Future Nostalgia / Harry Potter Fanfic

Defense Against the Dark Arts: Lupin Addition

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, acting, in Estella's opinion, as though he were the heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.

"How is it, Draco?" whimpered Pansy. "Does it hurt much?" Estella rolled her eyes; if he were in class, then he was obviously fine.

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

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

Estella knew that if it were Harry, Ron, or Hermione that walked in late, he'd given them detention, but for some reason, he didn't hate Estella. Draco 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.

Estella worked with Hermione and Harry as Ron was forced to go assist Malfoy in his potion brewing. Typically, she worked with Hermione since they both valued a good grade. Estella watched as Harry reached for Flobberworm Mucus. Estella quickly shook her head and grabbed his hand before he poured it into the potion. She redirected his hand to the precut daisy roots.

"How are you so good at this, Es?" Harry looked at her. He could typically pull his own weight in potions, but Estella was on a different level. That was probably one of the reasons why Snape didn't seem to hate her. Unbeknownst to both of them, Snape was friends with Aurora and grew up alongside her and Lily.

Estella giggled, "It's called reading the directions, Har. You'd know, but you don't follow the rules or know how to read." He nudged her as she laughed, earning a glare from Professor Snape.

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 bright, acid green, had turned-

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it 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 rat 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?" Estella glared at Snape. How could someone be so cold and cruel, when Neville was clearly terrified?

"Please, sir," said Estella, "please, let me help him make it right-"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Dumbledore," said Snape coldly, causing Estella to roll her eyes and scowl at him.

The moment he turned away, Estella whispered to him the steps he needed to take to fix his potion. Neville was so happy he could've kissed her.

"Hey, Harry," said Seamus Finnigan, leaning over to borrow Harry's brass scales, "have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning-they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted." Estella turned her attention from Neville to Seamus and Harry.

"Where," asked Harry. He quickly glanced at Estella, who was deep in thought. On the other side of the table, Malfoy looked up, closely listening.

"Not too far from here," said Seamus, who looked excited. What in the world was exciting about a murder moving closer to Hogwarts? "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hotline. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."

"Not too far from here...," Estella repeated, looking at Harry.

Harry grabbed her hand before he turned around and saw Malfoy watching closely. "What, Malfoy? Need something else skinned?"