Harry Potter was in big trouble. This he knew for sure. He awoke to an empty room, the peaceful sunlight peaking through his window. With a luxurious stretch he gave a great yawn, and then looking at his wrist watch, he noticed something...
He had 5 minutes to get to his potions class.
Swearing loudly he threw on his robes and exited the room, running at full speed. On his way he almost cursed Ron under his breath for not waking him earlier, but then remembered the red head had gently shook him half way out of his sleep, telling him to get up. When Harry had growled at him and yanked the covers over his head, Ron gave up and left Harry to wake on his own. Harry never was much of a morning person.
He was still at a run as he approached the door to the class. Bursting into the room, he tried to skid to a halt, but didn't stop in enough time and slammed right into Serverus Snape. The professor gave him a nasty glare and shoved him off. "Always have to make an entrance don't you Mr. Potter?" Harry held back a scowl. "Well, since you've decided to arrive so unfashionably late, I'm afraid you'll have to take the only vacant seat..." Snape pointed "next to Mr. Malfoy." Harry gave a low sigh and trudged towards his stool. He looked over at Ron and Hermione who sat side by side. Neville was sitting where Harry usually sat. All three of them looked at Harry with guilty faces.
Gee, thanks guys. Harry thought bitterly.
The professor had just returned to his lesson as Harry went to sit. Suddenly the sound of chair legs scraping the floor followed by a loud thud, resonated through the room. The class was overcome with snickering as Harry pulled himself off of the floor. As he had begun to lower himself to sit, Draco had used his leg to kick out the stool from underneath him, causing Harry to crash to the floor after trying to sit on air.
"Silence!" Snape said in a warning tone as Harry finally took a seat. The class fell quiet and the professor returned to his lesson. Any other student would have been reprimanded for pulling a stunt like pulling someone's chair out from underneath them, but since it was a Slytherin, and since it was Draco (who was knowingly Snape's favorite) the deed went unnoticed. So all Harry could do was give the boy a hateful look and begin to muster up all his strength so he could make it through the class.
By the second half of Potions Harry was feeling terribly dizzy. After a light lunch yesterday, skipping dinner and missing breakfast, his energy level was down to running on fumes.
His first task had been chopping various roots and herbs into fine pieces. What the names of them all were, well, he didn't care. He'd been like a robot, following each of Draco's crass orders like "chop this" or "throw this in".
The result was a perfect draft of a relaxation potion. To get it wrong would produce a completely opposite effect, causing the unlucky person who ingested it to be overwhelmed with anxiety and paranoia.
Draco and Harry stared at each other with misty expressions of contentment, while Ron and Hermione sat a few desks behind them, shaking, wide-eyed, and mumbling to themselves (a lesson that you never work on a potion with Neville Longbottom).
"Lovely day. Isn't it Draco?" Harry sighed happily through half open eyes.
"Sure is Harry." The boy answered with the same expression of complete bliss.
They sat in their contentment for a few minutes longer until Snape stood in front of them roughly saying "take this". As soon as the boys downed the vials of antidote, the peaceful haze was lifted from their minds and they were returned to stress and tension. The professor had no choice but to give the boys perfect marks, and Harry thought to himself that as much as he hated the boy, Draco was turning out to be a useful partner.
The last task was an adrenaline potion. This gave the user that burst of strength and power, a surge of adrenaline gives.
Harry sat doing what he had before, which was what ever Draco told him to cut or throw into the cauldron. At the addition of the last ingredient, the boiling concoction turned a fiery red color. They cast each other nervous glances and Draco looked back at the book.
After a second he gave a relieved sigh, "Phew, at first I thought it said-" He stopped and gave the page a second look. He growled and rolled his eyes, "oh, bollocks. Yellow?! You screwed it up Potter!"
"Me?!" Harry said in an offended manner, "I just did what you said! Face it Malfoy, you screwed up on a potion for once in your pathetic life."
Both boys jumped up from their seats, their chairs tipping over and clattering onto the floor. Draco shoved his insulter hard, forcing the boy to stumble back a few steps. Harry retaliated with an equally forceful shove. The class was sent in an uproar as Draco bumped against the desk, knocking the cauldron and its contents to the floor.
"Boys!" Snape bellowed as he stepped in between the two. The man was so furious he could barely speak. He just pointed to the door and said "OUT! NOW!"
They stood outside of the room on opposite sides of the hall. Both of them leaned against the wall giving each other stares dripping with malice. Soon their peers were exiting out of the classroom, and the Professor called them back in. Harry received concerned looks from Ron and Hermione as he followed Draco back into the room. He shut the door behind him and readied himself for the most severe punishment imaginable.