Chapter Five: Hogsmeade
Arianwen was sitting patiently at an empty desk in a small, round classroom in the dungeons. She was waiting for Professor Slughorn to arrive, to deliver the first Alchemy class of the term. The first week of October had just begun, there had been a delay in the commencement of the course as all the students who had expressed an interest in studying Alchemy had been contacted to gather an idea of demand for the class and their suitability for it. Professor Slughorn had announced that he would be happy to teach the course if there was a group of five or more capable students wishing to take it. Professor Snape had approached Arianwen in the Great Hall one evening in September to advise that a class of six students had elected to take the course, and gave her a list of supplies that she would need to acquire before the course began.
"Good afternoon, class!" Professor Slughorn entered the room and looked around at his students jovially, "I am most looking forward to teaching a class of keen young alchemists but uh…" he paused, surveying the students in confusion. There were three Ravenclaws: Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein and Su Li, one Hufflepuff boy called Kevin Entwhistle, and Arianwen. "We appear to be missing someone-"
At that moment, the door to the classroom flew open and in rushed a puffed out Draco Malfoy, "sorry I'm late Professor, lost track of time."
Draco spotted Arianwen and took the empty seat next to her, she smiled at him looking a little surprised by his presence in the class. Alchemy was considered a difficult option to take for N.E. , and many people considered it the 'mad workings of gluttonous eccentrics '. Draco is clever though, she thought, remembering how he'd been able to cast non-verbal spells in all of the classes she shared with him; Arianwen had only ever tried to cast non-verbal spells in Transfiguration, it took a lot of discipline and concentration to achieve.
"That's quite alright Mr Malfoy," then addressing the class again Slughorn said, "now, did you all manage to get hold of the supplies that I requested?"
The students all nodded in unison, pulling their textbook and chemistry sets out of their bags and onto the empty tables in front of them.
"Good!" Professor Slughorn exclaimed, picking up Michael Corner's textbook and holding it up to the class, "You may recognise the author from your Potions textbook, for those of you in my N.E.W.T class, that is." Anthony Goldstein blushed, he was the only student in the room that hadn't made it into the sixth year Potions class.
"Libatius Borage was a keen potion-maker and alchemist alike, you should find this book will give you a good grounding from which you'll gain an intermediate understating of the subject before expanding into further research."
Slughorn gave Michael his book back and instructed them all to turn to the first chapter. "By the end of your sixth year, I would expect you all to be able to transmute led and other substances into gold." There was a buzz of excitement from the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff boy.
Draco caught Arianwen's eye and rolled his eyes at her, shaking his head slightly. She smiled, understanding his exasperation; they were both rich enough that the creation of gold didn't phase them.
Professor Slughorn noticed the exchange between the two Slytherins and addressed them, "Does the transmutation of basic metals into more valuable ones not interest you?"
Arianwen spoke first, "I'm more interested in the potential healing substances that can be created through alchemy, sir."
Slughorn chuckled, "ah yes of course, I heard from Madam Pomfrey that you're a qualified Mediwitch and you've been assisting her in the Hospital Wing?"
"Yes Professor, Madam Pomfrey has kindly given up some of her time to assist me in my goal to become a Healer."
"Mmm indeed, she seems quite dazzled by your capabilities. You'll have to come along to the next Slug Club gathering so we can discuss it further." He seemed keen for her to accept this invitation, smiling at her persuasively.
"Thank you Professor, that would be quite lovely." She said smiling charmingly.
Draco snorted next to her, "you'll be giving Potter and Granger a run for their money at this rate," he drawled queitly, implying she was teacher's pet. She frowned at him in annoyance, it's not my fault I was raised to be courteous, she thought moodily.
Slughorn ordered them to remove a few rose petals from their chemistry sets and showed them how to transfigure them into different metals. He'd advised that they would have to start out slowly, mastering the transfiguration element of basic alchemy first, before moving on to the dissolution and congelation of the metals.
As they were practicing, Draco and Arianwen chatted about the first Quidditch match of the season, due to take place in November. Throughout her first month at Hogwarts, Arianwen had had multiple opportunities to get to know Draco and the other Slytherins better. She'd become quite friendly with him, finding that his quick wit and snappy retorts made him quite engaging company.
She was unaware that Draco had actually engineered some of these meetings by bribing people away from her in the library, and escorting her from the Hospital Wing if she'd stayed after curfew. Being a prefect, Draco also had access to the prefects bathroom on the floor above the Hospital Wing, so would pop in on occasion to watch her at work. He found her to be a calming influence on him; she would laugh heartily at his jokes, bring him cups of tea if he came back to the common room late in the evening, and tell him stories of her friends and family from Wales. If he looked like he was flagging when working on essays, she would provide insightful comments or point him to a useful book.
"So is it difficult? Being a seeker?"
Draco had completely zoned out. Attempting to look as though he'd been invested in the conversation the whole time, he nodded and smiled, pointing his wand at the rose petals, which remained lifeless on the table.
"Draco! Have you listened to anything that I just said?" Arianwen looked irritated.
"Uh...yeah. We were talking about Quidditch, right?"
She sighed, "ucgh, never mind. What's up with you recently, anyway? You seem so distracted."
He shrugged, he was obviously not about to start explaining the difficulties of repairing a broken vanishing glass cabinet while having Snape breathing down his neck and reporting back to the Dark Lord. "I didn't realise I was, sorry." It was very unauthentic, "I'm just tired I guess."
Arianwen's face softened, he did look worn out. Dark circles had started to form under his eyes, which looked weary and troubled.
"Well as your new school nurse, I would suggest you get more sleep," he rolled his eyes, "but I'm assuming that's not an option for whatever reason. So I'll brew you a wide-eyed potion."
"A wide-eyed potion?" Draco questioned.
"Yeah it takes away the effects of sleep deprivation, so you won't get headaches or drowsiness, and you'll look like you've had a good nights sleep." She smiled at him kindly, feeling helpful.
"So it doesn't make you feel more awake?" although she was trying to help, he didn't really understand the point of the potion.
"No it doesn't make you feel more awake, I don't like those types of potions, they have bad side effects if overused. It just makes you feel neutral, so you're not tired but you're not buzzing with energy either."
Draco nodded, tilting his head in confusion as he looked at her, "why are you so kind?"
Arianwen laughed, it was an odd sort of thing to ask, "I just don't like seeing my friends all stressed out."
Her friends, he thought bitterly. Draco had a very different relationship with Arianwen than he'd had with other girls. Pansy, for instance, was very reactive to every little thing that he did, so if he stopped paying attention to her for more than five minutes, she would whine loudly and insist he made it up to her. This generally involved the two of them in a deserted classroom, taking part in a range of sexual exploits. It could be worse, he thought smugly.
While Pansy could be extremely annoying and clingy at times, she provided a quick and easy way to blow off some steam, and he was struggling to gauge whether Arianwen regarded him as just a friend, or if she was interested in more. He'd been attempting to test the waters, flirting with her casually, he knew he couldn't be much more obvious about it or she'd think he was a creep. While Arianwen would always play along, she never seemed to initiate anything, and would always cuddle up to Blaise in the evenings. Sometimes she would kiss his cheek or rest her head on his chest, always going on about how wonderful he was to the other girls…it absolutely infuriated him, normally girls would fall at his feet the moment he showed an interest. He deduced that he'd have to test her somehow…
Alchemy had been their last class of the day. Draco didn't fancy working on the vanishing cabinet that night as he was getting absolutely nowhere with it, he decided he'd have to do more research on it in the library. At least I have a back up plan, he reassured himself, thinking of a cursed necklace that he'd bought in Borgin and Burke's that summer.
He realised that he hadn't said a word to Arianwen since they'd left the classroom.
"Are you looking forward to visiting Hogsmeade this weekend?" he asked, making her jump, she'd clearly been deep in thought as well.
"Yeah definitely, it'll be nice to have a change of scene. Blaise said he'd take me to the pub that everyone goes on about." She smiled excitedly.
Of course he did, Draco thought bitterly.
"You should come with us," Arianwen prompted, fixing him with that pretty smile she did.
Draco shook his head, he didn't fancy being a third wheel, "Nah its okay, I said I'd take Pansy to Honeydukes, she wants me to buy her something."
Arianwen's stomach dropped, trying to remain cool she said, "Can't she buy her own sweets?"
Draco smirked, "I assume she can, yes. I owe her though, apparently."
"You owe her? For what?"
"Well apparently I've been spending far too much time with you…"
Arianwen looked at him, he was smirking, his grey eyes sparkling mischievously, "we hardly spend any time together, just classes and the occasional five minutes in the common room or the library." She countered, sounding annoyed.
His smirk grew, taking two large strides, he flipped round and stood in front of her, leaning against the wall so she had to stop, "and does that bother you?" He moved closer, his gaze not breaking from her own.
She shifted awkwardly, it did bother her that Pansy was trying to stop Draco spending any time with her whatsoever, but even more annoying was the fact that he already spent most of his available time with Pansy anyway.
Their bodies were almost touching now, she could feel the warmth coming from his chest, she blinked a few times and composed herself. "I'm more bothered that you listen to her." She said, frowning up at him.
Annoyingly, he seemed to find her cross face endearing as he laughed, leaning closer still. "I don't listen to Pansy. I don't spend more time with you because you're always with Blaise."
Arianwen gulped, she could feel her heart beating incredibly fast, their bodies were touching now, "oh…I see," she was barely speaking above a whisper, "then maybe I should…free up some more time." She felt her face warming as Draco smiled at her handsomely, he seemed to be becoming more and more attractive the closer he got.
Draco reached out and brushed her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering behind her head, "I think that would be a very good idea," he whispered, leaning in and kissing her softly on the cheek.
Her stomach whooshed; she felt her hands move to his chest, their eyes locked on each other. She leant in closer, her heart pounding, and then-
"Malfoy!" footsteps were moving down the corridor quickly, Arianwen felt Draco sigh before he straightened up and turned around.
"Yes, Professor Snape?" he drawled, sounding bored.
Snape looked angry, his dark eyes were boring into Draco's accusingly. Arianwen shuffled and Snape's eyes snapped to hers. Snape twigged what had been going on instantly, he looked back at Draco, raising an eyebrow sternly.
"You were supposed to be in my office ten minutes ago." Snape snapped.
Draco didn't look phased in the least, "my apologies Professor."
"Come along then." Snape ordered, and started walking back down the corridor they had just come from.
Draco squeezed Arianwen's arm gently, "I'll see you later, okay?"
She nodded, still speechless. He caught up with Professor Snape and they rounded the corner, heading to his office.
Arianwen stood still for a few minutes, trying to gather her thoughts. I'll have to tell Blaise, she thought, he'd know what to do.
When she found Blaise in the common room, Arianwen waived him over and they left again, heading out of the castle and down to the lake.
After they'd settled themselves on a bench overlooking the lake, Blaise raised his eyebrows at her, "so?" he prompted, "was there something you wanted to discuss?"
Arianwen proceeded to tell him about the events that had just unfolded, she was surprised to see a small smirk appear on his face.
After she'd finished her story, Blaise paused before asking, "you like him then, I assume?"
Arianwen sighed, she didn't like liking guys, it was so distracting and she already had enough to be dealing with. Owain had sent her a letter reporting that her uncle had been overheard with a group of crooked lawyers, demanding that they find a way to allow him to inherit his brother's title and assets. He seemed to think that it wouldn't be long before her uncle would threaten her financial stability too. She looked at the lake, it seemed so tranquil but every now and then a strange creature would leap out and disturb the water.
"I suppose I must do," she looked back at Blaise, "but he seems a bit like Gwyn and I don't really fancy going through all of that again."
Blaise nodded thoughtfully, "yeah I would urge you to be wary of him. I can certainly tell that he's interested in you, and he definitely doesn't like our dynamic," Blaise chuckled to himself, he liked causing a stir, "and he's involved with some…dangerous people."
Arianwen frowned, her nose wrinkling in confusion, "how dangerous are we talking here?"
Blaise looked at her seriously, "the most dangerous."
He was talking about the Death Eaters, but surely Draco couldn't be that involved with them, what would they want from a schoolboy? His father had been exposed as a Death Eater over the summer, maybe that's what Blaise meant.
"He's not, you know, one of them…is he?"
Blaise just shrugged in a non-committal fashion. "No idea," he lied.
Blaise and Arianwen were wandering through Hogsmeade, he'd been asking about Brianne so Arianwen was recounting the latest update she'd received from her oldest friend. A new pet shop had opened in the village so Blaise steered her over to it to investigate. It seemed they weren't the only ones who wanted to check out the new shop, it was full of students of a mix of ages, the girls all gathered around the cat house. Arianwen wondered why they were all so obsessed with the cats but then noticed a sign stating '3 week old kittens for sale', that would explain it.
Blaise left her to go and browse the reptile section, while Arianwen made her way over to a number of owls, hooting in their cages.
One particular owl caught Arianwen's eye immediately. It was a large Snowy Owl that was standing on its perch regally, its deep amber eyes fixed on hers.
"Hello," Arianwen said softly, looking down she spotted his nametag, "Archimedes." The owl hooted and hopped closer to her, signaling that it wanted to be petted. She slid her hand through the bars of the cage and stroked the owl's chest softly.
"Aren't you just exquisite?" The owl nibbled her finger affectionately, his striking speckled eyes seeming to glow softly.
"Made a new friend?" Came a familiar voice from behind her, she turned her head to smile at Draco.
"Isn't he bewitching?" she asked rhetorically, turning her attention back to the bird.
Draco moved closer to the cage and examined the owl slowly, "he is probably the nicest Snowy Owl I've seen," Draco agreed.
"Archimedes," Arianwen said again softly, giving the bird one last stroke before removing her hand.
The owl hooted again, "I don't think he wants you to leave." Draco laughed.
Arianwen looked for the price tag. '50 galleons' it read. Her stomach sank in disappointment; she'd only brought 5 galleons with her.
Draco seemed to sense her disappointment, "do you want him?"
"I do need an owl," she said distractedly, still staring into Archimedes' eyes, "but I didn't bring enough money and I'm pretty sure my uncle is trying to cut me off, so I probably wouldn't buy him anyway."
"Well then I'll buy him for you, you seem quite taken with him." Arianwen turned to look at Draco.
"I can't let you do that!" she said looking shocked, "its too much!"
"It's not too much," Draco said quietly, "besides I'd rather that then have to see your little devastated face when you have to leave him."
She smiled, unsure of what she'd done to deserve such kindness. She was dangerously close to accepting when Pansy Parkinson emerged and wrapped her arm seductively around Draco's waist, "what are you looking at baby? Lets go to Madam Puddifoot's after this" she simpered.
Draco pushed her arm away, looking a little guiltily at Arianwen. Pansy followed Draco's gaze and glowered when she saw the blonde girl, "what's she doing here?"
They both ignored her; Draco saw a hurt look flash over Arianwen's face and felt his heart sink. He should've told her that he had no feelings for Pansy, he was just honouring his promise to take her to Hogsmeade. The look lasted just a few seconds before she'd arranged her face into a look of cool disdain.
"Ri," he said, stepping forward, "it's not-"
"Blaise!" Arianwen called, interrupting Draco, she didn't want to hear his excuses. Blaise appeared and looked between his three classmates, instantly feeling the tension.
"Are you ready to go?" Arianwen stared at him meaningfully.
"Yeah I'm done, lets go." He took her arm and they marched out of the shop purposefully. She felt a wave of disappointment crash over her, not only had she had to leave Archimedes, she'd had to watch Pansy cosy up to Draco on what was evidently a date. Who knows what they'll get up to behind my back, she thought miserably.
Blaise led her into the famous Three Broomsticks pub, and they sat down at a little rickety table. He went to the bar to get some butterbeers and Arianwen took in her surroundings. It was very busy, the clusters of eclectic tables and chairs full of chattering witches and wizards.
"Here." Blaise said about five minutes later, passing her a butterbeer and taking a seat opposite her. "What was that all about?" he asked, but before she could answer she heard the bell above the door ringing and Draco entered with Pansy close behind him.
Pansy saw them first, smirking at Arianwen, she grabbed Draco's face in both hands and forced him into a disgustingly wet looking kiss.
"See for yourself," Arianwen said, pointing over Blaise's shoulder. He turned to see the spectacle by the door.
"Ah…I see." He said awkwardly. After more than a few moments, Draco pushed Pansy away. He instantly spotted Arianwen and Blaise watching them and nodded awkwardly.
Arianwen looked away in disgust; Blaise caught Draco's eye and shot him an unimpressed glare before turning back to Arianwen.
"So where shall we go next?" She said, smiling as if nothing had happened.
"Ri-" Blaise started.
"No, Blaise. We're going to forget about it and move on." She held her chin high, signaling that the subject was closed. "Millicent said there's an apothecary here somewhere?"
She wouldn't allow the issue to affect her, Governess Matthews had taught her to compartmentalise; "dignified pureblooded witches will not allow any insult or undesirable situation to visibly affect them. It is a sign of weakness, and you are certainly not weak, Lady Arianwen."