*grins sheepishly*

Okay…. I apologize here and now. I made a couple mistakes in the last chapter, that I've now fixed. (The chapter actually SHOWS now)

First: Quatre was referring to Millicent having a crush on him – not Blaise. Blaise is a boy. Also… MILLICENT is QUATRE'S partner. I accidentally switched Millicent and Blaise when Snape was assignin partners. Ehehe ^^;

Now. Let's see what happened to poor Neville?

***

Chapter 18

A collective hush fell over the class, and a nervous Neville eyed Duo fearfully. Duo arched an eyebrow and glanced around. Snape had paused and was watching them, though from a distance. Draco and Harry had finished theirs already, and had left it to set. They were watching as well. Even Seamus had paused in his preparations, moving away from the table slowly.

Duo blinked.

"What the hell's wrong with everybody?"

"I wasn't kidding about what I said earlier, Maxwell," Draco drawled. "Longbottom hasn't brewed a successful potion since first year. It's very likely that he's botched this one as well."

Duo frowned, looking at the Wormwood Neville had prepared.

"Looks fine to me."

"Then try it out," Draco said simply, leaning back against the desk to watch. Duo noticed that he was tense in his relaxed-looking pose – he obviously expected to have to dodge something.

Duo gulped audibly.

"Okay, so, we just put the stuff in the pot, right? That's all we have to do?"

"Do it carefully as not to spill or add the wrong amounts," Harry said quietly. He was tense as well. "I have complete faith in you, Neville." Duo bit his lip at the obvious lie.

Neville visibly brightened, smiling. "Okay, Harry. Want to try it out then, Duo?"

"Oookay," Duo sighed. He reached forward over the pot, dumping his Asphodel into it. Neville picked up the Wormwood and deposited it into the pot as well.

Then, much to Duo's horror, a cat hair fell into the pot.

"SHIT!" he launched forward, trying to stop it from dropping where the two substances were already mixing together. He grabbed it the second it touched the substance and froze. The cauldron started to bubble at first, then shook, its color changing from a translucent blue to a dark, forest green. The cauldron started to shake more violently and the liquid started rising.

"Um. Uh oh," Duo whined. Draco's eyes widened and the second the liquid rose above the lip of the cauldron he launched to the side, pushing Harry out of the way.

Milliseconds later, the liquid inside the cauldron exploded.

Duo's eyes widened and he watched in horror as the green slime launched out of the cauldron and into the air. He watched in fascination as it curved back and started falling towards him, and was jerked back to reality when Heero pulled him out of the way. It fell to the floor with a loud SMACK! and Duo gaped as the floor started bubbling. Then he realized Heero was holding him.

"Heh, hi Heero," he said sheepishly. Heero glared at him.

"What the hell were you doing! You were going to let it land on you!"

"Well I was shocked!"

"That is NOT an excuse! That could have been YOU!" Heero shouted, pointing at the bubbling floor. Duo barely registered the sounds of the other students being ordered around by Snape, and the people slowly leaving the classroom. All Duo could see was the anger and fear in Heero's eyes, and it sent his heart soaring.

"MAXWELL AND YUY!" hollered Snape. This time Heero heard him and snapped out of the staring contest he'd been having with Duo to look at the Professor.

"What?!"

Snape visibly seethed. "Get the HELL out of that classroom!"

Glancing around the two realized that they were, in fact, the only ones left in the classroom. And that said classroom was currently deteriorating.

"Gah!" Duo shouted, breaking towards the door behind Heero and launching into the hallway.

"Are you both all right?" Hermione asked worriedly, checking them over for injuries. Duo glanced at Heero again, who was avoiding his eyes.

"Yeah," he murmured. "I'm fine."

~*~

The students had stood in the hallway for the rest of the period, as Snape and Draco attempted to get the classroom back under control. Hermione seemed incredibly putout that her offer to help had been refused.

Neville was depressed, as Snape had placed the blame on him for the destruction of the classroom. Despite the praises Gryffindors had for him for ending the class early, he still felt horrible. He'd tried apologizing to Duo, who wouldn't hear of it.

"It's not like it's your fault or anything. It would have been fine if that hair hadn't got in there."

Hermione sighed loudly.

"It must've been Crookshanks," she said sorrowfully. "That cat is always sneaking into their dorm."

"It's no big deal," Seamus said cheerfully.

"Yeah," Ron contributed, just as cheerfully. "It's a bloody great thing, it is. No Potions is always reason to celebrate, no matter how it came about. Cheer up, Neville."

Snape and Draco came back out of the classroom then, Snape looking livid and Draco subtly amused.

"The lot of you will redo this potion next class, AND will be expected to have the antidote completed by the end of it! And yes, I do mean all of you," he added, glaring at Draco who looked up at him, surprised.

"But we completed our potion!"

"It was not tested and therefore doesn't count, Malfoy. As for you, Longbottom, for your incompetence I'm taking twenty points from Gryffindor."

A large amount of groans followed this statement, along with grins from the Slytherins. Draco still seemed annoyed that he had to redo the potion and remained silent.

"Now, you can go off and do whatever until your next class – except you, Longbottom. You will be cleaning the classroom until it is spotless. I cannot teach in that dreadful mess you've made of it."

Neville looked at them sorrowfully and trudged into the Potions class, head hanging. Harry smiled pityingly.

"Poor Neville."

Quatre sighed, picking at the sleeve of his robes. "It seems he doesn't do very well in that class. I wonder why not?"

"He's afraid of Snape," said Ron. Heero frowned.

"Why?"

Harry, Hermione and Ron looked at him incredulously.

"Are you joking, Heero? Have you seen him? He treats Gryffindors awfully and is completely biased!" Hermione exclaimed.

"And he's a damn greasy git!" Ron added, though the boys weren't too sure how this contributed to Snape being scary.

"Um. Right. Our bad, he's terrifying," Duo said. Harry and Hermione glowered at his sarcasm, but Ron looked pleased. "Anyway, what's this point thing teachers keep ranting about?"

"A point system is like a competition between the houses. By doing good deeds and completing things successfully, houses are awarded points. If the opposite is done, then they lose points," Hermione explained patiently.

"The amount of points lost really depends on the teacher," Harry added.

"And their mood," came Hermione again.

Duo nodded, as did Quatre and Wufei. "Got it."

"So now what are we doing?" asked Trowa, watching as the rest of the class was dispersing.

Harry fidgeted, glancing out the corner of his eye and turning back to the group. "I'm gonna take off for a while, I'll catch up with you later."

"Oh Harry, do be careful. Promise you won't go duel Malfoy?" Hermione pleaded.

Harry smiled, nodding. "I promise I won't go duel Malfoy."

Duo beamed at him, and Harry flushed and turned away quickly, hurrying down the corridor. Ron sighed loudly.

"Well then, want to go to the Great Hall or the Common Room?" he asked the group.

Before anybody could respond, Heero spoke up. "We'll catch up with you. First we're going to look around the grounds."

Ron nodded. "Right then. Later. C'mon, Hermione."

"Don't get lost! And remember that you only have half an hour until next class!" Hermione called back to them. Quatre waved as they disappeared around a corner.

Quatre looked around them, trying to determine the direction to head in. "There aren't any paintings down here to guide us. How strange."

Wufei frowned. "They probably wouldn't do well in the damp and dark. It could damage them."

"Good to know you're so concerned about their well being," Duo said with a smile.

"So, Heero?" said Trowa, glancing at the Japanese boy. "You really want to check out the grounds?"

"Yes, I think it'll come in handy if we know the layout of this place… at least a little better than we do now."

"So, uh, back that way?" Quatre asked, pointing down the hallway Ron and Hermione went down.

"If you're just trying to get out of Hogwarts," came a voice from the hallway behind them. They all turned except Wufei, who had watched him approach. "Then there's a side door down this hallway. Otherwise, the front door is back towards the Great Hall."

Duo smirked. "Hey, Malfoy. Where are you headed?"

Draco's eyes shone. "I have a meeting to attend."

"We won't delay you then," chirped Quatre, and Draco passed the group and walked away. Once he was out of hearing range, Quatre whirled on Duo and Heero. "Okay, what the hell's going on?"

Heero blinked.

"What do you mean, Quat?" Duo asked, blinking as well. Quatre crossed his arms over his chest and glared.

"You know what I mean - both of you. I want you to tell me exactly what happened between Draco and Harry. I know you're hiding it from us, and I can't imagine why!"

Duo grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Quat. We promised Harry we wouldn't tell on 'em, so you'll have to figure it out using obvious clues."

Quatre bit his lips, thinking, and Wufei huffed. "They're seeing each other in secret."

"Bingo," mumbled Heero. Duo winked.

"See, now we never broke our promise. Funny how things work, eh?"

"Oh." Quatre blinked stupidly for a few seconds, before grinning. "That's so cute." Duo laughed loudly.

"That's what I said!"

"So, we're going to trust Malfoy then?" Trowa asked, already moving in the direction of the side door Malfoy mentioned. His robes swayed with the movement. Heero nodded.

"He seems trustworthy enough, and there would be no reason to lie about an escape." Heero paused. "Unless it was a trap, of course."

"I think we're safe," Duo mused. "I have a feeling Draco wouldn't want Harry getting upset because he tried trapping his friends."

With that the decision was made, and the five boys disappeared down the corridor in search of Malfoy's secret door.

***

Sorry about those of you who wanted Neville to succeed – he will later, promise. Maybe not the next time, or the time after…. But sometime ^^;

I also apologize for the lateness of this… my comp had a spaz attack last Tuesday, and it was taken away until Sunday so I couldn't update. Monday I had work, Tuesday I had homework, and today I watched Treasure Planet (WOOOOOO!!!!!!!) and the two Evangelion discs (those are so damn screwed up…)

So yeah. Still alive ^^