Through The Fire

Year Six: Part Two

Professor Slughorn was rather fond of Harry.

It made Harry really uncomfortable.

Slughorn cheerfully greeted Harry like an old friend whenever their paths crossed. In class, he offered delighted praise over Harry's potion making. He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic with the other students, despite the fact that Draco and Hermione's potions were just as good, if not better. Hermione was a little put out about it, but Draco shrugged it off. Honestly, he couldn't be angry when Harry looked so adorably flustered by the attention.

As much as Harry wanted to avoid the potions professor, he knew that he needed to endure it. Slughorn had a memory of Tom Riddle as a teenager that Harry really needed. The memory that the man had given to Dumbledore had been tampered with, though poorly done, obscuring the information that Harry needed about Horcruxes. So, no matter how much Harry wanted to avoid it, he needed to court Slughorn's favor.

"Did you get invited to join the 'Slug Club'?" Draco asked Hermione, wrinkling his nose at the ridiculous name.

They were setting their books down on a table in the library, hoping to finish their homework before dinner. It had been a long and very busy day and they were eager to be finished with it.

Hermione paused, looking perplexed momentarily before she nodded absently. "Oh yes, of course," she said, reaching into her school bag. "I shoved the invitation in here... somewhere."

Harry smiled slightly, sitting down next to Draco and tucking his own invitation into his potions book. "It might not be so bad," he suggested, though he looked doubtful. "It's just tea."

"The formal invitations alone make the whole thing ridiculous," Blaise snorted, dropping into a chair next to Hermione.

"Exactly," Draco agreed with a chuckle. "But, it'll give us something to laugh at."

"Because weird, pretentious tea parties are hilarious," Harry grumbled, earning an amused smirk from Draco.

Before long, Ron joined them, reluctantly taking out his own homework. His friends had turned him into a decent student, but he wasn't happy about it. The professors certainly appreciated it though.

They worked silently for a while, steadily finishing their arithmancy homework. Harry was quite enjoying the class despite Ron's teasing. Harry was learning so much and the hard work was worth it.

The threat of war that stretched out before them filled Harry with cold dread. He wanted to soak up every bit of knowledge that he could. There was too much at stake and there were a lot of people depending on him.

Harry scowled as someone shoved past their table, roughly knocking against Draco's chair. Harry turned in his seat to face Theo Nott and two other Slytherins, Tolbert and Corentin Fawley. Tolbert was a sixth year and Corentin was a fourth year. At that moment, Tolbert was smirking, his dark, cold eyes on Draco. Corentin was frowning at his brother and shifting away slightly.

"Problem Potter?" Tolbert asked with a sneer.

"Yeah," Ron cut in before Harry could respond. "You've got the face of a troll and it's going to ruin our appetites. So, move along."

Blaise wheezed into his textbook, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes.

Tolbert took a step closer, only to be stopped when his younger brother grasped his arm. "You'll get us all into trouble," the younger muttered.

"Don't be such a baby, Corey," Tolbert sneered, jerking his arm away.

"Let's go," Theo said sharply, turning away and leading the way out of the library. The two brothers followed, the younger glancing back and offering a little wave.