Fancy A Sweet?

“I think I found one.” 

 Luna looked over at the area that Draco was pointing at with his shoe. 

“That’s just a pebble.” She said as she picked it up to take a closer look. “But it does look very similar to a Moon Frog egg, Draco.” Luna handed the pebble to him and Draco nodded.

“Honest mistake.”

“You will get the hang of it.”

They had been walking around the shore for a while looking for Moon Frog’s eggs or nests. Luna had found a lot, Draco had found none. He just did whatever Luna told him to do. It was nice and peaceful. There was a chill in the air but wherever there was sunlight, it was warm. The lake looked peaceful and with Luna, they could walk in silence for a while without it being awkward. And they could also talk about whatever that came to mind without it being awkward.

“I figured it out.” Draco said out of nowhere. “What was missing on the potion. Tell your father to chop the leaves perpendicular to the steam in strips, then cut them into cubes and then mash them.” That was also nice about hanging out with Luna. Both were free to just say whatever came to their minds without having to give the other any context.

It had been an issue Luna’s father encountered while working on a magic ink potion, it needed to be able to change text when you’d tilt it. Mimicking a muggle trick that was very cool. Luna showed him a magnet that when you tilted it to the right and showed a dinosaur, and when you tilted it to the left, you could see its skeleton. It was so cool, Draco spent an hour just tilting it side to side. Then Mister Lovegood told Luna in one of his letters that he would love to do something similar in the newspaper. 

She told Draco and since then, Draco had been working on a special type of ink that could be used to print images. So far, the solution he had was to just print the same image with his regular ink and then use the second ink Draco was working on and that would create the fun tilting effect on print. 

It would be way easier if Draco could try out the potions himself but he didn’t want to risk someone calling the Aurors on him. So he just wrote different types of recipes and sent them to Mister Lovegood, he would try them and write back what happened.

They almost had it. The effect was there but the ink had a pearlescent quality that kinda ruined part of the effect. At least for Draco. Luna and her father thought it was perfect but Draco knew it could be better. So he had been reading and also trying a few ingredients when Slughorn wasn’t looking, which was always, so it made it pretty easy to try out a few things. Draco was sure that the ingredients were correct but they were handling them wrong.

“That way, the oils will be released in a much gentler way and it should avoid that pearlescent shine.” Draco nodded to himself. Luna looked up from where she was inspecting a bunch of rocks.

“I will tell my dad in my letter today.”

“This should be the final one. This one is it, I’m sure.” Draco kneeled down to help Luna clean the path of the Moon Frogs. It was just moving the big rocks and some of the plants that were around, nothing too disruptive. 

“My dad will be happy to hear that. He has been very excited about the pictures.” Luna stood up and let her dress be sandy, unlike Draco who thoroughly dusted off his trousers every time he stood up. “He got new pictures from the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary and he wants to have them in their baby dragon form and then them in their adult form.”

“That would look so cool.” Draco smiled at her. It wasn't a full smile, but it was more than he ever smiled as of late. “What dragons does he have?”

“They sent pictures of an Antipodean Opaleye, a Chinese Fireball Dragon, a Hungarian Horntail and a Romanian Longhorn.” Luna climbed on top of a rock, on her way up, Draco held her hand in case she lost her balance. “Sadly, he didn’t send the photos, he still hadn’t had them reprinted, you see.” Luna looked out the Great Lake, Draco leaned against the rock. “But I’m sure we will get to see the photos in his next letter.”

“I look forward to that,” Draco nodded as he looked over at the Great Lake, the sun was still out and its rays reflected on the dark opaque water, adding a sort of shimmer to it. “Hopefully with the new ink working as expected.”

Luna nodded at him. They enjoyed their silence for a while. It was only broken by the sound of the water being moved by the light breeze of the coming winter, the occasional ruffling of the leaves in the trees and the very faint, far away, noise of the students who were always enjoying the nice weather.

It was nice and peaceful.

Until Luna decided to break Draco’s peace in the worst way possible.

“How are you getting along with Harry?”

Draco took a deep breath and felt tempted to say something harsh and mean. But Luna didn’t deserve that. She hadn’t ask him to be annoying. She asked because she was genuinely curious. Draco knew that. But man, he was having such a lovely time.

“We haven’t killed each other.” Yet. Draco added silently.

“That’s good.” Luna sat down on top of the rock, her legs swinging down right next to Draco. “I wouldn’t want any of you two to die, you know?”

It felt like a stone on his stomach. He looked away and swallowed a bit.

“I do.”

For a moment, Draco thought that Luna was merciful and had dropped the subject but turned out she was only just starting.

“Does Harry seem stressed to you?”

Draco sighed a bit.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“How come?” She asked with her normal doe eyed look. 

“We don’t hang out. We just polish the cauldrons and go on our way.”

“Mmm.”

“Besides,” Apparently Draco couldn’t drop the subject of Potter either. Shit, Pansy was right. “What does he have to be stressed about?”

Luna looked at him thoughtfully, she tilted her head to the side and then looked back at the Great Lake.

“The future, I guess.”

Again, she left Draco without words. Draco focused on the water instead of thinking of an answer. From the outside, the water looked black, it was impossible to know what could be underneath. Except for the Slytherins, they knew what went under the Great Lake. They grew up knowing.

It must mean something, right? The idea of growing up under deep dark waters. That from the outside looked impenetrable and unapproachable, an unappealing mystery for anyone except those who enjoy and seek the morbose and sublime. Or those who were born there. Those who grew up surrounded by it. Who knew the beauty and life that lived underneath the darkness.

It must mean something, represent something.

Or maybe Draco was just a pretentious nerd who read way too much poetry growing up.

“We did good work here.” Luna broke Draco’s reverie. “The Moon Frogs will be plentiful this summer.”

“I’m glad to be of service to the frogs.”

Draco pushed himself off the rock and offered his hand to Luna, ever the gentleman he was raised to be. She accepted.

“I better get going.”

“Where are you going?”

“To the castle.”

“Why?” Luna looked at the horizon and then at him. “The day is so nice. We don’t need to go back yet.”

Draco wanted to say that he was the one who would go, that she could stay. But, she was right. He didn’t need to go back yet. Since Draco didn’t make a move to leave, Luna picked up a pebble and transfigured it into a bright blue blanket with little stars on it. She laid it on the ground and sat down, Draco followed suit. Luna was good like that, helping Draco to loosen up. 

They stayed there, looking at the water in peaceful silence. Draco laid on his back, looking up at the branches moved by the wind.

Eventually, Draco fell asleep.

\\\

Harry Potter is the most annoying, aggravating person in the whole wizarding world. Why could he just not Draco alone? He was forcing Draco to pay for his sins, Draco was sure of it.

The only perk he could think of was that the random petty attacks he had been getting seemed to have lowered with Potter around. They did not stop entirely but did lower enough to be more manageable. Not that he’d ever tell Potter that.

So he had a pretty mild week. No big events like that attack from last week that left him limping. So maybe things were starting to improve a bit.

But then another detention day came. Ugh, great.

Harry greeted him with a smile. A smile! Draco responded with an eye roll and tried to slap the door on his face but the asshole stopped it and kept smiling. 

Draco would not fold. He would not engage. Just come here, polish cauldrons and leave. Do not utter a single word.

That lasted about five cauldrons before Draco could not take a smiling humming Potter anymore.

“Stop it.”

The jackass kept smiling. “Stop what?” He acted innocent.

“Humming and smiling. It’s creepy.”

Potter had the audacity of laughing. It made Draco’s stomach feel weird. He hated it.

“How is humming and smiling creepy?”

“Because there is nothing to hum or smile about.” Draco picked up another cauldron. “So stop it.”

“Well, then I will find another way to fill in the silence.”

Draco took a deep breath and polished harder than necessary. “Or you could just sit in silence.”

Finally, Potter shut up. Sadly, it only lasted a cauldron and a half.

“Why can’t we use magic to clean them?”

“Because any trace of non-specific magic could mess up a potion.” 

“Why?” 

Draco looked at Harry, who was looking at him. “Did you ever pay attention in Potion class?”

Harry shrugged.

“Salazar.” Draco muttered and went back to scrubbing. “Potion making… it’s an art, Potter. Every little detail counts. Some potions are less temperamental but most are very delicate, even the air humidity could ruin them.” He put the cauldron away and picked up another. “So non-specific magic traces could make a potion unstable or completely ruin it. Traces that could be left by a spell that was not carefully designed to be used for specific potions.”

“So all magic is different?”

“How did you even pass First Year?”

“Hermione helped a lot.”

Draco raised one eyebrow at Potter, who just kept looking at him expectantly.

“Yes. All magic leaves a trace and all magic is different.” Draco put the cauldron down, trying to figure out how to explain it in dumb. “Just like all wands have a core and all wizards have a core. Everyone’s magic has a unique…mark, similar to DNA.”

“You know what DNA is?”

“Yes, Potter. Unlike you, I know how to read.”

Potter snorted instead of getting mad. Ugh, he was so weird.

“Anyways,” Draco continued. “Magic interacts with everything, it’s all connected.” He used his hands to better explain it. “And all connections react to one another, wards for example. They let you pass because your magic is allowed to pass. That’s also how they can block apparating too.”

“Oh, that’s how they do it.” Harry nodded to himself, he rubbed his chin as his eyes crunched. “That’s cool. But…why does it matter with potions? Like, we use Stasis charm on them all the time.”

Potter was listening? Actively listening? Asking good questions too?

“That’s actually quite interesting.” Draco moved a bit so he was now sitting facing Potter. “Stasis is a charm, which is a specific branch in magic and spells in general. It works on potions because it does not affect the object itself but just adds certain properties or qualities, putting it simply, a charm manipulates ordinary effects and natural causes.” Draco explained, getting more excited as Potter nodded and urged him to keep talking. “So, in the case of the Stasis charm, it was carefully crafted to not interfere with the object, in this case the potion itself but to protect it from outside forces, such as time.”

“Oh, so that’s why it works on food too?”

“Exactly!” Potter was actually listening. “And also in people, in critical cases you can use it to stabilise a person long enough to get them help, with certain limitations, obviously.”

“Wow…I did not know that.”

“It’s pretty basic stuff, Potter.”

“Yeah…my education is a bit patchy.”

“To say the least.” Draco picked up the cauldron again and started polishing, Potter did the same.

“Probably why I’m failing Potions.”

“I doubt Slughorn or anyone would let you fail.”

“You haven't seen the messes I have brewed. And my essays? Ugh, I’m even ashamed to show them to Hemione.” Potter sighed as he polished the cauldron in quick circular motions. “And I wouldn’t let them pass me when I didn’t earn it.”

“So honourable.”

“I can be when I want to be.”

Draco snorted, feeling the corner of his lip quirking up slightly. They polished cauldrons in comfortable silence until Potter stopped scrubbing and looked up at him, as if he had just thought of something brilliant.

“You are brilliant at Potions.”

“...I am.”

“And you are very good at explaining things.”

“Your point?”

“Would you help me? In Potions?”

Draco blinked once, twice. Having a difficult time processing what was happening.

“It’s just, it’s so much information that I don’t know and sure, I could ask Hermione for help but she and Ron are an item now and I don’t want to just get in the way besides, I really want to do well in my N.E.W.T.S believe it or not. I still need to get some decent scores if I want to apply to…” Harry hesitated. “If I want to apply anywhere.”

“And you want my help?”

“Yep.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are brilliant at potions.” Draco was going to retort but Potter continued. “And you are one of the few who don’t treat me…different.”

\\\

Harry quickly realised honesty was what worked best with Malfoy. Being direct and honest seemed to shake him and leave him off guard, giving Harry the perfect opening to actually talk with him.

“I can pay you, since it would be like tutoring.”

Malfoy stayed quiet. Which Harry took as a win since a quiet Malfoy meant he was thinking it over. Wow, figuring Malfoy out was difficult, yet it was so entertaining. Each small discovery felt like a win.

“...five galleons a session?”

Harry smiled and nodded. “Deal! Tomorrow? In the free period after lunch?”

“Can it be after Muggle Studies? I have some things I need to read.”

“After Muggles Studies it is.” Harry picked up another cauldron. “We can go to the library together after class.”

“...sure.”

“Great.”

\\\

“The fuck, Harry.”

“What?”

“Let me see if I got this right.” Ron said, as the three of them sat outside the next morning, enjoying the last days of nice weather before winter came. “You got the ferret to teach you potions?”

“Yes. That’s what I said. What part is not clicking?”

“The part where you, I don't know, hate him?”

Harry rolled his eyes, he didn’t think it would be such a big deal. Wait no, lies. He knew it would be a big deal but he just hoped he would be wrong. He was tired of everything being a fucking big deal.

“It is weird, Harry.” Hermione looked up from the large book she was studying. “And not a good idea, that’s just calling for trouble.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or is this a way to keep an eye on him? Do you think he is up to something?”

“Aw please.” Ron groaned, covering his face with both hands. “Please don’t let it be 6th year all over again.”

“Okay, wow. First of all, no. It won’t be 6th year all over again. I don’t think he is up to something.” Harry looked at his best friends, shocked by their audacity. “Second of all, I was right that year.”

“Yes, Harry.” Ugh, Hermione was using that tone, the one that you would use when talking with a kid who could just not get the point. “You were right, but it didn’t make it less…weird.”

“She means annoying.” 

“I’m just doing my part to promote house unity.” 

“You are,” Ron moved his hands away, looking at Harry. “So full of shit sometimes.”

“Jerk.” Harry pushed him playfully. And he looked back at Hermione. “I’m rubbish at Potions. And I need good N.E.W.T.S, you said it yourself. Why are you giving me a hard time now that I looked for help?”

“Do not twist my words, Harry.”

“I’m not twisting them.”

“Harry.”

“Hermione.”

If looks could kill, the one that Hermione was giving right now would have killed him for sure. Fuck the Philosopher Stone, not even that would have brought him back.

Harry sighed. “Let's not make a big deal out of this just yet, okay?” He looked at them. “Can you give me the benefit of the doubt?”

“This is in the top three of stupidest things you have ever done.” Ron shook his head as he picked his quill. “Top three.”

“Stupidest? When have I ever done something stupid?”

Ron proceeded to list, without much difficulty, a bunch of things that Harry had done which even Harry could agree were stupid. However:

“You know, all of those worked out so you are not helping your case here.”

Ron rolled his eyes, going back to his book. “Whatever mate. Just don’t act surprised when it all blows up on your face.”

“That’s more of a Seamus’s thing, isn’t it?.”

Harry deserved the punch that Ron landed on his arm. 

\\\

Ron’s words might have gotten to Harry’s head. The reality of Malfoy teaching him potions finally hit him on his way to the library.

Maybe this was a stupid idea, catastrophic even. They have never gotten along. Well, they have been getting along just fine in detention. No fighting at all. It was even fun. So maybe it won’t be a catastrophe. 

He was getting closer to the library, he could be a dick and not go. And ruin the strange peace he managed to have with Malfoy. He would never forgive Harry for standing him up. He would never talk to him again. And Harry didn’t want that.

Besides, this was all Harry’s idea. It might have been a bit impulsive and without much thought behind it, but it was his idea. And so far, looking back at past ideas. He had a good track record, good enough results. He was still alive too.

So yeah, this will be fine.

He walked inside and looked around, Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

Did the asshole stand him up? No way. No, there was no way. Harry knew Malfoy wouldn't stand him up. Somehow, Harry was sure of it.

Okay, think.

If I was a slippery posh prick, where would I go?

Malfoy had been avoiding everyone all year. Of course he wouldn’t be at the front of the library. 

With that in mind, Harry walked to the back of the library, looking for the most hidden table. Just in the back, in a table Harry almost missed, there was Malfoy. Sitting right next to the window, a bunch of books, a good stack of parchment, quill and ink pot ready, all neatly laid out on the table

“Hey.”

Malfoy looked up, a bit startled. His shoulders relaxed when he realised it was Harry. That small gesture made Harry feel good. It was odd.

“Hi.” Malfoy moved so Harry could sit down, he waited for Harry to take out his ink pot, quill and notes. They shared a short awkward silence before Malfoy cleared his throat and straightened the already perfect piece of parchment in front of him.

“So, do you have something specific that you want to review? Anything you had in mind for this class?”

Harry hesitated. In mind? He had nothing in mind.

“Just…uh,” Harry looked around, Malfoy narrowed his eyes on him. “Just the basics? I’m not sure, you have seen me in class. What do I need to know?”

“I do not spend my class looking at you, Potter.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Malfoy sighed and looked through the books. He picked up a thick tome and Harry had half a mind to feel insulted that Malfoy had picked up a First Year book. He had an insult on the tip of his tongue but something made him hold back.

“We will do an overview of the basics.” Malfoy said, flipping through the pages. “Just a quick look through all the basics, to make sure there aren’t any doubts there. Is that alright?”

“Uhm, yeah. Sure.”

“Good. We will start with basic Potion laboratory etiquette.”

It actually wasn’t that bad. Malfoy was a surprisingly patient teacher. He did throw Harry a few judging looks and commented on his lack of, what he said were, basic shit to know. But Malfoy would always explain everything to Harry until he was sure that Harry had understood it perfectly. That did slow them down quite a lot since Harry wasn’t sure about a lot of things regarding potions.

“Salazar-fucking-Slytherin, Potter. How do you not know this? How haven’t you blown up the Potion classroom?”

“Hermione helps a lot.”

“I cannot believe Slughorn invited you to that party.”

“Yeah…I was having a good year.”

Malfoy shook his head in disbelief and flipped through the pages.

“Alright, we will do a quick overview of Potion bases and be done for today.”

He put the book between them and began going through the most common potion bases and why they were important. Of course, water was the most common one. But man they got a bunch of rules and guides and Malfoy kept saying they were so important but…

“Is it really that serious?”

“Terribly so.”

“Slughorn doesn’t make such a big fuss about it.” Harry looked at his notes. “I don’t even think Snape made such a big deal about this.”

“But I do.”

“Why?”

Malfoy did his usual eyeroll and gave Harry his ‘how are you such an idiot?’ look before sighing softly, just like every time Harry asked him something Malfoy assumed was obvious.

“Because making potions is an art. And while at a school level, we don’t need to be super precise, I’m of the opinion that we should teach these guidelines since First Year. So they don’t develop bad habits that could be dangerous in future years.” Malfoy turned a bit to face Harry better. “The main reason that students failed to brew proper potions is because of bad handling of material or unnoticed cross contamination. You master these basics and your potions will improve almost instantly.”

“That…makes sense.”

“Of course it does. I said it.” Malfoy pointed at a paragraph they were working on. “Come on, we are almost done.”

It didn’t take them much to finish the rest. Now Harry had no doubts left on basic Potion lab etiquette and basic bases and most common ingredients. Overall, it was a great class. It exceeded Harry's expectations by a lot. He actually felt better prepared for the next class. Wow.

“Thanks, this was actually…very useful.”

“Why so surprised? You asked me to tutor you.”

“Yeah but still, you surprised me.” 

Malfoy was already picking up his things, gathering the books and once done he looked at Harry.

“Yeah, well. It’s 5 galleons.”

“Oh, right.” Harry stood up, almost knocking off the book pile. It would have fallen if Malfoy hadn’t held it together.

“Ups.”

“Potter, you are such a brute.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Harry pulled out the 5 galleons out of his pocket and smirked. “A well educated brute now. Thanks to you.” Malfoy took the galleons, rolling his eyes. He picked up the stack of books but Harry moved to help. Of course, Malfoy didn’t let go and now they both were holding the five books.

“Let me help.”

“I don’t need your help.” Malfoy tried to take all the books but Harry didn’t let him.

“Tough luck. I want to help you.”

Before Malfoy could move away with the books, Harry took three of the books and moved out of Malfoy’s reach with a smirk on his face.

“Thanks for the class, Malfoy. See you next week?”

“Fuck off, Potter.”

“Same time, same day.”

“Whatever.”

Malfoy walked past Harry, shoving his shoulder. But it didn’t even anger Harry. He chuckled a bit.

“See you in detention.”

He got no answer. But Harry didn’t mind. He was feeling in a surprisingly good mood now.