𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 | Harry James Potter x Reader

YR 6 ☆•°~'* 13

❈🌠➵9¾♌ ⚯ 🗲━━━━━★. *･｡ﾟ✧⁺

The next day Harry confided in Ron, Hermione and Y/N the task that Dumbledore had set him, which was to retrieve an important memory from Slughorn, though separately, for Hermione still refused to remain in Ron's presence longer than it took to give him a contemptuous look.

Ron thought that Harry was unlikely to have any trouble with Slughorn at all. 

'He loves you,' he said over breakfast, waving an airy forkful of fried egg. 'Won't refuse you anything, will he? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him.'

Hermione and Y/N, however, took a gloomier view. Harry found them in the deserted, snowy courtyard at break, where they were discussing something in hushed voices.

'Did you tell Dumbledore about what Malfoy said to you?' Hermione asked Y/N. 

Y/N gasped. 'I forgot! Oh, well, I'll just tell him next time-'

'What did Malfoy say to you?' 

Both Y/N and Hermione turned to see Harry standing right behind them. He was frowning down at Y/N, a few snowflakes in his hair and his hands deep in his pockets. 

'It doesn't concern you,' said Y/N. 

Harry was about to open his mouth to respond when Hermione, keen on avoiding an argument, spoke, 'What did you want?'

Harry spared one glimpse towards Y/N before answering Hermione, recounting what Dumbledore had shown him and the task he set him.

'He must be determined to hide what really happened if Dumbledore couldn't get it out of him,' Hermione said in a low voice.

'I've never even heard of Horcruxes,' muttered Y/N, staring blankly at Harry's Captain badge. 

'Ron reckons I should just hang back after Potions this afternoon,' said Harry. 

'It's not going to be that easy,' said Y/N flatly.

'Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you'd better do it,' Hermione said, flaring up at once. 'After all, when has Won-Won's judgement ever been faulty?'

'Hermione, can't you-'

'No!' she said angrily, hooked her arm with Y/N's and stormed away, leaving Harry alone and ankle-deep in snow. 

Potions lessons were uncomfortable enough these days, seeing as Y/N, Harry, Ron and Hermione had to share a desk. Today, Hermione moved her cauldron to the other side of Y/N and ignored both Harry and Ron.

Slughorn was going on about Golpalott's Third Law on how to calculate the amount of antidote that would be needed for a certain quantity of blended poison. 

Nobody apart from Hermione and Y/N seemed to be following what Slughorn was saying. Ron was doodling absently on his new copy of Advanced Potion-Making, and Harry was apparently admiring the bracelet Sirius had gifted Y/N, which was hanging around her wrist. 

'... and so,' finished Slughorn, 'I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don't forget your protective gloves!'

Hermione and Y/N had left their stools and were halfway towards Slughorn's desk before the rest of the class had realised it was time to move, and by the time Harry and Ron returned to the table, Y/N and Hermione had already tipped the contents of their phials into their cauldrons. 

'It's a shame that the Prince won't be able to help you much with this,' Y/N said to Harry. 'You have to understand the principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats with antidotes...'