The bell announced the end of Potions class but Harry could not escape in time. "Mister Potter, a moment please."

"What is it, Professor?" he asked and absently watched as the other students walked out of the classroom. Those lucky bastards.

"As you know, not all students have the same talent in every discipline. Some excel with the theory, others are better hands-on. I have noticed that your written assignments are worse than your practical work. Now Severus assured me that –"

At this point, Harry expected to be called out for his lacklustre ability with potions, or the essay he had handed in. Snape might be a proper bastard but he knew potions unlike anyone else. Which was why Professor Slughorn's next words outright shocked him.

"Severus clearly has no eye for talent. You have your mother's talent but you need some refinement, some polishing. Lily was just like you, she only started to shine after she got a different perspective, and I think that you are your mother's son, in that regard. That's why I would like you to tutor Miss Patil."

"But – But Professor, I –"

"I know it might seem daunting at first but teaching can be such a joy. And unlike me, you won't have essays to grade," the old teacher said in a jovial tone that was meant to be dismissive.

"Professor, I really don't think that –"

"Now is not the time for false modesty. You are a natural at brewing with merely a weaker understanding of the theory involved. Just give it a go, I think you would both gain something valuable from this arrangement. And if things don't work out between you two, we can revisit alternatives in but a fortnight. Maybe you would be better served with the lower years - But, never you mind, that is a question for then. Now, run along, or lunch will be over before you get to the Great Hall."

Dumbledore's Army might have given Harry some teaching experience but he had no idea how he was supposed to tutor anyone in Potions. He could brew decently, but he lacked the same kind of instinctual understanding of the subject that he had in Defence against the Dark Arts. Potions had never been something that interested him, even if Professor Slughorn actually taught the discipline. After five years of Snape, the damage had been done. And yet, the revelation that his mother had been a Potions prodigy made Harry curious enough that he took his time to entertain his professor's absurd delusion about his talent. Or, a cynical part of him considered, she had found the same book he now used.

Which was the reason he felt quite nervous when he approached the library on Thursday evening. Some small part of him had survived half a decade of Snape and wanted him to be good at potions, wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps.

Padma was no stranger, they had spent many hours training together the previous year, but at the same time he could hardly claim that they were friends either. A friend would have understood him, whereas a stranger would not notice anything. Padma, she might know him well enough to at least suspect something.

Harry walked through the cavernous room, lined to the ceiling with shelves almost overflowing with books, but did not find his pupil-to-be at the desks available near the entrance. Slightly annoyed that he hadn't spotted her on his first try, he poked his head into the side rooms next to Madam Prince's office. The first one was empty but the second one was not. A lone figure sat at one of the desks in the middle of the room. It had seemingly been commandeered by Padma, who turned at the noise of his steps and greeted Harry with a small wave and a smile that didn't quite reach her brown eyes.

"Hey, Harry."

"Hi, Padma."

"Everything alright?" A slight frown drew on her face as she eyed him, observing him for silent responses.

"Yes. It's nothing," he assured her, giving her a small wave in return. "Are you ready?"

Rather than replying, she ended the awkward exchange and gestured at the chair opposite of her. The study rooms were small, three tables that could seat four comfortably or eight in a squeeze. Since exams were still far away, the other two tables were as deserted as the other room had been. A portrait of an one-armed Auror was the only decoration on the bleak wooden walls, the paint having long faded to a grayish green. In terms of location, since Hermione usually was the one who made him and Ron revise, they would always find a nook in the Gryffindor Tower. Now that his bushy-haired friend wasn't around, this was actually the first time he was inside a project room. And now that he thought of it, it would be the first time he was studying with someone other than from his own House.

"Alright, so how are you at Potions?" Harry asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Decent, I think. I got an EE on my OWL but that was honestly the written exam making up for the practical portion," Padma explained and Harry took the opportunity to take her in. Compared to her sister, she had shorter hair that barely reached past her shoulders, and her face was slightly rounder with thick eyebrows. She lacked the elaborate hairdos Parvati often wore, but sported a simple ponytail instead. A necklace with a small golden P medallion hung from Padma's neck.

"Then I really don't know what Slughorn was playing at when he set this up."

"Neither do I, to be honest. Parvati said that you were pants at Potions. Yet, you passed your OWL."

"I am alright, I'd wager. Without Snape to insult me all the time, I can brew most of the potions."

"That's not what Slughorn sounds like whenever he looks at your potions. He practically floats with praise whenever you're concerned," Padma pointed out with some amusement.

Harry regarded Padma for a second. They were no friends, not really, but they had been in the DA together. For a whole year, she could have spilled their secrets, could have served him to Umbridge on a silver platter. Yet she kept shut, she had not been the Ravenclaw who betrayed them, nor the one who tried to justify Marietta's treason. In fact, she had joined the dozen DA members who took to hexing the traitor whenever they got the chance, which had annoyed Cho as much as Hermione's brilliant curse. "About that, funny thing, really, there's a book."

"A book?" Her brows furrowed and her eyes turned quizzical. "What kind of book? A guide?"

"Not quite, no. I didn't think that I could get into NEWT Potions, to begin with, because Snape demanded an Outstanding. I didn't expect to succeed anyway, so I didn't buy a textbook, and neither did Ron. With the return of Professor Slughorn, that changed. In our first lesson, he told us to grab some old used books that were forgotten or left behind from a closet. Luckily, there were two books left. However, Ron was faster and got the only neat-looking one, I was left with the shabby ragged one that looked to fall apart at the seams," Harry said and took a deep breath, momentarily reconsidering the revelation he was about to make before dismissing the idea with a small shake of his head. "There's a very good reason why it looks the way it does. The previous owner, someone who called himself the Half-Blood-Prince, used it extensively and wrote down hundreds of notes. Sometimes a score for a potion. The pages and recipes looked as if they were all tested and then improved upon over a long time."

"I see, but the Half-Blood-Prince? Seriously?" Padma asked and tried to theatrically raise an eyebrow but broke down in giggles instead.

"Don't ask me, I've got enough ridiculous nicknames without havin to make up one by myself."

"So these annotations are the reason why you are good at potions?" she wheezed out.

"Well, I got an Exceeds Expectations, and without Snape hovering over me or blaming me for every cauldron Neville melted, I would say that I'm not bad at it. But that Prince bloke must have been a genius who wrote a lot of useful hints about the potions. And now Slughorn is convinced I'm the second coming of Merlin when it comes to potions."

"Oh this - this is just too good," Padma choked out in between renewed peals of laughter. "So, you really have no clue?"

"Well, I'm not bad," Harry protested. "Besides, there has to be a reason those annotations work, right?"

"You might be onto something. May I see the book?"

Having already spilled the beans, this time Harry did not hesitate. "Sure, knock yourself out."

Padma thumbed through the book for a few minutes, taking notes that Harry couldn't read. She then pulled a second tome from her bag, a reference work he had occasionally seen in Hermione's hands, although this one was also heavily annotated and teeming with little slips of paper in all colours of the rainbow.

"This is brilliant. I can't make sense of all those changes but at least some of them are really smart. Like slicing dew pods lengthwise since that increases the time it is in contact with the fruit, and you are less likely to damage the seed."

"I don't get that. There was another note about squeezing some beans with the flat of the knife rather than slicing them, and suddenly I had the juice everywhere."

"Bulstrode's law?"

"I remember that name from my learning binge last year, but nothing else."

"What - How did you get this far without knowing Bulstrode's law? Snape taught that during his first lesson."

"His first lesson was asking me a bunch of questions I later saw during our OWL, mocking Hermione and then berating me for not studying ahead 5 years."

"How irresponsible of you. Not studying half a decade ahead - what's next, are you going to tell Professor Snape that you have not written your thesis yet?" Padma deadpanned.

"Unfortunately How a Bat can be a Git takes a lot of research. I wouldn't want to submit an incomplete work in a field so dear to our professor's heart."

Padma couldn't contain a snort, which turned into full-fledged laughter. "You're alright, Harry."

"Was that ever in question?"

"Two words: Yule Ball."

"I'm really sorry for that. I had a lot going on and Cho –," Harry trailed off. "No, you know what, I'm sorry. I have a bunch of excuses but none of them excuse my behaviour."

"You don't have to apologise to me, I'm not blaming you for how Ron behaved," Padma said with a small smile. "Parvati was the one who set us up. But if you really want to apologise, I think my sister would be interested in hearing this from you."

The next time they met, Harry had the Prince's book out from the beginning and they worked through that week's potion. Slughorn had them brewing a remedy for Salamander Pox, a disease he had never heard of before. Harry was still not convinced that this whole tutoring business was working, after all, they could not brew potions in the library.

"– Beans, it makes sense to use a mortar to grind them instead."

"How do you know that?" Harry asked, having lost the thread once the difference between various tools came up.

"Well, the additional surface area –"

"No, I mean, in general. How do you know all these things? How do you know that the additional surface area would benefit the potion?"

"I like alchemy."

"Really?"

"Well, not the advanced 'make gold' or 'Philosopher's Stone' kind of alchemy, but the more common applications."

"There are more common applications? I thought that this was a niché subject you had to be a genius wizard for, like the Flamels or Professor Dumbledore," Harry admitted.

"Well, if you want to discover another use of Dragon Blood maybe, but I'm more interested in the simple transmutations. Think about it, turning wood into metal was one of the first spells we learned in transfiguration. It is not a difficult spell but it requires you to apply magic, to channel your intent through your wand to make it happen," Padma explained with a familiar look of focus and enthusiasm. "If you have a compound that makes this happen without an active application of magic, the magic has to come from the compound, from the magical properties of the ingredients. So, I read a lot about magical properties of various substances and that helps me to understand why those annotations work. At least most of them."

"I never really thought about it. Alchemy was just one of those things you occasionally found on a Chocolate Frog card."

"It is so much more than that," Padma said with an almost dreamy expression. "Admittedly, transfiguration has been advanced to the point where it is mostly better, so there's not much use and it's no longer taught at Hogwarts."

"Mostly?"

"Alchemy can work around Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. But the applications are way beyond what a student could do, like turning metal into gold. Wand crafting is a part of alchemy, but again, that takes years, if not decades of dedication to master. Gathering potion ingredients is technically a subset of alchemy. And using Alchemy to create food is just unnecessarily complicated cooking."

"I never knew," Harry said and thought for a second. "So is potions part of alchemy?"

"That is subject to some debate, but most books I've read say no because potions rely on the brewer imbuing them with magic while they make them. Alchemy relies on using innate properties of the ingredients instead."

In more than one way, Padma's explanation reminded him of whenever Hermione was talking about something that interested her, down to the passionate spark in her eyes. However, this explanation had been much easier to follow. Which brought a question to the forefront of Harry's mind. "Do you want to pursue alchemy further once you graduate?"

"Not as a profession. I would consider it more of a hobby, like Quidditch is for you."

"So what do you want to do after Hogwarts?"

"My parents own a trade company, so that's where I will start out after our NEWTs," Padma said slowly, as if her thoughts were far away. "But I don't know if that's really a job for me. From what Dad made me do last summer, I enjoyed procurement, but I fear that it would not be interesting after a year or two. It's kinda daunting that we have to decide our careers before we even began to work."

"I know what you mean. When we had the career advice last year, I said that I wanted to be an Auror, but the more I think about it, the less I actually want to be one. I like the idea, protecting others by catching scum like the Lestranges or Malfoy," Harry trailed off when he realised how gloomy his voice had become. "But then I look at the Ministry, at the people working there, and I wonder if that's really the place where I want to be. I know two Aurors who are nice and two other people there who are good. But the rest? Fudge worked there, as did Umbridge, and the new Minister does not inspire confidence either."

"You could always bring back Dumbledore's Army, you know? By the way things are looking, we might need all the help we can get."

"I don't know how much good that would do, to be honest. I thought that we were doing alright, and as a study group, the DA was great. But when we had to go up against actual Death Eaters, we stood no chance. They were toying with us, trying to get the prophecy. Hermione almost died, and Si – If not for Dumbledore and some of his followers, we all would have died," Harry said hoarsely, trying to choke down the grief that came with the memory of that night.

"I can't imagine what that must have been like," Padma admitted and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Harry looked up and found a warmth in her eyes that had not been there before. "I asked around a bit, and a lot of us would like to do something, anything. Susan is the worst after what happened to her aunt, but most of us who believed you last year about his return feel like that."

"I see what I can do. But I don't know how much time I will have this year. NEWT classes are a lot more work than before, and Professor Dumbledore said something about lessons with him as well."

"Even a few lessons would help. Thank you."

"Alright, good practice everyone," Harry called out, and since the temperature had dropped below freezing the moment the sun disappeared behind the Torridon Hills, his team fled towards the locker room. All but one of them.

"That was awful," Ginny said quietly, leaning against Harry's shoulder. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

"If we play like that, yes," he admitted, seeing no point in lying to Ginny. She might not know as much about the history of Quidditch as her brother, but she had a much better read of the game. "Your boyfriend is not bad, but he is just a pale shadow of Katie. Demelza is getting there, but she and Dean are not working together well."

"Mel has the potential to become a great playmaker, but her finishing is not where it needs to be. Dean isn't bad at solo runs, but his passes are almost as bad as Ron's."

"I really wish that your brothers were still on the team. Jimmy –"

"Is bad and Peaks is even worse," Ginny finished darkly. "But you haven't been yourself lately, either."

"I've got a lot on my mind. The lessons with Dumbledore are not what I was hoping for, and both your brother and Hermione are being ridiculous lately. On top of that, Padma –"

"So that's where you have been disappearing to."

"We study together in the library," Harry pointed out, but Ginny did not seem convinced. "Slughorn set us up and since Hermione keeps being unreasonable about Potions, I needed someone else to do my homework with."

"So when are you going to ask her out?"

"What?"

"At first I thought that you were just tuning out the arguments Ron and Hermione were having, but you kept looking at the Ravenclaw table, and not at Luna."

"Padma is pretty, but after how I treated her sister during the Yule Ball, there is no way we could work as a couple."

"Mhm," Ginny replied in a tone that conveyed just how little she believed that. Harry realised that he had to move the conversation along, or he might find himself subjected to a questioning he was not ready for.

"But speaking of Padma, she suggested getting the DA together, or at least a core who actually cared about Voldemort and not just their grades."

"That's a great idea!"

"You think so? Even after the Ministry?"

"We made it out of there, even if we were a little worse for wear," Ginny shrugged.

"But that's because they wanted the Prophecy. We were done for before the Order arrived, and given how much I struggle with silent casting, I don't know if I'm the right teacher."

"Yes, but Snape is teaching Defence now, and everyone knows that he hates your guts. I bet there's a lot of books that explain it better than the Bat does."

"You might have a point there."

"Of course I do. Also, you can ask Tonks for help, she's an Auror, so she had to master the NEWT material, and she probably has a lot of tricks up her sleeves as well. Since she's down at Hogsmeade, you could even get a reply before curfew if you hurry up and send Hedwig."

"That's a great idea, Ginny," Harry said and squeezed her shoulder. "With Hermione and your brother acting the way they do, it might be down to Luna, Neville and you to help me with the lessons."

"We can do that. And speaking of great ideas, can I borrow your Firebolt for an hour or two?"

"Sure, knock yourself out," Harry replied absent-mindedly, already thinking about what he should put in that letter. And how he could organise the DA in a way that would prepare them for fighting Death Eaters, and not just passing a test. "I'll see if I can find Luna on the way to the Owlry."

"Thank you," Ginny said and gave him a sideways hug. "I need to clear my head, and after that practice, I also need to get some actual training done if I want to win the next game."

"I wish I had your confidence," Harry said and shook his head. "If we play like we practised today, we won't win anything."

"You are the best seeker Hogwarts has seen in many years, and out of the current teams, I am pretty sure that I am the best Chaser, at least until Katie returns. So between the two of us, we will win the remaining games, even if we have to carry the rest of the team to victory," she announced boldly, grabbed the broom from Harry's hand and, in one smooth motion, mounted it and shot off into the air like a missile. Watching her fly off, Harry noticed something that he had been oblivious about. His friend had a nice ass. Really nice – Oh well, she was Dean's girlfriend, so good for him. Lucky bastard.

The tutoring sessions continued for the rest of the term, and much to Harry's surprise, the old Professor had been right. It really helped his understanding of the subject, and consequently, his grades. Much to Hermione's annoyance, he could not only brew surprisingly good potions, he also could answer theory questions because he and Padma had gone over the potion and the Prince's modifications in advance.

Admittedly, Harry felt like he was getting the better end of the deal because Padma was the one doing most of the thinking during their lessons. His big contribution was to bring a book he had found months ago. And sweet-talk the Professor into giving them his lesson plan.

However, with Ron and Hermione at each other's throats and Katie in St Mungo's, he ended up spending a lot more time with Padma. She insisted that his two oldest friends were doing some sort of strange courtship ritual, but to Harry, it looked more like the beginning of a blood feud. Especially since Lavender Brown was in the picture.

On top of that, Professor Dumbledore wanted him to make a connection with Professor Slughorn to find out what he told Voldemort about Horcruxes. There was an ideal event, but Harry dreaded it because he was reminded of the Yule Ball a bit too much. Especially given whom he ended up asking.

"You know how Slughorn has that club of his?"

"Yes, you are complaining about it often enough," Padma pointed out with a roll of her eyes. They were once again in the library, although with the end of the term rapidly approaching, there were a couple of third-year students in the study room as well.

"Well, there is to be a Christmas Party and I was wondering if you'd like to come with me?"

Padma's gaze snapped up from the book in her hands, her brown eyes boring into Harry. The sudden stare kept his attention to the point where he missed the quill that dropped from her hand. He was not sure why, but the moment felt significant. As if he was weighed and measured.

"Alright, I'll be your date."

"Great – wait, what?"

"It's a dance, so - wait, you did not want to ask me out?" Padma asked and her eyes dropped to the empty parchment that now sported an inkstain.

"I – no, I thought it would just be like the Christmas feast, only a few days earlier – " Harry trailed off, his stomach felt like it had taken a nosedive and ploughed straight into the ground. This was not how he wanted this conversation to go, at all. However, the crushed expression in her usually bright eyes hit him like the worst kind of sucker punch. "Look, I would love to have you as my date for Professor Slughorn's event. I just didn't think that you'd agree to a date."

"Boys," Padma mumbled under her breath. "What gave you that idea?"

"The Yule Ball. I made a right fool out of myself then –" Harry said. Truthfully, he had not intended to ask his study partner out. He needed someone to go with because that was expected of him, much like during the Yule Ball. And his list of potential companions was rather short, starting at Padma and ending with Luna. Yet at the same time, the more he thought about it, the more brilliant this twist was. He got a date with a pretty girl without the terror that came with asking girls on dates.

"That was two years ago, no use crying over spilled milk. And there's no risk in you mooning after Cho again, is there?" Padma asked pointedly and then broke into a mischievous grin. "Also, I caught you checking me out a few times. Your eyes darting to my chest wasn't subtle."

"I'm sorry–"

"Don't be, you're not creepy about it. The occasional glance is fine, makes a girl feel good about herself. As long as you don't stare, a bit of appreciation isn't bad," Padma said with a grin that would have been well suited for one of Hagrid's monsters. And as she leaned forwards and onto the table, Harry realised why she looked like a predator about to pounce on her prey. Her jumper was not particularly low-cut, but the angle offered a great view.

It proved impossible to keep his eyes on her face, therefore he averted his eyes entirely and looked down onto his hands. The Sorting Hat had put him into Gryffindor for a reason. Some might call it bravery, Hermione would tell him that he acted without thinking. And that usually meant that the best way was forwards. "I fancy you – It's just, I was afraid it would be weird because of the Yule Ball," Harry admitted. He was not in love with his study partner, he did not know her well enough to be, but he had nursed a crush on her for a couple of months. One that he never thought would go anywhere, much like the ones he had on Angelina or Tonks. The truth of the matter was that other than Hermione and the girls on the Quidditch team, he didn't really talk to witches. So spending a lot of time with a pretty girl spurred his thoughts in a certain direction.

"Oh – I – Oh God," Padma choked out before she burst out laughing. Harry gave her a questioning look, which only sent her over the edge again. Which in turn made him laugh at the sheer absurdity of their conversation. She had a pretty blush, a radiant smile and tears in the corner of her eyes, and Harry could not help himself but laugh more. They egged each other on if one started to calm down and laughed on well after Madam Prince threw them out of the library.

AN:

Beta'ed by Babidibupi

Just some stupid idea that has been stuck in my head for the past month or so.