Ficlet – Jackson & Malcolm: Mess Up My Potion
This ship (JacksonxMalcolm) is named Tinderbox.
"Hey Mal?" Jackson's soft murmur in my ear breaks my concentration, the fang of a python slipping through my fingers as he bumps my elbow with his own. He glances down at my potion, now slowly changing from a light purple to a sickly green. He glances back up at me, reading my annoyance. "Sorry" he apologizes, wincing.
I stare down at the potion disdainfully, ignoring him. "I need a bat spleen to neutralize the fang."
He nods and races to the ingredients shelf, earning a dirty look from Professor Malfoy. I can't find it in me to care about his annoyance or my messed-up potion as Jackson comes bounding back, grinning his little embarrassed grin while offering me a bat spleen sheepishly. "I swear I wasn't trying to ruin your potion."
"I know" I answer, rewards him with a small smile while taking the bat spleen and crushing it. Dropping the powdered spleen into the potion, I watch calmly as it fades back into a light indigo colour. Turning back to Jackson, I grin softly. "There. All fixed."
He breathes out, relieved, and presses his body into my side. "Thank Merlin. If I messed up another potion Professor Malfoy would fail me" he laughs, catching he curious gazes of other students as they whisper about our nearness. "I can't see the potion properly from the other side of the table" is his poor excuse, accompanied by a charismatic grin. The other students nod and looks away, but keep whispering and not-so-subtly pointing in our direction. Jackson, oblivious, turns back to me. "So. Do we need to add more python fang since you neutralized the one you dropped in?"
"A python fang, not ground up, was too potent as a whole, which is why we were only supposed to use half of it if we didn't plan on grinding it up. One bat spleen is enough to equalize half of a full python fang. That leaves us with half of a fang not neutralized, which is exactly what we originally needed. So no" I answer. Giving the potion a final stir, I wave my wand and extinguish the flames underneath the cauldron before pouring a sample of the indigo liquid into a vial. Capping the vial, I hold it out for Professor Malfoy to grab as he walks past, making his way around the class. He nods in approval, slipping the sample into his pocket, and I wave my wand once more to clean the cauldron.
Jackson winces, furrowing his eyebrows in disgust. "Alright, alright. I didn't need to know all of that. All I wanted was a simple yes or no."
"Actually, you did need to know that. For your exams. They can ask us to brew any of the potions on this year's curriculum, and if you don't know how to fix a potion that you mess up, then you will probably fail." Trying unsuccessfully to mask my grin, I slip my hand back into my robes and lean against the desk, arching an eyebrow. "Wouldn't want you to fail, now would we? How embarrassing would that be."
Jackson narrows his eyes on me, pouting, and steps forward. He ignores the looks from the other classmates as they downright stare at us. "Shut it, Flint."
"You'll have to make me, Wood" I hiss back, enjoying the brief flash of playful anger that crosses his face before he smirks and takes another step towards me. He presses his body flush against mine, leaning up on tiptoes, before crashing our lips together. His arms slip around my neck, drawing me down towards him. I kiss back, matching his enthusiasm with my own, and wrap my arms around his waist. He grins triumphantly against my lips and pulls back, trying to step away, but I tighten my grip around his waist and pull him closer. A few students whistle, and Professor Malfoy calls out to us, but we ignore all of them in favor of grinning shakily at each other.
"If this is how you reward me for helping you make a potion, then you can mess up my potion any day" I whisper, leaning in to brush my lips against his ear, hiding the faint blush on my cheeks. Scarlet red flushes Jackson's cheeks, but he doesn't seem to mind, or care, that we have everybody's attention.
"Only if you fix it afterwards."