Denying Draco

23 - Amortentia

Arriving at her Potions class, Poppy waited until the rest of the class entered the room and she followed them in behind, as Draco appeared in the hallway and walked into the room beside her.

'Draco?' she murmured, quietly, as the group bundled into the door and took their places. 'Is everything okay?'

He looked down at her and frowned, shoving past her quickly to get to his table without saying a word. Poppy continued on to her table where Harry was stood with his head looking down into his Potions book.

'Hurry along now, take your places everyone!' Professor. Slughorn called.

'Harry,' Poppy said, softly, as she stood at the table and placed down her books. As he glanced up at her, she smiled apologetically at him. 'Are we okay?'

'I...I dunno', Poppy,' Harry mumbled.

'Harry, come on, we're friends,' Poppy sighed. 'We can talk this through.'

'I'm not mad at you, Poppy,' Harry murmured, quietly. 'I'm just worried. You shouldn't be involved with him.'

'I appreciate your concern but this is no reason to not talk to me,' Poppy replied. 'You walked off last night, you ignored me at breakfast this morning and just left the table. I'm a big girl, Harry. I can make my own choices and I'll live and deal with the consequences should they arise.'

'There will be consequences though,' Harry whispered. 'And I don't want that for you. Dumbledore asked me to look out for you.'

'You cannot tell him about this,' Poppy whispered back. 'Not when he's dealing with everything he has going on.'

'I would never tell him; it's not my business to tell,' Harry replied. 'I just don't want you to get hurt, Poppy. Please, stay away from Malfoy.'

'Okay, everyone, quiet now!' Slughorn called.

Poppy could tell by Harry's face that he was only trying to look out for her and she appreciated it a lot. She didn't want her friends to think she was stupid or irresponsible or reckless but she didn't see the harm in what she was doing. It wasn't like she was in a committed relationship with Draco. When they weren't having sex, they barely even spoke. They barely even liked each other at all.

'I have been keeping my eye on the Veritaserum and I must admit, a lot of them were brewed very well, a lot better than I expected, so well done to you all for the effort,' Slughorn said, with a chuckle.

'So that's a polite way of saying they've all went to shit then?' Pansy called out, rudely.

'Miss. Parkinson, that's the fifth time you've cursed in front of me this year so far, don't make me tell you again,' Slughorn warned. 'Veritaserum is an extremely difficult potion to make. I did not expect any of you would succeed anyway.'

'So why waste our time asking us to make it then?' another Slytherin scoffed.

'All in good fun!' Slughorn laughed. 'However, surprisingly, there are two that are still looking very much on their way to success right now. There is still time to wait but these two students' potions look promising. We will see at the end of the cycle if they are a success or not.'

'Sir, if they are a success, will those students be allowed to keep them?' Poppy asked, with her hand raised, thinking of all of the things she could get Draco to spill with it.

'Well, I'll have to have a think about that one, Poppy,' Slughorn replied. 'Very few students have managed to brew a perfect Veritaserum first time around. I suspect the two I am referring to will not mature successfully in the end anyway, but you never know. If they do, I will discuss with the headmaster whether they can be handed over or not.'