Dramione: Skills for life

1~ Life skills

"Welcome students! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am pleased to welcome you all to another year. We hope your first day of classes goes smoothly, and timetables are being passed out."greeted Headmistress McGonagall.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley sat at the Gryffindor table, happy to be back in the safety of Hogwarts. After the war the school had quickly rebuilt over the summer. It reopened at it's normal time, and even invited everyone back to repeat their year due to the horrid previous year. While the Wizarding World was still rebuilding, it was nice to have some normalcy.

Hermione was ecstatic to get back to the books, so to speak. Whilst Harry and Ron were unhappy with going back, she was excited. It was like a vacation for the young bookworm. A new professor, Professor Horan, was now the head of Gryffindor and the new Transfiguration teacher. He was a stern looking man, just like McGonagall herself.

"Granger?" called Horan. Hermione raised her hand and was handed the schedule. She had all NEWT classes, save for her afternoons and one peculiar glass.

"Do you guys have Life Skills?" asked Harry, looking up from his schedule. Hermione nodded, so did Ron and Ginny.

"Yeah. I wonder what it is?" inquired Ginny.

"I'm assuming it's going to be teaching us life skills." said Hermione dryly.

Ron rolled his eyes. He and Hermione had dated over the summer, but decided to just be friends. It was better that way. "Thank you Hermione for that lovely observation."

"Come, we have other classes to attend." said Hermione bossily.

She went to her NEWT level Potions class first. Harry and Ron followed, unhappy with their next two hours. She walked into the dungeon classroom and saw a group of Slytherins. Her upper lip curled in distaste at the ex-Death Eaters and their groupies. If it had been up to her, they would have been rotting in Azkaban with their rotten parents. She shook those negative thoughts from her brain. Nothing was going to ruin her first day back!

They next four and a half hours passed by in a haze of new lesson plans and new assignments. Harry and Ron complained to Ginny when they met up with lunch. They ate hastily before walking to the North wing and into the new Life Skills classroom. It looked like a completely empty classroom. No tables or chairs...anything. Not even a teachers desk. Some of the other seventh and sixth years were inside though. The clock chimed, signaling the beginning of their class.

"Welcome students! Welcome!" chirped a voice from the back of the room. Hermione assumed it was the teacher, only because she wore robes that weren't school uniform. Other than that, there wasn't a teach-y think about her. She looked hardly a day over twenty one, with sunny blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I'm Professor Victoria Hatchick. You can call me Tori." greeted their new Life Skills professor.

She launched into her mantra. "Now, I'm sure that most of you haven't any idea what this class is about. The few of you who are smarter than the average bird have already deduced that it has to do with life skills. After the war last year, parents and teachers together have decided its a good idea for you older students to learn life skills. Such as working, parenting, paying bills, and also...being married."

Hermione's mouth formed an 'o' as she realized what the professor was saying. "For the next eighteen weeks, after lunch and until breakfast, you and you're spouse with live in an apartment, house, mansion, or townhouse depending. You will be given jobs, muggle jobs, and a salary. Using that salary you will have to buy groceries, clothes, and other necessities. After nine of the eighteen weeks are through, you will each be given a number of children, with varying ages. When the time comes, we will discuss the children. It is all up to chance, everything. Just like life."

Hermione sighed and raised her hand. "Professor, will we be choosing our spouses?"

Tori grinned and shook her head. "Nope! While you may be choosing your spouse in the real world, here we decided to do it based on personality. The Headmistress and I have chosen you based on compatibility and how you and your spouse will work together. This is a learning experience. So, without further ado, I will call out you and you're spouses name."

Hermione's heart beat thudded as she pulled out a sheet from her robes.

"Longbottom and Abbott." said Tori. The nerves in Hermione's stomach only worsened and she felt a nervous sweat began to collect at the nape of her neck.

"Bones and Boot." Susan and Terri walked up to the front, smiling bashfully at each other.

"Parvati Patil and Seamus Finnigan." The pair of Gryffindors high fived.

"Lovegood and Zabini." Luna smiled dreamily at Blaise, who merely looked confused.

"Parkinson and Goyle." Pansy's usual pug face turned even angrier and uglier as she stomped over to Gregory Goyle.

"Padma Patil and Nott." Theordore Nott smiled at Padma.

"Potter and Ginny Weasley." Harry's face lit up as he took his girlfriends hand. Ginny herself beamed.

"Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown." Hermione's heart skipped a beat at the girlish squeal. While she didn't like Ron like that, she still didn't like him and Lavender.

"Turpin and Knipe." A mousy haired boy walked beside a short brunette.

"And last but not least, Granger and Malfoy." Hermione's heart stopped and her vision blurred.

Oh no.

Draco Malfoy looked up, his face impassive. Woozily, Hermione staggered over to him and up to the front.

"Now that thats done, on to house! Oh this is fun! This part will be chosen randomly, in the moment! Such fun!" squealed Tori. She extracted a hat, filled with folded slips of paper.

"Now, in reverse order we're going to pick your house. The options are apartment, house, or mansion essentially. However, no two home is the same. Some apartments have more bedrooms, or a bigger square footage. Okay! Now, Draco and Hermione!"

Hermione bit her lower lip as she cautiously approached the hat. Draco looked at her.

"You pick." suggested Draco. Hermione raised a shaky hand and pushed it into the hat. Tiny slips of paper screamed pick me as her hand brushed against them. It only took her three seconds to extract one.

"Three bedroom apartment. 700 square feet." announced Hermione. Draco's face fell a bit, before regaining itself.

The room picked quickly. Ginny and Harry got a house with five bedrooms and 2,500 square feet. Lavender and Ron got a lavish mansion with 7,000 square feet.

"Alrighty then, now that that's done, on to jobs! The reason for chosing Muggle jobs is they are the same as Wizard jobs, without magic. Take for instance a healer versus a doctor. The doctors use chemicals and herbs to create medicine. Healers brew potions and use magic. Essentially, it's the same thing. Wizarding jobs mirror muggle jobs. Alright. Now, in alphabetical order."

"Abbott." Pink faced Hannah walked up to the bowl filled with slips. She dug around of a minute before someone made a noise. Finally she extracted one.

"Hotel manager." whispered Hannah, before she returned to Neville.

"Bones." Susan walked up to the desk.

"Op...Optometrist." said Susan, wrinkling her nose. "What's that?"

"An eye healer." said Hermione, before Tori could answer.

"Boot." Terry became an engineer. People went and went. Lavender became a waitress. Strip club waitress, thought Hermione.

"Granger." Hermione walked up to the board and stuck her hand in confidently. She extracted a slip.

"Surgeon." said Hermione. She frowned. Luna became a social worker, Neville a gardener.

Draco was next. He made short work of becoming a pipe fitter. Harry went and got detective. More went and then it was Ginny's turn. She got journelist. Ron became a food service manager, much to his delight.

"And now, time to take you too your new homes!" sheered Tori. Anticipation swirled in Hermione. She stood beside Draco, at arms length. She was extremely unsure of this new program.