𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐍 (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

CHAPTER 5

I knew this day was going to be torture when I realised I had potions first. Don't get me wrong, I love chemistry but not potions with some psycho teacher that abuses children for a living. I overheard, towards the other side of the classroom Pansy gently asking, "Does it hurt terribly Draco?" while lightly brushing her fingers along his bandaged arm.

I scoffed, who was the one who got severely hurt? Me. 

Why is his "injury" still wrapped up in bandages when I know for a fact that he is faking it? Bastard.

Draco looked at Pansy's worried glance and gave an Oscar winning acting performance as he muttered, "Yeah." giving a slight grimace to reiterate his point.

I knew it was petty, but Ron turned to me and placed his hand on my arm, loudly imitating Pansy and asked, "Does it hurt terribly, Katerina?" putting on a pouty face while ridiculously batting his eyes.

 Following his jest, I deepened my voice saying, "Yeah." All the Gryffindors bursted out laughing as we knew that it was completely and rubbish.

Our laughter quickly died down as Snape briskly walked in the classroom, his black coat catching the wind with each stride, flowing gracefully behind him. How the Victoria Secret models would be envious.

He turned to face the class with a stern expression, narrowing his eyes on his latest victims, us. With a blasé tone he said, "I expect I have no need to go over course topics covered in the last two years." 

He looked at me while saying this. "You're to begin brewing the Shrinking Solution today and follow the instructions I have written on the board." He tapped his wand on the chalkboard and instantly elegant cursive handwriting appeared. We all kept our focus on the board, not daring to move, until he said impatiently, "Why aren't you all gathering your ingredients?" 

Instantly, everyone sprang from their seats and rushed to the storage cupboards, desperate to get started and avoid humiliation.

Although I had never done this before, I was quite precise and efficient in cutting my roots and quickly finished my chopping, each piece exactly the same size. Dissections in biology surely paid off. I twirled the scalpel in my fingers as I watched Ron struggle cutting his roots.

Malfoy decided to break the silence with the most audacious question to ask, "Seen your pal Hagrid lately?"

"None of your business," Ron replied through gritted teeth.

"I'm sure he won't be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy menacingly. "Father's not very happy about my injury – "

"Say another word and I will give you a real injury," snarled Ron.

Malfoy ignored Ron's threat, gossiping about the school governors and Ministry of Magic and his father. I slammed my knife on the table, causing a few Gryffindors and Slytherins to look at me. Malfoy stopped talking and stared at me.

"Malfoy, think fast." With all my might, I threw a scrunched towel that I used to clean my knife right at his face. Before it could hit him right in his nose, he caught it.... with his 'injured' arm. 

I smirked and the Gryffindors chortled while the Slytherins became embarrassed. Malfoy only realised his fatal mistake and dropped the towel before hissing in "pain". Snape then turned around impatiently and asked, "What is it now?"

Malfoy stared at Snape and scowled. "Nothing."

The air of triumph dissipated as Snape began shouting at Neville who cowered away in fear, his head hung low and on the brink of tears.

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some of the potion up and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron, embarrassing him in front of everyone. "Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I say that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

"Please, sir," said Hermione, "I could help Neville put it right –"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger. Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps this will encourage you to do it properly."

Neville was shaking violently. 'Help me' he mouthed to Hermione, but I didn't want her to get into trouble as I whispered, "I'll help you Neville," and went on to instruct him how he can restore his potion. It was all a matter of ratios.

I was one of the first to complete my potion and at the end of the lesson, Snape walked over to Neville who was shaking like a leaf and said to the rest of the class, "Gather round and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad will likely be poisoned."

I leaned over to Neville and said, "I don't doubt you Neville. Be more confident, everything will be fine."

Snape's black eyes, pleased with the false belief that Neville's toad will die, fed the creature the potion. There was a small pop and Trevor became a cute, tiny tadpole squirming and wriggling in Snape's outstretched hand. The Gryffindor's burst in applause and along with Snape, the Slytherins looked sour. 

Procuring a small vial from his robes, Snape poured a few drops of the elixir on the tadpole, restoring it to its normal size. Snape turned to Hermione and before he could deduct points, I said, "Sir, Hermione didn't help Neville at all. I was watching this entire time."

Snape then glanced at me and drawled, "Then how did Longbottom's potion transform from orange to the expected green? Unless," he paused in his sentence, scanning the room before continuing, "You had something to do with it, Ms Aydin."

I shrugged my shoulders and lied, "Of course not, sir. This is my first Potion's class."

I knew Snape couldn't dispute my argument as he had no evidence and stormed off, dismissing the class. As we were walking out Ron looked at me and exclaimed, "You are brilliant Kat. Truly. Scary, but also amazing. From Malfoy to Snape, wow." I laughed and thanked him.

Harry then turned around and said, "Wait, where is Hermione?"

I kept walking ahead, ignoring their confused expressions and yelled, "Hermione, wait up!" as I saw waiting at the top of the steps. They whirled around and began questioning, "Wasn't she right behind us?" before coming up to Hermione and asking, "How did you do that?"

"What?" said Hermione.

"One minute you were right behind us, and the next moment, you were in front at the top of the stairs."

Hermione's jumbled sentences and noticeable panic did nothing to help her explain. "I — er, well you see..." 

I quickly stepped in to rescue her and said, "You guys were too focused on the conversation that you didn't see Hermione overtake you. Honestly, you both need to pay more attention."

"I'm sure I would've noticed," grumbled Ron as he and Harry continued to walk down the corridor. 

I saw the tension ease from Hermione's expression and she clasped my hand like I just saved her life. As we walked to the Great Hall for lunch, I whispered, "You need to lie better."

She nodded, "I know."