Pariah: The Other Malfoy

Chapter 56: Half-Blood Prince

"Nothing," I whispered, a small smile creeping onto my face. There was a quiet rumble of laughter around the class as Tobias had spoken loud enough to be heard. He was still confused so Professor Slughorn stepped in to make sure his embarrassment was obvious.

"Can anyone tell me what Armortentia smells like?" he asked and I silently cursed. Tobias was going to be ridiculously embarrassed by the end of this.

"It smells like the thing that appeals to you most," Hermione answered and all eyes were on Tobias, who had likely gone bright red. I stifled a giggle as he cleared his throat awkwardly and attention turned back to Slughorn.

Hermione earned twenty points for Gryffindor, essentially for embarrassing my boyfriend. Slughorn then told us it was time to begin to work.

"You're so adorable," I whispered to Tobias and he playfully shoved me.

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in this one!" said the Hufflepuff, pointing to a cauldron on Slughorn's desk.

"That is Felix Felicis! I take it you know what it is, Miss Granger?" Slughorn asked.

"It's Liquid Luck!" said Hermione excitedly, "It makes you lucky!"

Everyone straightened up at that except me, and Hermione got another ten points for Gryffindor.

"That is what I shall be offering as a prize at the end of this lesson! Now, turn to page ten in your books! You can make an attempt at Draught of Living Death! Off you go!" Slughorn announced.

Hermione and I had progressed the furthest so far. We were at the halfway stage already.

Hermione was then stuck with cutting up her sopophorous bean and I was also facing trouble. I gave up and used one of my sharp nails and it cut straight away. Well, maybe my condition did have its perks, though I doubted ease of cutting beans really outweighed the negatives.

I now had to stir it counterclockwise until it was as clear as water. I stirred as fast as I possibly could, if I slowed down the potion would become inactive. Mine was almost as pale as Harry's, who had suddenly overtaken Hermione and me. I wasn't bothered though, it wasn't as if I needed luck for anything. Everything I had wanted had already escaped my grasp.

Slughorn announced that time was up and he took a while to choose who won between Harry and me.

"I don't know whose is paler as they're almost identical, but I'm happy for Harry to be the winner. I'm not going to throw a fit and demand the potion," I said, shrugging, and Slughorn seemed quietly pleased at that. Golden boy Harry, of course.

Over the rest of the week, Harry kept managing to beat me only slightly. I didn't really mind though, as he was using other instructions from the 'Half-Blood Prince' and I was using the proper instructions. I did note, however, that the instructions in the book weren't always the best way to do things - I understood now why Snape normally wrote instructions on the board, rather than just getting us to follow books.

We all spent all our free time doing homework. I tended to sit outside with Tobias a small bit away from the lake. If it wasn't that nice, we would sit wherever we could find that was quiet. I was utterly exhausted that it felt like I had just been through a transformation every day.

Nonverbal spells were now expected, not only in DADA but in Charms and Transfiguration too. I was the only one who had managed so far and people were giving up on practising with me. The workload we had was a blessing in disguise, it kept my mind off of other things. I was too busy to even consider what had happened in the summer, and that was definitely a good thing. I wasn't happy, per se, but I was distracted and that stopped me from falling into darker moods.

Quidditch tryouts came, and Harry was the new captain. He told me I had a guaranteed place, but I said I would be trying out anyway, and if someone else was better, they should get my place. He rolled his eyes but accepted my statement.

I stood with everyone else in the cold rain. Half of Gryffindor House had seemed to turn up. Harry got us to split into groups of ten and fly once around the pitch to test our flying skills. It was certainly an eye-opener for us both to see just how delusional some people were. They didn't care about Quidditch, they cared about Harry Potter.

One group were all first-years and didn't manage to stay up for more than a few seconds, and the next group were ten of the silliest girls ever, who collapsed giggling when Harry blew his whistle.

The next group was my group. Everyone but me had a pileup halfway around the pitch, and I only just avoided it, and the next group had come without broomsticks. The fifth group were Hufflepuffs and when Harry yelled for any non-Gryffindors to leave, a small group of Ravenclaws ran off the pitch.

After several hours, Katie Bell and I had returned to be Chasers and Ginny Weasley had joined us. Harry shouted himself hoarse at the complainers and was enduring a similar battle with the rejected Beaters.

Neither of his chosen Beaters had the brilliance of Fred and George but they were good enough. Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote, they were decent players, but we had been spoilt with Fred and George. They joined Katie, Ginny and I to watch the selection of the Keeper.

The crowd was now much bigger. None of the first five applicants saved more than two goals apiece but the sixth, Cormac McLaggen, saved four out of five penalties. On the last one, he shot off in the completely wrong direction. I raised an eyebrow, turning to see Hermione acting innocent in the stands, and shook my head in exasperation. If that had been me interfering, she would have gone nuts!

Ron was next. He looked like he was about to be sick. I seriously hoped he did well, but I still wouldn't make the saving easy for him. He had to be able to actually save them.

He did! He saved all five penalties and got a place as Keeper.

Ron was grinning happily at us all and Harry told us our first practice was on Thursday, then we went our separate ways. I was glad Ron had returned as Keeper - despite his lack of confidence, he was a good player when he was in the right mindset! I just hoped McLaggen hadn't said too many derogatory things to him.

Harry and I spent a few hours outside practising and chatting, before McGonagall collected us, telling Harry that Dumbledore needed him. Harry left me, telling me I had done well and he knew I didn't need to try out, and I was alone with McGonagall.

"Professor Snape asked me to remind you to go and collect your potion soon," she said, following after me as I tidied the equipment away, "I understand summer was difficult. But you will be fine again now you're back with your potions."

I faltered slightly, my face paling.

"Professor... can you... come with me?" I questioned, realising I sounded pathetic.

"Of course," she said softly, not even asking why. Relief flooded through me, I had dreaded this moment, but McGonagall was going to make it so much easier.

She came with me every night that week, up until the full moon. No questions asked, even when Snape seemed disappointed to not catch me alone. I downed the potion, grimacing at the taste, before leaving as fast as I could with McGonagall.

It was the most peaceful full moon I had gone through in months, so much so I could almost call it enjoyable. If you ignored the pain and exhaustion of it, of course.