A/N Hey viewers! Before we start I just want to give a shout out to BookwormFOREVER15, for writing a really nice review on the previous chapter. Thanks BookwormFOREVER! And, the story continues. Things are about to get really spicy.
Chapter 5 - The Girl on Fire
"You should have all brewed your draught of living death potions by now," Snape drawled (the class all hurriedly took them out of their bags), "And now I am going to put you into groups of three or four to test them all. Mixed groups," he ended briskly. It was the start of their second lesson, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were wearily weighing out the possibilities that the were right. "Now," he cleared his throat, "the groups are as follows: ahem, Potter, Weasley and Parkinson; Thomas, Nott, Macmillan and Patil; Malfoy, Zabini and Granger; and Finnigan, Cornor, Boot and Moon." There were groans as people made to stand or sit with their partners. Hermione stayed still, rooted to her seat. Malfoy. She was expected to work with Malfoy? Wasn't being room mates and job companions bad enough? "Oh, and we are going to be doing a little history too," Snape smirked, "In the old days, class, there was a man who spread the antidote, Wiggenweld Potion, on his lips and kissed the lady culprit to wake her. We will be, er," he emitted an evil grin, "reenacting the performance. A boy in each group will kiss a girl in his group - or vice versa. I am expecting each group to produce a recovery potion to reverse the living death effects in the next forty five minutes. Now!"
"Professor! I am not working with scarface and Weasel and I am certainly not letting them kiss me!" Pansy cried out. Hermione meanwhile was feeling very sick. She was not letting one of the Slytherin boys kiss her. Snape narrowed his eyes and Pansy moved back an inch or two, "My decision's final," he spat, menacingly. Pansy looked aghast at her teacher. Harry, in spite of himself, fought the urge to laugh out loud. Finally, Snape was treating his own students more or less the same. He was still a jerk though. Pansy scowled, turned on her heel, and stalked over to Harry and Ron's table, shoving her potions kit on top. Hermione stared at Draco and Blaize for a few seconds, before giving in and moving towards them. They smirked.
"So, mudblood," Blaise smirked, "I'm sure you won't object to us giving you the potion, as you are, of course, inferior." Hermione gripped the edge of her chair until her knuckles were white and said, in a surprisingly calm voice, "Of course I will drink the potion." Blaise narrowed his eyes suspiciously and smirked, "And which one of us charming men do you want to be kissed by?" He looked over at Draco and whispered loudly, "I don't want to be kissing it. I might catch something." Draco smirked, opened the textbook to the contents page and searched for the antidote. "Granger go up and get the ingredients," he drawled. Hermione, although very glad she didn't have to answer Blaise's question, stood her ground and didn't budge. Draco looked up at her as if to say, "we're waiting," but to no effect.
"Say please," Hermione smirked. Draco looked at her stupidly.
"No," he replied, as if she were an idiot.
"Then get the ingredients yourself," Hermione shrugged. Blaise sniggered and Draco shoved him, causing him to leap off his stool and get the ingredients himself. Draco stared at Hermione with mild curiosity, making her look away sheepishly.
Once Blaise had returned with the ingredients, no one moved. Hermione assumed that her 'group' wasn't going to be anymore helpful thorough out the rest of the lesson so, as she needed an antidote to reawaken her from a dead state, she needed to make one. So, she pulled the textbook over to her, tugged her cauldron towards her, stood up, and started preparing ingredients. The antidote was more commonly known as a Wiggenweld Potion. "Malfoy or Zabini, could one of you please cut up the lionfish spines?" Hermione asked. After a seconds hesitation, Draco glanced at the book, took ten lionfish spines and began slicing them into equal pieces. "Thank you, and could you measure out some mucus Zabini?" Hermione asked, just as politely. Blaise rolled his eyes and measured out the required amount of flobberworm mucus. Hermione had just finished adding the boom berry juice when Snape called out, "fifteen more minutes."
"Moondew drops, wolfsbane, chizpurfle fangs..." Hermione murmured, "ten more minutes on the boil then done!" Draco and Blaise smirked and slouched in their stools. They had prepared a few ingredients. "So, mudblood," and that was when it splashed. Hermione's hand shook violently upon the word and sent a splatter of boiling hot, green liquid into the air, which landed on Terry Boot's neck, who swore loudly and knocked into Michael Corner, who spilt a blot of his purple potion onto his hand which began to cover in rashes. There was an excited and amused, lightly panicky eruption of voices as everyone dropped their things to see the situation. Someone bumped into the purple substances filled cauldron and a large amount sloshed onto the table and a few students, who screamed and backed into more people. "Silence!" roared Snape, as he strode over to Michael, whipping out his wand and clearing up the spillage and his hand. Then, he moved the injured into a line and tended to them all, some of whom had rashes and others with raw skin and burns. "Who caused this?!" He hissed, after the students had been tended to. Everyone went silent. Draco stared from Blaise to Hermione and back to Blaise, before coming to the conclusion, that she really, really, really hated the word. Mudblood. He clicked his tongue and smirked. Hermione gulped, a frightened tear welling in her eye. Snape glared and told the class to carry on. A wave of shame washed over Hermione like a tidal wave, and she slowly went back to stirring.
Once Blaise saw that Hermione had let go of the wooden spoon and had poured out a vial of the antidote, he let out a chuckle and sneered, "What's with the temper mudblood?" Ron, who's head jerked up at the sound of the word, strode over to Blaise and hissed through gritted teeth, "Say that again I dare you."
Blaise grinned, "Mudblood." Draco shook his head and watched as Ron made to punch at Blaise' face but didn't hit hard as Hermione shrieked, "Ron NO!" But it was too late. She quickly shielded the potion and pocketed the vial as Ron and Blaize threw themselves at each other. Harry and Draco attempted to restrain their friends, along with Hermione and Theo, but to no success. "You dare Zabini! You fucking DARE!" Ron yelled. Snape was unsuccessfully trying to get to the commotion but by now, everyone was encircling the pair of boys. "What's it to you Weaslebee?" Blaise sneered, "standing up for your girlfriend?"
"Actually, yeah, I am," Ron sniped back.
"Don't make me laugh! I saw you the other day down Diagon Ally!"
"Shut it!" Ron growled. Their fight grew more messy and violent until finally, Snape cast a jet of purple light into the air, which went ricocheting across the ceiling and windows until the beams died down. Whilst this was happening, Snape barked, "FIFTEEN POINTS FROM BOTH GRYFFINDOR AND SLYTHERIN!" Ron and Blaise both paused to look up at their professor in mid punch. "Detention for both of you, after lesson," Snape spat. Ron snarled at Blaise, who glared back at him. Harry and Hermione shook their heads whilst Theo and Draco snickered silently. Draco was however greatly surprised that he'd deducted points from his house. Snape never deducted points from Slytherin. He also wanted to know what Blaise had meant by 'he'd seen him'.
Slowly, things returned to normal. Everyone was bottling up their antidotes and waiting for Snape to say when to perform the potentially deadly task. "Now," Snape paused to clear his throat, "I want to see each group separately. You should all have finished the antidotes by now." There was a murmur or responses, "Good, good," Snape nodded with satisfaction, "Nott, I would like your group to go first." Theo stood back as Ernie spread their green Wiggenweld Potion on his lips and Dean handed Padma the vial of The Draught of Living Death, who drank it and instantly keeled over. Ernie, with a worried look on his face, leapt forward to catch her fall and gently lowered her to the floor, then bent over and kissed her. There were a few giggles from the class and Ernie blushed bright red, but didn't let his girlfriend go until she'd regained consciousness. "Those two are tight," Ron whispered, grinning. Harry's stomach churned. "With all the trauma, someone's bound to get hurt at some point," he thought, Luna's words clear in his head. Snape nodded sternly in satisfaction and said with an emotionless look, "Very good." Padma rolled onto her side and staggered to her feet, Ernie grasping her under the arm for support.
A minute later, the greasy haired man turned on his heel and strode over to Seamus' table, where he, Terry Boot, Michael Cornor and Leanne Moon stood waiting. "You, Finnigan. Who here is taking the poison?" Snape drawled.
"Leanne Sir," Seamus sighed, as he spread Wiggenweld Potion on his lips. Leanne grinned as if extremely satisfied. Ron slipped next to Hermione and whispered, "Terry says that Seamus refused to let Leanne take the potion and wanted to take it instead, but Leanne wouldn't hear of it."
"Well, they are dating," Hermione smiled. Ron looked shocked.
"What?" He said, aghast, "Seamus has a girlfriend?" Hermione laughed and nodded. "But he - what?" Ron spluttered. Hermione snorted and shook her head saying, "Ron, if you're planning on asking him out I'd say your chances of being with him are quite low-"
"Oh bloody hell, shut up 'Mione that's disgusting! Besides, I'd never leave you," Ron retorted, grinning. Blaise watched him out of the corner of his eye, feeling a stab of guilt. "Quiet," Snape drawled, and Hermione stifled her laugh. "Drink," Snape continued in the same, flat tone to Leanne. Leanne lifted the vial to her nose and sniffed, then looked repulsively down at it. "It's your potion," Terry laughed. Leanne shook her head and mentally told herself to stop being silly, then gulped the contents down, waiting for her conscience to diminish. And then she fell and Seamus caught her in a similar style to how Ernie had with Padma, and kissed her, for a few seconds longer than necessary perhaps. Slowly, Leanne's eyes opened a slither once the antidote had taken full effect, and looked up skeptically at Seamus, who quickly detached his lips from her and moved away from her face, embarrassed. Nobody tried to hide their laugh.
"Enough!" Snape raised his voice a little over the noise of the students and turned to face Hermione, Draco and Blaise. He opened his mouth and smirked, "Draco, we will see you now." Draco half smirked and looked at Hermione, who blushed scarlet.
"Would you like me to kiss you, Granger?" he whispered in her ear so only she could hear. Disgusted, she shoved Draco away from her looking repulsed at the idea and said with dislike, "Do what you must." With that, she defiantly snatched the clear vial from the table and tipped the contents into her throat. Draco widened his eyes a fraction as Hermione instantly keeled and fell to the floor, the empty vial sliding out of her hand and falling with a clatter. Trying to look repulsed, he bent and caught her as gently as possible and lowered her to the floor. He then undid the vial with the green contents (Hermione's Wiggenweld Potion), tipped a couple of droplets onto his finger and smeared it over his lips. Blaize was silently cracked up laughing as Draco looked up and glared at him. Then, he casually bent over the sleeping figure and kissed her lips - quickly as not to draw attention - and stood up straight again, walking back to his chair and taking his seat, wiping his lips furiously. Ron was silently fuming in the corner, full well knowing that one of the boys had to kiss her but nauseated by it all the same. Hermione's eyes did not open. Blaise's face grew serious as he nudged Draco, who was twiddling his thumbs, and pointed to the unmoving figure on the floor. Draco straightened and looked intently at the girl. Was she okay? Why the hell was she just laying there. "Hermione," Ron called uncertainly. No reply. Just when Draco started feeling very edgy about the situation and Ron and Harry had taken a step closer, Hermione stirred. There was a silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop - yet it was a silence filled with hammering hearts that nearly everyone was deafened by it. No movement. It was the second that Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she heaved herself off the floor, that everyone let out an audible sigh and Draco shook himself back into his normal state of nonchalance. But Theo had noticed the barely noticeable flicker of uneasiness in his eyes. However, he decided it must have been his imagination.
Hermione swiftly strode over to her stool and perched awkwardly on the edge. She knew her friends were still looking at her but she made nothing of it. "Potter," Snape drawled, You next." Harry looked from Ron to Pansy and back to Ron, unsure who was to kiss the girl with the pug like face. To be completely fair, over the years Pansy had grown into her nose and she looked extremely beautiful, but that didn't seem to matter to the boys - she was still Pansy. "Hand it over," Ron sighed, holding out his hand and muttering, "You owe me big time mate." Harry smiled thankfully at his best friend and passed him the antidote. Pansy looked from one boy to the other and pouted saying grumpily, "Oh come on, you are the luckier gender here. You should be fighting over who's kissing me and I should be the one begging hell to let me disapparate on the spot." Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes. Ron sighed and smeared the greeny blue antidote onto his lips and made a sour look. "Harry," he choked, "What's in this?"
"I don't know what's in it now," Harry admitted sheepishly, "Parkinson added that extra handful of stuff when it wasn't the right colour. Remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Right," Ron grinned awkwardly. Pansy, showing outstanding intelligence, decided to sit down before taking the potion, scowling. Leaning back against the table, she tilted the bottle up into her mouth and gulped. Ron crouched slightly, tipped her chin up and kissed her, awkwardly. Then he quickly wiped his lips with his sleeve and watched Pansy, expectantly.
Pansy woke about five seconds later and lifted her head, gasping for air. Then, she started hyperventilating and the class turned into pandemonium. There were screams and hushed voices but loudest of all, was Snape shouting, "MOVE! NOW! AND WILL YOU BE QUIET?!" Everyone rushed towards the edges to the classroom but not before Draco launched himself at Harry and Ron, roaring, "What the hell have you done to her?" followed closely by Blaise and Theo, who were intercepted by Dean and Seamus, who said in a raised voice, "It's not their fault your girlfriend corrupted her remedy!" Draco hurled his fist at Seamus, who dodged.
Meanwhile, Harry and Theo had turned to look at Pansy, Harry incredibly uncomfortable. Pansy was shaking uncontrollably and then, all of a sudden, Leanne and Padma, who were nearest, screamed loudly. Everyone darted to the walls and stayed well away from Pansy, who had just emitted a ring of flames from her feet, which flew across the classroom floor for about four metres in all directions and dispersed. Snape, who had his wand out, had a blue shield around him, protecting himself from the flaming circle. Someone was shouting for someone to get Madam Pomfrey. Ernie left, tearing up the stairs. A figure of screaming flames stood burning in the middle of the classroom. Pansy was on fire.
A/N OH NO! Pansy's in flames! But that's not the main thing is it? He kissed her! But was he okay with it? We'll find out if the kiss will turn into something else next time, or if something else happens completely. Here's a secret about next week's chapter. Hermione gets herself into a really messy fight.