ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅʀᴀᴛᴛᴇᴅ ʟɪʟᴀ ʜᴏʟᴍᴇꜱ || ᴅʀᴀᴄᴏ ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʏ x ᴏᴄ || ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ 1-3

potions and peril on the pitch

a/n: alternatively titled "Lockhart comes in clutch and then screws everything up"

Asking Lockhart for the signature the following week was a breeze. He pulled out his flamboyant peacock feather quill and looped his signature onto the paper without so much as a second glance.

After handing it back to us, he looked to Harry and began to talk to him about Quidditch, recounting his "glory days" of being a Seeker himself. With each word, Harry looked closer and closer to popping a vein and eventually I had to excuse the four of us and lead him out of the room.

"Less able players my arse," I scoffed. "I bet he's scared of heights."

Ron laughed at this.

"I don't believe it," Harry rolled his eyes, looking at the signature on the paper. "He didn't even look at the book we wanted."

"That's because he's a brainless git," said Ron. "But who cares, we've got what we needed—"

"He is not a brainless git," Hermione retorted as we ran to the library.

"Just because he said you were the best student of the year—"

Ron had to stop talking, as we'd reached the library. Madam Pince looked at the four of us suspiciously as we handed her the note.

"Moste Potente Potions?" she repeated, trying to grab the note. However, Hermione didn't seem to want to let go.

"I was wondering if I could keep it," she breathed. I groaned. Maybe I was down bad for Dean but not this bad.

"Oh, come on," Ron groaned, snatching it and handing it to Madam Pince. "We'll get you another autograph. Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough."

Madam Pince held the note up to the light. After deeming it trustworthy she walked away and returned a few minutes later with the old, enormous book. We thanked her and left.

Minutes later, we sat in the girls bathroom — Moaning Myrtles bathroom. Ron and I both tried to object.

"How can we focus with all of that crying?" I hissed before we went in.

Ron shivered. "And don't you remember the spiders?"

"They were all leaving, remember?" Hermione said calmly. "And this is the last place anyone will come by. We'll be safe here and so will the potion."

"What's this about the spiders?" I asked Harry.

"We were here a little while ago. I think you were with Dean. There were spiders climbing up the wall through the window, as if they were in a hurry to get out," Harry explained. "It was really weird."

"I hate the way they move," Ron shivered.

I thought back to the Acromantula idea. This could be more evidence. I made a mental note to write this down.

Hermione opened the book and the three of us crowded over to watch her flip through the pages. I was pleased when she finally found the page, though I could tell Ron and Harry looked rather worried by the looks of pain on the faces of the illustrations.

"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly. She looked to the instructions and her brow furrowed, though I could tell she was just as excited as I was. "This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," she said.

"Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass," I murmured, reading the ingredients. "Those should be easy enough, they're in the student cupboard, we can help ourselves. Powdered horn of a bicorn, shredded skin of a boomslang — those will be a little harder to acquire. I'll bet Professor Snape has them. Then, of course, a bit of whoever we want to change into."