One in the Same (The Life of Luna Lovegood)

Chaper 6 - Proving Myself

          I woke up to face another day of class. Since I had just woken up, my mind was quite foggy and drowsy. However, it didn't take me long to remember that I had promised Draco I'd meet him in the common room so we could head down to breakfast.With that thought in mind, I changed and was out the door of my dorm in a matter of minutes, much to the amazement of Lark. 

           I rushed downstairs to the common room where Draco was already waiting for me, a smirk plastered on his face. 

         "Sure took you long enough, Sleeping Beauty", he said. 

          I blushed and said "Sorry, getting up early isn't really my thing." 

          He chuckled and said "Well, it looks like someone needs to get an alarm." 

          I laughed slightly before saying,"We should probably get going before all the good food is gone." 

          His eyes widen in mock alarm before saying "We can't let that happen! Let's get going." With that, he linked his arm with mine and we headed towards the Great Hall.

          He opened the massive door and said "Ladies first", with his trademark smirk. 

         The blush was obvious on my face as I walked through the door saying "Thanks." He followed me in and we both took our seats at the Ravenclaw table, next to Sirius,who was stuffing his face. I chuckled and said "I see you're helping yourself to the eggs." Sirius said nothing, but looked up at me, giving as good a smile as he could muster with cheeks full of eggs and other unrecognizable breakfast foods. I filled my plate with pancakes, eggs, and toast and the three of us ate in silence for what seemed like an eternity. 

         Sirius broke the silence by looking over at Draco before asking me "So, who's this?" 

         I couldn't help but blush before saying "His name's Draco, I met him on the train." 

        "Seems like a nice guy. Is he a first year?", he asked. 

        "No, second year", I replied. 

         Sirius raised his eyebrow and was about to say something when Dumbledore announced that it was time to report to our first class. 'Thank you, Professor Dumbledore', I thought as I gathered my things and prepared to go to class. Draco and I said our quick goodbyes and I headed off to Potions.

        I was eager to get to Snape's class, since today we would be brewing our first potion. I didn't even notice that I picked up my pace significantly as I got more excited about today's class.

        As I took my seat, once again being the first one in class, Snape acknowledged my presence as said "Good day, Miss Lovegood." 

       "Good day, Professor Snape", I replied. 

       "Today is the day in which you will prove whether or not you have the talent to truly excel in my class", he remarked, making me quite nervous. 

       "I am well aware of that, professor", I replied, trying to hide my nerves. He was right, this was day that I would prove myself and show my skill. Two-thirds of my brain was sure I would do well, but that remaining one-third of my brain kept nagging me that I was going to fail. I tried my hardest to push those negative thoughts to the back of my mind as the rest of the class showed up. 

       "Today, students, you will brew your first potion. On these tables behind me, you will find your cauldron and a series of ingredients at your disposal", said Snape. I felt my palms get sweaty as he continued. "To raise difficulty, I have placed ingredients on the table that are not necessary for brewing this particular potion. It is your job to recognize which ingredients belong, and which do not. One slip up, and it could mean a visit to the Hospital Wing", he said. My eyes widen as the stakes for this potion assignment continued to elevate. "You will also find a potions book opened up to the page on which is the recipe." I could see he was eyeing me the whole time he was reciting his speech. "That is all for current instruction, you should now have all the information you need to successfully brew this potion." 

        With that, we all made our way to our small pewter cauldrons and table stocked with ingredients.

        Then, Snape said the words I had been secretly dreading......"You may begin."