Captured {Book #3}

Professor Lupin's Lesson

Malfoy didn't reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. He swaggered into the dungeon, his right arm covered in bandages and bound up in a sling, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.

"How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy Parkinson. "Does it hurt much?" I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah," said Malfoy, putting on a brave sort of grimace. But I saw him wink at Crabbe and Goyle when Pansy had looked away.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Snape idly.

Harry Ron and I scowled at each other; Snape wouldn't have said 'settle down' if they'd walked in late, he'd have given them detention. But Malfoy had always been able to get away with anything in Snape's classes; Snape was head of Slytherin House, and generally favored his own students above all others.

We were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution. Malfoy set up his cauldron right next to me, so that we were preparing their ingredients on the same table. I growled silently, of course he does this.

"Sir," Malfoy called, "sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm --"

"Granger, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," said Snape without looking up.

I groaned, "There's nothing even wrong with your arm" 

He smirked.

"Granger, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots."

I reached for his knife but he didn't lift his hand. Our hands were touching.

"You wanna hold my hand Granger?" he sneers.

"In your dreams Malfoy," I shoot back. I begin cutting his root but in all different sizes and shapes.

"Professor," drawled Malfoy, "Granger's mutilating my roots, sir."

Snape approached our table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave me an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair. His eyes peered into me, but I kept a confident face.

"Change roots with Malfoy, Granger."

"But, sir --!" I yelped.

I spent the whole period making sure they were the same size.

"Now," said Snape in his most dangerous voice.

I shoved my own beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again.

"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned," said Malfoy, his voice full of malicious laughter.

"Potter, Weasley, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig, because Miss Granger proved that cutting isn't a one person job." said Snape, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.

Harry took Malfoy's shrivelfig as I began trying to repair the damage to the roots I now had to use. Harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and flung it back across the table at Malfoy without speaking. I looked over at him with a straight face. I wonder what he's thinking about. Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever.

"Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" he asked us quietly.

"None of your business,"  I said jerkily, without looking up.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. "Father's not very happy about my injury --"

"Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury," snarled Ron.

"he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this" -- he gave a huge, fake sigh -- "who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"

"So that's why you're putting it on," said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger, "To try to get Hagrid fired."

"Well," said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, "partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me."

A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned --

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing to splash back into the cauldron, so that everyone could see.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one cat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears.

"Please, sir," said Hermione, "please, I could help Neville put it right --"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear.