The bottle was meant for Dumbledore.
"Whoever cursed Anthony, poisoned you." Hermione concluded.
After spending a couple of nights in the hospital wing, with Draco sleeping in the armchair next to his bed, Harry was finally released.
A few days later he got a note from Dumbledore.
"Oh shit!" He said, as he read the note at lunch.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked.
"I totally forgot about the memory."
He'd have to tell that to Dumbledore today.
"There's no point in having our next lesson before you obtain the memory." Dumbledore said at the end of their lesson.
When Harry went back to the Slytherin dungeons, that night, he went up to the dorms. It was pretty late, so everyone was asleep. Except for Draco. Draco was lying awake in his bed, holding something to his face. A bag of ice.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
Draco removed the bag to reveal another black eye. The one from Christmas has barely healed, and here he was bracing a new one.
"May I ask-" Harry started asking, but Draco cut him off.
"No."
Harry sighed. He wanted to be more protective of Draco, but he did not want to push him away either.
"How can I be there for you?" Harry asked, to which Draco responded by simply scooching.
Harry walked to Draco's bed, and took the space Draco made for him, and shut the bed posters.
"How did it go with Dumbledore?" Draco asked, clearly in need of a distraction.
"Well, I guess." Harry said, and told Draco about the memories he watched with Dumbledore.
"Did he really think Dumbledore would give him the DADA teaching position?" Draco asked, Harry shrugged.
"I don't know…" Harry said.
"Did he say something about the Slughorn memory?"
"He said," Harry said, "that there's no point in having another lesson before I get the memory."
"And what are you gonna do?" Draco asked.
"I don't know." Harry answered, and then checked his watch. "It's getting late."
Harry gave Draco a good night kiss, and moved to his bed. The next morning, when he woke up, Draco was already gone. Harry took a shower, put on his uniforms, and headed to the Great Hall, where he expected to find Draco, as he does every morning, with an untouched plate of food in front of him and his Daily Prophet in his grip. However, today, he did not find him. Instead, he received a note from him…
Meet in the greenhouse tonight. Usual time.
After Harry read the note, it caught on fire and disintegrated. And so, Harry went about his day, wondering were Draco was, what he's up to, and what's the greenhouse tonight all about.
When it was time, Harry snuck to the greenhouse. He made his way under the Invisibility Cloak. When he got there, he found Draco lying on his back, under the moonlight, reading a book he was holding above his face and illuminating the page with his wand.
"Hey," Harry said, notifying Draco of his presence.
"Hey," Draco shut his book close, and sat up.
Harry smiled at his boyfriend, and went to sit down right next to him. "Where were you today?"
Draco smiled mischievously, "I needed to get a few things for tonight."
"A few things?"
Draco pulled out of his bag a bottle of Fire Whiskey.
"How did you get it?" Harry was surprised. Where would Draco get a Fire Whiskey from.
"I have my ways." Draco simply shrugged, and opened the bottle. "Want a sip?" He offered. Harry grabbed the bottle and sipped.
They heard the leaves ruffled. Shit! It must be Slughorn again.
"We should seriously consider changing our spot…" Hard whispered to Draco. Draco simply gave him another mischievous look before…
"Professor Slughorn," Draco called, in a speaking voice. "Is that you?"
"What are you doing?" Harry whispered intensely.
"Oi!" Slughorn was startled, he dropped the vial in his hand. "What are you doing here, boy? It's way past curfew."
"Oh, is it?" Draco faked ignorance. He looked at his watch. "We must've lost track of time."
"We?" Slughorn wondered. Harry was still hiding behind a large bush.
"Oh yeah, Harry is here too?"
"Harry?!"
"Hey professor," Harry came out from behind the plant hiding him.
"Can you keep a secret, professor?" Draco asked. Slughorn tried to contain his curiosity but couldn't.
"What is it, my boy?" Slughorn gave in.
Draco wrapped his arm around Harry, who was caught off guard, and said: "Harry's my boyfriend."
"Ah!" Slughorn shrieked, "how I love young love!"
"You should join us, professor." Draco said, before adding: "we've got Fire Whiskey and, your favorite, crystallized pineapples." He pulled out a bag of crystallized pineapples out of his school bag.
Slughorn hesitated, but then said: "I can't say no to crystallized pineapple." He then stopped, and turned to Draco: "How did you know it was my favorite?"
"Every student should know their favorite professor's favorite sweet." Draco said. Harry knew, for a fact, that Draco's favorite professor is Snape.
"Oi, such a sweet boy!" Slughorn said, as he grabbed a piece of crystallized pineapple out the bag in Draco's hand.
And so, Slughorn joined the two of them. They drank and ate through the several bags of crystallized pineapples that Draco brought. Draco did most of the chatting with Slughorn. He is way better at that kind of thing than Harry is or ever will be. Harry just watched Draco be charming and breathtakingly beautiful in the moonlight.
"Mmm that's some good Fire Whiskey boy." Slughorn announced after taking another sip from his glass, leaving it empty.
"It is brewed at Malfoy Manor, sir. I'm glad you like it." Draco said, pouring his professor another glass.
Draco paced himself, and he made sure Harry paced himself as well. Professor Slughorn, on the other hand…
"Here's to young love!" Slughorn raised his glass.
"To young love!" Draco answered and raised his glass. Harry did the same.
"You know, Harry," Slughorn said after taking yet another sip, "I taught your parents."
Harry does, in fact, know that. Slughorn has mentioned it countless of times.
"You did?"
"Oh yeah," Slughorn said, "your mother was such a brilliant witch!"
He took another sip.
"It is such a tragedy what happened to them… to you…" Slughorn continued.
Draco nudged Harry. Harry turned around just to find Draco's grey eyes, lit by the moonlight, fixated on him. He then nodded towards Slughorn, and Harry knew exactly what Draco was trying to say.
"Do you remember it, Harry?" Draco asked, intently.
Within the next thirty minutes, Harry would secure the memory and run to Dumbledore's office.
Thanks to Draco, of course!