Life as I Knew It

Chapter 14--Lunch with the Gryffindors

When Pansy walked into the Ancient Runes classroom, she thought that maybe it was okay the crazy, old hag was gone. She took a seat with Zahara, but her eyes never left the man at the front of the class. He was gorgeous. He was maybe twenty five, with long brown hair tied back with a ribbon.

The new professor walked up to where the two of them were sitting. "Miss... Zahara, you're late. That's a detention."

Zahara rolled her eyes. "That is fine."

The professor extended his hand to Pansy and smiled. "I am Professor Putain d'Homme. You must be the new student."

She shook his hand. "I'm Pansy Parkinson." She was feeling a little hot under his gaze. It wasn't until he walk back to the front of the class that Pansy noticed it was actually the classroom that was hot. In fact, many of the girls had shed their robes, and when Tracey turned to say something to Morag, Pansy saw that she had unbuttoned her shirt down to her cleavage. In her head, Pansy renamed her Trampy McSlut, because Tracey Davis had been her friend, and that cleavagy blonde was not Tracey.

Over the course of the class, Pansy realized why Zahara would rather be taught by a hag. It was only the first day of class, but the things Professor d'Homme was going over were so basic that any N.E.W.T. level student would feel insulted. For the most part, he spoke to them as if they were third years, although occasionally Pansy got the feeling that the professor was flirting with certain female students. As she looked around, she realized that the class was disproportionately female. Pansy hoped that meant Theodore Nott, Terry Boot, and the other missing males had gotten sick of being talked down to. Ancient Runes had always been Pansy's best subject, but she was pretty sure that, given the choice, she would have dropped it rather than continue put up with this.

When class was over Pansy asked Zahara why the professor did not like her. "Probably because I do not show enough skin," was Zahara's response.

"Is that why he calls you 'Miss Zahara?'"

Zahara grinned. "No, that is because he cannot pronounce my surname."

Pansy started stuffing her books into her bag. "What is your surname?"

"Kheirallah. He used to try, but he does not like it when I correct him."

"Well, listen, I wanted to try to talk to Professor Dumbledore during lunch, so I'll see you in whatever class we have together next." Pansy had not actually told Zahara that she was working with Dumbledore to fix things, but she figured Zahara would understand what she meant anyway.

Zahara got up to leave and waved goodbye to Pansy. Pansy was having trouble getting her Runes workbook into her bag. It kept getting caught on something and bending awkwardly. Pansy really did not want to be left alone with Professor d'Homme, so she tried to force the book in rather than fix the problem, which was actually taking more time.

"I'll help you with that." Pansy looked up to see the smiling face of Hermione.

Pansy sat back. Hermione would smooth things out and make it all work. Time was no longer of the essence for Pansy now that she had a companion to act as a buffer between her and Professor Hornball. Hermione's shirt was also half unbuttoned, and she would surely command the man's attention if it came to that.

It did not take Hermione very long at all to get the workbook into Pansy's bag. She handed the bag to Pansy. "I was thinking that we haven't gotten the chance to really talk since the train. Come on, have lunch with me."

Pansy was surprised by the invitation. "You mean at the Gryffindor table? Is that allowed?" It had not been in her reality.

Hermione shrugged. "Sure."

Pansy really did want to talk with Dumbledore, but she also was intrigued by the idea of eating with the Gryffindors. She would see the headmaster soon enough, and there was surely some information to be learned from the students in Gryffindor. Pansy told Hermione that she would be glad to have lunch with her.

In the Great Hall, walking toward the Gryffindor Table, the first thing Pansy noticed was Melpomene. "She's in Gryffindor?"

"Oh yeah," said Hermione. "She and Ginny are, like, best friends."

It wasn't until Hermione said it that Pansy realized up until that point she had not used the word "like" or "Oh my god" yet in their conversation. It did not surprise Pansy that Ginny and Melpomene were friends, really. They both dressed in black and were angry all the time. And when she thought about it, Pansy had known that the one transfer student was in Ravenclaw and the other was in Gryffindor. Melpomene just had not struck her as a Gryffindor. Plus, she had known the Slytherin password, not that she really seemed like a Slytherin.

Pansy took a seat between Hermione and Ginny. She expect someone to say something about her sitting at the wrong table, but no one did. Melpomene was sitting on the other side of Ginny, and Ron was across the table from Pansy, shovling food into his face as if he was afraid there was a shortage.

Conversation swirled around her, but it was mostly boring, so Pansy did not participate. She was eating quietly, minding her own business, when Melpomene pulled her to her feet and said, "We need to talk."

She dragged Pansy over to a corner, where no one would be able to hear their conversation. Pansy looked around and saw that no one even seemed to notice. She thought about the sword from before and hoped that someone would notice if Melpomene brandished that thing again.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" hissed Melpomene.

"Eating lunch with my new friend, Hermione."

Melpomene smirked. "Not so brave without Zahara around, are you?"

Pansy was not exactly sure what she was talking about since she had been much less brave in the hall with Zahara and the katana. She did not want to say that though, because it would bring attention to the fact that she had been scared then. "I'm brave enough to handle you, regardless of who I'm with."

"You don't belong at the Gryffindor table."

Pansy scoffed. "But you belonged in the Slytherin common room last night?" Melpomene started to speak, but Pansy cut her off, remembering what Zahara had said. "Why don't you just sit down and stop being such a Mary Sue?"

Pansy was amazed by how well the taunt worked, considering that she did not even know what it meant. Melpomene's face turned red, and she stalked off. Pansy decided to find out more about this "Mary Sue" thing. She was not quite done bothering Melpomene though. She returned to the table and took her seat on the other side of Ginny from Melpomene. "Ginny, if Melpomene's your best friend, why didn't you sit with her on the train?"

Ginny shrugged. "I always sit with Hermione."

"Yeah, but she's a Mudblood and way too perky for you. Melpomene just seems more your speed."

Pansy did not know for sure what exactly she expected Ginny to say, but what actually happened was so much better than she could have hoped. Ginny looked over at Melpomene and turned back to Pansy. "Actually, I'm kinda over the whole Melpomene thing."

"Excuse me?" said Melpomene from Ginny's left. "You're over me?"

"Yeah, you're kinda a drag. I mean it's just 'goth' this and 'hardcore' that. And that katana? You're not even Japanese. You're like an American, or something."

Melpomene's eyes went wide. "I'm Canadian. You know that."

"Oh, right." Ginny flipped her hair and turned her back to Melpomene. "Is it just me, or is Harry looking really hot today?" Her tone implied that she hoped it wasn't just her, because she would not know what to make of that.

Pansy looked at Harry. He was sitting next to Ron, who was still eating, although at a slightly slower pace than before. "It's just you."

Ginny cocked her head to the side and stared at Harry. "Really?"

Across the table, Ron put down his fork. "I'm full," he said with a sense of wonder.