Draco was already gone by the time Greyson had awoken the next morning. Was he being avoided now? He sighed and started to dress, disappointed that Draco wasn't there to talk to, hoping that this wouldn't become a regular occurence.
He made his way to the Great Hall in a sort of daze only borne from more than a full night's sleep and felt his thoughts snap to some semblance of clarity when the Gryffindor table came into view. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were all sitting with gleaming eyes and excited chatter filling the air around them. "What did I miss?" he groused, sitting down in his usual spot by Harry. He relished having elbow room since the twins weren't at breakfast yet.
"We learned who Nicholas Flamel is!" Hermione said excitedly.
"Oh?" Greyson leaned forward eagerly, casting off the rest of the sleep that had been clinging to him.
"He's the only known creator of the philosopher's stone," she whispered and looked around in a way that was distinctly suspicious. He'd have to give her lessons on keeping secrets, it seems.
When the words fully hit, Greyson's eyes widened. "The philosopher's stone," he repeated, sitting back. He bit his lip as he thought back to what he had read about it in his book of Magical Artifacts. It had the ability to turn normal objects to gold when in the same water as the stone and it could grant immortality to any who drank the water. It was one of the most sought after artifacts of all time and also one with too many legends and not enough leads to accurately look into without more information. "If that's the case then the question now is… why is Quirrell after it?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Harry asked in a grave tone. "Snape wants to use it to become rich and live forever to torment students."
Greyson raised his brows at that. "That doesn't exactly sound right. I mean money is alright, but that doesn't feel like a real reason for the stone. He probably gets paid enough as a professor and I mean, he doesn't exactly seem happy about being anywhere around students."
"See? He is working for Snape," Ron squeaked, obviously having made a conspiracy theory about them working together. Greyson couldn't help his bark of laughter and that Ron's fear only seemed to magnify at the sound of it had him choking back another round of chuckles.
"No, I'm just being logical," He corrected, shaking his head. "Obviously, whatever is going on involving the stone is much more complex than what we are seeing. I mean someone broke into Gringotts to try and get it, and they were willing to risk death for it. But how did you find out anyway?"
"Harry read it on Dumbledore's chocolate frog card," Ron whispered as his eyes scanned Greyson for the third time. Such paranoia.
"And Hermione remembered it in her giant book," Harry added. Hermione preened next to Ron, seemingly unaware of Ron's distress due to his conspiracy theories.
"Ah," Greyson nodded and stood when he caught sight of Draco heading to their Potions lesson. "I'll see you three after potions." He gave his brother a half-hug, Hermione a wave, and Ron an exaggeratedly evil grin. His fearful squeaks and stutters saw him off as he started off towards Draco.
"But you didn't even eat," Harry protested. Greyson groaned and accepted the scone and indulgent smile from his brother before truly heading off.
"Draco," Greyson greeted when he finally caught up with the blonde. "How did your potions report turn out?"
"Fine," he grunted. "Don't see why you're worried about it, Potter."
Greyson rolled his eyes but attempted a friendly smile. "I'm not. It's just friendly conversation, Draco. You don't have to be an ass every time I talk to you." He pursed his lips as Crabbe and Goyle came right up behind them, chuckling and snickering about something or other. "Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy will meet you in class." The two looked at him in surprise but seemed to accept that he should be listened to after a moment. They nodded and waddled off. "They really should lay off the sweets."
"What do you want?" he asked quietly, not quite so snobby now that his lackies had wandered off.
Greyson took a deep breath before starting with diffculty, "I want to... try and... be friends." His heart was stuttering as he thought of what to do if he was rejected. He looked at Draco to see if there was any hint of a reply in his icy blue eyes, but all he saw was shock. He could work with that. Friends were all about being honest with each other, right? "We got off on the wrong foot and I would like to try and start again, if that would be alright." Those pale blues seemed to thaw a little before icing right back over.
"Fine," he huffed, haughty attitude firmly back in place. "If that's what you want." He turned on his heel and disappeared into the classroom, but not before Greyson got a glimpse of the pale flush on his cheeks and hands tightly balled into fists at his sides. A sigh forced its way out of his chest and he took a bite out of his scone. He knew what he saw in Draco's eyes was enough to convince him that Draco wanted a real friendship too.
He finished his scone slowly, trying to give Draco enough time to loosen up, before going into class. "Morning Professor," Greyson greeted cheerfully as he made his way to his potion pot with Draco.
"Potter," Professor Snape drawled in recognition. Now that his friends had brought it up, he would watch more closely to see if Snape did favor him to some degree. He pulled out his report for Snape and started looking over the potion they had to make today. Nervoreum, or a paralysis potion. There were several different versions based on what was used as the main ingredient in the potion, all eight of which they had to research and write about for their report. It had been a welcome challenge while he was bored a few times during the break.
"Do you think Snape is going to let us pick which paralysis potion we make?" Greyson wondered, looking over the recipe. "Honestly, I think the one made of jelly barbs would be the best."
"Jelly barbs?" Draco repeated incredulously. "It would be rattlesnake fangs."
"Actually, it would be snake venom. Rattlesnake fangs are used for growth potions and their rattles are for Jitter Draughts," he told him, having thought the same before choosing to do his report on all eight variations of the exact potion they would be doing today rather than its history like Harry.
"Correct, Potter," Snape said, dark eyebrows raised to his hairline. Ah, a question is coming. "And what of snake skin?"
"It's put into Rejuvenation Serums," he answered after a moment of thought.
"Correct, ten points to Slytherin," Snape declared as the last person entered the room. His long, pale fingers brushed the desk in what Greyson was learning to be his professor's unique way of saying good job. He heard the Gryffindors all groan but couldn't find it in himself to feel anything other than pride. "Besides jelly bards and snake venom, what else can be used for a paralysis potion?" He looked over the class, skipping over Hermione who was on the edge of her seat and waving her hand eagerly. "Longbottom."
Neville shriveled up in fear of Snape's intense black gaze. "Uh... Glory horns?"
"10 points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped. "Greyson Potter."
"Red spotted horned slugs, purple striped glory poppers, not to be mistaken for the blue striped glory popper which will make your paralysis potion a Gaudium Aphrosia, or a jubilation tonic. There are also bee stingers, cicuta root, lathyrus beans, and dwale leaves. All of them create a varying strength in the Nervoreum, jelly barbs make the most effective potion, commonly compared to the Draught of Living Death."
"Correct, ten more points to Slytherin," Snape's small smirk didn't escape Greyson's notice and realized his friends may have been right about a few things. "Now, each group will create a different version of this potion with one of the eight ingriedents. Remember that the instructions change based on the main ingredient. Once you have been given your ingredient, you may begin." He went around the room giving each group their ingredient before stopping at Greyson and Draco. "You two will have jelly barbs. This is the most difficult of the potions. I trust you will not mess it up."
Greyson nodded with a smile and started the fire for their cauldron before adding the powdered lizard lung and fisheye jelly. "Do you mind cutting up the milkweed stems?" He asked as he stirred the pot and waited for it to turn the right shade of blue. Getting no response, he turned to Draco, who was… staring at him? Blue eyes widened in alarm and his head whipped around toward the ingredients so fast Greyson was concerned he'd get whiplash.
"How did you remember all of the stuff about the potion?" Draco mumbled as he quickly dissected the milkweed and added it to their mixture. "Is it the right color yet?"
"Not yet, almost though," Greyson answered, blocking the cutting board until Draco put down the rest. "And I remembered it from the beginning of the year." He kept his eye on the potion and saw the moment it turned bright blue. "Okay… now." Pulling out his wand, he whispered, "Motus tardus," causing the spoon to start a slow constant stirring. He put on his dragon hide gloves and grabbed the jelly barbs and set the barbs in their mortar. As he mashed them, he took a moment to see if his partner seemed okay. It wasn't like him to zone out so easily, but whatever had come over him he seemed to have moved past it now.
Draco was reading over the potion for the next step as Greyson hummed, working from memory alone. "We need to… Grate the horse chestnut into the cauldron and stop once the potion turns turquoise, not to be confused with sea blue seafoam," Greyson nodded as he grabbed the strainer to get the juice from the barbs before mashing them more with the mortar. Draco stared at him again and Greyson met his stare head on this time, his eyebrows rising, before Draco nodded and started to help. They worked together easily, moving around each other in a way that had been honed over several experiments just like this one.
"Should I read out what we do next or do you already know?" Draco drawled, looking at Greyson. He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing his potion books in front of him. After a minute or so he grabbed some dried juniper berries and minced them. He sprinkled them in a little at a time until it became just the right shade of turquoise.
"There, now the mashed jelly barbs and a pinch of powdered larkspur," Greyson said as it turned a light pink. "We let it simmer for an hour while continuously stirring before adding the jelly barb juice." Snape passed by as they were wiping down their hands and looked at their cauldron, sniffing the air imperiously.
"Smells like salt water taffy," he commented. Those sharp eyebrows raised and Greyson prepared for a question. "And it's the right shade of pink. Have you added the jelly barb juice?"
"Not yet, we're waiting for its hour of simmering to be done before we add it," Greyson repeated, finding his eyes seeking out Snape's for a hint of approval. Snape nodded and it didn't escape his attention that Snape had the slightest hint of a smile as he continued on to test another group. "Bloody hell," he whispered slowly. "I can't believe it."
"What?" Draco asked, looking at him.
"Snape does favor me. I'm a bloody teacher's pet."
"Of course he does. All he ever does when someone messes up is talk about how well you do with the potions and how advanced you are to not need the book."
"He does? I never heard anyone mention him saying that."
Draco rolled his eyes. "You always have your nose in a book when he's talking."
Greyson felt his ears tinge pink. "Oh," he said, slowly removing his hand from the book he was just about to start reading.
"What are you reading?"
"Oh, a book I got for Christmas… Dragon's of the Wizarding Realm. It's very detailed and a great read."
"Looks expensive. Who got it for you?"
He opened his mouth to confront Draco about the book, but changed his mind. "I don't know," he hedged. "It was anonymous, but whoever did get it for me, I'm going to be forever grateful for this and the book on Wizard Family Lineages. They're both my favorites."
He watched as Draco puffed up his chest, pleased with himself and Greyson was glad he didn't confront Draco. Seeing him truly happy warmed his heart more than letting him know that he knew. "Well, I guess whoever gave them to you has great taste and money."
"Yeah," Greyson nodded, trying not to break out in a large grin as Draco only seemed to puff up even more at the agreement. How cute.