The Vervé Elixir || Drarry

Chapter 3

"No, no, it's not his fault, because if the ferret had managed to go ten seconds without insulting Harry—"

"It's much simpler than that, Weasley. Considering that Draco had no involvement in the situation to begin with—"

"Malfoy's intent was clearly to incite a reaction from Harry, that's always his intent. To time his insult just when he was adding the snail slime—"

As Weasley, Pansy, and Granger argued with each other, Blaise merely stared into the center of the table, eyes wide with exasperation.

"What the hell did Pomfrey say, Harry?" Granger asked. "How did your failed potion result in this?"

Potter, who had previously been ignoring the argument, looked up at the sound of his name. "We were brewing the Vervé Elixir," he said, "but somehow it turned into—"

"The Vervé Elixir has the same base as the Connectivity Draught," Draco interrupted. "Potter added so much snail slime that his Vervé Elixir turned into a potent version of the Connectivity Draught."

Granger's eyes widened in realization. "Harry, you didn't just botch your potion; you brewed an entirely different one!" She shook her head. "Merlin, I should've guessed that!"

"If anything, this situation will serve to finally move things along—" Pansy started to say.

"What did I say about letting things take their course?" Granger snapped. "We shouldn't interfere!"

Draco wasn't sure if they were even arguing with each other at this point—it was more like they were monologuing without actually listening to what the others were saying. From a few seats down, Draco could see Goyle eyeing the food that sat between Granger and Pansy. Wordlessly, he grabbed the nearest chicken pie and passed it over to him. After all, Goyle clearly didn't care about the situation, and he certainly shouldn't starve because of it. Besides, chicken pie was his favorite. Goyle gratefully accepted it and dug in.

Draco crossed his arms, going back to Not Looking at Potter while the arguing continued. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Longbottom come running over to the eighth year table, his arms flailing.

"HAVE THEY KISSED YET?" He asked urgently, before he'd even made it to the table.

"No! Don't!" Granger quickly hushed him.

Blaise beckoned him over, and Longbottom nervously leaned down to let him whisper in his ear. Draco couldn't hear him very well, but it sounded a lot like 'no, but Potter was practically naked when we walked into their room.'

Longbottom squeaked and turned red, turning to look at Draco and Potter.

Potter frowned, and he appeared to be slowly connecting the dots as he considered what Neville had asked.

"Kissing?" The gears continued to turn in his head. "Neville," he said slowly. "Are you talking about me and Malfoy?"

Neville paused, then rolled his eyes and turned to Hermione who gave him a exasperated look.

Hermione took a deep breath, muttering under her breath. "We resolved to keep quiet about this. Let Harry and Malfoy figure it out on their own."

Meanwhile, Ron was growing increasingly red, as if he was desperately suppressing the urge to scream.

"For Merlin's sake, Potter," Pansy burst out finally. "You're so obsessed with Draco that you can't keep your eyes off him—even when you're brewing an extremely volatile potion."