𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 {a Draco Malfoy story}

chapter twenty

Rose

     When Blaise, Draco, Pansy, Theo and I walked into potions - we were the only Slytherins who both got an Outstanding last year and were willing to continue - we noticed that the size of the class had noticeably shrunk. We took a seat near the back of the class and waited for the rest of the to slowly trickle in. I took in a deep breath but noticed something... odd.

     "God, Draco, tone down on the cologne and peppermints. It's nauseating."

     "Look who's talking. It smells as though you drowned yourself in that coconut shampoo you keep at my house."

     Pansy opened her mouth to say something, but then bit her lip and closed her mouth. I shot her a confused look but she just pointed at the potions.

     Professor Slughorn came to the front of the class and began speaking, Harry and Ron following him short after. 

     "Now then, now then," said Slughorn, "scales out, everyone, and potion kits. Don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion Making."

     "Sir?" said Harry, raising his hand. 

     "Harry, m'boy?"

     "I haven't got a book or scales or anything -" I heard Draco scoff beside me. "Neither does Ron. We didn't know we'd be able to do the N.E.W.T., you see -"

     "Ah yes, Professor McGonagall did mention... not to worry! Take whatever you need from the back counters."

     Harry and Ron practically wrestled for the good book, neither wanting to take the scruffy looking one.

     "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, out of interest, you know. These are the kinds of potions you ought to be able to make after your N.E.W.T.s. You've probably heard of them before. Can anyone tell me which one this is?"

     Draco recognized at as he shuddered when he saw it. I questioningly look at him and he whispered, "Veritaserum." Hermione's well practised hand hit the air before anybody else's, though. Slughorn pointed at her.

     "It's Veritaserum. It forces the drinker to tell the truth."

     "Very good, very good!" said Slughorn happily. "Now..."

     He continued talking about Polyjuice Potion, but I wasn't paying much attention to it. It was only when Slughorn pointed to the last potion when my head shot up, Hermione revealing it was Amortentia.

     So that's why Pansy was laughing at us. She turned back to me and smirked, raising one eyebrow. My cheeks grew red and I looked at Draco, who seemed to be having the same problem. Blaise chuckled. "Well, at least we know neither of you had been trying to smell extra good today and that it was just two bickering lovebirds."

     I held Draco's hand from under the table as my heart beat quickly. I smiled like an idiot and I saw him looking down at the table and grinning. We both realized what this meant.

     He loves me. He truly loves me.

     We were told that we would be brewing the Draught of Living Death, and the best brewed potion would win a vial of Felix Felices. I had to win that vial for Draco and I; our chances of not getting killed by Voldemort would be much better if we could just get that potion and finish our task.

     I wanted nothing more than to prolong it for as long as possible, but Draco and I both knew that wouldn't be possible. He-who-must-not-be-named would want answers, and lying to him would be a mistake.

     As we began working, almost everyone seemed to be having trouble. Hermione's hair had frizzed into an afro, Seamus Finnegan (who surprisingly hasn't said anything to me yet) had blown up his potion, and even Theo who usually had no problems with brewing potions seemed to be having a bit of difficulty. Harry was the only person who wasn't failing horribly.

     In the end, it was Harry who got the vial of Felix Felices. We headed out of the class and to our next one when Draco said, "I was trying my best to get that vial for us, you know."

     I laughed at the irony. "Yeah, me too."

     "Well, you were doing an awful job. I'm certain I saw your cauldron go red at some point."

     "Hey, not all of us have been blessed with the gift of Potion brewing."

     "Yeah, well you've been blessed with the gift of dating Draco Malfoy, so it's fair game."

     As cheesy as it sounds, he was my escape. He was a way to avoid the future. It's funny, though, seeing as he's the one involved in our future task - the very one I want to stop thinking about. 

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     A couple days had now passed, and I'd been subtly hinting at Draco that we need to get started on the cabinet. We headed to the Room of Requirement and I followed him to the Vanishing cabinet. 

     "You knew Graham Montague, right? He was on the Quidditch team last year."

     "Yes, I remember," I replied.

     "He's the one who told me about this cabinet."

     "Oh, thats... interesting."

     We went through 2 spell books, trying to find a spell that could fix it. I pointed out a spell that was meant for fixing wooden objects. "Here, Draco try this one. Contritum Reparo."

     He swished his wand and... nothing. I plopped down onto a chair and sighed, closing the book. Draco came and sat next to me and put his hands on my back, massaging me. I tilted my head back.

     "It's only the first day, sweetheart, we have so much more time to work on it. Don't be stressed."

     I hummed as he continued to massage my neck. "I know. I know." He kissed my neck and got up, holding out his hand for me to take. 

     "Come on, you and I both need some sleep. We've spent over 4 hours in here."

     "Yeah, okay."

     We walked back to the dungeons, the green light of the common room radiating. Draco muttered the password and we entered, both going back to our own dorms. When I stepped into my dorm, I noticed that it was quieter than usual. Pansy, Daphne, and Millicent's daily chats that continued into the early hours of the morning had stopped. I remembered how Pansy mentioned a disagreement they had, the day Pansy sat with us on the train.

     I closed my eyes and fell asleep almost instantly, the work on the cabinet had exhausted me.

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Ok so we're at 300 reads right now and like ??? thank you ??? i never expected it to do so well within the first month. thank you guys so much i love you