Chapter 16:
Normal Pov
(Harry Potter, His First Potions Class)
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape started the class by taking the roll call, and he paused at Harry's name sarcastically.
"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."
Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels. Harry flushed gradually, but kept his eyes on the back of Juliunna Malfoy's head.
She was sitting directly in front of him, her long black hair flowing down to the small of her back as she leaned forward in her seat. Harry grinned excitedly as she turned around, passing back his note.
Would you like to be friends?- Harry.
You do realize you've already asked me this on the train, and I said yes. So yes. –Juliunna.
"What are you doing?" Draco whispered to Juliunna, with a soft tap on her shoulder. She smiled at him and shrugged. "Nothing. Pay attention to Uncle Snape." She whispered. And the two of them looked to Professor Snape, who had been looking at the two of them with a small grin.
"If some people are done writing love letters," Professor Snape drawled out slowly but loudly, making the whole class burst into laughs. Harry pushed the letter into his pocket quickly.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.
"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. Juliunna was sitting calmly in her seat, staring up at Snape with small, expressionless eyes.
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.
"I don't know, sir," said Harry.
Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."
He ignored Hermione's hand.
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter. Juliunna turned around, and scowled at Hermione.
"You know, Granger, I believe Uncle Snape asked Harry the question." Juliunna drawled out, and Hermione's beady eyes narrowed at Juliunna's. Juliunna merely smirked and turned around to face the wall.
"I don't know, sir."
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?
Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except the Malfoy siblings, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Draco and Juliunna Malfoy had stewed their horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.
"You Potter, why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."
This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.
"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."
"Don't worry about it boys." Juliunna said, turning around to grin at them. "At least it was only a point-!"
"Grrr…" Ron growled as Draco appeared over Juliunna's shoulder to grin at him.
"Having fun there Weasley? Look's like your robes got a bit drenched in the potion… Oh. My bad! Its just that their second hand!" Draco let out a cackle of laughter, and Ron glared at Juliunna when Draco walked across the room to talk to Crabbe and Goyle.
"Why don't you say something to that stupid mutt you call a brother?" He snapped, and Harry frowned when Juliunna's grin drop. She turned around back to her desk.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Harry snapped at Ron, and then cast a sideway glance at Juliunna, who was bent over her desk, frowning. As Snape came closer, he threw a loathing glare at Harry, and turned to Juliunna.
"Is your potion finished?" He asked, and Juliunna looked up.
"Yes." She sighed, and Harry winced and looked down.
"Perfect texture, color, consistency, a perfect brew. Nothing I'd expect less from you dear-! What's wrong?" He asked, leaning down a little to look her in the eye. Ron looked up fearfully, afraid of trouble, but Juliunna sniffed and said, "Can I leave?"
Potions wouldn't be ending for about an hour, but of course Professor Snape let her leave without a single question. But Harry had a feeling that Professor Snape knew that it was Ron that made Juliunna upset, for at the end of the glass he made Ron stay behind and clean up the whole room, and even took away five points for bad manners.
As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week - why did Snape hate him so much? "Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George." Ron said with a shrug. And Harry nodded absently. At the last second, he saw Draco Malfoy and his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle standing near the entrance of the Slytherin Dungeon. So with a quick farewell, he ran down the hall towards the group.
"Yeah, I don't know why, but I feel like we should be investing in candy." Draco said, rubbing his chin softly.
"Malfoy." Harry said, coming to a stop next to them. Draco bit his tongue irritantly as Harry made eye contact with him.
"What do you want Potter?" Draco asked.
"Where's your sister?" Harry asked, and at that, Draco's eyes widened. "Sister? What would you want with Jules?"
"Listen, do you have any idea where she is?"
"Of course I do she's in the bloody Slytherin Common room of course." Draco snapped obliviously at Harry. "But trust me when I say, your not going to find your way down there." Draco said with a mean sneer, and Crabbe and Goyle leered at him.
"What? But I just want to talk to her real quick." Harry sighed.
Draco smiled suddenly. "Oh, well in that case, I'll tell you the password. You can go on down there and have a quick chat with her."
"Really?"
"No! What are you a bloody idiot?!" Draco snapped. He turned around strolled down the stairs. Crabbe and Goyle blocked the stairway so Harry couldn't get through, Harry scowled.
"Stupid gits." He muttered, and then turned around. He yelped and jumped back in fright. Standing behind him was Juliunna, smiling with her hands behind her lower back.
"Hello Harry." She said, and before Harry could open his mouth she was running back down the hall. Harry followed her quickly.
"Wait a minute!" He called as she jumped over the Great Hall stairs, and then landed on her feet perfectly and bird like.
"Come on, aren't we going to go somewhere?" She asked with a smirk, and Harry grinned when she stood up to full height and stopped running.
"Yes." He said.
"So where are we going?" She asked nicely, and Harry fought to catch his breath.
"Err, I don't know. Where do you want to go?" He asked nicely.
"Hmm, I want to go to the Black Lake. It seems pretty sweet-!"
"Harry!" Ron shouted from the top of the staircase. He looked down at the two innocent looking kids. The both of them grinned at Ron nicely.
"Hey Ron." Juliunna gave him a flirty five finger wave. "Err… Hey, Malfoy." Ron said, his cheeks turning bright red.
(Harry and Juliunna's First Flying Lesson)
Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy.
Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday - and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.
"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."
He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.
"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."
Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.
…
At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.
The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.
Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. Juliunna met his eye right beside him, who jiggled her dirty broom with her foot. "I don't like this broom." She whispered to Harry, and he shrugged with a small smile.
"Well its not like theirs anything we can do about their looks." Harry whispered.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"'
"UP!" Everyone shouted.
Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. Juliunna's also. But to Juliunna's loud and humorous tone, Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"
But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle - twelve feet - twenty feet. Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and -
WHAM - a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.
Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.
"Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get."
She turned to the rest of the class.
"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."
Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.
No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.
"Did you see his face, the great lump?"
The other Slytherins joined in, minus Juliunna, who acted as if she was suddenly deaf.
"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati." She snapped with a smirk, and Parvati edged a sneer on her face.
"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's grandma sent him at breakfast."
The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.
"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.
Malfoy smiled nastily.
"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find - how about - up a tree?"
"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"
Harry grabbed his broom.
"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble-!"
"Granger for once in your pathetic little existence of a life, shut up and watch some fun stuff." Juliunna snapped at her. Hermione screeched in outrage, but Harry ignored her. Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him -and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught - this was easy, this was wonderful.
He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.
He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.
"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"
"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried. Juliunna shook her head disappointedly. There was a sudden crash from the sky and both Harry and Draco were falling towards the ground quickly.
Juliunna/Rhianna Pov In the Past/Present kind of view.
"Ahhh!" I screamed loudly, rolling out of my bed and accidentally trapping myself in my large green silk blankets. "Ouch." I snapped when I hit the floor on my back, protected by all the blankets. This is the second night in a row! I can't wait until mother and Bella get back from Christmas break-!
I jumped up and freed myself roughly from the blankets, and started for the bathroom immediately. Okay, I know this looks bad, but I am ninety percent-! I leaned over the toilet and let out a slew of vomit. Okay… Eight percent-! Again, oh my gosh this hurts!
Okay, I am twenty percent sure that I am not pregnant! Oh my. I leaned over and after flushing the toilet, laid on my back on the floor. I let out a sad groan.
"I wonder how far along I am. It obviously happened months ago. Maybe two. Three. I'll check with Mungos or something when I get back." I moaned, and I heard the sound of loud footsteps shuffling through my bedroom.
"Rhianna?" I heard, and I sat up with a groan. "Lu.. Lucius?" I called out loudly, and got down on my knees. My head was swirling around with dizziness and morning sickness. I breathed in through my mouth in an effort not to vomit, and when I looked up, Lucius came running in.
"Rhianna? What's wrong?" He asked. He held out a hand and I took it. When he pulled me to my feet, I frowned.
"Err… Pregnancy." I said, and then his eyes widened as I stumbled on pass him.
"Your pregnant?" He asked, and I slumped down onto the bed and onto my back. He sat down next to me.
"Yeah. Seems like it, but its not official of course. Cissy and Bella are going to bring me back a test. But until then I'm dealing with morning sickness and hallucinary nightmares." I said with a grim smile. Lucius frowned at me.
"Wait a minute, did you and Severus… You know, do it?" He asked, and I smiled at the ceiling. Of course we did. But not the young, seventeen year old version. The older, thirty eight year old version. Well thirty five the first time of course.
"Nope." I said with a smile.
"Well your going to tell Severus, right?" He asked me, and I gave a half hearted shrug.
"He'll find out eventually." I shrugged. And Lucius nodded. "Can I tell him?"
"Sure, why not?" I said with a shrug. And Lucius stared at me for a few seconds. "Really?"
"Really. Go tell him. I don't care." Rhianna said with a shrug. Lucius nodded.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay." He said with a shrug.