Brewing Up a Little Love
Chapter Seven
Without wasting a second, Blaise tore from the common room and ran down towards Pansy's room. Two pairs of eyes searching for Draco were better than one.
The girl was fortunately in, lying on her bed and painting her nails a vibrant emerald green. "Oh, hey Blaise," she greeted. "Do you think I should add a second coat?"
"No time for that," he panted, grabbing her arm and yanking her to her feet. "We have to go."
"Wait!" she cried, "I haven't done my other hand yet!"
But Blaise paid her no heed and continued to drag her up the staircase.
"Where are we going anyway? Get Draco if want to go do stupid guy stuff," she sniffed, blowing on her wet hand as they climbed.
"Draco is the reason you're here. He's caught a cold."
"Why would—Oh… That's a problem."
"You think?"
"Well, isn't he in his room?"
"He escaped on me while I was getting him medicine. And he's off with "Sparkles" again."
"The dragon?"
"The very one."
"So how are we doing this?"
"I'm going to head off towards Charms and the east wing. You take the Great Hall and proceed to the west. Circle back and then go north and I'll go south. He shouldn't be too hard to find."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "No Blaise, I think he'll be very hard to find. He'll probably only be sitting in the corner silent as a mouse."
"Yeah, yeah. Just go find him."
Blaise darted off towards the Charms wing, and was pleased to note no Draco and also almost no students. If he was lucky, most of the students would have decided to sleep in on the weekend and no one would stumble upon Draco.
Just as he was starting to slightly relax, he heard from down the hall, "Look, Sparkles! It's our new pet walrus! Isn't he cute?"
Blaise stopped dead in his tracks. There was only one person who would be addressing someone (thing?) named Sparkles. At least he hoped so.
And although he wished he could run in the opposite direction, Blaise bravely moved forward and timidly peeped around the corner.
Yup, there was Draco with the pillow tucked under his arm and clinging to the robes of… Slughorn?
Slughorn himself was rather baffled, yet very amused. The Draco Malfoy he had always known was very cold and very composed. This current one, running around in socks with his hair mused and carting a pillow was one he didn't think existed.
His first thought was Hermione's potion had had some type of negative side effect, but he had analyzed it himself and there was no way it would produce this effect. So it must of course be something else… but what? Had someone drugged the boy? It would certainly explain why he thought that Slughorn was a pet walrus.
"I think we'll call him Squishy. Do you like your new name, Squishy?"
"Err…" was all Slughorn managed to say, trying desperately to keep from laughing.
Blaise meanwhile had been inching towards the pair and hesitantly tapped Draco on the shoulder. The blond whirled around, a grin splitting his face. "Fluffy! Look, I found a new pet! This is Squishy!"
Slughorn raised an eyebrow and Blaise could feel his cheeks becoming warm. "I'm…uh…really sorry about this, Professor," he said, trying to yank Draco off of Slughorn, who only clung to the potions master tighter. "He's got a cold and it sort of makes him delusional."
The portly man merely chuckled and patted Draco atop the head. "It's quite all right, Mr. Zabini. I think this will give me a good many laughs for days to come."
"That's what I'm afraid of," the boy muttered, still futilely trying to pluck Draco away.
"Fluffy, why are you being so mean? I want to play with Squishy!"
"You. Have. To. Go. Back. To Bed," Blaise said with each pull. "Now let Squishy go."
"But he's my pet walrus. He'll get lonely if I leave him."
"I could accompany you back down to the dungeons if you'd like," Slughorn chortled. "I was heading to my office anyway."
Blaise brightened. "Really? That would be fantastic, Professor. Thank you very much."
"Ah, think nothing of it, dear boy. Come along, we'd best get Mr. Malfoy back to bed."
And so, making a very odd procession, the three of them shuffled off down the hall.
xxx
"I love food," Ron sighed dreamily, rubbing his stomach. "Food is the most amazing, wonderful thing in the world."
Hermione and Harry exchanged a look behind their friends back and rolled their eyes. Hermione had finally dragged the two of them out of bed and to lunch. Now they were just strolling around the castle since it was pouring rain outside and looking for something to do. While Hermione had of course proposed homework, she'd been shot down instantly.
Ron had decided they should stroll down into the dungeons and had vehemently denied that it had anything to do with a certain Slytherin girl. He just wanted a change of pace, he argued.
"Did you hear that?" Hermione asked, pausing on the step and peering downwards.
"That was my stomach digesting," Ron said proudly.
"No, no, not that… it sounded like someone laughing."
They all paused, stretching their ears. And then, they heard it: a shrill, slightly hysterical sound.
"That person doesn't sound sane," Ron whimpered, backing up and hiding behind Harry as the noise came closer.
"We… we should probably see who it is," Hermione said cautiously. "Maybe they need help."
"Do we have to?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, Ron. We're Gryffindors."
"And do Gryffindors have to be brave all the time?"
Hermione and Harry already had their wands drawn and were slowly advancing down the steps, the sound growing steadily louder. Ron sighed and followed.
At the bottom of the staircase Hermione and Harry both came to a sudden halt, mouths going slightly agape.
"What?" Ron asked, peering around Harry's shoulder. His mouth then too adopted a slack-jawed appearance.
A very drunk looking Draco Malfoy was clutching onto Slughorn, laughing like a hyena, his other hand gripping a pillow and his wand. Blaise Zabini was walking next to him, looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there.
"W-what?" Ron managed to stutter out, drawing the attention of the odd trio.
Draco's eyes widened comically as he looked at the group, zeroing in on Ron. "Your hair is on fire!" he cried, pointing a shaking finger at it.
"Draco, that's not—"
Several things happened all at once.
Blaise was pulled frantically backwards by Slughorn, and fell to the ground with a thump, the word "fire" dying on his lips.
A burst of water large enough to rival a small lake spouted off of Draco's wand.
Hermione screamed.
Harry dove.
Ron was knocked over by a tidal wave and pushed all the way back up the flight of stairs, tumbling in the water and unable to gain ground.
Seconds later the corridor was silent except for the trickling sounds of water as it came back down the steps, pooled around their ankles, and continued deeper into the dungeons.
"I put the fire out, Fluffy," Draco said, clapping his hands together.
Everyone stared from various spots on the floor and Blaise flushed a deep red on both his and Draco's behalf. He was going to bloody kill him when this was over.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON MALFOY?"
Ron was back.
He stomped down the stairs, slipping on wet stone a few steps to the bottom and ended up in an ungraceful heap at the bottom. Everyone but Draco knew better than to laugh.
The blond Slytherin was by now rolling around on the wet ground, clutching his stomach and laughing so hard he was crying. His cheeks were flushed giving him actual color to his normally pale face and his hair was askew and clinging damply to his head.
Hermione was surprised when she felt a tiny bubble of… something… well up in her chest. He was actually sort of endearing looking right now, acting like a little kid. She then frowned immediately at the guffawing Slytherin. He wasn't fooling her. He was a (potential) murder suspect! She was not going to smile. She was not going to smile. She was not—
Drat, she could feel a smile.
"You… you…." Ron snarled, pointing a shaking finger at Draco.
Draco stopped laughing and pouted at Ron, sticking his upper lip over his top and adopting the look of a kicked puppy. "Why is he mad, Fluffy? I put the fire out."
Blaise picked himself wearily off the ground and stepped somewhat in front of Draco to protect him from anything the enraged Gryffindor might do. "Please don't take this the wrong way," he said. "Draco's caught a cold and it makes him a bit… delusional. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone."
"He just… He just…" Ron sputtered, rubbing his back from where he'd crashed into the ground. "He almost killed me!"
"Now, now," Slughorn said placating-ly, Draco once more attached to his robes. "I'm sure we can come to a consensus that will make both parties happy. Mr. Malfoy is not really himself right now, so it seems unfair to hold his current actions against him right now."
A soft pattering of footsteps, along with a "whoa, what's with the water?" cut off anything Slughorn was going to say. Pansy appeared above the Gryffindors a second later, staring at the scene with amusement. "Oh, looks like you found him Blaise."
Pansy continued down the steps, brushing past Ron and trying to ignore how his clothes were plastered across his body and accentuating the muscles in his arms from Quidditch. Oh, she was most certainly not admiring how adorable his hair looked dripping wet or the cute pink flush across his cheeks. Nope, she was not looking at him at all.
"What happened?" she asked as she reached the Slytherins, removing the bottle of Pepper-Up Blaise had accidentally left with her and pouring a small amount into the lid cap.
"Nothing really," Blaise said, toeing the ground. "Just a small misunderstanding."
Ron, surprisingly, nodded along with him. "Yeah, no problem. Come on, let's go back upstairs." He himself was definitely not looking at Pansy and how nice her legs looked in her skinny jeans and the flattering way her v-neck top allowed him the barest hint of cleavage he never got to see in their school uniforms. He of course was ignoring the way her ponytail was so messy but so endearing or the way she had only the barest hint of make-up on, making her brown eyes nearly glow.
Hermione and Harry exchanged a smirk as they saw the tips of Ron's ears redden tellingly, but followed their friend back upstairs, Hermione performing a drying charm as they went.
The Slytherins plus Slughorn remained below, as Pansy attempted to get Draco to take the medicine.
"It tastes yummy," she said, smacking her lips. "Come on Draco, open up."
"No," he mumbled, his face pressed into Slughorn's robes. "Don't wanna."
"Draco…" Pansy sighed. Looking at Blaise she smirked and said, "Fluffy wants you to drink it."
"Fluffy does?" Draco asked, showing his face.
"Yes, Fluffy does," Blaise said. "And Squishy does too."
"Indeed," chortled Slughorn. "Drink up, Mr. Malfoy."
Relinquishing his grip on the Potions professor, Draco took the serving of medicine and drank it in one go, scowling as smoke poured out of his ears. "It tasted yucky."
"But you'll feel much better soon," Pansy said. "Now come on, let's go tuck you in to bed with Sparkles. He looks sleepy."
Draco looked at the pillow. "Oh, I'm sorry Sparkles. You should have told me you wanted to go to bed."
Obediently, Draco allowed Pansy and Blaise to take him back to his dorm after giving Slughorn a huge hug goodbye. Once he was sound asleep beneath the covers, both Slytherins allowed themselves a sigh of relief and collapsed at the foot of Draco's bed.
"Once he's sane again I'm going to kill him," Blaise muttered, head in his hands.
Pansy gave him a side hug. "You're a really good friend to him, Blaise. I know he appreciates everything you do for him."
"Yeah," Blaise said softly, thinking of their argument just a few days ago. "Yeah…"
"Well," said the girl, rising to her feet. "I need to go finish painting my other hand. Want to meet in the common room and work on things there? That way if Draco tries to sneak out we'll see him. He doesn't need his next dose of Pepper-Up for three more hours so we have time."
"Sounds good. I need to finish my Charms homework."
Leaving Draco in his slumbering state and clutching "Sparkles," the two quietly exited for hopefully a more peaceful rest of the day.
xxx
"I can honestly say I'll probably never see something as bizarre as that ever again," Harry said, curled up in an armchair in front of the Gryffindor fireplace. "And I've seen some pretty crazy stuff."
Ron, despite the drying charm, still felt cold and was sitting right in front of the fire, the flames casting a rosy glow to his skin. "What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He thought my hair was on fire!"
"Blaise said he caught a cold," Hermione said, knitting a scarf for Dobby. "I guess he gets delusional or something."
"Wackiest cold I've ever seen," Harry snorted. "Gotta admit, it was awfully funny."
"You weren't the one hit by a tidal wave," Ron muttered.
"But at least you got to see Pansy," Hermione said.
"Yeah… Wait! No! Why are you bringing her up?" Ron demanded, turning scarlet as Hermione and Harry both laughed. "Why would I want to see Pansy?"
"Because you liiiikkkkkkeeee her," Hermione sing-songed. "Why, I still have no idea, but you were definitely checking her out."
"Was not."
"Was too," Harry argued.
"Was not."
"Was too."
"Was not!" Ron shouted, turning to face the fire.
"I think she might have been checking you out too," Hermione said slyly.
"Really?"
Both Harry and Hermione burst into laughter again as Ron turned even redder and pointedly ignored them.
"It's okay Ron, we won't say anything. Right, Harry?"
"Right. Of course."
"I don't like either of you," Ron said, pouting. "You're mean."
"Aww, c'mon Ron," Harry said, slipping to the floor and clapping Ron on the back. "Lighten up. We're only teasing. Would you feel better if you kicked my arse in chess?"
"I think I would."
Hermione rolled her eyes as her boys set up Ron's favorite game. She continued her knitting, relaxing as her fingers moved the needles and yarn. She'd needed something relaxing to take her mind off of everything. She was beginning to doubt that the accident that occurred was indeed meant to be murder. The more she thought about it, the sillier it seemed. If she had died, even if the spell had been legal, they were all supposed to be using the exact same two spells. She would like to hope that Snape would have confiscated everyone's wands and seen what the last spells were and for the wand that didn't have the shield charm of f Jelly Legs jinx that person would have been caught.
So unless she was dealing with an absolute idiot who didn't think things through, she doubted it was meant to be murder. However, her suspicions were still on Malfoy because he was probably the only one who hated her enough and had the skills to pull such a thing off. Although why he would want to do such a thing so randomly baffled her. He hated every part of her and made it clear, so wouldn't he want to take credit for cutting off her hair? Snape had approved and she would have thought he'd jump in and take the credit.
So what was he up to? He had been acting strangely, but again, she didn't know why. Draco Malfoy was a mystery. A mysterious, bigoted arsehole who unfortunately would not leave her thoughts. Damn him.
Harry's yelling and Ron's gloating of triumph rocked her from her thoughts and she turned her attention back to her knitting, frowning as she realized she'd muddled it all up while she'd been thinking. She really wasn't a multi-tasker by any means.
And thus passed a quiet Saturday afternoon for the Gryffindor trio until they retired to bed later that evening.
xxx
In other parts of the castle it wasn't so quiet.
Draco, a blanket pulled tight around him, had stumbled upstairs to the Slytherin common room where a few of his housemates were gathered. He made a beeline for his two friends, who were sitting in some armchairs by the fire. Blaise was scribbling something on parchment and Pansy was reading a book.
At his approach, Blaise looked up. "Oh, you're awake. Feeling better?"
"I'm freezing," he muttered, wrapping the blanket tighter as he sat down in front of the green-flamed fireplace. "Why is it always so cold in here?"
Pansy put her book down and reached over to feel Draco's forehead. "You're still running a fever. Does anything else hurt?"
"My throat, a bit," he said, looking absolutely miserable, pink flush making his whole appearance softer. "I didn't… do anything… stupid… did I?"
"If you don't consider calling Slughorn your new pet walrus and trying to put out Weasley's hair because you thought it was on fire, you didn't do anything," Blaise said, relishing in the look of horror that took over Draco's face.
"I didn't."
"You did," Pansy said, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Slughorn was laughing it off. And I don't think Potter and Granger will say anything… at least, hopefully."
"They saw too?" Draco moaned, curling up in a ball. "Kill me now."
"It'll be fine," Pansy comforted, uncapping the Pepper-Up Potion for another dose. "Compared to everything that happened because of Slughorn's little project this is nothing. Now drink up."
Draco took the dosage with little complaint before he went back to curling up in front of the fire.
"Do you want to go to the Hospital Wing?" Blaise asked. "You look pretty awful."
"M'fine."
"If you say so," Blaise said, turning back to his Divination homework.
Pansy however closed her book. "Enough studying for me," she said. "I'm starving. Blaise, Draco, want to go get dinner?"
"Sure," Blaise said.
Draco only moaned.
Blaise sighed and after placing his homework on a small table – all of the Slytherins knew not to touch the older classmen's things – he pulled Draco to his feet and pushed him over into an armchair while Pansy conjured another blanket.
"You," Blaise said, pointing at a little third year in the corner. "Make sure he doesn't leave this room."
"O-okay," the boy stuttered.
"We'll bring you back some soup or something," Pansy said, throwing the extra blanket on top of Draco. "Get some more rest."
After they'd left, Draco was content to remain in the chair by the fire, still shivering despite his blankets. He hated feeling sick and he hated the hallucinations he was subject to when ill. And now to top it off he'd made a fool of himself in front of Potthead and his little group of friends.
And Granger had been there. Not that he cared about her. He hated her. He hated her and her golden curls that were finally gone and her cute little nose. Granger's face swam to his mind, but instead of the utter revulsion he normally felt he actually felt a bit better, picturing how her nose crinkled when she smiled and the way the curls would curl delightfully over her shoulders and frame her face.
He guessed she was actually pretty. For a Mudblood anyway. But since all Mudbloods were disgusting, vile creatures that didn't mean much. Right?
Snuggling further into his blankets Draco closed his eyes and hoped that after this cold passed the strange feelings he had for Granger would disappear as well.
At least he hoped so.
Author's Notes:
Baseball season has started! Go White Sox! –watching game right now—
On a sadder update, my life is becoming increasingly crazy. Guess that's what happens when you're graduating soon. So I'm going to do my best to still update every two weeks, but if I don't, please try to understand. On that note, to all of those sneaky readers using their reviews to ask about OST I don't really have an update for y'all. I started plotting out some future chapters, but I haven't had much time to write it. I'm hoping to be able to get a chapter out before my graduation, but I make no promises. Sorry.
For all of those lovely lurkers and those that favorite/alert BULL I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter/story in general. Please do take a few seconds to click the review button and give me your opinions. I love hearing them.
For those that did take that minute, thank you all so much. I really appreciate it! So thanks to: 44musicfreak44, Stormy Skies, Teresa, beautifly92, Frosted Ice, Isabella120, BlueBabyAquaGirl, Undercover bookworm, TwixItUp, StaticEcho19, Rei Sakura, eoz16, Walking-With-Scissors, Strawberries and Cream, coffeentoffee, Akitas4ever, ForeverRose123, KungFuWitch, alf05, 'sasecret, SoSlytherin111910, Trory4ever, LishaChan, greenie, OBLuvr13, terri, Smiley12341, Gail Lucinda Autor, B00kw0rm92, ccbloom7, Tanglenose, unicornusmc, QueenDottiy01, dhassy, CrazyCrazyRainbowStar, Alu, nightowl55, BewitchedSorceress, twistedartist, MokubaDoll, Dramione-Fan 17, ItsOnMars, WickedlyAwesomeMe, , smileylol, lalapop, frostykitten, ShelbySarleslovesWWE4EVER, LucianGurl39, SpontaneousQuack, rinanina101, Tealeavz, kitsune red, Pixie Fireworks, Pirate Doll, Moony et Candy, and bumble-beeoncrack
Review(s) That Made My Day:
B00kw0rm92 - I would love to hear that story about Fish and Tadpole. Sounds veeerrrryyyy interesting :D I would also love to call my brother Pooky. I am sad I did not think of that name before.
Gail Lucinda Autor - The images of "stalactites of mascara" easily made my day. If your friends are like that I'd love to meet them :D Talk about inspiration for future chapters! =p
unicornusmc – Just had to say that I used to call my younger cousin Jeremy "Germy" when I couldn't pronounce it xDD Glad you like the story!
In honor of baseball season, just curious to see where all your loyalties lie. See you hopefully in two weeks!
Are you a :
A. White Sox fan? –gives you a cookie-
B. Cubs fan?
C. Yankees fan?
D. American League Team fan? (please say who!)
E. National League Team fan? (see above)
F. Doesn't watch baseball
Updated: April 3, 2011
