Thanks to my betas winnett and beautifulrain, you guys rule!
Chapter Eight: When the World Works Against You
Jarveys were ridiculous creatures; really, they were. Draco didn't want to clip their nails or feed them, or touch their filthy, little hides for that matter, and he really didn't want to do it while standing beside the most irksome person in the entire world.
He was angry that Hagrid had paired him with Potter, and even more angry because he didn't know why. Why had Hagrid paired them together? The oaf knew that they didn't like each other, and Hagrid was Potter's fucking friend! It didn't make any damn sense.
"It's an animal, Malfoy," Potter was retorting to Draco's comment. "Hagrid said it would be rude, it's in its nature." Then he mumbled something, but Draco ignored it.
"Ugh! I thought feeding it was supposed to calm it down!" Potter continued, frustrated. He seemed to be having a really difficult time with the Jarvey they were supposed to be grooming.
"Hold it still," Draco said with little interest, crossing his arms over his chest. He smirked when Potter made a heated reply.
"I can't clip its nails and hold it still at the same time!" Potter said angrily. "Grab it and hold it down!"
Draco stared at the Jarvey with distaste. It really was just the sort of animal their idiot of a professor would choose for them to study. If something lacked the ability to physically abuse, something that verbally abused was obviously the next best thing.
"Malfoy!" Potter cried impatiently.
Draco scowled and grudgingly reached into the crate to grab the stupid animal around the middle.
"Thank you," Potter said in his annoying, sarcastic way of speaking, and then he leant in underneath Draco's head to reach the Jarvey. Draco was quite affronted with Potter's head shoved into his face.
"Hold- its- paw!" Potter growled.
"I can't see with your mop of hair in my face!" Draco exclaimed. He used his free hand to feel around in the crate for a moment and managed to skillfully grab hold of the paw, even without being able to see anything.
"Good, now just stay right like that," Potter demanded rudely.
Draco rolled his eyes and didn't move, holding the Jarvey tightly. He couldn't see what Potter was doing; no doubt he couldn't handle the annoying creature, even with Draco helping him. He was certainly moving around enough, probably to bother Draco as much as possible.
They ended up in quite an awkward position. Potter's movements had pulled Draco even closer so that Potter's head was crammed up underneath Draco's face. One of Draco's hands was holding the Jarvey around the waist while the other held the paw steady, and Potter's arms were all twisted up with his, looped around them.
Draco was about to protest the way they were tangled up and took a deep breath through his nose to sigh angrily. It was then that he noticed something really quite strange.
Draco blinked a few times, confused. He took another tentative nose-full of air and paused, even more confused.
It was very bizarre, and Draco didn't want to admit it, but Potter smelled good. No, he didn't just smell good, but he smelled good, like something you want to keep smelling. Draco was mortified.
He frowned and began to hold his breath, actually a bit disturbed by Potter's smell. A few seconds passed and he remembered that he could breathe through his mouth. It didn't help much.
Now he could smell Potter's hair and sort of taste the smell of it.
It was more than a little disconcerting that Potter smelled good at all. It wasn't as if Draco had expected him to smell bad if he ever had the chance to smell him, but he hadn't expected him to smell so very good. Actually, Draco had never expected anything at all about the way Potter smelled. He didn't think about things like that; however, when someone's hair is shoved right into your nose, it's hard not to notice it.
Draco could definitely smell Potter's shampoo – he was familiar with its scent, as he had used it several times himself – but he could also smell something else mixed with it that he couldn't identify. He couldn't even say what he thought it smelled like because it didn't really smell like anything he'd ever smelled before.
Draco pondered it for a moment. He'd gotten dressed with Potter almost everyday for the past week and had never seen him put any product on his hair or wear cologne, so that wasn't it. Draco had never seen Potter do anything to his hair except shuffle it with his hands before leaving to get dressed. Perhaps he put something in it when he got upstairs? Draco doubted that. But, if Potter did nothing to his hair but wash it, then why did it smell so good?
Draco didn't like the thought that it might simply be Potter's own smell mixed with the shampoo that made his hair smell good. He took another little sniff and tensed up; it was too strange to be smelling Harry Potter's hair.
"Okay, hold another paw," came Potter's voice, and Draco tensed up even more. He wondered if Potter had noticed him sniffing his hair.
He quickly let the paw go and scrambled around for another, wanting class to be over very much now. Potter took a little more time than needed to get started on the clipping, and it made Draco rather nervous. What if Scarhead had noticed that Draco had smelled his hair? He did not like the thought of that at all. He wasn't some hair-smelling weirdo!
"I'm not getting any younger here, Potter!" Draco said heatedly, and cringed when he heard his voice crack the slightest bit.
Potter, thankfully, didn't seem to notice, because he said, "Alright, alright," and finally went to work on the Jarvey's nails.
Agonizing minutes passed, and then a few more, and finally Potter was finished. Draco was very quick to disentangle himself and put distance between them.
"Hagrid, we're finished!" Potter called up to the front, and Hagrid came stomping over to their table.
He bent and examined the Jarvey closely; Draco wished that he would just hurry up.
"Good job," Hagrid said. "Just dump what's left o' yer meat inside the crate an' put the lid back on."
Draco dumped in the meat, and Potter put the lid on the crate while Hagrid went wandering around the rest of the students, seeing who had finished.
Draco and Potter stood in silence, Draco with his arms crossed again and Potter with his hands stuffed in his pockets. The silence between them had grown awkward and Draco kept his eyes fixed on the table, glaring at it, trying not to think of Potter's disturbing hair-smell.
Finally, Thomas and Finnigan, idiot wonders, declared themselves finished and Hagrid dismissed the class.
Draco left Potter as quickly as he could, not even sparing him a single glance.
He walked straight over to Blaise and Pansy, who were waiting for him.
Blaise raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "What the fuck was that about?" he asked.
Draco scowled and looked over at Hagrid. "Fucking idiot," he muttered.
"I thought the oaf liked Potter," Pansy said, looping her arm through Draco's as the three began to make their way up to their Transfiguration lesson.
"He does," said Draco.
"Then why would he pair him with you?" asked Blaise.
Draco threw him a dirty look.
Blaise gave a slightly amused smile. "Not that Potter isn't the luckiest person ever, you know, getting to be paired with the incredible Draco Malfoy and all," he said sarcastically.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Shut up."
Blaise chuckled. "I'm only paying you a compliment."
"No, you're being a bastard, like usual."
Blaise chuckled again. "Taking your anger out on me, I see," he said.
Draco rolled his eyes again. "Shut up," he repeated.
Blaise chuckled again.
"Really, Blaise, do shut up," Pansy said this time.
Blaise smirked. "Well," he said, "I can tell when I'm not wanted." He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "I'll just leave you two alone. I'm sure you can do a wonderful job comforting him, Pansy," he added before walking off to join Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle.
Pansy glared after him, but then turned her attention to Draco once again. "He's such an arse," she said.
Draco shrugged, stuffing his free hand into his pocket.
They walked in silence for a bit, Draco still seething about Potter's hair and being paired with him for the class.
"So…" said Pansy once they'd gotten into the castle, "I got a letter from my mum and dad this morning."
Draco sighed; he'd gotten a letter from his mother that morning, too.
"They both seemed angry, but I could tell they were glad it was with you," Pansy continued.
"Yes, that was how my mother reacted as well, although I don't think she'd be very happy to get another letter from McGonagall. We shouldn't be caught at that anymore," said Draco flatly. He didn't feel much like discussing things with Pansy again.
"I agree," said Pansy quietly, and then, right out of the blue, she pulled them into a nook they were passing.
Taken off guard, Draco stood frozen for a moment while Pansy began to plunder his mouth. As soon as he realized her intentions, he responded eagerly; blowjobs in corridors were always such a turn-on, and he knew that that was exactly what was about to happen.
Sure enough, Pansy ripped her mouth away from Draco's and dropped to her knees before him. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, ready. He laughed inwardly at how routine it had become.
She unzipped his trousers, pulled them down to his ankles, and then did the same to his underwear. Pansy liked to touch the skin of Draco's legs and arse as she sucked him off, or at least that's what Draco had concluded; she pulled his trousers all the way down every single fucking time, no matter how much Draco protested.
She stroked him, working his cock fully hard, and he bit his lip. Soon after that her mouth was on him, and Draco's brain stopped all higher functions.
It didn't take terribly long, even if Draco had become used to it. A couple of minutes had passed and Pansy was pulling his trousers back up for him, buttoning them closed. He raised an eyebrow at her as she stood in front of him.
"That was rather unexpected," Draco said, straightening his tie.
"You looked like you needed it," Pansy said with a smirk.
"How considerate of you."
"No problem."
Draco laughed, glad that something was able to put Potter out of his mind for the moment. He pushed himself off the wall and walked out of the nook, continuing on his way to class like nothing at all had happened. Pansy followed quickly behind him.
They ended up being about five minutes late, and every single person in the class knew exactly why. Draco took his seat smugly, knowing that McGonagall realized what he and Pansy had been up to, and that she couldn't do a thing about it. She took five points from each of them for being late, but really, what was ten points compared to a blowjob in the halls?
The rest of the day didn't really allow Draco to dwell on much of anything except school. The fact it was N.E.W.T. year was beginning to really weigh down on him and the teachers were apparently finished with letting the seventh-years slack off.
Draco's last class of the day was Potions. Snape was already there when Draco arrived at the door, and so he entered the classroom and took his usual seat in the front.
He chatted with Blaise a bit before the lesson started, and as soon as the bell rang he, along with the rest of the class, fell silent.
Snape got to his feet and stood at the front of the room. "Do not remove your things," he said, as everyone had just begun reaching into their bags to get quills and parchment. "Today's potion requires a delicate touch, attention to fine details and your complete concentration. I will not tolerate any marks," he turned to face the side of the room mostly occupied with Gryffindors, "below an Acceptable."
Draco smirked over at Potter, who wasn't looking too happy.
"As you all know, it is your seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and if any of you aren't aware of that, then I suggest you remove yourself from my classroom right now." Nobody moved. Snape stared them all down for a moment, but soon continued on. "Since you all seem to be aware that it's your seventh year, I will assume you also know that N.E.W.T.s are coming up. Your Potions N.E.W.T will be taxing, the potions you will be tested on are some of the most difficult there are to brew, and the one we'll be working on today is no different.
"You'll be making a Blood-Replenishing Potion. It is indispensable in any infirmary and exceptionally useful on the battlefield. For any potion that replenishes so important a substance in your body, perfection is absolutely necessary. One mistake and you could be taking someone's life instead of returning it."
Draco smirked, wanting to get started. He excelled at Potions and knew it.
"This potion demands such precision, that it will be impossible to finish in class unaided. There simply is not enough time in the year for every one of you to brew every potion separately. We have much to cover, and so you'll require partners."
Draco raised an eyebrow. Well, that was interesting.
Snape continued on still. "Do not begin to assume that having a partner will allow you to slack off. You will still be required to take part in every aspect of the potion, even if that aspect is your partner's responsibility. You must learn all of it; you will not have partners during you N.E.W.T. examinations. So that you're not tempted, I think I will select who you will be working with; friends will not make good assistants in this class." And with that, Snape cleared his throat and began announcing names.
Draco glanced at Blaise, who was frowning and staring at Snape raptly.
"Bulstrode and Longbottom," Snape proclaimed, and Draco raised an eyebrow. That was quite an odd pair.
"Goyle and Finnigan." Draco's brow rose a little higher; that was… quite an odd pairing as well.
"Weasley and Zabini." Oh, sweet Merlin. What. The. Fuck?
"Brown and Parkinson." What was Snape doing?!
It went on, and Draco watched as each and every single Slytherin was stuck with a Gryffindor. All of the students in the class dwindled away, until the only person left was…
"Potter and Malfoy." Oh, God, no.
Draco couldn't believe it. What were the fucking chances of being paired with Potter twice in one day?! What the hell was Snape doing?!
Everyone seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because not a single person rose from their seat.
Snape stared at them all for a few seconds. "Move!" he yelled when it seemed the class had been accidentally glued to their seats.
There were maybe a few more seconds of silence, as if they were all waiting for Snape to admit he was joking, but when nothing of the sort came, everyone began slowly gathering their things and moving to sit next to their partners, grumbling quietly. No one dared protest - it wasn't worth the house points.
Blaise got slowly to his feet and went to sit next to Weasley, looking as if he were marching to his death. Draco, scowling heavily, turned in his seat to stare at Potter from across the room.
Potter was looking at Snape disbelievingly; he looked even more shocked than he had earlier in Care of Magical Creatures.
"Is there something you need, Potter?" Snape asked disgustedly.
Potter didn't say anything.
"I believe I told the class to join their partners. Is that too difficult for you to understand?" Snape asked.
Potter seemed to come to himself then and he glared at Snape. "No sir, not at all," he spat, and he swung his bag over his shoulder like the buffoon he was, and came stomping over to sit in Blaise's empty seat.
Draco scowled at him once he'd sat down, but then looked back up at Snape, hoping that he might explain himself a little better.
Once everyone was settled, or at least as settled as they could be, Snape walked over to the blackboard and waved his wand. Words scrawled across almost every inch of the board and half the class gave quiet groans.
"As soon as you have your areas set up, start on your potion immediately. I should not have to tell you how to divide the work; it doesn't matter as long as the potion gets brewed. When class is finished, everyone should be at this stage." He waved his wand again, and a bold line appeared on the board underneath step 15. "If any of you fail to reach step fifteen, which is highly likely given some students in this class," he glared a Longbottom, "you will receive zeros for the day. Begin."
Draco frowned. That was it? Snape wasn't going to explain why he had paired everyone up with fucking Gryffindors?! What the fucking hell?
Draco stared at Snape, and he continued on staring until Snape told him to get working. Draco's frown deepened, but he reached down and pulled his bag up from the floor. He looked to his right and saw that Potter was still glaring, rather murderously, at Snape.
Draco narrowed his eyes at him. He didn't want to be paired with Potter again! Didn't he have to see him enough as it was?
"Potter," he said heatedly, knowing that if they didn't get started on their potion, they wouldn't reach step fifteen.
"What?" Potter said angrily.
"We have to do this fucking potion. Take your things out."
Potter rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag. He began taking things from it and throwing them, pell-mell, all over the desk.
"Merlin, Potter! What are you trying to do, take an eye out?" Draco exclaimed when a quill came very close to hitting him in the face.
"Shut up," Potter said, bringing his hands up to rub at his temples.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "If I get a zero today because of you, I'll fucking hex you into next month."
"Just fucking shut the hell up and make the bloody potion." Potter said, sounding annoyed
Draco glared daggers at Potter. "No. I'm not going to do this thing all by myself. Start," he paused and looked up to see what step one was, "cutting up the herbs."
Potter's nose flared with anger, but he surprisingly picked up his knife and pulled the herbs toward him.
Draco frowned, but there was nothing he could say, as Potter had actually done what he had told him. He ignored it and got his own things from his bag. He began on step two: measuring out exactly one liter of Clabbert blood. He did it very carefully, and when he looked up again, it was to see Potter chopping up their herbs in a rough frenzy.
"Potter, you idiot!" Draco exclaimed loudly, snatching the knife from Potter's hand. "I know you have issues, but really! How on earth can you think that's the correct way to do that?!"
"You fucking do it then," Potter said, beginning to rub his temples again.
"I can't do this entire potion by myself! Believe me, I would if I could. Merlin, what the bloody hell is wrong with you?"
Potter suddenly turned to face Draco. He looked very angry.
"Snape fucking paired us together on purpose," he said in a harsh half-whisper. "So did Hagrid this morning."
"What?" Draco asked blankly. He had no idea what Potter was blathering on about.
"They did it on purpose," Potter repeated. "Merlin, I was fucking angry with Hagrid this morning, but fuck. Even Snape is going along with this? I just – fucking – what the fucking hell is he thinking?"
Draco was utterly confused now. "What the fucking hell are you thinking?" Draco asked. "I have no bloody idea what you're talking about, Potter. What do you mean we're paired together on purpose?"
"All the teachers were told to try and do all that they could to help us get along better. They had a meeting about it."
Draco furrowed his brow. "And you know this how?"
"Hagrid told me."
Draco rolled his eyes. "You would believe Hagrid," he said plainly.
Potter's eyes narrowed. "Hagrid's not brain-dead, Malfoy," he said dangerously. "If he said he was in a meeting about forcing us get along, then he was."
"What exactly did he say?"
Potter took a deep breath and let out an angry sigh, apparently trying to calm himself. "He said that McGonagall told all the teachers that they should try to help us get along in whatever way they could; he said Dumbledore told her to do it."
Draco was still confused. "Why on earth would they have a meeting all about trying to make us get along? What's the point?"
"Apparently," Potter began, his eyes flashing, "if we start to get along better, then all of Hogwarts will follow in our footsteps, and we'll help promote House unity, and peace, and friendship, and everyone will live happily together, skipping arm in arm," Potter said very sarcastically.
"Are you kidding me?" Draco asked unbelievingly.
"Unfortunately, no."
"Why the hell would anyone think that?"
"That is exactly what I was wondering."
"That's ridiculous!"
"Yes, it is."
"Is there something keeping you from working?" Both boys jumped a little. Snape had come up right behind them without their noticing.
"No, sir, we were just discussing the potion," Draco said quickly, and he handed Potter the knife that he had snatched from him earlier.
"I suggest you get back to work," said Snape, and he moved from their desk to another.
Draco turned back to Potter as soon as Snape was gone. "Snape went along with it too?" he asked quietly. It was hard to believe that Snape would do anything to make Draco get along with Potter.
"Obviously," said Potter as he began hacking at their herbs again.
"But why?"
"I don't know. You'd have to ask him."
"I'd rather not," Draco said warily. "And you're still not doing that right," he said, watching Potter's hands chop away.
Potter dropped the knife and crossed his arms. "You do it then, Oh Mighty Brewer of Potions."
Draco rolled his eyes. "We've already established that I can't do it by myself," he said flatly. "All I'm saying is that you're chopping is too violent. You're going to turn them into a powder if you don't stop, and we're supposed to have small strips." He reached over and took the knife again to show Potter the proper way to chop the herbs. "There, see."
Potter shook his head and took the knife back. Draco was pleased to see that when he resumed his task, it was with a much gentler hand. He went back to working on his own part of the potion, but still kept a sharp eye on Potter's work.
It went that way for awhile. They simply worked in silence, watching each other and taking occasional notes on what the other was doing. It was obvious that Potter was still angry; he kept throwing dirty looks at Snape and the frown on his face hadn't once left him.
Draco still couldn't believe that Snape was doing anything to help them get along. It didn't make any sense, but then again, Hagrid was Potter's friend and he had gone along with it. Snape wasn't exactly Draco's friend, but still. The entire situation was confusing and ridiculous and stupid.
Finally, when they both had nothing to do but wait for their potion to stew for a few minutes, Draco began their conversation again.
"Do you really think the teachers are forcing us to get along?" he asked.
"What other explanation is there?" Potter sounded tired, like all of his anger had worn him out.
Draco shrugged. "It just seems unlikely," he said bitterly.
"What other explanation is there?" Potter repeated. Hagrid and Snape paired us together on the same day. Thank Merlin we don't have any other classes together, I don't think I can take much more of you."
Draco narrowed his eyes. "You don't think they'll try anything outside classes, do you?"
Potter's eyes flashed again. "My God, don't say that."
Draco frowned he hadn't realized just how much Potter hated him. He turned away and looked into their cauldron. "Just another minute or so and we can start on it again," he said.
Potter simply nodded and began rubbing his forehead again.
Draco stood in silence for a few seconds, but then turned to Potter again, suddenly angry. "It's not the end of the world you know."
Potter looked up at him. "What?"
"You act as if it's the worst thing in the entire world. It's only a fucking hour, two if we happen to be partners in Care of Magical Creatures."
Potter quirked an eyebrow. "What the hell are you on about?"
Draco didn't even know why he was suddenly angry. "You're an idiot, Potter and you blow things out of proportion."
Potter let out a choked laugh. "I blow things out of proportion?" he asked incredulously. "Let's not even get started on the things you've blown out of proportion. Hippogriff in third year, ring any bells? How about every fucking article that's ever been in the paper about me or the Weasleys? Any alarms going off?"
Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Just shut up," he said.
Potter dropped into his seat and put his face in his hands. Draco frowned again and began adding more ingredients to their potion.
"You don't care that we're being used to promote House unity? That we're being forced to work together?" Potter asked though his hands.
Draco stared at him. "Of course I care," he said. "I hate it as much as you do; you're just mental about it."
Potter raised his eyebrows. "I have no idea where you come off saying that I was being mental," he said, shaking his head. "This whole thing is pointless anyway, it's not like we're ever going to become friends."
"I suppose even you can be right about something every once in a while," Draco said scathingly. "But you are mental."
Potter rolled his eyes.
They ended up just reaching step 15 with only a few minutes left in class, and Draco put a covering charm over their cauldron while Potter cleaned up.
Draco was thinking about writing his mother about having to be paired with Potter, but on second thought he figured that would be a little embarrassing; he wasn't thirteen anymore.
"I think we're just going to have to deal with this thing," Draco said quietly.
Potter stared. "Probably," he said after a second.
"Or go to Dumbledore."
Potter shrugged.
"Do you have any better suggestions?" Draco asked, annoyed with Potter's lack of words.
Potter didn't say anything.
"Do you want to go to Dumbledore?"
"Not particularly."
"I'm happy that you're so articulate," Draco said sarcastically.
Potter rolled his eyes. "There's nothing we can do. The teachers are allowed to pair us with whoever they want, we can't tell them what to do."
"I'm sure if we went to Dumbledore we could get out of it," Draco said with no particular enthusiasm.
"Is it worth the trouble?"
Draco shrugged this time.
Potter sighed angrily. "I just fucking wish I could be allowed to make my own decisions, I am fucking seventeen."
Draco raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind," Potter said dismissively.
"Whatever," Draco said, and he leant in to grab his quill off the desk. In the process, he came into very close contact with Potter's hair again. He straightened up quickly and narrowed his eyes.
"What?" Potter asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," said Draco, and he turned and began packing his things up.
In another few minutes the bell rang and Blaise and Pansy were at Draco's side in seconds. He looked over and could see that the Weasel and Granger were coming. He grabbed his bag and hurriedly stuffed his parchment and quill into it. "Oh, Potter, one more thing," he said at the last second. Potter looked up at him. "You smell kind of funny. You might want to do something about that."
Potter looked at him, confused, and Draco smirked as he walked out of the classroom.
Sorry for the long wait guys, this chapter was a bit difficult to write for some reason. Hope you guys like it! Leave a review:)