Two Sides of the Same Coin
By: Cha-11 now under Erise
I
Lucky Devil
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"Well, Mr. Potter, I must absolutely give you credit for never ceasing to amaze me on how little your brain must be to continue messing this potion. That goes for you too, Mr. Longbottom"
A disgusted smirk made it ways to Snape's thin lips, his eyes narrowed at the said boy. Even Ron had made the proper potion without messing up as much as Harry had. It wasn't a really complicated potion, and he was doing it right, even Herminone didn't know what was wrong that he couldn't produce the right result. He and Neville were the only ones still trying; everyone had managed to get at least a decent result. It was beyond embarrassing to be stuck on the same level with Neville at this. It was enough to even make him ask for that snake Malfoy's help. Not that he would of course and not that the snake would actually help him, but in times of desperation even a snake seemed helpful.
As if Severus Snape had read his exact thoughts, the raven headed professor looked at him and then at Neville, a look of pure annoyance clearly visible on his face.
"Mr. Malfoy, would you please assist Mr. Potter."
The smirk on the blonde's face grew even more, while Harry almost crushed the roots in his hands.
"And Ms. Granger, try to do the same with Mr. Longbottom."
Harry looked desperately at Hermione, his eyes clearly read: switch with me. And she was just about to voice it out when Snape snapped his head to face her.
"Does it not surprise you that I am this… patient? If it weren't for the headmaster I would have never even given all of you a second try at this."
Hermione backed off on that idea and mouthed an 'I'm so sorry Harry', before she walked over to Neville. Harry couldn't blame her though, he wasn't scared of Snape, but the look he had on his face was enough to petrify a giant. What the hell was up his ass was something Harry, right now was even scared to wonder.
Malfoy looked as smug as ever as he walked over to Harry, staring directly into his eyes.
"Who knew the great Harry Potter would ever need help from a Slytherin?"
The pale boy muttered a spell and Harry's cauldron was cleaned in an instant.
"I didn't ask for your help, Malfoy."
"I'm not going to help you then."
Their brief exchange of words ignited the fire in their veins; Harry glared at him while he remained unflinching and retained the smug smile on his face. They were just going to stare at each other with hatred, or at least that was what they were going to do until they heard the vehemence in his voice,
"Time is ticking, Potter. Do not waste it."
The brunette resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Malfoy and stared at the ingredients before him instead, after a while looked at Malfoy again, who was expecting. Damn it, it was either Malfoy or Snape.
"Malfoy, help me."
And so the blonde devil did. Thankfully, Malfoy really did help Harry and he finally got it right, finishing a couple of minutes before Neville and Hermione. Damn it, it infuriated Harry that their hands touched when they had both grabbed for the mangled root. Disgusting! They both thought and they immediately looked at each and made it known.
Before their class ended, Malfoy made sure that Harry knew he owed him one. And Snape had more than convinced Harry to study until he memorized everything in the book. He was never, EVER going to ask for that bastard's help ever again.
"I knew it, Draco. Sooner or later he'd ask you for help."
Pansy said in a delighted voice as Draco walked out of the room, followed by a weary looking Harry. Working with someone you loathed was tiring and the fact that he now owed the bloody prick didn't help either.
"It's not like he had a choice, Pansy."
Hermione said in a matter-of-fact tone. Pansy gave her a light sneer before she went off with Draco, who gave all three of them a sly smile.
"I'll be reminding you, Potter."
He said in a wickedly sweet voice which left them disconcerted, very disconcerted. It would have been a lot better if he had spat the words with disgust as he usually did, but the way he said it was slightly scary.
"What the bloody hell… that was creepy."
Or creepy, as Ron said, visibly shuddering. Hermione continued to eye Malfoy until he and Pansy turned left and disappeared into the corridor. Harry simply sighed, relieved that he was finally out of his sight.
"Harry, what did he mean?"
Herminone asked, her brows knitted, curiosity and concern thick in her voice. Ron finally stopped shuddering and looked at him with the same curiosity as well.
"Yeah, what was that 'I'll be reminding you, potter'?"
He mimicked Malfoy, and then shuddered again. It was really creepy, even coming from Ron's mouth.
"I owe him for helping me."
He answered, narrowing his eyes at where Malfoy had stood. He was worried at what the blonde haired Slytherin was going to demand for his unwanted help.
"And you have Snape to thank for that."
The red head said with a frown, Harry took a deep breath and sighed again.
"Hmm…"
Hermione nodded absent-mindedly, her eyes now scanning the potions lab. Both of the boys looked back at the room,
"What is it, Hermione?"
"Harry, I've been wondering, what happened to you?"
"What do you mean?"
Ron asked and looked at both of them.
"I watched you make that potion again and again, you did everything right."
She pointed out with an irritated look, she hated being confused. Harry nodded and looked pissed at the memory.
"Yeah, I thought so too but it always turned out wrong."
The Boy Who Lived said in a in an irritated and whiny voice. Who wouldn't get pissed when you owed someone you absolutely detested for asking his help even though he was obliged to help you on his own! Harry mentally fumed and cursed Malfoy, hoping that every word he thought were knives being jabbed into his thin and evil body.
"You don't think…"
Hermione tentatively let the words slip. This caused a mildly panicked reaction from the redhead and broke the brunette's violent train of thoughts.
"Think what?"
Ron asked, the anxiety already building up.
"Someone was playing a trick on Harry or something?"
They paused and looked at each other. Oh shit. It hadn't even crossed Harry's mind but that was probably it. He had done everything right, even Hermione said so. He was just about to voice his thoughts when,
"Let's talk about this later-we're going to be late!"
The brilliant witch almost shrieked the words out as she grabbed both of them by their sleeves and hurried off to their next class. Harry sighed again, for the third time that day. This was going to be long and tiring day.
And what a day it was, they had not only managed not to talk about what had happened to him that morning, he hadn't been able to function properly the entire day! There was definitely something wrong with him. And he couldn't help but repeatedly consider that a certain silver-blonde haired Slytherin was the cause of much of his dismay. He was the only person that continuously came to his rescue, as the blonde devil had saidRescue my ass! He thought furiously. He was never a willing victim! He took in a deep, shaky breath as he calmed himself for the umpteenth time. Even the food tasted bland and he couldn't help but just glare at his food, as if it were the source of his misfortune.
"I have never hated that-that-"
He paused for a while and stabbed the meat on his plate, as if he were actually piercing the Slytherin himself.
"Malfoy this much."
The boy stabbed the piece of meat for emphasis. Only Hermione paid critical attention to the mutilated beef, her face blanching at the vivid image of Harry actually impaling Malfoy with a fork. Not that stabbing that pompous good for nothing bastard wasn't a good idea; it was just that Harry looked quite scary in his current state of fury. While Ron was too busy paying attention to the headmaster's announcement to actually notice any stabbing or blanching.
"What!"
A male voice bellowed, a bit screechy and high pitched. All heads turned to the voice's owner, and they weren't surprised at all to see Draco Malfoy standing from his seat, his face red with rage.
"What seems to be the problem Mr. Malfoy?"
Dumbledore tilted his head to face him, his expression neither annoyed nor angry.
"That entire proposal is the problem!"
The headmaster merely smiled at him, adding more fuel to his fire.
"It is not a proposal."
Now it was Draco's turn to blanch. Harry's brow furrowed even more, what the hell had Dumbledore announced? Even Hermione seemed alarmed and that almost always meant trouble.
"There have been increasing reports of misuse of witchcraft regarding muggles, so we have decided to let you, the future of the wizarding world, experience what it is to live without magic."
"Unbelievable! The ministry-"
"-Has also given their approval for this as well."
The headmaster finished. Draco's simply stared at him, too overwhelmed by Dumbledore's last statement to make any more comments. He slowly sat down, visibly seething with rage.
"So starting tonight, we shall do things by their ways."
McGonagall rose from her seat and walked towards the Hufflepuff table, carrying a large glass bowl filled with tiny papers. She passed them to a student and gestured to take one out.
"As the bowl is passed, please take out only one piece of paper."
The first student trembled as she took her piece out.
"There is a number written on each paper, and only two papers contain the same number."
McGonagall watched the bowl and the hands of the students like a hawk. When all Hufflepuffs were done, she passed it to the next table and did the same until every student held a piece in their hand. She took the bowl with her and sat back on her seat.
"Those who will draw the same number will be paired to live together for the entire two months."
A few startled gasps resounded in the room. Harry had felt his heart pounding in his ears when he was taking the damn piece of paper out, even Ron was panicking; he had almost dropped the bowl two times. Students began looking at their friends' numbers.
"And no one is allowed to switch papers, or change partners."
An immediate feeling of dread came over Harry, and automatically, his head turned to look at Malfoy's direction. The blonde was looking at him as well, the smug expression that was pasted on his face now gone. Even though he enjoyed tormenting Potter, he was more than positive that he was also going to be tormented as well if he shared quarters with the half-blood even for a day, and he preferred the tormenting to be one-sided.
"No matter how hostile you may be with each other."
Why the hell did it seem that that sentence was aimed at Harry? The boy shrugged the feeling off, hoping that this time his unlucky streak was gone. Dumbledore took in a deep breath,
"Please stand up, number one!"
Harry scanned the entire room, no one was getting up. Dumbledore's brows rose,
"Number one!"
He repeated. Harry could feel the tension rise even more. Damn it! He exhaled and slowly stood up. Ron gasped. The brunette turned around to look at whoever was that bad that Ron had to gasp, and a few other Gryffindors did too.
Oh shit.
"Well, this should be a lesson for all of you."
Snape remarked in a pleased voice. As the boy who stood opposite Harry mirrored his distraught.
"To love thy neighbor."
Of all the bloody people! Why the hell did it have to be Draco Malfoy?