Not So Ridiculous

Chapter 3: Unwanted Partners

Draco's POV

Me and Blaise were walking down to the dungeons for potions when the two girls bloody ran us over. We were a few minutes late, but eh. We were about to turn a corner when Blaise was knocked over clean, and I was inches from joining him but moved out of the way just in time.

Figures, I thought as I looked down and saw the two girls that had run into us.

It was Granger and the Weasley girl, who was now on the floor whereas Blaise had stood back up immediately. I took a step back from the scene, not sure how they would react. "Merlin!" Weasley yelled at Blaise, who still looked surprised, "Watch it, mate!"

"Here," Granger held out a hand to her friend, and pulled her up from the stone floor.

After that, she turned to me, apparently noticing that I was there for the first time. "Malfoy," she said simply, looking me up and down nonchalantly before turning away.

What the hell was that? I looked at Blaise, and he raised his eyebrows, also perplexed.

"Let's go," Granger told Weasley, and they went right between Blaise and I.

"Move it, Zabini," she told him, "We're late for class."

I scoffed silently, and moved aside. "With Slughorn?" Blaise called after them, and I could have knocked him one right there.

Weasley nodded, and I sighed. Blaise turned back to me. "It's always the Gryffindors," he sighed.

Ginny's POV

Hermione and I burst into the classroom with only seconds to spare. I saw a few Gryffindors I recognized, thank Merlin, but there were also a bunch of Slytherins that I recognized too, sadly.

As soon as me and Mione took seats next to each other in the back, the classroom door opened a second time. Neither of us looked, but I could see Malfoy and Zabini take their seats out of the corner of my eye.

It wasn't long before Slughorn started class. "Welcome back, students," he welcomed us happily.

To my dismay, and the dismay of many others in the room, he started a long speech on the year's syllabus. So here we are, almost half an hour later, and I'm almost asleep. Meanwhile, Hermione was listening intently.

I smirked at her, but she didn't see. "Alright!" Slughorn exclaimed quickly, startling me and some others who were about to doze off.

"Now that that's over," he continued, "And I only have a few minutes of class left, I'll at least tell you what our first potion will be. In short, a love potion."

Many girls started whispering to each other, but I groaned. "Isn't that dangerous?" A boy from Slytherin asked.

"Yeah!" I whispered to Hermione, "Didn't Ron almost die two years ago from a love potion?"

She laughed softly. "That was poison," she whispered back, "But yes, it all started with a potion from Romilda."

I nodded.

"I can be dangerous," Slughorn continued, "But you don't have to worry about any accidents, because this isn't Amorentia, it's Fictus Caritate. Can anyone explain what that means?"

I had never heard of that before, but several hands left their spots on the tables to answer the question, including Hermione's. I smiled slightly.

"Mr. Zabini?" But Slughorn called on the Slytherin who also had his hand raised.

Hermione slowly put her arm down, disappointed, as Zabini cleared his throat. "It's a love potion," he explained, "but it can't take effect simply by drinking it, the creator needs to drop a hair in it, right?"