Chapter 25

“Dracoooooo, are you really going out with that Loony girl or are you just trying to break her heart to make up for all of the crap she put you through? Because that’s what I would do,” Pansy drawled in her annoying squeaky voice.

“I like Luna, Pansy and I’m not going to break her heart. Now can you please move?” Draco asked impatiently. Pansy had cornered him in the corridor and started questioning him about Luna.

Pansy pouted, “B-but... I thought we had a thing...”

“What thing?” Draco sighed, “There was never a thing Pansy.”

“What about all we’ve been through?”

“We haven’t been through anything! Please just get over it.”

“One last kiss?” Pansy asked sweetly.

“One last kiss...? When was there a first one?”

Pansy rolled her eyes, “fine then. Will you at least hang out with me at lunch?”

Draco looked at her uncertainly, “depends. What are you planning on doing at lunch?”

“What do you think? Eating.”

“...Fine, I’ll hang out with you at lunch,” he agreed, anxious to get away from her.

Her face brightened, “Okay! Meet me in the spare classroom by the Great Hall at lunch. Bye bye Draco,” She cooed, walking away from him happily.

What a weirdo... Draco thought, wondering why he ever thought that she was cooler than Luna. He shrugged and headed to class.

Pansy skipped class that day. She was too busy in the girl’s lavatory, brewing a special philtre (a potion made to enchant or charm the drinker). The ingredients were simple and the process was rather easy for potions. When she was finished the love potion, she bottled it and headed to the spare classroom to get things ready.

At lunch, Draco reluctantly headed to the spare classroom to meet Pansy. She greeted him with a smile and ran her fingers up his arm seductively. Draco shrugged her off of him. He saw the disappointment through her seductive smirk but ignored it.

“I’m glad you came, Draco, I got us a special treat,” she smiled and held up a bottle of firewhiskey.

He eyes the bottle suspiciously, “isn’t firewhiskey banned from Hogwarts?”

She nodded, her easy expression never leaving her features. He grinned impishly and held out his hand for the bottle but she shook her head.

“I already poured them,” Pansy told him, reaching for two goblets.

She handed him one but he shook it away, “I want the other one.”

“Suit yourself,” she shrugged and handed him hers. Draco figured if she was going to drink it then there was nothing wrong with it so he took a careful sip, the burning sensation tingling on his lips. What Draco didn’t notice was the unusually sweet yet spicy tang of the drink. He couldn’t have noticed since this was his first time drinking firewhiskey; although he’d never tell Pansy that. After watching Draco drain the glass, Pansy looked at him expectantly, a small smile playing on her lips. He smiled at her and put the glass down, no change in his attitude. Pansy’s smile faltered; had the potion not worked?

“I have to get to class,” Draco said and waved, “see ya around Pansy.”

“Um... bye,” she squeaked, utterly disappointed and frustrated at herself. How could the potion not work? She brewed it exactly as the instructions said! After puzzling for a while over what could have gone wrong, Pansy decided to check the book that the recipe was in. As she carefully scanned the page, one thing stood out that she hadn’t noticed before... one thing that ruined her chances and most likely, Draco’s relationship with Luna. In small print near the bottom of the page it read:

‘This potion will take an hour or so to take effect.’