𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 ↬ 𝔡.𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔣𝔬𝔶

07 | snake v. cat

{S} nape had to leave the classroom for a bit and the girl was making good use of it.

This potion was going to be a pretty big portion of our grade, and it seemed as if the girl was hellbent on having them fail. She would insult, poke, and just downright annoy the hell out of Draco while he was trying to brew their potion, even going as far as adding the wrong ingredients on "accident". 

I knew that no matter how much Draco tried to hide it, grades were a big deal for him. Especially due to the nature of his family.

She was being incredibly petty and immature, putting their grades at stake over... I don't even know. What exactly was her problem with him?

I glared at her direction as I mixed our potion, the smoke seeping out from everyone's cauldrons blocking my view. 

"You don't like her, huh." Hermione commented, "Well that's not a surprise."

"For the last time--" I started exasperatedly.

"I wasn't going to talk about Draco." she raised her hands in innocence. "She took a swig at me, too."

I saw another timid yet determined Gryffindor girl tell her to stop. I recognized her from around a week ago when Draco and I stumbled on her getting harassed by upperclassmen. Draco had driven them off and given her harsh, but effective advice, and I guess somebody saw him talking to her?

In just a day, rumors about Draco bullying her were spiraling everywhere.

He said it didn't bother him, but I knew he was just keeping a brave face.

But, she was standing up for Draco. I looked at his face, and it was one of utter disbelief with a touch of awe. It was probably the first time that someone, other than me, did this for him, and honestly, it made my heart warm.

"Didn't he bother you before?" The girl protested, pouting, "Don't make me into the bad guy." 

"What the hell?" I snorted, "She's manipulative as fu—"

"Lexi!" Hermione chided, "Remember what you said at the beginning of the year?" I made made my new year resolutions to limit my cussing, and unfortunately, it seems that Hermione remembered.

"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes, "But seriously, what the hell is wrong with her?"

"Yeah, Lily tends to be like that."

I faltered, almost ruining our potion by adding too much . "Her name is Lily?" I asked dangerously slowly.

"Lily Cawthorne, yeah," Hermione looked up, biting her lip in apology.

"Stop it." I saw Draco hiss through his teeth. He was tense, his face twisted in annoyance. He was really trying to be the bigger person. He was trying to keep his explosive temper in check.

And I was so, so proud of him for that. It seemed that my best friend was in some trouble, and I was determined to get him out of it.

But seriously, how the hell did someone like her end up with my mother's name?

I walked up to Draco's side, stepping in between them, cutting Lily off. I smiled at her condescendingly, "Haha, can you not?"

"Oh, it's you." she smirked, "Don't be jealous, Potter. We're only talking."

"Hm," I flashed her the most insincere smile I could muster, "Yeah that's great, but can you not?"

"Whats your deal?" she raised her voice, eliciting glares and looks of curiosity from all over the classroom. "You and him both, acting as if you own the school. I can, and will, say what I want." she tutted her chin towards me with a fire in her eyes, and if she weren't such an arrogant piece of dung, I would have admired that.

My smile dropped in an instant, and I felt my eyes grow cold. "Please, I really don't care about your screwed sense of morals right now. Save everyone their time and stop acting like an immature baby." I took a step closer, so that I was looking down on her, my voice as cold as ice, "Stop harassing Draco."

"Hah, so you admit liking him?" She crossed her arms and looked at me with a smug smirk, as if she accomplished something.

Was she being serious right now? It was like our conversation had gotten nowhere.

"Are you fucking serious?" I could feel my upper lip curling back in disgust.

"What?" she blinked, surprised. I could feel Draco's mouth forming into a smirk, he knew my tendency to-- well, curse like a sailor when I got mad.

"I asked if you were fucking serious." I repeated, "Stop being a little bitch and grow the fuck up. Literally nobody in here gives a shit if you're standing up for some nonexistent cause to make you feel better about yourself."

It was silent for a moment, the tension undeniable; and then Blaise did a little cheer from the back, drawing a bunch of snickers and hoots from the Slytherins.

One person even started to insult the Gryffindors, but my glare silenced them. I was going to make it clear that this wasn't an attack against the Gryffindors, it was me standing up to absolute bullshit.

To be fair though, maybe I had been a little too harsh.

"Apologize." Lily blurted, holding her head up high, and crossing her arms.

"What?" I scrunched my face in utter disbelief, and I knew everyone in the room were making the same face. Taking back what I said before.

"I said, apologize. You called me a bitch."

"Hah." I ran a hand through my hair. "You're so entitled."

She looked so taken aback, like it was the most foreign concept to her. She really believed she was doing the right thing, that it was justified to bother Draco purely because of the rumors against him. 

She had created a whole ass justice system inside her head, where she determined who was right and wrong, and what the consequences were. It made me sick.

"You are making others," I glanced at the timid Gryffindor, "uncomfortable by justifying your actions by their experiences. I'm not going to apologize for telling you the truth." I leaned in with a smirk, "Bitch."

The classroom was silent for a moment, and I reached around her to pluck the last ingredient for their potion. Lily watched in a mixture of silent confusion and defeat as I dropped it into their cauldron. I mustered up the sweetest smile I could form and chirped, "You're welcome." before walking back to my seat.

Snape walked back in, quieting the cheers. He raised an eyebrow in question at the wide eyed students, "What is going on here?"

"Oh, you know Professor," I shrugged, "working on house rivalries."