DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I am in no way associated with JK Rowling et
al. I'm just an unhealthily obsessed Harry Potter fanatic.
A/N: Many thanks to everybody who left me reviews for the first two chapters. You guys rock! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint y'all. In reply to a question that was asked by a couple of people, no this isn't going to be a Snape/Harry fic. I've been toying with the idea of a few pairings, but if I'm honest, I've not decided yet.
And as a random piece of information, I thought people might like to know that my favourite HP characters are Snape, Draco and James Potter *shrugs* In case you were wondering.
And finally, apologies for the length of this chapter – I hope you manage to stick with it to the end. There's not much action, but I hope you like it anyways *crosses fingers*
CHAPTER THREE
The news of Harry's Quidditch ban spread like wildfire through the school, and by dinnertime the following day, the whole student population seemed to have heard. On the whole, only the Hufflepuffs seemed to be genuinely sympathetic to Harry's plight. The Ravenclaws, although generally on good terms with the Gryffindors, couldn't quite conceal their relief that Harry would be out of action for their approaching Quidditch match in seven weeks time. The Slytherins, to nobody's surprise, were openly gleeful at the news. Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall to Harry, the very next morning, at breakfast.
"Potter! Dreadful shame, isn't it? And to think if you'd only been a bit nicer to me in Potions...."
Harry gritted his teeth and considered making a dash at Malfoy. He'd probably be able to do a fair amount of damage before anybody could break them apart.....
"Don't even think about it, Harry," Hermione breathed quietly in Harry's ear, as though able to read his mind. "It would only make matters worse."
Personally, Harry didn't see how things could get much worse. Not being able to play Quidditch was going to be torture for him. As an extra precaution, Snape had Harry's invisibility cloak and firebolt confiscated.
Harry didn't know whether Snape had spoken to Dumbledore, as he'd threatened to do, but either way, Harry didn't hear a word from the Headmaster. The whole Gryffindor Quidditch Team had appealed to both Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall about Harry's punishment, but Snape just smiled malevolently and refused to budge on the issue, while McGonagall bitterly informed them that she had no authority to overrule Professor Snape on this occasion.
*
Four days after the whole episode, it was time for Potions again. Harry dragged his feet towards the Dungeons, Hermione and Ron trying in vain to cheer him up.
"Come on, Mate," Ron said, using the cheeriest tone of voice he could muster, "It's only another seven and half weeks. Then you'll be back on the team."
But for some reason, this didn't cheer Harry up much. Seven and a half weeks. It might as well be a lifetime.
"Ron's right, Harry. Just try and be positive," Hermione said encouragingly. "It'll be over before you know it."
But Harry doubted that very much. He was thinking about how he was going to survive seven and a half weeks without Quidditch, when the trio rounded a corner and were met by a large crowd of Slytherins. There was a large queue outside of the Dungeon classroom where the Potions lessons were situated. Harry, Ron and Hermione pushed their way through the crowd, towards Seamus Finnegan and Neville Longbottom, who were beckoning them over.
"Hi," Seamus said cheerily, smiling widely, even as he was jostled by the surging crowd of Slytherins. "This is crazy, isn't it?"
Hermione nodded in agreement and looked inquisitively at the door to the classroom, which was closed. She glanced at her watch and then bit down on her lip.
"I wonder where Professor Snape is? He's never usually late for lessons."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Who cares where he is?" he said, a disbelieving tone to his voice. "I know you like lessons and all, Hermione, but don't tell me you're actually worried about missing a few precious minutes of Potions?"
Hermione shot Ron a warning look, before standing up on her tiptoes and looking over the heads of the crowd. "No, but I'm just saying..."
But exactly what she was saying, Ron never found out, because Draco Malfoy chose that moment to elbow Hermione roughly in the back, almost knocking her off her feet and making her gasp with pain. Harry leant closer to check that Hermione was alright, while Ron whirled around to face Draco, who had that trademark smirk of his firmly fixed into place.
"What the Hell did you do that for, Malfoy?" he demanded, drawing himself up to his full height and glaring at Draco. If looks could kill, Draco would have been dead and buried. A vicious light was gleaming from Ron's eyes, which were narrowed slightly. He was a good three inches taller than Draco, but the Slytherin didn't appear at all phased by this.
Draco merely raised his eyebrows slightly and responded in a lazy drawl. "Do what, exactly, Weasel?"
"You know bloody well what!" Ron spat, as if the words had a foul taste.
But Draco continued to smirk, not even slightly intimidated by Ron. Crabbe and Goyle were standing close behind Draco, as usual, and were chuckling quietly. Ron shot them an angry glare and they fell silent.
Hermione, who had caught her breath again, straightened up and put a hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Don't, Ron. He's not worth it. He's only trying to cause trouble, as usual."
She didn't look at Malfoy as she spoke, she kept her eyes fixed on Ron.
"No, Hermione," Ron said angrily, "I've had enough of his bullying." He turned back to Draco, who had turned away and was talking quietly to Crabbe and Goyle. Ron grabbed Draco's shoulder and pulled him around to face him. "Did you hear me? I've had enough of you."
But to Ron's annoyance, Draco didn't display any signs of fear, aggravation or annoyance. In fact, he didn't react at all. He just raised his eyebrows and acted as though Ron had just asked him to pass the Pumpkin juice.
"And I'm supposed to care what you think, am I?" he asked. He jerked his shoulder backwards and out of Ron's grip. "Don't you ever touch me again."
Ron was about to grab Malfoy by the throat and throttle him, when approaching footsteps caused the group of students to fall silent and still. A few seconds later, Professor Snape rounded the corner and gave them all a detestable look. He barged through the crowd and unlocked the door.
"Inside, everybody. Silence. Quickly. Quickly."
The students began to file silently inside. Snape nodded at a few of the Slytherin students as they passed, and scowled at most of the Gryffindors.
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Afternoon, Mr Malfoy."
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Silence, Finnegan."
"Bloody favouritism."
"Do I have to tell you again?"
"No, Sir."
Once all the students were inside, Snape slammed the door shut and strode to the front of the class. He turned to face the class, crossing his arms.
"Parchment and quills away – today I shall be testing you on the Carlitus Draft."
A murmur ran through the room as the students turned to each other – they'd only studied the Cariltus Draft briefly in their last lesson. Snape shot Hermione a withering look as her hand shot into the air.
"What is it?"
"But, Sir, we haven't learned the proper procedure for.."
"It is not my fault, Miss Granger," Snape interrupted, turning his back to Hermione and waving his wand at the blackboard, where a list of ingredients began to appear in spidery writing, "if you have not mastered the procedure. You were given adequate instructions in your previous lesson. May I suggest paying more attention in my classes in the future."
Hermione's hand fell to her side and she exchanged irritated looks with Harry. Draco Malfoy sniggered loudly at the desk behind them.
"All of the ingredients you require are here at the front of the class – "
Snape waved vaguely to a large box that was sitting on top of his desk.
"– and you will have thirty minutes to prepare the Draft, after which I will test each and every Potion. You will work in pairs."
Snape then turned back to face the class and pointed at various students, pairing them off.
"Granger and Weasley."
"Crabbe and Parkinson."
"Malfoy and Potter."
Harry's eyes widened with horror. He had to work with Draco Malfoy? He looked at Ron and Hermione, a distressed expression creasing his face. They both smiled sympathetically at him, as Snape continued to pair off students.
"Look at it this way, mate," Ron murmured, "At least you'll get a decent grade. Snape's not going to fail his little angel Malfoy, is he? Now, me and Hermione on the other hand..."
With a sigh, Harry turned to face Draco, who was sitting perfectly still and smirking at Harry. "Go and get the ingredients then, Potter."
"What did your last servant die of, Malfoy?" Harry shot back, narrowing his eyes. He couldn't believe that Snape had paired him with Malfoy after what had happened in the previous lesson. But then again, perhaps that was Snape's motive for pairing them together – if Harry and Draco had another disagreement, it would give Snape another reason to remove even more points from Gryffindor.
"Of disobedience," Draco said, not batting an eyelid, "So you'd better get a move on."
"Get them yourself," Harry muttered. He wasn't going to allow Draco to push him around.
"Now, now, Potter, we're supposed to be working as a team. I thought you Gryffindors were supposed to be wonderful team players. I distinctly remember that revolting hat saying so," Draco said in a bored tone of voice, referring to the sorting hat's most recent song. He twirled his Eagle feather quill between his thumb and forefinger.
"I'm not your servant, Malfoy," Harry growled. "So I'm not going to...."
"Problems, Draco?"
Snape's silky voice made Harry leave his sentence unfinished. He and Draco both looked up at Professor Snape, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking down at them. Draco sighed.
"Yes, Sir. Potter refuses to cooperate with me and he was just saying that only an incompetent idiot would pair us together."
The lie dripped from Draco's tongue as naturally as had it been the truth.
"Is that so?" Snape replied, raising an eyebrow at Harry, who was looking open mouthed at Draco.
"I did not!" he objected, looking desperately at Snape. "Malfoy is...."
But Professor Snape held up his hand and interrupted Harry.
"Silence, Potter. I do not care to listen to your petty disagreements with Mr Malfoy. Go and get the ingredients from my desk. Now, Potter."
"But...."
"I will not tell you again."
Harry narrowed his eyes and gave an annoyed grunt, before turning and marching to Snape's desk at the front of the classroom. When he returned, his arms full of eel eyes, newt livers and other equally repulsive ingredients, Snape was no longer there. Draco had his elbows on the desk, resting his chin in his hands.
"You're pathetic, you know that?" Harry muttered, as he dropped the ingredients down onto the desk.
"Sticks and stones, Potter," Draco smirked, before starting to look through the ingredients. "Newt liver – we'll need four slices. Leech Juice – just a dash... We won't need the Elderflower Roots until the very end..."
Harry sat down on his chair, on the opposite side of the desk to Malfoy, and watched Draco, his eyes widening slightly. Draco actually seemed to know what he was doing. He continued to search through the ingredients, muttering quietly to himself as he set certain things apart from the rest. After a moment or two, he looked up at Harry and frowned.
"What?"
Harry shook his head. "Nothing. You know how to make it then?"
"Of course I do," Draco shot back, a disgruntled expression creasing his face. "Contrary to popular belief, I do actually pay attention in class, you know."
Harry gave a snort of disbelief and then fell silent. His eyes drifted around the dungeon classroom. At the desk behind Draco, Pansy Parkinson was whispering to Crabbe, who kept glancing in Harry's direction. Seamus had been paired with Blaise Zabini, and they both looked equally unhappy about the arrangement. Lavender Brown was sitting next to Neville, who was looking nervously over his shoulder at Professor Snape.
"Are you planning on doing anything at all to contribute?" Draco's droll voice shook Harry out of his thoughts.
Harry mumbled a half hearted apology, to which Draco responded with an evil glare. He pushed the pile of Elderflower Roots towards Harry.
"Chop these," he commanded, before turning his attention back to his cauldron, which was about a quarter full of bubbling orange liquid. "And make sure they're in equal, even pieces."
"I know how to chop Dandelion Roots," Harry said, scowling at Draco across the table.
"That's nice to know, Potter," Draco smirked, adding a dash of Leech Juice to the potion, "but that won't help much, considering those are Elderflower Roots."
"Oh."
Harry felt his cheeks flush and he looked away from Draco, focusing his attention on the Roots infront of him. Why couldn't he have been paired with Ron or Hermione or Seamus? Why did he have to work with the boy he despised more than anybody else in the school?
Professor Snape continued to patrol the room, stopping at various desks and either nodding (if it was a pair of Slytherin students) or scowling (if the students were Gryffindors). Harry glanced up as Snape stopped at the cauldron Lavender Brown was sharing with Neville. Neville was so intimidated by Professor Snape, that he accidentally knocked over a large cup of leech juice, which splashed up the front of Lavender's robes, causing her to squeal and jump to her feet.
"Ten minutes left," Snape's voice announced. "Your potion should almost been complete, as it needs exactly six minutes to simmer before use."
Harry finished chopping the roots and pushed them across the desk towards Malfoy.
"Put them in then," Draco barked, tossing Harry an annoyed frown. "Or do you expect me to do everything?"
"Go to Hell, Malfoy," Harry muttered as he dropped the roots into the boiling potion. The sooner the class was over, the better. He looked over his shoulder at Ron and Hermione. Hermione was muttering hurried instructions to Ron, who looked more than a little harassed.
"Terrible shame about you getting banned from Quidditch, Potter."
Harry spun back around to face Draco. He was leaning back in his seat, once again twirling his quill between his fingers; a malicious smile was playing around his lips.
"I suppose that irritating Weasel brat will be standing in for you again?"
"Like it's any of your business!" Harry shot back, leaning his elbows on the desk and glaring at Draco with a look of intense dislike. "You're just jealous because Ginny is ten times better than you'll ever be."
Draco scoffed and raised his eyebrows. "That Weasel brat, better than me? In her dreams, Potter."
"Silence!"
The classroom fell into a hushed silence at once and all eyes turned to Professor Snape, who was standing at the front of the class, his face stern and emotionless.
"Your potions should all be complete by this time – Miss Patil, step away from your cauldron. I shall now test each and every one of them, although I have grave misgivings about going anywhere near the contents of Mr Longbottom's cauldron."
Everybody craned their necks to look at Neville, who bit down on his lip and looked at the floor. Harry felt an violent rush of pity rise in him and he tried to catch Neville's eye to give him an encouraging smile.
"First – Weasley and Granger..."
TBC.....
A/N: Many thanks to everybody who left me reviews for the first two chapters. You guys rock! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint y'all. In reply to a question that was asked by a couple of people, no this isn't going to be a Snape/Harry fic. I've been toying with the idea of a few pairings, but if I'm honest, I've not decided yet.
And as a random piece of information, I thought people might like to know that my favourite HP characters are Snape, Draco and James Potter *shrugs* In case you were wondering.
And finally, apologies for the length of this chapter – I hope you manage to stick with it to the end. There's not much action, but I hope you like it anyways *crosses fingers*
CHAPTER THREE
The news of Harry's Quidditch ban spread like wildfire through the school, and by dinnertime the following day, the whole student population seemed to have heard. On the whole, only the Hufflepuffs seemed to be genuinely sympathetic to Harry's plight. The Ravenclaws, although generally on good terms with the Gryffindors, couldn't quite conceal their relief that Harry would be out of action for their approaching Quidditch match in seven weeks time. The Slytherins, to nobody's surprise, were openly gleeful at the news. Draco Malfoy shouted across the Great Hall to Harry, the very next morning, at breakfast.
"Potter! Dreadful shame, isn't it? And to think if you'd only been a bit nicer to me in Potions...."
Harry gritted his teeth and considered making a dash at Malfoy. He'd probably be able to do a fair amount of damage before anybody could break them apart.....
"Don't even think about it, Harry," Hermione breathed quietly in Harry's ear, as though able to read his mind. "It would only make matters worse."
Personally, Harry didn't see how things could get much worse. Not being able to play Quidditch was going to be torture for him. As an extra precaution, Snape had Harry's invisibility cloak and firebolt confiscated.
Harry didn't know whether Snape had spoken to Dumbledore, as he'd threatened to do, but either way, Harry didn't hear a word from the Headmaster. The whole Gryffindor Quidditch Team had appealed to both Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall about Harry's punishment, but Snape just smiled malevolently and refused to budge on the issue, while McGonagall bitterly informed them that she had no authority to overrule Professor Snape on this occasion.
*
Four days after the whole episode, it was time for Potions again. Harry dragged his feet towards the Dungeons, Hermione and Ron trying in vain to cheer him up.
"Come on, Mate," Ron said, using the cheeriest tone of voice he could muster, "It's only another seven and half weeks. Then you'll be back on the team."
But for some reason, this didn't cheer Harry up much. Seven and a half weeks. It might as well be a lifetime.
"Ron's right, Harry. Just try and be positive," Hermione said encouragingly. "It'll be over before you know it."
But Harry doubted that very much. He was thinking about how he was going to survive seven and a half weeks without Quidditch, when the trio rounded a corner and were met by a large crowd of Slytherins. There was a large queue outside of the Dungeon classroom where the Potions lessons were situated. Harry, Ron and Hermione pushed their way through the crowd, towards Seamus Finnegan and Neville Longbottom, who were beckoning them over.
"Hi," Seamus said cheerily, smiling widely, even as he was jostled by the surging crowd of Slytherins. "This is crazy, isn't it?"
Hermione nodded in agreement and looked inquisitively at the door to the classroom, which was closed. She glanced at her watch and then bit down on her lip.
"I wonder where Professor Snape is? He's never usually late for lessons."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Who cares where he is?" he said, a disbelieving tone to his voice. "I know you like lessons and all, Hermione, but don't tell me you're actually worried about missing a few precious minutes of Potions?"
Hermione shot Ron a warning look, before standing up on her tiptoes and looking over the heads of the crowd. "No, but I'm just saying..."
But exactly what she was saying, Ron never found out, because Draco Malfoy chose that moment to elbow Hermione roughly in the back, almost knocking her off her feet and making her gasp with pain. Harry leant closer to check that Hermione was alright, while Ron whirled around to face Draco, who had that trademark smirk of his firmly fixed into place.
"What the Hell did you do that for, Malfoy?" he demanded, drawing himself up to his full height and glaring at Draco. If looks could kill, Draco would have been dead and buried. A vicious light was gleaming from Ron's eyes, which were narrowed slightly. He was a good three inches taller than Draco, but the Slytherin didn't appear at all phased by this.
Draco merely raised his eyebrows slightly and responded in a lazy drawl. "Do what, exactly, Weasel?"
"You know bloody well what!" Ron spat, as if the words had a foul taste.
But Draco continued to smirk, not even slightly intimidated by Ron. Crabbe and Goyle were standing close behind Draco, as usual, and were chuckling quietly. Ron shot them an angry glare and they fell silent.
Hermione, who had caught her breath again, straightened up and put a hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Don't, Ron. He's not worth it. He's only trying to cause trouble, as usual."
She didn't look at Malfoy as she spoke, she kept her eyes fixed on Ron.
"No, Hermione," Ron said angrily, "I've had enough of his bullying." He turned back to Draco, who had turned away and was talking quietly to Crabbe and Goyle. Ron grabbed Draco's shoulder and pulled him around to face him. "Did you hear me? I've had enough of you."
But to Ron's annoyance, Draco didn't display any signs of fear, aggravation or annoyance. In fact, he didn't react at all. He just raised his eyebrows and acted as though Ron had just asked him to pass the Pumpkin juice.
"And I'm supposed to care what you think, am I?" he asked. He jerked his shoulder backwards and out of Ron's grip. "Don't you ever touch me again."
Ron was about to grab Malfoy by the throat and throttle him, when approaching footsteps caused the group of students to fall silent and still. A few seconds later, Professor Snape rounded the corner and gave them all a detestable look. He barged through the crowd and unlocked the door.
"Inside, everybody. Silence. Quickly. Quickly."
The students began to file silently inside. Snape nodded at a few of the Slytherin students as they passed, and scowled at most of the Gryffindors.
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Afternoon, Mr Malfoy."
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Silence, Finnegan."
"Bloody favouritism."
"Do I have to tell you again?"
"No, Sir."
Once all the students were inside, Snape slammed the door shut and strode to the front of the class. He turned to face the class, crossing his arms.
"Parchment and quills away – today I shall be testing you on the Carlitus Draft."
A murmur ran through the room as the students turned to each other – they'd only studied the Cariltus Draft briefly in their last lesson. Snape shot Hermione a withering look as her hand shot into the air.
"What is it?"
"But, Sir, we haven't learned the proper procedure for.."
"It is not my fault, Miss Granger," Snape interrupted, turning his back to Hermione and waving his wand at the blackboard, where a list of ingredients began to appear in spidery writing, "if you have not mastered the procedure. You were given adequate instructions in your previous lesson. May I suggest paying more attention in my classes in the future."
Hermione's hand fell to her side and she exchanged irritated looks with Harry. Draco Malfoy sniggered loudly at the desk behind them.
"All of the ingredients you require are here at the front of the class – "
Snape waved vaguely to a large box that was sitting on top of his desk.
"– and you will have thirty minutes to prepare the Draft, after which I will test each and every Potion. You will work in pairs."
Snape then turned back to face the class and pointed at various students, pairing them off.
"Granger and Weasley."
"Crabbe and Parkinson."
"Malfoy and Potter."
Harry's eyes widened with horror. He had to work with Draco Malfoy? He looked at Ron and Hermione, a distressed expression creasing his face. They both smiled sympathetically at him, as Snape continued to pair off students.
"Look at it this way, mate," Ron murmured, "At least you'll get a decent grade. Snape's not going to fail his little angel Malfoy, is he? Now, me and Hermione on the other hand..."
With a sigh, Harry turned to face Draco, who was sitting perfectly still and smirking at Harry. "Go and get the ingredients then, Potter."
"What did your last servant die of, Malfoy?" Harry shot back, narrowing his eyes. He couldn't believe that Snape had paired him with Malfoy after what had happened in the previous lesson. But then again, perhaps that was Snape's motive for pairing them together – if Harry and Draco had another disagreement, it would give Snape another reason to remove even more points from Gryffindor.
"Of disobedience," Draco said, not batting an eyelid, "So you'd better get a move on."
"Get them yourself," Harry muttered. He wasn't going to allow Draco to push him around.
"Now, now, Potter, we're supposed to be working as a team. I thought you Gryffindors were supposed to be wonderful team players. I distinctly remember that revolting hat saying so," Draco said in a bored tone of voice, referring to the sorting hat's most recent song. He twirled his Eagle feather quill between his thumb and forefinger.
"I'm not your servant, Malfoy," Harry growled. "So I'm not going to...."
"Problems, Draco?"
Snape's silky voice made Harry leave his sentence unfinished. He and Draco both looked up at Professor Snape, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking down at them. Draco sighed.
"Yes, Sir. Potter refuses to cooperate with me and he was just saying that only an incompetent idiot would pair us together."
The lie dripped from Draco's tongue as naturally as had it been the truth.
"Is that so?" Snape replied, raising an eyebrow at Harry, who was looking open mouthed at Draco.
"I did not!" he objected, looking desperately at Snape. "Malfoy is...."
But Professor Snape held up his hand and interrupted Harry.
"Silence, Potter. I do not care to listen to your petty disagreements with Mr Malfoy. Go and get the ingredients from my desk. Now, Potter."
"But...."
"I will not tell you again."
Harry narrowed his eyes and gave an annoyed grunt, before turning and marching to Snape's desk at the front of the classroom. When he returned, his arms full of eel eyes, newt livers and other equally repulsive ingredients, Snape was no longer there. Draco had his elbows on the desk, resting his chin in his hands.
"You're pathetic, you know that?" Harry muttered, as he dropped the ingredients down onto the desk.
"Sticks and stones, Potter," Draco smirked, before starting to look through the ingredients. "Newt liver – we'll need four slices. Leech Juice – just a dash... We won't need the Elderflower Roots until the very end..."
Harry sat down on his chair, on the opposite side of the desk to Malfoy, and watched Draco, his eyes widening slightly. Draco actually seemed to know what he was doing. He continued to search through the ingredients, muttering quietly to himself as he set certain things apart from the rest. After a moment or two, he looked up at Harry and frowned.
"What?"
Harry shook his head. "Nothing. You know how to make it then?"
"Of course I do," Draco shot back, a disgruntled expression creasing his face. "Contrary to popular belief, I do actually pay attention in class, you know."
Harry gave a snort of disbelief and then fell silent. His eyes drifted around the dungeon classroom. At the desk behind Draco, Pansy Parkinson was whispering to Crabbe, who kept glancing in Harry's direction. Seamus had been paired with Blaise Zabini, and they both looked equally unhappy about the arrangement. Lavender Brown was sitting next to Neville, who was looking nervously over his shoulder at Professor Snape.
"Are you planning on doing anything at all to contribute?" Draco's droll voice shook Harry out of his thoughts.
Harry mumbled a half hearted apology, to which Draco responded with an evil glare. He pushed the pile of Elderflower Roots towards Harry.
"Chop these," he commanded, before turning his attention back to his cauldron, which was about a quarter full of bubbling orange liquid. "And make sure they're in equal, even pieces."
"I know how to chop Dandelion Roots," Harry said, scowling at Draco across the table.
"That's nice to know, Potter," Draco smirked, adding a dash of Leech Juice to the potion, "but that won't help much, considering those are Elderflower Roots."
"Oh."
Harry felt his cheeks flush and he looked away from Draco, focusing his attention on the Roots infront of him. Why couldn't he have been paired with Ron or Hermione or Seamus? Why did he have to work with the boy he despised more than anybody else in the school?
Professor Snape continued to patrol the room, stopping at various desks and either nodding (if it was a pair of Slytherin students) or scowling (if the students were Gryffindors). Harry glanced up as Snape stopped at the cauldron Lavender Brown was sharing with Neville. Neville was so intimidated by Professor Snape, that he accidentally knocked over a large cup of leech juice, which splashed up the front of Lavender's robes, causing her to squeal and jump to her feet.
"Ten minutes left," Snape's voice announced. "Your potion should almost been complete, as it needs exactly six minutes to simmer before use."
Harry finished chopping the roots and pushed them across the desk towards Malfoy.
"Put them in then," Draco barked, tossing Harry an annoyed frown. "Or do you expect me to do everything?"
"Go to Hell, Malfoy," Harry muttered as he dropped the roots into the boiling potion. The sooner the class was over, the better. He looked over his shoulder at Ron and Hermione. Hermione was muttering hurried instructions to Ron, who looked more than a little harassed.
"Terrible shame about you getting banned from Quidditch, Potter."
Harry spun back around to face Draco. He was leaning back in his seat, once again twirling his quill between his fingers; a malicious smile was playing around his lips.
"I suppose that irritating Weasel brat will be standing in for you again?"
"Like it's any of your business!" Harry shot back, leaning his elbows on the desk and glaring at Draco with a look of intense dislike. "You're just jealous because Ginny is ten times better than you'll ever be."
Draco scoffed and raised his eyebrows. "That Weasel brat, better than me? In her dreams, Potter."
"Silence!"
The classroom fell into a hushed silence at once and all eyes turned to Professor Snape, who was standing at the front of the class, his face stern and emotionless.
"Your potions should all be complete by this time – Miss Patil, step away from your cauldron. I shall now test each and every one of them, although I have grave misgivings about going anywhere near the contents of Mr Longbottom's cauldron."
Everybody craned their necks to look at Neville, who bit down on his lip and looked at the floor. Harry felt an violent rush of pity rise in him and he tried to catch Neville's eye to give him an encouraging smile.
"First – Weasley and Granger..."
TBC.....
