The Pieces Fall Into Place

On the first evening, there was the traditional start of term feast. New first years were sorted, there was food, fun and laughter as friends caught up with each other and summer stories were passed around. After the feast however, the sixth years were retained in the great hall for some special announcements. There were buzzes about what the announcements were about but no one knew for certain and the stories ranged from a new ball just for sixth years to some crazy story about dragons. Dumbledore and all the other teachers sat at their table until the last students filed out. Then Dumbledore stood up and the buzzing stopped as the students quieted down to hear the announcements.

"There have been quite a few rumors going around about this announcement and before I begin, I would like to dispel those rumors. There is no new dance for you to attend," there were quite a few groans at that "and, to my knowledge, there are no dragons involved." A few others groaned. Hagrid looked slightly depressed at the mention of dragons. Norbert's relocation was still a sore spot with him after all these years.

"This announcement has to do with your education." Hermione immediately perked up. "There will be a new system in place for your year. Starting immediately, you will now be paired up, working together with your partner for the year. This is to help you understand your fellow students better, not just the people in your house. You may be paired with your friend or your enemy. But remember, friends may become enemies and enemies may become friends." With that, they were instructed to stand in one line. Dumbledore told them to take their wands out and once every one had their wand (Neville had to run back to Gryffindor tower to get his) Dumbledore took out his wand and waved it. Then each person would take his or her turn and sit on a stool. The wand would call out a partner and the partner's wand would begin to glow. They would then pair up and sit down. Hannah Abbot was paired with Dean Thomas. Lavender Brown was paired with Millicent Bulstrode. The line went on and on. Ron and Hermione were paired together (*dumb luck* thought Harry). Crabbe was paired with Terry Boot and Neville got Seamus.

Harry's mind was wandering through no thoughts in particular and when he finally came out of his daydreams, Harry noticed that there were only a few other people left. His turn not too far away, Harry focused in on who's turn it currently was. Malfoy was the one up on the stool, and after taking a quick glance around him, Harry began to let his mind float off when he noticed his wand. It was beginning to glow. Harry's jaw immediately dropped. There was no way on Earth that he was going to have to spend the entire school year with Draco Malfoy the one person he despised the most at school (Snape comes in a very, VERY close second). *It's a fluke. That's what it is. I'm doing the whole magic without thinking thing again. That's why my wand is glowing. * Harry was now currently the king of the land of denial, and for a moment, one very happy moment, he believed the fluke theory. But then his wand began to glow even brighter and Professor McGonagall called his name. The world shattered.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco was horrified. He vaguely wondered if he looked a sick as he felt. He was stuck with Potter?! Self-righteous, nancy-boy, goody-to-shoes, poncy Potter? *This is all just a dream. A freakish, disgusting, therapy-inducing nightmare of a dream, but I'm going to wake up very soon now and find myself in my bed. That's it. I'm in a dream.* Draco's stomach lurched a bit when he pinched himself and felt the slight pain shoot up his arm. This was insulting and sickening. "Someone somewhere must hate me a lot to put me through this." Draco muttered to himself. He watched Harry walk through the crowd as if walking to his death. The crowd had parted before him. There was dead silence as everyone wondered how in Merlin's name did the worst enemies since forever it seemed, had wound up paired together.

Harry reached the stool, and Draco stood up. Harry was devoid of the warm glow he usually had and Draco looked paler and his eyes sparkled with more hatred than usual, if that was possible. They glared at each other until Professor McGonagall told them to sit down. They sat down as far as conceivably possible while still remaining within the "sit with your partner" mandate. They took one glance at the other and cried,

"This is all your fault!" They turned towards each other and glared again.

"My fault! How's it my fault!? It's your fault!"

"Oh right how silly of me. It IS my fault. I'm the git whose wand decided to get all glowy! Shame on me! Bad Draco, Bad! Yes Potter, this is EXACTLY my plan! I want more than any bloody thing in the world to be your partner. It's my bloody life's ambition to join your lot of wanking fans and attend all their 'secret meetings'." Sarcasm tangibly oozed from Draco's voice.

"Hey! I'm not the one who was on the bloomin' stool when THIS" Harry violently pointed at himself and then at Malfoy "happened. If I didn't know better Malfoy, I would say you and the rest of the Death-Eater lot were doing this just to kill me. But then again, it would take BRAINS to pulls something like this off and that's just not your strong suit now is it."

"For your information Scarhead, I happen to like myself far too much for me to be raisin' my to volunteer for this godforsaken position! And it's you lot that haven't any brains. If brains were gold, the entire Gryffindor house put together wouldn't have enough money to buy a scrap of parchment paper."

"It's nice to see that you like yourself Malfoy, cos apparently you're the only one that does! You have the most piss poor excuse for lackeys as 'friends' and the only way you get by is by kissing the arse of every person with the slightest hint of power."

The bickering and shouting continued on. During this time, the remaining couples were chosen and there was talk going around already on how long Draco and Harry would last before one killed the other. There were bets rings being made, wagers of all sorts being made and all around whispering. Ron and Hermione gave Harry a sympathetic look. Crabbe and Goyle gave Draco a confused and idiotic look. Professor McGonagall spoke to Dumbledore in hushed tones while Draco and Harry argued.

"Do you think it wise Albus? Pairing Draco and Harry together? I don't think that even James and Severus were this bad when they were at school here. This could mean trouble."

"Ahhh Minerva, I didn't pair them together. Fate put them together. I don't think it would hurt Harry or Draco to learn to live with the other. But, I want all the professors to be on watch for those two. They're connected far deeper than they could ever realize." Dumbledore refused to elaborate anymore. He just watched the two with a twinkle in his eyes. This wasn't a surprise at all. There happened to be a small catch in the prophecy concerning Harry that Dumbledore had only discovered this summer. A minute flaw, or a large one, depending on the perspective.

The sixth years were dismissed after being told that their new schedules would be found with their baggage. Draco and Harry, by unspoken agreement stayed behind.

"Draco. Harry. Is anything wrong?" Harry spoke first.

"We want to switch partners." Dumbledore looked at Harry and then at Draco with eyes that twinkled slightly.

"I KNOW I can't go a whole year with Malfoy as my partner."

"And I KNOW that I would go completely insane if I spent so much as a day with him as my partner."

"We hate each other!"

"I'm sorry. I cannot change what has already been chosen. You two will have to learn to live with each other I'm afraid." Jaws dropped. Hope seeped out. The two walked dejectedly down the hall and went their separate ways to their dormitories.

*~*~*~*~*~*

The cheery noise that came from the Gryfinddor common room hushed a bit as Harry trudged in and flung himself into a chair in the far corner. The noise presently started up again and Ron and Hermione came over to where Harry sat, slumped in his chair, staring at the floor with a mask of emotion on his face.

"Cheer up, Harry. It can't be that bad. I mean, you've still got us, and at least you don't have to switch bodies with Malfoy or anything like that." Ron somewhat rolled his eyes at the b.s. Hermione was spouting off at the moment. They all knew it WAS that bad. Harry sighed and looked at Hermione.

"Hermione, Malfoy is the last person in the WORLD I want to get paired with. Even Dudley's better than Malfoy. In fact, Dudley seems like a god right now. I would trade Malfoy for him in a flash. Nothing you can say can make this seem any better. Just say it. I'm doomed."

"Well Harry, you're doomed." Ron gave himself a mental high five. He had finally got back at Harry for his wand quip during their second year.

"Thanks Ron. You're such a friend, always know what to say." Harry gave a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

"Anytime mate." Ron gave a grin right back at the sarcasm. Harry felt a little better despite himself. Ron really did know what to say to cheer him up.

"Guess there's no use in brooding. Might as well have fun while I can. Being with Malfoy's bound to be torture." Harry and Ron played wizard chess, while Hermione alternated between watching the game and reading a tremendously thick recreational reading book about the history of magic. Harry finally relaxed and began to enjoy himself, even if Ron's was slaughtering his pieces. But the dreadful truth was always in the back of his mind. In a few short hours, he would be trapped with Draco Malfoy.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco stormed into the Slytherin common room cursing at anyone who so much as looked at him. Crabbe and Goyle were too thick to know what to do and right now Draco couldn't be bothered by their stupidity. He strode into the dormitory and the sound of the door slamming resonated throughout the common room. Needless to say, Draco was definitely very pissed. The common room buzzed with chatter. No one had seen him this mad since Slytherin lost to Gryffindor last year.

Draco started to pace back and forth. When Crabbe and Goyle came up into the dormitory a resounding "SOD OFF YOU FUCKING PRICKS!!!" was heard even in the halls outside the Slytherin house.