Authors Note: I'm on a roll today! Four chapters at once?! Jaysus! Envy, with the prompt Neck in Neck. Set around when Harry wins the Felix Felicis.
4. A bitter taste
Hermione scowled at Harry, who was looking cool and collected as he finished off his Draught of Living Death, and glanced back at her own cauldron. The contents were stuck on a murky blackcurrant colour, whereas Harrys had turned into a pale lilac colour some time ago. She glanced back to his cauldron, where his potion promptly turned clear as water. Jealousy flared in her chest, and her scowl deepened. What was going on? She was so good at potions usually. Harry was usually the hopeless one. What was he doing right that she wasn't? She was following the book to the letter, it should be clear by now, and yet it was still dark purple, mocking her in its refusal to go the way she wanted it to.
In the corner of her eye, Harry sat back, relaxing with the completion of his potion, and looking around himself idly. The rest of the class were faring no better than Hermione herself. Seamus' had blown up in his face earlier, Crabbe's had melted his spoon, and the others were looking dishevelled and frustrated as they did various things to their respective potions. She was glad that she wasn't the only one having problems, but she couldn't stand the slightly smug look on Harrys face as he just sat there looking at them. For a brief, terrible moment, she hated him. How dare he outshine her and then just sit there, gloating silently and watching everyone fail? How dare he be better than her?! She was the smart one, the one that helped him with his homework, who wrote the introductions to most of Ron's essays, how dare he suddenly get better than her in one of the hardest subjects on the curriculum?!
Within the few moments she had taken to fume over Harry's completed potion and the way he was sitting, her potion had been neglected, and was starting to congeal. She gave is a stir, feeling the spoon drag through sediment at the bottom of the cauldron, and avoided Harry's eye, knowing that if she looked at him now she'd snap at him, accuse him of cheating. He couldn't want the Felix Felicis this badly, could he? It was a fascinating potion, and it would be a godsend to anyone who had it, but there was barely enough for a couple of swallows, enough to give good luck for a couple of hours at the most, nothing more. Harry needed more than a couple of hours of good luck to get through his life. Personally, Hermione had always maintained the belief that you made your own luck.
When Professor Slughorn finally told them to step away from their cauldrons, the condition of her potion hadn't gotten any better. It hadn't gotten worse, but it hadn't gotten better either. It also wasn't as bad as some of the others. He gave hers a cursory glance before moving on, tutting slightly. She could have sworn she heard the words "expected better" and rage flared in her chest. She was one of the best students in his class! She was the best student in anyone's class! Her intelligence was her defining feature! How could he just dismiss her like that?! Her rage was fanned by jealousy as the professor reached Harry's cauldron, and he cautiously dropped a leaf into it. His praise carried across the room for everyone to hear, and her face reddened. There had never been any cause to compliment Harry's potions before today. What had changed? Her jealousy and rage slowed to a simmer as Professor Slughorn moved on to Ron's potion, and she avoided Harry's gaze. He was grinning. The smug bastard.
At the end of the class, Professor Slughorn made a big show out of presenting the tiny vial of potion to Harry, shaking his hand and telling him that his mother's talent for potions had been passed to him, finishing with a warning to use the potion wisely. Hermione kept her face neutral, making sure the green eyed monster was well hidden, and gave Harry a half smile when he reached his table again. She managed a quiet "well done" before flinging her bag onto her back and following Ron out of the classroom, Harry presumably behind them.