 Derf and a bit of Noble Lovely™ | Captain Hurted | Ariana's Bane | Resident Antagonist | Unparalleled Delight
It had taken a lot of convincing to get Abra all the way down to the Potions Laboratory. He was not a fan of the subject to start with, and was even less of a fan of the dungeon corridors; they were too much like things he preferred not to think about. The prospect of quality time with his Hufflepuff had done the trick, and then it didn't hurt that there was the added bonus of maybe getting a little bit of non-classroom (and therefore stress-free) practice in so he maybe wasn't so horrific at brewing by the time the next Potions class rolled around.
But that part was a bonus and actually wouldn't have remotely tempted him had it been anyone but Derf doing the tempting.
Speaking of Derf, Abra went ahead and let him do all the writing, because that was his strength, so naturally it was his job. And... well, actually, creatures were Derf's strength too, but he'd let Abra do the animal-choosing job when it came to getting the fur they needed, and told him what he needed to do once he had decided, and Abra had done just that.
"I thou-" He broke off suddenly at the sound of another familiar voice in the room, and jumped perhaps a foot in the air in his surprise. Heart pounding wildly, he span around and looked towards the source, but he already know that Noble was right there. Discomfort gripped him, and his stomach began doing flips in the really-not-fun way. This was just as bad - perhaps worse - than being scrutinised during an actual lesson. Without there being a whole class of people to focus on, all their mistakes would be noticed and maybe remarked upon and maybe even mocked and laughed at and just... Merlin. Why hadn't it occurred to him that Noble wouldn't let students brew potions unsupervised? It seemed so OBVIOUS now.
The comment about being unprepared, however, was enough to ignite something within Abra. He remembered losing points for actually properly literally being unprepared for a lesson, and now that it wasn't actually the case actually, his face burned and he felt a sudden rush of something to his head. Being called out for stuff was one thing, but it was a whole OTHER thing when actually it wasn't true.
"Ithoughtwecouldusecathairs," Abra blurted out, his words coming out far louder than he wanted them to, so that they seemed to echo around the room and also around his ears for a million years even once he wasn't talking anymore. His face flushed a little more, and he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small phial of cat hairs before speaking again, quieter now. "Squigs donated these."
Thinking about Squigs soothed Abra's temper somewhat, so... that was good. Imagining what it would be like to BE a cat - his favourite animal, by the way - also helped. He swallowed hard, and continued, trying to pretend it really was just the two of them in there, to keep the anxiety at bay if at all possible. He spoke so incredibly quietly, however.
"Maybe if you double check the instructions and keep the notes, and I'll sort the animal ingredients you don't want to do and check the colour of the potion as we go, that might work?" Uh... in theory. They'd figure out the rest as they went along, but those were at least the weak areas they could help out each other with.
__________________ Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You?
You are Chocolate! |