Thursday morning came around and it was time for Potions again. No paper airplanes visited him during breakfast and, feeling slightly disappointed, Harry headed down to the dungeons. Once again, he was the last person there, but today Professor Slughorn was back.
"Hello, Harry! Please, take a seat." Slughorn waved his arm at the chairs, as though there were more than one choice.
"I talked to Professor Snape about Monday's class, and I've decided to give the Slytherin-Gryffindor partnering another go. Today you'll be using your books..." Slughorn's voice faded into the background as it filtered into Harry's brain without making much of an impression.
Slowly, Harry walked around to the only empty seat–once again, next to Malfoy. As soon as Slughorn's voiced had dropped off entirely, Malfoy took out his Potions book and flipped to the page for the potion, which was apparently Amortentia–another love potion, but this time, a much stronger one.
"What page?" Harry whispered.
"Honestly, Potter, don't you ever pay attention to the professors? Or arrive on time, for that matter." He paused. "Page 238."
Harry dug out his–or rather, the Half-Blood Prince's–copy of Advanced Potion Making.Oddly, the Prince had written nothing on the pages for Amortentia except, "With love comes pain."
Harry was slightly disappointed but scanned the book until he found the list of ingredients. Beside him, Malfoy was tending the cauldron, just as he had done before.
"I'll get the ingredients, then, shall I?" Harry asked. There was no response. Harry sighed and, taking his book with him, retrieved the required materials from the storage closet.
Having collected the ingredients, Harry scanned through the instructions on how to create the potion. It was highly complex–a truly advanced potion making. Harry saw that Malfoy had already completed the first couple steps. Silently, he began preparing for the next.
In silence, the two boys worked together over the cauldron, speaking only when necessary. Harry was careful not to touch his partner, even in handing over the stirring rod; Malfoy's threat still loomed in his mind. But it seemed that, just as before, the Slytherin concentrated too hard on the task at hand to take much notice of the world around him.
Finally, after over an hour of intense focus and painstaking accuracy, the liquid in the cauldron began to glisten with a pearly sheen and the steam curled into spirals as it rose from the surface.
Harry took in a deep breath of the steam and closed his eyes as the intense smell hit him. He could almost taste the treacle tart in his mouth and feel the smooth grain of his Firebolt under his fingers. Once again, the third smell eluded him.
He opened his eyes to find Malfoy studying him silently.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Nothing," Malfoy said, and for once, he had nothing else to say. He raised his hand to get Slughorn's attention.
"My, my. Let's see," Slughorn said as he stood over the cauldron. He inhaled deeply. "Mmm. Yes... Excellent. Quite wonderful, my boys. Harry, you've done it again."
Malfoy's expression darkened dangerously. Quickly, Harry interjected, "It wasn't me, professor. Malfoy did most of the work."
"Oh?" Slughorn turned to regard the other student. "Well, excellent work, Malfoy. You two are free to leave." Slughorn turned and walked off to inspect Hermione's potion, which seemed to be nearly done.
Harry packed his bag and left the classroom. Judging by his stomach, it was just about lunchtime. As he was walking down the stone corridor, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned: it was Malfoy.
"What?" Malfoy said.
"Nothing," Harry replied. There was a silence.
"Can I ask you something?" Malfoy said eventually.
"You just did," Harry pointed out. Then, hesitantly, "... but yes."
"Why didn't you just let Slughorn give you credit for the Amortentia? It's a difficult potion and you did just as much work as I did."
Harry sighed. "Because, Malfoy, I believe in credit where credit is due. Besides, we both know you're the better potion maker."
Malfoy muttered, "Slughorn doesn't seem to get that..."
Harry gave the other boy a small smile. "Maybe if he keeps letting us work together, he'll come to find that out."
The response was another one of Malfoy's signature stares, yet again tinged with an emotion that was difficult to read on his face. He stepped toward Harry, expression unchanging. Harry wanted to ask Malfoy what he was doing, but their proximity made speaking seem almost... crass.
He saw the Slytherin's chest rise. Then, quite suddenly, he walked off without a word.
Harry watched him go, wondering what the hell had just happened. He shrugged and, as his stomach grumbled, walked back up to the Great Hall for lunch. He was just sitting down when Hermione appeared across the table from him. There was silence between them for a couple minutes as they both dug into their meal. Potion crafting was hard work.
Hermione grabbed a goblet of juice before saying, "That was another odd look he gave you today, Harry."
"Who, Draco?" Harry said.
Hermione stared for a moment. "What did you say?"
"I said, 'Who, Draco...'" Harry's voice faded as he realized what he'd done. Then his mind suddenly flashed back to last night. His face started to burn when he remembered what had happened. But more importantly, he remembered his revelation.
"Harry?" Hermione gave him a questioning look.
"Um, nevermind..." Harry cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Hermione, I need to ask you something. Do you know the Latin word for 'dragon'?"
Slowly, as though she realized Harry was trying to make a connection but wasn't sure what it was, Hermione said, "In a simple form, it's 'draconis.'"
Harry let out his breath in a whoosh. Dragon. Draconis. Draco.
"Harry, what's going on?" Hermioned asked.
"I'm not really sure, Hermione. I don't think it would make sense if I tried to explain it to you." Plus, how do you explain to your best friend that you wanked to the image of your arch-nemesis? Harry quickly scrubbed the thought from his mind.
"I need to go." Harry stood up and grabbed a couple rolls. He stuffed one into his mouth as he walked quickly back to the dormitories, to the paper with Draco's dragon on it.
When he pulled out the paper, he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it. Finally, he took out a quill.
So how did you get out of my Full-Body Bind curse?
The paper vanished at the tap of his wand.
Draco was sitting on his bed when the paper appeared in front of him. He leaned forward and read the messy handwriting underneath his dragon.
Shit. Shitshitshitshit. He knows! He fucking knows. Draco cursed his–he wasn't sure what. Stupidity? Lack of subtlety? Interest in Harry? NO. No. I am not interested in Potter, goddammit. He thought for a moment.
Well, maybe a little bit.
Oh.
He is rather handsome, though. He has nice eyes.
Well. Now that we've got that covered, what do we do about this situation? Another voiced seemed to pipe up in his mind. You do realise how utterly moronic it is to get involved with Potter? Especially considering the situation with your parents.
SHUT UP.
Just trying to be helpful.
Draco sat in silent thought for some time. Then, a grin blooming across his face, he found a quill and picked up the paper.
I don't always need a wand to perform magic. Although wands are quite nice sometimes...
Harry sat and stared at the paper for a long time when it reappeared. His thoughts drifted back to the third scent of Amortentia. Wands are quite nice sometimes...