mirrorball

chapter six

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"And time's...up!" called Slughorn. "Stop stirring, please!" 

Slughorn moved slowly among the tables, peering into cauldrons. He made no comment, but occasionally gave the potions a stir or a sniff. 

He looked down at Clara's, smiling and patting her on the shoulder. Her potion was good, and it was the best at the Slytherin table. At last he reached the table where Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ernie were sitting. He smiled ruefully at the tar like substance in Ron's cauldron. He passed over Ernie's navy concoction. At Hermione's potion he gave an approving nod. Then he saw Harry's, and a look of incredulous delight spread over his face. 

"The clear winner!" he cried to the dungeon. "Excellent, excellent, Harry! Good lord, it's clear you've inherited your mother's talent. She was a dab hand at Potions, Lily was! Here you are, then, here you are — one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, and use it well!" 

Harry slipped the tiny bottle of golden liquid into his inner pocket. Clara's face dropped in sync with Hermione and the girls looked at each other in disbelief. Ron looked simply dumbfounded. 

"How did you do that?" Ron whispered to Harry as they left the dungeon. 

"Got lucky, I suppose," said Harry.

Once they were securely ensconced in a small alcove, however, he told them exactly how he'd managed it. Hermione's face became stonier with every word he uttered. Clara connected her eyes with the bushy haired brunette and they shared a look of distaste.

"I s'pose you two think I cheated?" he finished, aggravated by the girls' expression. 

"Well, it wasn't exactly your own work, was it?" Clara said stiffly. 

"He only followed different instructions to ours," said Ron, "Could've been a catastrophe, couldn't it? But he took a risk and it paid off." He heaved a sigh. "Slughorn could've handed me that book, but no, I get the one no one's ever written on. Puked on, by the look of page fifty-two, but—" 

"Of course you would say that." spat Hermione, crossing her arms in anger.

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Ron asked.

"Oh, nothing, just that you and Harry obviously don't appreciate hard work and ethics!"

Harry quickly stepped between the quarreling duo, placing a firm hand on Ron's chest. 

"Let's not argue, I won't do it again, Hermione."

"That's a lie and you know it."

"Maybe, but I'm hungry and I don't fancy seeing my two best friends tuck into another duel. So let's just go to dinner, yeah?"

Ron nodded silently, following Harry down the long hallway. Clara and Hermione stayed back for a moment, both of them still infuriated with the situation.

"Boys." whispered Hermione after a moment.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

The rest of the week flew by in a blur, Clara enjoyed class and her work thoroughly. She was once again familiar with the plush seats of the Slytherin common room couches and found comfort in the thick books the Hogwarts library contained. Most of her time had been spent at her favorite table in the library, which is where Harry found her early in the morning on Saturday.

Clara jumped at his loud greeting, the sound contrasting the complete silence that usually filled the cold library air.

"Godric! You scared me, Harry!"