Viviel lingered by the door to the Potions dungeon,
waiting for Professor Snape to show them into the classroom. Students from
each of the four houses were mingling around, talking and comparing notes
from classes or reviewing the latest quidditch scores for the England national
league teams. Her Slytherin yearmates that happened managed to keep their
grades high enough to remain in Potions after O.W.L.s were in a huddle away
from the rest, sneering most prominently at a group that included Harry Potter,
Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Granger was sanctimoniously ignoring Pansy's
comments on her bushy hair, though Weasley shot Pansy a dirty look every so
often.
When the door finally opened Viviel hurried in and shakily laid her Potions essay facedown on the teacher's desk like she always did, then preceded to her seat somewhere on the side of the room. She was slightly more confident she had done better on this essay than the last. Draco had gone over it as promised and made a few corrections. Truthfully, she had thought her paper looked like a chicken had run across it while it was still wet, but Draco had surprisingly reassured her it wasn't as bad as many of the essays he had seen other students write.
She took out another roll of parchment and smoothed it out across her writing area, knowing that Professor Snape would start out the class with a few notes before setting them to Potion making. Hearing someone take the seat next to her, which usually remained empty, Viviel was once again shocked to find Draco beside her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, rather stupidly.
"What else?" Draco replied with what he obviously thought was a charming smile, "I'm attending to your every Potions need. Slytherin's serpent, what if you added jujiberry juice to your potion instead of essence of sea snail and I wasn't there to stop you?"
Viviel felt her face turn a dark red and turn back quickly to dig a quill out of her bag. Last time she had made a potion in class, she done the exact thing he had mentioned and he knew it. A small flame of anger burned inside of her, but she pushed it resolutely away, knowing it wouldn't do her any good if she didn't listen to his help.
By the time the heat finally drained from her cheeks, she felt it was safe to look up again and pay attention to what Professor Snape was telling the class about the various degrees of the Skin Selector Solution. Distracted momentarily by muttering from behind her, Viviel turned to find Potter and his friends staring curiously from her to Draco and back. She blushed again and glared at them for disturbing her concentration before taking up her quill again.
Professor Snape left them with instructions on the board and hurried to take care of a pile of essays in his office, trusting that they wouldn't disturb each other, lest he take away house points.
Viviel and Draco both set up their cauldrons with stable fires and waited for the water to boil while measuring out the various ingredients they would need. More than once, Draco corrected the amount she was measuring or the way she choose to peel her Quivering Cucumber into strips. She was glad he was helping her, because she became repeatedly distracted by the constant murmuring behind her from the direction of Potter's desk area.
"Really," Draco said for the fifth time, grabbing her wrist before she could make another mistake, "You need to stir more slowly. The board says 'moderately fast,' not hurricane style."
She thanked him quietly. "Sorry… distracted…"
When the door finally opened Viviel hurried in and shakily laid her Potions essay facedown on the teacher's desk like she always did, then preceded to her seat somewhere on the side of the room. She was slightly more confident she had done better on this essay than the last. Draco had gone over it as promised and made a few corrections. Truthfully, she had thought her paper looked like a chicken had run across it while it was still wet, but Draco had surprisingly reassured her it wasn't as bad as many of the essays he had seen other students write.
She took out another roll of parchment and smoothed it out across her writing area, knowing that Professor Snape would start out the class with a few notes before setting them to Potion making. Hearing someone take the seat next to her, which usually remained empty, Viviel was once again shocked to find Draco beside her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, rather stupidly.
"What else?" Draco replied with what he obviously thought was a charming smile, "I'm attending to your every Potions need. Slytherin's serpent, what if you added jujiberry juice to your potion instead of essence of sea snail and I wasn't there to stop you?"
Viviel felt her face turn a dark red and turn back quickly to dig a quill out of her bag. Last time she had made a potion in class, she done the exact thing he had mentioned and he knew it. A small flame of anger burned inside of her, but she pushed it resolutely away, knowing it wouldn't do her any good if she didn't listen to his help.
By the time the heat finally drained from her cheeks, she felt it was safe to look up again and pay attention to what Professor Snape was telling the class about the various degrees of the Skin Selector Solution. Distracted momentarily by muttering from behind her, Viviel turned to find Potter and his friends staring curiously from her to Draco and back. She blushed again and glared at them for disturbing her concentration before taking up her quill again.
Professor Snape left them with instructions on the board and hurried to take care of a pile of essays in his office, trusting that they wouldn't disturb each other, lest he take away house points.
Viviel and Draco both set up their cauldrons with stable fires and waited for the water to boil while measuring out the various ingredients they would need. More than once, Draco corrected the amount she was measuring or the way she choose to peel her Quivering Cucumber into strips. She was glad he was helping her, because she became repeatedly distracted by the constant murmuring behind her from the direction of Potter's desk area.
"Really," Draco said for the fifth time, grabbing her wrist before she could make another mistake, "You need to stir more slowly. The board says 'moderately fast,' not hurricane style."
She thanked him quietly. "Sorry… distracted…"