The Forgotten Twin

Chapter 11

Delilah and Draco picked a crate that seemed to have a smallish Skrewt and tried to tempt them with handfuls of ant eggs. It didn't work.

"Ouch!" yelled Gryffindor Dean Thomas after about ten minutes. "It got me!"

Hagrid hurried over to him, looking anxious.

"Its end exploded!" said Thomas angrily, showing Hagrid a burn on his hand.

"Ah, yeah, that can happen when they blast off," said Hagrid, nodding.

"Eurgh!" said Lavender Brown again. "Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically (Lavender quickly withdrew her hand from the box). "I reckon they're the males. . . . The females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies.... I think they might be ter suck blood."

"These are monstrous, even for Hagrid," Delilah murmured to Draco, who nodded, looking disgusted as the Blast Ended Skrewt tried to bite his hand off.

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Blaise sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

Honestly, how Pansy still was dating that blasted idiot was beyond Delilah, even if she agreed with him. He shouldn't be a prat about it though.

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful," Hermione snapped. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Delilah hid her smile as Blaise shut up.

The rest of the class was full of burns and stings. Finally it ended and the Slytherins all bolted out of there as quickly as they could.

"5 galleons half the class will start skipping," Draco muttered.

"No, it will be three quarters," Delilah replied.

Draco laughed, but it fell just as soon as it started.

"We're not going to skip, are we?"

"No, that class is just attendance points, and we'll be able to drop it our sixth year anyway."

He glumly nodded.

They sat down in the Great Hall and quickly ate before heading down to Alchemy.

"Today," Professor Snape said as he flounced into the classroom, "we'll be transforming these cauldrons into gold. It works on any metal or plastic, but since we have a large quantity of cauldrons we will be working on them. It will be a partner activity that will last for the next few lessons, so choose wisely."

Delilah and Draco turned to each other at the same time, laughing awkwardly. Delilah felt her neck slightly heat up. She noticed that Draco's usually pale face was also tinted pink.

"The instructions are on the board," Snape informed and with a flick of his wand, the board was full to the brim with writing. "You should get to step 10 today."

And with that, he let the class start.

The instructions were complicated, and it would be lucky if anyone got past step 5, let alone 10. However, since this class was full of Snape's favorites, they would be fine.

Delilah murmured to herself as she followed the instructions. She felt a hand brush a strand of hair out of her face.

"Sorry, it just... was in the way...," Draco muttered, his face reddening. Delilah's face mirrored his.

"It's fine."

For the rest of the class Delilah tried, and failed, to focus on the potion. Somehow, they managed to get through the instructions, and were the only ones who did. Snape gave a rare smile and gave 15 points to Slytherin each, as well as making them the only ones without homework.