The Vervé Elixir || Drarry

Chapter 1

"How many drops?" Harry hovered the dropper of snail slime over his potion, glancing at the neighboring desk, where Draco Malfoy was idly stirring his potion wandlessly.

Ron squinted at the open potions textbook that laid between them. "Three," he said.

Harry carefully filled the dropper, forcing himself to concentrate. The book had emphasized the need to be precise—too much snail slime would drastically change the properties of the potion.

"Merlin, Potter," Draco's drawl came from the desk next to him. "Your potions technique is so poor that I'm impressed that you've made it this far without becoming disfigured."

Harry shook his head and focused on counting the drops.

One...two...

"On second thought, perhaps you already have."

Fuck.

Harry's heart skipped a beat when the whole dropper of snail slime fell into the cauldron, and he only had a split second to shove Ron aside and shield him from the ensuing explosion with his body.

The cauldron shattered, spraying Harry's body with thick, scalding liquid. The force of the explosion knocked him to the ground, leaving him in a puddle of potion sludge.

When he regained his bearings, the whole class was watching with wide eyes. Harry merely gave two thumbs up and a grunt that was supposed to mean, don't worry, I'm fine.

He stood up carefully, wincing as his burnt skin stretched painfully. He had barely eased himself into a standing position when an excruciating pain struck him in the chest, and his vision went black. 

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"—can't even go a single year without some miraculous feat of magic occurring within your vicinity. I bet this was your plan all along. Don't think I didn't hear you specifically ask Weasley how many drops of snail slime—"

Harry blinked, his eyes bleary with sleep as he attempted to get a look at his surroundings. He was clearly in the hospital wing—the white bed he was in being a dead giveaway—but he couldn't discern any other details, as his glasses were missing. Mercifully, he noticed, his skin was healed—he'd be in a lot of pain otherwise.

"—was needed, or are you going to claim that this is his fault? Because—"

Malfoy was clearly in the bed next to his; no one else was capable of complaining so much. Why he was in the hospital wing, though, was a mystery.

"—even Weasley is more competent than you at potions, Potter, so don't even try to swing that with me. You're insufferable, the way you—"

"Merlin, Malfoy, shut up!" Harry snapped, looking around for his glasses. There, on the nightstand—no, that was a quill. "Where the hell are my glasses?" He grumbled.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Madam Pomfrey greeted cheerfully, hurrying over to his bed. "Here you go, dear," she carefully put his glasses on his face for him. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess," Harry frowned at the sticky slime that still coated his skin. "Why am I sticky?"

"I'm afraid I can't remove the potion residue with magic," she said apologetically. "So there's nothing I can do about that, short of giving you a sponge bath." She gave him a sympathetic look when he winced. "So you'll have to wash it off yourself once I discharge you. Just soap and water should do the trick."

"So..." Harry frowned, feeling like he was missing something. "Why are you here?" He looked to Malfoy.

"Well," Madam Pomfrey clasped her hands together. "As I was telling Mr. Malfoy, here, the potion you were brewing in class isn't just any potion. The Vervé Elixir—the potion that enhances the strength of your magic—has the same base as the Connectivity Draught. The primary difference between the two potions is the amount of snail slime in each potion. Do you see what I mean?"

"So..." He paused. "I brewed the Connectivity Draught instead?"

She nodded. "Exactly. The excess of snail slime created a very potent version of the potion, actually. The Connectivity Draught is normally used when a wizard has, for whatever reason, lost their connection to their magical core. As a result, your altered potion has intertwined your magical core with Mr. Malfoy's. Because the magical core is strongly associated with thought, I believe your cores connected because you were either looking at or thinking about Mr. Malfoy just before the explosion."

Harry's heart sank as he realized this wasn't going to be a quick trip to the hospital wing.

"The good news is," Madam Pomfrey added cheerfully, "is that it seems like your original Vervé Elixir wasn't very potent to begin with. Thus, the connection between your cores should only last three days or so. Of course, the favorable outcome would be if you hadn't brewed your potion correctly at all, but we can't change the past."

Harry frowned, unsure whether he should be happy that he'd managed to brew most of the potion correctly, or embarrassed that it hadn't been very strong. "So much for an uneventful school year," he grumbled.

"That's what I thought you'd say, you stupid fucking Gryffindor," Malfoy snapped.

"Language!" Madam Pomfrey reprimanded sharply.

"This is literally your fault for insulting me during class," Harry rolled his eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, it wasn't entirely true, because Harry was already thinking about him before Malfoy had even insulted him. There was just something about Malfoy during potions class—the way the steam flushed his skin and left his hair in loose curls...

"If I were you, I'd stop arguing," she said, "because you're going to be stuck together for awhile."

Harry blinked. What the fuck. Beside him, Draco seemed to be having a similar reaction.

"You two need to stay in close proximity of each other at all times until the bond fades on its own."

"Why?" Malfoy demanded. "Why can't you just remove the bond now?"

"It's due to the mechanics of the Connectivity Draught, I'm afraid," she answered. "The bond can't be removed manually. Normally, once a connection is established, a secondary potion would be taken in order to solidify it. Without taking this potion, the new bond will simply fade. So all you have to do is wait."

"So why the hell can't we just...not be next to each other? What would even happen?" Harry asked..

"You idiot," Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Don't you know anything about core theory?"

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips at Harry's foul language. "Be nice," she told Malfoy. "Mr. Potter, both of your cores are far too volatile at this point. If we separate you, you risk damaging your cores irreparably. Which, I might add, would be horrifically painful."

Harry swallowed, glancing at Malfoy to see how he was taking this. Malfoy merely looked resigned to their situation as he rested his head on his hand.

"Well," Madam Pomfrey cast a few diagnostic charms on Harry. "You're all good to go; Professor McGonagall will be here soon to bring you to your temporary living arrangements.

Harry made a face. He hadn't considered that his predicament would result in him living with Malfoy. He supposed it wouldn't be entirely unbearable—that is, if Malfoy decided to be anything but insufferable. 

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A/N: Some etymology behind the Vervé Elixir:

The Vervé Elixir is a potion that temporarily strengthens your magic by enhancing your magical core-"verve" means "vigor, vitality, energy," and I added the accent bc I thought it sounded cool LMAO

(also the reason the Vervé Elixir and the Connectivity Draught have such similar recipes is bc they both involve the magical core lol)