The Rose In The Rain | Dramione

Chapter 14

Oblivious to this, Slughorn turned to the board, wand in hand. "For today's lesson, we will be learning about Veritaserum. This will be a partner activity. As you all know," he began, pointing his wand at the chalkboard positioned across from him, "I do not like partnering you with members of your own House, nor do I switch your partners once assigned. There will be no complaints, because I make hardly any exceptions —" A few students snorted at that, not that Slughorn noticed "—As far as today's potion goes, can anyone tell me what Veritaserum is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air, and Slughorn, his eyes already on Hermione, nodded for her to answer.

"Veritaserum, also known as the Truth Serum, is a very powerful potion. It effectively forces the drinker to answer any questions put to them with nothing but the truth," Hermione said, nodding as she spoke, as if to confirm what she was saying was true.

"Excellent! Five points to Gryffindor," Slughorn rewarded, a pleased look on his face as he turned back to the board. A list of names appeared in white chalk, sectioned off into pairs. "I will now read out your assigned partners. Once your name is called, please sit with your partner. Then we will begin the lesson by taking notes on Veritaserum for the remainder of the class."

A series of groans erupted from the classroom as everyone gathered their belongings, preparing to switch seats. Clearing his throat, Slughorn began to read the list of names. "Tracey Davis and Parvati Patil." Parvati shot a look of disgust in Tracey's direction, and Seamus hastily stood up from his seat beside her as Tracey stalked over, a scowl on her face.

"Dean Thomas and Lily Moon," Slughorn continued, as Dean rolled his eyes and crossed the room to take Tracey's previous seat beside Lily, who was frowning.

"Neville Longbottom with Daphne Greengrass," recited Slughorn, resulting in a sigh of irritation from Daphne. A look of sheer fear swept across Neville's face as Daphne sat beside him, taking Dean's old seat as Neville tried not to cower away from her.

Just as Ginny smirked at Neville's face, Slughorn said, "Blaise Zabini and Ginny Weasley."

"Hell no," Ginny said immediately, as Hermione stifled a laugh and stood up, moving from her seat so Blaise, who looked slightly intimidated by Ginny, slowly approached their table, leaving Draco alone across the claasroom.

"You enjoy yourself, Ginny," Hermione said with a big, phony smile, chuckling to herself as she walked off, standing beside Seamus.

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy," Slughorn said, and Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, slowly turning toward the board. Her eyes scanned the board until they found her name, and sure enough, Draco was her partner. Slowly facing Draco's table, Hermione caught a glimpse of Ginny, who was looking smug. A sullen look settled on Hermione's face as she slowly walked over to Draco, sinking into the seat beside him without sparing even a glance in his direction.

'Bloody Slughorn,' Hermione though darkly as she pulled her supplies out of her bag and organized them on the desk for a second time, refusing to meet Draco's burning gaze, even though she could feel his eyes boring into the side of her head as she brushed off the dust that had collected on the side of her cauldron with the palm of her hand to occupy herself.

"Seamus Finnigan and Pansy Parkinson," Slughorn said, before concluding with, "Theodore Nott and Fay Dunbar."

Once everyone was settled into their new seats, many of them looking quite uncomfortable, Slughorn flicked his wand and the list of names on the chalkboard vanished, to be replaced by notes on Veritaserum.

"Please begin copying down these notes. I will be asking questions throughout the lesson to ensure you are keeping up, and if you all finish note-taking early, we will discuss brewing the potion," Professor Slughorn announced, taking a seat at his desk and flipping open a book as the sound of quills scratching against parchment consumed the classroom.

Hermione scribbled down the notes with admirable speed, and finished earlier than most of her  classmates. Draco, leaning back lazily in his chair, had a bored expression on his face as he twirled his quill between his fingers. Glancing over at his parchment, Hermione saw it was blank, and before she could stop herself, she said, "Are you really not taking notes? It isn't that difficult, you know."

Draco rolled his eyes. "What does it mean to you if I chose to take notes or not?" he asked in annoyance, his gaze hard and cold.

"It doesn't!" Hermione snapped, struggling to keep her voice at a whisper as her anger quickly escalated. "All I was trying to say is that it's silly to not just do the assignment. You're only hurting yourself."

"I really do not see how this pertains to you at all," Draco drawled, dropping his quill onto his empty sheet of parchment as he leaned closer to her, his voice lowering to barely a whisper. "Since you clearly fancy me, I promise to keep your feelings a secret. We wouldn't want to hurt little Granger's feelings, now would we?"

Eyes narrowed, Hermione turned away, her body shifting on her stool so that she now had a proper view of Ginny's desk. She saw Ginny whispering something to Blaise angrily, and smirked to herself at Blaise's expression. After waiting a few more seconds, Hermione turned back to Draco. "Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy," she said coldly. "It's ironic, really, that you seem so concerned about my feelings, when really, your ego is too big too comprehend that I would never fancy you. You may have everyone else fooled with this little act, the whole 'I don't hate muggle borns anymore' facade, but I see right through it. You haven't changed at all. You refuse to even touch me, all because my blood is dirty, right? And the fact that you implicated that I fancy you is even more egoistical and ironic, because — and I apologise for bruising your gigantic ego — but you aren't good enough for me, Malfoy. You're just a bully. So until you change that, if you ever, do us all a favor and leave your snide remarks to yourself."

Draco stared, rendered completely and entirely speechless, his mouth hanging slightly agape.

"Don't let the flies in, Malfoy," Hermione warned him, a glint of amusement in her eye as she noted his astonished expression, although her face remained hardened, before standing up and swiftly crossing the room to the door just as Slughorn dismissed the class.

Point Granger.