Harry groaned as Ron woke him up the next morning, he had an awful headache. "Harry, come on," Ron said urgently, "We're going to be late for breakfast if you don't get your arse up right now!" Harry sighed and sat up putting on his glasses. Dean and Seamus were already getting everything they needed for the day, Harry blinked rapidly to blink away his sleepiness. "I guess I won't have time to even brush my teeth," he mumbled to himself and began putting all the books he would need that day in his bag, along with parchment, inkwells, and a few quills. A few minutes after everyone left the Gryffindor dorms Harry finally got ready, he rushed out, but only after making sure he had everything and his hair looked acceptable, most of all he made sure he had his wand. It was a sunny morning, Harry noticed that only when he walked through the caste to the Great Hall and saw the bright light filtering through the big windows. There were a few students like himself who were running a little late, it made him feel less alone in the world, he sighed and stopped for a moment. Draco Malfoy was walking towards the hallway where Harry was, Malfoy was not carrying himself in the usual aristocratic, and confident manner. Instead he walked in a rather not-so-royal manner, his back and shoulders caving in and hunched over. His head hung low and his face wore a tired and rather upset expression. Malfoy looked up as if he sensed Harry staring at him and his facial expression turned into a scowl and his pose straightened immediately, he was now close enough for Harry to hear him hiss "What are you looking at, Potter?" Harry blinked and stepped back towards the doors of the great hall. Malfoy shot him a venomous glare, and Harry's stomach dropped. He immediately turned around and rushed into the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table, and next to his best friends.
Both Ron and Hermione muttered "Good morning" as he sat down. Harry's attention immediately went to the Slytherin table, he saw Malfoy carrying himself in the hunched over manner again. Harry observed that as soon as he reached the Slytherin table he gave both Pansy and Blaise a very quick hug to each one, and gave Crabbe and Goyle respective nods to which they responded by nodding back. Harry felt a pang of jealousy towards Malfoy's friends, he did not exactly know why, he thought he hated the Slytherin git. Harry turned to Neville who engulfed him into a long conversation about this new species of plant he was studying and researching, Harry ate his breakfast quietly and for once paid attention to what Neville was saying. Apparently the plant was an active ingredient in Amorteria. The plant was a tall, lean plant with tons of small leaves that grouped in bunches which formed heart-like shapes. The plant didn't exactly change anything to the taker of the potion, but it was the ingredient that gave the potion the smell which you love most. To some he potion smelled like roses, to some it smelled like the person they fancied, and to some it smelled like nothing because they did not love anything enough for the plant or potion to smell like anything. Thinking about the strange plant got Harry's mind off of a certain blonde who was staring at him curiously across the big room. Soon enough, breakfast was over and the students were dismissed to their classes.
"Aye, don't you love having double potions first thing in the morning on Mondays, mate?" Ron said as he chuckled and nudged Harry, "Especially with Malfoy in that class, eh?" Ron continued his joke. Harry sighed, fixed his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Eventually, Ron and Hermione went to Herbology, which they had with Parkinson and Crabbe, and Harry went to potions, which he had with Malfoy and Zabini. When Harry arrived to the classroom he situated himself in the back right corner table which was empty. The class filled up with students, the buzz of their chatter hung in the air and all the noise was giving Harry a headache. He massaged his temples and closed his eyes, sighing. He heard two people rush in and his eyes snapped open. The two boys who has rushed in were Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. Malfoy's tie was crooked, his hair messed up, and his lips were bright red and his bottom lip was swollen. Nott's shirt was unbuttoned exposing a very sharp and defined collarbone, his tie and trousers were undone. Both boys were breathing heavily, Malfoy approached Harry with a sneer, "Excuse me, Potter, but would you mind bloody moving?" he said in an annoyed tone as he fixed his hair and straightened his tie, "Look, there's a spot open next to Theo, I need to speak to Blaise about a quite important matter." He sounded very imperial and frightening, but Harry did not move. "If by 'important matters' you mean your quick shag with Nott," he smirked, "Then I assume you should talk about how rubbish he was at satisfying your sexual needs in a limited amount of time when he isn't sitting about 3 meters away from you," he remarked, the smirk still on his face. All too soon, the smirk was wiped off his face with a slap and his feeling of triumph was replaced by the feeling of stinging pain in his left cheek.
Severus Snape walked into the classroom, his black robes flowing behind him as he walked like a cascade of darkness would flow behind a ghostly warrior galloping through the night. He walked to the front of the classroom and cleared his throats, all eyes shot to him. "Excuse me, Mister Malfoy," he cocked an eyebrow, "but what did your father teach you about hitting girls?" He sighed as the class erupted into loud laughter, "Five points from Slytherin. Now, Malfoy, sit down. Everyone else, open the book to page 678, we will be brewing and testing the 'Hair color changing potion. Read the instructions and go get your ingredients," he sat down and watched students do as they were told to. Malfoy stood up and got everything they needed. Harry sighed and obeyed Malfoy's instructions as to what to do and how to cut and slice the ingredients. As soon as all the ingredients were ready Malfoy started adding them to the cauldron in order, stirring for as long and in the direction that the instructions stated. Most of the ingredients were added and the potion did not require any stirring, but instead, it needed exactly 78 seconds of being left alone. Harry looked at Malfoy who was engrossed in reading what they needed to do after, Harry rolled his eyes and yawned. He then saw a dark figure standing in front of him, "Mister Potter, if you have time to yawn," he looked down at the potion which was starting t turn a pale blue, "Perhaps you could tell me what ingredient you're supposed to add next to the potion as soon as it turns blue, as instructed," Snape said carrying a slight amused tone. Harry panicked, he did not read anything at all, and he just trusted Malfoy to give him the right instructions. Just then, Harry felt warm, slender fingers shove something into his hands. Harry looked at it, it was a scribble on a small piece of parchment that said 'Chameleon scales'. "Chameleon," he hesitated for a moment, "Scales?" Snape looked surprised and disappointed, "Very well Potter, continue," he said in a cold tone and walked away to Nott's table. Harry shoved the note in one of the pockets of his robes. "Thank you," Harry said softly turning to face Malfoy, who was trying to appear completely calm. "I'm sorry," Malfoy looked terrified, "For the nasty Nott comment earli-" he was cut off by Malfoy pushing his aside and making Harry practically fall off his chair. Malfoy hurriedly picked up the chameleon scales and threw them into the cauldron. "Bloody merlin Harry," he was bubbling with rage, "I don't care about your god damn nasty comments to me anymore. You being a stupid twat and a bumbling mess almost cost us an exploded and ruined potion," he hissed quietly, making sure Snape didn't hear him, and then sighed and put his face in his hands. Harry didn't care about anything Malfoy had just said, he had called Harry by his first name, and he was astonished at that. Harry felt color rise to his face and quickly turned away and took the book from Malfoy, aggressively reading what needed to be done next.
Their potion was finished before anyone's, Malfoy and whoever worked with him were usually done first. Neither Malfoy nor Harry had said anything to the other since the strange incident. Snape walked over to their table and looked down at the potion, judging it. He nodded and walked away with a slight "Hmph". "What are you waiting for?" Malfoy looked at him questioningly "Try it. I mean, I'm sure the potion is a success, but let's not eliminate the chance of failure," he said and poured some of the potion into a flask. Harry took the flask from Malfoy's pale hand, and he felt the warm hand again, just this ime he jerked his hand back. Harry hadn't expected for Malfoy's hands to be actually warm. Harry's seeker reflexes kicked in and he quickly caught the flask before it shattered on the cold, stone floor. He drank the foul smelling potion, the taste of it was somewhere between raspberries and dirty socks. He gagged but swallowed the liquid anyway. He put down the flask but didn't feel any different, he heart Malfoy snickering. "Look at yourself Potter," he said as he proceeded to pull out a small compact mirror from his robes, "You look ridiculous," he sneered and then continued snickering. Indeed, as soon as Harry opened the mirror and glanced at himself, he now had hot pink hair. At the moment, Harry did not question why Malfoy carried around a compact mirror, which would be something to think about later. Malfoy's little snickers soon grew into a light laugh, he covered his mouth subconsciously, and Harry believe it was because Malfoy didn't want Harry to see his real smile. Harry wasn't wrong. Some color spread through Malfoy's pale cheeks, and he was now laughing so hard at Harry that the laughter turned into tight breaths. Harry felt bright color spread through his face. He closed Malfoy's mirror and put it in his own robe pocket. As soon as Malfoy recovered from his little hysteria over Harry's hot pink hair, he fixed his posture and cleared his throat. Snape glanced over to the "Potter and Malfoy" table, and nodded, which meant they were allowed to clean up and put things away since they succeeded. Everything was clean and ready for the next class. Snape assigned the class to do a 1 meter long potions essay on how the ingredients affected the potion, which earned quite a few groans and loud sighs from students all cross the room.
As soon as potions ended Harry rushed to his next class, which he fortunately had with Ron and Hermione, Charms. His two friends were already in the classroom when Harry arrived. Ron burst out roaring with laughter and Hermione looked concerned. "Harry!" Hermione rushed over worriedly, "What happened to your hair?" Harry sighed and fixed his glasses, like he usually did when either embarrassed or frustrated. "One word," he sighed, "Potions" Ron continued roaring with laughter. They sat down in their seats as Flitwick walked in, Ron still trying to muffle his laughter while Hermione smacked his arm and sighed. Harry half paid attention to what Flitwick was saying, and was half thinking about the events in his previous class. He didn't quite know how he felt about Malfoy shagging Nott. Harry had mixed feelings about it, he didn't know why, he didn't like Malfoy. It wasn't any of his business who the slytherin shagged or fancied, but at the same time, Harry felt like it was. He didn't know why he felt overly possessive of Malfoy, he didn't care before, why did he suddenly start caring now? He sighed, shook his head, tried to clear his mind of the git and pay attention to the lesson. It wasn't anything interesting, the lesson just consisted of Flitwick talking about how important it was to pass the N.E.W.T.s and about which spells they'd need to know about and be able to perform for their next exam, which was in a week. He had Hermione's undivided attention, Ron and most of the class snoozing or not paying attention, and Harry and a few other students trying to absorb the information but their minds drifting to what other people were doing rather than what the professor was talking about. Harry occupied himself for the next hour or so in attempts to duplicate Malfoy's writing. Harry soon checked himself in the compact mirror and his hair was back to its normal jet-black color. He did not succeed agt duplicating Malfoy's writing but Flitwick was now telling them class was over.
It was already lunchtime, and Harry didn't know how time had passed that fast. "Hey, 'mione, could I talk to you for a moment?" he glanced uncomfortably at Ron, "Alone" and Ron started distancing himself with a grunt. "Is there a spell to track a person from a letter?" he slowed his pace a little bit, so did Hermione, "You would know, Is there a spell to track a person from a letter?" he slowed his pace a little bit, so did Hermione, "You would know, you're an extremely intelligent witch," Hermione laughed at him a little bit. "There is no such spell or charm, you'll just have to use that brain of yours and figure stuff out for yourself," she sighed contemptibly, "But I'm sure I could help you, wat do you say?" Harry thought about the pros and cons of accepting, the cons outweighed the pros by a lot. "No thanks, but thank you for the offer," he said, grateful to have such a kind friend.
Lunch had been uneventful, so Harry left early to go to the library to study and to start that potions essay he was dreading. Harry had never been good at potions, and everybody knew that. When Harry arrived to the library and looked out one of the huge windows, he noticed that the sunny morning had turned into a cloudy afternoon. He put his bag down and sat down with a sigh. He took out ink, a quill, parchment, and his potions textbook. He read the description of the potions thoroughly and the ingredients as well, then began writing. Harry had to fetch some extra books on potions, some books on plants, and a few on creatures. He was halfway through, but he was stuck on a certain ingredient, chameleon scales. He knew that chameleons changed color, but couldn't tie it to how the potion changed your physical aspects. He put his head in his arms on the table and let out a long sigh. He couldn't do this himself, he'd ask Hermione for help later. Besides, the light pitter patter of the rain that had started a while ago was now distracting him. Harry fixed his potion so that he was leaning his head on his hand, and looked at the window. The droplets hit the glass and then slid down leaving a thin, wet trail of tiny droplets behind. The dark grey clouds reminded Harry of a certain blonde's eyes when he was angry. Harry didn't know why he thought of Malfoy's eyes when he saw the stormy clouds, it worried him. He sighed and let his mind drift.
"It's because since chameleon scales contain certain chemicals that allow them to change color quickly," a familiar voice said from behind him, "They affect the potion by releasing the substance, therefore allowing the quick color change," finished the voice. Harry slowly turned around, Malfoy stood towering over him from behind, looking down at his essay. "Sod off, Malfoy, I was doing just fine without your help," Harry said crossing his arms with a huff. That trademark sneer appeared on his face again "Which is probably why there is a huge inkblot on the 'is' in 'the way chameleon scales affect the potion is'," Malfoy leaned over Harry's shoulder and tapped the spot with his pale finger. Harry murmured a quick thanks and resumed writing his essay. He soon finished and left the library. He headed back to the common room.
The evening had been extremely uneventful. Harry sighed as he sat down on his bed after changing into his pajamas that night. Just then, he remembered something. The handwriting from potions that came from Malfoy, was the same as the handwriting on the letter he had received. And that is when things fell into place and Harry finally realized… The letter had come from Malfoy.
Author's Note: I'm sorry the updates aren't coming that fast, I'm just so busy and slow. It takes me like an hour to write a medium-sized paragraph, and ugh I'm so busy with homework. I would like to thank Elliot for telling me kind words and supporting me through writing these chapters. Sorry if there are some bad grammar or some misspellings, I'm not perfect. I try to eliminate them all while reviewing after finishing writing, but when I do that it's usually like 1 in the morning, so I miss some.
If needed to get in touch, my inbox is always open for anything and anyone.
Thank you for reading!