An American's Guide to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Chapter 5: The Draught of Peace

 "Running back to me so soon, Carter?" Draco smirked at Emily.

"Trust me when I say I wouldn't be sitting here if I had any other choice." She grumbled, dropping her bag on the ground next to her. "Besides, you're the one who couldn't trick any poor, unsuspecting victim into sitting with you."

"Play nicely, Princess."

"Shove off, blondie."

Suddenly, a cloaked dark figure walked through the door, slamming it behind him. The class went entirely silent.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: The Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." he said in a monotone voice. "You will find this on page 129 in your textbooks."

Nobody moved, everyone clearly equally as intimidated as Emily.

"You will be working in pairs as I do not wish to see any foolish mistakes that may require me to see professor Dumbledore any more than I have to. Hopefully two rotten brains work better together than one. You have until the end of the period." he added.

The class slowly began shuffling around, eventually realizing that they had better not waste time.

"Guess we're partners, then?" asked Draco, nudging Emily's arm.

"Guess so." she responded through gritted teeth.

"I'll grab the ingredients, then. Read through the procedure."

"I'll grab the ingredients, you read the procedure!" She mocked in a high pitched voice the second she thought he was out of earshot. She was already starting to loathe this boy.

Hermione, who had witnessed the interaction, shot her a weak smile from across the room and mouthed "I'm sorry!"

Emily shot her a look that screamed "Help me!" and mimed stabbing herself in the stomach to which Hermione responded by laughing and shaking her head.

"Hate me that much already, do you?" came a voice from behind her. She turned around to find Draco standing behind her, placing all of their ingredients carefully onto the table.

"No comment."

Unbeknownst to the young man, Snape had approached him from behind and was holding a piece of parchment above his head. He brought it down forcefully, making Draco flinch.

"Get to work." Snape said aggressively.

"Sorry sir." Emily blurted.

Draco smirked at her and she cringed. "You wish, Malfoy." She looked through the small glass bottles Draco had brought from the shelves. "Where's the porcupine quills?"

"Porcupine quills are not on the list." He answered defensively, yanking the textbook from her hands. "Oh."

"I got it." She puffed, dragging her feet back all the way to the shelves. She pulled out her wand, casting Lumos and squinting to read the smudged ink on the tags. She quickly rifled through the containers, scanning for Ps. Peacock feathers, plimpy eyes, poison ivy... Porcupine quills! She grabbed the bottle, examining it thoroughly on her walk back to her place.

It was because of this that she hadn't taken notice of a plump, short slytherin boy sticking his leg straight in her path. Her foot caught on his leg and she stumbled forwards, dropping the glass container and lodging the corner of the boy's desk into her abdomen. Before long, she felt the presence of a cold hand on her shoulder.

"Crabbe! You bloody oaf. Watch where you're sticking your limbs." She heard Draco yell. "Are you alright, Carter?" He asked her in a surprisingly gentle voice.

She nodded as she finally caught her breath. She opened her eyes upon regaining stability to find Draco-- who had been patting her back-- looking down at her. She yanked her shoulder away and winced. "All good. Thank you."

"Yeah." He mumbled awkwardly, walking back toward their cauldron.

She looked across the room and found a frown plastered across Ron's face and a jealous expression creeping across Harry's. She shrugged at them and looked down at the floor, where the glass bottles of Porcupine Quills had shattered.

"Professor Snape's not in the room. What he doesn't know can't possibly hurt him. Repar--" Hermione was interrupted by a door slamming as he stormed into the room, his billowing cloak behind him.

"Ms. Carter! That'll be ten points from Gryffindor for clumsiness."

"But Crabbe-" Hermione interjected.

"Silence, Ms. Granger! Do you wish to make it 20 points?"

"No sir." She responded quietly.

"If the next time I set foot outside of my classroom for a mere moment I am to be alerted of chaos by a poltergeist, for Merlin's sake, consequences will not be this light." He said severely. "Understood?"

Emily nodded.

"Back to work!" He shouted to the class, clapping once. Almost in unison, they turned back towards their desks. "And Ms. Carter, I expect you to clear the floor of your idiocy." He added, inspecting her empty cauldron.

"Yes, Professor." She assured him, turning to the broken container on the ground and pointing her wand at it.

"Reparo!" She exclaimed and moved her wrist in an inward spiralling motion. The shards of glass slowly started putting themselves back together until they were whole again. She bent down toward the floor and picked up the jar.

"Well that was one hell of a first impression, Carter." He snickered. "The rest of your time at Hogwarts is not going to be fun, I can promise you that."

"Is that a threat, Malfoy?" She said coldly, immediately getting defensive.

"I was simply commenting on your less than optimal relationship with Professor Snape. It will most certainly come back to haunt you." He answered, his demeanour instantly changing after her response. "I recommend that you don't make me your enemy. I will not hesitate to play dirty if the need arises." He whispered threateningly into her ear.