Unmasked

Not So Bad After All

Slamming on their dormitory door startled the boys awake. "You're going to be late!" Hermione's voice bellowed. "There's only twenty minutes left of breakfast, and knowing you five, you won't be ready in time!"

The group of boys groaned at the rude awakening, but knew she was right. Harry rolled out of bed with a thud, missing his landing. He stumbled to his feet and rubbed an eye, reaching for his glasses with his free hand. "It's too early for this," he grumbled.

"Didn't you sleep?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head and muttered, "Not well. I tossed and turned for most of the night." There had been too much on his mind.

"Maybe you can take a nap first period," Ron chuckled, pulling on his trousers. "Slughorn never seems to pay much attention to what we do anyways."

Harry rolled his eyes, tossing his shirt over his head. Seamus and Dean slammed out of the room. "What do you reckon we're doing today, anyways? In potions."

Ron fumbled with his tie. "Not sure," he mumbled without looking up. "He didn't tell us what his plan was for after Christmas."

Neville didn't bother tying his shoes and bolted out of the door. Harry pulled on his sweater, then his robe. "I forgot about that. Hopefully it's nothing too hard."

Ron smiled sheepishly. "You can say that again."

*

Hermione stopped them at the door, frowning. "Look," she hissed, peering around the doorframe. "He's changed all of our seats."

"What?" Ron faltered.

Harry peered around the doorframe as Hermione had, spotting several groups of two long tables. Each group sat four. He didn't see Hermione's concern at first, until he saw Lavender Brown sitting across from Pansy Parkinson. Both girls were frowning. Harry drew his head back. "This may be a problem."

Ron sighed. "No use in delaying the inevitable then, yeah?" With that, he strode proudly into the classroom and towards Professor Slughorn. "Mornin', Sir."

"Good morning, Wollamby," he smiled. "Harry. Ms. Granger. Did you all have a nice Christmas holiday?" They all nodded affirmatively. "Splendid! As did I, as did I... As you can see I've changed the seating arrangements."

"Uh, sir," Harry winced. "If you don't mind me asking... why?"

Slughorn's tongue popped out from between his teeth in a cheesy grin. He leaned closer to the three of them. "To be completely honest, Harry - I've been sensing some interhouse hostility."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, but quickly wiped her face clean of emotion. "So you thought having us all sit together would have a chance at fixing the problem?"

"Precisely," he whispered, grinning. He stood tall once more, speaking in his normal, jolly voice. "Now, Hermione. You'll be sitting on my right at this group. Please join Lavender and Pansy." Hermione nodded politely, however the boys saw her eyes roll back as she turned around. They both had to suppress a laugh. "As for you both, you'll be sitting in this middle group on the left. Please join Seamus while we wait for the rest of your classmates."

The boys both nodded at Slughorn, then hurried to their table. Harry and Ron sat down with their backs to Slughorn's desk, facing Seamus who sat on the left, in front of Ron. More and more students trickled into class, each one looking equally as confused and displeased as they had. After a few moments, Katie joined Lavender, Pansy, and Hermione. Slughorn didn't seem to have done such a great job at mixing many of the tables -- most were three from one house and one from the other, and most were single gendered. Maybe it was just a starting point? Harry wondered.