Not the villain in my story *ON HIATUS*

Test

"So."

"So?"

"Tomorrow's the big day, isn't it? You know, tonight they'll probably kidnap me and throw me into this lake when the sun rises for you to show how talented you are as a witch?" Draco asks with a little chuckle, using all kinds of ridiculous hand gestures to explain what he says.

"Really?" you decide to play dumb (just for fun, of course), "I completely forgot!"

"Wow what a thespian." Draco laughs, then lies down on the grass with his hands on his stomach in the most relaxed manner.

"Aren't you nervous? At all?" you inquire, resting your head next to his.

"Why should I be?" he shrugs, "It's not like I can do anything about this, and besides, I know you've got everything under control. By everything, I mean literally everything." Draco exhales after his sentence, not heavily like when he sighs, this seems to be a lot more casual.

But it's the casualty itself that makes you tense up. You don't even know how to reply. Well, yes, you've taken Snape's potion and it's supposed to help, but what about its side-effect? If you won't be able to move properly underwater, how on Earth can it be possible to react to anything fast enough, let alone come back to the surface carrying a likely unconscious male. No, scratch that, what does male have to do with anything? Hold on, you're off-subject, coming back to the side-effect...

"Is there a problem?" Draco turns over with a worried look on his face, "Do you need help, (Y/n)?"

"Oh no, I don't. It's fine, Dray, I've worked it all out. But you know, it's okay to doubt yourself sometimes, isn't it?" you smile reassuringly. What a thespian.

"Calling me Dray now, eh?" Draco giggles, "Anyway, there's no reason at all for you to doubt yourself. Whatever plan you've laid out, it will work and it will work perfectly. You're intelligent enough to win this even!"

"I don't really know. Hope so." you nod, relaxing your face.

"Come on! Where's that little Slytherin girl?"

"You're right, I'll win."

"There we go!" Draco laughs, patting you on the back.

***

You return to the lake once again when the night has fallen, this time all by yourself. Draco's gone now, to prepare for the Task tomorrow morning. Maybe he's now with Ron Weasley - Harry Potter's best friend, you wonder how that goes...

That's not your concern at the moment anyway, you bet he'll be just fine. The only thing to worry about right now is how the hell you can work this weird potion Snape offered. It's already too late to back out and find another solution, you'll just have to go with it.

You reach inside your robe pocket to pull out the little bottle filled with the potion Snape has brewed. Looks like there are not more than three drops of potion in there, so you hope one drop is enough for it to work. Cautiously, you open the bottle and pour precisely one drop down your throat. At first, the substance appears to go down easily, but then all of a sudden not only your throat but also your mouth and nose feel as if someone has set them on fire. It takes a little while for the burning sensation to become bearable, and some more minutes for you to get used to it.

You take in short breaths - feel okay, followed by deeper ones - ah, now you can feel the burning in your lungs as well, not that bad, but short breaths are better.

Strategy #1: Short breaths hurt less

Remembering what Snape said about the side effect being paralysis, you approach the Lake as fast as your burning lungs allow you to run - which isn't that fast at all, unfortunately. As you kneel down by the Lake, something seems to have gone abnormal. You raise your left thumb and try to move it, but no good, you can't feel it anymore. Here we go, paralysis. You sigh - well, or half-sigh because midway through you realise how painful it is to do so. Anyway, you don't have time for that, not now.