Disclaimer:As usual, I DO NOT own anything.
A/N: Sorry for so long delay...I hope you all can forgive me...and I post this chapter wihout Raleigh reading,( I know you've been terribly busy,hon.I hope you can forgive me x)
READ & dont forget to REVIEW , too:)
Harry awoke to a ray of sunlight in his eyes. It was time to rise. He opened his eyes to the sight of an almost empty dormitory. The only ones left were Ron and himself. He cast away his blanket, lowered his legs from the bed and having sat where he was on his bed, gathering his wits about him for five minutes or so, finally decided to get up off his bed and proceeded to shake Ron awake. In fifteen minutes breakfast would start and Ron would never forgive Harry were he late for it. Yes, his red-haired friend liked eating. If he didn't know better, he would say Ron lived to eat.
On the way to the bathrooms, he noticed that the other six beds had already been emptied and made, and on them lay the school uniforms of the new students. They weren't there, they were probably still at morning training. Harry put on his robes and together with Ron went down to the Great Hall. All the others were already seated at the Gryffindor table and were discussing the newcomers.
"As for me, I like them. The girls are nice and cheerful," Said Lavender.
"I completely agree with you, Lav," Parvati agreed, buttering the piece of toast on her plate.
"Could you pass me that plate with toasts?" Ron asked Parvati through a mouthful of porridge. "Thanks. They seem pretty nice to me. Much better than I expected, anyway. I still can't believe Alex beat me in chess twice already."
"Relax, Ron" Dean replied. "You beat him three times before that."
"Yeah, but I could swear that he read my mind and knew my moves even as I thought of them!"
"I doubt that he possesses ability to read another's thoughts, Ron. He's a muggle. He's never even heard of Legilimens, much less practiced it," replied Harry while pouring pumpkin juice. "Snape's been teaching me this thing for some time now, and I'm still only able block other people from entering my mind while conscious. Not everyone can read minds, mate."
"Well, actually, I think they're different, too," Neville suddenly said, leaving a few seconds of uncomfortable silence in his wake.
"What do you mean, Nev?" Seamus asked.
"Sure, they're affable, friendly ... They talk a lot, but they don't complete what they start. You heard them yesterday Seamus. Yes, they try," In that instant he held his breath. "But there is something that holds them back ... And I cannot explain that. Although I'm probably mistaken ..."
But that line of conversation ended, as the muggle students entered the Great Hall and went to their tables. They were in the same uniforms as last night. The only difference was their slightly damp hair. Harry noticed that today Mione's hair fell down her shoulders in damp, free waves. They greeted everyone and ravenously dug into their breakfasts.
"What's with your hair, shower?" Dean asked curiously.
"No, SOMEONE -- " at this, Parker looked straight at his sister. "Thought that swimming in the lake would be a good ending for morning training. And the hair dryer doesn't work here."
Red rolled his eyes and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Here we go again …"
"Hey," Mione protested. "I wasn't the one who decided that! Colonel saw the lake and said we needed to improve our swimming. At least while water's still warm. Besides, in case you've very conveniently forgotten, i I /i had to swim as well."
"And you call that warm? It's bloody freezing out there!" he cried.
"My, my, my … our prize Alpha birdie, afraid of a little water? Mentally noted." a voice said from behind Parker.
"Sod off, McLean! I'm not in the mood right now, but if you're some sadistic pain-loving freak, I can fit in a few minutes of McLean's ass kicking time in my busy schedule." he retorted, turning to face his opponent.
Behind him stood a tall blonde guy. His hair was a little messy, and some of it had fallen into his eyes. His eyes were pure black and showed no emotion at all. Looking at his right sleeve Harry recognized him as a Commander Officer from the Delta, or now from Slytherin.
"Watch your back James; you can never know that might happen."-he answered with angry voice.
"Enough!" Mione stood from her place. "I'm tired of both of you! Why do you insist on acting like thirteen years olds!" She pushed Darien away with her hand. "You, go back to where you came from, I'll talk to you later." She ordered. He smirked and walked out the Great Hall.
"And you," she pointed at Parker. "You, are going to Mr. Filch's office tonight at seven; he will tell you what to do as your punishment. I don't want to hear any objection here."
"Crap, Mione! You give me detention, and he's coming out clean! That's not fair!"
"You deserve it!"
"But he started it!"
"I said, I'll talk to him later!"
"So…" Lila attempted to divert their attention. "What do you guys have after breakfast?"
"Nightmare, double Potions." sighed Ron.
"Who was that? Looks and acts like Malfoy." Seamus said. He was abut to say something further but was interrupted by Malfoy himself, who was now grabbing Ron's toast.
"What's mine is mine, what's your's is mine, Weasley." He bit a piece out of the toast."Speak of the devil and here he is. Why were you talkin' 'bout me?" he asked curiously.
Draco Malfoy had obviously changed within the past few years. He became a lot more civil to everybody after his father was sent to Azkaban in their fifth year. He still disliked muggleborns though he never mentioned this in actual conversation. Old habits die hard, and he still called Harry, Potter, Ron, Weasley and Ginny – Weaselette. But they didn't complain much, Draco remained loyal to the Light and fought with them all against Voldemort. And for now, Harry considered him to be more of a (arrogant and self-centered) friend but not as an enemy as they were before.
"We weren't talking about you ferret-boy. And that -- " Ron pointed to his toast, " -- was mine."
"How rude, Weasel. Correction: once was yours, now is mine. Get yourself another one." he replied, sitting himself down on the bench.
"We weren't talkin' about you, we were talkin' about your evil muggle twin." answered Seamus.
"Who?"
"Remember that bloke from yesterday?" said Harry. "Tall, blond … he stood in front, Dumbledore presented him. He's the CO from Delta."
"Aaah….that one. He's not my twin; I'm way hotter, in case you hadn't noticed it yet."
"In your dreams, Malfoy!" Parvati laughed back.
Neville explained to Diego how Herbology differed from Potions. Mione and Parker obstinately did not talk to each other and Chris and Bianca had already moved to the next table and were talking to friends from Gamma.
Lila kept talking with Lavender about the school schedule.
"Which lessons do you have, Lila?" asked the blond girl.
"Besides my usual ones, I have Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic. We all have different ones. Doc has Herbology and Potions. Chris and Rob only Astrology, and so on." replied Lila.
"Oh great!" exclaimed Lav.
"What?"
"Potions! We have it for first period, today." She turned back to face her housemates and stood up. "Come on, we have fifteen minutes until Potions, and if we're late, Snape's gonna kill us!"
"Don't look at me, I'm his favorite student." grinned Malfoy.
"Just shut it. Let's go." Dean said while getting up.
Mione, Parker and Diego got up too. "Wait for us, we have it as well."
"Really?" Ron was surprised.
"I'll explain later." Mione answered. The group went exited the Great Hall and left for the dungeons, where the Potions classroom beckoned.
Throughout the lesson, Snape was his usual self. In Parker's words, "creepy"; and for that, Snape took five points from Gryffindor.
He as always, dramatically entered the classroom, his long robe billowing. Greasy hair and pale complexion, same as always. His eyes were filled with the desire to remove points from Gryffindor. The first thing he did was to seat all the students in new pairs.
"Weasley-Crabbe, Parkinson-Finnegan, Thomas-Goyle, Brown-Zabini, Malfoy-McLean, Bullstrode- Reyes, Longbottom- Anderson, Richardson-Lee, Patil- James and Potter-James."
"Which one, sir?" Parker asked.
Snape turned to him. "Five points from Gryffindor for interruption and hearing problems. I repeat for those who suffer the same problem and did not hear: Patil, Parvati – James, Parker, and Potter, Harry – James, Mione.- he turned his back on them and started to went over to the blackboard. "You will stay in your pairs until the end of the school year. This year, due to certain circumstances, we will learn about the potions used by both wizards and muggles. Our first lesson will be about the most beautiful serum, Veritaserum, or in the muggle world, the Truth Serum. So," he turned around to face his students. "Who can tell me the effects of Veritaserum? Mr.Goyle?"
Goyle turned pale, but opened his mouth to stutter: "You drink this stuff, you tell the truth."
"Very good, Goyle, fifteen points to Slytherin for the correct answer. Well now, and who can tell to me how this potion operates within an organic?"
A hand shot into the air. The class turned to stare at Mione.
"Miss James, I believe?"
"Yes, sir." she stood up.
"In my class you can answer sitting at your desk. Sit down."
She sat down and started.
"Veritaserum or truth serum got its name after its effects. Veritas – is Latin for truth. After consuming the truth serum, the subject becomes very communicative, sharing their thoughts without hesitation. It is a common misconception to assume that the truth serum will make you tell the truth. The patient may lose the inhibition, but self-control can be preserved.
The dictionary describes the truth serum as an effective short acting barbiturate (drug) that produces general anesthesia, and is used for narco analysis in psychiatric disorders. The proper name for this drug is thiopental sodium; it is also called Sodium Pentothal.
Sodium Pentothal is a radioprotective agent, which minimizes the effect of radiation. When radiation is present, it attacks the body's tissues on the molecular level. Many of our body cells have a free radical, a species with an electron that is loosely bound to the molecule. When a radiation (short wavelengths with high energy) contacts the free radical, it removes the electron form the molecule, altering the molecule's original functions.
Sodium Pentothal protects the cells by preventing the radiation electrons to bond with the cells' free radicals. If this radioprotective agent is taken three to four hours before the exposure to radiation, it prolongs the life of body cells even if the dose of radiation is lethal."
"Well," he studied her, "Your answer is correct. Ten points to Gryffindor," but then the seriousness was gone, and everybody saw the smirk on his face. "Ten points FROM Gryffindor, for too much unnecessary information. One more question, Miss James. You said that you actually CAN control yourself after drinking Veritaserum?"
"Yes, sir. Actually, after a while it IS possible to develop immunity for the truth serum."
"And how can you prove this?"
The class looked at her with surprise and interest. Snape obviously started to get angry, but she looked straight into his face, and continued to speak.
"If you read our files, sir, then you already know the answer. But if you don't …Team Alpha is completely immune to the truth serum. I mean everybody in Team Alpha. You can't be in A-team, if you don't have this immunity."
"If you want proof for that, sir," started Parker, "I could drink it right now and spend the rest of the lesson explaining how Goyle's pink nightgown, which he happens to be wearing right now goes with his eyes and matches his bright pink shoes."
All started to laugh hysterically; even Crabbe couldn't help but grunt in appreciation.
"Silence!" Snape ordered."Ten points from Gryffindor for disrespect towards fellow student."
At that moment, an owl flew in the classroom with a letter attached to her leg. Snape walked over to her and took the letter. He read it and said to class, "Class dismissed, I want two feet of parchment on the correct usage of Veritaserum on my desk on Thursday."
"I never had a quicker Potions lessons in my whole life, mate." Ron said happily, exiting the classroom. "That means that we have almost two free hours until Herbology. How about Wizard's Chess?"
"Sure, why not." replied Harry without enthusiasm. He looked straight at Mione as she walked before him in corridor. The next time he would see her, would be during Training after lunch. He had to admit to himself that he knew her for less that twenty four hours, but already he liked her and he didn't know why.
