Enchanted By The Thought

TEN: Friends? What Are Those?

You gave me all your love and all I gave you was goodbye.

"What is that one?" asked Ernie, breaking Beth's silence. Her heart still thumping loudly, she pulled herself away from Malfoy's glowering glare. Slughorn smiled, looking triumphant that someone other than Beth and Hermione was talking. "That is an interesting potion. A little guy named Felix Felicis. What does it do?" His question was directed towards the frizzy haired, dark skinned girl.

"It's liquid luck!" Hermione said excitedly, her eyes on the little vile. Beth could almost sense her gears turning. "It makes you lucky!"

At that, everyone sat up straighter. Malfoy looked more interested and she felt her twin's own curiosity spike. Beth just slumped down in her chair and traced her book cover idly. She wanted this class to be over so she could go hang out with her friends. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Correct!"

Unable to help herself, Beth glowered at Hermione. Catching her stare, Hermione shrugged, looking sheepish. Beth wanted to tell her how much of a know-it-all Hermione was and also wanted to tell her this was school, not a knowledge contest. "-Draught of the Living Death!"

Beth blinked, returning to the present. Her dark thoughts vanished and she realized she'd drifted, once again. Fuck. She glanced at everyone else, who were currently hunched over their cauldrons, working. She tried to remember what they'd been talking about but her mind came up blank. She closed her eyes before she sighed, turning her head to the Slytherin beside her. "Hey Malfoy!" She hissed, attempting to appear calm. She knew that once their eyes met, her thoughts would vanish out the door.

Malfoy looked up, annoyance written all over his face. He stared at Beth expectantly, his eyebrows raised. She felt her mind scatter and she wished that she could look at him without her train of thought going haywire."What were we supposed to do?" She asked tentatively, biting her lip.

He glared at her, debating. She wanted to snap at him for being a dick but before she could, he looked down at his book. "Turn to page ten." He muttered quickly before getting back to business; he looked flustered. Satisfied, Beth flipped to the page and started to work quietly. She had no idea what the hell she was doing. She might as well give up her auror future.

Feeling her brother's smugness, Beth looked up at Harry. She watched his movements carefully, wondering why he felt so proud. After moment, she noticed he was crushing the bean instead of cutting. Getting a feeling in her stomach, she copied him. Instead of cutting the bean, she took the flat side of her knife and pushed down. She was unaware to the fact that her partner was watching her moves. "-Abraxas Malfoy?"

Beth looked over and saw that Slughorn had stopped at their table, examining their work. She huffed in annoyance and went back to watching Harry, her eyes narrowed. He squinted down at his textbook, reading something. Suddenly, he stirred counterclockwise. She counted the times he stirred mentally, making a note of them. He stopped, looked at the book and stirred clockwise. He then repeated. She felt his success as he stared into the pot, smiling to himself. So, she stirred seven times counterclockwise before stirring once clockwise. Then, she repeated, just as her twin had done. She felt a bit guilty for cheating but forced it away, wanting to accomplish something. According to the book, the liquid was supposed to turn a pretty lilac shade. She inhaled before she peered inside; success. "How did you do that?"

Surprised, Beth glanced away from her now lilac-colored cauldron to Malfoy. He was staring at her cauldron in obvious envy. She peered into his pot, wondering if he had done what she had. If he'd followed the steps, would her tip help him? He was at the stirring part. Against her better judgement, Beth reached over and stirred his correctly. She waited patiently, wondering if she'd helped at all. It turned the light lilac shade, announcing that he must've done something correctly. Their hands touched briefly as she went to set the stirrer down and he went to grab it.