Until the End ~ A Dransy Fic

XI - The Odd Odor

Pansy began to protest, but Draco was already gathering ingredients. When he walked to the back of the room to grab a few frosted moonberries, he noticed a bottle of mead sitting on the table. It had a tag attatched to it that read:

Looking around to make sure nobody was watching him, he pulled the vial of poison out of his pocket and carefully removed the cork. He poured the poison in, and quickly fled the scene.

"Ok, um... I guess we're working together now?" Draco said when he got back to the table he shared with Pansy.

"This doesn't change anything..." she grumbled.

"Okay, we have to start with one 'frozen nineteen oz. block of glacial sea water' and melt it over a flame in a medium sized cauldron..." he said aa block of ice. It was alot more slippery than he anticipated, and he promptly dropped it on the floor and it shattered.

"Fuck!" he cursed loudly as he swept up the pieces of ice. 

Pansy snickered behind her hands, but stopped as soon as she remembered she was mad at him. She went to get another block of ice and started melting it. "Next we need to add pulp from two vanilla beans every four and a half minutes as it melts," she said, regaining her hostility as she began to slice the bean lengthwise.

"Okay, we have to cover it and let it stand for two minutes on a low flame," he said, ignoring her negative attitude. "Then stir six times counter-clockwise..."

They continued to brew the potion and occasionally bumped elbows as they worked to complete it. 

"Lastly, we drop in the oyster pearl and it should be done..." Draco said, grabbing the oyster and an oyster knife. "Why do we have to open it ourselves, that's stupid..." he grumbled as he struggled with it.

"Here, let me get it! We have to add it quickly," she huffed, snatching the oyster and the knife. She grunted and strained against the shell, and he leaned in to snatch it back. 

At the exact same moment, she finally pryed it open and the top shell popped off of the bottom one. It flew through the air, smacked Draco square in the nose, and hit the floor with a clatter.

"Ah shit!" he cried, and the whole room turned to look at the pair. He held on to the bridge of his now-bleeding nose and stared at Pansy, who had covered her mouth.

"Whoops," she whispered. 

"Well... put it in I guess." he winced.

She shrugged and wrenched the pearl away from the oyster itself and dropped it into the potion, where it dissolved and turned the liquid a shimmery light pink color. A colorful smoke drifted up from it, signaling a successfully completed potion.

The room collectively inhaled and sighed, their brains clouded by whatever smell they were most attracted to.

"I smell basil... and ice... and cucumbers..." Blaise said.

"I smell wood shavings... and butterbeer... and cigarette smoke..." said Theo.

"I smell peaches... and cinnamon... and old books..." said Cho.

"I smell treacle tarts... and a broomstick handle... and the woods..." said Harry.

"I smell freshly mowed grass... and parchment... and mint toothpaste..." said Hermione.

Pansy hesitated. "I-I smell... shoe polish, and..." she inhaled again. "Exotic cologne... and cheesecake, and salt water, and fresh laundry, and stones, and... blood??"

Draco widened his eyes and spoke up. "I smell... a new car, a-and flower perfume... and wool... and lipstick, and leather, and cheesecake..."

"Oh yeah, I smell flower perfume too!" Theo interjected. "And new car smell!"

Draco and Pansy briefly met eyes but quickly looked away, both refusing to touch the subject.

"Er... execellent potion, students! I daresay you'd have us all obsessed with each other after just a drop," Slughorn commented. "Ten points to Slytherin each for Parkinson and Malfoy!"

The two made to high five awkwardly, but Draco's hand was still covered in blood and it was running from his nose onto his clothes.

"Oh, Miss Parkinson, will you take Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing?" Slughorn said quickly. "Just make sure Madam Pomfrey knows it's not my fault..."

"Uh, I can walk myself-" Draco started, red faced.

"I'd be happy to." Pansy said as she led an embarassed Draco out the door and into the hall.

The walk was silent other than the sounds of their footsteps echoing off the walls. They both stared at the ground. He couldn't decide where to put his arms and she had suddenly become very interested in a thread coming loose from her skirt. 

Draco gulped. "So..." he said nervously. "You like cheesecake too?"

"Yeah..." she replied, equally nervous.

They stopped walking and made eye contact. "Look, I'm so sorry about tricking you into helping me!" Draco spilled. "I just really need this to work and I will be killed if I don't do it right and I don't want to fight with you!"

She was quiet for a minute and looked deep into his silver eyes. "I guess I could forgive you," 

"Now? Or in 30 years?"

"... Yes." she said, before reaching out to touch his non-bloody hand. "You're under alot of stress and I guess I should've been more sensitive."

"Thank you so much," he said gratefully. "I'm glad we're friends again."

"Yeah, friends again." she echoed.

He grasped her hand and they continued to walk to the hospital wing. Chills went up his arm.

"Well, see ya later, and I'm sorry for probably breaking your nose..." Pansy said sheepishly.

"Naw that's alright," he responded. "This is nothing compared to when I almost lost my arm in third year..."

Draco was just about to leave and shut the door behind him, but Pansy grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, quick question!" she said. "What kind of cologne do you wear?"

He scratched his head and thought for a moment. "Uh... I think it's called Amor-Perfeito or something like that?"

"Hm," she said. "That sounds pretty exotic, doesn't it?"

He desperately fought the blood that rushed to his cheeks, his voice coming out as a croak. "Yeah... I guess it does..." he muttered.

And with that, she was gone. 

He secretly smiled to himself as he took one last look at her figure walking down the hall and shut the door to the hospital wing behind him.