Beguiled

Potions with Potter

Dahlia woke the next morning feeling well-rested, and better than she had in a long time. Pansy, who was already dressed in her uniform, was busy drawing the curtains in the dorm room,  letting bright rays of sunlight snake in. 

"Come on, Dahlia! I don't want to miss breakfast!" Pansy shook her roughly. Dahlia sat up grudgingly, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm coming," she groaned, "let me get dressed." Stifling a yawn, she slid her legs across the bed. She got dressed whilst Pansy packed Dahlia's bookbag as well as her own. They only had Potions and Divination that day.

As soon as she slipped on herrobes, Pansy shoved Dahlia's bag in her hands, slung her own over her shoulder and guided her out of the dorm room, down the stairs and out of the common room in a bid to get to breakfast on time. To their relief, they walked through the doors of the Great Hall just as the four long tables were being lined with countless trays of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and porridge. Ahead of them, a flurry of hungry students rushed to stack their plates and stuff their mouths with the food that had magically appeared. Eagerly, Pansy grabbed Dahlia by the wrist and guided her to the Slytherin table. 

Despite her irritation at being woken so early, Dahlia had to admit that the breakfast was delicious. She had never tasted scrambled eggs so delicious, or toast so buttery. Her mood was significantly lifted after they ate, she even let Pansy ramble about how annoying Millicent Bulstrode was, Dahlia only half-listening.

After breakfast, the girls made their way to the dungeons, where the Potions classroom was located. The room was an oval shape, large enough to allow at least twenty students to work. Its walls were lined with pickled animals in glass jars, and in the corner at the back of the room was a stone basin used to wash students' hands and ladles. Across from the basin was a student supply cupboard, and at the front of the classroom was a blackboard. Pansy ushered Dahlia to one of the tables at the back of the classroom, and they both slipped onto the uncomfortable wooden stools, waiting for the rest of the class to arrive.

Dahlia was nervous to take the class, especially as she hadn't quite earned the right to be a member. Students wishing to take Potions after their fifth year had to achieve an "Outstanding" in their O.W.L in order to advance to N.E.W.T. Considering the circumstances however, Dumbledore had managed to persuade a begrudging Professor Snape, as well as all the other teachers Dahlia would have for the course of the year, to allow her to take part in lessons, assuring them that she was a quick and apt learner. Dahlia was starting to understand why people loved the headmaster so much, he gave one a sense of safety, like everything would be alright as long as he was there.

Which he wouldn't be.

The familiar knot in her stomach materialised at the thought, and Dahlia suddenly felt the urge to throw up the eggs she'd had for breakfast. She concentrated on the pickled eyeballs in one of the jars on the shelf against the wall, willing herself to forget her intrusive thoughts.

At that moment, the door behind Pansy and Dahlia creaked, then swung open, as more Slytherin students filed in, one of them being Draco Malfoy, followed by the boy called Crabbe. Draco and Dahlia locked eyes as he passed her and took a seat at the table in front of her and Pansy. She couldn't understand why the hatred she felt for his father couldn't entirely extend to him, nor why she seemed to look for him in every room she entered. She could tell herself it was to keep her enemies close, but she'd be lying.

Dahlia's thoughts were interrupted once more by students entering the classroom - this time students she didn't recognise. They too wore the same black robes. Their badges, however, sported a deep burgundy colour, as opposed to the emerald green Dahlia had begun to familiarise herself with.