It was Potions class and Severus Snape was teaching the 6th year students make Poison Ivy potion, this time by his own method. This time, he handed copies of his old Advanced Potion Making book. No one was having any difficulty at all, even Ron Weasley, the red head who always had a hard time in Potions class. But one student, standing in a corner with his materials and ingredients was confused and distracted. The book specifically said to Crush and squeeze the poison ivy vines , but Draco Malfoy, being stubborn as he is, didn't read the instructions and kept slicing the vines. He failed miserably. The vines kept jumping and slipping under the table. Draco kept cursing and groaning. Sweat started to run down his cheeks. He tried not to think about his father, but it was hard. How can he not think about him? He was imprisoned in Azkaban for being a Death Eater. The ministry of magic threatened the Malfoy family, that if they don't behave, they might order the Dementors to give Lucius Malfoy a kiss. And Draco…did something terrible.
Draco looked up, everyone was passing their vile of Poison Ivy potion, except for him. He cursed again and kept slicing the vines. Snape seemed to notice him having a hard time. He called Hermione Granger, the bushy haired know-it-all to come back in the classroom.
"Will you please tell this stubborn child what to do?" Snape said with an angry voice.
"But, Professor!" Hermione didn't want to help Draco Malfoy, the boy who bullied and teased her and her friends for six straight years. She loathed him. She loathed him very much.
"No buts, Granger!" Snape sat down on his black leather chair and covered his face with the Daily Prophet angrily and pretended to read it. "Now, hurry!"
Hermione whined and marched to the corner where a confused and frustrated Draco Malfoy was standing. Draco looked up again and rolled his eyes when he saw her.
"What are you doing here, Granger?" Draco said, gritting his teeth. Trying to hold his Ivy vines harder and trying to slice them without failing.
"Don't be such a brat, Malfoy." Hermione balled her fist behind her back. Seeing his face annoyed her. "Professor Snape told me to help you. You should be thankful that I'm actually doing this!"
"I don't need your help. I'm doing fine!" Draco sliced the Ivy Vines again and it rolled under the table.
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CRUSH IT NOT SLICE IT!" She screamed. She was so annoyed and his stubbornness wasn't helping her calm down.
"GOD DAMMIT, GRANGER." Draco almost pulled his blond hair out. "You didn't have to shout." He tried to tone down his voice so Snape wouldn't put both of them in detention and he would have to be stuck with her again.
"Well, it's because you're not doing it right!" She said, this time her voice was low and soft, but Draco could still sense anger and annoyance.
"Well, fine. I'm crushing it. Are you happy now, Mud-" Draco bit his tongue before he could say anything too harsh. He didn't want to get in trouble. "Granger." He crushed the vines using the leather handle of the knife, the vine didn't slip or jump under the table. Draco was pleased with himself.
"Not quite. Once you crush the vines, squeeze them until juice comes out and wait for the water to bubble and turn green." Hermione said, not trying to look in his cold grey eyes that she hated so much.
Draco did what he was told, he decided not to annoy her anymore to get it over with. Her presence made him angry and pissed, but he didn't know why he hated her so much in the first place.
"What should I do now?" The water bubbled and turned sea green. The consistency was a bit weird, kind of like mud. He looked at her to see if she was impressed, but her face was still and emotionless.
"You mix it, and while you're doing that, you should add two teaspoons of Dragon urine." She said it without reading the book, Hermione really is the brightest witch of her age.
"That is disgusting." Draco snorted, stirred the pot of Almost-finished Poison Ivy potion with a wooden stirring rod. He added the Dragon urine and wrinkled his nose. "Absolutely disgusting."
The potion stopped bubbling, the color turned yellowish-green, because of the urine. The consistency changed, too. It became water-like. The potion seemed to glisten. He looked at Hermione again to see if he did it correctly. Her eyes were locked on the pot, she nodded and walked away.
What the hell is her problem? Draco muttered to himself.
He took a tablespoon of Poison Ivy potion and poured it in the glass vile. He left his messy table and walked up to Professor Snape. Draco's polished black shoes made a tap-tap-tap sound whenever he took a step.
"Professor, I'm done." Draco said. "Can I go now, please?"
Snape didn't even look up. He took the vile and pointed to the door, signaling Draco to go. Draco walked to the door and went outside, there were students all over the place. Gryffindors were having a good time, Slytherins seemed to be gossiping and pulling pranks, Ravenclaws as usual, were reading books, and Hufflepuffs were helping the others find their lost stuff. Today was a typical Hogwarts day. Draco sighed and closed the door gently.
"Draco!" One of the Slytherin guys said. "Over here." Theodore Nott, one of Draco Malfoy's friends was the one who called him. Theodore along with Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe and Blaise Zabini were huddled together under a dead Pine Tree. They seem to be having so much fun, packed with food and butterbeer.
"Not now, Theo. I have something else to do." Draco said, while waving his arm to the group. "I'll hang out with you guys later, alright?" Then he ran back to the hallway and started walking slowly, enjoying his "alone time" and the architecture of The Hogwarts Castle.
He watched the paintings dance, talk and walk around the castle. Somehow, it amused him. He saw a tall old man looking at one of the paintings. His heart started beating fast, and he started sweating. It was Albus Dumbledore. But why was he so nervous? It's only his Headmaster for Merlin's sake! There was nothing to be nervous about.
When he walked pass him, he acknowledged him. "Good afternoon, Professor" and walked fast so he wouldn't have to stay in his presence longer. Seeing Dumbledore made him sad, angry and depressed. Then he remembered his task. Not an ordinary task like cleaning up his room or doing his homework. It was something dark, and evil. Something only the Dark Lord would force, not ask, but FORCE him to do. There were consequences as usual, consequences of death. And the last thing Draco wants was death for himself and death for his loved ones.
He couldn't take it anymore so he ran to the boy's bathroom. He was alone again, and that's what he wanted. He looked at his face in the mirror. He looked horrible. He looked paler, his eyes grew bigger and the bags under those cold grey eyes grew darker. "I look hideous." He muttered to himself. "I can't do this, I can't."
He stayed there for what seemed like hours. He didn't care if he missed his classes, he didn't care at all. Next thing he knew, he was laying on the cold, damp floor. He still didn't care. He started crying, no, he started sobbing very loudly. The room started spinning, images of his father alone in Azkaban's cellar were running in his head. Then, moments later, he fell asleep.
Dreams.
Of course, there were dreams, nightmares, to be exact. He was standing there in the Astronomy Tower, with Dumbledore and a death eater he didn't know. The death eater was wearing a mask, which scared him even more. He was shaking, and sweating. His right arm was extended to where Dumbledore was standing. That's when he realized he was holding his wand.
"Don't you understand?" Draco said.
"I have to do this." He looked down, he was already crying.
"I have to kill you…or he'll kill me." He was shaking so hard, there was a possibility that he was going to hyperventilate.
"Draco…let me help you." Dumbledore said in his husky voice, he was calm but he pointed his wand at him, too.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I HAVE TO DO THIS." He was crying so hard now. "Expelliarmus!"
Dumbledore's wand jumped out of his hands and rolled away from him.
"Just do it already, Draco!" The death eater said, somehow he could recognize his voice.
"A-avada…" Draco trailed off, then he heard a footstep behind him, he looked but no one was there but a bushy-haired girl who he always loathed.
"DRACO, NO!" Hermione screamed. "Please, don't…don't do this." She was begging already, holding his arm tightly.
That is when he woke up, he was sobbing again. "I don't want to do it, Hermione." He sat up and let out a gasp. Hermione was there, watching him. She was shocked too when she heard her name from the boy's mouth.
"W-what are you doing here, Granger?" Draco tried to sound annoyed, but he felt a little relieved that she was there. "Don't you know where you are? You're in the boy's bathroom, for Merlin's sake!" He tried to let out a chuckle. "Wait 'till I tell-"
"I heard someone sobbing. So I went in here…then I saw you." She said, her face stiff. "Not that I'm concerned or anything…"
"Of course you're not." Draco rolled his eyes. Then he noticed that their faces were inches apart, and Hermione was holding his hand. "Will you please take your bloody hand off mine." Draco slipped his hand in his pocket.
"I-I didn't notice. You think I was TRYING to hold your hand? Don't you dare think that! I didn't know I was!" Hermione shouted. "Don't misinterpret it!" She glared at him, stood up and walked away. "and if you tell anyone about this, I'll tell the whole school that you were crying in the bathroom like an immature child!" She stuck out her tongue at him.
Draco snickered. "Who's the immature child now?" He grinned. "Deal, Granger. Let's both zip our mouths, okay?" He said, smiling at himself. "But I bet you liked being inches apart from my face." He let out a loud laugh.
"Arrghh!" Hermione stormed out of the bathroom, unnoticed by anyone else.
Draco stood up and looked at the mirror. "Hell, do I look that ugly?" He fixed his hair and washed his face with the tap water. He looked cleaner and more decent. He was convinced that this will make the girls swoon. He chuckled at the thought. Funny, he thought, A while ago I was crying and now I'm laughing at myself. He looked at the mirror once more and smiled his signature smile, a smirk that annoyed the hell out of Potter and his friends. He walked out of the bathroom, thinking of annoying people, that's what he does best.
When he walked out of the bathroom, the students were already lining up to go to the Great Hall. He saw Harry Potter and his friends, being goody-two-shoes again. Of course they were lining up, that's what they were told to do. But Draco pushed the three out of his way.
"What the hell is your problem, Malfoy?" That red-head said. Weasley. His family always despised them for some unknown reason.
"Malfoy, Can't you do what you're told?" Harry said, gripping his wand.
Hermione stayed quiet.
"Can't say anything bad to me, can you, Granger?" Draco chuckled and winked at her, to add another annoying effect.
"W-what did he just do?" Ron asked, very very annoyed. "Did he just…wink at you?"
"I-I guess he did." Hermione turned red. She shook her head. Why am I blushing? "How dare him! He's disgusting!" She stomped her foot and shook her head one more time. "Argh! Once I see him again I'm going to-"
"Geez, Mione, calm down." Ron said, he was the only one who called her Mione. "It's just a wink for Merlin's sake, it's not like it meant anything, right?" He patted her back and smiled at her. "Or does it?" Hermione glared at him. "Aw you know I'm just kidding, come on, let's hurry, I'm starving."
Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. "You're always starving, Ron." Harry let out a laugh, and Ron nudged him.
Draco and his friends were laughing and being obnoxious on the Slytherin table as always. They seemed to be annoying Sophia Hart, the quiet and mysterious girl in Slytherin. She was always by herself with her unusual books. She had long blonde wavy hair that reached her shoulders. Her pupils were dark, like melted chocolate. She bit her lip in annoyance. "These bastards won't shut up." She muttered to herself.
Draco snatched the book from her hands and skimmed through it. "What is this piece of shit?" He laughed and passed the book to Goyle. He read the title on the cover: "The Catcher in the Rye!" He boomed. Goyle looked at his friends, they were all confused, none of them knew what this book was about. "What is this?" Crabbe said when Goyle passed the strange book to him "Some kind of muggle book?" Crabbe smiled at himself when he saw everyone giggling at what he just said.
"Give it back!" She hissed and glared at both of them. "It's not of your business!"
Almost everyone in the Slytherin table stared at Sophia, shocked. This was the first time they heard her speak in public. "Oh look! It talks!" One shouted, and everyone laughed.
"Come on, Hart." Zabini said with amusement in his voice, "It's just a bloody book. Maybe you should have been sorted to—" He stopped when he met Theodore's eyes.
Theodore Nott had always had a liking for Sophia, but she never showed any interest in him. Nott tried to talk to her millions of times, but she never talked back. He'd always defended her when girls from their house called her a freak or a nerd. Theodore had done everything to get her to talk to him, or at least show interest, but all Sophia did in response was look at him and bury her face in her odd books again.
While everyone's laughing, Theodore stood up and said: "EVERYBODY, SHUT UP!" That made everyone in the whole school look at him. Someone from the Hufflepuff house shouted back "NO YOU, SHUT UP!" and everyone else laughed.
"I—I mean everybody in the Slytherin house that is…carry on with your lives" He said in embarrassment. Sophia looked at him, and mouthed the words "Thank you." Theodore smiled uncontrollably to himself, his heart seemed to try to get out of his chest. Blaise gave him a smug, and patted him on the back. "Good job, mate." He winked at him and Theodore smiled stupidly, making Sophia laugh.
Draco rolled his eyes. Everyone's falling in love except for him. He always thought that love was stupid and snogging was absolutely disgusting and pointless. He rolled his eyes and stormed out of the Great Hall.
"Stupid gits, falling in love with banshees...I'd puke on all of them." He muttered to himself. He ran to the Dungeons to sit in the Slytherin common room and think. It's just too much. It's all happening at the same time. Voldemort threatened poor Draco that if he doesn't do his task, he will kill everyone he loves. This is why he's been avoiding Pansy Parkinson for the past few months, and it's killing him. He loved her. Or...at least he thought he did. But how could he not? How could he not love her? That was the question that's been stuck in Draco's head for a long, long time. He tried, to fall in love with her, he honestly did. But he knew better that you can't force yourself to love a person...you just do. Then why did he try in the first place? Stubborn, stubborn Draco Malfoy.