"You need to add the powdered asphodel once it's simmered for three minutes, Malfoy," Hermione ordered from across the almost-empty potions room, her head buried in a book.
"Yes, I know," Draco muttered. He picked up a bowl of powder -is it the right one? Oh, who cares - and chucked it in the steaming cauldron. "Done that. What now?"
"Stir it thirteen times counter-clockwise and then leave it alone for thirty seconds. Then you can see if it works."
Draco gritted his teeth and did as Hermione said. It was their twenty-fourth remedial Potions lesson and he had managed to get his grade up to an 'Exceeds Expectations', which was the original aim of the lessons. He hadn't told Hermione that he didn't need her help anymore. He didn't know why, he just knew that he wanted to keep letting her teach him - whether he needed it or not.
"Have you finished yet?" Hermione called from her corner. "I'm actually quite excited to see the effects of this potion; I've never brewed it before."
"Yeah, done," Draco answered, losing count of the amount of stirs he'd done. He had been watching Hermione reading, her head bent in concentration in whatever boring novel she was interested in.
"Ooh, okay! You can test it now," she said gleefully, shoving a piece of parchment in her book and half-running over to Draco's table. Draco felt her lean over him to check the colour of the potion and suddenly became interested in a spot on the wall opposite him.
"Right, I have a flask. Are you ready to try it?" Hermione asked nervously. "I mean, if you don't want to, I can, if you'd like…?"
"No, Granger, I'm not a coward. I'm a Slytherin," Draco replied defensively, staring at her. They stood silently staring at each other for a few moments, before Draco took the small glass-stoppered tube out of her delicate hand and dipped it in the warm liquid.
"Go on," Hermione urged.
"What's it going to do again?" Draco enquired, looking intently at the silvery potion.
"I told you, it's a glamour potion. It's new. It alters your voice for a while, depending on how much you drink. That flask there should last 20 minutes. The voice depends on the drinker's preference; just think hard of the voice you want to have whilst you drink it."
"If this goes wrong, Granger…"
"It won't go wrong if you've done it right."
Draco sighed and lifted the flask up to his mouth, feeling the liquid travel down his throat. Almost immediately, the room started to twist and turn around him.
"How is it? Say something," Hermione said, biting her lip.
"G - Granger, what did you –"
"Your voice is the same!" Hermione exclaimed confusedly. "I don't understand."
"Everything's fuzzy."
Hermione was about to check the ingredients when Draco's legs gave out from under him, sending him crashing towards the floor.
"Malfoy, what the hell are you - oh!" Draco grabbed her legs as he fell, causing Hermione to fall down with him and land painfully on her side. "Ouch."
"You've - you made me drunk, Granger!" Malfoy slurred.
"It's your fault!" Hermone groaned, lifting herself up until she was sitting awkwardly on the floor. "You must have done something wrong! A lot wrong, to make you this affected by it."
"Granger…"
"Let me take you back to your common room. The effects should wear off in a few minutes. I hope."
"No!" Draco cried quickly. "Stay here."
"Why?" Hermione asked exasperatedly.
"I need to tell you something," Draco whispered, "but you can't tell Hermione."
Hermione frowned at his use of her first name and at the fact Draco didn't realise it was her. "Okay, I promise."
"I don't need Potions lessons anymore," Draco revealed, his voice hoarse. "I only keep having them because…" He trailed off, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to stop the dizziness.
"You don't need them anymore," Hermione repeated. "Why?"
"I got E-Exceeds Expectations in the test."
"I see," Hermione breathed, her heart-rate quickening. "Why did you keep going with the lessons?"
"Hermione made me," Draco cried. "She made me because she's so… I really… I don't know."
Hermione gulped. "Do you… like this Hermione girl?"
"Yes, I like her a lot. Don't tell her though."
"I won't," Hermione murmured. So, Draco liked her. She pondered the development before smiling briefly to herself and silently helping Draco to his feet. If she was being truthful, she had sometimes deliberately sabotaged her classmate's potions so he would need to take more lessons. She had been rather distracted with him lately and looking forward to every encounter. Of course, at first, he had been a git, but he had warmed up considerably over the last few hours in the claustrophobic classroom. "Come on, let's get you to bed."
The pair awkwardly walked the long way around to the dungeons in order not to bump into anyone along the way. When they reached the Slytherin common room entrance, Hermione stopped and let go of Draco's arm. "Here you are, go in."
"Hermione?" Draco said, his eyes focussing suddenly.
"Yes?"
"Would you mind if I kissed you?"
Hermione paused and then smiled. "No, I wouldn't mind. Not at all."