Author's Note:
Competition: A Very Potter Senior Year
Word Count: 1077, including the A/N.
Prompts Chosen: Draco Malfoy - [potion] Felix Felicis
Disclaimer: Some things about this story may not necessarily be canon, such as Draco Malfoy drinking Felix Felicis before accomplishing these certain tasks.
All his attempts at murdering Albus Dumbledore had failed miserably. If he didn't complete this mission, Draco Malfoy, now a marked Death Eater, would inevitably die, and so would his parents.
But perhaps it was because he had resorted to crude and badly judged measures such as attempting to send Dumbledore a cursed necklace by putting Rosmerta, the landlady of The Three Broomsticks, under the Imperius curse, who in turn placed the same curse on Katie Bell, forcing her to deliver a cursed necklace to Dumbledore. However, Katie accidentally touched the necklace and was now at 's Hospital.
His second indecent attempt to assassinate Albus Dumbledore hadn't succeeded either. Rosmerta, still under his Imperius curse, gave poisoned mead to Slughorn, but because of his blind stupidity Draco didn't realize there was only a slim chance the Headmaster would drink it.
Now his last chance in accomplishing this mission was to repair a Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement in order to connect it with its equal located in Borgin and Burkes, Knockturn Alley.
If the two cabinets were connected then Death Eaters could secretly enter Hogwarts, despite the increased magical protection surrounding the school. Then, the Death Eaters would be able to aid him in defeating Dumbledore.
Draco had learned numerous and various spells to mend the cabinet and he had spent weeks, perhaps even months, on the arduous and demanding task but had been unable to do it. It seemed as if the cabinet was infuriatingly irreparable, no matter how much effort was wasted on it or how much time was spent on it.
Infact, he had been doing this for so many weeks the fatigue and exhaustion was beginning to appear on his face. Where there once was a well-rested, ambitious boy was an irritated, exhausted, weary man. There couldn't be a task more gruesome and vexatious than the one at hand.
There would be many days, for instance, where he would hide in the bathroom after failing, yet again, to improve the Vanishing Cabinet's state. Today was one of those days. It was early May, and he didn't have much time left, yet he was still wasting his time here, shedding tears that wouldn't solve his problem.
In the mirror, Draco quickly realized his reflection wasn't alone. Potter was there, peeking at him invasively. He would pay for invading his privacy!
Draco quickly spun around, wand in hand, "Cruci–" he began, but Potter pulled out his wand, hitting him with a spell, stopping him mid-sentence and making him fall on the ground in pain from the scars that gashed his face and his chest.
The last things he heard were Myrtle's screams as well as Professor Snape's voice and Potter's before his consciousness left him, still and silent, almost as if he were dead.
Draco was in Slughorn's Potions classroom. Slughorn was checking everyone's Potion vials. Inside each one of them was the Draught of Living Death, a potion that brings upon the drinker a very powerful sleep that can last indefinitely.
Slughorn began making comments on everyone's vial. He marked Draco's as Acceptable. Normally, Draco would be infuriated, seeing as he'd always got Outstandings in the class, but ever since he had failed — twice — to assassinate Dumbledore, he focused much less on his marks and significantly more on his mission. Though he was dissatisfied and disappointed in himself, he didn't have the time to study.
Potter, strangely enough, received top marks in the class — he could see Granger look at him with a jealous expression. Potter used to fail miserably, but he was currently surpassing everyone. Slughorn didn't even write the brewing instructions on the board, unlike Professor Snape, who wrote them with his enhancements. Potter was cheating in some way, but Draco couldn't care less.
Because of his bizarre academic excellence in Potions, Potter was awarded a bottle of Felix Felicis…
Draco awoke in the Hospital Wing, early in one morning, with a single thought and a single plan in his head. He needed to leave — quickly — so he could purloin a bottle of Felix Felicis to complete his task, but much to his dismay, Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let him, so he was forced to stay there for another two weeks.
Thankfully, after a few wasteful days full of boredom and stressfulness, Draco managed to convince a reluctant Madame Pomfrey to release him from the Hospital Wing earlier than planned.
He attended classes normally the day of his release, and some of the professors gave him a review of what he'd missed as well. Once the classes for that day had finally ended, Draco avoided everyone and their bothersome questions about how he got wounded, or the floating whispers and quiet rumors around him by retreating to the Room of Requirement.
Draco was left alone in the room with his thoughts. He skipped dinner in the Great Hall, as he didn't enjoy meals as much as he used to. Nothing was the same as it was before The Dark Lord's return.
Soon, Draco heard the footsteps of students climb up, meaning that the feast was over and curfew had begun. Once Draco thought the coast was clear, he left the room and descended the stairs. He entered the Potions classroom and unlocked the trap door that led to a storage room and proceeded by searching for a vial of Felix Felicis.
Once he finally found one, he went back to the Room of Requirement to mend the Vanishing Cabinet. Draco droke half of it. If he had listened to Slughorn properly, a small vial of Felix Felicis would last twelve hours, meaning half would last six.
Thankfully, the liquid gold made him lucky, and Draco finally managed to successfully fix the cabinet in five hours. All he had to do was await the perfect moment for the Death Eaters to make their entrance. When that moment would come, he would just drink the other half in order to complete the rest of his mission…
…Even though Draco was no assassin.