Title: Salamander Scales
Author: Yama Strife
Rating: G (will go up as the story progresses)
Summary: A botched potion screws up harry, it's all malfoy's fault.etc etc.
I'm sure if you're thinking it's cliché you're probably right, but oh well.
Later chapters added later.
Disclaimer: My name isn't J.K. Rowling, therefore, they aren't mine.
Pairing: will eventually be Draco/Harry. That means boy/boy relationships.
I'm sure you can read, so if you don't like that idea, go away. You can
flame if you like, I don't mind. I'll just laugh at your stupidity and
close-mindedness.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Snape stepped quickly into the classroom, his black robes billowing behind him more than should have been possible in the rather stuffy potions classroom. The class was cold as usual; a funny thing considering the room was practically airtight. The greasy-haired potions master required it that way so fires couldn't spread. Sure, he could've wind-proofed the cauldron burners, but that would require too much time and energy. Besides, a fire here and there might teach the pesky children to be more careful.
Snape looked around the dungeon classroom to see if anyone was absent, and sure enough, Harry Potter was not in his seat. The Professor glared daggers in the direction of fiery-haired Ron Weasley, expecting him to provide some lame excuse for Potter's absence.
Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat; as if speaking and provoking the Professor into shouting was the last thing he wanted to do, until Snape shouted, "Well? Where is Potter?"
Ron cringed a bit, and Hermione, seated beside Ron said, "Please, Professor, Harry wasn't feeling well, so he just stepped into the hospital wing a moment to get something for his stomach."
Snape 'harrumphed' a bit and made as if to say something (most likely a something of the point-deducting sort) when Harry entered the classroom; looking as if he's rather be in bed than in potions. Since Harry looked like that on most days Snape didn't pay him any mind. Instead, he shot him a venomous look, the one reserved especially for Harry, and said in and annoyingly superior tone, "Mr. Potter, it may come as a shock to you, but even celebrities are not allowed to be late for class."
Harry grabbed his head as though it was about to explode from the pain, and this would somehow hold it together. He looked up through long eyelashes, his face directed toward the ground, and said rather weakly, "Sorry, Sir, I thought I asked Ron to tell you-"
"Oh, Ms.Granger informed me of your whereabouts and condition, but next time be on time." Then as an afterthought, "Ten points from Gryffindor."
Harry dragged his feet slowly over to his chair, as if each step could cause his head to split in half or make him lose the breakfast he never ate. He took his place at the table beside Ron and placed his head against the cool wooden tabletop. Hermione reached in front of Ron and placed her hand in a motherly fashion on Harry's cheek. "Well, Harry, your fever seems to have gone down a bit. It should be gone by next period." She said in a relieved voice.
"What did Pomfrey give ya mate? Was it gross?" Ron asked.
"Oh Ron, what does it matter as long as it gets rid of Harry's fever?" Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, if it makes him toss his cookies it does."
"But-" Hermione began, but Harry cut her off before she could finish. The last thing he wanted to hear was a drawn out fight about how gross his medicine had tasted. (In fact, it was quite disgusting).
It seemed that this was, indeed, the very last thing Snape wanted to hear. He proved this as he spat out; "I'll make you test potions that taste one hundred times as horrendous if you don't pay attention at the front Weasley, Potter."
He waved his wand at the board and instructions for the day's potion appeared. "Potter, you'll be working with Mr. Malfoy. His punctuality may not wear off on you, but maybe a small amount of his talent for potions will. And as we all know, and bit of improvement would be welcome." Malfoy smirked, and Harry just groaned.
Snape, seeming testier than usual, paired off all the Gryffindors with the Slytherins. Usually he would let them choose their own partners, or at least pair them with members of the same house, most likely to save himself a headache than anything. A headache which now seemed inevitable. It seemed the Draco and Harry were trying to kill each other with glares, in a last ditch effort to prevent themselves from working together. Though, had it been successful, Harry would've been fifty times crispier. Harry was just too tired and sick to really give his patented Die-Malfoy glare any effort.
Finally, getting bored with the glare-at-Potter game, and with his usual lazy drawl, Malfoy said, "Get over here Potter. As much as I hate to be anywhere near you, my telekinetic powers are not quite up to par, and I can't make the potion with my mind, so I require you to move over here."
Harry responded with a not quite so witty, "No, you come here," and placed his flushed face against the desk with a pained look. His eyebrows were drawn together as if he wished someone would knock him unconscious so he could succumb to some peaceful pain-free darkness.
Malfoy's eyes softened for an instant of rare compassion for Potter. He usually only enjoyed people in pain when he delivered it himself. However, the moment was fleeting, and he snapped. "It isn't my fault if you have a hangover, so just get over here."
Harry with much effort, lifted up his head and said, "Hangover? I don't drink, Malfoy."
Draco looked at Harry skeptically and opened his mouth to say something, but Snape cut him short. "Just move Potter, you can't be that sick. Besides, if you had learned anything in this class you'd know that the medicine would work better if you move around so I can work through your blood. Besides, you're wasting time with your bickering."
Harry sighed in defeat, grabbed his things and walked toward Malfoy's table near the front of the classroom. As much as he hated to admit it, he did begin to feel better the more he moved, like Snape had said. Before Harry could sit down, (Crabbe and Goyle had abandoned their seats to sit beside Neville and Ron, whom Snape had paired them with) Malfoy demanded he go to the supply cabinet to retrieve Flobberworms and dung beetle antenna. They had the rest of the ingredients they needed in their own supply stashes. Harry went back to his seat with the necessary ingredients without knowing what he was using them for. When he inquired this thought to Malfoy he got a sneer and a "Can't read the board Potter? Need new glasses?"
Harry could read the board very well, thank you, and told this to Malfoy. He just wasn't sure what a Sansus Pyro potion would do. "It's very elementary for a seventh year class Potter. I suppose Professor Snape wants us to do a review of sorts." Harry felt like a complete idiot, but he gave Malfoy a questioning look. Draco sighed, not believing the sort of people he was even talking to such an idiot, and said. "It protects people from fire Potter, fire. Can't you read?"
Harry looked at the instructions on the board and began to skin the flobberworms, and finely shred them as directed. He added a vial of dragon tears to the antenna (though he wasn't quite sure what it would do to help fireproof a person) and made a rather black looking paste. He added these to the cauldron and then saw Malfoy add something dark red to the mixture.
"What did you just add to that Malfoy?"
Draco looked at Harry, not realizing he had been watching him, and then glanced at the list of potion requirements at the board before saying, "Fire salamander scales" a little too quickly for a Malfoy drawl.
Harry look suspiciously at Malfoy before stirring the potion clockwise three times. It looked to Harry to be a shade or two darker than most others, (Crabbe and Neville's being a bright green and fizzing as opposed to the bright red of the other. Was Snape asking for an explosion, pairing those two up together?) but Harry figured it was close enough.
Snape was making one in a pair (or all the Gryffindors) test the potion, making them run a hand through a rather large candle flame. (The flame stuck to Neville's hand when he tried to test it. "A flame attracting potion, stupid boy! Someone take him to the hospital wing"). When Snape got to Harry and Draco he made the emerald-eyed boy test the potion. Harry wasn't surprised, but he was still insulted, and sighed at the injustice of being the resident potion tester for seven years. As Harry drank the potion, he noticed that it was unusually hot for something that was supposed to retract heat. Snape clicked his tongue and said something to Draco that sounded suspiciously like "Not your fault-funny colour- Potter, after all."
The bell rang and Snape dismissed the class aside from Harry who still had to test the potion.
Snape held out the candle, and Harry made to put his hand through it when he suddenly felt dizzy. He placed a hand on the desk to steady himself and looked around, blinking, and getting the spell to pass. When the spots in front of his eyes cleared he saw Ron and Hermione waiting by the door, and Malfoy sneering, looking insulted that he that he had to walk near the Weasel and the Mudblood to get out the door.
Harry was starting to feel slightly sick again. He put his hand though the flame, just wanting to leave the class and rest for a bit. To his great shock, he felt the heat of the flame and let out a little yelp of surprise. He saw Malfoy knock Ron over as he exited the class. At that moment he suddenly felt a great rush of pain in his chest and Harry collapsed.
The last thing he saw before merciful blackness took him was a very shocked and scandalized Snape catch Harry as he fell forward and Hermione and Ron charge forward full speed to where Snape laid him on the cold dungeon floor.
Snape stepped quickly into the classroom, his black robes billowing behind him more than should have been possible in the rather stuffy potions classroom. The class was cold as usual; a funny thing considering the room was practically airtight. The greasy-haired potions master required it that way so fires couldn't spread. Sure, he could've wind-proofed the cauldron burners, but that would require too much time and energy. Besides, a fire here and there might teach the pesky children to be more careful.
Snape looked around the dungeon classroom to see if anyone was absent, and sure enough, Harry Potter was not in his seat. The Professor glared daggers in the direction of fiery-haired Ron Weasley, expecting him to provide some lame excuse for Potter's absence.
Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat; as if speaking and provoking the Professor into shouting was the last thing he wanted to do, until Snape shouted, "Well? Where is Potter?"
Ron cringed a bit, and Hermione, seated beside Ron said, "Please, Professor, Harry wasn't feeling well, so he just stepped into the hospital wing a moment to get something for his stomach."
Snape 'harrumphed' a bit and made as if to say something (most likely a something of the point-deducting sort) when Harry entered the classroom; looking as if he's rather be in bed than in potions. Since Harry looked like that on most days Snape didn't pay him any mind. Instead, he shot him a venomous look, the one reserved especially for Harry, and said in and annoyingly superior tone, "Mr. Potter, it may come as a shock to you, but even celebrities are not allowed to be late for class."
Harry grabbed his head as though it was about to explode from the pain, and this would somehow hold it together. He looked up through long eyelashes, his face directed toward the ground, and said rather weakly, "Sorry, Sir, I thought I asked Ron to tell you-"
"Oh, Ms.Granger informed me of your whereabouts and condition, but next time be on time." Then as an afterthought, "Ten points from Gryffindor."
Harry dragged his feet slowly over to his chair, as if each step could cause his head to split in half or make him lose the breakfast he never ate. He took his place at the table beside Ron and placed his head against the cool wooden tabletop. Hermione reached in front of Ron and placed her hand in a motherly fashion on Harry's cheek. "Well, Harry, your fever seems to have gone down a bit. It should be gone by next period." She said in a relieved voice.
"What did Pomfrey give ya mate? Was it gross?" Ron asked.
"Oh Ron, what does it matter as long as it gets rid of Harry's fever?" Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, if it makes him toss his cookies it does."
"But-" Hermione began, but Harry cut her off before she could finish. The last thing he wanted to hear was a drawn out fight about how gross his medicine had tasted. (In fact, it was quite disgusting).
It seemed that this was, indeed, the very last thing Snape wanted to hear. He proved this as he spat out; "I'll make you test potions that taste one hundred times as horrendous if you don't pay attention at the front Weasley, Potter."
He waved his wand at the board and instructions for the day's potion appeared. "Potter, you'll be working with Mr. Malfoy. His punctuality may not wear off on you, but maybe a small amount of his talent for potions will. And as we all know, and bit of improvement would be welcome." Malfoy smirked, and Harry just groaned.
Snape, seeming testier than usual, paired off all the Gryffindors with the Slytherins. Usually he would let them choose their own partners, or at least pair them with members of the same house, most likely to save himself a headache than anything. A headache which now seemed inevitable. It seemed the Draco and Harry were trying to kill each other with glares, in a last ditch effort to prevent themselves from working together. Though, had it been successful, Harry would've been fifty times crispier. Harry was just too tired and sick to really give his patented Die-Malfoy glare any effort.
Finally, getting bored with the glare-at-Potter game, and with his usual lazy drawl, Malfoy said, "Get over here Potter. As much as I hate to be anywhere near you, my telekinetic powers are not quite up to par, and I can't make the potion with my mind, so I require you to move over here."
Harry responded with a not quite so witty, "No, you come here," and placed his flushed face against the desk with a pained look. His eyebrows were drawn together as if he wished someone would knock him unconscious so he could succumb to some peaceful pain-free darkness.
Malfoy's eyes softened for an instant of rare compassion for Potter. He usually only enjoyed people in pain when he delivered it himself. However, the moment was fleeting, and he snapped. "It isn't my fault if you have a hangover, so just get over here."
Harry with much effort, lifted up his head and said, "Hangover? I don't drink, Malfoy."
Draco looked at Harry skeptically and opened his mouth to say something, but Snape cut him short. "Just move Potter, you can't be that sick. Besides, if you had learned anything in this class you'd know that the medicine would work better if you move around so I can work through your blood. Besides, you're wasting time with your bickering."
Harry sighed in defeat, grabbed his things and walked toward Malfoy's table near the front of the classroom. As much as he hated to admit it, he did begin to feel better the more he moved, like Snape had said. Before Harry could sit down, (Crabbe and Goyle had abandoned their seats to sit beside Neville and Ron, whom Snape had paired them with) Malfoy demanded he go to the supply cabinet to retrieve Flobberworms and dung beetle antenna. They had the rest of the ingredients they needed in their own supply stashes. Harry went back to his seat with the necessary ingredients without knowing what he was using them for. When he inquired this thought to Malfoy he got a sneer and a "Can't read the board Potter? Need new glasses?"
Harry could read the board very well, thank you, and told this to Malfoy. He just wasn't sure what a Sansus Pyro potion would do. "It's very elementary for a seventh year class Potter. I suppose Professor Snape wants us to do a review of sorts." Harry felt like a complete idiot, but he gave Malfoy a questioning look. Draco sighed, not believing the sort of people he was even talking to such an idiot, and said. "It protects people from fire Potter, fire. Can't you read?"
Harry looked at the instructions on the board and began to skin the flobberworms, and finely shred them as directed. He added a vial of dragon tears to the antenna (though he wasn't quite sure what it would do to help fireproof a person) and made a rather black looking paste. He added these to the cauldron and then saw Malfoy add something dark red to the mixture.
"What did you just add to that Malfoy?"
Draco looked at Harry, not realizing he had been watching him, and then glanced at the list of potion requirements at the board before saying, "Fire salamander scales" a little too quickly for a Malfoy drawl.
Harry look suspiciously at Malfoy before stirring the potion clockwise three times. It looked to Harry to be a shade or two darker than most others, (Crabbe and Neville's being a bright green and fizzing as opposed to the bright red of the other. Was Snape asking for an explosion, pairing those two up together?) but Harry figured it was close enough.
Snape was making one in a pair (or all the Gryffindors) test the potion, making them run a hand through a rather large candle flame. (The flame stuck to Neville's hand when he tried to test it. "A flame attracting potion, stupid boy! Someone take him to the hospital wing"). When Snape got to Harry and Draco he made the emerald-eyed boy test the potion. Harry wasn't surprised, but he was still insulted, and sighed at the injustice of being the resident potion tester for seven years. As Harry drank the potion, he noticed that it was unusually hot for something that was supposed to retract heat. Snape clicked his tongue and said something to Draco that sounded suspiciously like "Not your fault-funny colour- Potter, after all."
The bell rang and Snape dismissed the class aside from Harry who still had to test the potion.
Snape held out the candle, and Harry made to put his hand through it when he suddenly felt dizzy. He placed a hand on the desk to steady himself and looked around, blinking, and getting the spell to pass. When the spots in front of his eyes cleared he saw Ron and Hermione waiting by the door, and Malfoy sneering, looking insulted that he that he had to walk near the Weasel and the Mudblood to get out the door.
Harry was starting to feel slightly sick again. He put his hand though the flame, just wanting to leave the class and rest for a bit. To his great shock, he felt the heat of the flame and let out a little yelp of surprise. He saw Malfoy knock Ron over as he exited the class. At that moment he suddenly felt a great rush of pain in his chest and Harry collapsed.
The last thing he saw before merciful blackness took him was a very shocked and scandalized Snape catch Harry as he fell forward and Hermione and Ron charge forward full speed to where Snape laid him on the cold dungeon floor.