SALEM ᵈ ᵐᵃˡᶠᵒʸ

xvii. Detention

Just as I was about take another step forwards, Hermione grabbed my arm and rooted me in place.

"Anyway," Draco continued, "members of the Inquisitorial Squad have the power to dock points, so. . ."

He turned to Hermione and grinned. "Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new Headmistress."

"Macmillan." He pointed a slim finger at Ernie. "Five for contradicting me."

He glared at Harry. "Five because I don't like you, Potter."

"Are you serious?" I muttered.

"Weasley, your shirts untucked, so I'll have another five for that," Draco continued, smirking gleefully as the list went on.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot, you're both Mudbloods, Granger and Hawthorne, so ten off each for that."

"Take that back, you arse!" I shouted, struggling against Hermione's hold.

"That's ten from you, Lovett." He smirked. "Had to save the best for last." With one last mock salute at all of us, Draco sauntered away, followed closely by a grinning Crabbe and Goyle.

"He was bluffing," said Ernie, frozen and appalled. "He cant be allowed to dock points. . .that would be ridiculous. . .it would completely undermine the prefect system."

Almost simultaneously, we automatically turned towards the giant hour glass displayed along the wall.

Seeing only Slytherin's hour glass still having their emerald stones left a bitter taste in my mouth.

POTIONS felt like a centuries-long lecture.

I didn't know how I managed to last with Draco sitting next to me, especially with what happened earlier.

We were asked to brew a Hair-Raising Potion, some have been brewed incredibly wrong and left people with half of their hair fried off. A handful of people sported a different hair color altogether.

Towards the front, I spotted Ruby vigorously stirring her potion, much to Susan Bones' dismay who started to scold her quietly.

She caught my eye and gave me an exasperated look, making me snicker.

I glanced beside me to see Draco bent over his cauldron, peering inside with his brows knitted together in concentration. He was so focused that he didn't seem to mind the steam rising on his face.

"You know," I said nonchalantly, "if you move any closer you might just singe your eyebrows away."

Draco snorted and ignored me, continuing to add more chopped-up rat tails.

"You think if I pour this all over your head you'll go bald?" he mused to himself.

"Why don't we test that idea?" I said cheerfully. "You can go first!"

We didn't say anything else after that. Thankfully, we managed to keep from bickering back and forth for the rest of the lesson, which was a relief because the potion was proving to be trickier as I added more ingredients.

The real trouble only started when the class ended.

Draco left before Snape even started to tell us about our essay deadlines, leaving his workspace a complete mess.

"Brat," I mumbled as I watched his back leave the classroom.

I cleaned my own worktable, returning the ingredients in the shelves and scourging the cauldron. Hiking my satchel on my shoulder, I joined Ruby and Ernie by the doorway.