Kidnap & Rescue
Chapter 2: The 'bloody' Potion
"Alright Malfoy, I've already…" Hermione said, while she dropped her things at the table of the library.
"We'll do the Numbuctulus potion if you ask. It's also known as Sleepatta Sensatta since Gianfranco Trombotti, an Italian guy, brewed it for the first time and…" Malfoy said, not looking up from the paper that said they could go and look through the 'Restricted Area' for their books.
"And when did you ask me we'd be doing THAT potion?" she said, annoyed.
"I'm sorry, just forgot. But tell me, which one you wanted to do…a simple Polyjuice potion perhaps?" he drawled, sarcasm in his voice.
"Well, kind of…" she started, but was soon interrupted.
"And you want Snape to throw it over your head before he even reads the essay?" he said ironically.
"Okay, okay…got it." She said. He was right, Snape would just put the worst mark ever if they did that potion. Better agree with the ferret.
"Now, go and look for this book over there" he commanded
"Hey! I'm not one of your house-elves Malfoy! Go on your own!" she almost yelled, catching some annoyed looks from their surroundings.
"No need to get mad at me mudblood ... just go!" he commanded once again.
"What did I do to deserve this punishment…?" she just murmured, standing up to fetch the book.
"You should be flattered that I'm helping you with the project…any other girl would be begging me to help them on their homework…" he said, a smirk across his pale face.
"You. Helping. Me? I don't need your help ferret, remember, we're working together…now YOU should be glad you were teamed up with me" she said, shooting daggers at him and wishing she could choke him there and then.
"Why? I'm better than you." he said flatly
"Better?!" her voice was as high pitched as it used to be. Her marks were here pride and her soft spot.
"Tell me about our last parchment" he said, glaring at her.
"The Transfiguration essay, 14 ft long"
"14? Just that? Mine was 21!" he said, shrugging.
"Why haven't you been named prefect then huh?"
"They've got issues," he answered, not even looking at her. Somehow, his voice had softened, just a little, but it had.
"What kind of 'issues'?"
"Not your business mudblood, now, let's get to work, bring that book over there" he commanded, the voice as cold as always.
An hour or so had passed, and the library was still crowded. They were just 6th years from Slytherin and Gryffindor, all of them working, and Hermione wasn't the exception. Even if her partner was a conceited little git, she'd have to bear him anyways if she wanted to get an A. By now, they had a pile of books spread across the table. The boy was in front of her, and much to her amazement, reading a book written in Latin while she read one which illustrations showed images of pain and torture, even death. It indeed had a good reason to be at the Restricted Section.
She had been going through it for the past 15 minutes without any results, and she felt as if anytime now, her eyes would close.
"Look, I think this would work, here are the ingredients" she said. Soon he stood up and was by her side reading what she had just found.
"Good, didn't remember them…" he muttered
"I think we should look for their information on our own…" she proposed. She didn't want to spend more time with him.
"Nope, we can't do that" he said, going to his sit across her.
"Why not?"
"I don't want you to screw the whole thing up, I need an A in this"
"Me? Screwing up? I'm sorry to tell you I've NEVER screwed up any project!"
"And I don't want THIS to be your first time…I just don't trust mudbloods…"
"How pitiful you and your death eaters friends can't try anything while you're at Hogwarts…"she said ironically. Now what Hermione had just said seemed to push something inside him. He stood up and bent over the table till he was almost a few inches from her. "I'M. NOT. A DEATH EATER!" he said slowly, his eyes as steel.
"No? If you aren't then why you have THIS," she said, surprising him as she reached for his left arm and rolled up his sleeve. There it laid the dark mark, contrasting with the pale, almost white skin of his forearm.
"This is none of your business Granger," he said, picking up his things.
"Where are you going," she asked, feeling smug with the fact she'd shut him up.
"Back to the dungeon, it's time," he said, not looking from his stuff.
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"So you say he had the…"Harry asked, after Hermione had told them about the row they'd had at the library with Malfoy
"The dark mark, in his forearm. And he tried to deny he was a death eater but with that, I shut him up!" She said, a smug smile in her lips
"He deserved it" Ron said, shrugging.
"…So Harry, who are you going to the ball with…?" a very cheerful Ginny said.
"Ummm…I dunno," he said, being totally oblivious to the fact that the red haired girl wanted to go with him.
"Who are you going with Herm?" Ginny said, trying not to punch Harry over his face for being so thick
"It's a surprise, I'm not telling you till the day of the ball"
But Ron already knew. Indeed, HE was the secret partner. Actually, they had been going out for something like a year now, without anyone knowing. After 5 years of arguing, fighting and yelling at each other (being Hogwarts' show, with bets and pop corn included) Ron had finally told her what he felt for her and now they were dating.
The reason of keeping it secret was: HARRY
It was obvious that if they told him, he'd feel out of place and would leave, and in the end he'd go away.
The other reason, that Ron would never admit to about his girlfriend, was Ginny. Just as he was so over protective with her, she was over protective with him. The last time he'd gone out with a girl he'd met over the summer, Ginny had almost ripped her head off when she got to know. He didn't know what would happen with Hermione, they were friends so perhaps she'd just be a bit more understanding.
*----***----*
"Hey! But, where are you going!?" Ron yelled across an almost empty common room. Most of the students where out at Hogsmeade buying all the presents and clothes for the ball tomorrow. Hermione and Ron had stayed; they had 'things' to do while Ginny and Harry went to the town.
"I've to meet the ferret at Myrtle's bathroom!" she shouted from the portrait hole, making the fat lady slightly annoyed.
"But you have all Xmas break to do the project!" Ron protested.
"I DON'T want to spend my entire Xmas break with Malfoy!" she shouted, picking some things that had slipped out of her hands.
"But don't take long!"
"Sure, you won't even have time to miss me when I'm back, it's just adding a few ingredients and the potion is ready"
"Alright, go"
As she passed through the portrait hole, she decided to go through the notes again. Even if it was Malfoy who knew which ingredients were to be added and had done the potion before, she felt as if there was something missing.
They had started brewing the potion on Monday and today, Thursday, was to be finished. Even if the potion was used for highly dark purposes, it was very easy to make (although you had to be fast or else some of the ingredients would go bad).
As she walked she kept on reading, till she got to Day 3
Today we added the mooncalf's hair and some mint-scented liquor Malfoy brought. The potion is a bright green, perhaps due to the liquor, and smells strongly to mint, as expected.
Granger chopped the basilisk's skin strips and then added them to the cauldron. Then she poured the Pixie's blood. The potion is boiling at 70º C, which is the optimal temperature. The ph is 6, and its density is 12.5 g per litre.
The potion continues to stay green, which is a good sign. Tomorrow we'll be adding the rest of the ingredients and we'll be trying it on ourselves. When it is finished it's expected to be bright red.
I'll brew the antidote now, since this potion we chose to prepare is used for dark deeds. The antidote is very easily done, but the ingredients for it very hard to find. It must be done a day before it's used.
Malfoy is doing the antidote. He adds 3 spoons of dragon blood, 10 drops of my blood and 10 of his. He leaves it by a window so that the full moon is shining over it. It is important that the moon shines over it, if not, the blood goes bad…
As she read part of last day's notes, she soon got to Myrtle's bathroom. They were brewing the potion there since it was the best place, it was cool enough for the ingredients and they could leave the potion by the little window high in the ceiling.
"I thought you weren't coming Granger"
"…What's the next thing we have to add?" she said harshly as she shot a death glare towards him. Even if she was so devoted to books, her studies rarely stood in the way between her and Ron…well, they didn't when she didn't want them too. Even if this was a VERY lame argument, she was mad at Malfoy, and for that, he deserved endless torture.
"Shredded opium leaves" he said, while snatching the notes out of her hands.
"Opium? Where did you take that from, it's illegal," she said.
"Not in potions. Now, add them AFTER the temperature is below 20ºC" he commanded while going through the notes and checking them out.
"…We'll just have to wait then," she said simply as she stood by the little cauldron they were brewing the potion is, feeling the heat that came from it.
"Unless you thought a bit more and cast a freezing spell over it," he drawled.
"Uhhhh…I guess that'd work" she muttered.
"Well? What are you waiting for? I thought you had brains" he said a bit too loud, motioning her to do what he wanted her to do.
"…Friggo flamma!" she said, pointing to the cauldron. Some light blue sparks surrounded it before it was freezing cold (not frozen hopefully).
"Well, that's better, now we can proceed, add the opium" he commanded.
"Come here Malfoy," she said, facing the cauldron, her back at him. She was clenching her fists and pushing her teeth together.
"Sorry, I'm writing" he said with the common smirk as he lifted his gaze to her. All what he saw was her hand coming towards him…
SLAP! And that's the sound it made once her hand landed on his right cheek. Now there was a beautiful red handprint contrasting with the pale skin surrounding it.
"Ouch…Granger what was that for?" he almost yelled as he stood up.
"For commanding me like I was a house-elf" she was looking straight at his cold silvery eyes.
"Well, you're as ugly as one" he commented with his usual smirk as he saw how flushed she had gotten.
SLAP!
"Okay…okay…" he said. This time the handprint was on his left cheek. He shot her a death glare before covering his cheek with his hand.
"One more word and I'll get you castrated," she threatened.
"I'm so scared, Granger has just threaten me to cut my balls! Ahh I think I'll pass out!" he said with an annoying high-pitched voice to mock her.
"Want another one Malfoy?"
"Feeling brave aren't we mudblood? But, let me tell you something…" he said, looking at her straight in the eyes, taking her wrist and holding tightly. If stares could kill, Hermione would drop dead on the very moment. "Nobody" he continued "-hits a Malfoy"
"Then, what did I just do, huh? Caress you?" she said, trying not to wince. Malfoy's grip on her wrist was hurting her.
"Shut up mudblood! I'm sick and tired of you! Go and finish the potion, I've done almost everything here" He yelled, dropping rudely her wrist and sitting by the wall.
"Fine ferret boy, I'll add these things and then I out of here"
"Just do it mudblood!"
She added the shredded opium, which made it turn bright red. "Good" she though as the very last opium leaf fell into the cauldron "now all I have to do is pick up everything and get away ASAP" As the potion started to bubble, Malfoy stood by her. He held two glasses, and soon one of them was full of the blood-red potion.
"…Take a sip" he said coldly, handing her the full glass
"What? No! We agreed we'd both take the potion!" she agued, with a high-pitched voice that didn't feel as hers.
"Whatever…now take the glass" he said, going past the fact her voice.
"But…who'll write?" she said, her voice normal again.
"Myrtle" He muttered with a simple shrug
"Myrtle?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, she was good at potions before she died"
"I don't want to depend on a 'ghost,'" she said, as if the word 'ghost' was something terrible.
"Good for you…Myrtle!" he went past all her worries on trusting a ghost and simply called her.
"Yeeeees?" she said with a supposed-to-be sweet voice.
"Oh Myrtle, you know, here we are, making a potion and we are about to take it, but there's no one to take notes for us. Would you please…?" he said, with a weird voice Hermione had never heard from him, so different from what it had been when they had had the row Nº235 during the project.
"And what do I get in return?" she said with that same sweet voice which was making her sick.
"Whatever you want" he said, after some thinking.
"Can I have…?" Myrtle asked but she didn't get to finish her sentence out loud. She got near Malfoy and spoke to him in his ear. All what Hermione could see was his face, for a moment expressing utter displeasure with what he was being told. Hermione could tell he DIDN'T want to do what Myrtle wanted. But the look disappeared quickly when Myrtle finished telling him.
"Uhhhh, yeah sure. You'll have 'that' after we've take the potions and you've taken notes of all what happens" he said with that same weird voice.
"Sure!" she agreed, nodding her head and jumping in mid air while she hovered.
Myrtle took the parchment and the quill, then started hovering all around, taking notes of every single word they said.
Hermione took the glass from the boy's hand and glanced at the blood-red liquid in it. It smelled strongly of mint.
"C'mon, take it," said the boy as she glanced up. He was staring right at her.
"I'm just analyzing, for the report."
"If you're analyzing whether I put arsenic in it or not, well, I didn't..."He told her smirking. Hermione stared at him oddly before drinking her potion and then shot him a death glare. Then he drank his, muttering something that sounded like 'cheers' before doing so.
"Well, now we have to wait" he sighed after a moment. Both had sat on the floor, leaning on the wall, one across the other. Myrtle was hovering in the middle of them taking notes quickly. All what was heard was the quill dancing through the parchment before Hermione muttered:
"Wait?"
"Yes, wait, you heard me Granger, you're not deaf now, are you?" he said crossly. He had returned to be his conceited, arrogant self again.
"What are the symptoms?" she asked
"For goodness sake Granger, I thought I told you to read that book…" he said between a sigh of tiredness and boredom.
"I'm feeling rather dizzy, I don't feel like being lectured you slimy git! And speak N-O-R-M-A-L-L-Y!" she said, opening her eyes wide to make him understand that she was annoyed by the way he spoke. Actually, that was something only she felt, as an aftereffect of the bloody potion. She could sense the row Nº235 was about to start. The potion made her so dizzy that even Malfoy's presence annoyed her to no end. Without even noticing, she was taking on the other boy her discomfort.
"I'm speaking fine! And that is just the potion taking effect, no need to take it on me!" he argued.
"It's your fault you made me drink it!" she yelled
"Whatever mudblood!" he just dropped it. If she were under the potion's effect, whatever thing he told her, she'd just go on arguing. Besides, he was also feeling sick, he could hardly breathe, and he felt as if his nose was suddenly blocked like being sick of flu.
He tried to remember the symptoms, even if it was difficult due to his blocked nose and the dizziness he was feeling (even if he wouldn't admit that). Clearly, these weren't the expected symptoms. The potion was supposed to act all of sudden, after a short wait. One was supposed to go blind, deaf, dumb, not to be able to smell or feel through your hands, not exactly what was happening now. He could still see Granger perfectly, leaning to the wall and closing her eyes as if that could give her some relief. He could hear her sigh loudly and could feel the cold floor beneath his hands.
This wasn't how the potion worked. And he knew it.
At this, he let out a chuckle. He had been given this potion long ago, during the summer, back at his home, or what it was supposed to be…
She felt REALLY dizzy now. It was like everything was spinning, she could hardly stay the way she was, sitting in the cold floor of the bathroom. She could hear Malfoy's footsteps somewhere, a door opening and then closing. Then she remembered Ron. He might be waiting for her to come back…she tried standing up and picking up her things but she fell to the floor at the first try. Someone stood by her side now, although her vision was all blurry.
"Hey, how you feeling?" It sounded like…Ron, only a bit different, a bit colder, perhaps due to the potion…. Yes, Ron would help her.
"A bit…dizzy…" as she said these words, all the dizziness faded away, but her vision was still blurry, and she couldn't hear well. Ron's voice still sounded strange.
"Then, I think we can go" the boy said, and started walking towards the door
"Hey, why going? We can do our 'business' here" she said, close to his ear.
"'Business'?" he said, confused
"Yes, there's nobody here, Malfoy just went god-knows-where so I think it'll be fine" she said, taking his hand and tugging him to one of the loos.
"But…" he said, stopping her. He was totally dumbfounded.
"C'mon Ron, you told me you wanted me to be…'warmer,' so that's what I'm doing" she said, getting close to him. As she did so, she took in his scent. It smelled of ocean mist mixed with a delicious scent she couldn't define. Perhaps Ron had changed his cologne…
"I was just…confused" the boy said with a smirk playing across his lips and a look of lust wandering in his eyes.
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D/C: I just forgot Draco and Harry and the gang belonged to me…well, sorry for that mistake, I'll just go and quickly write the 5th book instead of writing fics which don't pay a penny for my effort.
A/N: hey there, did you like this one? And, as I promised, here is the THANK-YOU section =)
EMerald QUeen: believe me, this is not what it seems, it will turn out to something VERY different (in chap 3 I think but not sureJ) and I'm not evil, I just think this couple looks cute, unless you have a very good reason for me being evil (grin)
dkg: thanx for that! And this story has some more chapters to go yet!
Sausage Pie: hullo beta! Well, you read this before…thanx for the support! I did notice that weird part…