Chapter 1: Advanced Potion Making
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Draco Malfoy...*sigh*
The smell of the greenhouse always calmed me down. I was sitting cross legged under the herb table slowly breathing in the scents of lavender and sage. All of the other 5th years had left quickly after class, but professor Sprout didn't mind letting me hide out here. The greenhouses reminded me of home, of my family's herbology business. From our estate in Scotland, we raised the majority of the ingredients that supplied Mr. Mulpepper's apothecary in Diagon Alley.
"Come on, Aemilia, we are going to be late for potions if you don't come out of hiding." Astoria Greengrass called to me from the doorway. She hated the greenhouses and the way the constant humidity made her hair frizzy.
"Coming, Astoria." I called back. I closed the composition journal I had been writing in and brushed the dirt off my skirt. It always annoyed Astoria that I sat in the dirt wearing designer robes, but I really didn't mind. The house elves were spectacular at removing stains and I always slipped them sweets and trinkets as little thank you's for the extra care they took with my wardrobe.
"What were you working on this time?" she asked as we walked briskly back towards the castle.
"Just making some notes about a new potion I want to try out. Professor Sprout mentioned something during class that gave me an idea." I told her.
"I'm so glad you are good at potions, otherwise Professor Slughorn never would have let us in the class with the 6th years." Astoria gushed. She hated potions but she was obsessed with Draco Malfoy, who just happened to be in advanced potion making.
"Are you going to sit next to him today?" I asked innocently.
"Next to who?" she quipped.
"A certain blonde, maybe?" I teased.
"Oh no, Em, I think I have a craving for some Italian today." She said with a laugh, giving me a nudge in the ribs.
"Poor Draco will be so disappointed." I replied sarcastically.
"What's this about poor Draco?" A male voice drawled behind us. Astoria and I whipped around to see Draco smirking, a playful light in his grey eyes. Astoria's face turned bright red at being caught talking about him.
"Astoria was just telling me that we are having Italian for dinner in the Great Hall tonight, and I know how you prefer something lighter when you have quidditch practice." I lied smoothly. He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously. He knew I was lying, but rather than call me out on it he leaned in and quietly said, "Everyone knows it's the dessert that counts anyways." Then he winked at Astoria and made his way to his seat. We followed him into the room and found two seats in the front. Professor Slughorn had written a list of ingredients on the board. He had been doing a four week lecture series on healing potions.
"Can anyone tell me what potion these ingredients are used for?" he asked, his eyes looking around the room for raised hands. Hermione Granger was at the table across from us with her hand raised. I rolled my eyes. Professor Slughorn didn't call on her, instead his gaze stopped on Astoria. "Miss Greengrass…?" he asked her.
I smiled lightly as Astoria stammered. Everyone knew she was only here because I helped her so much. I wrote dreamless sleep on the top corner of my parchment. Thankfully, she glanced down to see it and she answered him.
"10 points to Slytherin House for Aemilia being prepared and helpful." Slughorn said. I blushed at being caught, but I also was pretty confident that Slughorn would let me get away with anything, perks of being a potions whiz kid. As he started into the lecture, I tuned him out, taking time to draw the details of each ingredient and listing out the medicinal properties. I had just finished drawing a border around the edge of my notebook when Slughorn started pairing students off for the practical portion of the lesson.
"Miss Buchanan, you will be paired with Mr. Malfoy today. Please gather your things and move to his table." The professor announced, then continued on with his list. I saw the small look of panic on Astoria's face at being separated from me.
"You can do it, Tori." I whispered encouragingly as Blaise traded seats with me to work with her. Draco already had the ingredients laid out in the right order when I sat down next to him. I started chopping the leaves in front of me. We both were talented at potions, so we worked seamlessly together.
"What were you actually talking about earlier?" he asked without looking up from the beans he was crushing.
"Three guesses." I teased him, mimicking his actions by keeping my eyes focused intently on the ingredients in front of me.
"I am assuming the Italian reference was about Blaise, but I am not sure how that applies to me?" He guessed correctly, though clearly trying to mask his curiosity.
"Oh you know Astoria, she was threatening to move on from her obsession with you and obsess over Blaise instead." At my answer, he glanced up at Astoria and Blaise. By the position of Astoria's hand on Blaise's bicep, they did seem to be getting along rather well.
"What a relief, for a minute I thought we were actually going to have Italian for dinner." He commented ironically. We worked in compatible silence for the rest of class. In one short hour our potion was a lovely deep shade of purple, and professor Slughorn was bottling it for us to carry up to Madame Pomfrey.
"Here Em, let me carry it." He said, taking the large box out of my hands. A shiver ran up my back at his use of my nickname. He didn't do that very often, only when he was in a good mood.
"Thank you Mr. Malfoy." I replied coyly while pulling my wand out of my robes. It was beech wood with dragon heartstring, unflexible. I cast a quick leviosa charm on the box.
"Good thinking. It was heavier than it looked." He laughed.
"Careful, Draco, or people might start to suspect you of being a gentleman." I joked.
"Ouch, not fair…tell me a secret to make up for it." He said. In Slytherin house we all dealt in secrets. It was one of our favorite forms of currency. Most of us had too much of our own money to bribe each other with gold, so secrets made a valuable alternative. I thought carefully, weighing my options.
"From our house or a different house?" I asked.
"Another." He replied instantly, mostly because he knew all the dirt on our house already.
"Potter is doing better than you in potions because he has professor Snape's old textbook. It has his notes scribbled in the margins." I told him.
"Bloody saint Potter." He spat, then after a moment, "I want that book," collecting his emotions back into a calm demeanor.
"Draco, you don't need the book. You know I will help you with potions if you want to do better than him." I said.
"It's not about me. It is about him always having an unfair advantage. Half the teachers in this place worship the ground he walks on. It just isn't fair." He said through clenched teeth.
"Ok, I'll work on it." I told him vaguely. The Slytherins knew I was good at getting things done. I told them it was because the other houses all liked me, which was mostly true, the rest of my skills I kept secret.
"Thank you for telling me. That was a good secret." He said as he grabbed the box out of the air and turned to carry it into the hospital wing.
"See you later," I mumbled as I watched him go.