Pippa took the open seat next to Cedric at the Hufflepuff table the following morning. This was odd, because her cousin generally had people crowding him, but the change was welcome. As usual, she was the first one up out of her friends. He immediately passed her a tray of chocolate chip waffles, her favorite.

"Morning," he said through a yawn.

"Morning, Ced." She grinned as she poured syrup onto her waffles. "You look exhausted."

"Do I? Well, I was up half of the night."

She frowned. "Doing what?"

"Thinking," he answered simply. It was a habit of his, trailing off when he had something on his mind. When he didn't elaborate, she nudged his shoulder.

"About what?"

Cedric stared down at his eggs, then up at her. It seemed like he was deciding something. Finally, he admitted, "I'm going to put my name in."

"Cedric, really?" Pippa's face broke into a big smile. "That's so cool! Imagine if we had a Hufflepuff champion!"

He grinned shyly. "Yeah, I was thinking a lot about that, too. Imagine how proud Dad would be if I was picked."

"He'd lose it. He'd absolutely lose it!" She hugged Cedric, which was a little awkward due to the way they were seated side by side on a bench, but she managed it anyway. "I really hope you get picked. You deserve it."

"Thanks, Pip." He took a sip of his coffee and glanced around the Great Hall with a fond expression. "What've you got first?"

"Double Potions with the Slytherins."

He grimaced. "Ugh. I've got Defense with the Gryffindors and the new insane teacher, so I'll have to let you know how it goes."

"I look forward to it." She winked at him. "Have fun."

Cedric stood and gathered up his school books. "I'll see you later, Pippa."

"Bye."

Her friends joined her for breakfast in the exact order she expected them to show up: Amy, Lynn, and finally, Dove. The girls chatted more about the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament while enjoying the meal.

After a little while, Lynn glanced down at her watch and did a double-take. "It's nearly nine! We'd better get down to Potions, I doubt Snape would tolerate us being late, even if it is the first day."

Pippa finished her orange juice and ate a few more berries before following her friends out. She was halfway down the hall to the Potions classroom when she glanced down at herself.

"I forgot my bag at breakfast!" She covered her face with her hands, then sighed loudly. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up, I promise."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked dubiously, but the threat of being late won out, and the three girls went on without her.

Pippa hurried back into the Great Hall, where sure enough, her bag was sitting on the bench exactly where she had left it. Mentally smacking herself, Pippa scooped it up and ran, not wishing to face the wrath of Severus Snape. Unfortunately, this haste led to her running right into a figure. All of her books spilled to the floor.

"I am so sorry," she apologized profusely, even though she didn't really think there was a reason to apologize. It was just an impulse. She bent down to pick up her things and no one offered to help, which rubbed her in the wrong way.

Draco Malfoy watched the girl frantically trying to collect her books up off of the ground with indifference. "You should watch where you're going, Wilson."

"I'm sorry," she repeated, finally managing to shove everything into her bag and hopping back up. A faint pink colored her cheeks. "It was an accident."

"Yes, but don't let it happen again," he said cooly. "I prefer to keep the badgers at a distance."

He swept away without another word, leaving her in his dust. Pippa didn't quite know what to say. She wanted to yell something firey at him, but it felt mean, and she already was embarrassed enough in the first place. Besides, she didn't have anything to say. She usually thought up amazing insults and zingers late at night, hours after they would have been useful. Perhaps someday, she'd finally be able to throw an insult that made people gasp. Sighing, she just walked down the winding steps and into the Potions classroom, which was located in the dungeons.

When she arrived in the Potions classroom, her eyes flicked over to her friends. To her dismay, no seats near them remained. Lynn shot her an apologetic look.

"Miss Wilson," a cold, monotonous voice said. Pippa clutched her books tightly to her chest and turned to face Professor Snape, a man who intimidated her more than anyone she'd met. "Late on the first day? I remember you sharing with me your love of brewing in the past, but clearly, you do not care enough about this class to arrive on time."

"Professor, I'm really sorry, but-"

"Ten points from Hufflepuff."

She stared at him in disbelief. "S-sir, it's the first day of school. I don't think we have any points for you to take yet."

His lips curled into a cruel and unforgiving smile that made her want to curl up under a desk and hide. "Then I suppose Hufflepuff House is off to quite a terrible start due to your tardiness."

A few of the Slytherins sniggered. Hearing their laughter, Pippa froze, her big brown eyes filling with tears as her cheeks flamed red. Dove made to stand up, but Lynn shoved her back down.

"You'll only make it worse!" She said under her breath.

"How could this get worse?" Dove hissed, seeing the growing anxiety on Pippa's face. "She's dying up there!"

Professor Snape gestured from Pippa to the classroom. "If the inconvenience is not too great, take a seat, Miss Wilson, so I can begin my lesson. You've already delayed it enough for today."

She frowned. "But Professor, there aren't any seats open on my side of the room-"

"Then I suppose you will have to take a seat elsewhere," he said snidely. "If I am correct, you have a reputation in this school for your sunny disposition. Take the empty seat and stop looking like a wounded animal, girl, or I will send Hufflepuff House even further down into the negatives."

Pippa slowly walked over to the only empty seat in the room. It was on the right side of a two-person desk. The other seat was occupied by none other than Draco Malfoy, whose gray eyes narrowed as she sank into the seat and put her head down. To the outside observer, she might have just been tired, but in reality, she was fighting off a panic attack growing in her chest. It felt like her lungs were folding in on themselves, limiting the air she tried to slowly inhale and exhale.

It's okay. It's over. He's not yelling at you anymore. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

The repetition calmed her down, and Pippa lifted her head, acting like nothing was wrong. As she tucked a lock of long hair behind her ear, her hands shook. Malfoy frowned at her odd behavior.

"Now, whether you appreciate where you are seated or not, make yourselves comfortable, because these will be your seats for the year. Your desk mate is also your partner for all projects and essays I will assign for the duration of this class."

Most of the pairs in the room were nodding and cheering, but Pippa and Draco just stared at each other.

"This year, we will study more advanced potions and antidotes. In fact, your first assignment is due next week. I want a three-scrolls minimum report on the uses of Ashwinder Eggs, co-written by you and your partner. Unlike many of your other instructors. I'm not going to waste a day of learning simply because it is the first day of school," Snape continued on, sweeping through the classroom rather dramatically. The disdain for his fellow teachers was evident in his tone. "Today, you will be brewing a Calming Draught. It is similar to the Draught of Peace, but that concoction is much more complicated. If I assigned it to you, the instructions would blow your dim minds. Madam Pomfrey always has this particular potion in the Hospital Wing due to your tendencies to push yourselves into anxious states. By the end of class, I want a standard-sized vial labeled with your and your partner's names on my desk. You have two hours. Begin."

The class got to work, motivated by the desire to please Professor Snape or by the fear of disappointing him. Out of the corner of her eye, Pippa saw Dove and Amy arguing playfully over something in their book, while Lynn worked harmoniously with Hannah Abbott. Everyone else, it seemed, was doing alright, but Malfoy still hadn't spoken a word to her.

Pippa cleared her throat. She wanted to get off to a good start. It was like she said the night before. Not all Slytherins were bad. Right? Even though he acted rudely toward her in the hallway that morning, she decided to give him another chance.

"Um, hi?"

"I can't believe Snape paired me with a sensitive little Hufflepuff," Malfoy muttered, flipping through the textbook for the recipe. "My father will hear about this."

"Tell him I say hello," she said, not missing a beat as she continued to copy down the list of ingredients. His words hurt her, but she refused to let him get the satisfaction of that.

His eyebrows shot up, almost hidden by his platinum blond hair. No one had ever talked back to his threat before in that way. Sure, they'd retorted sarcastically in the past, or maybe scoffed, but she just cheerfully brushed him off. It bothered him.

"This potion is really complicated," Pippa murmured. She held out the list of ingredients. "Can you go find these and I'll start with what we have? Please? I underlined what you need to grab from the class stores. It shouldn't be hard."

For a moment, it looked like Malfoy was going to protest, but he just snatched the parchment from her hands and stalked off. Pippa sighed. So much for getting off to a good start.

Pippa slowly fell into the groove of Potion-making. When Professor Snape wasn't breathing down her neck, she enjoyed and excelled in the subject. In fact, she didn't even notice the return of her partner until he dropped the ingredients she had asked for rather loudly on the desktop.

"Oh, thank you! Can you-" She dropped the freshly-split Valerian root into the boiling liquid, "shred the skullcap? Please? I'll measure out the calendula pollen and add it, then you can add the skullcap."

Malfoy watched her delicately handle the container of pollen for a minute or so. "No."

"Why not?" She asked, her eyes still on the pollen as she measured the correct amount.

"You're obviously more interested in Potion-making than me. Why don't you just do it, badger? Then we both get good scores and we both get what we want."

Pippa glanced up and bit her lip. "Um, we're partners. We're supposed to split the work evenly, right? That's fair."

"So what?"

"Please just shred the skullcap for me. Please?"

"Merlin, how many times are you going to say please?" Malfoy asked exasperatedly. "I'll do it, okay? Just stop being so bloody annoying. You're getting on my nerves."

Pippa felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach. Annoying? She didn't try to be annoying. All she tried to do was be polite and kind to everyone she met, regardless of what people said about them.

Maybe her friends thought she was annoying, too. Maybe that's why they didn't save her a seat. Maybe no one wanted to get stuck with her as a partner.

The tremor returned to her hand as she realized that Snape was observing them closely. She picked up the vial of calendula pollen that she had measured moments before and held it over the cauldron.

"Wilson, careful with how much of that you pour in. Looks like you've got a shaky hand there."

"I'm fine," she whispered, slowly tipping the contents into their concoction, which simmered when it came into contact with the new ingredient.

Malfoy added the skullcap and consulted the instructions again. "It says we need to bring this back to a boil before continuing."

"Okay," Pippa said quietly, using her wand to egg the flames on.

The rest of the class went by in relative silence between the two. They only communicated when they needed to speak. Pippa spent the time trying to remain calm, as the Calming Draught wouldn't be nearly as effective if one of its brewers created it with anxiety plaguing their heart.

Finally, Pippa ladeled the sweet-smelling indigo liquid into a vial and labeled it in her swirling cursive. She turned to Malfoy, who was watching her with an amused smirk. "I'm going to set this on Professor Snape's desk. Could you plea- could you start to clean up?"

"Yeah, sure."

She didn't like the snarkiness in his voice, but chose to focus on their assignment instead. As she set the vial next to the other vials, a wave of pride rushed over her. No one else's potion looked as deep blue as hers. Or theirs, she supposed.

With a small smile settling on her heart-shaped face, Pippa walked back over to her own desk, humming under her breath as she swept up excess pollen and other spills across the work surface. Malfoy, who had just thrown something away across the room, joined her and slammed his textbook so hard on the desk that the cauldron tipped, spilling leftover potion all over Pippa.

A high-pitched yelp escaped her lips and she jumped back, but slipped in more of the stuff and fell onto the ground. Laughter filled the room and her ears while Professor Snape turned a blind eye. Her robes were covered in the indigo liquid, as well as the ends of her hair.

"Oh, I apologize about that," Malfoy sneered down at her. "Next time, I'd be more careful, Wilson. You never know what you're going to make a mess out of."

Pippa stood up careful, praying to not slip again. Tears filled her eyes for the second time that day and they met Malfoy's.

"Can you meet me in the library, tomorrow at six, please? So we can start on the report?" She sounded like she was on the border of crying right there in the Potions classroom.

Malfoy laughed. "This is what you're preoccupied with?"

It's easier to focus on than the topic at hand.

"Please?"

"Fine," he said with a smirk. "I'll see you then, Princess."

Pippa slid her Potions textbook into her satchel and swung it around her shoulder. Luckily, the potion only spilled on her, not the books. Hot tears slid down her cheeks as she quickly left the room, ignoring her friends as they called her, wishing she could do anything to forget her mortifying morning.