Shadows of Light

Shadows of Light

Chapter Four

Bright flames licked the cold hearth. Draco could just barely see the ashy remnants of his mother's letter from the previous night. The day after the practice had passed relatively quickly and uneventfully, owing to the fact that Draco had no classes with the bothersome Gryffindors.

Draco glared at the hissing grate, mentally going over the next day's schedule. He had History of Magic first thing in the morning where he would catch up on his sleep. After that, he had Charms, then lunch, and then... Advanced Potions. He sneered to himself; there were only two remaining Gryffindors. Potter had managed somehow to pass the OWL's; perhaps his remedial potions had actually paid off. Granger had also stayed in that class, probably to keep Potter sane. It was rather comical watching Snape constantly narrow down on the two, making them do extra work, and taking off house points. Draco had come to rather enjoy that class.

"Potter!" Professor Snape shouted as he rushed over, ebony robes billowing behind him. "What have you done now? I clearly stated that the antidote for the Cyanteler potion requires only four drops of Armadillo bile, and you seem to have used the entire vial! Can't you pay attention for once in your life? When you are cleaning out your ears and you feel resistance, stop!"

As the bubbling yellow (it was supposed to be purple) liquid spilled over the brim of the pewter cauldron and dripped onto the table, causing the wood to smoke and simply disintegrate before their eyes, Harry tried to redeem himself, struggling under Snape's hard glare.

"Professor Snape, It wasn't my fault! It was Malfoy! He-""

"-is all the way across the room!" Snape finished for him. Draco sat back on his stool lazily from his corner, smirking at Potter's unfortunate situation. "Mr. Malfoy, I apologize for Potter's accusations."

"That's alright, Professor," Draco said silkily, "I do hope that the proper punishment will be in order? This potion is now obviously ruined and could have potentially hurt someone."

"Of course," Snape sneered as he turned sharply toward Harry, ignoring the fact that Draco was lying through his teeth, "Potter! Ten points from Gryffindor for your damage to the school's property and your decimation of a perfectly good Potion!"

"But Professor Snape, I-"

"Enough!" Snape bellowed emptying out Harry's cauldron with a flick of his wand. Harry angrily closed his mouth. "You will also serve a detention, and if I hear another word in protest, I won't hesitate to make it a week! Now, go and summon Mr. Filch. You will be helping him clean up this mess as your detention."

"Yes sir." Harry nodded sulkily as the bell rang and the students filed out of the classroom.

Draco simply smirked. It was all too perfect. He was the one who had purposely knocked Harry's arm in passing causing him to pour the entire vial of Armadillo bile into the potion. He recalled earlier that day in Charms where he learned a new way to slick back his hair without having to use all of that Sleak-Eazy's hair solution, and now this. He picked up his bag and slung it lazily, but elegantly over his shoulder and strolled out of the Potions room as he headed for the Slytherin dormitories to drop off his bag before dinner.

However, before he even made it around the corner, he was stopped by a figure with bushy auburn hair and an armful of books.

"Out of my way, Granger."

"No, Malfoy! I know it was you who ruined Harry's antidote!"

"Good for you." Draco drawled, "Now move aside." He tried to push passed her but she refused to budge.

"No, that was a really rotten thing to do!"

"Granger, I don't have time for this. Just because your little boyfriend can't go one hour of potions without destroying a piece of furniture-"

"Harry is not my boyfriend!"

"That's right; you're still sniffing after Weasley. I certainly hope you don't like him for his money, or his intelligence, or his looks for that matter."

"Ron isn't my boyfriend either, and he has more intelligence than you can ever hope to have!"

Draco really was not in the mood for this now. "I'm sure he does in your mind, now get out of my way, I have places to be!"

"I won't! Not until you admit that it was you who destroyed the potion and go set things right!"

"Or, I could laugh in your face at the absurdity of that very suggestion and tell you to bugger off," Draco said sarcastically. Hermione opened her mouth to protest further, but Draco cut her off. "Why don't you go off and find the-boy-who-wouldn't-die and you two can run along and save the day. I have more important things to do than stand here and listen to you go on about the misfortune of that twit, poverty-stricken Weasley."

Hermione made a violent move towards Draco as if she was going to slap him and he waggled a finger in her face. "I don't think you would want Gryffindor to lose any more points, now, would you?"

She backed off a bit, visibly fuming. Her look shot daggers at him as she shifted her books and stalked off angrily without another word. Draco shrugged. He hadn't been lying when he said he had more important things to do. He had gone over the plan very carefully in his mind. It was all set up. It was basically flawless, and if all went well, he wouldn't have to worry about annoying little Mudbloods like Granger anymore, well... not in the long run at least...

With the corners of his mouth faintly creeping up in an evil smirk, the closest thing to a genuine smile that Draco ever wore, he walked off toward the common room, in exceptionally high spirits.