Drarry Eighth Year

Smiling

     The next morning at breakfast, Harry looked over and saw Draco sitting next to Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini in their usual triangle at the Slytherin table. 

     Good, thought Harry, Maybe things are finally getting back to normal. 

     Harry couldn't quite pinpoint why he cared whether Malfoy's friend group was back together, but he still found himself staring as Draco absentmindedly chewed on a bit of toast. The Slytherin boy then suddenly looked up and locked eyes with the Gryffindor, who now had mouth slightly open in surprise. Harry then pointedly looked down at his hands and fidgeted in his seat a bit, turning a shade of pink. 

     Shit! Shit...why was I even looking at him? No. I was just observing, nothing bad about that. I look at him everyday and have done since first year, why would it be anything different now? I should've just played it like a joke and made a rude face or given him the finger...oh, Merlin. 

     Draco was slightly shocked to see the other boy look at him and couldn't help the small smile that played at the corners of his mouth. He had to fight to compose himself in true Slytherin manner.  

    "Draco, you're going to make me puke. Would you stop obsessing with Potter for even a minute?" Pansy chimed while rolling her eyes dramatically. 

    "You're terribly mistaken, dear. Get your abnormally large head out of the gutter and join the rest of intelligent life. " Draco said back a bit nervously. 

     "I just witnessed that horrible interaction between you two. I mean, could you make it any more obvious that you've been obsessed with him since third year?"

     "Keep your voice down, Pansy! If you're not careful, I'll throw you into the Black Lake to be giant squid chum." Draco said in a harsh whisper. 

     "Oh please, you don't threaten me in the slightest. I think everyone in Slytherin knows about your little..." She stopped and shook her head, "..crush by now. You may be marginally good at hiding it around him, but you can't hide around us."

            Draco didn't even bother a retort after that because he knew that she was right. He made a mental note to hide his feelings better, especially when he's in the snake pit.

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    That day in potions had almost the same agenda as the day before; another brewing session. Slughorn had written on the blackboard that the class was to make Color Changing Elixir with a twist. This "twist" was to figure out how to make it work on animal fur.

    Harry sat down next to Draco and didn't notice that he was trying very hard to look straight ahead and barely take notice that Harry had walked in and set his books down. 

    "Good afternoon, class!" Professor Slughorn started, "Today we will be trying a bit of a challenge. If you would kindly look at the board, it reads that we will be making Color Changing Elixir that works on animal fur. The basic recipe for a regular Color Changing Elixir can be found on page 92 of your textbooks, but the rest is up to you. All of the supplies in the cabinets are open to you, and of course, you may ask for my assistance. I'll give you a bit a clue: what are the properties of animal fur?"

    "Well...the properties of animal fur are...erm...," Harry said, thinking out loud.

    "Potter, we learned this ages ago! How do you not remember?" Draco snapped back. 

    "Exactly! The fact that we learned this so long ago makes it hard to remember." Harry chuckled. 

    Draco rolled his eyes but laughed a little along with Harry, "So, animal fur is fundamentally the same as human hair, however, in most cases you have to account for the fact that it's reactive with other ingredients made from animals. Basically, if a potion that cured feline hiccups, for instance, called for the scale of a dragon, you couldn't use it and would have to find a substitute."