Magic 101
Returning to his centrifuge, he couldn’t help but notice that Granger wouldn’t make eye contact with him. He chuckled slightly, but decided to let it slide. He began taking vials out of the device and putting them in the tube holder. He took out three small cauldrons and lit a fire underneath. Using a pipette, he removed the clear plasma from the blood sample and added it to a cauldron. The spun down blood in the next. Finally he added the entire thoracic specimen to the third. Surprisingly, nothing had separated in it during the spin.
While the samples heated, he used the pipette again to add thoracic fluid to a microscope slide. He slid it in place before sitting down and looking through the lens. It seemed to be some sort of biological fluid, combined with sea water. Draco could see the salt free floating, but he couldn’t place the rest of the sample. Turning to his cauldrons, an idea struck him. He added belladonna, cat hair, and snowdrop to the thoracic sample before cranking the heat. Using his wand to stir, he let it combine totally before stopping the heat and casting a cooling charm.
He put this combination on another slide before sitting back down to look. His theory was correct. He could now see the sample was absolutely full of oxygen molecules. There were some hydrogen, sodium, and chloride molecules, and a great deal of carbon. Running with his theory, he went back to the body of the merperson.
He missed it totally the first time. Looking closer, he discovered the trachea was in two separate pieces. One piece ended bluntly in the thoracic cavity, the other actually connected to the lung. Even more excited, he ran over to the lung, and decided that it had to be dissected now. Using his wand, he split the lung in two. There was no alveoli in site. Just a collection of small blood vessels. Draco could tell that they were extremely flimsy from their size, but it did confirm his theory.
He ran back out to Granger, who was still refusing to look at him. “Granger! I’ve figured out how the merfolk breathe underwater!”
“Okay, well share with the class then,” her eyes started to light up with the idea of new knowledge.
“I discovered that the merperson’s chest cavity was full of a fluid I couldn’t identify. After a molecule analysis potion, it appeared to be sea water combined with a bodily fluid composed of high amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide. I went back to the body and I found he actually had two tracheas and that his lung only contains highly permeable blood vessels. All of this suggests that merfolk can turn water into perfluorocarbon and then absorb its oxygen!”
Granger stared at him dumbfounded. “You’re telling me that you’ve solved the mystery of how merfolk breathe in a single day?” She choked out the last few words.
“Well, yeah. You called me out here to help. I wasn’t just going to sit here and twiddle my wand.” He didn’t understand why she was so surprised.
“I have to write to the ministry about this. This is amazing! You could win an award!”
“It’s not that serious Granger. We’re no closer to curing the disease. I just thought you’d find it interesting.”
“Why don’t you send your findings to Theo? That way someone can be excited for you with me. Since you’re going to be a joyless prat.” She rolled her eyes, but Draco could tell there was no malice in her words.
He saw his opening. “Fine. I’ll get the discovery to him on one condition.”
She looked at him warily. “What could you possibly want?”
“I get to cook from now on.”
………..
Just to drive his point home, Draco made beef Wellington with mashed potatoes for their afternoon meal. With nothing to do during house arrest, Draco thought he was going to lose his mind. Finally, out of sheer desperation, he asked one of the house elves to teach him how to cook. After the hoopla of the elf hurting herself for not cooking well, Draco calmed her enough to explain his boredom. Teaching him would be a great service, the idea of which was enough to dry the elf’s eyes.
He soon learned that cooking soothed him. The slow preparation of the ingredients, combining them, and making sure they cooked to perfection always brought him back to his center. Even now, in an underwater box with a woman that made him feel new things, he was calm and collected.
The Wellington baked while he mashed and whipped the potatoes with his wand. He added heavy amounts of butter and milk with his other hand. When they were perfect, he put a stasis charm on the bowl. The oven dinged and he sent a patronus to Granger to let her know that dinner was ready.
Feeling confident, he lit candles and placed them on the small table. He then made two plates and sat them on the table so everything would be ready when she walked in. It took a few minutes, the long hallways of the base not conducive with speedy travel.
She walked in to find Draco standing, holding a chair out for her. Shooting him a strange look, she sat and appraised the meal. She started chuckling. “No wonder you didn’t eat my soup and sandwich when this is what you’re used to. This is not what I’d call a usual weekday meal.”
“All food should be delicious and savory. Otherwise, what’s the point of eating?” He placed his napkin on lap.
She chuckled again. “You wouldn’t know it, but you almost sound like Molly Weasley. She loves to cook, and believes in the same idea. I’ve never seen anyone else make a whole pot of French onion soup just for a late night snack.”
“Hmm, she sounds like a Weasley I could probably tolerate.”
“I thought you were through with all your blood purist ideals?” She took a bite of the Wellington, trying and failing to keep the pleasure off her face.
“It’s not purist ideals, just opposing personalities. I’ve never understood the flamboyant and crassness of the Weasley herd.”
“We’ll not everyone is a socialight from birth Malfoy,” she rolled her eyes.
The eye roll made the meal perfect. Delicious food, beautiful woman, making his favorite face.
“So what’s the schedule look like down here? We’ve worked all day. Do we work into the night and sleep at our desks?”
“No, I usually stay here during the week. I suppose I could go home but I’m usually too tired to apparate at the end of the day, so I sleep in the living quarters. On the weekends I pop to my cottage for some chores, and then come back Monday morning.”
“Well if I’m to catch up to you, I’m going to have to match that schedule. Is there space for me in the living quarters, or do we need to share a bed?” He gave her a seductive smile.
Her face turned bright red. “No there’s plenty of space, which I think you knew from when you dropped your things off this morning. There’s four individual bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and a common area. Why don’t you go explore and I’ll do the dishes tonight.”
Realizing he was being dismissed, he did the gentlemanly thing and did what he was told. The kitchen was right off the living area, so it wasn’t that long of a trip. He found the room where he had dropped his things this morning, but that didn’t interest him. The final room he checked was Granger’s. It looked exactly like he thought it would. There were books everywhere, but what piqued his interest was the bra thrown over the foot of the bed.
It was black and lacey, and not at all what he’d figure Granger would wear.
“Finished planning your panty raid, peeping Tom?” Granger’s voice right behind made him jump a foot in the air. This, of course, had Granger doubled over in hysterics.
“I was just exploring as ordered. Didn’t know that was a crime,” Draco said sheepishly.
“It’s fine. As you’ve discovered, this is my room. Had I known it was going to have visitors, I would’ve cleaned up a bit.” She walked in and picked up the bra, which she promptly threw in a linen basket.
“Ah. I love what you’ve done with the place,” Draco said lamely. He was still recovering from his shock and couldn’t think of anything cool to say.
“Well thanks for coming by. Let me know next time you’re in the neighborhood,” she said while waving at him. She then shut the door in his face.
Mumbling under his breath, Draco left after being dismissed a second time. He realized that Granger would make the third woman who’s commands he actually listened to.