Six Days

The next day, Draco woke up at around 8 o’clock. He had Herbology in an hour.

He left the common room after quickly changing his clothes, heading for the Great Hall. When he entered, Draco briskly walked to his table, sitting next to Blaise.

“Hey, Draco,” Blaise greeted, giving him a searching look.

“Hi, Blaise.” Draco smiled at him.

“How was your night?” Blaise asked suggestively, Draco reddened.

“I had astronomy, you git,” Draco covered his face with his hands.

Blaise cackled. “I know, I know.”

Draco placed some sausage on his plate, along with two pieces of toast. As he ate, he found himself frowning. He couldn’t help but think about Harry. Was he hungry? Was he wishing he was in the Great Hall with everyone else?

Draco glanced at the Gryffindor table, seeing that Hermione was missing. Draco sighed. At least Harry wasn’t alone.

Draco finished up his breakfast roughly around the same time as Blaise. The two of them stood together, telling Pansy they would see her in Potions, which they had after Herbology. They would be studying tentacula for the next bend in their curriculum. Draco hoped that no vines would try to strangle him today.

The two walked to the greenhouse, chatting merrily. Draco miraculously managed to avert conversation away from one Harry Potter.

As they entered, Professor Sprout greeted them cheerfully, telling them to take out their quills and parchment. They had to turn in two rolls of parchment on the plant by the end of term. They had a while, and Draco was very confident in himself. He already knew a bit about the plants when they began the lessons, so he had a bit of a head start.

Draco inked his quill, sitting in front of a Tentacula, Blaise sat beside him. Professor Sprout was telling them some information on the plant’s hunting techniques, which he scribbled down. She moved to reproduction, and Draco’s quill flew to keep up.

Draco heard a few cries of “Diffindo!” and multiple students loudly swearing, but did not let them distract him. He noted everything Professor Sprout explained, glancing at the plant every ten or so seconds.

Draco waved his wand, non verbally performing the severing charm with ease as the Tentacula in front of him tried to wind around its neck. Draco had been practicing nonverbal spells loads, and was very proud of how well he performed the charm.

Blaise was glancing at Draco’s paper every few seconds, probably to be sure that he hadn’t missed anything.

In no time, Professor Sprout was dismissing them. He and Blaise walked side by side to the dungeons.

Once they arrived, they took their usual seats. Slughorn was standing in the front the small class. They briefly spoke with Pansy, who was complaining about Millicent, and how she had trashed their dormitory. 

Hermione entered, giving Draco a small smile, which he met with another.

As soon as everyone was seated, Slughorn's voice boomed. “Good morning, students!”

"Good morning, Professor Slughorn,” The class replied boredly.

“Today we will be producing the Pepperup Potion we discussed yesterday. The recipe for this particular potion is on page 47 of your books. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

Draco slouched over his empty cauldron. He had brewed this before out of sheer boredom. It was easy, for Draco anyway. He pulled his out ingredients, which he had prepared in the previous lesson.

After reading over the directions in his book, he added two pinches of the crushed Bicorn Horn, throwing it into his cauldron. He then added the Mandrake Root. He let it heat up for 10 seconds.

After the 10 seconds, he left the cauldron to brew.

For the next 30 minutes, Draco worked on Herbology, racking his brain for any information he could have forgotten about the plant.

Once 30 minutes had passed, Draco put three springs of English Thyme in the cauldron. He stirred four times, clockwise. Next, he skillfully added five drops of salamander blood and stirred twice, anticlockwise.

Draco plopped a Fire Seed into his cauldron. After pausing for three seconds, he added another.  He heard a yell from Seamus, which must have meant that he added the fire seeds much too quickly. After another three seconds passed, his third seed was added. Draco counted to three a final time, dropping in the last seed. The liquid was already turning orange, which, according to the directions, meant that he had brewed it correctly.

With a smile, Draco left the potion to set for one minute.

As he waited, he glanced around the room. Hermione was scribbling away at a piece of parchment, probably work for Ancient Runes. Seamus was covered in soot, and a dark red vapor was billowing out of his cauldron, proving that he had indeed added the Fire Seeds at too small of an interval.

Draco’s potion was ready, and his liquid inside of his cauldron had the correct orange colour.

Draco raised his hand, attempting to wave Slughorn over, smiling politely. He was currently at Hermione’s cauldron, grinning widely and nodding in approval. He saw Draco’s hand. His smile that was on his face dropped considerably.

Seeming to catch himself, his scowl was covered up with a very forced smile. Draco’s smile wavered, but he did not drop it. If he wanted to be successful on his N.E.W.T.s, then he had to stay on good terms with each one of his professors, no matter how insufferable.

Slughorn approached Draco’s station. He glanced at the contents, his smile now resembling a grimace. “Yes, yes. Very good,” He said quietly. As quickly as he came, he was gone. Draco shook his head, but otherwise did not react. Pansy shot him a sympathetic look.

Draco soon glanced at Blaise’s cauldron. The green substance was releasing a faint purple smoke that Draco had never seen in such a potion. Draco snickered, and Blaise looked at him, frustrated.

“Two pinches, Blaise,” Draco smiled, pushing his ingredients towards his friend.

Blaise huffed, muttering a thank you. As soon as the powder hit the surface, the contents turned a colour much closer to orange. Blaise sighed in relief.

Blaise raised his hand soon after, and Slughorn trotted over instantly. He gave Blaise a wide and happy smile. The round man took a short glance at Blaise’s potion.

“Fantastic, Mr. Zabini! Excellent work.” He exclaimed, clapping Blaise’s shoulder. Blaise smiled fakely, and once Slughorn turned his head, he dropped it. He looked to Draco, annoyed.

“Sorry ‘bout him, mate,” He muttered. Draco shrugged.

“It’s alright, I’m used to it,” Draco replied. He saw Blaise frown.

Blaise mumbled something about unfair treatment, beginning to work on herbology. Draco glanced at Hermione, bored out of his mind. She was now relaxing in her seat, reading a book that Draco read last year. She sensed eyes on her, looking up to meet Draco’s gaze.

She smiled at him, and he smiled back. She grabbed a piece of parchment from her station, jotting something with her quill. She took her wand from next to her cauldron and waved it.

The paper drifted gently across the room. Once it was within reach, Draco grasped one corner, bringing it below his eye level.

Harry missed you this morning

Draco’s face reddened. He stared at Hermione, scandalized.

Honestly, Hermione, there’s no need to lie. He’s tired of me already, I’m sure

He waved his wand in the same way she did, and the paper gracefully soared to Hermione’s place. She was grinning as she read, and quickly wrote a response. She sent the parchment back.

Oh please, he’ll only be tired of you after a… relatively inappropriate situation

Draco’s face warmed even more, obviously understanding what she was referring to. He gasped, looking over to Hermione again. She smiled widely, winking and raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Draco huffed, scribbling away with his quill. He did not notice Blaise and Pansy sharing looks from either side of him.

Absolutely preposterous, Granger. Completely inappropriate

Draco whisked the parchment back. She snatched up, winking at Draco again after she’d read. Draco turned away. He buried his face in his book, trying to hide his red face.