Seven Steps || Drarry

Part 26

"Well that was awful," Draco grumbled as the doors closed behind them. He cast a cleaning charm on himself and still couldn't resist the urge to wipe his hands off on the bottom on his jumper.

"Sorr-"

"Oh don't," Draco said. He took Harry's hand and pulled him across the hall, "Come on. I want to show you my favourite places."

He took Harry to his study first, seeing as it was the least impressive and one always had to build up to a good finale.

His study had two entire walls of bookshelves on the right and left that he hadn't quite managed to fill yet. The wall across from the door was made up entirely of windows looking out onto the rose gardens. He had a brewing station set up on the back wall. His desk was pushed up to the windows, unusually neat because he had packed up most of his notes to go back to school.

"This is my study," Draco said, "I spent near half the summer in here."

"It's great,"Harry said and looked out the windows.

"It's beautiful when the roses are in bloom."

Harry nodded, glancing over the bookshelves and desk, lingering at his potion's table and a sheaf of hastily scrawled notes that Draco had yet to organise. "This is where you brew everything?"

"Yes. There's a brewing lab in the undercroft, but well, it's creepy as fuck down there," Draco said and smiled when he managed to get a laugh out of Harry.

He took Harry to the greenhouse next, "These are the potion beds," he gestured to the long line of raised beds against the walls, "They hadn't been used for... well, ages. I spent weeks getting them in working order."

"You never seemed that keen about herbology before," Harry said.

"It's not about the plants, it's about ensuring a certain level of quality in my brewing ingredients," Draco said, pulling Harry to the tables, "Most of these are samples from my great uncle's expeditions." He stopped in front of the fletus ferns, "These ferns produce the sap that put you back to sleep last night."

"It has a sedative effect," Harry said, "I remember."

"It's extremely potent. That vial of blue liquid is a tenth of a single droplet dissolved in distilled spirits purified by moonlight," Draco said, "It not only puts you to sleep, with fewer side effects, it also makes you feel calmer which lasts about half a day. If I can just figure out how to isolate the calming effect, I could make a new calming potion, a better one, one that doesn't make you feel numb and disoriented. I think I've- I..."

"You've?" Harry asked, with a smile that made Draco feel entirely off balance.

Draco had to drag his eyes away from Harry before he would even trust himself to speak, "I... have some ideas on it," he managed.

"What sort of ideas?" Harry asked.

Draco frowned at him, "You don't care."

"I do," Harry said.

"You've never cared about potions," Draco shot back, "You probably care about divination more than potions."

"Yeah, well I would care if our potions professors taught like you do," Harry said.

Draco did his best to maintain his glare even as his face heated up but at the very least Harry looked just as embarrassed.

"Well, it's true." Harry nervously pushed his hand through his hair, "Erm... so, this- is this what you're going to do after school?"

"After-" Draco repeated haltingly.

"Yeah, like work, inventing potions and research and stuff?" Harry asked.