A Magic Stronger Than Darkness ~ Book 1: Perfect Opposites

Chapter 4 ~ Potions & Progress

It's been a few weeks since my realization about Veronica and my true feelings for her. With Blaise's encouragement, I had decided that I was going to pursue Veronica Dovefeather. At dinner I walked over to my seat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, beginning to formulate a plan to speak to and hopefully woo the Gryffindor girl. Step one: make amends for how I've wronged her. Step two: become friends. Step three: ask her to be my girlfriend. Should be simple enough...

Throughout my meal, I'd occasionally steal a glance at her out of habit. At first she didn't notice, but then my cousin, Ginny Weasley, must have said something to her. This caused Veronica to look up, her eyes focused in my direction. She met my eyes curiously, our gazes locking momentarily before she quickly looked away again. Continuing to watch her for another moment, I saw Ginny give Veronica an expression indicating her confusion, yet Dovefeather only seemed to respond with a shrug.

Back in the Slytherin common room, people were chattering eagerly amongst themselves. "What's going on in here?" I asked Blaise. "The Weasley twins tried using an ageing potion to cross Dumbledore's age line around the Goblet of Fire. They ended up turning into old men. It was quite humorous really. They had white hair and beards and everything." Blaise told me. I shook my head and stepped past everyone to head up to my dorm, mentally refusing to acknowledge the familial connection between myself and the ginger haired twins.

The next morning I walked into Potions class, dipping my head in greeting to Professor Snape as I entered the chamber. The brooding man was discussing the potion called Calming Draught and its various uses. "Calming Draught, though similar to the Draught of Peace in the sense that both are meant to calm its user, is a more advanced potion than the latter. Intended to ease anxiety and calm the nerves of one who has suffered a shock or trauma to their mental or physical being, the Calming Draught only requires three ingredients to be effective. Lavender. Crocodile heart. And of course peppermint. Now today, you will all attempt to make some, though I suspect only a few of you shall succeed. Nonetheless, you shall begin." Snape finished, smirking for some reason or another. I shrugged and got to work collecting the necessary ingredients and following the instructions in my potions textbook.

Surprisingly, I finished brewing the Calming Draught rather quickly. Veronica and I both called out "Professor!" at the same time, startling one another with how synchronous our words were. I looked over at her and she smiled back at me with amusement. Snape examined my cauldron first and checked the quality of my potion. "Correct, Mr. Malfoy, 20 points to Slytherin." He muttered. Then he swept over to Veronica. "Very good, Miss Dovefeather. 20 points to Gryffindor as well," He sneered, then moved to antagonize Potter and Weasley. Potions class ended a short time later, and just as Snape had predicted, only a select few of us were successful in the production of our Calming Draughts.

People hurriedly started to leave the classroom, and my ex-girlfriend Pansy Parkinson took the opportunity to push Veronica's books onto the ground. "Oops!" She cackled, walking away with her friend Millicent. This is my chance to talk to Dovefeather, I realized with a start. I cleared my throat and strode over to Veronica. She looked up briefly through her dark eyelashes, before kneeling down to pick up the books that were on the ground. "What do you want, Malfoy?" She asked, distrust lacing her tone.

Wordlessly, I stooped down and started to help her clear the mess, much to her surprise. "I just wanted to say congratulations and that I think you're really good, at potions, I mean." I finally told her. Veronica's head shot up upon hearing my comment. "Did you just compliment me?" She asked quietly, straightening up and placing her books back in her bag. I nodded and handed her the rest of the books and parchment that I had collected from the floor. "Thank you...you're really talented too, Malfoy. Good job on the Draught today, by the way. Snape seemed to be impressed." She said, accepting her belongings from me. "Yeah, you too." I responded.

With that she adjusted the strap of the bag hanging from her shoulder and she gave me a half smile. "See you around?" She asked hopefully. "Certainly." I nodded and smirked back at her in response, watching as she turned on her heel and exited the chamber.

As I gathered my own things and made to leave the room as well, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I spun to face them, prepared for a fight, and saw it was only Professor Snape. "Developing a liking for Muggleborns now, are we Mr. Malfoy?" He tisked, voice nearly a snarl. I shrugged, pulling out of his grip. "That's none of your concern, now is it, Professor?" I retorted. Without looking back, I continued on heading to my Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Inside Moody's class, I noticed Pansy staring at me like a lost dog. I rolled my eyes and sat in my seat, ignoring her. "Draco, do you want to sit with me at dinner tonight? You know, tonight they are announcing the school champions..." She whispered from behind me, her finger tracing the outline of my shoulder. Merlin, will this girl ever leave me alone? I thought, shifting away from her as best as possible.

Pansy Parkinson was boring, rude, obnoxious, and one of the most disdainful humans I had ever known. I turned around in my seat and looked at Pansy. "Sorry Parkinson, I have other plans. Why don't you sit with Goyle tonight? Everyone knows you fancy him as much as you fancy me." I sneered. Her dark eyes narrowed and she huffed in response, glancing in Veronica's direction. I followed her gaze and smirked. If Parkinson's jealous, that's her problem, Veronica doesn't have the personality of a parasite or a pig's snout.