Life goes on... (drarry)

[4] REMASTERED

Draco's POV: 

When Draco awoke the next morning he still couldn't believe that Harry had invited him to the ball. Christmas was only two weeks away and until then, he somehow had to survive being alone in a classroom with him twice a week. Today he had another lesson with him, and luckily he'd gotten enough sleep because they would be brewing amortentia, a highly complicated and risky potion.

After regular classes ended, Draco arrived at their room twenty minutes early to prepare. A little while after he had carefully laid out all the ingredients and prepared the cauldron, he heard a quiet knock on the door. "It's open," he kept his back turned as he heard someone enter, but there was no doubt who it would be. "You already set up?" Harry closed the door to the classroom and made his way over to the table where Draco was standing. "Slughorn liked the potion you did last time, he said it's time to start the difficult ones," Draco lifted his head to meet Harry's eyes, and his heart skipped a beat. "He chose amortentia for us today," If Harry had any thoughts about the choice of potion, he didn't show it on his face and for that Draco was extremely grateful.

He let Harry get to work, chopping the ingredients and following the instructions in their book under Draco's guidance. There had already been some improvements, and he couldn't help but feel proud that it was a product of his own teaching. He made some small corrections in Harry's measurements and stirring technique but, other than that, everything else went smoothly. Until a smell rose in the room. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just unusually intense. Broom oil, chocolate, and something else that he couldn't quite pinpoint. Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts. "To verify the success of the potion, conduct a smell test," He read from their potions book. He watched, as Harry waved some of the fumes escaping the cauldron towards his nose. Frustration rose to his face, "I can't smell bloody anything, apart from whatever this room has been smelling of this whole time."

Draco was surprised, "You smell that too?" Harry just nodded as an answer. "Apples and vanilla. Maybe someone else was eating in here earlier." This was not what Draco had been smelling at all. He was sure that it was exactly how the broom oil smelled like, that the Quidditch team was provided with before every Hogwarts match. Draco took a step closer. The colour and consistency of the potion was exactly like the description in the book, so why wasn't it working? "Never mind that, then," Draco simply said. It was getting late, and both of them would have class early again the next day. "Just fill a vial for Slughorn, I'm sure he can tell us what's wrong with it." While Harry followed his instructions, Draco wiped down the table and took care of disposing of the rest of their potion. 

Harry's POV:

After they had said their goodbyes for the night, he made his way back to Gryffindor common room, where Ron and Hermione would no doubt be waiting for him already. He couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Everything had gone so smoothly today, he'd been excited to provide Professor Slughorn with some good news. Maybe his N.E.W.T.s really weren't meant to be. He found his two friends sitting on one of the settees in front of the fireplace. "How'd it go then?" Ron greeted him. Hermione signaled that she would finish the page in her book first. He flopped onto the armchair beside them and let out a sigh. "Good. At least that's what I thought, the potion didn't work." This obviously piqued Hermione's interest because she was quick to put her book down. Harry gave her a look, "Don't start, I know you would have done well on it. We tried brewing amortentia but I couldn't smell anything. That classroom already had a weird smell to begin with." He didn't see the look that Ron and Hermione exchanged. He glanced over to the fire, his mind wandering off again. Draco had looked exceptionally amazing today, he had no idea if he would survive this in the long run.

"What smell?" Hermione asked this time. He shrugged in response, still slightly absentminded. "Apples, vanilla... Someone must have been eating in there." Again, he didn't see the looks that Ron and Hermione exchanged. He lifted himself off the armchair, turning to go up the stairs to their dormitory. "I'm going to bed, I'm really shattered. Talk to you tomorrow." As he made his way up the stairs, his mind truly was elsewhere. If not, he would no doubt have heard Ron and Hermione put their heads together, asking themselves if The Boy who Lived had now fully lost his mind.