Yea this is my first Fanfic so its gonna be pretty crappy… if you don't get it just follow along. Things will get a LOT more intense in the future chapters. I'm really not sure how long this should be. Any ideas?!

Disclaimers : Harry Potter and the other characters do not belong to me. The belong to the revered J.K. Rowling, who makes a couple million times more money than I do  The plot line is mine, unless you count the parts it overlaps J.K. Rowling's plotline.

"Today you are making the Mandrake Draught. Who can tell me what the Mandrake Draught does?"

I'm Hermione Granger, and as of the moment, I'm in Potions. Professor Snape is teaching us how to make the Mandrake Draught to prepare us for our NEWTs. Wait… he just asked a question! Three guesses what I'm going to do.

My hand shot into the air, followed closely by Harry's, Malfoy's, and after a while, Neville's.

Professor Snape, deciding to pick on his second least favorite student, chose Neville.

"M-May I g-go to the H-Hospital Wing?" Neville stuttered out of nervousness, holding a hand to his slightly bruised jaw. "H-Hermione's g-g-gone and p-punched me ag-gain."

Oops. I guess I accidentally smacked him in the face while trying to raise my hand the fastest. Heh.. heh..

"5 points off Gryffindor for inter-house violence." Snape said smugly.

I seethed. The nerve of that slimy git! How could he stake off house points when some poor kid is overexcited?! Especially if that poor kid is me?

"Also, since this has been happening for the past month, I'm going to seat Ms. Granger next to people who will not mind hitting her back when she hits them first. Parkinson, switch places with Granger." Snape sneered at me, daring me to defy him.

"But… but you can't!" I cried. Malfoy and his posse sniggered.

"Do not tell me what I can or cannot do, Ms. Granger. Further procrastination of my instructions will result in house points being deducted." Snape snapped.

In my mind, I cocked a bazooka, which is a muggle weapon similar to a cannon, and blasted Snape's head off. Gumbling, I picked up my bag and stormed over to my new seat. However, I was glad to see Pansy curse when she saw who she had to sit next to. It was my turn to snigger.

"Lets see how long Longbottom lasts without Ms. Granger whispering the answers in his ear." Snape gloated, and Neville whimpered. "Now tell me, Longbottom, when are Mandrakes ready for cutting and stewing?"

Neville gulped. I imagined the gears in his head turning as they dug up information from Professor Sprout's herbology classes. Too bad he wasn't there when Dumbledore said they'd be ready when their acne had cleared. My hand floated up uncertainly.

"Hand down, mudblood." Malfoy snatched my arm and attempted to force it down. " You're going to make him even more nervous."

I dropped my arm into my lap and stared. Malfoy? Being… dare I say it… nice?

"After all, we don't want Squib barf all over the dungeon floor." Malfoy added, sneering.

I froze. "Draco bloody Malfoy, you heartless git!" I nearly screamed, but I held my tongue. I figured that because I sat next to Malfoy and his fan club, I should be on his good side. Just in case. Grudgingly, I managed to chuckle depreciatingly. Malfoy's leer widened.

"Well, well, well." He smirked. "The mudblood's finally grown a sense of humor."

For lack of a better comeback, I imitated Malfoy's classic snarl to his face. "The ferret's finally grown a backbone."

"Look, kids! She's even learned to scowl! This filthy little witch may have some hope after all."

Pansy Parkinson looked stricken that her place was being taken. By me! I sneaked a glance. She was glaring daggers at me, and she was so furious that she was shaking. Or it might because Neville had moved from fright to hysteria, and was trying to use Pansy as a shield. I smiled sweetly and waved. She gave me the finger.

"Well, what's your answer?" Snape swept between us and blocked my double fingers up from Pansy's view.

"Mandrakes are harvested when they are mature, after their acne has cleared." Neville craned his neck to glance past Snape, at me. I nodded my head slightly. He relaxed, sending out a woosh of held in breath.

Snape looked disappointed that he couldn't' find anything wrong with Neville's answer. He snapped, "Instructions are on the board. Make sure to read them carefully as I don't want any paralyzed people on the floor if the potion happens to explode." He casually let his eyes roam over to where Harry was sitting.

I carefully read the list of ingredients. Two pounds of Mandrake root, sliced thinly. Bold chalk letters proclaimed: NO THICKER THAN 1/3 OF A CM. Yet, there sat Malfoy, sawing his Mandrake Roots into clumsy, uneven pieces.

I don't know why I cared, but I certainly didn't want his foul potion blowing up in my face, so I grabbed his wrist and snarled in his face, "1/3 of a CM, pure trash."

Malfoy looked taken aback. Obviously, no one had ever stood up to him before. So much for staying on his good side. That thought dawned on me once he shed his abashed look and acquired a more murderous one. His voice dripped with sarcasm when he said, " Well, Muggle dirt, if you're so smart, you do it."

I remembered with a pang that that was what Ron had said to me in our very first charms lesson, when we were learning the floatation spell. I looked at Harry and Ron, a few desks away. They both sat, seemingly deeply immersed in slicing their roots into exactly equal pieces, carefully avoiding my eye. I sighed, and turned back to my work.

The pile of Mandrake roots on my table had grown twice as big. "What gives?" I complained to no one in particular.

"You wanted exactly equal slices. So you do it." Malfoy's lazy drawl came from somewhere behind me.

Wide eyed, I looked up at Professor Snape, wondering if that was permittable. He was almost laughing, and mouthed at me, "Better start cutting." I seethed, snatching Malfoy's mutilated roots, and charmed his knife to hack the roots in relatively equal slices. Malfoy smiled, raising his eyebrows.

"10 points off Gryffindor, for Ms. Granger's absentminded usage of magic in the classroom." Snape had glided behind me and was watching the knife fix Malfoy's Mandrake roots. I jumped. The knife fell to the floor and started stabbing at people's feet.

"Well, Ms. Granger, aren't you going to stop it?"

Oh no. let the knife amputate people's toes, or stop its nad risk loosing house points? I watched impassively as the knife took a wild dive at Parvati's knees. She shrieked, jumping out of the desk, but sill getting cut by the gleaming blade. Parvati clutched her leg, tears streaming down her cheeks, blood leaking through her fingers. Malfoy and his cronies watched me with interested expressions on their faces when they noticed that I failed to do anything.

Finally, when the knife lunged at the Slytherins, I came to my senses. Leaping to my feet, I swished and snapped the wand back and forth, tracing the movements for my spell. "IMMOBULUS!" I cried. The knife froze, inches away from stabbing Draco in the face, and clattered noisily at his feet.

Malfoy stood there, a shocked look on his face.

"I'm sorry." I muttered.

"You…you… saved me." Malfoy stuttered shakily.

I laughed harshly. " If I hadn't charmed the knife, this wouldn't have happened."

I could feel Ron and Harry's disbelief and fury from five tables away. I could agree. Me, a "mudblood", apologizing.. to Malfoy? I never thought I'd live to see this day. And him, thanking me! The world must have ended.

Snape interrupted smoothly. "Back to your cauldrons and return to work. And, Granger, because you saved a student of my house, I will not take points off Gryffindor. This time."

I smiled, and went back to chopping my roots.

For all you lovely people out there who actually read this, please R&R. I'm hitting a few roadblocks, so if u guys would like to help that'd be great. :-D 33