Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
October 10
Harry is glad that Remus is back as DADA teacher again and even more glad that this is the last class of the day. He can't believe that it has just been a month since school started and he is already behind on homework. So much for Voldemort being gone. He thinks wryly as he sits next to Ron and Hermoine. Professor lupin enters and silences the class just before Hermoine could reprimand him about being late and the rest of the class passes in a blur. His eyes go over to the Slytherin's side as he watches Malfoy sitting with his friends and he wonders how to find out what that git was doing in the restricted section at night , not that Harry was spying he was being cautious. Before he knew it class was over and he hadn't taken any notes. Great. Now I'll have to convince 'Moine to let me borrow hers.
Harry was looking at the Slytherin table throughout dinner wondering whether he should give in to his instincts and follow Malfoy under the invisibility cloak again tonight or just keep tabs on him with the map. And also speculating what the grey-eyed git is doing hours after curfew every night, he heard Hermoine call him.
" Umm ..... yeah ?"he said, turning his attention to his two best friends sitting across from him. "Harry, I was asking you if you have completed the potions essay.” ''Yeah mate, I only have the conclusion left, what about you ? Snape is going to have your head if you show up without it." Ron said to which Harry asked "what essay ?"
"Harry, the essay on the main ingredient in the draught of living death. Please tell me you are at least halfway through. It is due tomorrow" Hermoine said and Harry sprinted all the way to his dorm in the Gryffindor tower to start with his essay. He didn't want to give one more reason to professor Snape to dock points from Gryffindor. He had already lost 10 points for being late today . He sat down and wrote what would possibly be the worst essay ever in two hours and decided that this is the best he could do. Not wanting to listen to his best reprimand him, he just decided to go to bed.
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Draco , Pans, Blaise and Theo were sitting in the dimly-lit common talking about nothing and everything. Well the three of them were talking. He was just pretending to listen while wondering for the umpteenth time if he was just wasting his time trying to figure things out by himself instead of telling his friends or asking his godfather for help. He honestly had no idea about what to do even after he found out what potion the vial he found in his father's study contained. He really needed to figure this out by the end of this month or he'll have no choice but go to Severus. Before he could contemplate what questions his godfather will ask him he heard someone call his name.
"DRACO!!!" Theo said loud enough for entire Slytherin to hear before gaining the blond's attention.
"I asked if you will be joining us in the Three Broomstick this Saturday ." Pansy asked him, irritated that he wasn't paying attention to them. He knew he couldn't keep his friends in the dark for long ,they were the only ones who could see through his Malfoy mask after all. " Yeah, sure." He said in reply though he was quite certain he would rather be in the restricted section trying to figure out the mess his father had created. If only I didn't check his study only days before Hogwarts .
" Oh I almost forgot I have to go home this weekend for the maintenance of the wards", Blaise said and Pansy was clearly annoyed that their plans were getting cancelled again but before she could start with her rant about sentinel houses Theo suggested going out on Sunday.
"Yeah Sunday sounds good . Blaise, will you be able to make it back?"
"I'll be back on Sunday morning so we can go to Hogsmeade for lunch. When are the three of you going home?"
"I and Draco went last week so we are good till the end of the month I suppose." Draco was glad that Theo answered for both of them , he couldn't afford Pansy being her nosy self when he himself clearly had no idea what he was doing.
"Oh good. I , Daphne and Millicent are going next week. Uh.. being Lady Parkinson is a pain in the ass" Pansy complained .
"Come on, Pans look at the bright side, at least we don't have any restrictions on using magic outside of Hogwarts."
"Yeah right. Anyways, Dray did you do the Muggle Studies homework?"
"Yeah I am all done. And you ?"
"Oh I don't understand a thing Burbage says." Pansy rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Yeah me neither , how are you two doing so well ?" Blaise asked curiously.
"Yeah, well Appolina convinced me to go around Muggle Rome this summer when I and Blaise we're in Italy" Theo answered Pansy and next she turned towards Draco
"Pierre made me watch this ... one moving picture thing. It was called 'Call me by your name'."Draco immediately regretted telling Pans the truth. Now I'll have to explain my six weeks with him to her. So much for getting work done. He thought wryly and as expected Pansy started with her questions
" Dray, is Pierre another one of your summer flings ?"
"Yes, but you already know that."
"And he convinced you to watch some Muggle thing."
"Well , he was very persuasive."
"Do tell us?" Pansy said and Draco immediately knew that there was no escaping her . "I must say I too am interested in hearing this ." Blaise added to his dismay. "Yeah man this Pierre guy persuaded Draco . Of course we are all interested ." Theo said, adding fuel to the fire. Traitors. He thought and resigned himself to explain the story.
"Well we are waiting." She had an ominous look on her face.
"Yeah , well he was behind my back about watching this thing for like 4 weeks so I finally gave in." Draco tried to hide his embarrassment but Theo caught up quickly.
"And how did he persuade you?"
"He actually played a song from this thing on his guitar and as I had already mentioned that he is also a pureblood I assumed that it was from some local French wizard. I actually liked that song and when I mentioned that I liked it he told me it was Muggle and wouldn't let go of me until I agreed to watch."
"And?" Pansy asked, making Draco to wonder how on Earth did they know that it was not the end of the story.
"Well I originally agreed to watch only until the song but I think he already knew I would say something like that, so he had deliberately chosen the very last song. And I ended up watching the entire thing. With only half an hour to spare to get to my portkey."
"Wait, so you watched this the day you returned from France?"Blaise asked him and Draco rolled his eyes at his question.
"Yes,his portkey was an hour after mine so he convinced me that we would have enough time and I ended up rushing in the eleventh hour."
"Well must be a cool guy if he was able to get you to watch something Muggle." Blaise said and Draco was glad that their questions were over ,that is until Theo asked another.
"And what was the story?"
"Well, it was basically a summer fling between the main characters Elio and Oliver. The kind which is full of warmth, hope and promises but ends along with the season."
"And how did you manage to find something with a tragic end even in Muggle stuff, Dray?"
"How am I supposed to answer that?" Draco asked her, raising an eyebrow which clearly indicated that he was done for the day but she wouldn't be Pansy if she took the hint. But it was Theo who asked dtue next question.
" So where is this guy now?"
"He is training to become an Auror in Montreal, Canada."
"But you said he was French."
"He is , Blaise but he was kicked out for being gay so he went to Canada. "
"Is this also like Archie ?" Pansy asked. Of course she mentioned Archie. Draco sighed and replied," Nope , Archie is like an elder brother." And before the nosy bint could ask him something else he quickly asked Theo about the Italian girl. Turns out Appolina was another family friend from his mother's side and it was a fling not a relationship. After listening to Theo's adventures in Muggle Italy the four of them decided to head to bed.
Lying in bed Draco decided that he would tell his friends about this potion after he got some idea as to what that grayish blue liquid was. That is if they don't find out before he got a chance to tell them. Draco sighed and fell asleep.
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October 11
“Harry, did you complete your potions essay last night?”Hermoine asked first thing in the morning during breakfast. “Yes, and I am sure that I will get an acceptable grade.”he said with confidence. The four Slytherins entered and Harry’s eyes immediately locked on Malfoy. He wasn't able to check the map for his whereabouts last night and it made Harry feel uneasy. The four of them sat down at the Slytherin table and he saw that Malfoy and Parkinson had got their mails. “Harry, HARRY.” Hermoine had to call him twice to gain his attention.
“Yeah?” Harry said, turning his attention to his bushy-haired friend.
“Harry you have been staring at Malfoy for weeks now. What is it?”she asked him. Here we go again.He thought. “I have been telling you both that Malfoy is up to something. That is what it is.”he said, knowing that his friends don’t believe him about Malfoy. “Mate, please don’t turn this into another Malfoy conversation.”Ron said, as he started to pile food on his plate. Harry followed suit and said, “What do you mean by ‘Malfoy conversation’ and I am telling you that he up to something.”
“Okay fine. Harry, what do you reckon he is ‘up to’?”Hermoine asked and Ron interrupted him before Harry could even tell his side of the story.
“‘Moine, please tell me you are also not believing in Harry’s Malfoy theories.”
“Ron,let us listen to what he has to say.”she shuts him off and turns to Harry.
“‘Moine I have seen him carry around a potion vial and go to the restricted section after curfew for weeks. It is very suspicious.”
“And how do you know what he is doing, Harry?”
“Umm…..I may have followed him around under the invisibility cloak and I also watched him on the map.”he admitted timidly.
“Harry, are you stalking Malfoy?”
“Mate, seriously though ferret has left us alone from the start of the year, why can’t we just ignore him?”
“Yes Harry, Ron is right. He hasn’t bad-mouthed Neville or the Weasleys . He hasn’t even complained about compulsory Muggle Studies or called me ‘mudblood’ this entire year! If he is changing or even just ignoring us we too can just do the same right.”Hermoine reasoned. Why is he ignoring me ? was Harry’s first thought.
“Mate, what do you mean ?”Ron asked with his mouth full and Harry realised with a start that he just said that out loud. He got up and left to double potions, the first class of the day, before Hermione got a chance to ask him any questions.
Professor Snape entered the class by the time everyone had settled down and if he was surprised to see Harry early for all but a Friday morning class then he didn’t show.That day they brewed the Draught of living death. Well, the rest of the class brewed the potion while Harry just absently stirred his cauldron. But he cannot be blamed for it, afterall Malfoy was right across him brewing his potion.Harry watched Malfoy brew his potion as he stirred clockwise and anti-clockwise, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.he was sweating from his forehead and the low(almost absent) lighting in the dungeons made his skin shine. A single lock of hair came out of his perfectly styled hair and he tucked it behind his ears. He bit his lip and the movement made Harry’s stomach churn inexplicably. He added another ingredient not mentioned in the instructions and stirred his potion, he bit his lip again and added 2 other mysterious ingredients and smiled , satisfied with the result. He has never smiled at me like that.He thought and he scolded himself for thinking that. Malfoy poured his perfectly made potion into his vial and capped it. Harry realised that there was 10 minutes left and he had spent all his time watching Malfoy.
“Mr. Potter!”, as if on cue he heard Snape call for him and he knew that it was not going to end well.
“Professor…”
“Why Mr.Potter, did you puke in your cauldron?”Snape drawled and he heard people chuckle. Snape put his hand up in order to silence them and turned towards Harry.
Harry looked into his cauldron and his potion was the exact colour of puke. He looked up atSnape dumbfounded.
“That’s 25 points from Gryffindor. And you will write an essay about the brewing process of the Draught of living death where you will detail your mistakes and the measures to correct them.Am I understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You shall submit it on Monday. Dismissed.”
Harry walked to the great hall for lunch thankful that Professor Snape did not give him detention.If his friends remembered his slip up in the morning then they did not bring it up. The three of them had their lunch listening to Hermione's annoyance at Malfoy’s natural skill in potions and the two of them reassured her that a 9 out of 10 was good enough. After lunch they parted ways to head to their respective classes.
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Draco, along with his best friends entered the great hall for breakfast.As they sat down, he and Pansy received their mails. Draco had received a letter from his mother, inquiring about his classes(particularly defense)and his health. She had also requested him to agree to visit his father in Azkaban during the Christmas break. He looked in the package for the box of sweets she always sends him but it was absent.
"Pans, where is the box?", Pansy's expression on hearing his question clearly showed that it was her who stole it. "Oh, Dray. Your mother sends the best sweets . Why do you make us steal it by refusing to share?"she asked, popping another candy in her mouth. He looked up to see Blaise and Theo doing the same thing and decided to get back at them later in a creative way. He grabbed the last of the chocolates and treacle fudge before his greedy friends could get their hands on it.
"What did you get Pans?" Draco asked, indicating her letter.
"Gringotts owl. Monthly update on finance and crap. I mean honestly I hadn't the faintest idea that we had so many investments in other European countries."
"Yeah I agree. This whole Head of the house crap is getting to me too." Blaise added to Pansy bitching.
Theo and Draco chose not to comment on their friends' exaggeration.
"Anyways Dray, how is Narcissa?"
"Great why?"
"Oh, good. It's just mother has been moping around and I don't know how to deal with her. But the three of you clearly can't help me with that." Pansy shrugged and went back to eating her food.
"Pans, mine and Theo's parents lived in separate wings for shouting out loud. They are really not bothered about our fathers. My mother just likes to put up the happy family show." Draco didn't know if what he said would help his friend in any way but he tried.
"I didn't know Richard and Patricia were close." Theo asked.
"Well they slept in the same room for one but yeah they were friends which is more than what you can expect in a pureblood marriage." Draco had meaning to ask Blaise too but he wasn’t sure so he just went with it.
"Umm....Blaise uh I meant to ask...."
"Dray , spit it."
"Well I wanted to ask if Maura was convicted for ......well for .... nevermind."
"For killing my father? It's okay you can say it."
"Blaise you're overacting..." Theo tried to intervene further but Draco shrugged him off.
"Blaise, I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked. I didn't mean to dig up old wounds or anything."
"No it's okay. I am just upset that she got away with that. I didn't mean to take it out on you. Anyways what do we have now."
"Double potions with Gryffindor.” Theo answered Blaise and the four of them left for class after breakfast. Draco mentally scolded himself for bringing this up and was also glad that it didn't start a fight with his best friend.
Draco could feel Potter stare at him throughout potions. He willed himself to not sneer at that brat like he promised his friends and himself at the beginning of the year. It suddenly struck him that it was probably Potter’s footsteps he heard at night in the restricted section.While contemplating this, he messed up the order of the ingredients in his potion. He cursed Potter for distracting him from his favorite subject and hoped his professor hadn’t seen his stupid mistake.He had brewed this stupid potion perfectly at the age of 8, he can’t mess it up at 16!.He added other ingredients which he knew would neutralize the effects of the wrong ingredients.He stirred for a while and once he was satisfied with the results, he put some potion in a vial and vanished the rest.He saw professor Snape talking to Potter and felt glad that the git was probably going to lose some house points. He put his vial on Snape’s desk and left for lunch.