Draco's jaw fell to the floor and he stared in utter shock. The class dissolved into whispers and gasps and Harry looked at his two friends, as if confirming with them that he had heard correctly. When they returned his blank look, he turned back to Pansy. "Sure, I'd be okay with that," he said and sounded like he meant it.
Pansy nodded shortly and sat beside him, skin prickling from the intense stares from everyone around them. A part of her was horrifically embarrassed at her own boldness. A part of her was deeply nervous, unsure of what was going to happen next. And a small but not inconsequentially small part of her was very pleased at how upset Draco looked.
Snape walked back into the classroom and stopped. He stared at Draco standing there, shaking from anger. He then noticed Pansy sitting beside Harry and his eyebrows rose even higher. "Is there a problem?" he asked cooly, the question directed to the class at large.
"No Sir. I needed a new partner today," Pansy said loftily.
"I see." Snape coughed awkwardly. "Mister Malfoy, return to your seat. All of you should be working. Get started."
Harry's head swam from the rollercoaster changes in just a few short minutes. From having a pleasant lunch with his friends, to being upset from Draco's needling, to being the center of attention with Pansy's actions, he was confused and a little anxious. However, he pushed on, falling into the state he did whenever he cooked which potions was similar enough to.
"Shouldn't we be chopping the burdock roots?" Pansy asked.
"Yeah but if we slice it out like this first, we'll get more even pieces. Professor Snape said it was important for everything to be as uniform in shape as possible."
"That will take more time though," Pansy frowned.
"I can do it quickly enough," Harry said confidently. "But if you don't mind preparing the thistle flowers for the next part, we can catch up in time there."
"I can do that," she said slowly.
"Thank you," Harry said as he started peeling the skin off the burdock root. He then cut the long root into even pieces before julienning them and then chopping them.
"That's more than what we need," Pansy observed.
"I know, I'm splitting some with Lavender and Parvati and they're going to share the shredded dandelion root that they're working on with us."
"Should I be preparing more thistle flowers then?"
"If you could, that would be great."
Pansy blinked a few times. "I could, I mean, yes I can."
"Thank you," Harry said again pleasantly.
"You're welcome," she replied with uncertainty.
Parvati turned so that Pansy could not see her face and looked at Lavender with wide eyes. "Is she actually being nice?" she mouthed silently.
Lavender nodded, also with wide eyes. She peeked around Parvati and Harry to look at Pansy.
"I must be dreaming," Parvati mouthed again. "Hey!" she said out loud. "Why did you pinch me?!"
"To make sure you weren't sleeping," Lavender said and she scooted away when Parvati tried to pinch her back.
As the class came to an end, Snape walked to their table. He dipped a ladle into Harry and Pansy's cauldron and poured the liquid out, watching it closely. Cleaning the ladle with his wand, he did the same to Lavender and Parvati's cauldron, watching the potion drip slowly and smoothly from the ladle.
"Acceptable," he said tonelessly. He ignored Lavender and Parvati's happy expressions and gave Harry and Pansy a curious look. "Gather a sample vial for each of you and then you may clean and leave."
"Good work today," Harry said to Pansy as they cleaned up.
"Uhm, yeah, thanks for helping," Lavender said next with Parvati nodding.
"You're welcome," Pansy said softly. "It was… nice working with you too." They left the classroom together and after an awkward pause and an even more awkward half-wave, Pansy started walking away from them. A few paces away she stopped and turned around to face them. "When is your next club thing. You said you cook in a club?"
"Household Charms," Harry confirmed. "Tonight actually." He noticed her dithering there. "Would… would you like to come? That's fine, right?" He looked at Lavender and Parvati.
"I… guess?" Lavender said, sharing a look with Parvati who nodded hesitantly.
"I would," Pansy said. "Thank you. When and where?"
"The classroom is on the fifth floor, across the hall from a tapestry of flowers," Harry said. "We have it right before dinner because we usually eat during it now so we can skip dinner in the Hall."
"I will be there." Another half-wave and Pansy fled down the hall.
"Ow! Why?!" Lavender squeaked, smacking Parvati.
"You pinched me earlier and I was just checking to make sure I wasn't dreaming," Parvati said. She and Lavender exchanged pinches and pushes for a bit as the trio started walking back to their tower. "Okay, I'm just going to say it, that was weird right? Please tell me that I'm not the only one that thought that was weird."
"That was definitely weird," Lavender agreed.
"It was a good kind of weird at least," Harry said.
"I guess so," Parvati said. "I'm still not used to her being so… not her."
"I thought she and Draco were like super close," Lavender mused. "But she definitely didn't do what he wanted her to do, you could tell." She stopped and looked at Harry seriously. "What if it's a trick? What if she's doing this to really get back at you in the future or something?"
"I didn't even think about that," Parvati gasped.
"Do you think it's a possibility?" Harry asked, disturbed.
"Who knows? I mean, I never thought it was possible for her to be nice but she was today," Lavender said. Her face fell a little. "I feel bad for thinking badly of her like this…"
"But in our defense, she was horrid and only recently been less so," Parvati finished. The girls looked at Harry.
"We can give her a chance," he said at last. "Before the holiday break, she said thank you for the muffin and was really surprised when I explained why I was nice to her. Let's give her a chance and if she's rude or anything, we can tell her she's not welcome back to the club. I definitely don't want someone rude or mean there."
"That's fair," Lavender said.
"Padma is going to be really surprised," Parvati muttered.
"I think we've all been surprised today," Harry said.
.....
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