Potions

Monday morning I woke at 7AM feeling hazy and tired but after splashing cold water in my face, putting on my fresh Gryffindor robes and fixing my hair, I felt more ready for the day.
I headed down to the great hall with Ginny for breakfast while the boys stayed in the common room to eat.

As we sat at the table with the other Gryffindor students who had come down I asked Ginny "You have Herbology first don't you?" She nodded in response as she ate her toast. "Are you in greenhouse 6?"

"Yes, I think so. So is Neville." She said as she enchanted the jug of orange to pour juice into her cup, smiling when she managed to not spill it.

When Ginny and I finished our breakfast we headed out of the great hall and across to the door leading outside, where we passed Draco who winked at me and grabbed my bum as he walked past. My eyes widened and my cheeks went crimson, luckily Ginny hadn't noticed his inappropriate action. I turned around and scowled at Draco just before he disappeared to the staircase.
Outside we bumped into Neville and Luna who were just saying their goodbyes as we approached.

"I'll see you later Neville." Luna said with a smile and kissed his cheek then skipped off in her usual flamboyant and floaty way, saying hello to us on the way past.

Ginny, Neville and I then made our way down to the greenhouses and followed the rest of our Herbology class to the greenhouse with a big yellow number '6' written on it. As we all stepped through the door behind Professor Sprout we each made a noise of disgust; it reeked of something similar to mould, rotten eggs and dragon dung.

Professor Sprout laughed and explained that they were maturing Bubotubers which needed lots of foul smelling nutrients to grow.
"What I want you students to do today is, in pairs, get yourselves a Bubotuber, and put it in one of the boxes of soil" She pointed to the huge boxes at the back "And I want you to feed it, clean it, care for it and then over the next 4 weeks I want you to carry on looking after your Bubotuber and make sure it doesn't fall ill and die. When the 4 weeks are up I expect an essay on how your Bubotuber has grown and developed and what problems you came across and how you fixed them. I expect at least 4 rolls of parchment at NEWT grade level."

Ginny and I paired up together and put on shoulder length gloves to handle the huge slug looking things wriggling around in the soil pit in the front of the class – gloves are necessary as the petrol-smelling pus that oozes from their large shiny swellings reacts strangely with human skin.
It took both Ginny and me to lift the Bubotuber out of the soil and into the box because it was wriggling like mad when we tried to grab it – we heard someone across the room yelp as some of the pus had splashed onto his face when he squeezed it too hard and he was taken to the hospital wing as Professor Sprout shook her head.
When we finally got it in the box we poured in some more soil so it sat happily, half of its body out of the soil – I assumed the side that was out of the soil was its head but there was no sign of a mouth or eyes. Professor Sprout told us that it only opens its mouth when it's fed, so Ginny and I got some of the foul smelling 'nutrition' from outside the green house and poured a small amount into the box, and to our surprise the Bubotuber wriggled around a little, I assume so it was facing the food, then a hole appeared in its centre and basically sucked up the food, before burping and emitting an even fouler smell than the food and its mouth shut again.

When we finished checking our little Derrick (Ginny and I named the Bubotuber) for any signs of disease we washed it with a special water solution and took it outside to a dark damp corner near Hagrid's hut where it could sit wriggling happily until we came back later to feed it.

After Herbology I had to get to Astronomy quickly and considering it was all the way in the tallest tower that wasn't likely, however I tried, and managed to get there in 5 minutes.
I was slightly late and quietly apologized to Professor Sinistra before sitting next to Seb, one of the prefects I met on the train ride and the lesson flew by.
When the lesson finished I only had half an hour of lunch before double potions and my stomach was growling with displeasure. I was heading to get diner, through all the secret passage ways I knew of to get to the great hall quickly and have some food but as I went through a darkened corridor too fast I found myself flying through the air and landing, face down, on the floor.

I heard a mischievous cackle from behind me and cringed: Peeves. "Ooh muggle born on the floor! Is that how you like it?" Peeves screeched "Muggle born! She's a whore! Want's to fuck you on the floor!" Peeves sang his cruel song and I shot a spell at him.

He gasped and screeched a laugh "You can't get me with your muggle spells fool!"

The door behind me swung open behind me and a voice bellowed "Peeves! Keep moving before I get the bloody baron down here and don't think I won't you little shit! He owes me one so shift!"

Peeves looked taken aback but after a moment's thought, stuck his tongue out and disappeared. I pulled myself up and brushed myself down as the floor was awfully dusty. I looked round into the face of Draco Malfoy, who was lit up by the light coming through the door.

"What on earth are you doing down here?" Draco asked sounding disapproving, his brows set in a deep frown.

I sighed and walked through the door, him following me. "I was trying to get down here quickly so I'd actually have time to eat before potions." In the light I could now see the bits of dust on my knees and chest. I nocked most of it off then looked back up at him "I'm really hungry."

He grinning and said "To the food!" Then paused and pointed at my chest "You missed a bit… I'd get it myself but I'm going to be a gentleman about it." He winked and set off towards the great hall with me following close behind
When he opened the door I walked through ahead of him and headed down the Ravenclaw table to sit with Luna because the great hall was almost empty – only a handful of people on each table. I sat down and expected Draco to join the Slytherins when he didn't sit next to me, but then he appeared across from me on the other side of the Ravenclaw table and grabbed a chicken goujon.
"Hey Luna." He said casually and ate the chicken

"Oh good morning Draco" She said lightly, like she was floating "How are you today?" Luna smiled at him and drank some of her juice.
I admit, I was a little confused; after being locked in Malfoy mansion I thought even Luna would dislike Draco a little despite her loving nature… apparently Draco had been making lots of amends.

"I'm well thank you, and you?" Draco replied, eating some more chicken and I grabbed some food for myself.

"Oh I'm fine. You look tired, have you had a lot on your mind or is it just the nargles?" It amazed me how Luna could go from being very observant and intuitive to talking about nargles – a still questionable species as it was only her and her father who had seen them.

Draco chuckled "Well I was up a lot of the night thinking, but I think there are definitely some nargles at work."

I had eaten half of my sandwich by now and decided to ask "When did you two start talking?"

Draco answered "Well we spoke on the train and say hi when we pass each other, and we're talking now…"

But then Luna added "Oh, when myself and Mr Olivander were held prisoner and the Malfoy Manor, Draco used to sneak us food and water whenever he could, going against what he had been ordered to do. I always thought there was more to you than what everyone saw." She added on the end, speaking to Draco. He nodded. And carried on eating.

I looked at him for a moment taking in his sad expression. I assumed he was thinking about his time with Voldemort and his cruel family. "That was very brave of you."

He shrugged and said "I couldn't just leave them to starve. I did the humane thing. I wish I could have done more. Too much bad happened in that house."
His face was torn between disgrace and anger. I reached over and stroked his arm comfortingly and gave him a small smile. He coughed and composed himself. "I told Professor Slughorn I'd help him set up so I'm going to head down to the classroom. I'll see you in 10. Bye Luna."

We said goodbye to him and he left swiftly. I frowned and went on talking to Luna for a few minutes.

When it turned 2:30 I said goodbye to her and went down to the dungeons. When I reached the bottom of the stairs where it was darker, I headed towards the classroom where I could see Ron, Harry and the rest of the class standing in wait. But before I reached the classroom I was yanked from my left into a dark corner. I almost screamed but a hand covered my mouth before I managed.
"Sh." Draco whispered and chuckled. "I have you now Granger." He held me with my back against his chest, his arms acting like restraints, but there was no force or weight in them.

I gasped and shout-whispered "What are you doing?!"

He laughed and span me round to look at him. "Just kidding… Maybe." He grabbed my hands and pulled me back out onto the corridor and the class had gone into room so we rushed down and let ourselves in.

"Ah, Miss Granger. Mr Malfoy. Glad you could join us." Professor Slughorn said from the front of the classroom. "We don't have any spare parts so you two can pair up." I looked around the class room and noticed everyone was paired up, and there was 2 empty spaces next the Ron and Harry for us to sit in. I mentally cringed as I walked over there with Malfoy following me, and I sat on the stool next to Ron and Draco took the one next to me, grinning amusedly, his hands flat on the table, tap tap tapping in a rhythmic way.

Professor Slughorn carried on "Today, you've been assigned partners, and you will be working with them for the next month, as I'm assigning you all to make a drought of Polyjuice potion. Now, who can tell me what Polyjuice potion is?"

I raised my hand habitually and Slughorn pointed to me "Polyjuice potion allows the drinking to temporarily assume the form of another person but is only used for human transfiguration, if non-human DNA is added to the potion and then drank it will cause a distorted end result in the person and they will not be able to return to normal as quickly as usual."

"Yes, yes, well done Miss Granger, 3 points to Gryffindor. Polyjuice potion does exactly that. It is extremely difficult to make and takes the minimum of a month, can anyone tell me why this is?"

My hand flew into the air again but Draco spoke up before me "The lacewing flies need to be stewed for 21 days and the Fluxweed needs to be pickled at full moon." He said before sticking his tongue out at me childishly.

"Correct Mr Malfoy. Perhaps it was unfair to pair you two up." He said grinning raising his eyebrows joyfully, playing favourites. "3 points to Slytherin." I heard Ronald snigger quietly next to me.

"The potion takes a lot of preparation, but I'm not going to give you any more information on it, as that is all down to you. Use your potions books, and all the ingredients can be found in the classroom store cupboard. You may start whenever you're ready.

I stood up and got my book out of my bag to check the ingredients and Draco got his cauldron, heat mat, pestle and mortar, knife and handle to stir. He waggled his eyebrows at me as he span the handle in the air using his wandless and wordless magic skills then dropped it into the cauldron in front of me. I rolled my eyes, found the page in the book with 'Polyjuice potion' written at the top and walked around the table towards the store room. I only took a few steps when I heard him whistle behind me as my bum moved from side to side. I blushed, turned back, grabbed him by the sleeve of his robe and pulled him into the store room.

When I turned to face him my cheeks were still flushed, so his cheeky smile widened happily "You really are adorable." He said, tangling his fingers in the side of my hair, and then softly pulling them back out, while I focused on breathing and the lingering tingle where he touched while my head spun slightly.
I tried hard to hide my glee "And you really are inappropriate." He grinned wickedly.
As we looked for our ingredients amongst the masses of random herbs and animal parts, Harry and Ron came in with another pair who immediately started looking. As Harry looked for their things Ron came over to Draco and I. I internally cringed as I imagined the next few minutes.

And sure enough he squared right up to Draco and said "What's your problem?" harshly.

Draco, being Draco, sniggered and rolled his eyes "Right now my only problem is your close proximity and the damage it's causing to my nostrils."

Ron didn't seem to even take notice of his comment and he continued to stare down at Draco, who was an inch or two shorter than him.
"Why are you always around, being your twatish self and whistling and winking? Last time I checked you hated her because she's muggle born." Ron was trying to keep his voice low but the venom was tangible.

"Well." Draco said taking a step back. He crossed his arms and put more of his weight onto one leg. "I'm always around because I go to school here, I'm being my twatish self because obviously I'm a twat, and I'm always whistling and winking at Miss Granger here because – well" He turned his head to me and looked me up and down, putting on a show for him. "She's fucking hot. Why, are you scared Weasley?" Draco raised his eyebrows and smirked at Ron arrogantly and then glanced round at me. I just frowned at him, my cheeks glowing which of course made him smile widely again.

Ron turned to me, too see the cause of his smile – I was frowning, and then looked down at the floor. "Hermione, do you seriously want this death eater working with you and talking to you?" Ron's voice was like poison as he hissed the words 'death eater'.

I saw Draco looked down, ashamed of the label he still bore, and he went back to looking for ingredients. Anger filled me to my finger tips and I narrowed my eyes at Ronald. "Yes. Yes I do want this boy talking to me and working with me. He's been a right side nicer than you have." I looked at him coldly before walking to the other side of the store room, to Draco.

"Ignore him; he's being stupid and jealous." I whispered as I started gathering ingredients.

He got the ingredients off the higher shelves, occasionally looking in the book, and then turned to face me. "Is there anything to be jealous of?" He whispered, his face close to mine a he passed me the flies and boomslang skin.

I blinked a few times, swallowed and then looked down not knowing how to answer. Because there was something to be jealous of – I think.

I looked up a moment later and Draco was smiling as he took in my introverted expression. "Come on." He took the ingredients from my hands and carried them back into the classroom.

For the remainder of the lesson Draco and I started the potion and prepared everything we could prepare, talking and occasionally laughing loudly. At one point he decided to toss some rotten boomslang skin in my direction, causing me to send it flying across the room defensively with my wand and we each lost 2 points from our houses for 'behaving like children'.
As we were leaving Slughorn cornered us both and asked us to attend an evening meal with him and his 'slug club' on 1st October. Draco accepted courteously while I cringed remembering last year's fiasco – upsetting Ron and dodging McLaggen.

I decided I wasn't very hungry after the lesson and was going to go straight up to bed to read but as I walked up the steps leaving the dungeon, Draco caught up with me and walked by my side.
"Hey, the great hall's going to be pretty empty, do you want to sit with me – we can decide how we're going to go about this Polyjuice project and eat and stuff." He grinned a normal friendly grin and I couldn't help but to smile back.

I sighed and said "I don't really feel up to the hall, I was just going to go to bed… We can talk tomorrow morning though."

He smiled but seemed a little disappointed. "Ah, okay. Sorry that's my fault isn't it? I should have just left it with Ron. I just can't help it – he's too much of a massive arse to not want to annoy." He chuckled slightly and started walking up the staircase with me.

My heart sunk a little "What, so… All the flirtatious behaviour and whistling is just to annoy Ronald?" I tried to hide the hurt in my voice but was unsuccessful.

He stopped half way up the stairs and held my hand against the hand rail lightly to stop me. With his other hand he turned my face to face his, which was absurdly close to mine, making me go slightly cross eyed. "No." He shook his head, looking into my eyes intensely "No. That's because you're gorgeous and kind and lovely and amazing and literally the hottest person ever." He spoke quickly. "I can't help it, you make me want you."

Just then the staircase moved and we both flinched away from each other because of the jerk. His face had gotten so close I think if the staircase hadn't moved there would have been no stopping it.
I thought for a moment as the staircase moved, and Draco was happy to stand silently.

We started walking up to the new corridor and I finally said "Sorry, I just don't know what to say. I'm in a difficult situation."

Luckily the corridor that we fell upon lead to a shortcut to Gryffindor tower so we wouldn't have to wander around for an hour.

I lead us behind a tapestry and we came out a few steps away from the fat lady. "What's difficult? You're boyfriends an arse and you hate basically everything he does, and I can tell you like me. I know it. The way you're body reacts to mine, you can't deny it."

As he said it he held me against the wall with his body and pinned my hand up with little force. My breathing came out jaggedly and my legs felt like jelly. I bit my lower lip as I accepted what he was saying – there was no question about it.

Draco's nose was touching mine and he was looking deep into my eyes again. "I know you feel what I feel. You're hearts stuttering. Your hips are tensed – confused. Your pupils are dilated. Your breathings erratic." He took a breath, apparently I wasn't the only one, and then he whispered "And I don't see you pushing me away." He came closer to me, his lips brushed mine, and before I could respond to them there was a clatter behind him near the portrait hole.

I didn't manage to look around before I heard "What the bloody hell…?!"
It was the enraged voice of Ronald Weasley.