Beguiled

Fraternising with the Enemy

The next three weeks following the Quidditch match were relatively uneventful. The Slytherins were alright with Dahlia again, having moved past the gossip Malfoy had been stirring about her supporting the Gryffindors. After all, every student in Slytherin, save for Malfoy and his cronies, had at least one friend from another House. And such was the case with Dahlia and Harry. A friend supporting a friend. Right?

Dahlia didn't see Harry much outside of lessons, and only really spoke to him during potions since they had now become permanent partners. Even then, they barely got the chance to talk under the strict conditions of Professor Snape's classroom environment. This only made Dahlia even more doubtful of whether he still wanted to take her to Hogsmeade. She had decided to ask him about it the week before the Hogsmeade weekend, during their double potions lesson. 

But as Dahlia watched the Gryffindor students - who always arrived later than the Slytherins - enter the classroom on Wednesday morning, scanning the heads filing in and waiting for the head of scruffy jet-black hair, it was nowhere to be found. Her heart dropped as she began to think of the worst. Had something happened to him? Could it be something to do with the Death Eaters? The task she was assigned? But it was impossible. Draco wouldn't have been in the classroom either if that were the case, Dahlia was certain. 

Of course, he could simply have forgotten his cauldron and rushed to get it, or he may have even slept in. But surely Ron, who had already entered the classroom alongside Hermione, would have stayed behind for his friend?

Dahlia shifted nervously in her seat as she deliberated a hundred possibilities for what the boy could be doing, none of which seemed to lead to a good conclusion. However, her mind was put to rest a few minutes later, as the black-haired boy, followed closely by a taller, blonde boy, rushed into the classroom. Unfortunately for them, they had arrived two minutes after class had begun, and if looks could kill, Professor Snape's glare may have already finished them off.

"Sorry, Professor." said the boys breathlessly. 

"And what is your excuse this time, Potter?" snarled Professor Snape. 

"Professor McGonagall wanted to have a Quidditch meeting." said Harry. 

"If you cared about potions as much as you cared about Quidditch, your performance in this class might improve. Then again, that chance seems very slight to me." sneered the professor. Harry glowered at Professor Snape, but said nothing. Dahlia could sense the distaste both felt for one another, palpable in the silence between them. 

"Sit down." said Snape, turning away from the boys and back to the blackboard, where the instructions for brewing the Draught of Living Death were being written. The taller boy went to sit next to a Gryffindor girl at the front of the classroom, and Harry made his way to Dahlia's table, slamming his bookbag down on the table rather roughly.

"Hey Harry.", said Dahlia, quietly. 

"Hi Dahlia.", replied Harry stiffly, he tried to flash the girl a smile, but his frustration clearly hadn't cooled down. Dahlia decided to hold off on asking him about Hogsmeade until he had calmed down and loosened up - she didn't want to be snapped at. 

She looked straight ahead at the blackboard, where the full instructions where now listed. Try as she might to concentrate on it, her eyes wandered to the head of white-blond hair in front of her. Malfoy now seemed to be the only one keeping his distance from Dahlia. They hadn't spoken since the day of the match - he didn't even take the opportunity to jeer at Dahlia when Professor Snape described her potion as a demonstration of what not to do when brewing the Draught of Living Death. 

"Green is not what your potion should look like, Miss Gaunt. Surely you would've been aware of this had you been paying attention to the instructions in your book rather than conversing with Mr. Potter, yes?", he glared at her with his beady black eyes.