After Ginny had left to join her friends at breakfast, Draco and Blaise shared a look. A book that could kill. It sounded far fetched, but Ginny had looked truly worried.
"Never thought a book would break such a strong friendship," Blaise sighed.
Even though he wasn't a friend of the two Gryffindors, he could see the trust between them. They were insanely loyal. It made no sense that Hermione would throw that all away over some book that could potentially kill her.
"Honestly me neither. But it is Granger," Draco shrugged, casually slipping a slight insult.
Blaise rolled his eyes. It seemed the feud between the two would never end. "We have class, come on."
Draco reluctantly stood and joined Blaise outside the Head Rooms. The two had charms with Hufflepuffs first. Thankfully, the classroom was just down the hall. It would be interesting with Blaise in the same room as Hannah merely two days after the date.
. . . . .
Draco and Blaise managed to get through their classes without running into Hermione or Ginny. Unfortunately for them, their streak was broken outside the potions classroom. When they arrived ten minutes early, they discovered Hermione, Ginny, and Neville in a heated conversation.
"I'm not giving you the book, Hermione. That's final," Neville said sternly.
"Yes you are. It's mine. I'm reading it," Hermione all but screamed.
"Hermione, it's not safe. Neville has a point. He's the only one who can read it," Ginny begged.
"I told you I wasn't speaking to you," Hermione growled turning back to Neville. "Give me my book!"
"No! I told you, you can't read it yet," Neville sighed in exasperation.
Ginny suddenly froze. After a moment it caught the attention of Neville and Hermione. Ginny seized Neville's hand and dragged him off.
"Those idiots!" Hermione exclaimed. She really hated them at the moment.
"Calm down Granger," Blaise said stepping closer to the fuming witch.
Hermione turned and glared harshly at him. "Shut up, Zabini. This has nothing to do with you."
"He was just trying to help. Don't go snapping at him!" Draco, ironically, snapped.
"Don't tell me what to do, Malfoy," Her glared coldly towards him.
"I'll do what I bloody well please. And right now I'm telling you not to set your emotional, female hormones on my friend." He stated raising an eyebrow.
Hermione became slightly red. She gritted her teeth together and clenched her fist. With a step towards him, Hermione screamed at Draco.
"You, Draco Ferret Malfoy, are not the boss of me. You can not and will not tell me what to do— unless you'd like to revisit your precious master, Lord Voldemort in bloody hell!"
Draco growled and took a step towards her. "My 'master' was a murdering psychopath who's forced people to join him by threatening to murder their families. Do you really think the Ministry would let me walk free if I had wanted to join? No, they wouldn't. They believed me. Hell, even Potter believed me!"
"Maybe that was a mistake," Hermione said.
"Trust me, if it was a mistake I would've killed you already and given them a real bloody reason to throw me in prison." Draco spoke slowly and on a deep tone to be sure she heard him.
"Then do it. Kill me then," Hermione challenged.
Draco gave a dry chuckle and leaned down so he was directly face to fave with the short girl. "I would if I could, believe me on that. But, I'm not a murderer."
"I've seen you kill, Malfoy. You're a killer. Nothing more, nothing less." Hermione paused for a moment before speaking slowly again. "You're just a killer."
Draco immediately had her pinned to the wall with his wand at her throat. He was breathing heavily and his grey eyes had darkened considerably. By now, Neville and Ginny had come back. The rest of the class had shown up as well.
"Malfoy? What are you doing?" Harry asked calmly. He was a bit confused as to why Draco had a wand to Hermione's throat, but knowing Hermione's sarcasm, figured she had said something to him. Besides, Hermione would kick his balls if needed.
"Draco, mate. Let her go," Blaise sighed exasperatedly. When he didn't listen, Blaise repeated himself. "Draco! Let her go. She's just trying to get under your skin."
Reluctantly, Draco let him of Hermione. She glared at him before moving off to stand besides Harry and Ron. Before anyone could say or do anything, Slughorn had opened the door for class to begin.
"Um, time for class," He spoke. Slughorn wore a look of confusion at the scene laid out before him. Harry was looking exasperated, Hermione was glaring at Draco while in a conversation with Ron, Ginny kept looking expectantly at Neville, Blaise was trying to calm down a red faced and fuming Draco, and the rest of the class was looking at the six utterly confused.
Blaise dragged Draco into the classroom and sat him down. The class followed them, most people whispering. It was normal for Draco to have Hermione pinned to the wall with a wand at her throat and vice versa, but never had her looked so murderous.
"Today," Slughorn began pointing his wand towards the blackboard, "We will be brewing a special type of potion that can be considered a love potion. It is similar to Amortentia in ways, but much more dangerous. Amortentia is considered the most powerful love potion in the world because . . . yes Miss Granger!"
Hermione flicked a piece of frizzy brown hair out of her face. She and Ginny had used a glamour charm to lighten the color and shrink it to shoulder length. They had also managed to lighten her skin tone a bit. Hermione felt a little bit better when she had a more familiar look.
"Amortentia is considered the most powerful love potion because the potion in discussion crates a strong obsession with the brewer that can only be reversed by a powerful Hate potion known as Odium." She recited.
Draco fumed silently in her direction. The only thought he had at the moment was that she was right. He had killed. But it wasn't in vain or revenge. Prisoners kept at the manor would beg him to kill them so their pain would end. He was being selfless when he took their lives.
"Exactly, five points to Gryffindor!" Slughorn praised, causing Draco to scoff quietly. "This particular potion is not the most powerful potion, but the most dangerous. When the term powerful is used in love potions, it measures in the amount of obsession the drinker gains."
Slughorn went to a black curtain hanging in the front of the room. He pulled it down revealing a glass case. Inside was a small beaker of pure red liquid. It was swirling around with multi colored fumes floating from it.
Blaise gave out an audible gasp from next to Draco. The blonde haired boy looked over. Blaise was looking in fascination and a bit of fear.
"Sir, how did you get that?" He asked practically bouncing in his.
"It took four tries at brewing it." Slughorn chuckled at his excitement. "I assume you know what it is Mr Zabini?"
"The Adfectus Potion," Blaise breathed. "It doesn't create love or affection. When you think of a person, a different color of smoke will rise from the air. The colors differ to your true feelings about them. It's not like you hate them or love them. If you're always exasperated or annoyed by them, it will turn a color. Jealousy, admiration, even if you're proud of them. The smoke colors all have a meaning. Multiple can rise at once. If consumed, you'll act on whatever feelings you feel towards whomever you were thinking about when drinking it. And also, if you inhale the smoke you'll express whatever feeling you inhaled towards everyone for twenty four hours."
"Exactly, great work," Slughorn grinned. "Ten points to Slytherin. Today you will be attempting to brew this. It is extremely difficult and can take months at a time. Partner up with someone from the opposite house and begin working. Instructions are on the board. Do not worry about the smoke. It will not come begin forming for about two weeks."
"Opposite houses," Draco groaned.
"Yep." Blaise laughed at his friends in amusement. "Well get your ass up and find a partner."
Draco groaned, but listened to his friend nonetheless.