Up to no good

When Friday arrived, Harry grew more nervous than usual. He had planned to go to the dungeons in the end of the afternoon and had begged Hermione and Ron to accompany him. But Hermione had Arithmancy and couldn't miss class, and Ron had just flat out refused as he wanted to use his free time to get better at Quidditch. Harry couldn't blame him. The game against Slytherin was coming and Harry was just sad he wouldn't join his best friend on the pitch tonight. The Invigoration Draught was in the fifth year Potion curriculum, however they wouldn't study it before Spring.

Harry arrived among the first students. But he soon discovered he and the two Slytherins that had joined him would be the only three students for the evening. There was one seventh year girl Harry didn't know and a boy from his year that was usually very quiet. He briefly nodded at Harry when he saw him. Harry nodded back a bit surprised. Malfoy was such a pain to be around he was often forgetting that they were other Slytherins than the blond boy and his court.

He started to put his cauldron on one of the tables and pulled out his book to find the Draught recipe. Snape approached him reluctantly.

'What do you want to practice tonight?' He asked abruptly.

Harry took a few seconds to answer. He hadn't expected Snape would monitor them so closely.

'Heem, well I would like to take some advance on the class, Sir,' he answered trying to sound as sincere as possible.

Normally Snape would have scoffed and forced him to go back to the basics. But the truth is that Harry had improved his grades significantly lately. It was painful to recognise that the boy had the adequate level to get ahead of the year program.

'All right then,' said the teacher scornly. 'Then I suggest you start with the first assignment of next semester which will be the Invigoration Draught.'

Perfect!

Snape watched suspiciously as the Gryffindor got the necessary ingredients from the cupboard. The boy had tried to stay indifferent but Snape could tell this was what Harry had expected.

'Sinclar,' he snapped at the Slytherin boy. 'Why don't you team up with Potter tonight? I recall you wanted to take some advance too.'

Harry glanced at the Professor and crossed his sparkling dark eyes. He hadn't fooled Snape. He made some place on his table to allow the Slytherin to join him.

'I didn't know you fancied Potions,' said Sinclar in a friendly tone.

'Well, I decided to make some effort in this course,' tried to explain Harry. 'I am Harry Potter by the way.'

'I know who you are,' winked the other. 'But I guess this is basic courtesy.' He raised a hand that Harry shook. 'I am William Sinclar.'

They started to read the recipe.

'So I guess we should start by boiling the Infusion of Wormwood with the Alihotsy leaves,' said William.

'Boiling?' Replied Harry while focusing on the recipe. 'Don't you think we are going to burn the leaves?'

The book was only instructing to bring the infusion to the correct temperature.

'I don't know,' said Harry, 'to me it's like tea, if the water is too hot, we burn it, and it doesn't taste good.'

'Like tea?' Laughed William genuinely. 'Well, I am not sure how this one is going to taste but I won't stop you from trying though.'

Harry chuckled. He liked this Slytherin.

'You know what,' continued William, 'apparently if we do this step correctly, the Infusion should turn orange a few minutes after we put the leaves in. Let's try it your way and if we fail… well, we'll start again.'

It was that simple. William lightened a fire under the cauldron while Harry poured the Infusion of Wormwood.

Snape observed the two students from his desk. He found the scene very interesting. He despised Harry and had always thought he was a spoiled brat too arrogant and lazy to perform well in class. But his sudden interest in Potion had made him curious. He had also noticed that the area under the boy's eyes had darkened. Snape realised he had never taken the time to really look at Harry. He hated to recognise it, but the boy didn't act like his father. James would have never come to Potion practice. Aside from Quidditch he wouldn't have put the extra work in anything. Anyway, he reported his attention to the girl. Now here was someone with a promising future in potion brewing. She wasn't only preparing her N.E.W.T.s. She had also decided to present her application to the Belladona Circle which was the most famous circle of Potion Masters in England. And she had what it took to make it. He approached her to give her some advice on the solution she was preparing.

Harry was having fun. William was a witty boy and together they managed to brew a draught Harry was rather proud of. As they put the last ingredient in, they both pulled their parchment to write everything they had learned during this session. While writing, Harry glanced at the seventh year. Snape had been helping her in a way Harry had never seen. The most dreaded Professor of Hogwarts was considerate toward her. Almost kind. He had never seen the teacher respect any students. The girl must have been a really gifted witch.

'Her name is Gwen,' whispered William his eyes still on his parchment. 'She is an impressive witch but in front of a cauldron she's just unbeatable.'

'I can see she has talent,' murmured Harry. 'I have never seen Snape so thoughtful toward a student.'

'There are a few of us that Snape is nice to,' agreed William. 'I reckon he has never treated you fairly.'

'You don't say,' grinned Harry.

They finished their parchment and exchanged some ideas on how to improve the Draught and when the time was up they filled a flask to evaluate their effort. Harry found it quite beautiful. It was a bright orange with sapphire highlights.

'Let me see that,' said Snape approaching the duo.

He grabbed the flask and stirred it delicately in front of his eyes. He then turned toward Harry and handed it to him.

'Here Potter, why don't you try it?'

Harry took the phial warily. If it was poisonous, Snape would tell him, wouldn't he?

'Are you not confident in the quality of your Draught,' smiled the teacher slyly.

Harry plunged his green eyes in the dark ones and without hesitation drank a sip of the draught. It didn't taste that bad and at first, he thought it didn't work.

'Well?' Asked William curious.

'I don't know,' answered Harry, almost disappointed, 'it tastes quite good at least but…' And that's when the wave of energy hit him. He didn't feel tired anymore, in fact he had rarely felt so fit in his life.

'That's a rather good draught you managed to brew here,' said Snape quietly taking back the flask. 'It appears, Mr. Potter, that when you focus you are able to get results. I suggest you keep this attitude in class.'

While Snape took the flask to his desk, William and Harry gathered their belongings. The Slytherin boy was about to clean the cauldron, but Harry held his arm.

'Wait,' he whispered. 'I need to take some with me.'

William looked at Harry and at Snape. He had his back turned and was focused on Gwen's potion.

'OK go!'

Harry grabbed two empty vials and quickly filled them before hiding them in his bag.

When they got out of the classroom, Harry was relieved. The training sessions would now be more tolerable.

'You know that this is only going to make you feel good right?' Asked William as they reached the stairs. 'If won't solve your fatigue.'

'I know,' said Harry. 'But it's temporary.'

'Are the studies that hard for you?' Teased William.

'It's not for class work,' started Harry. But he didn't add anything. He couldn't tell much, and he found that exasperating.

'Don't worry,' said William with a cunning smile. 'I know we have the worst DADA teacher of all times.' He lowered his gaze on Harry's bag. 'Just don't overtrain Potter, we will need you.'

Harry didn't know what to say. A Slytherin was believing him. And more than that, a Slytherin was covering for him.

Snape was gathering the ingredients left by the students to put them back in the cupboard. He didn't really know why he had let Harry take some potion with him. He wasn't stupid. Harry hadn't come here tonight for the sole purpose of improving his skill. He wanted that potion and Snape had allowed it. Potter was up to something.