Pawns | A Draco Malfoy Love Story

A Visitor in Potions

A few days later, I sat in potions class when Professor Slughorn made an unexpected announcement.

"I always find it to be a helpful advantage when my younger students have their fellow successful peers serving as their mentors. As such, I've invited some of my more promising sixth year students to help us out for today's lesson."

Ginny and I looked at each other, pleased by the announcement. The rest of the class murmured in surprise as well. We'd never had the upper years come in to mentor us before, but I supposed that was because Snape just did things differently. 

Before they were to arrive, Slughorn had all of us rearrange in our seats. He made it so that there there were only 1-2 of us per table so that our mentors could devote more time to each of us. 

Slughorn helped us out, telling us how to split up for the most effective session. He pointed to Ginny and asked her to sit near a Hufflepuff girl, leaving me alone at my table. Whoever my mentor would be, it would be a one-on-one session. 

After a couple minutes, the sixth years arrived. Leading them was Harry. He started walking over to me and I smiled. But Slughorn hobbled over to him and pushed him to the other side of the room. 

He whispered, rather loudly, to Harry, "The gentleman back there needs a lot of help and you're just the boy for the job." He sent Harry off to the other side of the room with a pat on the back and a chuckle.

I was momentarily annoyed at Harry for being so good at potions, even though I knew it was the "Half-Blood Prince" who deserved all the credit. Harry looked reluctant to walk away but he put a smile on in front of Slughorn; He was still kissing up the the professor.

I waited for my mentor to appear, doodling on a scrap paper in front of me. Then, from the corner of my eye I saw some black robes swoop in front of me and a figure sat down in the chair across from me. I looked up.

"Hi," I said, friendly. But then my heart sunk. 

It was Malfoy. 

He said nothing, but looked uncomfortable. We both avoided eye contact while Slughorn handed each table a paper of instructions. He walked back to the front of the class, addressing the room as a whole.

"Each table has been given a different potion to brew by the end of today's class. Attempt your best work possible, I'd like to keep feasible potions in the school's stock," he announced.

The paper was facing me upside down but I tried to read the name of the potion at the top. Amortentia. I didn't know what it was and there was no description as to the purpose of the concoction - only the instructions were written on the paper. Malfoy's eyes read the name and he looked away uneasily.

Trying to make polite conversation, I asked if I should grab the materials we needed. He just got up to do it himself though. 

I looked around the room while I waited for Malfoy and I could see Harry standing at his table; He was looking over all the heads in the room in an attempt to get a look at me. Malfoy finally returned, placing the necessary bottles on our table and Harry looked unsettled.

We started working at the steps, mostly in silence aside from the odd request to pass a bottle of something or other. The potion was half done when it started to smell beautifully. I breathed in the fumes as they waved around the air and my spirts were lifted instantly.

I tried again for some conversation. "Smells great, don't you think?"

He didn't meet my eyes but said quietly, "Yea, smells sweet."

"Hmm, I don't know about sweet. Smells like apples yea,  but there's also a nice smoke, like a campfire or some burning parchment."

Instantly, I felt confused at my own words; The fumes resembled the scent that I had caught a whiff of a few days ago upon my return from Hogsmede...when Malfoy had caught my fall.

Then, I felt a heavy hand suddenly rest itself on my shoulder, startling me. My Professor's voice came from behind me, chuckling loudly. 

"Yes, you've both done an excellent job with this one! One of the best student-made love potions I've ever seen actually," he said proudly, looking between the two of us.

I couldn't hide my shock. Love potion?

My eyes widened and I looked up at Malfoy who still had that same uneasy look on his face from the entire lesson. My expression now matched his and I understood that he had known what this potion was all along. 

I was embarrassed for having revealed so specifically what it smelled like for me- that it smelled like him. I didn't even understand why. I must have done something wrong when I was mixing the ingredients... but Slughorn seemed to think it was perfect...

Students were looking over now, the fumes making their way to the far corners of the room. Closing their eyes and breathing in the smell, many were now euphorically intoxicated by the Amortentia. Some Hufflepuff girls made small movements forward, the scent of whatever it was they loved drawing them in closer. 

Whispers started to circulate that the potion we had made was a love potion and from my periphery I could tell that Harry was looking over at me again. His eyes darted back and forth between Malfoy and I standing next to each other. Despite my brain becoming fuzzy from the scent, I still managed to acknowledge the tragedy of my circumstance.

Slughorn reached between the Slytherin and I, placing a heavy lid over the cauldron, trapping the alluring scent inside. The girls drew back again, as if falling out of a trance. I shook my head, trying to steady myself back into reality from what had been a blissful nightmare.

I had been waiting ages for Harry and I to be together. And I finally had him. But there was no denying it. 

It was Malfoy's scent that was trapped in that cauldron.