There Must Be Some Mistake
Draco strode into the potions room with his head held high and found that about a dozen people were already seated throughout. Immediately he noticed that something seemed off, Ron, Hermione and Harry were not sitting with each other as they usually would have done. Had they had some fight? Draco doubted it, after all, they’d seemed fine earlier when he’d seem them at breakfast. And they’d all left together too.
He continued into the room, glancing around, unsure of where to sit. The new professor looked up from where she was seated at her desk and said, “What’s your name?”
“Draco,” He said lamely, “Draco Malfoy.”
He expected a reaction. A sneer... something. But she only looked down at the parchment on her desk and said, “You’ll be sitting in that open seat at the middle desk in the third row.” That was when Draco noticed her accent- it was American. And by the sound of it, she had lived in America all of her life. As far as Draco knew, he had no family in America. She had no idea who his family was. Hope began to find its way into him, that is until he looked up and saw who was to be his desk mate.
He stood there, frozen for a long moment, just staring at the spot he was supposed to go to. The spot right beside Harry Potter. Potter spoke before he could. “There must be some mistake.”
Some of the Gryffindors in the class muttered their agreement. The professor, who’s name Draco couldn’t remember, glanced around the room at them all before she stood and strode to the chalk board. “Listen up everyone. I understand that a lot has happened here in these past few years. And I know that some of you may not like each other all that much. But in this class, it doesn’t matter who you are, or what you’ve done. All that matters is garnering your potions abilities in my class. In the real world, you will have to work with people you don’t necessarily agree with. You will have to remain cordial with them no matter how much you want to curse them. This is practice for that.” So she did know then. The bloody witch had done it on purpose. “Professors Snape and Slughorn recognized the pair of you as their most gifted students, so this partnership should be well matched.”
Draco blinked. “Partners?” He drawled.
The professor beamed. “Ah, yes, partners. Did I forget to mention that all assignments will be completed with your desk mate?”
“No.” Draco sneered as he stalked to his spot and dumped his stuff down on the ground. “You neglected to mention that bit.”
“Well, you will be working with whoever I have paired you with for the entirety of the year. Whatever grades you get, your partner also gets and vice versa.” She explained merrily. “Now, I think everyone is here, so let’s begin.”