I Beg Your Pardon, Potter?

Chapter 48

"Now that we have gone through the theory of the polyjuice potion," Professor Slughorn said on Wednesday morning. "It is time to start brewing it!" He clapped his hands together excitedly. "Professor Snape and I have taken the liberty of stewing your lacewing flies for you. So this brew will not actually take the full month to brew, merely seven days."

"Brilliant," Ron said in a loud whisper. Harry looked around Draco and grinned at Ron. Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Who can tell me what ingredient is added first?" Slughorn asked. He peered around the classroom. Hermione's hand shot up. Harry surprised even himself when he raised his own at the same time as Draco.

"Mr. Potter?"

"Fluxweed," he said. "That has been picked at the full moon."

"Correct! Five points for Gryffindor." Draco kicked him lightly under the table and Harry elbowed him back. Harry was still feeling a bit giddy about the fact that he had told Draco he loved him and Draco had said it back on Saturday, so every touch, be it a kick or otherwise, sent tingles of delight through him.

"You will notice that we have also provided you with copper cauldrons for this potion as they also cut down on the brewing time," Slughorn continued. "Due to the specific properties of copper."

"It's more conductive," Draco whispered to Harry. Harry noted that down. His parchment was framed in a border of stars, broomsticks and quidditch goal hoops. There was also a small sketch of Draco towards the bottom of the page, which Harry hoped Draco would not make fun of him for.

Slughorn ended his announcements by saying that they could partner with whomever they wanted to, and no one batted an eye at the fact that Harry and Draco immediately nodded at each other. Even the other Slytherins who were not as close with them had figured out the pair were friends.

"Neville?" Seamus asked. "Partner?" Neville seemed surprised that anyone had asked him and so quickly agreed. His confidence in potions had grown since his Ehwaz potion had turned out so well.

"So I expect you to be an expert," Draco said as they started gathering ingredients.

"Well, I'm not," Harry said. "Hermione did all the work in second year. Ron and I just watched."

"I still can't believe you three did that," Draco said with a shake of his head. "Incredible. I had no idea."

"Yeah, well, no offense to Crabbe and Goyle, but they're not that hard to impersonate," Harry said.

"Particularly not in second year," Draco said. "They're a bit better now."

"I notice you don't hang around with them as often anymore," Harry said. Draco shrugged.

"I found I have a lot more in common with Blaise and Pansy," he said.

"Such as being able to string a sentence together?"

"Harry, that's mean," Draco said, frowning at him. The frown wasn't overly convincing however because Draco was fighting to keep a smile off of his face. Harry grinned at him and Draco rolled his eyes before turning his attention to the beaker lacewing flies they had been allotted.

Draco poured the solution into a graduated cylinder and held it up to eye level so that he could determine how much they had been given. He wrote down the amount and then began calculating the proportions of the remaining ingredients that they would have to add. Harry watched him in fascination. He copied down what Draco was writing, trying to wrap his head around the calculations.

"Wait," he said. "This is just maths."

"Yes," Draco said. "And?"

"I thought it would be more complicated."