Pearls and Fire whisky | A Harry James Potter love story

023

We had left to go to Hogsmeade a little earlier in the afternoon so I would have some time to shop with the girls before I was supposed to meet up with Neville. The boys went over to Spintwitches sporting needs as he apparently was selling a new type of broom. The only one staying at Hogwarts was Draco. He said he wasn't feeling good, but he seemed a little off. If it hadn't been for my meeting with Neville I would've stayed behind the figure out what was going on with him, but I couldn't let this opportunity pass. While my friends were going to the three broomsticks to grab a butterbeer, I was waiting outside in the blazing snow for Neville in front of Dogweed and Deathcap. The last few days had been freezing, but the temperature had dropped even more today. Luckily I hadn't had to wait too long before I saw Neville coming my way, his nose red from the cold. He waved at me, a smile on his face. 

"Good afternoon Zara, I hope you weren't waiting for too long?" 

"No, I just got here myself. I was out browsing the shops with my friends." 

"That's a relief, I wouldn't want you to get sick," he says as he opens the door for me, nudging me inside. The store was as odd looking inside as it had from the outside. It was quite dark, and only the shelves and register had a small source of light shining on them. The articles on the shelves didn't really seem to be placed in some sort of order, rather just put wherever there was an empty spot. 

"You can look around a bit before I introduce you, the seller is a bit of an peculiar fellow." I nod and do just that, my eyes scanning all the shelfs. There were a lot of ingredients that were quite hard to acquire and if I wasn't on a mission right now I would've loved to do some more shopping for some of the more advanced potions professor Slughorn mentioned in his classes that weren't part of our curriculum. I even spot a tiny vital of acromantula venom, knowing that must've cost a fortune. 

"Zara!" I looked up to see Neville in the corner of the shop sitting across from a hooded man. It didn't come to much as a surprise to me that he men looked as sketchy as it gets, Neville did tell me he mostly sold illegal ware, so it made sense he looked the part as well. However half his face was covered by the shadow of his cloak. As I walked towards them, even though I couldn't see his entire face, I could feel the man scanning me, probably to see whether I could be trusted or not. 

"This is the classmate I mentioned, a real star in potions." 

The corner of my lips moved upward as Neville introduced me, putting me a little bit more at ease. 

"Thank you for meeting with me sir, Neville told me you might be able to help me out. I am looking for something, well, that isn't easily found at your typical plant store." 

"I will wait outside for you, I can imagine you might want to talk privately," Neville says as he stands up so I can sit down. He nods at the chair, a reassuring smile on his face. I take his place in the chair, looking the man in front of me. I could see him more clearly now. He had a huge scar on the left part of his face, his left eye's iris was a milky white, meaning he was most likely blind. 

"I might be able to help you, but my help comes with a price," he speaks with a gruff voice, a gold tooth visible as he opens his mouth. 

"It's a good things I brought a lot of galleons then." 

"What is it you are looking for darling?" 

"Beans of the abrus precatorius." 

- 

"You really didn't have to wait outside for me," I say when I had Neville a big glass of butterbeer. I decided to treat him to a drink as a small thank you.

"It's nothing, I'm just sad to hear he didn't have what you needed."

"Luckily we came to an agreement and he will send me the product once he's back home," I tell him. We sit down at one of the empty tables at the side of the three broomsticks. My friends nowhere in sight. I figured they probably went to do a little more shopping since this was the last weekend before winter break starts. Out of the corner of my eye I did notice Harry sitting with Hermione, deep in conversation. 

I saw both of them in union looking over to the corner of the pub. To my surprise it was Draco they were looking at. I stand up, my brow furrowing. 

"Draco?" 

He looks at me, a guilty look in his eyes. He doesn't answer me, instead he grabs my hand and  pulls me behind him. 

"Sorry Longbottom, I'm taking her," he shouts as he drags me outside. He was in a hurry, taking long strides as I tried to keep up with him. 

"Will you slow down you maniac?" 

"We need to hurry, I did something-" 

"What?" 

He stops abruptly, causing me to bump into him. He turns around and grabs me by my shoulders, a big sigh leaving his pale lips. 

"I used the Imperius curse on Madam Rosmerta and I-" 

He is interrupted by a loud, distressed scream When I turn around towards the horrific noise my eyes are met with a girl floating in the snowy sky. Her arms stretched out and her hair whipping around violently. When the girl suddenly drops to the ground I notice Harry, Hermione and Leanne, a fellow classmate from Hufflepuff. I wanted to go to them, to help out, but I was once again grabbed by my arm and dragged away by Draco. 

"We need to help," I yell, trying to get out of his hard grip. 

"It's my fault, I fucked up. We need to go!" 

It is then that I realise that the floating girl had somehow something to do with Draco. He mentioned the Imperius curse, Madam Rosmerta. I close my eyes while I follow him, letting him guide me. I pictured the whole scene again, her body dropping to the ground. What if she's dead? What if he had killed her? I could feel my stomach turning. It was as if everything was coming to me at once, all these past couple of weeks of plotting a murder of our own. And while I knew we didn't have a choice, it hadn't felt completely real. Not until now. I felt my throat tightening and not a second later I vomited. 

"Zara." 

Draco let go of my arm and grabbed my long blonde hair instead, pushing it away from my face as I vomit again. I can feel my eyes getting watery, a few tears rolling down my cheeks when I vomit once more.  

"Are you okay?" he asks me, one hand still holding my hair and the other rubbing my back. 

I wipe my mouth, feeling disgusted not only with myself but also with he man standing in front of me. 

"You hurt her, you hurt someone innocent," I whisper, more tears falling down. 

"She wasn't meant to open the package, I didn't mean for her to get hurt. It was for Dumbledore, something went wrong. Believe me Zara, please."

"You promised me we would work together! I arranged the beans! We were supposed to go with the potion, that was what we agreed on," I scream, the sadness turning into anger instead. "I swear Draco, if she is dead-" I stop myself. I stand up straight again, pulling myself away from him so I can look him in his eyes as I finish my sentence. "If she is dead then we are over, our friendship is over." 

----

So it's been a while. Quite some while. I know I skipped some things and Ron is supposed to be in this scene as well but I did change a few things in order for me to be able to skip things and hopefully get back into writing. I am a little rusty haha so it may not be as great a chapter. Still I found myself enjoying two write again so I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter either way. I am going to try to upload weekly again, but I won't make any promises. Thank you for those who left comments and are still looking forward to reading more of this story.