Green Eyed Monster | Draco Malfoy

70. Outdated

Chapter 70 - Outdated

"Oh, Audrey," Hermione sighed as I raced late into Potions, skidding into place beside her on the off-balance bench. "Again?"

Did she need to sound so condescending? No. She didn't. Then again, clearly Hermione had no couth when it came to hiding her disbelief over such typical circumstances. I mean, what other reason would she have to be surprised that I had been splattered with another one of Astoria Greengrass' infamous paint-splatter hexes? Still, I gave a grunt and threw my bag down beside her, glaring at Ernie MacMillan who chuckled to himself from his seat in front of me.

"Laugh again, Hufflepuff," I urged darkly, "and I'll show you what it's like to get hit with a real curse."

He was quick to change seats.

"Settle down, settle down, please! Miss Potter, you're late - but I can see you have an adequate enough reason," Slughorn pointed out in front of the whole class. I didn't dare to look around and find out where my friends - and where those who were not my friends - had seated themselves. I gave Slughorn a fake smile of thanks for pardoning my timing, which I'm sure still looked like a grimace, before I busied myself by taking out my textbook.

"Now, let's go back to what happens if we accept Golpalott's Third Law as true..." Slughorn went back to saying. Harry tapped on my shoulder, as usual seated with Ron behind me.

"Everything all right?"

"Peachy," I responded flatly, refusing to look back at him. I heard him sigh before he sat back in his bench - the wood creaking slightly under the movement. At least he knew I was not in the mood to hear his opinion on my newest bought of misfortune.

"-which means, of course," Slughorn was continuing, "that assuming we have achieved correct identification of the potion's ingredients by Scarpin's Revelaspell, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find that added component which will, by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements. And so, I want each of you to come and take three of these vials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within them before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!"

"Perfect," I breathed, knowing that at least the class would be easy, even if my morning had been disastrous. It wasn't just me who had suffered today; while I was splattered in red, Tracey had been splattered with yellow. When all was said and done, the red suited much more nicely to me than the mustard-thick substance had in her hair.

I went up to Professor Slughorn's table and grabbed my vials, horrified when he pulled me aside.

"Is everything alright, Miss Potter?"

"Fine," I told him tightly. "Just a bit of a practical joke; I'm sorry it kept me behind, professor."

"No problem at all, you are one of the best," I could feel my expression flicker disdainfully by his words, but he didn't seem to notice it. One of the best my backside... "As long as you're sure everything is good and well?"

"Perfect," I smiled a fake, cheeky smile before he sent me on my way to create the necessary antidotes. On the way back to my desk I caught the eye of my favourite Slytherin - Draco had taken to sitting on the aisle across from me these past few weeks. It was nice that Hermione always chose the same desk so it didn't look suspicious. While he looked at me he gave me a shameless wiggle of his eyebrows that shamefully made me want to laugh. And to think that Snape told Draco I would be a distraction for him.

When I was back to my work bench I was glad to notice that the poisons themselves were easy to identify - one was snake venom, another Aconite, and though the third would take some more investigation I was sure I had dealt with it before - it's thick consistency was familiar.

Beside me, Hermione was nearly giddy as she began her investigative potion to identify the poison within her first vial. "It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this, Harry. You have to understand the principles involved this time. No short cuts or cheats!"

That was a lie, of course. I only used short cuts and cheats - by Hermione's standards, at least - but I wasn't about to help my brother out with any of it and I found myself quick to block my work from where his eyes would be looking to find out exactly how Hermione and I were managing our cauldrons. She went the traditional way, of course: using her wand and the proper incantation 'Specialis Revelio' to try to get it to work - she did this wordlessly to ensure that Harry and Ron wouldn't be able to copy her.

I immediately set to work on the anti-venom for the snake poison. There was the slight hiccough that I couldn't tell exactly what kind of snake the venom came from - but that was easy to rectify in the later stages of the potion. Just a few extra cuts of Glumbumble parts and extra drops of pomegranate to see which colour it turned. After that, it would be easy to know how much valerian root and how many daisy stems I should add.

It was truly a waste for me to still be stuck in school.

I moved to add the pomegranate and let out a laugh when I found that where my lumber chips had once been stored now sat a fuzzy green ball of fur. Houdini had come to say hello in class. Hermione looked at me with wide eyes.

"Are you laughing?"

"Yeah," I said quickly, letting Houdini crawl up my arm. "Why?"

"It's just," she shook her head. "You only laugh like that...never mind."

Not really caring about what it was she didn't feel the need to share I added the pomegranate into my cauldron, noticing immediately that the potion started to turn a nauseous looking pink. Not yellow, not orange, not green...pink. It was King Cobra venom. That meant six daisy roots and about twice the amount of valerian root in comparison to the generic anti-venom serum. Easy.

Slughorn came round just as I was finishing up the antidote for the first poison, Hermione was about five minutes behind me in time because she had taken the extra few minutes to ensure that she was working with the same snake venom that I was. She was so careful to make sure that she checked twice. Then she was even going to the extent of diluting the different ingredients into the ten crystal phials of the Golpalott theory, something you only needed to do to ensure you had properly identified your poison. Slughorn gave a pleased nod at my potion, moving to inspect my brother's behind me. All he received in response was a cough.

I tried not to smile, I really did - but how could I not? Harry must not have done anything to his venom, then. Just let it boil in his pewter cauldron. Disgusting...but good.

Again ahead of everyone else, I moved to the other poison I actually could identify - Aconite. Boiled Aconite to be precise. It was easy enough to follow the exact same process; only now the daisy stems were switched with porcupine quills, the pomegranate with cranberry, and of course there was also added tadpole skin; but those things were easy and any moron would know them.

Alright, no they wouldn't, but luckily for me it was easier to get that one finished than the first.

Finally I was down to the poison I couldn't identify - it was a muddied green and gave a harsh stench as soon as I dared to uncork the vial. It was thick as it slid from the glass into my cauldron, a good portion of it clung to the glass after I had dumped it upside down and I shook it a bit to make sure I had gotten as much of it into the cauldron as I could manage. I knew instinctively that I should have known the poison, but it wasn't making sense to me - should I have done it the proper way, like Hermione had told me to, or should I take the time to play around with it?

After a few minutes of playing around with it and trying to dilute it into something I recognized, I decided to follow Hermione's example and go about it the textbook way. Waving my wand over it, however, was the biggest problem. But if I used it in the terms of speechless spells - which I was only getting better with - perhaps it would have been easier to...no. There was no part of me that wanted to risk it.

Just as I was about to ask Hermione to do my work for me, I was distracted while Harry nearly ran from his seat behind me to the store cupboard and started rifling through it like he was desperate. Perhaps he was...I hope he couldn't find the ingredient he needed and he failed. Slughorn, who seemed very nervous by my brother's behaviour, shouted that we had two minutes left just as Harry made it back to his seat.

"Didn't find any dignity in there, did you?" I asked him, only to see him shrug sourly, looking away from me with his jaw tight.

"Time's up!" Slughorn called, clapping in his own excitement. "Well, let's see how you've done! Blaise...what have you got for me?"

Slughorn moved around the room, talking to each of us in turn. It seemed, like me, no one had finished the task and had actually been able to identify all three poisons; most could only do one in the time allotted. Even Hermione was struggling to put more ingredients into her cauldron to try and finish as much as she could, she was even further behind than I.

"Well done, Miss Granger - you identified the first, but not the second? Pity. I clearly should have left a longer time frame for this assignment," Slughorn moved over to my cauldron and clapped. "Oh, well done Miss Potter! Onto the third here, I see - and look, these antidotes look spot-on!"

I gave him a large smile, barely containing my pride. "Thank you, sir."

"Very well done, it seems you may have gotten the farthest in the time given...but we still have your brother to check on," he meant it as a joke, but the idea of it hung in the air like smoke. I gave him a grim look, glaring at his back as he passed by my table and back to my brother's. Across the aisle, I watched as Draco's mouth twitched infinitesimally at my reaction. When I made eye contact with him, probably still glaring from the personal insult I had just been given, he gave me a wide smirk and shook his head slightly.

No, Draco, I would not calm down. Prat.

Alright, maybe it did calm me down a bit - only because it was fun, keeping all these secrets from people. It was fun having conversations while there are a dozen people in the room who don't hear a word of it. But as fun as secrets were I still have every right to be annoyed with my brother. That was where our common ground had started, after all. I turned around, watching as Slughorn wretched from whatever fumes were coming from Ron's cauldron. He moved over to Harry's still waving the air about his face to try and rid himself of the smell.

"And you, Harry," his voice was still hoarse from the fumes he'd inhaled, "what have you got to show me?"

My brother held out his hand; something like a rock sitting in the middle of his palm. My entire being seemed to clench to try to avoid the onslaught of anger that I knew would hit like a tidal wave. It was a bezoar; a giant hairball from a goats stomach that would, in fact, cure all the poisons we had been issued to find the antidotes for. Son of a snake.

"You've got a nerve, boy!" Slughorn laughed, taking the bezoar and holding it up so that all of us could see it. "Oh, you're like your mother - well, I can't fault you; a bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions!"

"Are you joking?" I asked while Hermione let out a growl of her own, bringing the professor's attention back to me. "You asked us to create our antidotes! Unless my brother has mysteriously turned into a goat and grabbed that bezoar from his own stomach, it can't count. Besides, he'd never be a goat, he's clearly a purebred jacka-"

"Miss Potter," Slughorn chuckled, cutting me off as if this was all in good fun. "It was well thought; I cannot deny him that. Your sister is right, however, Harry; I did ask for you to create your antidote. But still, your idea is the individual spirit a real potion master needs!"

I didn't know it was possible to actually see in bloodied tones until this moment.

What the hell did he mean a real potion master?

"Just like your mother, both of you, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it's undoubtedly from Lily you get it...yes, Harry, yes, if you've got a bezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick - although as they don't work on everything, and are pretty rare, it's still worth knowing how to mix antidotes," he sighed, almost looking begrudged. "I'm afraid your sister is right. She is the victor of this little competition! I'm glad that I've lit the fire beneath the two of you - it will be exciting to see what you come up with now that there's some oomph between you!"

Malfoy gave a rude laugh from where he sat and when I dared to look at him I could swear he was furious for me. He knocked his cauldron over, right onto Crabbe, and refused to apologize for the vomit that seemed to decorate the oafs robes. At least something good came of this lesson: Vincent Crabbe learned how his food felt. But that was not enough good to make it worth staying, which was why I was relieved to hear the bell ring. I couldn't be more comforted to leave and get the hell away from these dolts before I committed some sort of felony.

"Time to pack up!" said Slughorn. "And an extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!"

I hate this class.

And whoever would have thought I'd hate Potions?

My twin is ruining my life.

I turned to my brother, he noticed my fury immediately. "You disgust me."

"You still bloody won," he mumbled. "I can't see why you'd be angry, it's not like we were battling for more Liquid Luck or Veritaserum."

Who cared about the damn Veritaserum? My reputation was much more precious. "You still cheated!"

"Says the biggest cheater I know," Harry rolled his eyes. "You've turned into a hypocrite, you know. I see you cheat on your homework at least once a day - don't you normally steal it? Now that you have some competition you want to play fair?"

"Get rid of that book before it hurts someone," I hissed at him. "Or, more likely, before I hurt you."

"What's wrong with you?" Tracey asked before I had even sat down at breakfast on Saturday morning. "You look so...chipper. It's not normal."

"Something's definitely wrong," Daphne agreed quietly, her lips hardly moving - she still didn't speak to me when Theodore was near. He had yet to come down to the Great Hall for breakfast so it seems she didn't feel bad about speaking as long as no one could tell it had been her; it was a strained friendship.

"I don't see why my happiness means something is wrong," I replied innocently, ducking my head down to my plate. I heard a familiar scoff from farther over the table and glared over to the blonde who was rolling his eyes dramatically at me.

"Something or other is always wrong with you, Potter," he described, looking at me with warm, mercury eyes. "We just tend to prefer it when it's against you and not the entirety of the Wizarding population."

He was lucky I knew he was joking, or else my happiness might have included him too.

"You have always known me best," I smiled darkly. His confident smirk did not falter for a moment; there was no need. He knew exactly what I was planning to happen. In fact, he had pushed it as soon as I told him that I had an idea. And then he had nursed that idea between kisses last night - and the day before that - and the day before that - so that I would follow through on it. He probably would have been even more encouraging were we to actually spend significant time together, but the minutes between when he would leave the Room of Requirement to when we got back to the Slytherin room was our personal time. It wasn't my fault that we tended to get distracted for a few hours along the way.

"YOU!" The entire Great Hall seemed to silence so that they could watch as Pansy Parkinson stormed towards me, her finger pointed and shaking. "You did attacked our dormitories!"

"Oh, dear, was there another prank pulled on your room?"

"Not just mine and you know it!" Parkinson barked, stomping her foot and wagging her finger as if I were some kind of pet that had misbehaved. "What did you do? Take it back!"

"You really should have taken a shower, Pansy," I told her seriously, frowning dramatically. "Then you wouldn't be here arguing for your friends - who have been punished in Godric knows what way..."

"How the hell do you keep getting into our bathrooms?"

"I didn't step foot in your bathrooms," I smiled, folding my hands in my lap and shrugging. "But luckily for you I do happen to have the antidote to your little problem."

"What problem?" Tracey asked, unable to hold in her smile as she leant forward. "What did you do?"

"I did nothing but brew the potion. I was not the one to put it into their shampoo and I was not the one to activate it - that was all on them," I told her factually. "I did however make them look as ugly as all those little insults of theirs...making them now look like hideous multi-coloured clowns."

Tracey began to cackle. Lillian quietly followed suit. The rest of the table tried to hide what I knew was no less than a chuckle.

"Give me the antidote, Potter," Pansy threw her hand towards my face, nearly slapping it. "Or I'll tell Professor Snape!"

"Go ahead," I told her honestly. "You see, I'd be more than happy to brew you the antidote to the potion that I created myself, which no one else has heard of, and I won't even be nasty about it. You see, someone recently told me that I was too hard on people, that I did things without thinking and was just as bad as the 'tormentors' I complain about," I explained calmly, refusing to look to see if Theodore was yet sitting down at the table with us. "So I don't want to ruin anyone's reputation with it. All I want is a genuine, public apology from you lot and I'll give you the antidote. No tricks."

"No tricks?" Pansy hissed. "This was a trick in itself!"

"It was a result of your own actions," I growled, my voice rasped itself while it tried to fight the anger and smugness I was trying to conceal. "If you can't handle it then perhaps you shouldn't have pretended like you were above consequences in the first place."

"I think those terms are fair, Parkinson," Lillian said formally, having composed herself. "All they have to do is come down here and apologize for the multiple hexes you've all placed on her. I think it's quite fitting and that she's being much more kind than she should be."

"Come on, Pansy," Daphne said, trying to keep her voice from being too condescending even though I was comforted to hear she was not on her side. "Just get Astoria down here to apologize for the Paint-Splatter Hex."

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, she refuses to leave the dormitory," Pansy growled. "Which you knew would happen when you dyed her every colour of the bloody rainbow."

"Well, isn't that sad," I pouted dramatically. "I completely sympathize with her, of course, after being splattered red so many times. It was terrible constantly having to go to class looking like an art project awry - but I faced it. I'm sure she could face it for her cure, couldn't she?"

"Is there a problem, students?" Both Professor Slughorn and Professor Snape had walked up to the group of us after sensing the problem that had quieted half the hall. Pansy immediately brought out her finger again, pointing at me and bristling.

"She put a potion in our shampoo again and she won't give us the antidote!"

"Unless the potion triggered an obscene amount of disrespect in its victims," Snape drawled towards her with his lip curled. "I do not believe there is need to be spoken to in such a way. Miss Potter, are these allegations true?"

"Oh, completely," I answered him with the most innocent eyes I could muster. "I've already told her that they will get the antidote after they apologize for their treatment of me this year. It's not actually much I'm asking, of course, but they refuse to face what I had to and come in front of people to say it."

"You could be the bigger person and not put them through the same ridicule you faced," Snape offered with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose I probably could." I left it at that. There was no reason to lie to him and tell him I would.

"Detention, Miss Potter," Snape sighed, sounding almost tired. He had said the words multiple times, I supposed. "And it will continue until your victims are cured of your little plan of vengeance."

"Good," I smiled to him, trying hard to keep it from turning into a grimace even though I was sure he could tell. "It's good to know that with my step back into my old reputation, all the perks come with it."

"And just how long do you think you'll be serving detention with me, at this rate?" He asked, still sounding bored. I looked over to Pansy who was positively red faced. I couldn't help but smile.

"At least a month, sir. But it's all for a good cause."

"Detention is not a charity case," Pansy growled. "It's a punishment!"

"Your faces are punishment enough," I answered her with a wicked grin. "The fact they'll stay that way is my donation to society's sense of entertainment."

"My office, Potter, seven o'clock," Snape growled. "Every day until this mess is cleaned."

"You'll run out of patience far before I will, Professor," I turned to Pansy. "And you'll decide to find new friends before you find the antidote on your own."

It didn't come as a surprise to me that Snape gave me detention every night until the antidote was given to my victims. As much as I didn't want to spend time with Severus Snape, I particularly wasn't ready to let my tormentors stop suffering. And I was lucky; for my first week of detentions, Snape wasn't actually present - instead, I was handed off to other teachers to do their dirty work such as cleaning under desks, cleaning poor potion cauldrons, and once cleaning up the explosion that Finnegan had caused in the Charms room.

What they failed to realize was that 'no use of wands' was not the same as 'no use of magic' for me - so the jobs were not as awful as they hoped they would be and they certainly were not punishment enough to give them my potion's antidote. By the second week, there was nothing more that the teachers could do but wait for my forgiveness, so they insisted that the Slytherins attend their classes until I decided to be lenient. I almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

Millicent Bulstrode had probably gotten off easiest in her new appearance: sapphire blue hair, a vague appearance of having oranged through a tanning bed, along with lime green eyebrows and a matching colour of lips.

Alya Rivers had it worse; her short hairstyle was now a beautiful neon yellow - which I happened to know glowed in the dark - while her skin was tinged a faint green, eyebrows a bright magenta, and I had made sure that her lips were as black as night considering her mouth was a black hole of ruthlessness.

But Astoria Greengrass? Now that was a punishment befitting her crime. Her normal wheat blond hair that was always bounced up in curls now looked like a clown's twisted mop of neon orange - it was about time she understood the lives we redheads lead. And since she thought she was so funny with all her pranks, I decided to make her into the clown she thought she was; vibrant pink skin that looked painful, black eyebrows that I made look much more thick, a mustard yellow stain on her lips - and the skin around it to make her mouth look as big as she always pretended it was - and I finished off my piece of art by giving her a bright red nose.

No; there was no amount of detention that could make me take that away.

People took well to their adversity. Well for me, of course, not well for them. People couldn't help but snicker as they jittered from classroom to classroom and apparently poor Astoria was forced to sit in the back of all her classes because her hair stood too high for people to see past her. I also enjoyed watching how every day after class they would go to the hospital wing to try out a new possible antidote; it never worked. In hindsight, I wish I would have made it so every time they tried a false one, the effects would have gotten worse.

I'll have to save that for next time.

It was nice to see two of my fellow students - both Bulstrode and Rivers - had decided they were brave enough to face coming to our first Apparition Lesson two Saturdays later. They were the only colour that seemed to decorate the bare Great Hall around us and all the tables had disappeared, but our heads of houses stood where they once were placed - Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sprout were looking at all of us quite seriously.

How could they be so serious? Apparition meant the freedom to transport yourself anywhere you can imagine - literally - I don't see why they needed to look so morose. In front of them stood a small man, likely our Instructor as provided by the Ministry. He was a wispy man - his features colourless from his hair to his eyelashes to his skin tone...I could only imagine the envy Bulstrode and Rivers were feeling right about then.

"Good morning," the Ministry Wizard greeted us as we arrived and converged into a giant clump in the center of the room. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry-Apparition Instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition test in this time-"

"Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall's bark brought everyone's eyes around to Draco, who was now looking red-faced and vicious as he took a step away from Crabbe. I nearly felt bad for Crabbe - as I was the one who had inadvertently gotten him in trouble. But he should have been keeping guard last night as well, which he hadn't been doing because like the time I had finally found where Malfoy was, he'd rather have gone to dinner than watch over him.

"-by which time, many of you may be ready to take your test," Twycross continued on as though there had been no interruption. "As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The Headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try."

Great. Now I felt challenged. But really, what would it take for these people to start understanding they were dealing with teenagers who wanted nothing more than to prove everyone wrong? They needed a bit more foresight.

"I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

I moved exactly five steps back from where I had been and both Tracey and I yelled at Seamus Finnegan when he tried to invade that place we had left in front of us. He gave me a glare to which I gave him a more intimidating one and he intelligently moved to the other side of the Hall. I was surprised when I found that Harry was making his way over to me.

"You're joining the Dark Side?" Tracey asked as my brother came and took the spot next to me. "Welcome, Potter. You're not really our stereotypical villain but..."

"What do you want?" I sighed, placing my hands on my hips. Harry was telling me to lighten up on the Slytherins; which to a degree I understood. I understood that no matter who the underdog was, Harry would always cheer for them. Which was wonderful when I was the underdog...now that I'm not, it wasn't as endearing. "If you're here to lecture me again, I'm really not in the mood."

"What would I be here to lecture you for?" Harry whispered. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Why are you..." I stopped when his eyes flickered in front of me. Ah - of course. Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy had positioned themselves in front of me - as Draco was usually close by - and Harry just couldn't stand to stick to the background and hear what was going on. He had to be right in the action.

"I don't know how much longer, all right?" Malfoy shot at the lard beside him, trying to keep his voice down and failing. Tracey looked at me carefully, before I quirked my head to my brother. "It's taking longer than I thought it would. Look, it's none of your business what I'm doing, Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as you're told and keep a lookout! I don't want to find out again that you've left for dinner and let-"

"What on Salazar's green earth," I said, quite loudly. "Are you blabbering about?"

Draco turned his gaze on me and it immediately sneered when he saw that my brother was beside me. I tried showing him with my eyes that this was not something that should be discussed here, nor did I want it to turn into something that would be discussed and lead to me.

"You know, I tell my friends what I'm up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me," Harry said, his eyes meaningfully narrowed towards Draco. My blonde ally looked like he was going to grab his wand but I moved forward and grabbed hold of his arm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I hissed, my voice low. "Because I'd have to protect my brother and that is not in your best interest, is it, Dog Breath?"

And to protect Draco and myself, I would have to do it. I could just see it now, me getting in the middle of he and Harry while they went about their various new pass-times: Draco's Death Eater business, Harry's Stalking Draco obsession...and here I would be, playing keep-away like a monkey.

Draco's jaw tensed, he understood my meaning but did not enjoy that he was being told what to do by me, or anyone for that matter, while in public. I allowed myself to go back between Harry and Tracey when he seemed to have thawed a bit - my friend rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Men. What a ridiculous subspecies."

"Gender," I corrected with a laugh.

"No," she said, sounding quite serious despite her smirk. "I mean subspecies. No one of my feminine species talks about their bowel movements, latest lays, and sports like that breed does."

We quieted our laughter as best we could when the four Heads of House shouted for our silence. It only made it harder not to laugh at the images of deformed dog breeds that had come to the forefront of my mind - but we managed to keep it to a dull wheeze.

"Thank you," said Twycross. "Now then..."

With a wave of his wand, old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor five feet away from me...and, with another look, I noticed they were in front of everyone around me as well.

"The important things to remember when Apparating are the three Ds!" said Twycross, sounding increasingly like Professor Flitwick with his ridiculous amount of enthusiasm. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation!

"Step one: fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination. In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now."

I stared at my hoop, letting out a sigh. There was a scuff mark on the one side of the flooring under my circle. It looked a lot lighter than the dark wood that was atop it. Could it have been a stain to make the wood so dark, or was this kind of wood specifically lighter in the middle? Was this the proper kind of concentration you were supposed to be putting into a circle we were aiming for?

"Step two," said Twycross, "focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!"

Well, that seemed ridiculous. I had no real motive to get into that little circle - and why would I want to? It was a little circle, five feet away. What I really wanted was to give Malfoy a firm piece of my mind - talking about his stupid mission in the middle of the Great Hall, how stupid did he think Crabbe was? Because he had just proven he could be as dimwitted. As if he were a stupid, deformed dog like Tracey had said.

"Step three," called Twycross, his voice moving to an airier and more ominous note. "And only when I give the command...turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation. On my command, now...one-"

Holy shite, we were going to be doing this now?

I turned my concentration back to that scuff in my hoop.

" - two - "

What were the three D's? Destination, Determination, Dilapidation? No. That couldn't be it.

"-THREE!"

I didn't bother spinning on the spot as most others did. I wasn't going head first into something that I wasn't ready for - even though everyone else seemed to do it with little worry about the consequences. Harry almost fell over because of how energetically he had spun on his heel. Neville had landed flat on his back, Ernie Macmillan had done a kind of leap into his hoop and looked thrilled for a moment before he caught sight of Dean Thomas pointing and laughing at him, and Alya had joined the ranks of the fallen tryers and was now covering her face with her arms - which only made it worse as her hair was glowing in the shadow of it.

Yes, I certainly preferred not trying to trying and failing.

"Never mind, never mind," said Twycross dryly, if he hadn't expected anything better, perhaps he should have told us that considering everyone else was back to having conversations of their own. "Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions..."

Which was pointless considering nothing happened the second time, either.

"This is ridiculous," I heard Draco mutter in front of me. "I have better places to be than spinning like I'm in some dance class-"

"Better places like where?" Harry asked immediately, earning himself a foul glare from the taller boy. "The same places that Crabbe and Goyle have been playing lookout?"

God damn it. Harry knew. And he was going to continue to work it out because Crabbe and Goyle, those oafs, knew nothing about being discrete. And once I was finally dragged into this, which I certainly would be, I would be royally screwed over.

"Alright, let's try again! Remember - Destination, determination, deliberation!" Twycross cheered. "On three. One - two - three!"

I spun on my heel and felt the sickening tug of my body - then it felt like I was being compressed - something was pushing me and trying to turn me into something small and throwable, before I tottered and fell on my arse. There was a moment that I groaned, easily able to tell that I had landed on the side of my hoop before I felt someone bend down.

"Congratulations, Potter. You landed in my trap," looking up, Draco Malfoy was looking down at me, his arms crossed but his face held a smirk of amusement. I looked around myself for a moment and then leaned slightly to the side to see I had not landed in my circle, but six feet farther away in his.

"Do I need to find you a Chocolate Frog?" he asked cockily. I rolled my eyes - yes, yes, I got it. It was now quite obvious I was thinking about him...great. He'd never let me live that down.

"Oh, well done over there!" Twycross shouted a bit as he moved through the crowd to come toward me. He gave me a hand up and I watched as Snape and Draco gave a quick glare to one another that I was hoping no one - particularly the prying eyes of my brother - was able to pick up on. "And who are you, Miss?"

"Audrey Potter," I answered, wincing. That wooden hoop had done a disservice to my arse cheek.

"The first to fully be able to - oh my," the instructors eyebrows raised up to his hairline, "were you standing back here, Miss Potter?"

"I was."

"Well, that was not really the destination you wanted to go. Try to get it in your own hoop - but still, well done on being the first to fully make it." He clapped and turned away from me. "Now let's try again! You've now seen it's possible, so let's try once more. One - Two - Three-"

There was a horrible bellow of pain and for a moment we all swivelled our heads trying to find the source of the sound before I noticed in horror that Susan Bones was wobbling in her hoop...her left leg still standing five feet away where she had started.

The Heads of House moved forward so that they could help her and with a puff of purple smoke, Susan was hole again and coughing as if she had never screamed bloody-amputation at all.

"Splinching, or the separation of random body parts," said Wilkie Twycross sounding apathetic, "occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continually upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation ... thus-" Twycross turned gracefully on his heel and in a swirl of robes vanished before suddenly reappearing at the back of the Hall. We all twisted our heads to watch in awe. "Remember the three Ds, and try again... one - two - three-"

By the end of the hour, I was bored. I had managed to be able to pop in and out of my hoop like a regular teleporter. Part of me hoped that we would see some more splinching, but Susan Bones had stolen the show earlier on and no one dared try to beat it. So instead, I was stuck bouncing into my hoop - out of my hoop - into my hoop - out of my hoop.

Part of me knew I should be proud, but no one else was so the accomplishment felt tainted.

At least this meant I would be able to focus on my Animagus studying a little bit more easily.

"Until next Saturday, everybody," Twycross was still, impressively, motivating. He sounded like this kind of thing happened - or rather didn't happen - all the time. "And do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation."

With a wave of his wand that vanished the hoops, he moved to walk out of the Great Hall, but not before stopping and shaking my hand with a smile. "It's not often I get to meet such a fast learner. You must be well apt with Wandless Magic."

"She is quite well versed in Cantated Magic," Snape corrected. Wandless magic and Cantated magic were pretty much the same thing - but I was not in the mood to get stuck into one of Snape's lectures considering he was already upset enough with me to keep me in detention.

"Well, good for you, Miss Potter! I can't wait to see what you can accomplish in the next few lessons."

With that, he left the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall and groups of friends began to converge again. Harry moved over to Ron and Hermione, while Lillian and Tracey circled around me.

"I'm glad that one of us got it before that do-gooder," Lillian muttered, frowning over to Hermione who looked utterly flustered. "No offence, Audrey."

"No need to apologize, any time I can win against Hermione Granger is a good thing in anyone's mind. Possibly even her own," I sighed, only to feel myself be pulled back abruptly. I looked up to see Malfoy looking back down at me from behind.

"We should chat."

"Can't you find someone else's time to waste? I'm busy," I complained, even if it was a complete lie.

"You don't really have much of a choice," it certainly felt that way sometimes. I let him lead me out of the Great Hall, ignoring the eyes around us. I could tell that the hold he had on my robes did not look too friendly, but luckily it wasn't uncomfortable while he steered me through the corridors at arms length. When we were out of ear-shot, I turned around.

"You know, if we keep snogging in corridors, we're eventually going to get caught." I told him, raising a teasing brow. "Besides, you're supposed to wait until after my detention. That's when I'll actually want you around."

"So you don't want me around now?" He frowned. "Clearly all those times you've been dropped on your head are starting to impede on your judgement."

"Why ever would I want you around, Draco?" I mocked. I moved forward to kiss him but he took hold of my shoulders and pulled me back. I couldn't help the sting that it left - and the anger it brought up. "What now?"

"You know, if I actually enjoyed spending time with you - which I don't - and if it wouldn't give you too much of a big head, I'd tell you I was something near proud of you right about now," he informed. I felt myself smile.

"What, learning to Apparate?" I shrugged. "It was nothing."

"There's that head of yours filling up the hall. Leave enough room for us to breathe, will you?" he moved to kiss the top of my head before tugging on a piece of my hair as if to prove how much of a giant mess it was. "You're back to yourself at least. It's nice to know there's someone with even worse intentions than I have."

He was not playing fair because he was obviously lying.

"I think we'd need to compare," I told him carefully, pulling at the collar of his shirt. "Why don't you tell me your dirty deeds so I can tell you just how horrible they are compared to mine?"

"Those tend to make you uncomfortable, Potter," he whispered, making my face warm instantly. Yes, he liked to mention dirty deeds that I did not approve of in relation to me.

"Then you could tell me other things...like what you're doing in the Room of Requirement?"

Draco pulled away from me instantly, looking at me with pursed lips. "We agreed not to talk about it."

"We can't just ignore it," I sighed, slapping my hands against my sides. "Besides, if you really wanted to work everything out you would tell me - two minds are better than one. Particularly if it's mine that's being added."

"Just because you're ruthless does not mean that you can out-think this," he grumbled, looking stern. "Not all problems are puzzles, Potter. Some problems are lethal and those don't have pretty pictures where you feel self-sufficient."

"Then you'd best tell me so I can know which poisons I'm supposed to be avoiding," I told him, walking up to him. He made a face like he was annoyed with me - yes, we had talked about being each other's poison before. How true it seemed now that we were encouraging each other to leave our 'sides' behind. "Just trust me, Draco. You're a moron if you don't."

Again, Draco silenced. As he always silenced himself when this was brought up. I couldn't help but wonder if he silenced so that he wouldn't let something slip, or if he really was debating saying something that could be detrimental later. I sighed, leaning my head on his chest and hitting his chest with my hand.

"You're infuriating."

"Also a moron, I've heard."

I smirked, looking up at him. "Definitely a moron. A moron who had best save me from detention tonight or he will get no snogging for a week."

"A week?" He sounded disgusted. "What is wrong with you? Criminals are treated with more respect than that!"

"You don't have to be a criminal, do you, Malfoy?" I told him with a frown. His playful nature dropped and he frowned at me, not moving forward to convince me not to go to detention as he usually did. "Oh, and please don't use Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts anymore, Harry's suspicious. Go back to the common room, just for tonight, and keep a low profile. I'm sure he's on the map looking for you. So just...play it safe, for once. I have to go to detention and we will talk about this after."

He huffed and let me go with not so much as a kiss on the forehead. Still, I was just glad to get out of there - I had even more things to think about now.

Walking to Snape's office was a familiar path, but I missed the way it once looked with all his potion's ingredients. Now it was just full of Dark Magical objects and then all the things that took the effects from them away. He barely looked up as I walked in, not waiting for him to invite me, before I sat down in the desk closest to his own. He looked up briefly from his papers before pointing to the seat across from him.

"You can sit with me today."

"It's not like I can help you grade papers anymore," I muttered, remembering back to the old days with more fondness than I should have. "Am I here for you to lecture me?"

"Are you here because you have a choice otherwise?" He quipped back. I fell into the seat across from him stubbornly, making it as loud and obnoxious as possible. He looked at me for a long moment before he decided to lay down his quill. "You are irritably intuitive, Miss Potter. You are right, I think it would be wise that we talk."

"So a lecture. Or is it one of those situations where the 'talk' either includes vague pleasantries or we aim straight for the jugular?"

"I'm one for precision," he responded simply. "We may as well talk about the reason you're here, to begin. What potion did you use on Miss Rivers, Miss Bulstrode and Miss Greengrass?"

"One of my own making," I told him just as confidently, folding my hands in my lap. "And they won't get the antidote for it until my terms are met."

"And those terms were what, exactly?"

"A simple apology, professor. I'm not being greedy - well, overly greedy. I want nothing more than to forgive them and be forgiven so we can start with a clean slate," it sounded fake even to me, which was why I was not at all surprised when he rubbed his temple in irritation.

"So, assuming I'm correct, you have wasted your time in making a potion to humiliate them. You will not allow them the cure until they rectify the humiliation they brought to you and the reason you have accepted these detentions without complaint for over two weeks would be?"

"Because I was living with their torment for far over two weeks," I smiled, though I almost felt like I was baring my teeth.

"And was this torment only from your three victims?"

"No, of course not. There were more of them - but some of them got lucky and avoided the placement of the potion on them by a bad habit of hygiene."

He blinked slowly, trying to avoid rolling his eyes. "Such as?"

"Pansy Parkinson, for the most part. The others wouldn't have clashed so badly, but I would have made my point through them as well."

"So am I to understand that you had the ability to put this potion into the entirety of Slytherin House's possession and yet you did not?" He looked at me carefully, his eyes narrowed. I felt like he was grasping for some concept here that I wasn't understanding - something I had always loved about Snape was that we tended to be on the same page, we were able to read each other...it was upsetting to know how much had changed in these past few months.

"I only did to those who have ruined my year," I told him slowly, feeling like I suddenly needed to watch my words more closely. "It's not that hard to follow."

"Mr Nott and Mr Malfoy always seem to make it out of your pranks unscathed," he said just as slowly. I felt my posture stiffen as I looked at him, understanding dawning. "Is there a reason for that?"

"Theodore doesn't deserve my pranks. Neither does Draco." I watched his nostrils flare for a moment before he leaned foreward.

"Am I to assume that you and Draco Malfoy are once again an item?"

"Oh, Godric, no!" I laughed, concentrating hard to make it condescending. "Items ended in 1942, sir. Now we would like to be called boyfriend and girlfriend."

Snape seemed like he may spontaneously combust with this information - which made me worriedly wonder whether or not I should have told him. It's true that he worked for our side so I had no doubts he wouldn't bring it up at the next Death Eater potluck dinner, but that didn't mean that Draco wanted him to know. In fact, it seems that Draco has been very against Snape knowing any of his business this year - maybe I should have been thinking the same...

"Draco Malfoy is not to be trusted. You know his family," Snape began. I cut him off angrily.

"You mean like he knows mine? You're right, I do, and guess what: neither of us are particularly fond of them at the moment," I informed him. "We don't like being told what to do."

"Oh you're so naive, Potter. You're young and foolish - I remember how it was. And you're wrong, everything you envision is wrong," he informed. Though I highly doubted anyone would ever be able to love someone like Snape in a romantic way, I didn't like how intimately I felt I was being chastised. "These feelings won't last forever, these good days will go away - one of you will leave the other and the one scorned will look for revenge. They'll haunt everything about you - your life, your hopes, your dreams...and it will all be because of how naive you are."

"I am not naive!" I raged, gripping the sides of my chair. "You can't tell me what to do, what Draco to do - this isn't about the Order or the Death Eaters and it most certainly has nothing to do with you!"

"Is that what's he's told you?" Snape nearly jeered. "Because Draco Malfoy has fallen exactly where his father placed him. He didn't land far from the tree - he's still attached to it."

"I trust Draco more than I trust you, professor," I narrowed my eyes, I could feel my sneer nearly deforming my face. "At least he tells me things!"

"Tells you things?" Snape barked out a cruel laugh. "Oh, how I doubt that."

"He does," I hissed back to him, my nails biting into the wood and the skin under them aching. "I know more than you. And I know exactly why you want to know so badly."

Snape seemed slightly put off by this, if his silence was any indication. He couldn't tell whether or not I was bluffing and he couldn't tell whether or not what I thought I knew was what I shouldn't have known. I knew that he should have been going to the Order with this information about Draco - but for some reason he had not. Maybe it was because he'd made the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa as they had argued at Christmas, or maybe it was because Draco was clearly hiding things from him so he had no proof to go back to the Order with...

Still, I couldn't help the smug satisfaction that I had just won.

Snape looked at me, his eyes fierce as he took a calming breath.

"That boy will sink you faster than quicksand," his voice was hardly a whisper but it somehow seethed with hot fury. "I don't know why you enjoy drowning, Miss Potter, but I swear to you-"

"Maybe I'm not drowning," I snarled back, my fists clenching. "Maybe I'm not even sinking. Maybe I'm just falling into-"

"What?" Snape asked, his voice suddenly a bark. "Falling in love?"

"That's not what I was going to say," I said immediately, shaking my head and feeling sick just at the mention of it. "I was going to say falling into your responsibilities!"

"Is that what this is, Miss Potter," Snape was sneering now, somehow sounding condescending while at the same time looking as if I had just whipped dung at him instead of what I had thought was a well-placed insult. "Have you fallen in love with Mr Malfoy?"

"No," I said strongly. "We have fallen into an understanding. We fancy each other - that does not amount to love. And if you would start doing your job instead of criticizing mine-"

"Do my job?" He repeated, sounding skeptical. "And just what is my job?"

"To keep us all safe!" I shouted, slamming my fists on his desk and revelling in the sound of the wood groaning and cracking under the pressure of my anger and Magnuse. "I've told you everything that I know - I let you read every vision I've had, I've let you into my mind and through my every thought...but you couldn't just warn me? You couldn't have warned me what was happening, could you? Did you think I couldn't take it? Did you think that I would play dumb and not pry? You should have told me!"

"I don't know what it is you believe I should have told you," he leaned in after a long moment of his desk nearly splitting in two before he spoke. "But whatever we - being Draco and I - decided not to tell you was for your benefit. I assure you that what you think you know is not half of what you should."

"I care for him, Snape, what I don't care for is what you think," I crackled, leaning on the broken fragments of his table. "But if I have any way to help him, I won't be able to do it on my own...so why haven't you? Why haven't you told anyone? He trusted you - I trusted you..."

"And just what do you think you know, Miss Potter?"

I sneered, my eyes smouldering. "I know everything."

Nothing more needed to be said and when Snape realized it, he let me leave early. Well, he may not have actually let me leave early, but he did wave his hand at me in a dismissive manner and turned back to his grading - pretending as if I hadn't watched while he snapped his quill in half. Either way, I knew I wouldn't want to be there when he found his words, so I was quick to dash out before the subject rose again.

I didn't see Draco until the next morning, because even he gave himself a break from whatever-it-was he did on Sundays now that I was around and wouldn't have detention for it. I asked him once if he had used to take Sundays away from his 'project' but he had answered that he hadn't had a reason to be tempted to until my detentions had been lifted for the one day a week - it was nice to be thought of, even if he had tried to grope me afterward.

"It's mad that they're still keeping you for detention," Tracey said as she finished the bacon on her plate. "You'd think they'd understand by now that fear of detention is not what's driving your motives."

"I think they're doing it to appease the parents," Lillian responded thoughtfully from over her copy of the Daily Prophet. "They have to know by now it's not going to convince you - but to say they haven't tried?"

"I think they're just doing it because I haven't gotten enough detentions this year and now they have to squeeze them all into their smaller timeframe," I shrugged noncommittally, grabbing two pieces of toast. It was hard not to grin as Malfoy, with a roll of his eyes, knew to slide over the strawberry jam that we both favoured. That boy and his encouragements to eat seemed to never end...

"How was detention with good ole Snape?" Tracey asked, placing her elbows on the table now that she wasn't eating - she was taught proper etiquette but even for her, that was considered rude. "You haven't been seeing much of him lately."

"I haven't wanted to see much of him," I thought back to the night before and felt my frown turn into a sneer. "He's being a right arse since he got the post he's always longed for."

"He is quite good at it," Lillian frowned. "I just wish that he'd be the way he was when he was Potions Master while he's working in Defense - is that so much to ask?"

"Apparently so," I muttered, moving to put my jam onto my toast. "He says some choice words about his own students nowadays. It's everything he used to be against."

"Choice words about who?"

My eyes flickered over to Malfoy who purposefully didn't move his own eyes. He knew. He knew that I was talking about him, but to not draw attention I shrugged and moved to my second slice of toast. "No one important. And no one who deserves it - I like it more when he insults Harry."

"Not many people do insult him nowadays," Tracey sighed. "Don't you remember last year when everyone treated him as if he carried the plague? I miss those days."

"As do I," I drew out the words, taking a few bites from one piece of my toast before standing. "Well, I'm taking this with me."

"Taking it where?"

"Going to help Hagrid look after the Thestrals," I lied, taking another calm bite out of my toast. I knew that if I used my half-giant friend as an excuse none of them would even consider following me.

"Didn't you finish that project months ago?"

"Yes, but as I'm one of the few who can see them, he likes when I help tend to them," I lied. It was almost shocking that I could somehow get better at lying than I already was and yet the words came out flawlessly. "It's one of the only classes I'll get a high mark in, I may as well go for a straight O."

"Why can't he get someone else?" Tracey drawled. "Like someone who actually has watched someone d-"

She cut herself off and it seemed like the entire group of us quieted. We couldn't say that anymore. Sure, at one point it was strange that I could see Thestrals because I had never seen someone die...but that wasn't the case anymore. Everyone knew that I had seen someone die. And even though most didn't know I had caused the death - that I had been the one to murder Thuban Nott - everyone was well aware that I had been part of the conspiracy.

"I don't even know why I come to breakfast," I muttered lowly, throwing the uneaten half piece and untouched piece of toast back onto my plate. "I hate everything about it."

"Audrey, I'm sorry-" Tracey started.

"Forget it," I grumbled, turning away. "I'm late."

I was surprised by the speed I walked out of the Great Hall, I was surprised it didn't bring more attention my way - or maybe it did and I was too red faced to want to check. Luckily I managed to be even more surprised when no one tried to chase after me. I weaved through corridors and up staircases just to make sure that anyone who caught sight of me wouldn't be able to pinpoint where I was going, it was necessary to do every Sunday now, and by the time I made it back to the Third Floor corridor and to the statue of the Humpbacked witch, I was out of breath. I couldn't tell if I was so winded from my general use of muscles that didn't exist or if it was from my personal upset. Possibly both.

Luckily I didn't have to think on it long before I was found.

"Here," his voice was low as he moved himself behind the statue with me. "You should stop bunking meals or else people may hound you again."

He threw me a green apple that I took and rolled between my palms. I looked up at him, his eyes so hidden in shadow that I couldn't tell whether they were closed off to me or not - would he talk to me today? Would he be upset when I talk about yesterday? Draco moved to sit beside me either way, looking up and around himself with his typical sneer.

"Please do remind me why I'm hiding behind a statue in filth instead of wishing for some grand impressive lounge in the Room of Requirement?"

"Because Harry's been watching my Map and if he sees you headed up to the Seventh Floor corridor again, he's going to start knowing that he's right," I explained again - I felt like I had explained this quite a few times now. "You need to start running some defense system because he is tracking you everywhere you go."

"Did you not consider that he'll know you're here with me, if he's such a good detective?"

I looked at him skeptically. "There are bigger problems than whether or not he knows we're snogging again - I'd much prefer him think that you've seduced me rather than that you've been seduced by the Dark Lard."

"You've such a way with words," he drawled sarcastically, shuffling around again to get comfortable on the concrete and wrapping his arms around his knees. He looked so much more relaxed when he did it - for some reason his seemed manly, whereas I looked like a frightened child. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to play with your food?"

"Actually, I find in the Wizarding World it's encouraged," I said faintly, moving the apple through my palms a little more slowly. "Sometimes things are served alive."

"So you figure it should be happy and feel like it's having fun before you eat it?"

"Exactly," I drawled in the same sarcastic tone he always held. He smirked down at me before leaning his head back against the statue we leant against.

"Where'd you find this little alcove, anyway?"

"Right under us is a passage way that goes through to Honeydukes."

"Bloody hell," he breathed, straightening slightly. "Then why are we sitting here? Let's do something worth-"

"They've sealed up all the passageways," I interrupted sadly. "They're not so secret anymore. We can thank my brother and his precious guard for that."

"God, this may be a castle but it feels like such a cage," he sighed, mostly to himself, while he ran his hand over his face. I wondered if that's what this really was to him now - a cage keeping him in, instead of keeping the world out. I wondered if he knew there was a difference...then again, why did I think there was?

"Malfoy," I began slowly.

"What?" He sounded irritated and as much as I wanted to snap back at him by instinct, I didn't blame him for it. I didn't like that I was about to upset him more. Maybe I shouldn't even bring it up, his eyes were closed as he leaned his head back - it was one of his more peaceful expressions and I wondered if I stayed quiet for long enough, would he be able to sleep? I knew that he was in that Room of Requirement for ridiculous hours...I could only imagine how little sleep he must have gotten with those hours and the stress of the hours he was away from it.

"Do you think if things were different we'd be an item?"

"Who the hell uses the term item anymore?" He scoffed. I couldn't help but smirking and looking away from him as I remembered that I had responded in the same way.

"I mean, what would it be like?" I asked simply, pushing the tip of my thumb into the apple and feeling it crunch underneath the pressure. I pulled my finger back to inspect the bruise. "How do you think people would react?"

"Besides most of them being mortified?" He chuckled darkly. "Who cares? Were this something that could work, I don't really mind what people would say. We'd be a scandal, of course; you've landed a very rich, very attractive bachelor and I have tamed the wild beast. Besides that I think people would be more shocked than anything. We play enemies quite well."

"I think the fact we were enemies for so long is what made this play out quite well," I snorted back. I watched him smirk, even with his eyes closed. "Would you...want people to know?"

Now his eyes did open and I didn't need a lot of light to know how suspicious they were. "They can't know, we've talked about this."

"I know," I muttered. "I'm not stupid."

"Really? Then why is it I have a feeling they do anyway?"

"I may have mentioned it," I shrugged innocently. "In passing. Offhandedly and bitterly, of course - what other way is there to rub in the face that I am spending so much time with such a rich, attractive bachelor, as you called it..."

"Who?" He asked, his voice low.

"Luckily, as you just said, no one really cares - it's a scandal, but people are more shocked..."

"Who the fuck did you tell, Potter?"

I cleared my throat, looking at him to try not to show how much it really did affect me. "Snape."

"God damn it, Audrey!" He moved to punch the wall but I grabbed his arm, stopping him from inflicting damage more to himself than the century old stone. "What the hell did you say?"

"I was angry, he was angry, he questioned my motives and-" I shook my head. "You know what? It doesn't actually matter. I said what I said and I warned you because I thought you might want to know. I don't regret it so don't be an arse - you should be glad. This is what you would have wanted."

"A year ago, maybe-"

"Exactly, glad," I pushed. "You don't have to be such an arse about it. You're lucky I'm not the sensitive, emotional type - my feelings may be crushed by your sudden interest in my personal life."

"Your personal life?" He shook his head, looking as if he were about to explode with fury. "You just don't get it, do you, Potter? Snape and I are working for the man who wants to kill you. You could have told anyone - Moon, Davis, Greengrass, fucking Parkinson and it would have been better than Snape!"

"I highly doubt that Snape is going to say anything," I rolled my eyes. "No matter who he's working for."

"He's on our side!" Yes, Draco had said that many times. I still didn't believe him. "Why, what did he say, then?"

"Nothing," I said avoidantly, now bouncing the apple on the ground. The bruising process was much more appealing to me right now than the thought of eating it.

"No, come on then, out with it - what did he say?" He turned towards me. "What could possibly be worse?"

"He just told me that you were a bad idea - that you were quicksand," I muttered, bouncing the apple particularly forcefully. "I told him I fancied you anyway and that he was ridiculous."

Draco groaned, putting his head in his hands. "You're such a moron."

"Because I told him that I fancy you? You're right, absolutely right. I am a moron."

"And you're a martyr."

"I am not!" The insult there was clear.

"You're telling Snape that you fancy me despite me being wounded? What are you, some disgusting little prat who nurses injured - oh wait," his eyes narrowed as his voice coated itself with venomous sarcasm. "Yes, you are."

"I nurse animals, Malfoy," I hissed. "And as barbaric as you may be, not even you qualify for it. I'm not here to heal you, I'm here because you're one of the few who doesn't drive me insane."

He smirked and let out a grim chuckle. It was not out of happiness but some hidden meaning that I did not know and he would not tell me. As negative as the chuckle was I took that as a better response than what I had heard from him earlier.

"And listen, everything else that's happened," I started slowly. "It's not a big deal. No one in the house suspects it, Snape is not one to gossip, and he's just being such an arse about it because - oh, I don't know, he's trying to-"

"Play your father?" Draco grumbled darkly, kidding his shoe forward a tad as if he were hitting a rock. "Yes, the Dark Lord took note of that, as well."

"He's not playing my f - as well?" I stopped arguing and he stopped immediately as well, looking down at me with eyes that I didn't need to see to know he was starting to close himself off. I could hardly tell if he was breathing now. "What do you mean?"

"The Dark Lord knows about you, Potter," he said simply. "It shouldn't come as such a shock."

"It didn't," I said blinking, my teeth grinding. "Until you hinted that there was more to it."

"I didn't say that."

"You hinted it. What has Voldemort-" he winced and I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes, "-taken note of, Draco?"

He stayed silent.

"Draco, if you can just tell me what's going on I can fix it. I've always promised you that I can fix it - I've never been wrong, have I? Have I ever lied to you?" But Draco wasn't in the mood. He was never in the mood to talk when I wanted to fix things, he was never in the mood to let me help him - he was more stubborn than I was on my worst day. Clearly I would have to go for the more ruthless approach. "You're going to be the one to hurt me then, are you? Because instead of helping me keep everyone safe - and I mean everyone, Slytherins and Gryffindors alike - you're going to just watch me struggle on my own?"

Now it was dead silence. He couldn't even look at me, which I should have expected; he tended not to like speaking when it wasn't something that lead to snogging. He didn't like talking about his mission or the Dark Lord...which even made a very small part of me feel guilty. I knew the idea of his time with me was to forget about the very things I was trying to make him confess - but if he didn't confess them, how would I actually be able to help him?

"Do you want to see a trick?" I asked suddenly. He didn't soften to me, but he did bring his eyes back to mine. I smirked, holding out my hand. "Alright, grab hold of my hand - right - now give me a moment, I haven't done this in...a while."

A while was an understatement. I'd only ever done this little trick in the heat of the moment and I'm pretty sure that had been only a handful of times. There weren't any Dementors coming towards me now, there weren't any threats hanging in the air threatening my life - just Draco and I in an alcove.

I concentrated harder, trying to think of something that would immediately make him talk. I knew I could do this; my abilities had been so strong lately. They had been so reliable. I had been in a good place mentally, physically I was starting to get healthier thanks to everyone eating and emotional ties were much easier when you had someone you felt you could depend on. I didn't want to spin my whole web around Draco, but for once I felt like I had someone I could talk to...even if he couldn't talk to me. And that balance...well. It's exactly what Dumbledore was trying to explain. Balance meant...better powers?

How could I make this work better then. If it was about balance. I needed to think about something that worked for my body, mind and soul - is that what it meant? I don't really know what there was to think about that would be that interesting enough for all three: snogging? Yes, that was probably the best bet for the both of us - something hot and heavy that would shock him by its suddenness. Or maybe I needed to think of something more powerful, something that would get my adrenaline pumping as it usually was when this happened - like when I jumped into the prefect's bath to practice getting used to the water or when I was hexed to think that the glass in the common room that held back the Black Lake had cracked...

"How did you do that?" He asked me, immediately pulling his hand away. "You go from holding hands to...thinking at me?"

"Apparently it's Legilimency," I told him. "Another little talent I can do."

"So you can block your mind, invade minds, burn and move things with your hands and detach yourself from your own body - but you can't disarm a threat?" He asked, his eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know," I frowned, yanking my hand farther away from him and cradling it with the other. "I've been trying to work it out."

"And that Legilimency was an inner look into your mind?" he asked, his head tilting to the side tauntingly. "Tell me, does your mind always go from snogging to drowning?"

"Not usually," I told him dryly. "It's usually running a bit faster and it's not usually so happy."

"So first we talk of the Dark Lord and that's what your mind does in response?" He frowned, crossing his own arms as if he was afraid of me touching him again. I pulled away a bit more, understanding the snub. "That's another thing he'll be trying to find out about then."

I frowned, watching as he inhaled sharply and hit his head against the stone witch behind us. I didn't like seeing him so torn - maybe I should have just left it at thinking about songging. Maybe it would have led to a better conversation. I didn't want to continue fighting with him when we had so little itme together where we could talk...he was right; Harry would find out we were here. We would have to leave. And who knew when he would decide to come out of that bloody room once he slipped past me to go into it again?

Alright. I need a better distraction, then.

"Has he found out about my astounding prank against some of his beloved Purebloods?" I asked, moving forward a bit and watching with pride when I saw his smirk twitch slightly into something closer to a grin. "Or has he found out about how colourful my personality is?"

I knew he wouldn't be able to hold his imagination at bay for long and with the memories of our classmates filling his head, Draco finally smirked. It was a real smirk that wasn't full of grimaces and negativity, but rather one of selfish amusement. "Potter, don't you ever feel bad about the things you do?"

"Of course not," I moved towards him, kissed his jaw lightly and smiling into his skin when I felt his muscles relax under my lips. "-or else I wouldn't do them so bloody well."

"You're insane," he muttered, pulling me more onto his lap so I could get closer to him. I tried to ignore the compromising position and hoped that the statue would hide us as well as I'd want us to be hidden. "You do know that?"

"I've heard things. But the question is, do I drive you insane?" I asked, leaning forward and kissing him lightly. I felt him grip my hips hard and gasped a little as he pulled me even closer. The gasp gave him all the reason he needed to deepen the kiss.

"Incessantly."

-

"What are you doing here?" Ron and Harry looked surprised when I just waltzed into their dormitory room on a Sunday morning a few weeks later - I don't know why they would. I used to do this all the time at the beginning of the year. It's as if they forgot I had my own password to the place.

"It's your birthday," I turned to Ron with a large smile, throwing him a present. "Surprise!"

"What are you really doing here?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes. I shrugged innocently.

"I am here to give your dearest friend a Birthday present. Then, when we all go downstairs to breakfast, you will find that I have delivered a present to the entire Hogwartian population - all in the name of Ronald's special day."

"Oh no," Ron groaned, my present falling from his hands. "What did you do?"

"Technically I did nothing," I responded innocently with a curt nod. "But the girls will soon be finding something that will look a lot like an antidote in my dormitory thanks to Lillian and Daphne's very loud, misplaced conversation. And, because they'll be taking it without giving me my apology, the day will become fun."

"What's in the potion?" Harry asked, nearly sounding frightened.

I smirked, unable to stop myself. It would turn into a full out beaming smile if I kept talking about it. "Should I keep it a surprise? It will be such a good surprise."

"What's in the potion, Audrey?"

"Veritaserum," I couldn't help but cackle at the shock on their faces. "Oh, it's going to be so bloody brilliant! They're going to take the Veritaserum...and they won't just a little because those gluttons will feast on something they think will make them beautiful again and all that's going to happen is I'm going to make them humiliate themselves more!"

"The Veritaserum you won in Slughorn's class?" Harry frowned, running a hand through his hair and messing it as I always did. "Shouldn't you put that to better use?"

"What better use is there than to use it to torment my tormentors?" I rolled my eyes when he still looked at me sternly. I wasn't about to mention that I also planned to question them about the horrible fate that befell my beloved pet. I wanted to keep the conversation light for the morning. "It doesn't matter, I've already started a batch of it to replace what's being used. Actually, I've been starting a few worthwhile potions these past few weeks."

"Why?" Ron sneered, sounding more rude than I usually tolerated. I didn't stop from glaring, even if it was his birthday.

"I've had time on my hands."

This was sadly not a lie. I've been waiting for Draco to come out of that blasted Room of Requirement every night and eventually it became a bore. Between trying to throw my brother off his scent and waiting for him when I knew he likely wasn't coming out, I needed something to distract myself as the time crawled by. It didn't help that classes were starting to turn into study-sessions where my mind could wander or that the 'hardest' part of our days was Apparition and that it was hardly worth concentrating over...

So yes, in my down-time I had gone to lining up a few potions. The only one I had trusted with keeping and tending to them was Draco. Sure, he wasn't the most reliable, but he kept them in his dorm room and as no one ever ransacked his it was already a better choice than mine. It helped that I didn't worry about him trying to use any of them because they were far too early to have any effects and he actually understood how they were brewed so he knew the consequences if he tried them too early. Who else would I have trusted anyway? Not my brother; after all, these potions weren't found in the Half Blood Prince's precious book and my brother wouldn't have a clue how to deal with them.

"So, what else have you gotten?" I asked, hopping onto the foot of Ron's bed by all his presents. I sorted through them briefly. "Not bad."

"Nice one, Harry!" Ron beamed, waving the Quidditch Keeper's gloves that my brother had gotten him. I groaned as he opened my package and saw it was the exact same pair. Instead of being grateful or having any semblance of tact, Ron looked between the two of us as if someone had said someone disgusting.

"The connection between twins scares me," he said ominously.

"Oh come on," I snorted. "It's not actually that difficult to get a Keeper a set of Keeper's gloves. That's not because we're twins it's because some of us have common sense...I don't know what Harry's excuse is," I smiled to myself as both boys rolled their eyes.

"Thanks so much, sister-dearest," said Harry with a sarcasm befitting Draco. "Hey... I don't think he's in his bed..."

Speaking of Draco, I was glad to know he wasn't in the common rooms as Harry was now searching for him. I quickly peaked over his shoulder, asking vaguely who we were looking for and playing stupid. Harry didn't answer me but continued looking at every single name within the Slytherin dormitories. I could have helped him out and told him that I had walked with Draco up to the seventh floor and that I had told him to wait ten minutes until I was here to distract my brother from the map so he could slip into the Room of Requirement unnoticed...but where would be the fun in that?

"Seriously good haul this year!" Ron was mumbling from behind us, talking as if we were actually paying any attention to him. "See what Mum and Dad got me? Blimey, to think I'll come of age next year too..."

"Cool," my brother muttered. He didn't even look to see that Ron was talking about some sort of watch -his eyes were looking for Malfoy the way they flickered to look for the snitch. It was as if he were sure if he caught Malfoy, he would win whatever game his twisted mind had turned this into.

If only it were that easy. If only this were a game.

"Want one?" Ron asked thickly, holding out a box of Chocolate Cauldrons.

"No thanks," said Harry, looking up and groaning. "Malfoy's gone again!"

"Can't have done. Come on. If you don't hurry up you'll have to Apparate on an empty-stomach...might make it easier, I suppose," Ron mumbled, stuffing a second Cauldron into his mouth. He held the box out to me and I smiled, taking a handful and ignoring him when he complained that they were his birthday chocolates and I shouldn't hog them. I shoved two of them in my mouth just so he couldn't take them back from me and almost choked when I laughed at his drop-jawed expression. After I had swallowed them I took the other two at my own pace, more as a congratulations on another move well made than to tease my brother's friend. Malfoy was indiscernible once again; my doing, of course. Were this not likely illegal in so many ways and were it not obviously so against my morals of being safe I would have bragged about all these moves I was making. If I could have, I'd have bragged to everyone - it didn't matter which house, either. I was due some time in the spotlight again. So that people like Romilda Vane could see me now.

I don't know why I didn't offer to ever bring her into my plans for school domination or to humiliate all my enemies - I mean, she must have had tons of enemies. Girls like her always did; the kind ones, the smart ones, the pretty ones. If I didn't know she was such a good person I honestly would have hated her - but how can you hate someone like Romilda Vane? Even her name was perfect.

"Ready?" Harry asked us. He was already ready to leave the dormitory.

"To go where?" I could help but ask.

"Er - to breakfast," Harry said slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Can I see the Marauders Map?" I asked briefly. "I want to see if someone's there."

"If who's there?" Harry sighed. "Trust me, we'll know whether or not the Slytherins have taken the Veritaserum when we get there. I'm sure if they drank as much as you say we'll hear them down the - Ron?"

Ron had almost collapsed on his bed. I still looked back at my brother, holding my hand out for the map.

"I can't go, Harry," Ron sighed. "I'm not hungry."

Harry stared at him. Even I turned to stare at him.

"I thought you just said-"

"Well, all right, I'll come down with you," Ron grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest like a pouting child, "but I don't want to eat."

"I'm not going down until I find out if she's in the Hall, Harry. Give me the map," I held my hand out in front of his face again. Harry frowned, still looking between Ron and I as if we were aliens.

"You've just eaten half a box of Chocolate Cauldrons, haven't you?"

"It's not that," Ron sighed again. "You...you wouldn't understand."

"Fair enough," said Harry, albeit puzzled, as he turned to open the door.

"Harry!" I said quickly, trying to get his attention before he left. I couldn't go downstairs looking like this - I hadn't worn good robes, I was wearing muggle clothes - was Romilda Vane someone who cared about things like that? I didn't even know - robes would be safer until I knew exactly what colours she liked best. "I can't go down there looking like this - so I need to know if she's there and if I need to change."

"What?" Harry shook his head. "Why would you need to change?"

"Harry, I can't stand it!" Ron suddenly burst. I turned a blazing glare on him while he disturbed my brother from giving me that damned map. I just wanted to look good before I went down there, is that too much to ask? I knew I should have used my enchanted brush today - how will she ever be around me if I have such horrid hair? Her hair was far too nice to be eaten up by mine if we ever were in a picture together...oh, don't be so ridiculous, Audrey. You've never spoken to the girl. Stop daydreaming.

"You can't stand what?"

"I can't stop thinking about her!" said Ron hoarsely. For once I finally knew the feeling, the feeling of being unable to think about anything except for one person. Sure, I'd thought I'd felt it for Draco and in a way he was the one I would definitely prefer to kiss - but that's only because I was totally unworthy of Romilda's time.

Wait, didn't I hear that Romilda had a crush on my brother? Could that be my way in to being her friend? Could I set her up with Harry and make sure he doesn't mess it up?

Oh, bloody hell, of course he would mess it up!

"Why does that stop you having breakfast?" Harry asked carefully, sounding as if he were talking to some kind of small child.

"I don't think she knows I exist," said Ron with a desperate gesture. That's exactly how I felt! Had Romilda Vane ever looked my way? No, I doubt it - why would someone like her pay attention to someone like me? But she did fancy Harry - that could be our common ground. He's my brother, he could be her boyfriend or something - I could play some kind of match maker just to make sure that I had my own time with her!

"She definitely knows you exist," said Harry, bewildered. "She keeps snogging you, doesn't she?"

Ron blinked as I tried to ignore the images of his girlfriend snogging him senseless - I had to see it enough in real life, did I have to imagine it? "Who are you talking about?"

"Who are you talking about?" Harry asked, looking completely lost.

"Romilda Vane," said Ron softly.

"Me too!" I gasped, point a finger at Ron.

While the two of us felt like we were bonding for the first time in our six years of attending the same school, Harry began to roll his eyes. "This is a joke, right? This is another one of your jokes, Audrey."

"I think - Harry, I think I love her," said Ron in a strangled voice.

I clapped, laughing boisterously. "Oh, Ron, she's great, trust me I know...but...you can't be with her. You see, if you're with her then Harry can't be with her and then she won't talk to me and-"

"Okay, okay, wait," Harry interrupted me, taking Ron by the shoulders and looking straight at him. "Okay...say that again with a straight face."

"I love her. Have you seen her hair, it's all black and shiny and silky...and her eyes? Her big dark eyes? And her-" Ron gulped and it sounded so honest that it was almost touching. I wish I heard something like that from my boyfriend - but no. I got in trouble when I even mention that I fancy him to Snape - who used to be the only man I trusted. What would Romilda say if she heard all that? I bet she would have the perfect advice for me. Then again I bet Romilda heard people say they loved her all the time. I wonder if she'd tell me what it's like...

"This is really funny and everything," said Harry impatiently, "but joke's over, all right? Drop it. Whatever you're doing, Audrey - that's enough. Romilda Vane is not worth being late for your prank, don't you think?"

My brother turned to leave and I cheered in pride when Ron socked him right in the ear. Harry pulled out his wand and without a word had Ron hanging upside down by his heel. That was the best speechless spell I'd ever seen my brother perform - maybe he could impress Romilda with that! I looked from between them, wondering if this was the best opportunity to talk Harry into being set up with her now that Ron and his beautiful love confessions were out of the way. No, he still looked too angry, it was probably a better thing if I waited until he saw her and couldn't argue.

"What was that for?" Harry bellowed.

"You insulted her, Harry! You said it was a joke and that Audrey - argh!" Ron growled, flighting slightly against the levitation on his heel. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me!"

I couldn't believe what I was saying: but I agreed with Ronald Weasley wholeheartedly.

What was this world coming to?

I would do a lot of crazy things if it meant that I could spend time with her, though. I mean, Ron really wasn't attractive and honestly, my brother was not worthy of Romilda Vane at all - neither of them were. But how long would it take her to realize it? Hopefully it would last long enough for her to realize that we could be best friends - maybe she'd even share her secrets with me!

Then if she wanted to get rid of Harry, fine.

But what if she left when Harry did?

Salazar's spit, this was a conundrum. Maybe I'd have to give her Draco, then. It'd be painful, but at least he would be happier with her than someone he had to keep secret and was supposed to be killing or whatever it was he was doing in that damned Room.

"Where did you get those Chocolate Cauldrons?"

"They were a birthday present!" shouted Ron, revolving slowly in midair as he struggled to get free. "I offered you one, didn't I?"

"You just picked them up off the floor, didn't you?" Harry sighed, moving so that he could hand them to me. "Who are they from?"

"They'd fallen off my bed, all right? Let me go!"

"They didn't fall off your bed, you prat, don't you understand? They were mine, I chucked them out of my trunk when I was looking for the map. They're the Chocolate Cauldrons Romilda gave me before Christmas and they're all spiked with love potion!"

He was right, the curvy writing on the tag proved it. "It is from Romilda!"

Both Ron and I beamed just at the thought.

"Romilda?" he repeated. "Did you say Romilda? Harry - do you know her? Can you introduce me?"

"And me!" I added, throwing the box over to Ron, who caught it whilst upside down. "In fact, you introducing us would be perfect and on our way there I can explain to you my diabolical plan to make you even more famous - we all know you'd love that. You'd definitely be the center of attention and...is there something on my face?"

Harry didn't answer me, he only continued to stare slowly from Ron to myself - his face completely oblivious for a moment. What didn't he understand? Or worse, did he know I was about to use him for my own friendship with Romilda? Godric, I hoped he didn't - he liked to do things in spite of me so often I just know he would ruin it for me!

"Yeah, I'll introduce you," said Harry slowly. "I'm going to let you down now, okay?"

He set Ron crashing down to the floor and turned to me quickly.

"She'll be in Slughorn's office," he told me simply. I beamed.

Could she get more amazing? "Does she like potions?"

"Yeah, why will she be in there?" asked Ron hurrying to keep up with us.

"Oh, she has extra Potions lessons with him," said Harry, moving down the stairs and through the small crowd in the common room with ease.

"Maybe I could ask if I can have them with her?"

"Not a chance," I growled, turning on him with a glower. "I'm going to take to tutoring her myself. I'm the only one who could teach her right, anyway - I bet with a little instruction she'll be even better than I am!"

"Great idea," said Harry, continuing to get us through the crowd as quickly as possible. Maybe he was interested in her - he seemed in quite the rush to get down there. Even better - if he gave a little more than he did in his relationship with me, we shouldn't have too many problems besides his humiliating lack of charm.

"You're late, Won-Won!" A nasal voice pouted, stopping right in front of us. Ugh, now we had to deal with Lavender Brown? She was going to ruin my day if she interrupted my walking one more time - I had places to be! "I've got you a birthday-"

"Leave me alone," Ron growled impatiently as he side-stepped her. "Harry's going to introduce me to Romilda Vane."

This could be a classic love triangle if all went well! I bet she loves things like that - wait, no. No, she was far too mature to like love triangles...fine. If I had to, I'd tear Ron Weasley down. And if she ended up wanting one, I guess I could add Draco...if I had to. Maybe she doesn't even like Slytherins - oh, Holy Helga...what if she didn't like Slytherins?

A new level of panic urged me forward to get to Slughorn's door even faster. My brother knocked almost as anxiously as I felt - so perhaps he and I really were on the same wave-length. Maybe Ron was right to be afraid of the connection that twins had. I looked over to the ginger, who was bouncing on his toes. I almost felt bad that I'd have to destroy him to get my way.

"Are you okay?"

"Never been better," he sighed. "Do I look alright?"

"Better than in frills," I told him honestly. "And me?"

"Your hair's a mess."

"It's always a mess," I frowned, tugging at it slightly.

"Then you look fine." Somehow, I didn't believe him...

Slughorn opened the door and I immediately found myself frowning and analyzing him. What a strange way to answer a door. He had clearly overslept if he was going to be having lessons with Romilda because he came to greet us in a velvet green dressing-gown, complete with a nightcap and bloodshot eyes.

"Oh hello, Harry, Audrey," he mumbled, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "This is very early for a call - I generally sleep late on a Saturday..."

Not when you have lessons with Romilda, you don't! How rude. I really needed to teach this damn castle some manners. Maybe I could create a potion that would influence it on it's own.

"Professor, I'm really sorry to disturb you," said Harry as quietly as possible, "but these ones have swallowed a love potion by mistake. You couldn't make him an antidote, could you? I'd take him to Madam Pomfrey, but we're not supposed to have anything from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and, you know...awkward questions..."

So Ron had taken a love potion - perfect! Clearly the ones from Fred and George's really worked. Perhaps I'd have to find a way to shove them down Harry's throat if I was going to make my plan for he and Romilda work.

Slithering Salazar, I sound like Merope Gaunt.

Though now I completely understand why she did it.

Love was a crazy thing. Hell, how else would Draco and I be snogging behind statues now?

"I'd have thought you could have whipped him up a remedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?" asked Slughorn. I frowned.

"I could have whipped one up, too," I said simply, hoping that maybe if I started doing it myself Romilda would be impressed with my true skill. "An even better one. A much better one. And I wouldn't need my book to do it. The love potion he swallowed doesn't appear to be as strong as Amorentia-"

I pushed past Professor Slughorn and immediately went to his Potion's store.

"Er," Harry mumbled behind me. I didn't look to see if they had followed me into the room. Harry didn't have his beloved book with him so I had no doubts that this was my time to shine and if Romilda happened to walk in as I was doing it? All the better.

"-which means that it must just be the ones Fred and George were making to cause obsession," I informed them all as I moved through the ingredients. "A little bit of Armadillo's blood and - ah, there, some Jabberknoll feathers...of course we can't forget about the-"

"She's still in her right mind, for the most part," Slughorn said with a laugh.

"I can't see her," Ron whined. "Harry - is he hiding her?"

I turned away from finding all my ingredients and glared at Slughorn. He had better not be hiding her...and in his nightdress? And to think Draco thought that we would be a scandal! What has Romilda gotten herself into? Or what has gotten into her? Oh no, this plan would never work if she was into old, successful, authoritative men! I was hoping she would settle for moppy, brooding, non-illustrious boys.

"Was this potion within date?" asked Slughorn, moving in to look over my shoulder. "They can strengthen, you know, the longer they're kept and confuse the drinker with their intended..."

"It's like if Romilda took a love potion and came to just drink this Armadillo, lemon and pomegranate mixture-" I gasped as Ron took the potion from my outstretched hand and chugged it back. I could smell the burn as he breathed out and handed me the empty cup - it smelt spicy and strong. I may have added too much lemon in comparison to pomegranate...I would have been able to stabilize it with frog toes if Ron had waited. "That's not even a potion yet, you moron!"

"It tasted...like alcohol," he looked at me with wide eyes. "How could you make bile and fruit taste like alcohol?"

"Oh dear," Slughorn immediately took a step forward as I took a step back from Ron. "He's complicated the original concoction..."

I turned to look at Slughorn but never got to hear the rest of what he was saying because suddenly I was being kissed. Draco had entered the room! When? Naturally, as I always did, I pulled him closer to me and ran my hands through his hair to mess it up - a sign that I was there and that he was mine. But I had never known Draco's lips to be this sloppy, even when he tasted spicy like Firewhiskey and I couldn't believe that he would just be kissing me in front of Harry after the argument we had had a few weeks before...

"Drea," he moaned.

Wait.

No.

No...

I opened my eyes, noticing the red hair and freckles within the first second and I was pushing him away the next. I let out a whine when he didn't let go of me and I tried pushing him away again - which he apparently thought was a good thing because he tried to deepen the kiss. I was relieved when Harry pushed Ron and made him fly in the other direction, bellowing about how I was his sister.

"I'm sorry Harry! But she - and I - and..."

"She and I, nothing!" I growled, wiping down my mouth. "You are the worst kisser I have ever experienced! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" I wiped my mouth again. "Godric, Ronald Weasley you are not worth Romilda at all."

"Audrey, don't say that..." Ron whimpered, sounding like a beaten kitten.

"Oh, gross," I sneered, tossing my head from side to side as if it could make the sensation go away. "That was horrid! Draco is a much better kisser, I'm going to have to beg him to kiss me again after he hears about this."

"You WHAT?" Harry bellowed.

"Now, now," Slughorn interjected, handing me a small goblet as he laughed. "That'll wash that taste out and then Mr Malfoy won't have to know it happened."

"Right," I muttered, frowning to myself. Was this something that I would have to tell Draco? I didn't know - it was all for the good of Romilda that it had happened, but I didn't like that I had kissed someone that wasn't him. I was actually quite surprised by how much I didn't like it...and it wasn't only because Ron was so horrible at it.

"It'll wash out the taste," Slughorn repeated again. The reason was good enough for me and I didn't think twice before taking the drink back as if it was some of the stolen Firewhiskey I used to enjoy. I watched as Harry handed Ron a nearly identical goblet. I shook my head to professor Slughorn, feeling the need to explain my situation a little better. "He always knows, though. Draco's not even going to be pawned of to Romilda after he hears this - he'll have none of it. Salazar's spit, Ron why did you...why did...you..."

But I couldn't continue. There was no need to continue.

What the fuck just happened?

I turned to look at Harry, looking at my brother through clearer eyes than I felt I had ever seen. It was easy to see how his mouth was pulled in at the sides while he tried to fight back laughter, his hair shaking was some of the only sign he was holding back chuckles. Ron, to his side, was drinking his own goblet...his face fell second by second. And when he saw me, he turned as white as Moaning Myrtle.

Considering the confusion and the fact my mind was not clearing quite as quickly - no, it was not clearing at all as quickly - as it should have, I couldn't have said who was yelling first. But somehow, within thirty seconds, Ron and I were pointing to each other viciously from opposite sides of the potions room, trying to tear each other a set of gills from afar.

"YOU KISSED ME FIRST!"

"YOU KISSED ME BACK!"

"YOU WOULDN'T LET ME PUSH YOU AWAY. WHAT WAS NEXT, MOLESTATION?"

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO, WHY WOULD YOU HAVE GIVEN ME THAT POTION?"

"I DIDN'T GIVE YOU SHITE, RON WEASLEY, YOU TOOK IT BEFORE IT WAS FINISHED!"

"AND JUST SO YOU KNOW, LAVENDER SAYS I'M A WONDERFUL KISSER. IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT THAT YOU CAN'T TELL BECAUSE YOU'RE A DROP-SKIRT SLAG!"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!"

"NO!"

"I'M GOING TO SLAUGHTER YOU!"

"Back to normal, then?" Harry cut between us, a large grin on his face as he looked between his best friend and I. Slughorn chuckled at our exchange, taking my goblet from my raised fist and ignoring the fact that I was glaring daggers at the red-faced redheaded student across the room. I closed my eyes, raking my hands through my hair and eventually rubbing off my face - when I dared to open my eyes I noticed that Ron had been brave enough to shuffle a little closer to the group of us. He stopped when he saw I was looking. "Thanks a lot, Professor."

"Don't mention it, m'boy, don't mention it," said Slughorn. Ron collapsed into a chair, still quite a distance from me, looking completely distraught over what he had done while Harry and Slughorn walked to the other side of the office for some sort of chat. I massaged my head again.

Alright, maybe my screaming had been a little harsh.

A little.

Horrible kissers deserved to be told to learn, I had been taught. And he had no right to blame any of this on me...I had been drugged as well and I had never tried to snog him...

"I didn't mean to call you a horrible kisser," I sneered, walking slightly closer to him and trying to avoid the fact the potion hadn't actually taken the taste out of my mouth. "Even if you are."

"It's alright, I didn't mean to say you knew it because you were a drop-skirt slag."

I was glad that the short exchange could be ended thanks to Slughorn and Harry walking back over to interrupt us. The Potions Master smiled at me kindly while he handed me a goblet, letting it fill to the brim. I took it in my hands and smelled it - the warm sensation that mead always brought to me warmed my bones. It had always been the drink I enjoyed most and Slughorn always had the best share of it. Besides, I deserved some liquor after what had just happened and even if mead wasn't strong enough, maybe it would be enough to wash the taste of Ron's morning breath out of my mouth.

"There you are, then," Slughorn smiled, handing a goblet to Ron as Harry lifted his own in a toast. "Harry tells me it's your favourite, Audrey. Well, a very happy birthday, Ralph-"

"-Ron-" Harry tried to cough inconspicuously, but it didn't really work. Slughorn looked at Harry with raised eyebrows, as if he was questioning whether or not it was true that he had been mispronouncing one of his students names for the whole semester. As if he didn't actually know Ron's name after all this time while the two always sat side by side in class.

I turned to Ron, wincing just at the sight of him.

"To forgetting about today?" I asked, holding my goblet out to him in a toast. Ron could only bring himself to nod before he tapped his glass against mine and moved to drink it all down in one chug. Following his lead, I pulled the goblet to my mouth; ready to drown out the taste of betrayal.