It was a day of cold feelings.

I hurried to breakfast after a night of restless dreams. I had dreamed of the Dark Lord and the task he'd set me. Which I will not speak of.

'Draco!' Pansy was beckoning and I quickly tucked Apple into my satchel, whispering that it wouldn't be for long.

'You look great,' I said bitterly. She looked up; she could tell something was wrong.

'Draco, what is it?'

'I don't know,' I sighed. 'Tired.'

'Well, we have potions first, it's a new teacher! Apparently,' she lowered her voice, 'he taught the Dark Lord.'

I looked up. 'He did? This'll be interesting . . .'

'Yes, Miss -'

'Granger, sir.' That nerdy mudblood, Granger. Always top on everything. I impersonated her stupid keenness to answer every question to Zabini, who sniggered.

'This is amortia; the most powerful love potion in the world. It smells of whatever attracts the smeller . . .'

I scoffed loudly, but stopped myself when a dizzying aroma of sweetness hazily drifted up my nostrils. It was sharp, tangy, almost sickly. The scent of ripe apples. I shook my self away, still in slight shock, as Professor Slughorn proceeded to explain what each potion was.

'But sir - you haven't told us what's in that one yet!' an unknown girl protested.

'Ahhh, yes, this is felix felicis, more commonly known as -'

'Liquid Luck!' That Granger girl again. I looked at her coldly, but she didn't seem to notice my irritation.

'Excellent, Miss Granger! And this, my friends,' he addressed the entire class, 'is what I shall be giving away to the person who can brew me the most exceptional Draught of Living Death!'

I rushed to my bench alongside Zabini and Pansy. It would be a major health hazard for me to stand anywhere near Crabbe, or Goyle. Their potions were lethal.

I cursed as my bean jumped as I tried to cut it. Why had we been given such a pathetic potion? Cutting beans, indeed. I turned and almost cried out in shock, Potter was in my potions class, and who was that with him? Weasly. They must have arrived late. I cursed again.

'Here; let me do it.' Pansy's hand was over mine before I could protest and she slowly guided the knife through the bean. About an eighth of an ounce of juice spilled out; I heard a hiss and looked behind me. Potter was grinning, and his potion was giving off a silvery mist. I looked at mine and coughed at the clouds of black smoke. I slid my hand into my pocket anxiously, feeling the comforting sensation of Apple's skin on mine.

At the end of the lesson, Slughorn merely sniffed at my potion. 'Don't expect more than "A" on your NEWT, young sir,' he said darkly.

'Professor . . .' Potter stuck his hand up smugly, and Slughorn left Pansy's potion.

'Well done, Potter! You just earned yourself one tiny bottle of Felix Felicis!'

We all had to clap as Potter took the vial, grinning idiotically.

Creep.


Lunch in the great hall was a dismal affair. I poked my shepherd's pie and looked at the sky of swirling white clouds. Outside, a slow drizzle was falling.

'Draco?' Pansy looked at me anxiously.

'He's just pissed that he didn't get the prize,' Zabini whispered darkly. I spun round.

'You know what, Blaise? You're right.' I stood up, abandoning my plate. 'Just wait until my father hears about this.' I stormed out of the great hall, knocking so Hufflepuff first years into each other and toppling them like dominoes. But I didn't care.

The Dark Lord's task was one that I couldn't face. In my mind, I knew it. But in my heart, I didn't believe it.

Racing through the corridors, I sought an empty classroom in which I could be alone with Apple. I finally found one.

It was Firenze's classroom from last year, enchanted to seem to be the nighttime forest. I closed the door gently and sat on a treestump.

Apple was warm from my pocket and smooth as I stroked her against my face. I took a small bite, and let the piece rest on my tongue. Then I pulled out my wand.

'Reparo.' Apple was whole again, and I was grateful, not for the first time, of magic.

The moment was gone as the bell rang. I stood, straightening my tie, and stalked into the corridor.

END OF CHAPTER 2