Title: Duo Maxwell's Bad Day
Author: Grevola
Rating/Word Count: PG, 695 words
Notes: Don't own HP or GW. Part of the Sorting Hat Arc, second year. Duo's been having a bad day, and it's about to get worse.

-_-_-_-_-

As far as Duo was concerned it was the worst day ever. That morning he'd heard that his friend Hiiro Yui was sitting petrified in the hospital wing, and had been for days before anyone had thought to tell him about it. Hiiro had been found at the top of the highest astronomy tower when Professor Sinistra's fourth year class had arrived for their lesson Monday evening. Since no one could place where Hiiro had been over the weekend, there was a rumor that he'd been sitting up there petrified for days. And then Madam Pomfrey had refused to let him see Hiiro because she was certain he was just there to cause mischief.

To make matters worse, no one was sure how Hiiro had been petrified or even what he had been doing. He'd been wearing a funny blindfold and sitting in a chalked diagram of a six pointed star. Half the students thought he had tried to fight the monster from the Chamber of Secrets, and the other half thought he had been trying a spell he shouldn't have. Duo wasn't sure which he thought was worse, Hiiro being attacked or Hiiro meddling in the Dark Arts.

And of course he'd learn all of this on a day when he had potions. Which meant he wouldn't be paired with Hiiro. Which meant none of Hiiro's dry humor, or weird hand gestures, or perfect slicing technique. It also meant he was paired to work with Draco Malfoy instead. That might not have been so bad, at least he'd been able to flick some puffer-fish eyes at Relena Darlian. But then Harry Potter threw something into Crabbe and Goyle's cauldron and it exploded, drenching all the Slytherins and half the Gryffindors with Swelling Solution.

Duo had gotten it all down his right side, and nearly hadn't been able to limp to the front of the room for an antidote. Unfortunately the antidote didn't save him from Snape's wrath when he found the soggy firework.

"Maxwell!" he snarled, "I can't leave you unsupervised for even a single moment, can I? Do I have to assign you double detention for the rest of the year to make you behave?"

Worse than Snape's anger was Potter's expression; it was somewhere between stunned and delighted. Duo was not feeling nearly so amused.

"But, but I didn't do it!" He protested, "Potter threw something into their cauldron and-"

Snape's glare could level a building, "Maxwell, if Potter had tried to explode Goyle's cauldron, I'm sure we'd all know because he'd have made a flashy production of botching the job. See me after class."

The indignant look on Potter's face was a poor consolation, but it gave Duo something to think about while he spent the next hour carefully wiping Swelling Solution of the floors, walls and even ceiling. When he finished, Snape just nodded, "That will do Maxwell. And if you try a stunt like that again I will turn your punishment over to Professor Lockhart. I hope I am being clear."

"Yes sir," he said petulantly.

"And Duo?" Snape said suddenly, "One last thing before I release you. Take this case of remedies over to the hospital wing. And be careful with them, I'll take every cracked bottle out of your hide."

Duo pointed his wand at the case and it levitated obediently behind him, "I've got to take these to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes, and I want you to personally see to it that she pours the contents of the red bottle into a shallow bowl and sits it where Yui will breathe the vapors until they're gone. It should take care of any cold he might have caught skulking around the astronomy towers after dark."

Duo's eyes lit up, "No problem Prof!"

By the time he got up to the infirmary, and had explained Snape's orders to Madam Pomfrey he was thinking it might almost have been worth scrubbing floors for an hour if it meant he'd get to see his friend. But it was still a pretty bad day, overall.

END