Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of its characters so don't sue me!
Pairings: H/D
Plot: One of those 'Harry gets turned into a child in a Potions lesson - by accident' fics, only with a twist I think (hope) is uniquely my own. Also, unlike the other fics I've read, there isn't going to be some miraculous halt on Voldemort's attacks, just because Harry is now a child. Hope you enjoy!
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Mushrooms belong in the kitchen
As far as Harry Potter was concerned it was a perfectly normal day. Sleep through the wizard alarm clock, even though it's placed right next to his head. Only make it down to breakfast in time, thanks to an annoyed Hermione who let herself into the boy's dorms after waiting downstairs for them for twenty minutes. Stagger to the Great Hall, shove as much food in as quickly as possible, wash it down with some pumpkin juice, then scramble to first class.
Unfortunately, this morning Harry's first class was Potions, with Professor Snape, who seemed to be in an even worse mood this morning than normal. Confronted with the need to generate some false hatred at such a grossly abnormal hour in the morning, the best Harry could produce was a facial expression which curled his upper lip away from his teeth, in what Harry hoped was a disgusted expression, but rather felt like what he did in the morning to check his teeth were back to their normal sparkling quality.
Looking mildly thrown by Harry's look, Snape rallied himself rather heroically and the two then engaged in a mutual glare of anger, scorn and discontent. Waiting until the Professor disengaged first, as was his wont, Harry was almost immediately accosted by the second person-he-was-meant-to-hate-on-sight.
Granted, all Draco did was happen to glance in Harry's direction, and was unfortunate enough that his curious grey eyes connected with Harry's sleep-dimmed green ones. Yet such acknowledgement of each other's existence couldn't be overlooked, at least - not with a classroom full of Slytherins and Gryffindors who were eagerly watching the pair as though it were a spectator sport.
"What are you looking at, Potter?" Typical, trust Malfoy to be capable of dredging up the perfect sneer, not a hair out of place, despite the still-ungodly hour. Raising an eyebrow, Malfoy aimed a supercilious look in Harry's direction, looking for all the world as though he'd been conscious for hours, had chosen to come to lessons of his own free will, and his brain was working at a faster rate than Harry's was capable of yet.
"…nothing much."
Too tired to put much effort into his side of the 'argument', Harry opted for the world-renowned casual-approach, whereby the implementer appears too aloof to be drawn into a petty squabble. Evidently a slap in the face for Draco, who suddenly looked as though he'd bitten a lemon. Probably a fight with Harry was just the thing he needed to warm up for the day ahead.
Ignoring the surprised expressions of his class mates, and even the curious look directed at him from Snape, who was most intimately acquainted with Harry's lack of control where his temper was concerned, Harry sat down at his usual seat and withdrew his Potions equipment from his satchel.
Neatly lining up the bottles of ingredients they had to take with them to every Potions lesson, along the front of his desk, Harry ignored the unusual silence, refusing to look up again until everybody began to move and sit down in their own seats. Turning away from Ron's questioning look on his left, Harry turned to his right and engaged Hermione in a discussion on the merits of Sausco root when used in a Hydrige potion, as opposed to the prescribed Jojo bean.
"Alright, quiet down! Now, I don't expect you to understand the intricacy of the potion I am going to have you brew today, so I won't expect you to do any extra research or essays on it…"
Rapping his wand on the top of his desk briefly to get attention, Snape stood in front of the desk and outlined the plan for the day's lesson, as instant hush fell over the room.
"…You will, however, need to be able to brew this potion for your exam, as well as roughly understand its use. All you have to do today is follow the instructions on the board…"
At a casual flick from his wand, a series of chalky lines began to appear on the blackboard, spreading across the surface until they coalesced into the instructions for the potion.
"…Something I am sure even you lot won't be able to mess up!"
"Only one thing," At those words the scrabble for ingredients halted, and the students, half-risen from their seats, looked up at him in apprehension.
"You will be required to work with a partner on this potion, and I have already taken the liberty of assigning pairs. Consult the list on my desk to find out who you must work with, then get to it!"
A groan rippled around the room. Too low for it to be heard and people to be punished, it was rather felt by each of the students, like a shiver dancing across a puddle of water.
Gathering himself, Harry pushed himself up from his seat and was among the first people daring enough to go forwards. Awake enough to understand the nastiness of the situation, Harry unfortunately made the mistake of looking into the glinting black eyes of the Potions Master, and wasn't quite awake enough to fight down his natural responses and generate anger instead. So it was with a clear, but uncontrollable head that Harry focused his gaze onto the piece of parchment on Snape's desk, and when he saw the name written next to his he just knew this wasn't going to be his day.
Draco Malfoy - Harry Potter
Taking a deep breath, Harry steeled himself for what was to come, knowing that his constant shield was on the fritz at the moment, and therefore dreading Draco's comments.
Walking over to the desk where the blonde-headed boy was still sitting, watching the goings-on with an amused expression on his face, Harry was able to see the moment Draco realised who was heading towards him. If he had been in perfect running order he might have even found amusement in the way Draco's face paled even further than normal with realisation and horror, but as it was he simply felt an uncomfortable ache in his chest.
Coming to a stop in front of the Slytherin, Harry's green eyes narrowed slightly in preparation for the insults that were about to come, trying to brace for the pain.
Searching Potter's eyes, Draco seemed to quickly come to some internal decision, and stood up abruptly, a sharp glance taking in his godfather's anticipatory expression.
"Right, Potter, you get the ingredients and I'll set up the cauldron."
Deciding not to stick around and question his good fortune, Harry did an about-turn and started off for the storeroom cupboard. He'd only taken a couple of steps when he heard Draco calling his name. Half-turning back, Harry presented the boy with the side of his face.
"What?"
"I don't want to ruin this potion Potter. The Golasper-Drium is an extremely difficult potion to brew, so make sure you don't screw it up for me, okay? Afterall, we both know how bad you are at just regular potions, and I dread to think what you could do to this one!"
An insult. Not as bad as anticipated though, and thinly veiled through further orders. Nodding in acquiescence, Harry decided he could deal with the lesson if Draco continued to behave like this, then turned back around to finish his mission of collecting the ingredients.
Half an hour later saw an exhausted Harry half-heartedly stirring the viscous contents of their cauldron, which had turned a pretty blue that looked almost purple.
Waiting for Draco to finish preparing the Avasko roots, which were the last ingredient they needed to add to the potion, Harry struggled to maintain his position. The urge to ease the ache in his chest had reached gargantuan proportions by now, and he doubted it had ever been this bad before.
The searing pain in his chest had flared in direct correspondence with each of Draco's taunts this morning, even if they hadn't been on a par with the boy's usual coldness. Despite the current drop in Draco's scathing comments, Harry's pain had turned into a constant throb, not unlike that of a cut which only hurts more once it's been noticed. Only maximise the pain by about a thousand.
As if in sympathy for his pain, the potion bubbled restlessly against his spoon.
Recognising this as the signal that the final ingredient needed to be added, Harry turned his green eyes on his lab partner. Only to find the blond haired Slytherin talking to someone else in his House, and the Avasko roots piled neatly on the chopping board, ready for use.
Grabbing the rubbery stalks with one hand, Harry maintained the constant stirring as he carefully sprinkled the ingredient into the mixture. Done too quickly and the potion would be ruined. No futures' would be foretold using that particular batch.
Harry had just dropped the last of the roots in the potion, when Draco turned to come back to the table, a tray of blue, neatly sliced Avasko roots in one hand. Blue?
Turning a suddenly anxious gaze to the merrily simmering liquid, Harry swore under his breath. The roots he'd added had been grey.
"Did my ears deceive me, or did precious Potter just swear?"
Trying to sound spiteful, Draco's jibe only provoked the mildest of twinges in Harry. So distraught was he over his mistake.
"Is that the Avasko root?"
Quirking an eyebrow at the boy, Draco wondered if maybe Potter was going senile. First there had been the weird twitches, almost flinches, every time he'd insulted him today, and now this unusual question. "Umm, yes, Potter. You need to add it around now, remember?"
"But, Malfoy…I already added it."
Not comprehending his meaning for a moment, Draco's grey eyes then widened in comprehension as his gaze flew to the messy, but empty worktop.
"No, you idiot! That was mushroom! You must never ever ever ever ever add mushroom to a potion - it always makes it turn out wrong!"
"Well I already did. I thought it was the Avasko root. Afterall, they are pretty similar, except for the colour…"
"Argh…" Tugging at his hair briefly in frustration, Draco barely managed to refrain from yelling, and if not for the sudden approach of his godfather, he doubted his teeth would have been able to clench on the sound in time to stop its escape.
"Mr Malfoy…Mr Potter." A barely perceptible tilt of the head acknowledged Harry's presence, before the black eyes swept assessingly over their potion.
"Remarkable, you appear to have finally got a potion done correctly, Mr Potter. No doubt due to Mr Malfoy's influence."
"Well?" Black eyes spit sparks in Harry's direction. "What, do you need an engraved invitation before you deign to test your work?"
A jolt of panic shot through Harry as the meaning behind Snape's rebuke made itself clear. Trying to comfort himself with the knowledge that Snape thought it looked alright, Harry obediently scooped out a reasonable-sized spoonful of the potion for sampling.
Despite this attempt at pacifying himself, it was with the bizarre thought, 'things are going to be very different once this potion has done its thing', that Harry tipped the blueish liquid down his throat. Under the watchful and apprehensive gazes of Snape and Draco, respectively.
As with all my stories I've taken a popular story-line, and am hoping to give it a more original slant. So, this is going to be one of those 'Harry gets turned into a baby during potions' story [with a H/D pairing, because I love them together] but with something (hopefully) unique occurring whilst Harry is a baby.
Hope you all liked the beginning - different writing style, yet again, even if it does have the same/similar tone to it as my other stories! R&R please?