I didn't start making the potion immediately. Instead I studied it, practically memorizing it. I wanted to know everything there was to know about how it worked too; I would've written a Snape-style essay on it, if I could. But the description of function was, "Shielding Potion" with a footnote saying to look in the companion book for further details. I didn't have the companion book, so I stuck with memorizing the directions. I only had one chance to get it right and there would be no professor to check it. Draco would be the test subject and he was already in poor enough health that I hated to think what would happen if I made the potion wrong. So I went over it again and again, looking up each and every term, reviewing every difficult technique involved.

"Have you started brewing yet?" Draco asked three days later.

He was sitting on a bench, catching his breath. I'd seen him there and stopped to keep him company.

"No." He looked at me pointedly, so I explained, "I'm studying it first. I want to make sure I have everything just right so that it comes out perfect.

He nodded.

"Why aren't any of your friends with you? I mean, I know Crabbe and Goyle got expelled and Parkinson and Zabini are dating, but what about the rest of Slytherin house?" I asked.

"Who exactly do you think is left in my house? Milli and Theo are as boring as it gets. Tracey dropped out. And Daphne is so superficial, she makes me look deep. If I have to listen to her talk about her hair one more time…I love my hair, but she takes it too far…" he trailed off, hand self-consciously rising to his own overly-styled hair. "Anyway, I was more upset about Smith brushing me off."

"Zacharias Smith? But he's in Hufflepuff," I objected.

"He's also my second cousin on my dad's side. We grew up playing together, but he values strength too much to be seen with me," he explained.

"In Gryffindor, we'd rally around someone who was injured."

"I don't want to hear about bloody house politics. Keep it to yourself, if you would," he replied snidely.

I nodded.

"I could help brew it. We could do it together. I'll know if it's right," he said.

"That'd be great!" Not only was he offering me help, but it would also give me the chance to spend time with him and get to know him better. Hermione had a hypothesis that the reason Draco and I didn't get along, was because we didn't know each other. He was a Slytherin and a Malfoy, which were abstract concepts. I needed to turn him into Draco, the person, and make him my friend. I wasn't going to tell her that I already thought of him as a person, because it gave me the perfect excuse to get to know him. And now that I was convinced he was my soulmate, I desperately wanted to get to know him. Even if we couldn't have a sexual relationship, I still craved his presence in my life. At the very least, I needed us to be friends.

"I was going to start this weekend. Saturday morning work for you?" he asked.

"No. Um, I have detention weekends."

"What did you do now, Potter?" he drawled.

"Er, it's still from almost killing you. They let Snape choose my punishment. It was detention every evening while you were in hospital. Now it's weekends for the rest of the school year."

He frowned in concentration, clearly thinking about it. I waited in silence for what he was going to say, but then he ended up nodding to himself and changing the topic, "Once you do the extraction, be sure to freeze the specimen and keep it on ice. The potion says one unit, but double it, just in case. You know, if you spill or something, we don't want to have to start over."

"Okay," I agreed.

"That goes for everything. Make a double batch. I have enough ingredients for two." There was a pause, before he added, "We'll have to brew weeknights. After my nap. Myrtle's bathroom should work. How's 7pm for you?"

"It's fine, but what about curfew?" I asked.

"You have an invisibility cloak: you're immune to curfew."

"And you?"

"Have special permission to be out late, because I'm a prefect," he answered, even though he hadn't been doing any of his prefect duties all year.

I nodded.

"We'll start Monday night." With the plan set, he stood up and said, "Here, you can carry my things. I'm heading to Ancient Runes."

"Hermione has that. It's not for another twenty minutes," I protested, but grabbed up his bookbag just the same.

"I like to rest before it starts," he informed me.

I walked him to class, stopping to sit whenever he needed to.

After I dropped him off in the correct classroom, I went to the Room of Requirement to collect semen for the potion. I tried not to think about Draco while I did it. I tried using dirty magazines that the room provided, but imagining those wizards made the process take forever. I used to be able to jerk one off in five minutes, but not today. As I grew closer to the edge, I accidentally started thinking about Draco. Nothing too imaginative; just him standing there with his giant flaccid cock out, touching himself. I came into a collection vial, Draco's name on my lips.

I corked the vial and looked at it. It was enough for one dose of the potion, but Draco had asked for double. I cast a long-term freezing charm on what I had and decided I would wait until tomorrow to collect the rest.

I showered. Then I hid my specimen in the deepest recesses of my school trunk and protected said trunk with every ward I knew. Finally, I went down to the common room with my homework. That's where I was when Hermione came in and found me.

"Harry! I thought you'd want to know: Malfoy started vomiting during Ancient Runes. He's been taken to the Hospital Wing."

I could feel my face flaming up in shame. Draco had seen what I did.

"Well, aren't you going to say something, Harry? I thought you cared about him now or something," Hermione continued.

"Er…Um, I do care. It's just…" I trailed off.

"You did something, didn't you?"

I sighed. "All right, yes, I did something. But it had to be done and I have to do it again."

"Why?"

"He asked me not to talk about it with you and Ron. It's just a little protection charm I'm working on. It's supposed to keep him safe from me. That's all you need to know, honest," I answered, worried she wouldn't let it drop. What if she decided to grill me for more details?

"You have to make amends for almost killing him," she said nodding.

I sighed in relief. "Yes! Thank you for understanding, Hermione," I said, giving her a hug.

"The protection charm is hurting him…" she trailed off, implying something.

I thought for a minute, trying to figure out what to do about it. Finally, I realized that there was nothing I could do, except buy him that ring he wanted. "I want to get him something to make this up to him. Jewelry. But I can't go in to Hogsmeade this weekend or any weekend with my detentions. Could you go to that jewelry store for me and ask for a mail order form?"

"Yes, but is jewelry the right way to go, Harry? He may think you are pursuing him, you know, like boyfriends. And you know how uncomfortable he is with that," she replied. She'd wheedled so much information out of me during the past month. She now knew almost everything; it was only the most private details she didn't yet know.

"No, it'll be fine. He's rich. They give jewelry to everyone," I reasoned. I doubted my own reasoning though, because of the type of ring he'd requested: one with the Potter crest. Why would he want to go around wearing my crest on his finger? Did he want more from me than he was ready for? I felt a tingle in between my legs at the thought. Then I brushed the idea away, because Hermione was staring at me and because it could very well be nothing more than Draco feeling the soulmate connection. Even if we could never be together, we would always feel the draw of the other and he probably just wanted something to remember me by.


Author's Note: Up next, they will start working on the potion. Please Review!