerous it was, yet they also knew how necessary it was. Nobody knew more about the dark side then Slytherins, and no one had the cunning to outsmart them like a Slytherin did. For a moment Harry thought that maybe she could be it, his branch into a new territory. But as Pansy whipped his head towards him, the weight of his eyes finally finding her, and glared at him, simultaneously leading to Snape's door creaking open, Harry thought against it.

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She had been ignoring stares all morning and hadn't noticed when the most unlikely person's eyes fell on her. Pansy could see Malfoy's group oblivious that she was gone, yet his face this morning might prove he noticed otherwise. Pansy had been distancing herself for some time, but today's bold move was a smack in the face. Not that he needed another one.

Draco Malfoy was destined for great things and Pansy knew this. He would most likely, once branded, replace his father, and when the dark lord perished, whether at the hand of The-Boy-Who-Lived or by old age, would proceed to rein the kingdom. Everyone in Slytherin knew this. Every girl envied her whose path was set to join his. So, perhaps, the shock of the events so far this morning was greater to her.

Feeling an unshakable stare on her Pansy whipped her head in the direction of its source. On instinct she glared at Harry Potter, but as he turned to go into Snape's room, a wave of disbelief overcame her. Numbly, she found her way into the potion's classroom in time to hear that they would be partnered up for the remainder of the year--no doubt thanks to Snape's discovery of Granger helping Longbottom too much--into opposite house pairs.

Unfortunately, thoughts swarmed in her head and drowned out whatever else he had to say. However, the team Parkinson and Potter did find its way to her ears, and moments later, to her occupied mind.