"I want you to date Rose Potter," Ginny Weasley stated simply, looking up at the tall blonde coolly. He stared at the small red head incredibly, disgust written all over his sharp features.
"And why," he asked looking down his nose at the shorter girl, "-would I do that?" She gazed impartially up at him, completely unaffected.
"Because I'll pay you," she replied, placing a delicate hand on her hip and raising a perfectly round eyebrow.
"I have all the money…"he started indignantly.
"You can buy whatever you want, without your father ever knowing. I'll give you five hundred galleons if you can make her go steady with you," she interrupted, stating her terms briefly. She could tell only by his eyes widening a fraction that she had struck a nerve. She smiled inwardly. He was caving.
"Where would you get money like that?" A sneer replaced the indignant look.
"I won it, last year at the Quiddich World Cup."
"Why do you want me to?" he asked sarcastically, but genuinely curious.
"It's none of your business Malfoy." She glared up at him, meeting his blue eyes defiantly.
"It's the other Potter isn't it?" he asked, laughing coldly. He silence was enough. He watched her stare at the floor for a long moment before deciding.
"You have a deal." Ginny walked away, grinning. Draco watched her disappear. Why would a Weasley ask him to do this? She must be desperate.
"What was all that Draco?" asked Goyle as he walked up to join his friend. Draco continued to stare down the dark stone corridor.
"Just business Goyle. Just business."
Draco sat at the empty table at the back of the potions lab. Almost everyone was already there. He smirked and watched amusedly as the two Slytherin girls who had been staring at him giggled and looked away.
Suddenly, the door flung open and three brunettes and two redheads burst through breathing heavily. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley sat noisily at one table while Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom sat at the next. Draco rolled his eyes.
'What a waste of life,' he thought disdainfully.
The third red head glanced around the room looking for a seat. Her eyes widened as she saw that the only one left, was the one next to him. But her eyes were the only thing that gave her surprise and disapproval away. Her face remained conspicuously blank.
Draco looked her up and down; not bad considering. Not quite up to his usually standards, but it wouldn't be too horrible a job…that was, if he could forget that she was a Potter of all people. He shuddered lightly. This had better be worth it.
He watched with half lidded eyes as she slid silently into her chair unlike her boisterous friends. She quickly opened her bag, pulling out a quill, ink, and a roll of parchment. She completely ignored him, concentrating instead on the black board on the front wall.
Draco opened his mouth to speak but at that exact moment Professor Snape swept into the classroom. He closed it with a snap. Of course…
"Today we will start on reducing potions. If I wasn't sure one of two of you dunder heads…" As Snape continued to lecture the class Draco once again examined Rose out of the corner of his eye. He absentmindedly wrote his assignment on his parchment, as she did herself. He writing was round and neat, but not immaculate. She was obviously not used to quills; she kept running her hand through the ink. He blinked. She was left handed, that was why.
Her eyes were firmly fixated on Snape as he paced the classroom. Her eyes were green, even brighter green then Potter…the other Potter's. She wore a modest robe over her obviously muggle clothing. It was of good quality, but not the best. Obviously who ever she lived with wasn't too outrageously poor.
She lifted a small hand and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. If someone didn't know better, they would have thought her a Weasley with hair like that, but she wasn't…
"MR. MALFOY!" Draco jumped in his seat as Snape bellowed in his ear. He heard sniggers fill the classroom and fought to keep his face blank. Malfoy's did not blush.
"Mr. Malfoy, would you kindly help your partner on your potion?" He turned surprised and found that Rose had collected the ingredients out of her bag and was chopping figs.
"Of course Professor." He glared at the table. His father would hear about this. Snape had embarrassed him in front of the entire class. He couldn't do that! He grabbed a small vile of red liquid and, glancing at his notes, he tilted it towards the potion. The container was instantly snatched from his hand, before he could realize what was happening. He turned to the girl to demand why she had stopped him but she beat him to it.
"You can't add that yet!" she said quietly, not looking away from her work. "We only have one hour to make this and if we add this after the lavender root the boil time will be cut in half." He frowned, thinking. She was right.
"Oh." This was a side of her he had never seen before. Potions tended to be a more, Slytherin class. Not many Gryffindors could actually wait calmly enough for a potion to boil, or wait long enough to add the next ingredient. Rose had always seemed like her precious 'living' brother; too loud and boisterous and…Gryffindor to like anything with less then five 'bangs' per class. Or it had seemed like she was. Since she came to the school, he made a point to avoid any room they may be in. Ever since she had come to the school, there had been rumors flying around as to where she had come from, and where she had been. As far as he could tell no one actually knew the truth to any of it except Rose, Dumbledore, and probably her friends. But it made for a lively conversation in the Slytherin hall.
She continued chopping figs, even as Snape leaned down and muttered something in a low tone beside her ear. Her lips flickered into a smile for a brief moment, so short that Draco was unsure it actually happened before her face returned to it's usual blank façade, and nodded slightly. Snape stood suddenly, glaring at Neville who had somehow managed to turn his potion pink instead of the murky grey color it should have been at that point.
Draco frowned. What could Snape have to say to a Gryffindor that couldn't be said out loud? Oh well, he could figure it out later.
In less then fifteen minutes they had finished mixing the ingredients, and sat back, allowing it to boil for the next 20 minutes to increase the potency to the required level. As Draco opened his mouth to speak, he was once again cut off by Snape.
"I have your assignment you handed in last class here." He pulled a stack of papers out of a desk drawer, and began handing them out. "This class, as always, had it's usual amount of chincy work that could have been done better by first years," he paused, raising an eyebrow at Ron Weasley as he handed him his paper. He continued on, dropping Rose's on the table beside her. She glanced at it and quickly stuffed it into her backpack.
'That bad?' thought Draco, smirking lightly. He half listened as Snape continued on his rampage.
"-among the small few who managed to remember that Carnus Root cannot be added to essence of holly," he finished, dropping Potter's assignment on his desk.
Draco smiled as he watched Potter smack his head against his desk repeatedly. He glanced at Rose, and blinked in surprise as he saw that she had a small half smile on her face, her eyes twinkling in mirth.
"It's not nice to laugh at a sibling's troubles," he commented off handedly, not looking at her but at Snape who was now deducting fifteen points from Gryffindor for 'Potter's obscene habits'.
"I'm not laughing. But either way it serves him right. He didn't start until the day it was due…and I don't know why I'm talking to you of all people about this." She trailed off.
They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment until Snape gave the order to bottle and hand in their potions; amazingly only theirs had had time to boil properly. Draco guessed this by taking in the astonished glances at the clock and panicked faces. Even Granger seemed to be slightly frazzled. Well, maybe something good could come of trying to get this girl if it could boost his marks in potions even more.
Rose grabbed a vile from her own bad along with the one that had been supplied to them. She filled both deftly with the confidence of much practice. She silently handed one to Draco and stuck the other in her bag. Draco frowned. Why would she need a vile of her own?
He walked quickly up to the front of the class, and after dumping the glowing vile on the desk turned to see a flash of red hair as Rose slid out the door behind a group of Gryffindors.
Hey guys. It's Aevum. I'm back back back with Harry Potter. I came up with this idea almost 2 years ago and have been working on it since. The story is actually finished, but it's in a notebook, and is over 150 pages, so it'll take a while to get it all here. If you like this story, reveiw and I'll maybe type a bit fast wink. Well I hope you like it. Oh and I'm working on the next installment of TWCHGM. Hermione's up to bad. Are you ready.:P
Pease out, God bless