"Mercedes Alvatroise?"

Mercedes looked around before proudly making her way towards the front where an old lady holding a hat was waiting. She was new in Hogwarts, but she was a 6th year. She used to be in Beauxbatons, but she was expelled for something that she didn't do. 

The hat was placed on Mercedes's head. 

The hat suddenly spoke. 

"What is this?!" Mercedes jumped at the sudden voice of the hat. "Another Alvatroise, hmm. This is a very tough choice between Ravenclaw and Slytherin." Mercedes knew that everyone was looking at her, but she felt a stronger gaze than that. She glanced at the table at the very right end, catching a pair of grey eyes staring right at her. It was a boy with blonde hair. More likely to be a Malfoy. "You're very mischievous and snarky, but always have something good happen in the end." 

The hat continued talking before yelling "SLYTHERIN!". Mercedes smiled as she ascended the stairs towards the table on the very right. Everyone was clapping for her. "Welcome to Slytherin, kid," A tall boy across her said and pulled out his hand for her to shake. Mercedes gladly shook it. "Thank you," she told him. The boy nodded. "I'm Zabini, Blaise Zabini." 

"Mercedes Alvatroise,"

"I have heard of your name somewhere," a girl with short hair said, narrowing her eyes at Mercedes. Zabini rolled his eyes at the girl's ignorance. "Pansy," the boy with blonde hair beside the girl warned her. Pansy glared at the boy, then at Mercedes, then back at the boy. "Whatever," she mumbled before crossing her arms. 

After the sorting ceremony had ended, the table was filled with delicious food. Mercedes could only smile in delight. She noticed the boy with blonde hair look at her with astonishment, and that Pansy was gone. "Euhm, may I ask of your name?" she asked the boy. He smiled warmly. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he answered, letting out his hand for her to shake. Mercedes shook it, slightly surprised at his tight grip. She thought about seeing Malfoy blush, but maybe it was just her imagination.

-

"I tell you, Crabbe! Malfoy is so into the new girl. Did you even see the look on his face when they shook hands?" Goyle rambled. They were in the common room after dinner talking about the new girl in the Slytherin house and how Malfoy was obviously in love with her. They were lucky enough to know that Malfoy's a heavy sleeper. 

"I noticed that, but--"

"What're you two doing out here in the Common Room?" 

Crabbe and Goyle looked up to see Blaise Zabini. "Zabini!" Goyle exclaimed. Blaise walked down the stairs to join the two. "What're you guys talking about?" Zabini asked them. Greg was the first one to speak. "Malfoy is absolutely into the new girl." Blaise feigned a surprised look. 

That wasn't heard in Hogwarts before. Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy, develops a particular liking for a girl. That's a rare start, Zabini thought.

"So?" Zabini said, practically confused. As he was about to speak again, Draco suddenly descended from the stairs. "You think I have a liking for the Meredes, huh?" Goyle froze on his seat for a moment before slowly looking back at Draco. "Ma-Malfoy!" he chuckled nervously and nudged Crabbe on the side of his a bit harshly for help. "Ow!" Vincent yelled. 

"Help me, idiot."

"I don't want to help you, you incredulous baboon! It's your problem." 

Draco crossed his arms in disappointment. He wasn't angry, just disappointed.

"How about this, Goyle?" Malfoy said, obviously trying to challenge him. Goyle gulped nervously and shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "If I prove to you that I don't like the new girl, you will have to let me copy off every homework the professors give us for the rest of the year." Malfoy said. "But what about if--"

"Then I'll take you for free Butterbeers every weekend for the rest of the year. Simple." Malfoy shrugged casually. Goyle looked at Zabini and Crabbe before he looked back at Malfoy. 

What kind of a mess have you gotten into, Greg? he thought. Goyle didn't say anything for a while before finally telling Draco his answer.

"Deal," 

-

"Now," Greg, Vincent, and Blaise were at the Great Hall. Malfoy had left and had promised to come back because he had to do something "important", leaving the three to discuss about Goyle and Malfoy's wager.  

"I want to win this," Goyle said almost desperately. "I want some weekend Butterbeers to relax!" he exclaimed. Vincent rolled his eyes. "Calm down, we will think of a way to cheat on this guy." The three were silent for a moment when suddenly, Mercedes had arrived. "Good morning, Blaise!" she greeted Zabini with a heart-warming smile as she sat down beside him. "Good morning, Mercedes." 

"Who wouldn't fall for a smile like that?" Goyle whispered to Crabbe. He only nodded in response. Mercedes began eating when Malfoy came back from his "business". "Good morning, Draco!" she greeted cheerfully. Draco looked at her before giving her a small smirk. "Good morning to you, too," he greeted neutrally. After Malfoy sat down, he gave Goyle a knowing glare, telepathically reminding him about the wager.

Crabbe wasn't the kind of guy to think of good ideas, but he just did right now. 

"You delirious knuckleheads!" Crabbe said and kicked Zabini's foot. Blaise winced. "What the hell did you do that for?" he murmured. "Meet me back at the Common Room at lunch because I just came up with the most brilliant idea ever." Crabbe said to Goyle and Zabini. Goyle glanced at Malfoy who was obviously occupied by his thoughts. A wave of relief washed over him.

This wager is harder than I thought.

-

Following Crabbe's orders, Zabini and Goyle met him back at the Common Room at lunch. When they got there, Vincent was practically jumping. "What's so brilliant about your idea?" Goyle asked him sarcastically once they found him sitting on the couch. 

"This may seem like it's cheating already, but how about we put a Love Potion on something Malfoy's gonna drink?"

Zabini and Goyle widened their eyes in realization. "Of course!" Blaise exclaimed, hitting his head with his wrist. "You are a genius, Vincent! Who would've thought of that!?" Greg also exclaimed in excitement. Crabbe then scratched his head, frowning slightly. "The only problem though is that we're not allowed to get in the Forbidden Forest to get the ingredients for the potion." he said. 

Blaise and Greg stopped celebrating and went back to frowning. "Aw, right," Zabini said, crossing his arms. Goyle didn't want to back out, he wanted to win this wager, for the sake of free Butterbeers. "Oh, we're not backing out just yet!" he exclaimed angrily at the two boys, startling them out of their thoughts. "We'll stick to Crabbe's plan, we'll just find a way to get to the Forbidden Forest without getting caught by any of the professors." Goyle's mind then went over to Professor Snape. His next class was Potions. That gave him an idea.

"Or maybe our next lesson with Professor Slughorn was about Love Potions." He smirked.

-

"Today, we are to make Love Potions," Professor Slughorn said. Mercedes looked at her book and went through the ingredients. She had studied about this potion when she was younger. She just didn't have the ingredients to make one to make one of her crushes at a muggle school fall in love with her. 

"This is going to be interesting." she heard Draco Malfoy said from three seats behind her. She smiled to herself at the sound of his voice. She admitted that she has a little crush on the boy, but only to herself. She knew better than to confess her feelings for him to anyone, or else she'd be humiliated. Besides, the only friend she made was that boy named Blaise Zabini. She barely even knew the boy.

The professor began explaining how to make the potion, after a student from Gryffindor named Hermione Granger had told him all of the ingredients needed, and where to find them. Mercedes already knew where to get them, but she knew better than to explore the Forbidden Forest at night. "As of now, you have to pair up into groups of two to make the potion." Professor Slughorn told the class. Mercedes only sat quietly as the other students start chatting to their partner. How she wished the Draco Malfoy would talk to her into being his partner. If that can't happen, then she wished for Blaise Zabini to talk to her into being his partner. None of those things happened because 1. Draco Malfoy was talking to one of his minions and 2. Blaise Zabini wasn't in this class right now. "But," The class suddenly went quiet.

"I will be the one to pick your partner," The whole class groaned in dismay, but Mercedes just sighed in response. Snape started going over to her classmates' names (Malfoy, sadly, was paired up with one of his minions, Vincent Crabbe.) until he called her name and a Gryffindor boy named Neville Longbottom. "Now you may proceed to your partners," Mercedes looked around, confused. Poor girl doesn't know who Neville Longbottom is. "Um, hi," a boy her age sat beside her, looking quite scared at her. She was a Slytherin, who isn't afraid of the Slytherins? But not all Slytherins can be complete jerks, Mercedes thought. 

"Good day! I'm Mercedes Alvatroise, you must be Neville Longbottom, I suppose?" Neville slowly looked up at her, nodding. "Pleasure to meet you!" Mercedes stuck her hand out to the Gryffindor boy for him to shake. She noticed the boy hesitate, but shook her hand anyway. "Let us go outside to pick the ingredients I have discussed you about. I have already asked permission to Professor Dumbledore to let you go through the Forbidden Forest." Professor Snape announced. Mercedes smiled at Neville before grabbing his hand softly and dragging him out of the classroom. 

-

The three of the ingredients were already found; rose thorns, peppermint, and Moonstone. The only ingredient left were just Ashwinder eggs. 

"How do we find any of those eggs?" Neville asked as he put the last of peppermint in their little box that Mercedes had provided for the both of them. Mercedes glanced at the Forbidden Forest. "Well, we'll have to go through the Forbidden Forest to look for an Ashwinder." the Slytherin said. 

Neville gulped.

Mercedes looked back at him. "Are you afraid, Neville?" she asked, accidentally coming off sounding like she's gonna tease the poor boy. Neville blinked rapidly before looking down at his shoes. "A little," he mumbled incoherently, but she still heard him. Mercedes sighed and smiled at Neville. "Don't be, Neville. If something happens, I'll be there." Neville smiled at Mercedes before nodding. 

"O-okay," 

Mercedes grinned. "That's the spirit, Neville!" she exclaimed, motivating the boy more before running with him to the Forbidden Forest. 

After they had been looking around for an Ashwinder, Neville finally found one near a log. "There!" Neville whispered-shouted to Mercedes. She turned around and saw the Ashwinder with its eggs. "Summon fire, Neville," Neville hesitated, but did as what he was told. As soon as the fire was burst out, the Ashwinder perked its head up and ever-so-slowly took its to make its way towards the fire. 

"You keep the fire in intact while I grab the eggs," Mercedes told Neville in a hushed tone. The boy nervously nodded and held his wand tightly. Mercedes immediately grabbed the eggs and put them into the box. Then they ran away from Ashwinder.

"Oh, wow," Neville grinned at Mercedes who also grinned back at him. "You weren't bad, Neville." she told him. The Gryffindor shyly nodded at her. "Well, well, Longbottom, it seems like you're making friends now." 

Neville stiffened.

"What's that in your hands, Longbottom?" The Draco Malfoy forced Neville to face him. "A box? A box containing your treasured memories, Longbottom? Like . . . your parents?" Vincent Crabbe laughed hysterically at his non-laughable joke. Mercedes never saw this side of Draco Malfoy before, and she was clearly displeased with it. "Stop that, Draco," Mercedes scolded Malfoy who looked at her with a soft look. "I didn't know you were partners with Longbottom, Alvatroise." Draco's voice was also soft now, too. Mercedes was fuming with anger at Draco Malfoy's actions towards Neville. 

"Well, if you would've paid attention to class, you would've known better than to mess with my friend here." she spat at Draco Malfoy, to where she earned a surprised stare by Neville. Draco looked kind of sorry, Mercedes noticed, and that's how he should always be looking when he hurts any of the students in Hogwarts. "Let's go, Neville, he's just wasting our time." 

Mercedes grabbed Neville's hand, and dragged the both of them away from the two idiots. As soon as they were out of the Forbidden Forest, Neville noticed Mercedes's eyes were watering. He panicked suddenly. "Wh-why are you crying?!" he exclaimed worriedly to Mercedes. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "I hate Malfoy," she whimpered, trying to control her voice from wobbling. 

"What--why?" 

"I thought he was a nice guy. I mean, he doesn't look like one, but he's really nice to me." Mercedes rambled. Neville couldn't believe his own ears! Draco Malfoy, the boy who was practically the worst classmate he ever had, was nice? "Excuse me, Mercedes, but did you just say he was nice?" Neville asked. Mercedes sniffed before nodding slowly. The boy wanted to laugh out loud, because that is so untrue. Draco Malfoy was, by far, the worst person in Hogwarts, second in line after Professor Snape, he thought. He thought that the day Malfoy would be finally nice to other people was the day the world will blow up into a million pieces. 

"I can't believe that guy," Mercedes sighed. 

"I can't believe you just snapped at him!" Neville exclaimed in surprise, throwing his hands up in the air. Mercedes looked at Neville with confusion. "Wh-what do you mean?" she asked. Neville set the box on the floor gently before holding Mercedes's shoulders. "No one had ever got the nerve to snap at Malfoy like that," he told her. "The last time I ever saw a student do that was 3 years ago. He was Harry Potter." 

Mercedes felt a bit okay and cracked a small smile. "So that means I-I'm the second person to do that?" she asked. Neville nodded enthusiastically. She smiled even bigger. "That means I'm the second coolest person in Hogwarts, then."

-

Neville didn't want to help Mercedes with the potion because he was afraid he might mess it up, so he just helped her by telling her the instructions and handing over the ingredients.

They were also the ones who got the Ashwinder eggs, resulting in earning 20 points on each of their houses. 

"Well, it seems like Miss Alvatroise's more advanced than us." Crabbe spat bitterly. He was with Goyle and Zabini again in the Common Room after they had dinner. Malfoy had something to do with Pansy in Hogsmeade--in this godly hour. 

"At least we could thank her for giving our house some points." Goyle told Crabbe. "Have you even seen her hours ago in the Forbidden Forest? She was with that Longbottom lad picking up some of the ingredients of the potion. We were there to find an Ashwinder since we know Ashwinders don't just wander around outside of the Forest." Crabbe suddenly sounded angry. 

"Woah, calm down. It's just a potion." Zabini said. "It's not about the potion I'm angry about!" Vincent yelled. Blaise and Greg were shocked at his sudden change of mood. Vincent cleared his throat, trying to calm himself down. "As I was saying, Malfoy and I looking for an Ashwinder when suddenly this lad named Longbottom was in our way. We decided to mock him. Malfoy threw an innocent but funny joke about his parents, then Alvatroise was actually with him." Crabbe said. 

"Then?"

"Malfoy knew better than hurting a woman, a pureblood woman, that is. So he talked to her softly, but then, bam! She just straight up snapped at Malfoy." Goyle was staring at Crabbe with a very confused look while Zabini was hysterically laughing on the floor. "What?!" Crabbe exclaimed. 

Zabini was still laughing hysterically until Draco Malfoy was suddenly at the doorway, eyeing him with a bewildered look. "Has Zabini gone mental or is he just happily to be devoted to what was so funny either of you morons had just said?" Draco asked. Zabini quickly stood up from the floor, dusting off the imaginary dust of his shirt. "Ju-just happy," Blaise quickly said, sitting on the couch. Draco narrowed his eyes at the three before retreating to his bed. 

There was a short silence.

"Well, that was an interesting sight, I guess." Goyle started.