Becoming Corruption

When I awoke the next morning, I wasn’t surprised to see my things thrown all over again. Sighing heavily, I pushed myself up, only to wince when my hands touched the bed. Glancing down at them, I grimaced. My palms were bloodied, and angry red lines cut their way across my skin. I could see where I still had slivers of ceramic stuck in the wounds; those scratches were swollen and a deep purplish-red color.

Getting to my feet, I nearly tripped over my upturned suitcase. Muttering a few choice words, I crawled over it and made my way to the bathroom. Though magic would have been faster, I didn't trust using a wand on myself. I turned on the cold water to numb my hands; they ached at first, but the pain began to ebb soon enough. I began to meticulously pick out the ceramic slivers, flinching when I dug a little too hard. I'd gotten most of the pieces out when I realized why no one else was in the room. Glancing at the clock by the door, I realized I only had ten minutes until class. Groaning, I quickly shut off the water and rushed to get ready.

My first class of the day was potions, which also happened to be my least favorite subject. What a great start to my day.

I just barely made it into the room before class started, and I began to search desperately for a place to sit. Though he got on my nerves, and I was sure he’d already ratted me out to our father, I wished Draco had this class so I could sit with someone I knew. The only three people I recognized were Harry, Ron, and Hermione; they also had an open seat, but I just couldn’t sit there.

“Miss Malfoy, if you’re quite ready for us to begin, please take your seat,” the professor said from the front of the room. I stood rooted to the spot, desperately searching for somewhere else to go. "There's a seat just here," he continued pointedly, nodding towards the three people I wanted to avoid. Left with no choice now, I slowly began to advance to the Trio’s table.

“Just great,” Harry growled as I paused at the table.

You and me both, buddy, I thought bitterly as I forced myself to ask politely,

“Can I sit with you guys?”

Harry and Ron ignored me completely, but to my surprise, Hermione scooted over a bit to make room for me on the bench. I gingerly sat down, careful not to brush up against her, and folded my hands in my lap. They were still throbbing, and I was sure a few cuts would end up infected, but I sucked it up and ignored the pain.

“Welcome to Potions! I’m Professor Slughorn, and I look forward to teaching each and every one of you! To get started, each table will work together to make any potion of their choice. The harder the potion, the more points you’ll earn for your houses. Have fun, and brew safe!”

No one at our table moved; we all stared awkwardly ahead, holding stone-still until Slughorn said,

“Alright, you four, let’s get a move on!”

Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet and asked,

“How about Devil’s Water?”

Hermione glanced up at me, looking impressed.

“You know how to make that?”

I nodded as I brushed my ever-annoying bangs out of my eyes. Harry and Ron remained as impassive as ever, so I said,

“If you gather the ingredients, I’ll get to work on the cauldron.” As Hermione nodded and headed for the ingredient storage, I went to the front of the room and grabbed the right sized cauldron, lugging it back to the table. Pulling my wand out, I began to boil the water.

“Should we let a Malfoy wave its wand around us?” Harry asked rudely, smirking at Ron. But before Ron could say anything, Hermione had returned, her arms full of the ingredients.

“Okay, Harry, I want you to slice up this Mandrake root; Ron, set to work on peeling the wolbrucks…”

Hermione cut off, turning to me. She opened her mouth, and then slowly shut it. She wasn’t sure how to talk to me, I realized.

“What do you want me to do?” I offered, keeping the water at a steady boil.

“Er, if you could portion out these powders…”

“Yeah, sure,” I said to her, stepping aside to let her take over the cauldron. Using my wand, I meticulously began to take out the right amount of ground Pallywunkle root when Harry bumped his arm into mine; the entire container of powder toppled to the ground. My cheeks flushed a bright red as Harry said cooly,

“Oh, whoops.”

Biting my lip to keep the explosion of irritation at bay, I swept up the powder and siphoned it back into the container. As I passed by the table to put the excess ingredients away, I caught the glare Hermione sent Harry.

“That was uncalled for,” she chastised, pouring the sliced mandrake root into the cauldron.

When I returned to the table, most of the ingredients had been added. Ron was just scooping up the powdered centaur tail to pour into the cauldron. Realizing what he was about to do, my hand shot out and I grabbed a hold of his wrist, saying,

“Hold on a sec.”

Immediately, Harry was in my face, wand at the ready.

“Get your hands off him!”

I met his eyes evenly, feeling the irritation sparking in my gaze.

“If he pours it in all at once,” I said calmly, pulling Ron’s arm back and then releasing it, “the potion will boil over and it’ll be ruined.”

“She’s right,” Hermione added before Harry could accuse me of lying; she reached out and lowered his wand from my chest.

“Fine,” Ron said haughtily, holding his hand out to me. “You do it, then.”

Opening my palm, Ron poured the powder into my hand. Moving to the cauldron, I sprinkled a few teaspoons into it, counted to four, then sprinkled a bit more, repeating that until I’d put all of it in. Once the last bit was poured in, the potion began to quiver, and it slowly turned from its murky green color to a vivid red.

As Slughorn passed by our cauldron, he clasped his hands together and gasped,

“Oh! I haven’t seen such well-prepared Devil’s Water in ages! Fifty points to Gryffindor!”

The warm glow of pride spread through me as I stared down at the potion. Ron and Harry muttered something about my dark magic as they began to pack up. I helped Hermione clean out the cauldron and put the supplies away. When we returned to the table, Harry and Ron had left.

As I scooped my things into my bag, Hermione said,

“That was really brilliant of you.”

Caught off guard, I glanced up at her and said,

“Oh, thanks. You too.”

Hermione looked surprised for a moment as she stared at me.

“Your eyes are green,” she said suddenly, then immediately looked embarrassed at her exclamation.

“What?” I asked, puzzled.

“I, well, I just assumed your eyes were blue. Like- like Draco’s…”

Meeting Hermione’s gaze, I said with a quiet intensity,

“Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean I’m like him every way.”

With that, I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and disappeared out of the classroom.