Four batches of Truth Serum later and Ginny thought she’d never want to look at another cauldron again. Surprisingly, Pansy wasn’t so bad at Potions, and she was just as happy as Ginny to work in silence and try and get this over and done with as quickly as possible.
It all fell apart as they began on batch five. Ginny’s arm was sore from the chopping of Halliday Roots, and Pansy had started grumbling to herself about how unfair this whole detention it was. Ginny knew it was only a matter of time before she started blaming the whole thing on her.
“We’re ready for the Giant Hair,” Pansy stated grumpily.
“Are you sure? Haven’t we got to wait for ten minutes?”
“No. That’s not until after we’ve added the Giant Hair and the Halliday Roots. Just add the bloody hair, Weasley.”
Ginny couldn’t be bothered to argue, so she picked up the five hairs using the metal tongs. There was no way she was going to touch it. Peering over at the steadily bubbling orange liquid, she dropped the hairs as Pansy stirred using a large wooden spoon.
As soon as the hair touched the surface of the potion, plumes of blue smoke rolled up and out of the cauldron, rapidly spreading across the room. Ginny choked and pulled the sleeve of her jumper across her mouth and glared at Pansy.
“Eugh. I told you it had to wait ten minutes.”
“Well you should have paid more attention to the instructions on the board and not left it up to me to tell you when we needed another ingredient.” Pansy looked moodily at the now purple potion, still forcing reams of smoke into the room. It smelt toxic.
This was so unfair, and Ginny was so sick and tired of potion making with Pansy, that she couldn’t hold off arguing back. “It was entirely your fault, Pansy, and you know it. Now we have to start this batch all over again and you can do it all.” Ginny put her hands on her hips.
“No way.” Pansy flicked her hair back and squinted at the board. “Six stirs clockwise.” She grabbed the spoon back and did just that.
Ginny’s mouth fell open. “We can’t just carry on the way we left off. The whole potion is wrong!”
“So? Who cares? Slughorn can just throw it away and we’ll still have made our hundred bottles. He never said they had to be done right.”
Ginny took a deep breath and choked again. She decided to just go along with Pansy. Anything to get this stupid potion finished. Goodness knows what substance they will have created in the end. She was convinced she felt lightheaded from the smoke still curling around the room. She dropped in the Stone of Salick. The potion hissed and turned a suspicious green. There was no way this was Truth Serum.
Ten minutes passed and Ginny was feeling distinctly dizzy. It wasn’t a bad feeling. She looked across at Pansy, who was leaning against the wall and crushing beetles at the same time.
“So, what was the famous Harry Potter like in the sack?” Pansy suddenly asked.
Ginny gaped at her. “What?”
“You heard me.” Pansy gave her a lopsided grin.
“I wouldn’t know,” she replied in a defensive voice. She grabbed on to the desk as the room gave an odd turn.
“No way!”
“We were only going out for a few weeks,” Ginny explained. Pansy still looked blank and Ginny avoided rolling her eyes. Of course, that wouldn’t make any difference to Pansy. “But he was a rubbish kisser, so I wouldn’t expect he’d be very good.” Ginny clamped her hand over her mouth. How could she have just said that?
Pansy giggled. “It doesn’t surprise me. Potter’s too distracted with saving the world to bother about the important things.” They both laughed.
Feeling another rush, as if she’d drunk too much Butterbeer, she decided to continue their bizarre conversation. “Does Malfoy live up to his Slytherin Sex God title then?”
Pansy shrugged. “He refuses to sleep with me.” She looked a little horrified at what had just said.
Ginny was astounded. “Why? Haven’t you been going out for over a year already?”
“Yes, well, sort of. He doesn’t like me. I’m not stupid. He only wants to be with me for the social benefits.” Pansy tried to look as if she didn’t care, but Ginny could see a slight glint to her eyes. Maybe it was just the affects of whatever Truth smoke they’d inhaled.
“He’s such a bastard. I don’t know why you bother.” His sneering face filled Ginny’s mind.
“Oh, but he’s not. He’s not what he appears to be. He doesn’t even want to be a proper Death Eater. His heart’s not in it. He’s his own person. I’ve seen him be nice to people. Not to me, but I’ve seen it. He’s so much better than the stuck up bastard everyone thinks he is.” Ginny gaped at her. Pansy was in love with Draco. She hadn’t even realized that airhead was capable of love.
“What are you going to do then? Follow him around like a lap dog for the rest of your life?” Ginny began pouring out the reeking finished potion into the empty flasks.
“Oh no. I’m seeing Malcolm Baddock as well. I can’t take Draco ignoring me all the time. Malcolm pays attention to me. I know he wants me. He buys me things, takes me to Hogsmeade and meets me in deserted classrooms.” She giggled and Ginny joined in.
Pansy lined the flasks of the new potion up on Slughorn’s desk. They clashed horribly with the other forty odd bottles of brown Truth Serum.
“Well, I think you should dump Malfoy. That would make him pay attention to you. Just imagine. Draco Malfoy dumped. It would be the talk of Hogwarts. Then you could properly go out with Malcolm.” Ginny wondered what on Earth was going on. She was giving relationship advice to Pansy Parkinson.
Pansy laughed and tried to vanish the remains of the potion but managed to get rid of the cauldron at the same time. “Oops.” She giggled again, clutching the desk in front of her.
Ginny pulled out her wand and conjured up a new one, which was distinctly deformed. This caused another bout of giggles.
“I think I will dump him. And I’ll tell him all about Malcolm. He deserves it.”
They began chucking in the ingredients for their new batch of Truth Serum, giving up entirely on following the instructions and adding to the already multi-coloured smoke in the room. After a couple more minutes of giggling, the door burst open and standing there was Malfoy with an undisguised look of shock on his face. His nose wrinkled at the smoke in the room, and he took out his wand and cleansed the air.
“Pansy! What on earth is going on? I want you to go and get us some sandwiches to eat. I missed supper too. Leave the Weasel to finish up.”
“No.” She sauntered over to him and looked right at him. Being so tall, her eyes were almost level with his. “I’m dumping you for Malcolm. At least he gives me what I want.” She burst into hysterical giggles.
“What?” He looked strangely at her a moment then took out his wand and pointed it at her. “Sobrietus.” She visibly straightened and did not break her stare. “Of course you don’t want to break up with me. I’m the best-looking boy in Hogwarts. Malcolm’s not important.”
“Oh, but I do. I’ve been meaning to break up with you for months. Now, I’ve got business to attend to, if you don’t mind.” She strutted past him and left the dungeon without a backward glance at Draco or Ginny.
Ginny started laughing.
“Do you want to die, Weasley?” Draco snarled, looking as if he could kill her with a stare.
“Not really.”
“Then I’d stop laughing right now. First you shout at me and knee me in the balls, then you persuade my girlfriend to break up with me, and now you’re laughing at me.”
“You deserve it. I think you’ve been utterly horrible to Pansy. Despite the fact that she’s usually incredibly annoying and a big bitch most of the time, it’s no excuse.” She stared at him accusatorily and felt the effects of the Potion beginning to wear off, leaving her feeling tired and confused. What an odd evening.
“As much as I’d like to believe you persuaded her to break up with me because you are hoping you might have a chance, which you don’t, I think this was out of pure spite against me. It’s very childish you know.”
“You’re wrong, actually. I just felt sorry for Pansy. Even she deserves someone better than you. Anyway, you should thank me; it was only a matter of time before word got out that she was sleeping with Malcolm Baddock behind your back. I’ve just saved you the embarrassment.”
“Sorry, Weasley, but there’s no way I’m ever going to believe that you persuaded my girlfriend to break up with me for my own benefit.” He looked around the dungeon and his eyes fell on the array of bottles lined up on the desk. “You two made a complete mess of the simplest potion, didn’t you? You must be completely incapable. But then, it doesn’t surprise me from a Weasley.”
“Leave your pathetic insults to my brother. You know, Pansy told me some interesting things about you…”
Draco’s eyes narrowed. “Save it. I don’t want to know.” Draco went to the window and looked out, feeling a strange sadness now that Pansy was gone. She was a constant in his frantically complicated life. She was nice to him, if in an annoying way. He was tired of people who manipulated him, used him, kept secrets from him.
Ginny watched him. She had expected more a reaction. Now he just looked weary in a way someone his age should never look. Her thoughts returned to what Pansy had said. He’s not what he appears to be. He doesn’t even want to be a proper Death Eater. His heart’s not in it. He’s his own person. I’ve seen him be nice to people. Perhaps she was wrong about him. Maybe he had simply been mistaken about the Horcrux. She looked down.
“Malfoy. I’m sorry about what I said earlier. You’re right, I don’t know anything about you-”
“No, you don’t. And I don’t want your apology.” Draco’s words were harsher than he had intended.
“Fine, then you won’t get it.” That was the last time she’d try to apologize to him. He was so difficult. She looked over at the mixture of potions on the front of the desk. She was going to have to finish it, or they’d just get another detention. She made her way back over to the half filled cauldron, vanished the useless contents and eyed the piles of ingredients still lined up. Measuring out the Eucalyptus leaves she started on another batch.
“Try Replicas Threum,” Draco suggested and left the room.
What? Ginny thought. After a moment’s consideration, she went over to the professor’s desk and pointed at one of the correct bottles of Truth Serum.
“Replicas Threum.” An identical bottle appeared next to the original. Brilliant, she thought, wondering what had possessed Draco to help her after everything she had done.
It all fell apart as they began on batch five. Ginny’s arm was sore from the chopping of Halliday Roots, and Pansy had started grumbling to herself about how unfair this whole detention it was. Ginny knew it was only a matter of time before she started blaming the whole thing on her.
“We’re ready for the Giant Hair,” Pansy stated grumpily.
“Are you sure? Haven’t we got to wait for ten minutes?”
“No. That’s not until after we’ve added the Giant Hair and the Halliday Roots. Just add the bloody hair, Weasley.”
Ginny couldn’t be bothered to argue, so she picked up the five hairs using the metal tongs. There was no way she was going to touch it. Peering over at the steadily bubbling orange liquid, she dropped the hairs as Pansy stirred using a large wooden spoon.
As soon as the hair touched the surface of the potion, plumes of blue smoke rolled up and out of the cauldron, rapidly spreading across the room. Ginny choked and pulled the sleeve of her jumper across her mouth and glared at Pansy.
“Eugh. I told you it had to wait ten minutes.”
“Well you should have paid more attention to the instructions on the board and not left it up to me to tell you when we needed another ingredient.” Pansy looked moodily at the now purple potion, still forcing reams of smoke into the room. It smelt toxic.
This was so unfair, and Ginny was so sick and tired of potion making with Pansy, that she couldn’t hold off arguing back. “It was entirely your fault, Pansy, and you know it. Now we have to start this batch all over again and you can do it all.” Ginny put her hands on her hips.
“No way.” Pansy flicked her hair back and squinted at the board. “Six stirs clockwise.” She grabbed the spoon back and did just that.
Ginny’s mouth fell open. “We can’t just carry on the way we left off. The whole potion is wrong!”
“So? Who cares? Slughorn can just throw it away and we’ll still have made our hundred bottles. He never said they had to be done right.”
Ginny took a deep breath and choked again. She decided to just go along with Pansy. Anything to get this stupid potion finished. Goodness knows what substance they will have created in the end. She was convinced she felt lightheaded from the smoke still curling around the room. She dropped in the Stone of Salick. The potion hissed and turned a suspicious green. There was no way this was Truth Serum.
Ten minutes passed and Ginny was feeling distinctly dizzy. It wasn’t a bad feeling. She looked across at Pansy, who was leaning against the wall and crushing beetles at the same time.
“So, what was the famous Harry Potter like in the sack?” Pansy suddenly asked.
Ginny gaped at her. “What?”
“You heard me.” Pansy gave her a lopsided grin.
“I wouldn’t know,” she replied in a defensive voice. She grabbed on to the desk as the room gave an odd turn.
“No way!”
“We were only going out for a few weeks,” Ginny explained. Pansy still looked blank and Ginny avoided rolling her eyes. Of course, that wouldn’t make any difference to Pansy. “But he was a rubbish kisser, so I wouldn’t expect he’d be very good.” Ginny clamped her hand over her mouth. How could she have just said that?
Pansy giggled. “It doesn’t surprise me. Potter’s too distracted with saving the world to bother about the important things.” They both laughed.
Feeling another rush, as if she’d drunk too much Butterbeer, she decided to continue their bizarre conversation. “Does Malfoy live up to his Slytherin Sex God title then?”
Pansy shrugged. “He refuses to sleep with me.” She looked a little horrified at what had just said.
Ginny was astounded. “Why? Haven’t you been going out for over a year already?”
“Yes, well, sort of. He doesn’t like me. I’m not stupid. He only wants to be with me for the social benefits.” Pansy tried to look as if she didn’t care, but Ginny could see a slight glint to her eyes. Maybe it was just the affects of whatever Truth smoke they’d inhaled.
“He’s such a bastard. I don’t know why you bother.” His sneering face filled Ginny’s mind.
“Oh, but he’s not. He’s not what he appears to be. He doesn’t even want to be a proper Death Eater. His heart’s not in it. He’s his own person. I’ve seen him be nice to people. Not to me, but I’ve seen it. He’s so much better than the stuck up bastard everyone thinks he is.” Ginny gaped at her. Pansy was in love with Draco. She hadn’t even realized that airhead was capable of love.
“What are you going to do then? Follow him around like a lap dog for the rest of your life?” Ginny began pouring out the reeking finished potion into the empty flasks.
“Oh no. I’m seeing Malcolm Baddock as well. I can’t take Draco ignoring me all the time. Malcolm pays attention to me. I know he wants me. He buys me things, takes me to Hogsmeade and meets me in deserted classrooms.” She giggled and Ginny joined in.
Pansy lined the flasks of the new potion up on Slughorn’s desk. They clashed horribly with the other forty odd bottles of brown Truth Serum.
“Well, I think you should dump Malfoy. That would make him pay attention to you. Just imagine. Draco Malfoy dumped. It would be the talk of Hogwarts. Then you could properly go out with Malcolm.” Ginny wondered what on Earth was going on. She was giving relationship advice to Pansy Parkinson.
Pansy laughed and tried to vanish the remains of the potion but managed to get rid of the cauldron at the same time. “Oops.” She giggled again, clutching the desk in front of her.
Ginny pulled out her wand and conjured up a new one, which was distinctly deformed. This caused another bout of giggles.
“I think I will dump him. And I’ll tell him all about Malcolm. He deserves it.”
They began chucking in the ingredients for their new batch of Truth Serum, giving up entirely on following the instructions and adding to the already multi-coloured smoke in the room. After a couple more minutes of giggling, the door burst open and standing there was Malfoy with an undisguised look of shock on his face. His nose wrinkled at the smoke in the room, and he took out his wand and cleansed the air.
“Pansy! What on earth is going on? I want you to go and get us some sandwiches to eat. I missed supper too. Leave the Weasel to finish up.”
“No.” She sauntered over to him and looked right at him. Being so tall, her eyes were almost level with his. “I’m dumping you for Malcolm. At least he gives me what I want.” She burst into hysterical giggles.
“What?” He looked strangely at her a moment then took out his wand and pointed it at her. “Sobrietus.” She visibly straightened and did not break her stare. “Of course you don’t want to break up with me. I’m the best-looking boy in Hogwarts. Malcolm’s not important.”
“Oh, but I do. I’ve been meaning to break up with you for months. Now, I’ve got business to attend to, if you don’t mind.” She strutted past him and left the dungeon without a backward glance at Draco or Ginny.
Ginny started laughing.
“Do you want to die, Weasley?” Draco snarled, looking as if he could kill her with a stare.
“Not really.”
“Then I’d stop laughing right now. First you shout at me and knee me in the balls, then you persuade my girlfriend to break up with me, and now you’re laughing at me.”
“You deserve it. I think you’ve been utterly horrible to Pansy. Despite the fact that she’s usually incredibly annoying and a big bitch most of the time, it’s no excuse.” She stared at him accusatorily and felt the effects of the Potion beginning to wear off, leaving her feeling tired and confused. What an odd evening.
“As much as I’d like to believe you persuaded her to break up with me because you are hoping you might have a chance, which you don’t, I think this was out of pure spite against me. It’s very childish you know.”
“You’re wrong, actually. I just felt sorry for Pansy. Even she deserves someone better than you. Anyway, you should thank me; it was only a matter of time before word got out that she was sleeping with Malcolm Baddock behind your back. I’ve just saved you the embarrassment.”
“Sorry, Weasley, but there’s no way I’m ever going to believe that you persuaded my girlfriend to break up with me for my own benefit.” He looked around the dungeon and his eyes fell on the array of bottles lined up on the desk. “You two made a complete mess of the simplest potion, didn’t you? You must be completely incapable. But then, it doesn’t surprise me from a Weasley.”
“Leave your pathetic insults to my brother. You know, Pansy told me some interesting things about you…”
Draco’s eyes narrowed. “Save it. I don’t want to know.” Draco went to the window and looked out, feeling a strange sadness now that Pansy was gone. She was a constant in his frantically complicated life. She was nice to him, if in an annoying way. He was tired of people who manipulated him, used him, kept secrets from him.
Ginny watched him. She had expected more a reaction. Now he just looked weary in a way someone his age should never look. Her thoughts returned to what Pansy had said. He’s not what he appears to be. He doesn’t even want to be a proper Death Eater. His heart’s not in it. He’s his own person. I’ve seen him be nice to people. Perhaps she was wrong about him. Maybe he had simply been mistaken about the Horcrux. She looked down.
“Malfoy. I’m sorry about what I said earlier. You’re right, I don’t know anything about you-”
“No, you don’t. And I don’t want your apology.” Draco’s words were harsher than he had intended.
“Fine, then you won’t get it.” That was the last time she’d try to apologize to him. He was so difficult. She looked over at the mixture of potions on the front of the desk. She was going to have to finish it, or they’d just get another detention. She made her way back over to the half filled cauldron, vanished the useless contents and eyed the piles of ingredients still lined up. Measuring out the Eucalyptus leaves she started on another batch.
“Try Replicas Threum,” Draco suggested and left the room.
What? Ginny thought. After a moment’s consideration, she went over to the professor’s desk and pointed at one of the correct bottles of Truth Serum.
“Replicas Threum.” An identical bottle appeared next to the original. Brilliant, she thought, wondering what had possessed Draco to help her after everything she had done.
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