Another really old fic, just reposted :) The Folubulisterious potion is completely made up.
Decent Conversations
"I guess we're stuck with each other...again."
"I guess so too..."
I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. I had made my retort with all the usual Malfoy sarcasm in it, but what I had gotten in response was barely an audible, exhausted sigh. My partner for the nth time in double Potions then started to dice one of the many herbs needed for the cauldron.
"Potter must I remind you always that poleander seeds need not be cut for this potion?!"
Said Potter looked up from his work and just muttered a "S'rry" before moving on to the roots. I rolled my eyes and uttered a long-suffering sigh. If Potter didn't start concentrating, this potion could very well plunge down my grades further."C'mon Potter, spill. What is it now?"
Puzzled eyes turned in my direction with a matching stutter.
"Huh?!"
"Obviously, something is bothering you," I stated matter-of-factly. "And if you dont start concentrating on this Folibis-" I glanced again at my book, "Folubulisterious potion we're making, I might very well fail my Potions."
"You don' fail Potions. A Slytherin normally doesn't fail Potions."
"Snape hasn't been normal for the past couple of months. I don't need to see another parchment with the words FAILED marked on it for me to start making extra efforts."
"Aah..."
"Potter, stop the monosyllabic grunts you're giving me. It makes you a less intelligent being that what you really are."
"Is that a compliment?"
"What do you think?"
Silence followed after that. Bloody hell, why am I even trying to make a decent conversation with this Gryffindor?
"I can't believe we just had our first decent conversation."
Echoing my thoughts now Potter...are we?
"It may also be the last."
"Do you really think so Draco?"
Oh, now that's a new one.
"We on a first name basis already? Wow, how far we've come dear Potter."
"Aren't you getting tired of it?"
"Of what?"
Now I'm getting confused.
"This whole...rivalry thing. This whole Gryffindor vs. Slytherin thing. The Potter vs. Malfoy thing."
My eyes couldn't help but widen.
"Potter...don't you start saying..."
His eyes then started to glaze over with some of the anger I was used to seeing.
"I am not looking for romantic liasons with you Draco. I don't really swing that way."
"Glad to know that's clear."
Silence ensued again. I spoke after a few minutes.
"You can't really blame the two Houses for fighting Po-Harry. It's an age old tradition-"
"Just because it's an old age tradition the whole student body would have to go with it?!"
"You've been here for six years. Haven't you been used to it yet?"
"I am used to it. So used to it I'm getting tired of it."
What is it now Potter is trying to drive at?
"And what is it exactly you want to accomplish?"
"I don't have anything to accomplish. It isn't like I could do anything about it."
Feeling a little helpless now...are we? You've given me an opportunity again Potter.
"A-ha. The abilities of the great Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, not enough to suffice in the great plan to thwart everyone's evil plans and finally rid the world of evil?" I can't help but smirk.
"What's made you think I'll be able to rid the world of this so-called evil?"
The expression in his eyes was something I couldn't understand.
"Duh Potter. Seems you haven't read the newspapers in a while. Just so happens that's what everyone thinks."
"I happen to think otherwise."
Huh? Where did that come from? Seems he's getting angry again...
"It seems the undisputed Malfoy charm has succeeded again in infuriating the great Harry Potter."
"I wasn't infuriated." Denial my arse. "I was only stating a fact."
"A fact Potter? So, you are saying that all those witches and wizards counting on you, placing all their hope on you are, in fact, just wasting their time?"
"You've become an adept at twisting words Malfoy. The fact that I don't exactly think my abilities are enough to defeat evil, does not mean I would not try my best to live up to their expectations."
"You act as though that scar on your forehead isn't enough to defeat Voldemort."
"You really think I was talking all the while about Voldemort?"
My mind then did a double take. I half-listened to Snape's instructions on the method of boiling and stirring as my other ear listened to Ha-Potter I mean.
"Voldemort isn't the only evil thing existing in this world. Sure, he is quite determined to do all those atrocious acts out there, murder being the least vile of it all. What I can't understand is why people have become prejudiced and biased enough in thinking and getting their minds to narrow down into this idea that there are only two people who are capable to do evil-Voldemort and his Death Eaters, with the former being the greater evil and the latter the lesser one. And of course, if you are studying in this school, the third evil happens to be the Slytherins."
I know what you mean Potter.
I know exactly what you mean.
"We Slytherins don't really deny that part."
"Haven't you gotten tired of this whole prejudiced perspective?"
"Each House has its own unique personality attached to its name. It just happened that more good has been attached to Gryffindor as more bad has gone to Slytherin."
"And sad to say, the bad overshadows the good, just as sometimes the good overshadows the bad."
"It's not like we're actually complaining Potter. We were put in Slytherin because we're like that, and it's not our fault-"
"When suddenly you become tired of living up to be the descendants of Salazar Slytherin? I don't believe all of you were put together in that House just because you have the capability of causing more trouble than the rest of the Houses."
"It's what they expect us to do. It's as simple as that. It's the reason we do the things we do for if we do otherwise, the more they will suspect, the more they are quick to judge. Take for example this investigation they have on Death Eaters. Every student on my House has at least once undergone massive scrutiny just to be certain they are not one of Voldemort's minions."
"Just as fewer students in the other Houses have been investigated. But that doesn't change the fact that there are Death Eaters in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."
"Nothing you could do about it Potter."
Silence fell upon us again as we started to throw away the excess potion and clean the cauldron. Surprisingly, despite our strange chat, we were still among the first students to finish. We sat down again, and Potter continued his musings.
"Sometimes, I wonder. What could've happend if I let the Sorting Hat have its way and put me into Slytherin...?"
"You?? A Slytherin?!"
Now that was a surprise.
A major one.
Possibilities and millions of what-if's surfaced in my mind. Pro's and con's of the situation rolled over in my head.
"But I told the Sorting Hat to put me anywhere but Slytherin."
"Because..."
Let me guess.
"Voldemort was a Slytherin."
Just as I thought.
"You're contradicting everything you've been saying for the past hour."
Potter...a Slytherin?
"It's not my fault that the intelligence and maturity came later when I really needed it."
Nah. That wouldn't be fun at all.
"I don't think you being a Slytherin would work. We'd be better at being rivals than friends."
"I just think it would be so damn ironic, it'd be like giving them the middle finger, when the one person they hope to be their salvation comes from the very House that bore the very wizard they needed saving from."
"Read pages 105-115. I expect two feet of parchment on the history and effects of the potion found there to be submitted next week. Class dismissed." Snape's voice echoed in the dungeon.
Potter and I stood up at the same time as we gathered our books.
"Nothing changes Potter. Just so you know."
"I wasn't expecting any."
"Good."
the end
04-04-03