The Frog Potter

"The Frog Potter"

By C.K. Blake

Harry had no idea what he'd done to royally peeve off Snape, but whatever it was he was paying the price now. He'd been paired with Neville for Potions and he was required to test the potion they were busily working on. It was a potion designed to transfigure its drinker into an animal, and it was temporary, designed only to last for ten minutes.

Each pair had been given the essence of an animal to be added to the potion and that was the creature that the drinker would thus turn into. Harry and Neville had received essence of frog. That wasn't the worst of it though. They'd finished their potion, as had everyone else but it was not a shimmery sky blue as it was supposed to be, it was more like a murky deep purple color, and Harry knew that Snape was going to make him drink it. He had followed all of the directions, and had avoided a few mishaps almost made on Neville's part, but despite his caution there was no help for the potion.

Finally it was Neville that added the final ingredient, essence of frog. But as Neville added that final ingredient Hermione sat up and cried out "No!"

Alas it was too late, and for all of her efforts of explanations ten points was still deducted from Gryffindor, and she wasn't able to warn Harry about the drop of essence of bleeding heart Neville had unwitting added to the essence of frog when he'd been preparing the final ingredient of the potion. Bleeding heart had the potential to turn any potion it was added to into a very powerful love spell.

The potions being complete, Snape glared around the room and demanded that the partners who were to be sampling the potion ladle out a vial of it and bring it labeled with both partners names to his desk and then to return to their work areas and drink a ladle full of it.

Harry looked at the potion that he and Neville had been working over. It was now a decidedly sickly shade of olive. Harry made a face but soon bottled a bit of it into a labeled vial and took it up to Snape's desk. Snape looked at the liquid in the vial and snorted.

"Don't worry Mr. Potter, I have antidotes to almost any poison Longbottom could possible make from this potion. Resume your seat now."

Once Harry was back in his seat he looked ominously at the olive green potion. He stuck the ladle into it and was surprised to find that it smelled of peppermint and lemon. How odd. Then he heard a disdainful chuckle from the front of the room followed by the famous Malfoy drawl. "Well, Potter, are you going to drink that poison? Or, are you scared?"

"Scared, Malfoy? Me, scared? I have nothing to be scared of." And with that Harry raised the ladle to his lips, eliciting a gasp from the Gryffindors and looks of interest from the Slytherins. Hermione stood up and tried to go to Harry, and the last thing Harry heard before tilting the ladle back and drinking the potion in three gulps was Hermione.

"Harry, don't! Its got bleeding heart in it!"

Harry twisted around and caught the look of horror on Hermione's face and then was turned around abruptly by long calloused hands. Snape's hands. He had time to look up at Snape as something strange began to happen.

Peppermint and Lemon, the sensations of those tastes burst on his tongue and they were rather pleasant, and then he felt the sensation of growing smaller. Finally his glasses fell off and he was lost in the dark folds of something.

"Oh Bugger! Our clothes aren't transfigured to? But animagi can transfer their clothes when they change!" Harry said and realized that he still sounded like Harry. He looked up from his squat position, and found that his vision was clear and he was sitting in the neck part of his shirt and robes. He looked down, his clothes were hanging off of the stool, and there was something black hanging around him like a curtain, and it smelt like cucumber melon.

"Um, that smells nice cucumbers are my favorite..." Harry said through his froggy lips and almost jumped off of the chair when he noticed the enormous nose and black eyes mere inches away from him. Snape was leaning over him and smelled like...cucumbers and melons? Had stranger things ever happened before? Harry was not certain.

He then held up one of his hands, it was a nice shade of green and his fingers were webbed. A smile crossed his froggy lips as he wiggled his little fingers and wondered how on earth a potion he and Neville made could have actually worked, because Harry Potter was obviously a frog.

He then noticed that he was surrounded by a group of people, Snape had now straightened up to his full height and was exceptionally intimidating towering over the little frog that was Harry Potter. There was also a girl with bushy brown hair, Hermione, and she was actually arguing with Snape, or so it sounded.

"You bloody git! I was trying to tell you that Neville added a drop of the essence of bleeding heart to the essence of frog. I'm sure it was accidental, but it was added to the potion none the less and you still let him drink it!" Hermione snapped and then pointed down to froggy Harry. "Who knows what this could do to him! And you call yourself a teacher! I have a good mind to go to the headmaster with this! How did he even come across the essence of bleeding heart!? That is usually only used in illegal love potions, and hardly ever used in anything else, because of its tendency to turn nearly any potion its added to into a love spell!"

"I am thoroughly aware of the properties of bleeding heart, Miss Granger! And keep in mind that I am your Potions professor! Now will everyone return to their seats!" Snape growled.

That was when something grabbed Harry's foot and hauled him up into the air. Harry let out a squawk and croak of indignation as he was dangled before a pale face with calculating gray eyes scrutinizing over him.

"Oh, looky here! He's still got the scar!" Malfoy said with a laugh.

Harry tried to spring forward, but this caused a sort of yo-yo effect and he effectively succeeded in bouncing his head into the hand that was manhandling him by his tiny little frog foot.

"Nothing to worry about Potter. I might like frog legs on occasion, but I wouldn't have any part of you. You would most certainly interfere with the delicacy of my digestive track," Malfoy said and gave him a little shake.

To which, once Harry got his bearings straight, stuck out his froggy tongue, albeit a little too enthusiastically for a raspberry and smacked the blond with it on the forehead. Draco let out a very drawn out "eew," promptly dropped Harry, and wiped at the spot on his forehead where Harry's tongue had struck him. Harry, however, landed with a fleshy thump on the cold stone floor of the potions classroom and let out a croak of indignation as a result.

"Mr. Malfoy, will you leave Potter alone!" Snape snapped, and all the students present turned to the Potions professor, jaws dropped.

Harry jumped up and managed to scramble onto his worktable and looked toward the Potions Master in shock. Had Snape really taken up for him? Then Snape went and ruined the moment.

"As much as I would like to add a few fresh frog eyes to my storage as I am running low at the moment, I am certain that the headmaster would not appreciate me acquiring said ingredients from a student. However annoying that student might be."

The rest of class was continued from that point on, and students sampled their potions. Harry smirked when Draco was transformed into a ferret, and nearly croaked (pardon the pun) with the giggles when Goyle, who was paired with Crabbe, was transfigured into a blast-ended skrewt. Hermione transformed into a cat, Pansy Parkinson into a pug faced little dog, and soon the Potions classroom was looking like a demented petting zoo, but all of the transformations included the students' clothes changing as well, just as in an animagi transformation. And the students only remained in animal form for ten minutes. That was when Harry started panicking. He wasn't changing back. Soon the bell rang and class was dismissed, but Harry was still a frog.

Hermione and Ron lingered, Hermione looking decidedly brassed off and Ron looking worried at the frog that was now his best friend. How had the boy-who-lived suddenly become the frog-that-smacked-Malfoy-with-its-tongue? Snape called for Malfoy to remain after class and then raised a dark sardonic eyebrow at Hermione and Ron when he noticed that they remained behind. Malfoy just looked at Snape curiously wondering what the man had to say.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley I don't recall asking you to stay," the professor said in a droll tone.

"We were wondering..." Ron stopped at the withering glance he received from Snape, so Hermione finished for him, "What do you plan on doing to help Harry?"

Snape sighed and looked toward the ceiling. "Seeing as to how bleeding heart was added to the potion I see only one solution, and that is where you come in Mr. Malfoy."

Draco looked up in curiosity. "Oh, Professor? And what is it that you need of me?"

"If this potion was corrupted by certain properties of the bleeding heart then Mr. Potter might find himself falling in love with his keeper of sorts. And I do believe that he may remain a frog until I can find a potion to return him to his natural form," Snape said.

A look of horror washed over Hermione's face. "You aren't suggesting... You can't!" she practically yelled in protest.

"If Mr. Potter were left in your custody, or even with Mr. Weasley, there remains the possibility that he could fall in love with one of you, even as a frog, because of the side effects of the bleeding heart," here Snape paused for effect and then continued, "However, it is well known the animosity that he shares with Mr. Malfoy. So my suggestion would be to allow Draco to look after Mr. Potter until he can be returned to his natural physical form. I know it is a chore to ask of you Draco, but in light of the good it could do..."

"You want me to baby-sit Potter the frog?" Draco asked in shock.

"Wait a minute!" Harry snapped and then hopped from one table to the next until he reached Snape's desk (he was a natural with the hopping). "This is my welfare you are discussing! Who's to say he wouldn't throw me against a wall or shove me in a shoebox or some other terrible thing! I mean he's Malfoy!"

"Thanks, for the vote of confidence, Potter," Draco sneered.

Snape shot Harry a withering look. "I take it that there is no possible way you could ever fall in love with Mr. Malfoy here, and so it is settled. There will be no side effects because you will be cared for by Mr. Malfoy. And Mr. Malfoy, you are to care for him well. I do not want to hear anything about you throwing him against walls or causing him bodily harm. He will join you at meals and sleep with you. Therefore he will be allowed into Slytherin quarters, but under no circumstances are you allowed to give the Slytherin passwords to any Gryffindors, is that clear Mr. Potter?"

Harry heard a fly buzz and his tongue whipped out and caught it before he realized what he was doing. The humans present looked down at him in disgust, and if Harry hadn't already been green he would have turned green from feeling ill at what he'd just done.

"But this is Potter, and he's a frog! I can't baby-sit him! I will speak to my father about this!" Draco snapped.

Snape sent an icy glare his way. "I think this a fair turn of events as far as punishment goes, Draco. Don't you think? You were the one going through my private stores the other night were you not? Did you find all that you needed? I'm sure your list included essence of bleeding heart. If you protest this any further I will see you in detention and bring this up with the headmaster. That is all. All of you go, now! Oh and Malfoy, Potter is probably cold, I'm sure you have a pocket somewhere in your robes that could comfortably contain him."

Draco made an inarticulate noise, Hermione was frozen unsure of what to do, and Ron's eyes bugged out. Snape then scooped up Harry in his hand, told Draco to hold out his hand, and deposited Harry into Draco's outstretched hand. Draco then stuffed Harry into the breast pocket of his robes, albeit rather roughly until receiving a glare from Snape and was then more delicate about it.

Ron and Hermione were left standing in a daze in the Potions classroom as Draco gathered his things and stalked off mumbling about things his father would do, mostly along the lines of "tearing Snape a new one".

Once they were in the corridor Harry spoke up from Draco's pocket. "You could have been a bit easier on me. I'm kind of small you know."

"Not a word, Potter!" Draco snapped.

Harry had no intention of obliging. "What was that Snape said about you going through his stores? Were you the reason Neville had the bleeding heart in the first place? Is that why I'm stuck like this?"

Draco jerked on the pocket with his finger so that he could glare down at the little green frog with the peculiar lightening bolt scar. "Look you, the bleeding heart would have only resulted in making you fall in love! It wouldn't have made the potion a permanent one, at least not to my knowledge!"

"What if this is like the frog prince, and all I have to do is find someone to kiss me and I'll change back?" Harry suggested and then realized he was talking to Malfoy.

"I am not going to kiss you! I wouldn't kiss you if you were human and my lips are certainly going nowhere near yours especially after you ate a fly!" Draco growled.

"As I see it you got me into this!"

"Longbottom was your bloody Potions partner! Not me! Do you notice my grades? I don't make such high marks by bungling up! Now not another word. I don't want anyone to know unless it is absolutely necessary or unavoidable!"

Harry crossed his slick green arms and squirmed until he found a more comfortable position of sitting in Draco's pocket. He ended up leaning against Draco's chest and found that the boy was surprisingly warm. The silence continued as Draco walked toward his next class, Care of Magical Creatures, another class with the Gryffindors.

Once Draco reached the hut Pansy came out of nowhere and practically tackled him. Harry was too squished to even wheeze a croak and Draco looked down in disgust. "Pansy! Gerroff! I told you it was over! Clingy is not a Slytherin trait. Makes you look like a bloody Hufflepuff."

Pansy backed off, a shocked expression on her face. Had Draco just told her it was over in front of everyone? And called her clingy?! Her eyes narrowed to slits, "Draco Malfoy! How dare you! Have you found someone else? Because if you I have I want to know who! I'll tear her eyes out! Or is this about... Blaise Zabini?!"

Harry caught that and thought, Blaise? But he is boy! Draco Malfoy likes boys? Harry couldn't help the croaking chuckle as he laughed at the realization. Then he felt a finger yanking open the pocket and dark narrowed eyes glancing in.

Pansy snorted, and then began to screech, "So it's him is it? You sodding prat! Leading me on and all this time you're for Potter! Hope you and your little frog will be happy together!"

With that she left class in a huff and hurried off back to the castle. Then Hermione and Ron turned up, out of breath from their run, and they happened upon the aftermath of Pansy's tirade. All of the students were staring at Malfoy, and Malfoy was glaring into his pocket daring Harry to give one little croak.

Just then Hagrid showed up and so began class, and Draco ended up paired with Blaise Zabini while the little froggy in his pocket tried to avoid laughing. No one had understood what Pansy had seen in Draco's pocket, and Draco was not about to tell anyone. Hermione and Ron ended up telling Hagrid that Harry wasn't feeling well, so he couldn't come to class, to which Draco gave Hermione a grateful look, when her back was turned of course.

The day continued without much incident, mainly because Draco didn't go to Great Hall for lunch. He instead went to the library. Harry made a bit of a fuss because he was hungry. To which Draco opened up a chocolate frog, broke off the squirming leg, handed that to Harry and stuffed the rest of it into his mouth. Harry looked at the frog leg noticing how much it resembled his own and swallowed thickly.

"You're not resorting to cannibalism, you know. Its only chocolate," Malfoy said.

"Still doesn't keep it from looking so real, now does it?" Harry snapped.

"Suit yourself, Potter."

Unfortunately there was no avoiding dinner as a chocolate frog was not a very filling lunch. Draco quickly ate his dinner, which consisted of turkey, mince meat pie, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin juice. Then he said something about having to study for his Arithmancy lessons, and decided to take a helping of the mince meat pie with him for a bit of a snack. The Slytherins' and two sets of Gryffindors' eyes were on him as he left Great Hall and headed toward the dungeons and the Slytherin common room. Draco didn't stop there. He kept going until he reached his dorm room, a private room that he shared with no one. Once there he locked and warded the room, put the plate down on a table and then grabbed Potter by a little hand and pulled him out of his pocket. Potter dangled in the air for a moment with Draco looking at him speculatively and then putting him down on the table with the mince pie.

Harry looked up at the boy with a snort. "You know you can't just go about dangling me from my arms and legs. What if you break something? How would Madame Pomfrey take to healing a frog?"

"Just shut up and eat will you?"

Harry shrugged as best as his little froggy shoulders would allow and then looked at the rather large slice of pie set before him. "Mmmm. Mince meat. My favorite. I never had this back home. Only ever got it here at school."

"Posh," Draco said. "You're the great Harry Potter, you could probably have anything for the asking when you're at home."

"Malfoy, you've no idea do you? I slept in a cupboard under the stairs until I got my Hogwarts letter, and I was regarded as a freak by the muggles I live with. They are horrid. The Dursley's can't even stand hearing the word magic."

"But you're Harry bloody Potter! I've grown up hearing stories about you like you're some sort of fairy tale martyr or something. Everyone knows about you. Stupid sodding muggles, how could they?"

Harry looked up from his handful of the pie, staring at Malfoy skeptically. Was he indignant on Harry's behalf? How was that possible?

"Malfoy? Are you all right?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You just sounded a bit defensive on my behalf. Got me worried is all."

Malfoy's head jerked up as he looked at the frog now stuffing its face with mince meat pie. "You worry about me?"

If frogs were capable of blushing Harry was sure that he would be burning scarlet. "Sometimes."

Draco leaned down his face hovering inches from Harry. "How often is sometimes?"

Harry gave an indignant croak turned back to eating the mince pie, but then he felt a slim silky hand catch him about the middle and hold him up until he was inches from Malfoy's face and his legs were squirming indignantly.

"Well, Potter, I'm waiting."

"Put me down!"

"Not until you tell me!"

"Why should I tell you? Why should I even worry about you? You're well on your way to becoming a Death Eater and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. It's a wonder Snape trusted me to you. I'm surprised you haven't already handed me over to your father!"

Caught off guard, Draco almost dropped him. He put Harry firmly down by the plate of pie and then he fell back into a plush dark green chair, exhaling a deep breath he hadn't been aware of holding. Of course the pie was forgotten as Harry took in the forlorn expression on Malfoy's face.

He hopped over to the blond boy and landed on his knee. Draco moved to grab him before he fell back, and then he let Harry rest in his palm and help him up close to his face.

"The bleeding heart was my fault. I had this stupid idea where you would drink the potion and I would somehow catch you attention and that would be it, you would love me," Draco said and then sighed. "That wasn't it though was it?"

"Why would you want to sabotage a potion to make me fall in love with you?" Harry asked suspiciously.

Draco set him down on the armrest of his chair and snapped, "So at least I would know my sentiments were returned!"

"What?!" Harry croaked. "You have a crush on me, and I'm a frog because you're smitten!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "What a way with words you have."

"I don't want to be a frog and I certainly don't want a love sick Malfoy looking after my well being!"

Draco snatched him up and screwing his eyes shut he kissed Harry's little frog lips, which was followed by a loud pop, and then a very exposed Harry Potter was sitting in his lap. Draco smirked as Harry cheeks flamed scarlet.

"Now isn't this interesting?" Draco said and then he firmly held Harry's face between his palms and kissed him until the dark haired boy gave in.

They spent the night together and in the morning Harry awoke to Draco leaning over him. The blond boy sighed and then said with a sly grin, "You know the frog prince had a happy ending."

"You read fairy tales?" Harry asked incredulously.

"My mother used to read them to me. That was always my favorite. You're my very own frog prince, or perhaps ickle frog Potter."

"You know if anyone found out this would spread through the school like a plague."

"Oh well, we'll just have to keep it our little secret until we're ready to be out in the open."

"Fair enough, but um... Since I'm no longer a frog it might be best if I got back to my common room, and seeing as to how I have no clothes..."

Draco chuckled, got out of the bed, not caring about his current state of undress which made Harry blush all the more, but the blond slipped into a pair of trousers never the less, and then he tossed Harry a pair of trousers, a white dress shirt, and some of his Slytherin robes.

The blond smirked. "Oh and don't worry about returning them if you wish to keep a souvenir, I have dozens of robes and some nice clothes that fit would do you good. We are the same size I'd wager."

Harry took the clothes and quickly dressed, then Draco removed the wards and unlocked the doors and watched with a smirk as Harry dashed from his rooms, through the Slytherin common room, and out of dungeons...

Draco shook his head and thought of the night before. Sometimes reality did prove better than dreams...

---------

Harry raced through the corridors until he reached Gryffindor Tower. He quickly gave the password and entered the common room only to be attacked by a very worried Ron and Hermione, both of whom must have sat up all night. They grabbed him in a group hug and looked the worst for the wear.

"Harry! You're back!" Ron said, and then noticed what Harry was wearing. "Bloody hell! A Slytherin get up?"

Harry's face flushed with heat again and then Hermione had to open her mouth.

"Just how did you manage to change back? I don't recall Snape mentioning working on an anecdote..." she trailed as her eyes widened. "Harry! Are those...love bites?"

Harry blushed again as Hermione pulled down his collar. Ron's eyes widened as he stared at his best friend in shock.

"Malfoy is calling me his ickle frog Potter... I just thought I should warn you, before you were caught unaware..."

"Bloody hell!" Ron gasped and promptly fainted. Hermione just stared wide-eyed at Harry, and Harry let out a deep breath, but he couldn't suppress the smile that tugged at his lips as the night before came back to him...