*All characters belong to the author of Harry Potter*
At the beginning of 8th year, Professor Flitwick had paired off each student to comply with the new rules set by the Headmistress. The rule stated that all students would be paired outside of their own houses to further the goals of inter-house unity.
Hermione and Pansy had started off the year in a stony silence, only speaking when they had to for an assignment. After three weeks, Pansy had broken the silence with a bit of gossip about Lavender Brown. Hermione tried not to let this interest her but Pansy was undeterred by her silence, and Hermione found herself shaking in laughter by the end of it when the girl revealed that Lavender had accidentally dyed her hair three different shades of orange.
Once they started talking the pair of them didn't stop, and by November, they were often seen sharing tea together in the common room.
Hermione sat with Pansy in the library, she had been looking through her text for a nonverbal spell that would relax the curls of her hair. Hearing a giggle from the door she glanced up to see Ginny Weasley whispering something to Luna Lovegood and looking at the table where Harry Potter sat with Blaise Zabini. Hermione sighed heavily, watching her friend blush while looking at Harry.
"Pansy? If you had a friend who was interested in a guy but you knew that guy was not into her, what would you do?" Hermione asked.
Pansy looked up, her dark eyes searching the other girl's face, then said simply, "I would let her know."
"You would just tell her?" Hermione asked, considering the idea. "Ok... I can do that."
Pansy chuckled, "No. No.... I can tell we are not saying the same thing." She gave Hermione a forgiving smile, and said, "I would let her know in a way that didn't embarrass her. Not tell her outright. I'm Slytherin, I don't hurt the people I love unless they ask nicely," she finished with a wink.
Hermione was quiet for a moment then picked up a quill and piece of parchment and started walking across the library. Interest piqued, Pansy set down her book and followed Hermione over to the table where Ginny sat with Luna. Ginny looked up when they reached the table and smiled at Hermione, "Hi, 'Mione."
"Hey Ginny," Hermione said, "would you mind coming with me for a moment? I want to see if I can catch Harry at something," she said letting playful mischief pour into the request.
"Sure thing," Ginny agreed eagerly.
Pansy smothered down her sudden wave of giggles, and Hermione suspected that the girl had already put some of the pieces together. The 3 of them went over to the table where Harry and Blaise are working on their joint project for Charms.
Hermione pulled out the chair between the boys and looked at Harry expectantly. Pansy and Ginny stood behind her on either side of the chair.
Harry shifted uncomfortably and said, "Can I help you?"
"I'm glad you asked!" Hermione said, with a brilliant smile. "I am writing a research paper on gender studies and I need to do some interviews regarding the difference between men and women's favorites, their perception, and what they find important. Do you mind answering some questions for me?"
"Er... I'm kinda busy right now," Harry said cautiously, eyeing the way that all three girls were staring at him. "I could do it over lunch?"
"It's only a few questions," she said, and then started in, "Name?"
"Um... Harry."
Hermione wrote his answer on the parchment, "Age?"
"18."
"Ok, now, describe your favorite food."
"Treacle Tart. Hermione, you know the answers to all of these questions," Harry said.
Hermione looked up from writing down the answers. "I know some of them," she offered. "But I need you to describe it for me, that's part of the perception study. Please?"
"Ok," Harry said with a sigh, "It's treacle and tart. Sweet?"
"Favorite class?"
"Defense."
Hermione glanced up, "Defense against the dark arts?"
"Yeah, obviously," Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"Ok, and can you describe Draco's hair?"
"What?" Harry asked, his eyebrows drawn together.
"Just describe it, whatever comes to mind, like you did with the Treacle tart."
"Um it's, I don't know," he shrugged and looked at the floor, "short on the sides but longer on top. Has that fringe stuff that hangs over his left eye. It's blonde. White blonde I guess? Or platinum. It's slightly darker at the roots than at the tips. I assume that's from sun exposure. And it looks soft now that he doesn't gel it back," he looked back at Hermione.
Without missing a beat, she asked, "And could you describe Ron's hair?"
"It's red."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the table until Pansy whispered, "Wow."
Blaise, who hadn't looked up from his book until now, said, "Well, that was educational."
"No kidding," Ginny said, wide eyes staring at Hermione, "thank you."
Hermione gave her a sad smile, "You're welcome," she said.
Harry looked at Blaise, "What just happened?" But all he received from the boy was a charming smile.