ICARUS ↝ H. GRANGER

[3]

Rigel hurried through the corridors, nearly barking out for the other students to move out of his way as they crowded the halls, eager to stop and start conversations with one another, much to Rigel's annoyance. He watched the clock against one of the stone walls chime that he was officially late for Potions, which he of course blamed on Draco and Will not bothering to wake him before they left, as the two knew the boy was up until the wee hours of the night working on an assignment for the pink-wardrobed woman.

When Rigel finally reached the Potions classroom, all eyes were on him as Professor Snape stopped mid-sentence, the chalk behind him that was levitated to write the name of the potion on the board halting in its place as well. Draco sat with Blaise, the two boys snickering as Snape wandered over to the fellow Slytherin boy, his face wearing its usual unhappy demeanor.

"Do you have any idea what time it is, Mr. Lestrange?" Snape drawled.

"Two minutes past the hour, Professor," Rigel mumbled, Draco's laughter becoming louder as he watched his cousin.

"Just go sit down, boy," Snape ordered, gesturing to the only open spot in the classroom, which just so happened to be next to the mud-blooded girl, across the table from Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

The mud-blood watched Rigel intently as he crossed the room, setting his messenger bag down on the ground and sitting in the open seat. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her still studying him, waiting for him to make his next move.

"That's it?" Weasley whispered to Potter incredulously, as if Rigel couldn't hear him from their close proximity. "Just telling him to sit down? Last year I was thirty seconds late and lost five house points! Bloody ridiculous, innit?"

"As I was saying..." Professor Snape continued on. "This year is a very important one for all of you. I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting in an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. So, don't screw it up. Now, today you will be working with the person next to you to brew an Invigoration Draught, which can be found on page two hundred and thirty-six of your books. Begin."

Rigel looked up slowly in horror next to him, his eyes locking with the mud-blood's as he realized she was now his partner for the class. Not only could he not remember her name, but he also couldn't quite seem to function correctly whenever she was around.

Probably some filthy mud-blood mind control.

Slowly pulling his book from his bag and flipping to the page, he was about to offer to go to the supply closet to get the supplies, wanting the potion to be over with as soon as possible when she spoke up before he got the chance.

"Look, I know we both probably want this done as soon as possible." she started, her eyes never quite meeting his. "So I'll just get it done, and then we both get good marks and everyone's happy. Sound good?" 

Rigel's mouth stayed agape for a moment before he quickly shut it, shaking himself back into reality and looking back at her before his eyes wandered back to the ingredients. While Rigel found himself near the top of the class, he wasn't a big fan of school, so allowing her to do everything would give him a chance to slack off.

On the other hand, he didn't trust her to either screw it up on purpose or tell Professor Snape that Rigel hadn't done anything, in an attempt to give him a bad grade so she'd still come out on top of the class.

"No, I don't think so," Rigel said with a smirk, "partner."

Scanning over the list one last time, he gave her a wink before standing up and following the group waiting near the potion supplies, finding Draco already waiting for him there with an amused smirk.

"I don't want to hear it," Rigel said, rolling his eyes.

"Good luck," Draco said, patting Rigel on the back. "and try to stay on your own two feet this time."

"Oh, piss off," Rigel said, grabbing the supplies the pair needed before dropping them off between his things and his partner's, stealing a quick glance at the writing that peeked out from the bottom of her Potions book on his way.

Property of Hermione Granger

Wait... that was her name? How was he even supposed to pronounce that?

"Everything alright, Granger?" Rigel gave her a cocky grin as she picked up the dried Billywig leaves, crushing them up to sprinkle into the cauldron.

"Yes," she muttered, a little short with him. "just not used to having a partner so willing to work, that's all."

"Guess I'm just better than the others you've had the pleasure of working with." he said, studying the directions in the book.

While they were meant to be working together, the two appeared to be doing the potion separately, almost racing to get to the next step before the other could reach it. Rigel found himself grabbing the peppermint essence as she was reaching for it, causing her to glare daggers at him as he poured it into the potion. She pulled her wand out so fast to stir the potion before Rigel could she nearly lost her grasp on it, which would've sent it flying across the room. 

Nevertheless, to their delight, as Granger sprinkled in the last of the Alihotsy leaves, the potion began to change from a lime green color to more of a turquoise, alerting the partners that it was, in fact, a success.

"Very well," Snape's voice came from behind them, and they both looked up to see the man looming over the two, eyeing the liquid inside the cauldron. "you may clear your space up and go."

That was the only confirmation Rigel needed. Quickly, the boy grabbed the cauldron, disposing of the potion and making sure Granger was putting the leftover supplies away before he grabbed his bag, stalking out of the classroom and down the corridors, shouting at anyone who dared get in his way.