Untouchable: a Fred Weasley fanfiction

A Party

After two classes that I share with Angelina, I'm headed to Potions, which I have entirely on my own. As in, not with the one friend I've made today.

We have three classes today, just three, it being the first day and all... apparently, Hogwarts takes it easy on the students coming back. But not for long... we get straight to full schedule on Monday.

Angelina wishes me luck after lunch, which we had together in the Great Hall, a meal shared by laughter over stories of Hogwarts and whispered descriptions of fellow students before I'm off to Professor Snape's classroom for my next period. Here we go.

His room is in the dungeons, which are dark, hollow, and echo-y, before you enter the classroom and everything is still and calm and quiet again. Except for the groups of chatting students flooding in.

The light is dim, but just so, and there are square tables around the room that are clearly meant for groups. I quickly find a seat in order to spend minimal time standing amidst the students-who-have-been-friends-for-years settling about the class.

I'm removing my assigned Potions textbook from my bag and onto the table, eyeing the small, personal cauldron placed there before a boy with wavy, brown hair plops right down into the seat next to me and huffs.

He casually rests his arms on the desk and leans forward, soon turning to look at me. "Who might you be?"

"Uh..." I blink at him. "Jo. Carter."

"You new here, Jo Carter?" he asks. I notice his Slytherin robes.

"I am," I reply as casually as I can. "I see, we're, uh... in the same house?"

"I see that as well," he scoffs, eyeing my uniform. He seems to flick his eyes across me before adding, "yeah, good luck out here."

"Huh?"

"Silence, at once," comes a deep, impatient voice from the front, and I jerk my head to the side. The man called Professor Snape is standing before the class, hands folded behind his back as he eyes each and every student. "I see we're all... eager to be back. Keep the noise to a minimum. You all should know what to expect in this year's curriculum... you know my expectations. We'll be starting off with a sort of... warm-up. Turn to page fifty-seven."

Everyone begins sifting through their pages, a few groans emerging from the class as if they know what they're falling back into. I quietly turn to the correct page and eye the title: Drowsiness Draught. The recipe is listed below.

This should be simple. I've made the brew before at Beauxbatons surely more than once; it's a fairly easy process. I look around and see that others are getting to work; Snape must like the idea of throwing everyone back into the loop... making sure they're still sharp on potion brewing.

I keep my textbook open to the correct page and see that across the classroom, people are gathering their ingredients at a long table against the wall. I follow suit, straightening up a bit.

Slipping in after a Hufflepuff girl has left with her ingredients in hand, I observe the table and grab what I need; a vile of lavender, Valerian sprigs...

After gathering the rest, I just need one more ingredient: Flobberworms, for their mucus. Appetizing.

With the rest of the ingredients clutched within my grasp, I turn to check the other end of the table- only to bump right into someone's chest.

Both of us jerk back and I mumble an excruciatingly awkward, "sorry".

"No, no..." the wildly tall boy replies before we lock eyes and he adds, "...it was a mutual effort."