Chapter Fifty Three

"I dropped Potion's because of Snape," Faye said into her cereal. "Now he's in D.A.D.A!"

"It'll be fine, relax." Daphne sighed. We had been through this conversation with Faye numerously since the welcoming feast.

I pulled a part of my soft and sticky cinnamon bun and popped it into my mouth. "Who knows, his teaching method might be different for D.A.D.A than in Potion's." I deliberated, but I knew I was talking shit for the sake of easing her mind. Unlike my peers, I didn't fear the man, but they could never know the reason as to why. 'He's been my guardian since my adoptive parents betrayed me and then looked after me during my imprisonment,' didn't really roll off the tongue.

"Let's go to class," Daphne said as she climbed off her seat.

"You still haven't told me about your summer," I said to her as we walked out of the Hall.

"And you haven't told me about yours," she retorted.

"Touche," I tilted my head.

As we neared the class door in the dungeons, a group of waiting students became visible. In particular, a Hermione Granger with books as big as her in her hands talking animatedly to Harry and Ron. Draco was at the end of the queue, book lazily hanging from his hand as he laughed with Crabbe and Goyle. A smile rose on my features, seeing him in raw, candid happiness. There was a hint of his long lost innocence.

The classroom door opened before I could relish in his delight and Snape stepped into the corridor. His sallow face framed by his black hair. Silence fell over as he peered over the students.

"Inside," he commanded.

The room already replicated Snape's flavour. As the Potion's room had been, the D.A.D.A room was now gloomy with curtains blocking out the windows and gruesome imagery plastered over the walls.

"Lovely," Daphne commented as she looked over some pictures of people in pain with contorted body parts.

"Different teaching methods my arse," Faye muttered as she plonked her books down at a table beside me.

"I want your full attention," Snape said as he crossed the class and everyone had sat. "You have had five teachers in this subject so far. Naturally, these teachers will all have had their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T. work, which will be much more advanced."

I didn't take my eyes away from the Professor, but I could feel Daphne and Faye sulking beside me. Draco, who was sat at the desk in front of me, tapped Goyle on the elbow and they shared amused expressions. Clearly excited to start this subject with our Head of House.

"The Dark Arts," Snape began, "are ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster. Each time a neck is severed it sprouts a new head fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."

My concentration was already waning as I stared numbly at pictures of monsters on the far wall. To my side, Harry and Ron were rolling their eyes and I snickered knowing Harry would be livid that Snape had taken over his favourite subject.

"Your defenses must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the arts you seek to undo." He signalled to the wall behind him, "these pictures give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer the Cruciatus Curse, feel the Dementor's Kiss or provoke the aggression of the Inferius."

As Snape went on, his voice blurred into white noise. I had fallen into a trance staring at the witch shrieking in agony who had suffered the Cruciatus Curse. My heart felt etched in charcoal, not only was I one to be victim to the curse, but I had inflicted the damage onto another. Lydia.

"Has an Inferius been seen, then?" Parvati Patil asked. "Is it definite he is using them?"

"The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past which means you would be well-advised to assume he might use them again." He simply answered. "Now, you are complete novices in the use of nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a nonverbal spell?"

I noticed Draco huff at Snape's comment and he had reason to. I'd seen him use non-verbal magic plenty of times, mostly for simple spells that made his day easier. I myself was starting to do it unintentionally.

"Very well — Miss Granger?" He asked curtly.

"Your adversary has no warning about what kind of magic you're about to perform which gives you a split-second advantage." She answered confidently. I twisted my lips, it was rather common sense as to why you would attack non-verbally.

"An answer copied almost word for word from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six." Snape regarded disappointedly.

Daphne giggled slightly to my right which provoked me to hit her lightly with a stern stare.

"But yes, those who progress to using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all wizards can do this, of course; it is a question of concentration and mind power which some," his dark eyes focused on Harry, "lack."

It was Draco and his goons friends to snicker now, but he was too far from my reach to swat.

"You will now divide into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on."

I was lucky to have learnt how to cast Shield Charms in my fourth year for the maze and had perfected the spell in D.A..

Without Payton in our close-knit group, being a team of three made moments like this awkward. Daphne, Faye and I all exchanged eyes, wondering who to sacrifice to go with a random student, but we were saved by Draco wanting to pair with me.

"Didn't want to go with Crabbe or Goyle?" I mused.

He did a small side-smile. "I figured I would partner with someone on par."

"On par?" I laughed. "Me?"

"You're more talented than you think, love." He said and we positioned ourselves in the back end of Snape's dark classroom.

We pulled out our wands and faced each other in a dueling stance. Draco went first, concentration painted over his sharp features. By his wand movement, I recognised he was trying to cast the Knockback Jinx on me and I readied to bring up a Shield Charm. Silent spells weren't completely foreign to me, I had handled a few before such as the Disillusionment Charm.

After a few lengthy minutes, Draco finally managed to knock me off my feet. I had been unprepared considering how long it took for him to summon the spell. He smirked and stepped forward, offering a hand to pull me up.

"About time," I commented, rubbing my now sore bottom.

"Alright then, let's see you do it, Taylor," he stirred.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. We prepared ourselves again in the dueling stance. As I focused deeply on propelling a gust of wind to knock Draco over, he smirked at me, then started running his tongue over his teeth and bottom lip.

"I can't concentrate if you flirt with me," I prodded.

"What flirting?" He smiled naively and then winked.

"Something in your eye, Malfoy?" Snape's sudden deep voice startled us.

"No, Sir." He responded obediently, frazzled out of his sly demeanour.

Snape's dark eyes flickered between us with his nose raised in the air. "Concentrate, please."

"Yes, Professor." We both answered in unison, heads down like scolded dogs.

I returned to my dueling stance and attempted again only to fail. I slumped and sighed, "this is difficult, how is everyone else doing it?"

"They're cheating," he pointed out and indicated with the tip of his head to Seamus and Dean. Both of which were whispering spells. Seamus felt our eyes on him and looked over, to which I glared.

"What?" He barked and I groaned, knowing I now had to deal with an aggravated Finnigan.

"Nothing," I answered, hoping to close that door before it opened. But of course, Draco had a different outlook.

"No wonder you're a failure of a wizard, Finnigan if you cheat your way through classes," he girded.

"Like you're one to talk, Malfoy," he scowled.

"Draco, leave it," I quietly urged and effortlessly, without words, he swished his wand and casted the Knockback Jinx on the Irishman.

"Bastard," Finnigan muttered as he got up from the knockback with his wand drawn. "Flippendo," he said out loud.

"Protego," Draco quickly mustered and blocked the Charm, he rolled his wrist and went to cast a jinx back, but was interrupted by Snape's booming voice across the class.

"Do you not understand the meaning of silence?!" He called.

"Sorry, Sir." Finnigan apologised meanwhile Draco just glowered. An expression radiating the menace of a werewolf.

I shot him a forced smile, hoping to calm him, but he was too antagonized. At least it was at someone I hated and I was in fact, satisfied to see Finnigan put in his place.

"Protego!" I then heard someone yell and we all snapped our heads to see it was Harry. Snape was stumbling back into a table. He righted himself and scowled, all eyes in the room on them.

"Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?"

"Yes," Harry said stiffly.

"Yes, Sir."

"There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor."

An 'ooh' chorused from the whole room and my lip dropped at Harry's attitude. Even Draco was biting down a smirk.

"Detention, Saturday night, my office. I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter. Not even 'the Chosen One.'"


"It looks like someone casted Incendio on your face and then tried to put it out with a fork!" Pansy squawked with laughter at a third year Hufflepuff.

Draco and I were on our way to Potion's after the tedious lesson in D.A.D.A and were delightfully following Pansy and Payton. I tried to turn a deaf ear to Pansy's constant insults on the way, but some of her comments were so unwarranted, it was compelling to teach her a lesson. Though, I wasn't prefect anymore and had no authority to do so. So instead, I bit my tongue.

"And look at this dropkick, Payton," Pansy said and signaled to another younger student. "He's meant to be a Gryffindor, but the only thing I've seen him brave was the mirror!"

They both broke into fits of giggles again and I shot daggers at them.

What was even worse was Draco kept sniggering himself. The bully within him enjoying the witless jokes.

"Oh, grow up." I scoffed.

"Just a bit of harmless fun," he said.

"Far from harmless," I bit. "Words can do more damage than you think."

"Hey, I haven't said anything, it's all Pansy. She's good at tearing into people," he chuckled and tenderly looked at her.

My heart nearly reduced to ashes at the way he was admiring her. There was always going to be malice at Draco and Pansy, they had dated and swapped saliva after all. I then felt sickened wondering just what else they swapped. Now I had to watch him admire her... evilness? Shadows started to consume me out of nowhere and a heavy feeling focused on my chest influenced my next action. I lifted my wand and silenced my boyfriends ex, leaving her gasping and confused.

His ashy eyes snapped to me with perplexity. "Mel?" He questioned.

"Hard to tear into people if you're silenced, 'ey?" I jeered, but unlike the look he gave Pansy, he looked at me with uncertainty.

Now I was even more agitated.

What, Pansy could get away with bullying others, but as soon as I do it, it's odd? The weighted feeling on my chest started to feel even heavier and didn't disperse until I was distracted by the crowd gathered outside of Potions. I was surprised by the smaller class, but I guess most students opted to avoid Snape - I chuckled knowing they had him for D.A.D.A instead. Some people also hadn't made the O.W.L grade such as Daphne, Faye, Crabbe and Goyle. It left me with just Malfoy and Blaise to sit with in the class.

As soon as we arrived, the door swung open and Slughorn's belly protruded from the class. "In you go!" He cheered with a bright smile. He greeted Harry and Blaise with extra enthusiasm and I could practically taste the antipathy from Draco.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the class was the lighter hues of colours. The room was bright and airy, accompanied with new smells that were pleasing. Slughorn had prepared large cauldrons and I smiled believing this class would turn into a more positive affair than it had been in the past.

Draco, Blaise and I seated ourselves at a table opposite Pansy and Payton. It was once I had comforted myself in the class that my nose detected some of the most seductive scents of my life. I inhaled them like a delicious drink, smells that reminded me of fresh pages in a new novel, hot chestnuts and melting chocolate. It made me feel content and at ease, so at ease that I smiled at Payton who surprisingly, smiled back at me.

"Now then, now then, now then," Slughorn hurried as he crossed the room. "Scales out, everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your books."

"Sir," Harry asked with a raised hand.

"Harry, m'boy?"

"Ron and I don't have anything, we didn't realize we'd be able to do N.E.W.T you see." He mumbled.

"Not to worry, you can find all you need in the cupboard."

The two teens strode over to the back cupboards as Slughorn continued. As he introduced us to the subject, I still found myself feeling blissful and reached forward to hold Draco's hand. He grinned back, seeming delighted himself.

"I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E. . Can anyone tell what this one is?" He indicated to the cauldron nearest our table.

We all craned our necks for a point of view to see plain water boiling away.

"Looks like water to me," I muttered into Draco's ear who nodded in agreement.

Hermione's well-practiced hand hit the air and Slughorn - unknowing the talented witch - selected her cheerily.

"It's Veritaserum, a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth," she answered.

I looked back at the bubbling potion to recall the time Umbridge had spiked me with it.

"No way, we're going to brew that?" Blaise whispered happily as he stared at the cauldron. No doubt scheming up tricks in his mind already.

"Very good, very good!" He applauded. "Now this one here is pretty well known. Who can-"

Hermione's hand was up before I could even look into the cauldron.

"It's Polyjuice Potion," she said.

"Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here," Slughorn said and looked bemused now to see Hermione punch into the air again. He was indicating to the cauldron that was sourcing the delicious smells. I inched closer, interested to know what it was.

"Amortentia." Hermione said with admirable eyes.

"I assume you know what it does?" He asked.

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world," Hermione said with eyes unleaving the cauldron. "The smell changes for each of us depending on what we're attracted to. For instance, I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and..." Hermione then seemed to snap out of whatever hypnosis she was falling into.

"Amortentia doesn't create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession, making it the most dangerous potion in this room." He nodded gravely.

I stared at the pearly potion knowing it was the substance that brought my biological parents together. Without it's existence, I wouldn't exist and neither would Tom.

"Now it is time for us to start work." Slughorn clapped.

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in this one," Macmillan asked.

He nodded towards a small black cauldron on Slughorn's desk. The potion within was splashing about merrily; it was the color of molten gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above the surface.

"Yes," he chortled. "This, ladies and gentlemen is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis."

"Yes," Draco said just above his breath as he stared wide-eyed at the potion, clearly enchanted to be in it's presence.

"What's it do?" I asked him quietly.

"it's liquid luck," Hermione announced.

"Quite right, Miss. Granger. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly you will find that all your endeavors succeed... Or at least until the effects wear off."

It now occurred to me why Draco was so taken. If only I could slip it into my tea one morning, march down to Dumbledore's office and finish my mission.

"Why don't people drink it all the time then, sir?" Blaise asked, skeptical over the gold liquid.

"Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence. Too much of a good thing, you know. Very toxic in large quantities."

"Have you ever taken it, sir?" Michael Corner asked.

"Twice," Slughorn answered. "One when I was twenty four and once when I was fifty seven. Two perfect days..." He gazed dreamily into the distance with a faraway look in his eye. "And that is what I shall be offering as a prize in today's lesson. One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis."

"Draco," I whispered and turned to look into his smokey eyes, full of heat. They were intense, coming from that fire that burned deep within. "We need that potion."

"I know," he breathed back, staring at the tiny vial in Slughorn's hand hungrily.

"Enough for twelve hours' luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt." Slughorn explained. "So, turn to page ten in your books and attempt to make the Draught of Living Death."

I slumped, knowing how difficult that was to concoct. Even Snape struggled to produce many for me when I couldn't sleep last year.

"I know it is more complex than anything you have attempted before, and I do not expect a perfect potion from anybody. The person who does best, however, will win little Felix here. Off you go!"

The class plummeted into work. Silence overcame the entirety of the class as concentration was crucial. As we gathered ingredients and started cutting roots, everyone kept glancing around at what other students were up to. I myself started cutting up valerian roots, only to have Pansy copy me completely. It was hard to keep your work private in Potions. Ten minutes in and the whole room was covered in steam that replicated Ravenclaw's Common Room walls.

I started to mix the infusion of wormwood together with powdered asphodel to see it transform into a smooth, black currant-colored liquid. It resembled what the instructions said quite well and I was feeling rather positive. Slughorn himself nodded as he passed, giving me the confidence I needed.

"Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?" Draco asked as he stirred his potion.

"Yes," Slughorn said with his eyes on our cauldrons. "I was sorry to hear he died. Though of course, it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age..." and that was all he said before trailing off to look at the Ravenclaws.

I saw his eye twitch, no one usually turned away from his charm. "Just focus on your potion," I urged.

He returned to his brewing to see it beginning to thicken more than mine was.

"See," I pointed out.

"Yes, yes I see, alright," he snapped back and turned his heat down before adding a touch more of juice from the sloths brain to return it's consistency. It at least looked better than Pansy's whose was as thick as tar. Considering she copied Payton and myself closely, it was hard to know where she went wrong. Payton's looked very similar to mine, if anything it was lighter in colour which looked more correct. I groaned and reached for more sopophorous bean juice to make it less black. Draco eyed my actions closely.

"What are you doing?" He asked tensely.

"It's too black," I said.

"Don't stray from the instructions, you'll mess it up even more," he complained and took the milking beans out of my hands.

"You went off the instructions," I quipped with a frown.

"Exactly, so don't mess yours up," he reasoned.

"Time's up!" Slughorn then announced. "Stop stirring, cauldrons off!"

I hesitantly turned the heat off and looked at my potion as did Draco. Slughorn moved slowly along each students spot to peer into their cauldrons. He made no comment, only looked and smelled them. When he reached our table, he looked at Blaise and Pansy's dismally, tilted his head evenly at Draco's and smiled pleasantly at myself and Payton.

"Lovely work, Miss. Miles," he said then looked to me. "You too, Miss. Taylor."

Draco petted me on the hand as it was clear Payton's was better. Slughorn moved on to the Gryffindor's and Macmillan's table and gave a slight chuckle at what I assumed was Ron's.

"The clear winner!" He then applauded. "Excellent, excellent, Harry! Good lord, it's clear you've inherited your mother's talent."

I groaned, but my irritation was nowhere near Draco's level. It was one thing for him to lose out on the potion, but to Harry made it even more detrimental.


So this isn't my best work, in fact I think it's my least favourite chapter I've written. It's very filler, and I hope my uninspired-ness isn't too obvious. But so much has been happening to Melody, the story needed a chapter like this. We needed a break from all the doom and gloom haha. Thank you to everyone reading, I hope you're still enjoying! xx