Chapter Five
While the students cleaned off their desks, disposed of their potions, and dispersed from the classroom, Harry and Draco waited in their seats. Shortly after, Snape reappeared from his office, cleaner and in obviously fresh robes. He beckoned the two young wizards forward, who approached the disgruntled Potions Master cautiously. Draco noticed his shoulder length black hair appeared even greasier than usual and now had a slight green sheen to it.
Snape's sharp eyes darted between the two as he announced their punishment. "You will both serve out your detentions with me tomorrow night. There is a certain flower that only blooms at midnight in the Forbidden Forest that Madame Pomfrey needs for her healing balms. You will help me search for it."
The boys shared stricken looks, each remembering the last time they went into the Forbidden Forest together.
Draco stared at the Potions Master in disbelief. Snape couldn't be that cruel. 'No, wait, he could,' Draco corrected himself. 'But not to me.' The corner of the professor's mouth was twitching up in a way that could almost be described as a smirk. Draco wondered if it was possible that it was a joke. 'Snape never jokes.' With that thought, Draco knew he would be spending the next night in the place he'd had nightmares about all through his first and second years.
Uncaring to his favorite student's inner plight, Snape concluded, "You will meet me in the entrance hall at eleven thirty." When the two students didn't move, he sneered, "You may go. Now."
And so they went, back to their respective houses, to dwell on their impending punishment.
The next morning at breakfast, a large eagle owl swept down and dropped a letter onto the Slytherin table. Draco recognized it as one of his father's owls and pocketed the small envelope without opening it. He quickly drank the rest of his pumpkin juice and grabbed a biscuit off a plate as he stood and left early. A few of his housemates looked at him curiously, but knew better then to ask.
The Slytherin common room was empty when he arrived, so he sat down at a nearby desk and opened the letter. His suspicions about what the letter concerned were confirmed as he scanned the page. His father's neat script read:
Dear Draco,
I am eager to hear how things are progressing at school, since I have yet to hear word from you. I do hope you have not forgotten your promise. I will be quite displeased if you are unable to fulfil your duties. Do not let me down. Write soon.
Your father,
Lucius Malfoy
After Draco read the last line, the letter combusted in a bright flash. Draco rolled his eyes at the lengths his father's paranoid mind would take him. While the letter had been cryptic, Draco understood the message. Taking a piece of parchment off the desk, he dipped a quill into a bottle of ink and started on his reply.
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