Draco Veritas

Chapter One: Through Silver and Glass

It was December, and it was freezing cold in the Potions dungeon, but Snape didn't care.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" he demanded, holding up a transparent phial of steaming green liquid and surveying the class critically. "Longbottom?"

Neville, who had been trying in vain to warm his blue-tipped fingers over his cauldron, looked horrified. "I don't know, Professor."

"Did you not complete your reading last night, Longbottom? The assignment was ten pages in the Lieber and Stoller book."

"I know, Professor, but my toad, Trevor, went missing, and I –"

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" barked Snape, who was in fine form. He didn't even look cold, Draco mused. Perhaps he'd mixed himself up a Warming Potion before class.

Snape's ink-black eyes darted over the students. "Potter?" he inquired.

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Harry pale and look startled. Next to him, Hermione went red. Every time she knew an answer and Harry didn't, Draco had the feeling that she might actually implode with the effort of trying to will the knowledge in Harry's direction.

It's an Imperceptus Potion, Draco thought lazily at Harry. Makes you invisible.

Harry sat up straight. "An Imperceptus Potion," he said. "It makes the drinker invisible."

Snape looked disappointed. "And the ingredients?" he snapped.

Mugwort, Draco thought. Crushed dragon bone, powdered asp's blood, tansy, peppermint...

"Mugwort," said Harry. "Crushed dragon bone, powdered asp's blood, tansy, peppermint..."

And a pair of my very own boxer shorts, the ones with the little Snitches on them, Draco added.

"And a pair of" Harry began, and choked.

His face went red and then white as he succumbed to a prolonged coughing fit. Hermione gazed at him in alarm. Draco looked innocently at his quill, twirling it in his fingers.

"Yes, Potter?" Snape's eyebrows had shot up to his hairline. "A pair of what?"

Harry was still coughing. "Beetles?" he suggested weakly.

Snape looked annoyed. "No, Potter," he said. "The sixth ingredient is not a pair of beetles. However," he added, "five out of six is not disgraceful. I will not take points from Gryffindor." He set the phial down on the desk in front of him with a slight bang. "Now, does anyone wish to volunteer to come up here and be made invisible?" he demanded.

Draco looked over at Harry and grinned.

Never—and even Harry's telepathic voice sounded annoyed—ever, help me again.

Hey, Gryffindor didn't lose any points.

No, but I think I lost ten years off my life. Oh, shut up, Malfoy. Go be invisible or something. Then again, you'd probably drop dead if you had to spend ten minutes without your own reflection.

Draco shrugged modestly, then realized that Hermione was looking from him to Harry and back again. She bit her lip irritably and turned back to her notebook as Ron was called up to the front of the class to be made invisible. Ron looked suspiciously at the foaming green liquid, and drank it with the air of someone about to be murdered.

The sound of rustling paper caught Draco's attention. When he turned sideways he saw that Hermione was holding up a note, folded so that only he could read it: I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK TO HARRY DURING CLASS!