Chapter 8: Potions Disaster

Harry woke up the next morning not wanting to get out of bed. He knew what lay ahead of him today.

Reluctantly he got out of bed and got dressed. He went down the stairs and saw Ron and Hermione waiting for him.

Hermione stared at him as he walked down the stairs.

"Ready to go to potions?" Harry said as he walked through the portrait hole.

Hermione and Ron nodded their heads up and down. They went through and followed Harry.

Harry was looking increasingly nervous as he walked down the dungeon stairs. Hermione and Ron noticed this but Hermione had told Ron about Harry's little outbreak the other night so they stayed silent.

They had finally arrived at potions and Harry saw Malfoy had already arrived. So Hermione and Ron went and sat in their chairs.

Harry awkwardly walked over to his seat and sat down. Malfoy had previously been looking over at Harry's empty seat but when Harry came over he looked determinedly away.

Harry looked at the front of the class determined not to make eye contact with Malfoy. Snape walked into the classroom and stood at the front.

"Before we start class today, two students did a potion and they will both be called up and one will drink some of the potions," Snape said as he stared at Harry and Malfoy.

Harry and Malfoy, taking the hint, got up and went to the front. Snape took their potion vial from his desk and handed it to Harry.

"What potion did you boys brew?" Snape asked as he went and sat down at his desk.

Malfoy responded, "We brewed Veritaserum."

"Well go ahead Potter," Snape said maliciously.

Harry took a deep breath and downed a small vial of it.

"Go ahead Malfoy, you may ask questions," Snape exclaimed.

"What's it like living with those Muggles?!" Malfoy asked, unsure of what to say.

Harry tried not to say anything but then words started tumbling out of his mouth uncontrollably.

"It's horrible, they locked me in a cupboard until I was 11 and they barely fed me anything at all, just enough to keep me alive." Harry clapped his hand over his mouth.

The class immediately started whispering.

Malfoy looked nervous as he asked, "What happened in the 3rd task last year?"

The class went silent and everyone wanted to hear what actually had happened in the 3rd task.

Harry tried to cover his mouth but failed, he was not ready to tell anyone else this.

"Cedric and I grabbed the cup at the same time. The cup was a portkey which we didn't know at the time, it teleported us to a graveyard. There waiting was one of Voldemort's servants."

Everyone gasped, shivered, or fell when they heard the Dark Lord's name.

"The servant was holding a little bundle. The bundle said 'Kill the spare!' then Cedric died in front of me." Harry started tearing up at this point. "That's when the servant tied me to a gravestone and took my wand. He then put the bundle gently down and went over to the cauldron. He cut off his hand, I didn't see it because I had closed my eyes, but his screams pierced the air. He then went to the grave I was on and opened it and took a bone from it. This was Voldemort's father's grave. He put the bone in the cauldron and then he came over to me. He rolled up my sleeve and cut a long line down my forearm. He got some of my blood on the knife and dropped it into the cauldron." At this point, many students gasped and looked on edge and Harry was trying not to start sobbing. "He then threw the bundle into the cauldron and then Voldemort rose from it," Harry explained the rest of everything from the Death Eaters to seeing echoes of his parents and escaping.

Harry was on the verge of breaking down. Everyone looked shocked, including Malfoy. Harry had stopped talking and looked very anxious.

Malfoy asked, "Who did that to your hand, and can you show the class your hand?"Harry almost obediently lifted his hand and showed the hand with the "I must not tell lies" on it. Everyone at this point was either confused or horrified. "Professor Umbridge did it, because I told the truth about the graveyard, and I'm begging you don't tell anyone about this," Harry whispered desperately as the potion wore off and he collapsed to his knees. Without thinking, Malfoy rushed over to him and went down on his knees. Malfoy put his hand on Harry's shoulder but quickly let go.

"Are you ok Harry?" said Malfoy with concern in his voice as Harry got up as if nothing happened.

"I'm fine," Harry said with a deadpan expression on his face.

As calmly as he could he walked back to his seat, aware of the faces staring at him. His hands were shaking extremely as he sat down.

Malfoy was left in the front of the classroom recovering from how quickly Harry turned cold to everyone. Malfoy went to sit back down in his seat and saw Harry's eyes tearing up and his hands shaking violently.

Snape resumed his bored expression and got the attention of the class and started teaching.

Harry meanwhile was trying to calm himself as his hands were still shaking violently and his breathing was fast. Malfoy remembered how holding Harry's arm had made him calm down so he did the only thing he could think of and took Harry's hand which was under the desk. Harry was unsure what to think as he was still mad at Malfoy for asking those questions but he didn't pull his hand away.

Malfoy could feel how violently Harry shaking was but slowly it got less and less until finally, it was only a little quiver. Malfoy sneaked a glance at Harry and he seemed to be breathing normally again. If Harry had turned around he would see Hermione who was sitting in the chair behind him as she watched Harry and Malfoy holding hands. Malfoy had looked away and Harry turned his head a bit and saw Malfoy tinted pink. Harry turned to the front of the class and smiled slightly for the first time in a while.