CHAPTER ELEVEN: POTIONS
Monday, 1st February 1999
Buffy walked towards the Potions classroom between Blaise and Draco, the three of them in mid-conversation.
"God I hate Mondays," Draco commented tiredly. After the Double DADA lesson was a Double Potions lesson, which Draco was not looking forward to. As much as he didn't mind Potions with Snape, he just didn't enjoy the company of the Gryffindors all day long.
"Yeah, I can see Monday being the suckiest of days as well," Buffy commented.
The drug in her system was beginning to make her sluggish and tired. She hated that she wasn't as fast as she used to be, that her energy was drained. It felt as though she was getting the flu, and if this was how the next six months were going to be, she wasn't too sure she'd be able to do it. She sighed and remembered the alternative, forcing herself to perk up.
"At least we've only got DADA and Potions today," Blaise added. "I don't think I could have handled Divinations as well."
Buffy looked at her new friend with interest. "You're taking Divination?"
Blaise nodded. "You?"
"Yeah. What's it like?"
Blaise shook her head. "Boring. If she's not talking about Jupiter or Mars, she's predicting the death of Harry Potter, and there's only so many times that she can do that before it gets old. She's been doing it for years. You'd think she'd find a new subject."
Buffy grinned a little and the trio walked into the Potions classroom, seating themselves along the table.
"I dunno," Draco said thoughtfully. "I don't mind her speculating about Potter's death."
Buffy hit his arm playfully and he rubbed it gently, a mock pout on his lips. "Play nice," she warned.
"Why, you gonna punish me if I don't?" he asked, a smirk on his handsome features.
Buffy tilted her head to the side and considered the question.
"It certainly has potential. My last boyfriend was a big fan of chains."
Draco went wide-eyed and Buffy couldn't help but laugh, Blaise giggling madly at Draco's deer-caught-in-headlights look.
"Tell me you're joking," Draco demanded.
Buffy just smiled innocently and began organising her parchment and quills. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why they didn't just use pens. It was awkward trying to write with a feather, but there was also a certain element of charm to it. Draco grabbed her arm and looked at her.
"You are joking aren't you? You're going to laugh and call me paranoid any minute now, right?"
"Well, just cos you're paranoid doesn't mean it didn't happen," she replied vaguely.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Draco asked.
Buffy looked towards Blaise who was still having trouble composing herself.
"You'd think for someone with a rep as a bad boy, he wouldn't be so freaked out by kinky stuff," she commented.
Blaise shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. She composed herself for long enough to say "maybe he's just jealous."
Buffy turned back to look at Draco who was still looking worried.
"Summers? Are you or are you not joking?" Draco asked.
Buffy just smirked and shrugged her shoulders. Draco went to ask again, but Professor Snape stalked quickly into the classroom. The room was silent within an instant and Blaise had stopped giggling, her face completely sombre.
Snape scowled, turning his attention to Buffy. In the seat directly in front of the blonde Slayer, Harry sat, thankful that Snape's attention was fixated elsewhere for a change. He felt slightly sorry for the Slytherin girl though. Even Ron, who still wasn't convinced about Buffy not being a completely horrible person felt sympathetic towards Buffy.
"Miss Summers," Snape greeted. "Good of you to join us for this class. Perhaps we should start out by testing you on some basic Potion making skills."
Buffy wisely stayed silent. She knew that he was just trying to humiliate her, and she wasn't about to let that happen. Even if she didn't know the answers to half the questions, she refused to let Snape make her feel inadequate. It wasn't her fault that she was here, and it wasn't her fault that she'd missed Seven Years of prior Potion lessons. If she didn't know the answers, then that was fine with her.
"What, Miss Summers, is an ingredient that can be used interchangeably with a newt eye?" Snape asked.
"A salamander eye," Buffy replied, remembering Giles complaining about using inferior ingredients to save money on spells.
Snape glowered. He hadn't been expecting her to know the answer.
"And, what sort of a spell would require the herb celandine?"
"Well, generally it's a protective herb," Buffy replied, remembering this particular herb from the list that Blaise had provided her with earlier. "It can be used in spells to prevent depression."
Snape was definitely not happy. He figured that the new Slytherin girl would have known absolutely nothing about Potions. He figured that one more wouldn't hurt.
"And what is the use of mullein?"
Buffy paused. That hadn't been on the list, but it sounded awfully familiar. She searched through her memory banks, knowing that it was Giles that had told her about it. Suddenly it clicked.
"It has strong protective magic as well. A lot of people use it to prevent nightmares," Buffy replied. Giles had made Buffy place several sprigs of the plant in her room when she'd been having particularly bad nightmares after her return to Sunnydale after her self-imposed exile after killing Angel. She grinned as she remembered Willow's input after Buffy had told the redheaded girl. "It's also used to attract people of the opposite sex."
Snape glared at the girl and decided to move on. He hated when students managed to show him up. And he definitely did not like Buffy Summers at all.
"Moving on…"
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Later that evening at dinner, the Seventh Year section of the Slytherin table was bustling with noise. The other houses couldn't remember Slytherin ever being so rowdy, and to see so many of the usually sombre or smirking girls giggling like the school girls they were was definitely new.
"How did you know that last one?" Blaise asked curiously. "It wasn't on the list, I'm sure of it."
"It wasn't on the list," Buffy confirmed. "I had problems sleeping earlier this year. Some of my friends told me to use mullein to help me stop having nightmares."
"Did it work?" Blaise asked.
Buffy shrugged and nodded. "Mostly."
Blaise knew well enough to drop the subject. She suddenly giggled as she thought of a new topic.
"You weren't serious about the chains were you?" she asked. "You never did answer Malfoy about that."
Buffy laughed and winked at her new friend. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Blaise grinned and craned her neck past Buffy to see Malfoy sitting with his two lackeys, glancing every so often at Buffy who was ignorant of having Draco's attention.
"I'm gonna start taking that as a yes if you don't answer," Blaise warned.
"I'll just not answer then," Buffy replied.
Blaise's mouth dropped open in shock. "You're joking."
Buffy grinned and took a sip of the water from her goblet. She glanced across the table and caught Pansy's gaze. Pansy glared at her, scowling unhappily. Buffy just grinned, finding Pansy's hatred of her all too amusing. She was Cordelia-esque, and Buffy just couldn't help but smile. Of course, Buffy's smiles just made Pansy all the more annoyed.
Buffy turned her attention back to Blaise and shook her head. "It's a long story. And it doesn't actually involve anything sexual. But yes, he was chained at some point."
Blaise couldn't help but laugh. "Firmly deciding that I don't want to know."
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