Just One of Those Days

Chapter Thirty

By ~*~Angel~*~

Last time:

          "Miss Parkinson I don't believe any one asked your opinion on the matter pertaining Draco's father, now if you don't mind, please shut your mouth and sit down, class has begun," he said.  Pansy and all the other Slytherins were quite stunned, well at least they thought they were, what Snape said next shocked us all.  "And ten points from Slytherin for even thinking of making such a comment."

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Draco's POV:

          I tried not to look amazed, but bloody hell…in all six years that I've been here previously, Snape has never taken points from his own house.  He's taken hundreds from the other houses, but never from Slytherin…

          Hermione looked at him as if he was suddenly ill, "Professor…?  Are you alright?" she asked tentatively.

          He didn't look up from what he was doing, "Why would I not be Miss Granger?" he asked nonchalantly.

          She shook her head, "Oh, n-nothing Professor, you just didn't look so good…that's all…" she said, trying to cover up her shock.  Harry and Ron on the other hand didn't seem to mind at all if they stood there with open, gaping mouths.  I swear, neither of them have any tact.

          "I thank you for your concern Miss Granger, but there is nothing the matter with me," he spoke as if he truly didn't care at all.  He looked to Pansy, who, along with the other Slytherins, were still shocked and completely dumbfounded, "Miss Parkinson, I believe I told you to sit down.  Do I need to take off more points or will you do as I say?" his tone icy.  Pansy immediately sat down, shaking her head.  "Good, now, today I will divide you into groups of four and you shall each be researching a different ancient potion.  I expect each of you to do extensive research, charts, and an essay-two rolls of parchment (groans where heard from many students).  And while you may work in groups, you all must do your own packet to hand in…" he was looking around the room as if he was trying to find someone to pick on.

          Parvati raised her hand, "Professor, when is this all going to be due?" she almost whined.  Apparently the only person looking forward to this project was Hermione, for she was practically beaming.

          Snape eyed her for a moment, "In a week, Miss Padma," he answered.  Hermione was the next to raise her hand.  "Yes Miss Granger?" he sounded as if he was expecting her to ask a question.

          "What if we have more then two rolls of parchment?  Do we loose credit for that?" she asked, still smiling, obviously looking forward to this.

          "You certainly won't get any extra points, if that's what you're thinking…" his voice trailed.

          "Oh no, of course not!  I just didn't want to have points deducted for doing more!" she explained. 

          Ron leaned over to her, "Why would you actually want to do more?" he whispered to her in incredulity.

          Snape apparently heard, "Some students, Mr. Weasley," he snapped.  "Wish to get as much out of an assignment as possible.  Miss Granger obviously wishes to learn as much as she can and put it into her essay.  It is a…" he searched for the word.  "Praiseworthy characteristic in a student…one, you, unfortunately lack…" 

          Despite the fact that Ron was just insulted, Hermione was just complimented and by Snape.  Now I couldn't hide my shock, nor could any one else.  It seemed that his life goal was to insult and ridicule the Hogwart's Dream Team, and now he just paid the brains of the bunch a compliment.  I was beginning to question if today was real or I was still asleep.  I raised my hand, "Professor, what are the groups going to be?" I asked.  Maybe I'd get lucky and he'd put me with Hermione.   Hmph!  Yeah right…Snape may have been being nice, but I don't think he'd go that far…

          "I'm glad you asked Mr. Malfoy, the groups will be…" everyone crossed their fingers.  "Padma-Brown-Thomas-Finnigan, Parkinson-Crabbe-Goyle-Zabini, Malfoy-Potter-Weasley-Granger,…" the list when on but I stopped listening.  Today had to be a dream, Snape did not just pair me up with Hermione, Harry, and Ron!  That just couldn't be! 

          I looked to Hermione, "Pinch me," I told her.

          "Why?" she asked, slightly confused.

          "Because this has to be a dream, I've got to be asleep…" I said.

          She stiffed a giggle, "I know what you mean, but let's not question it, maybe Dumbledore had a serious talk with him or something, ya know?  That's always a possibility…" she said, containing herself rather well.

          Harry and Ron walked over to us, each looking dumbfounded, "I think Hell just froze over…" Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief.

          Hermione smirked, "Right, right, any way, come on guys, I want to get a really good grade (Ron snorted)!  I already have a few ideas of some potions we could do!" she said with enthusiasm.

          Harry raised an eyebrow, "Such as?" he asked.

          She thought for a moment, searching her brain for some ancient potions she already knew for some odd reason, "Well, when doing some spare reading in the library, I came upon an ancient tribe of wizards that had come up with some amazing spells and potions…" she paused.  "If I remember correctly, for potions, there were quite a few…"

          Ron interrupted, "Are you going to list them all?" he groaned.

          Hermione gave him a look, "Just the ones I remember, any way, you may be surprised that you find some of them interesting.  The first that I can remember were a few sleep potions…the Obdormisco potion puts someone to sleep, but it was very testy, it didn't always work, sometimes it would result in a person's death.  The Luceres tribe, an all male tribe back before muggles really existed, had often used this potion in attempts to sooth their children from nightmares, but unfortunately many times they ended up killing them.  So as a replacement, they came up with the Somniculosus potion, which was to just get the drinker tired.  Once that began working they made the Soporus potion, it would put the drinker into a complete, dreamless sleep,"

          "Like the potion I've taken from Madame Profrey?" Harry asked.

          "Well, slightly yes, but this potion was also a backfire, it often put the drinker in an eternal sleep, they never woke up," she explained. 

          "Yes, well, as exciting as those potions are, you got any others you remember?  I'd like the class to stay awake when we give our report…" Ron said sarcastically. 

          I nodded in agreement, "Yeah Herm…got anything else you can give us?" I asked.

          "Yeah…let me think…Well, there were quite a few dark potions that the Paeligni, a tribe that came about a bit after the Luceres did, up in Italy, around where Rome is now I believe.  They were probably one of the more…" she searched for the right word, looking much like Snape did earlier.  "Evil," she decided on.  "They were the first to create potions used of torture and death."  That got all of our attention.  She continued, "The first one I came upon was the Letum potion, this simply killed a person, it never mentioned anything about a long and painful death.  The next was the Moribundus potion, it caused the drinker to die slowly, quite unpleasant.  The rest get worse from there…" she warned. 

"During the great wars that were fought between tribes, mostly between the Paeligni and the Ramnenses, another tribe that inhabited parts of Italy.  But, like I was saying, during their battles they would use some very terrible potions on their victims, if they captured someone, they'd make sure to torture them.  It was horrible.  The potion that was most often used was the Exsanguis, once someone drank it, their blood would slowly begin to disappear from their body in a very painful way.  It was like the potion was eating it away.  The victim's heart would begin to slow in beats, and would have to work terribly hard to pump blood.  The drinker often ended up turning blue, or very deathly pale and they also often died screaming…" she paused.

"When a member of the opposite tribe found one of their own comrades dead and pale, lying in a screaming position, there were no doubts in their mind was done.  So, after a few more years, the Ramnenses came up with the Denicalis potion, it brought the dead back to life, but only if they had died within forty-eight hours.  This potion was difficult to create though.  They had to use the blood of their comrade's killer.  So, as I'm sure you can guess, this specific potion was hardly ever brewed.  Instead, the members of the tribe often tried to get revenge.  Back then the Crutiatus Curse never existed, so they came up with a potion known as the Adflictatio.  This was purely the Crutiatus Curse—potion form. 

"It was horrible, these tribes battled it out for hundreds of years, and if you think pure wizards are bad now with the way some of them treat muggles, you should hear what they were like back then.  Raping and torturing, back then muggles were simply there for target practice, if a woman fit the description of attraction and she was a muggle, she was a mere toy until they got tired of her, then they'd just threw her out to practice their torturing skills," Hermione sounded particularly disgusted at this.  But she still continued, "Those are the only killing or torturing potions I know of.  I also know of two other potions.  The Temporalis compos and the Dominatio Aegritudo.  The Temporalis Compos was a temporary control potion.  Once it was drunk, the victim was forced to do whatever its deviser wished for about thirty-two hours, but, compared to the Dominatio Aegritudo, this was nothing.  Dominatio Aegritudo was a potion, that, when roughly translated, means 'mastery of the mind.'

          "It allowed its creator to take complete control of the drinker's mind.  Harry," he looked up at her, now that she mentioned his name.  "Do you remember back in fourth year, when Professor Moody, or well, the fake Professor Moody put you under the Imperius Curse?" 

          He nodded, "Yeah, it felt like I was floating, Voldemort did it to me too…" he replied.

          "Yeah, me too…I know the feeling, but according to Ancient Wizardry by Walter Warrington, the book I was reading at the time, the Imperius Curse would be like the Tickling charm.  There's no way to fight it, and once it was drunk, you don't even knew that you've lost control of your mind.  It's like the creator has possessed your body.  He could make you think whatever he wants, do whatever he wants, and you'd think it's your own thoughts and actions…"

          "That sounds pretty bad…" I commented, though I had to say I was impressed that Hermione knew all of this off the top of her head.

          "Was Ms Granger practicing her presentation?" the oily voice of the Potions Master came from behind us.  We all turned.

          Hermione blushed, "Oh no sir, that was just some information I knew from a bit of light reading in the library one night…" she explained. 

          For a moment Snape was silent, "Yes, well, pick which potion you wish to do, you obviously can't do all of them.  I would also like to add, that if you find a potion that is harmless, I would allow you to brew it for extra points.  Of course, you then can't do the Exsanguis or any of those potions…" he elucidated.

          I nodded, "We wouldn't even think of it, Professor…but what if we tried to create the Temporalis Compos or the Dominatio Aegritudo?  Are there reverses for those potions?" I asked.

          Snape looked at me for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face, then, when that moment was over he said, "I would allow you to do either potion, as long as you test it on something along the line of an owl or a rat first, then you can test to see if the antidote works.  I have no fears of the Temporalis Compos, for its effects are only transitory, but the Dominatio Aegritudo will have lasting affects, and I don't wish this to be used on a student…"

          For some reason that upset Hermione, "So it's okay to put an animal under the Dominatio Aegritudo?" she sounded as if she was going to launch into a whole other campaign like SPEW.

          Snape sighed, "Ms Granger, I wish to try it on a rat because their minds are much simpler than a human's therefore if the remedy does not work, you can always tell it to go on living its life like it has, that will set it free of your control…" he explained. 

          Hermione thought for a moment, deciding whether or not she would experiment on an animal or not.  Oh come on Hermione, this was a once and a lifetime shot!  Are you really going to blow it by worrying about one rat!?  "Alright…I agree to the terms, but I'm going to do extensive research on the antidote.  I want to make sure that it works!" she stated confidently.

          I rolled my eyes, smiling, "Good, now that that's settled, which potion do we want to do?  I'm assuming the Dominatio Aegritudo?" I asked, looking at Harry and Ron, who, oddly enough, had been rather silent for most of the conversation.

          Ron agreed immediately, "Yeah, that sounds like the most interesting one!  Any way, if we get it to work and the antidote, I want to try it on Fred or George!" he said with a mischievous smile.

          Harry threw him a look much like Hermione had done earlier, "Yeah, okay, I suppose it won't hurt to try…but let's make sure to be careful, alright, I don't want to make a mistake and have something go very wrong…" he said, glancing at Ron, telling him to be serious.

          "Good, then I expect you all to turn in separate packets to me, if you wish, because you are doing a much harder potion, I will allow you to have a little extra time then the rest of the class," he offered, then he noticed that Pansy was shrieking about something (mostly likely idiotic), with a scowl he headed off to their direction, already threatening to send them out of class.

          I looked to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "Well…that was interesting, certainly not a reaction I was expecting, but none the less, we should probably each take care of a certain area.  You know, charts, pictures, research, that stuff…" I said.

          "I can take care of pictures and stuff, I'm sure I could take to Dad about seeing if they have anything in the Ministry that we could use, and I'll talk with Professor Binns as well, maybe he'd have some stuff too…" Ron volunteered.

          "I can take care of any charts and stuff like that, I could also do researching on the tribe that used it…the Paeligni and the Ramnenses, right Hermione?" Harry asked.

          Hermione nodded, "Right, that leaves the bulk of the research to Draco and me," she said, sounding quite excited by the idea of spending hours in the library.  Mind you I didn't have any arguments about spending hours with Hermione, but hours in the library studying?  Not my idea of romance, but who knows, maybe Herm's really randy when reading all those books?  I laughed, yeah right, keep dreamin' Malfoy…"You don't have a problem with that, do you Draco?" she asked.

          I shook my head, "Nope, I mean, who could argue to cozy library sessions?" I said, throwing her a smile.

          She just laughed, "Good then, let's get started, when class is over I'm heading straight to the library, I want to check out the books I'm going need before someone else does!" she said.

          I looked at her contently as she started arguing with Ron about work ethic. Everything was seeming to work out…I finally could stop worrying about next day…at this current point in time, my biggest worry was getting a good grade on the potions assignment.  It surprised me the way things worked, how, despite my sins in the past, I can still be forgiven by someone like Hermione, Harry, and Ron.  The fact that my life did a complete 180, for the better of course, but still utterly flipped.  I used to think, day to day, the point of me being here; I had no purpose, I had to no reason to be around.  I hadn't chosen a side, dark or light, I was neutral, no major urge to join either side, but still wanting to do more then just play it safe.  So I took a chance, and I got lucky. 

          Voldemort was still out and about, but Hermione had made a major dent in his plans, and with the Aurors after him, I knew that his downfall was near, whether the Death Eaters wanted to believe it or not.  He was going down, and he was going to fall hard.  And if I have any say in it, I'll make sure it's so that he can never get back up.  I've already decided, that after Hogwarts, that's what I'm doing, I'm going to be an Auror; I figure that's what Harry and Ron where planning, I wasn't sure about Hermione, but I can probably guess that's the same path for her.  I haven't told her, Harry, or Ron yet about my decision, but I will, probably later tonight.

          When I walked into Hogwarts in my first year, my mind was set on being what my father wanted, becoming what he had planned.  Now, as the end of my last year approaches, my mind is set on working against everything he'd ever build.  I'm not exactly sure when it happened, when I made the decision to take the risk with a girl named Hermione Granger, but I can say that I'm happy I did.  I don't, I guess it was just one of those days.

~*~Fin~*~

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          What do you all think?  Bad ending?  Good?  I should never write again?  Go ahead, be honest, you guys know I don't mind!  Though I must warn you (as I've said time and time again), flames will be used to start a fire.  I only accept constructive criticism.  I also want to let all my wonderful readers know that I've already got an idea for my next HP fic, but I'd like a few people to give their input!  If anyone's interested in a sneak peak, email me!  I'll also be looking for a few beta readers, but only a few, so it's kind of a first-come-first-serve-type-deal!  Hope that everyone liked my first attempt at a HP fic and I thank everyone who reviewed, you guys have no idea what that meant to me!  You're all the best!  Thanks for everything!  Ja ne, minna-chan!

Peace, luv, and many, many hugs

~*~Angel~*~