𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖊, 𝐝. 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲¹

𝟎𝟎𝟔. TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL

      "Well, I suppose we could start simple," she began, her voice uncertain. Draco froze, his eyes darting to Topaz. "You clearly don't even know the basics of our last brew, so we ought to cover those topics while we wait."

       Offense ripped a hot course through Draco's chest. His eyes narrowed as he slowly set his bag down. "I do know the basics of the Shrinking Potion," he spat.

      Topaz raised a brow, her lips tugging into a hint of a smile. She faced him, her arms crossing assuredly over her chest. "Really?" she mused as her smile grew wider. "It didn't seem like it during class last week."

      Draco's embarrassment flushed across his face. "For your information, I was tired," he snapped. "I forgot to review before class because I had other things to worry about."

      Topaz rolled her eyes, though she said nothing more on the matter as she flipped her textbook open and began pulling out her materials. "By the way," she quipped, her eyes darting to Draco as he slowly reopened his textbook. "It's the Shrinking Solution."

      His lips thinned, his glare sharpening as Topaz bit back a smile. He desperately worked to find a retort, but nothing came to mind, which only heightened Topaz's amusement as she crossed the room to the huddle of materials Snape left on the workbench before his desk.

      Little by little, she brought the materials over to their bench, posing little questions here and there about the purpose of the ingredients. 

      "Alright," she sighed once she got all of the ingredients over to their bench, "what's the first step?"

      Draco's eyes rolled over the row of bottles and jars, his gaze falling upon the jar of Shrivelfigs. "Add the juice of a Shrivelfig to the cauldron." He reached for the jar, his jaw dropping when Topaz suddenly slapped his wrist.

      He stared at her in disbelief as she made a harsh buzzing noise with her throat. "Add the juice of two figs."

      He narrowed his eyes as he snatched the jar and plucked two figs from within. "You could have just said that, you know."

      She smiled. "Oh, but where's the fun in that?"

      Draco growled, though he bit his tongue as he began juicing the figs whilst Topaz recorded notes on everything that they were doing. After adding the juice, he turned up the heat of the fire and began stirring.

      With her quill poised, Topaz asked, "Next?" her head cocking as she waited for his answer. 

      Without a word, he began chopping four daisy roots into fine cubes. Irritation burned hot beneath his skin and the longer he sat there simmering in silence, the warmer his body became. He picked at his sweater as he dropped the roots into the cauldron, followed quickly by five caterpillars.

      Topaz scrawled messily on the parchment, nodding each time Draco did something correctly and pursing her lips each time he started to make a mistake. "Stop fidgeting," she barked just as he finished juicing a few leeches into the potion.

      He shot her a glance, his brows furrowing. "I'm hot."

      "Then take off that ridiculous sweater."

      He sat up straighter, his frown deepening. "This is a cashmere sweater, Griffin. It's not ridiculous."

      She quirked a brow. "Oh, my apologies," she drawled mockingly with a severe eye roll. "By all means, ruin your cashmere sweater by wearing it to potions class."