"I really think the two of you shouldn't have done that," Hermione said, clutching her books as they left the defense room.
"You saw how Snape was talking," Harry said. "No wonder he was after this job for so long. He gets to stand in front of kids talking about how dangerous and powerful the Dark Arts are— I wonder how he knows? Oh, right. Because he's a damn Death Eater."
"Quiet, Harry!" Hermione said, frantically looking around the hallway. No one was around to hear except me and Ron, and we weren't going to tell. Hermione turned back to Harry. "You shouldn't say those things about him."
"Everyone knows it's true. He's marked and everything."
"But that's only so he can work with Dumbledore—"
"For now," Harry muttered.
Hermione huffed. I'd have to ask one of them about Snape later. Probably Ron. Harry seemed like he was tempted to murder Snape just by looking at him and I didn't trust Hermione's opinion on anyone with a teaching position.
"I get that Harry bantered Snape — got him good, too — but what'd Percy do?" Ron asked.
I waved at Hermione when she looked at me. She pursed her lips.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I know Snape can cast non-verbally. It worked on everyone else! So why didn't it work on you, too…"
Ron shrugged. "Maybe Snape messed it up. Like his mind power wasn't good enough, or whatever it was he was getting onto Harry about."
The four of us went to the Great Hall for lunch. After that, it was down to the dungeons. Turns out, they were less dingy than I expected! Only slightly, though…
The potions room was down in the depths. I was glad the other three were with me, otherwise I would've gotten so lost I might've ended up as one of those ghosts that floated around the castle.
The classroom smelled funny. There were cauldrons bubbling before we'd done anything, spewing vapors that made my nose twitch. Other than us, the class had nine kids. One was a Hufflepuff, four were Ravenclaws, and the other four were Slytherins— Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, a spindly kid I hadn't met yet, and Daphne Greengrass. She didn't even look at us but Draco glared when we came into the room. He was probably still wondering how Harry got off the Hogwarts Express in time.
We took one of the tables in the front of the room. The Hufflepuff waved, and Harry and Ron waved back.
"Good to see Ernie made it," Ron said.
"Yeah. It's nice to have a familiar face," Harry said distractedly. He was glaring back at Draco and the Slytherins sitting with him. Harry only turned away when Slughorn excitedly entered the room.
"Greetings, greetings, greetings!" Slughorn said. "Wonderful to meet all of you. And, for those of you who have already met me—" his eyes suggestively picked out Harry, Blaise, Daphne, and me. "—it's most lovely to see you again. Please, ask any questions you might have. I don't bite!"
"But you can definitely eat," Run murmured.
It was a little ironic coming from him, but I think he felt left out after Slughorn skipped him.
It got worse when Slughorn asked the class to identify the potions he'd left out. Hermione nailed every single one along with their functions. A love potion, a truth serum, something to change your appearance, and a golden concoction that was apparently bottled luck. She got thirty points for Gryffindor and Slughorn's interest as a dubious bonus.
The big reveal came when Slughorn admitted the potions weren't there just for show.
"Today, we will be concocting Draught of Living Death," Slughorn announced. "A very advanced potion. One, I should say, that I do not expect any of you to brew perfectly. Simply do your best. And, for whomever gets closest…"
Slughorn lifted a vial smaller than his thick thumb filled with something golden— liquid luck. Draco Malfoy straightened in his seat like he'd been offered a lifetime supply of hair gel. Harry noticed that too. The way he looked at the bottle changed. Harry was determined to win it just to make sure Draco couldn't.
Before the potionmaking started, Harry raised his hand. "Sir? Because we weren't aware we'd be able to take the course, Ron and Percy and I don't have cauldrons, or a copy of Advanced Potion-Making, or… anything, really."
"Not to worry!" Slughorn said. "Professor McGonagall mentioned as much. I'm sure your friends will share their tools for today. As for cauldrons and ingredients, we've got plenty of spares in the cabinet, and even a few used textbooks as well."
They did, but when the textbooks were brought out there were only two. The three of us stared at the copies. We looked at each other.
"You two take them," I said.
It's not like I was here to learn, so it was no big deal. As he arrived behind me, Slughorn took a different way.
"Self-sacrifice! Very noble, Percy. But I won't have a promising student sacrificing his learning in my classroom. Until you have time to order a book of your own, let's have you work with a partner.
Cool, I thought. I can hang out with Harry or Ron for a whole period and not have to worry about accidentally causing an explosion by stirring the wrong way. But Slughorn already had a plan.
Steering me with a hand on my back, he said, "Daphne! How are you doing today, my dear girl?"
Daphne had been about to start chopping her ingredients. She looked at me before her eyes drifted to Slughorn. "Well," she said softly.
"Lovely! You have no idea how disappointed I was when I saw that Tracey chose not to continue this subject. If she's even a fraction the Potioneer that her mother was, this little bottle of Felix Felicis would have her name on it!"
"She thought very hard about the decision," Daphne said.
"I'm sure she did, I'm sure she did. Listen, would you mind helping Percy through our first class? I'm ashamed to admit it, but we haven't quite got the materials to go around, so some sacrifices will have to be made."
Daphne didn't say anything. She started gathering her things to move to an empty table. Slughorn beamed.
"Brilliant! Give it your best effort, you two! I reckon you might just be able to nab the prize."
He chuckled and patted me on the shoulder, leaving. I grabbed the cauldron since Daphne had her hands full. I could feel the other three Slytherins watching my back.
"Don't drop it," Daphne said. "That cauldron might be the most expensive thing you've ever touched. A single dent could ruin you. And I will charge for damages."
The boys sniggered. I thought that I was in for a seriously long period, but as soon as we got to a table out of their earshot, Daphne's voice changed.
"You should have insulted me back. It would have solidified the impression that we don't know one another."
"Is that something we're doing?"
"Yes, if you're smart," she said. "I am in Malfoy's orbit and you're glued to Harry like a Flobberworm on a vegetable patch. There's no need to complicate our lives by being civil."
I scratched my head. "I usually just ignore gossip."
"I do not, as I'm not a fool," Daphne said. "Contrary to popular sayings, what others think of you can shape your future in this world… or stamp on it. I have no intention of being stepped on. Now, do you have practice with this level of potion?"
"None!"
"Prepare the ingredients. I'll do the rest."
My first job was to cut up a sloth brain. It was one of the grossest things I've ever done, and this is coming from the guy who cleaned Geryon's poop-piled stables. The instructions called for the chunks to be 'equally-sized and possessing nothing but right angles'. Students were growling and focusing so hard that it looked like laser beams were going to come from their eyes, but it was pretty easy for me. I'm good at cutting.
When I slid the cubes along the table to Daphne, she eyed them critically and offered me a nod.
"If we do win, you can take the potion," I said. "You're the one who's doing the work."
Daphne stirred the dark substance inside the cauldron six times to the right. "I don't want it."
"Not even if it's free? Everyone else is acting like their lives depend on this."
Daphne looked away from the cauldron for a moment, taking in the silent and determined students around us.
"They think that a potion will fix all their problems. Perhaps it will get them a girlfriend, a job offer, or a spot on their house Quidditch team."
"You don't want anything like that?"
"I don't believe in cheap luck," Daphne said. "I've heard of Felix Felicis and I know the things that it can do. Others might count them as a blessing, but they're nothing but contrivances. They do not last. None of my problems are so easily solved. Sopophorous Beans."
I was puzzled until I realized she was asking for the next ingredient. I scooped chopped beans into her palm. When I set them there, my fingers brushed her skin. It was coarser than expected for a girl who, frankly, acted and looked like a textbook princess fresh out of her tower.
"You're a lot chattier this time," I said. "On the train you just ignored me."
Daphne reversed her stirring, moving on to the counterclockwise portion. "Slughorn made us work together. Everyone heard that."
"Ah. Now it's not your fault that the Gryffindor is hanging out with you. The professor decided it on his own— nothing you could do to stop him."
Daphne stopped stirring for a fraction of a second. That was the only sign, but I'm pretty sure she was surprised I could figure it out on my own.
"Precisely. No rumors will circulate, especially not with the last thing Draco heard me say to you. When we return to the common room I'll tell them about the many insults we threw at each other." Daphne's lips twitched. "I regret to inform you that I got the better of you in every exchange."
"Damn," I said. "Maybe I'll have better luck next time."
"Doubtful."
We made a good team. I was able to chop and crush ingredients as well as anyone in the class. Since Daphne could read the instructions out loud, my dyslexia never got in the way. As the period went on, I started wondering if we were going to end up winning the Felix Felicis even though we were the only ones who didn't care.
Then I heard, "Outstanding, Harry! Just outstanding!"
Looking back, I saw that Slughorn had discovered Harry's brew. It was a color of pink that none of the others were. Harry barely acknowledged the professor, frantically looking back and forth between his potion attempt and the textbook he borrowed. Slughorn looked so happy I thought his chubby cheeks might burst. Hermione was the opposite. She was slightly peeved and highly confused at Harry's great success.
"Draco's not going to like that one," I said.
Daphne nodded. "I'm afraid that our class-long insults match now includes a rather scathing defamation of your mother."
"Ouch. Can we compromise and make it my dad instead?"
She considered this. "Deal."
"Good doing business with you."
I looked back at Draco. He didn't notice, too busy glaring at Slughorn and Harry. He was mad that Slughorn was more interested in the Gryffindor than him, he was angry about losing the Felix Felicis, and he was absolutely livid that it was his worst enemy who snagged it. I could practically hear him gnashing his teeth. He looked ready to hurt the next person who got too close.
"Keeping Draco happy must be exhausting," I said.
Daphne remained silent so long that I thought she wasn't going to answer.
"You have no idea," she said.
Daphne shooed me away when I tried to help clean up the work station. Now that I knew what she wanted, I stomped back to the other Gryffindors. At the very least Blaise Zabini noticed how I was walking.
Hermione and Harry were arguing about how he produced such a good potion, so it was up to Ron to welcome me back.
"Sorry you got saddled with a Slytherin the whole time," he said. "I would've worked with you if Slughorn let me."
"Ugh, tell me about it. She was the worst."
Turning my head so that Ron couldn't see, I winked at Daphne. She was too far away to even hear what I said, but she was starting to get used to me, so she could roughly guess why I'd done it. She rolled her eyes.
"Let's get back to the common room," Ron said. "We've got a free period!"
"And lots of homework," Hermione interjected without looking away from Harry.
Ron and I both groaned.
Five minutes later, Hermione was still grilling Harry. She was done quizzing him on how he made such a good potion. Instead, she was getting him to repeat everything he had done, desperate to find the point where she went wrong. Every thirty seconds or so she would mutter, "But that's not how the book said to do it!"
We had an hour break before dinner and no classes after. There was still homework to finish, but it was nice to be done in the classroom. Ahead of us, Lavender suddenly strolled into view, crossing the hall and going around a corner. She waved before she disappeared, and we waved back.
"Where's she off to?" Ron wondered. "Divination?"
No one knew and they didn't really care. I was the only one still looking when Lavender's hand reappeared. A strap was pinched between her fingers connected to a large, lacy red bra. She pulled her hand away a few seconds later.
"I'll meet you guys in the common room," I said. "I've got a detour to take."
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked. "It might be hard to find your way back."
"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure I'll have a guide."
O-O-O
"Shluuuuuuuuur–pop!"
Lavender's lips suctioned around the tip of my cock. My back was pressed into the wall of a cramped broom closet. It was nearly too dark to see. I could just make out Lavender's blond hair shining in the light that leaked under the door. Her robes were hanging off her elbows, her shirt was gone, and the bra she lured me with was thrown against the far wall. Lavender was putting her bare rack to work.
"Such a big boy," Lavender cooed. "So… thick. And virile."
Between her words she kissed the purple tip of my cock and let spit drip out of her mouth. The shaft was wrapped up in her breasts like the world's coziest burrito. Lavender moved them while talking me through it.
"Were you backed up, stuck in stuffy classes without me all day? Awww, your balls must be swelling. I want to be a Medi-Witch, you know. Let me treat your symptoms. Chu~"
Each of her kisses left a big scarlet imprint of her lips. I stroked her curls with my hand. She hadn't even given me time to strip— just dragged me inside and pinned me to the wall. After kissing the life out of me, she dropped to her knees to treat me to this service. I wasn't complaining.
"You sure know what you're doing with those," I groaned.
Lavender giggled. Her breasts felt tight and utterly soft at the same time, somehow. "So you're partial to a woman with experience."
"I wouldn't say I'm partial. But I know how to appreciate one."
"I'm glad to hear it," she purred.
She started moving her tits faster. I kept thinking she wouldn't be able to, and she kept surprising me. She was as good with her bust as some of the minor goddesses I'd shared nights with. They must have been slackers.
The fingers I had running through her hair tightened. Lavender's head was pulled to the side slightly. She didn't mind. She took it in stride with a giggle. "It's coming," I warned her.
Lavender smiled brightly and shut her eyes. She took my cum all over her face and reacted like it was a birthday gift.
"Thank you," she hummed.
She laughed as I pulled her onto her feet. I flipped up her skirt and dragged her panties down. They caught around one ankle. I was fine with that. As long as they were out of the way.
Pushing Lavender against the other wall of the closet, I hooked my arm under one of her knees and lifted that leg. I pushed my dick into her under her skirt. When the thrust landed, her breasts bounced.
"I knew you missed me," Lavender said.
I laughed. "It's been one day!"
"A very long day." She put a hand on my chest and extended her fingers. "It feels like forever since you were inside of me. Twenty-four hours is just an unreasonable amount of time to go without this!"
It was quickly getting hot inside the closet. Soon both of us were sweating. I started losing my grip on her leg so I squeezed harder. My fingers sunk in and Lavender moaned.
"I've never been with someone so strong!"
She wasn't wrong, but she didn't know the half of it.
When I finally couldn't hold onto her leg anymore I turned her over. Lavender put both her palms on the wall with her skirt flipped up over her hips, my cock plowing her from behind.
"Don't stop, just like that, yes Percy, yes Percy, yes!"
The steady beat of our bodies pounded in my ears. I hoped no one was walking outside because we definitely weren't staying quiet. Lavender screamed my name louder and louder until her folds tightened. I felt her cum and kept fucking. She bent her neck, sending her hair cascading down her pale bare back.
"Grab my hips!" she said. "You feel so good! Ram me, as hard as you can!"
She couldn't handle that. She'd break her tailbone. I compromised and gave her one thrust where I almost stopped holding back. A girl like Reyna could handle this much, but Lavender wasn't even an athlete, let alone a demigod. Sex was her idea of cardio.
"By Merlin's left bollock!" Lavender screamed.
Her ass clapped so loud that it sounded like my half-brother Tyson was playing whack-a-mole. I think I hit her cervix. It felt pretty incredible for me; I barely managed to pull out in time.
My cum hit Lavender's lower back and dripped off her sides. She sighed as if in a trance and looked back at me.
"You," she said, "are the best thing that's happened to Hogwarts in years."
"You're not too bad yourself."
Giggling, she took it upon herself to clean us up. She used her wand to get rid of the cum on her body, and her mouth to clean my cock off.
It felt so good we almost ended up going for a second round.
O-O-O
We got a couple of questions about showing up to dinner late. Rumors were probably already spreading about the two of us, given what Lavender usually put up with. Luckily, I wasn't Daphne Greengrass. When I said I didn't care about rumors, I meant it. There weren't many people whose opinions I paid attention to and none of them were dumb enough to be swayed by what strangers said.
After dinner things got a lot less fun. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I gathered around a table in the common room and — shudder — did homework. It was starting to sink in that I'd willingly gone back to school.
"Do you think Professor Sprout would accept an essay written in Ancient Greek?" I asked.
"If anyone would, it's her," Harry said. "And even she wouldn't."
I sighed. "Thought so…"
"You speak Greek?" Hermione asked.
"Ancient Greek."
Ron was eager for an excuse to stop staring at his half-finished essay. "Like Zeus and that?"
"Exactly," I said. "Zeus and that."
We weren't on the best terms, but thankfully the king of the gods and I had gotten to the point where he wouldn't split the sky just because I said his name. Bailing out his pantheon twice will do that.
"Listen," Harry suddenly said. "I didn't actually get lucky with that potion earlier. I just couldn't explain where someone might overhear. Take a look at this."
I thought he was just looking for an excuse to stop working on homework. So I immediately dropped what I was doing and leaned over, because I was too.
Harry had his loaned copy of Advanced Potion-Making out. He opened it to the page we were working from earlier and showed the margins. They were coated with scrawled notes.
"It was this book!" he said. "I did exactly what it said and—"
"Harry, you did what?!"
Ginny appeared over his shoulder. She looked as concerned as I'd seen her. Harry and Ron rushed to explain that he just followed instructions in a book and that it hadn't 'controlled him'. But Hermione latched onto the idea and snatched the textbook, hitting it with a bunch of spells she insisted would 'reveal its true nature'.
I accepted that I was out of the loop and was ready to check out, until Harry (maybe to distract himself from Hermione's frustrations that the book kept turning out to be normal) turned to me.
"I forgot to say earlier. Dumbledore wants to meet with you."
"With me?" I asked.
"Well, both of us. He and I were going to have private meetings this year. But when he sent a note about the first one would be Saturday, he asked me to bring you. Maybe he's checking on you for your aunt?"
"Maybe," I said.
Hermione gave up her deep-dive inspection on Harry's textbook, and seeing a chance he snapped it up and ran off with it, getting it away from Hermione before she could decide more extreme measures were needed. I tried to work on the essay in front of me, but only ended up staring at a blank page. Dumbledore wasn't the type to call me just to check in on how I liked Hogwarts. Especially now, when his time was running out. I was sure he wanted something, I just couldn't figure out what. Fortunately, I'd learn soon.
Five days wasn't long to wait.