"Ugh, double potions the first day!" Matt groaned, as he and two other sixth years strode down the corridor. Unlike his two companions, Matt was a Hufflepuff, though he never bothered to walk to class with a member of his own house anymore.
"Well at least Slughorn leaves you alone," said the skinny black-haired boy to his right. "He never misses an opportunity to call on me, and it's always the stuff even Hermione has trouble with. If it weren't for that book..."
"That's right," Matt said, "where is Hermione? I thought something was missing from this picture."
"She's up in the hospital wing," said the dark-haired boy. "A jinxed book from the restricted section, I think. What was it that it did to her again Ron?"
"Boils. Or at least, that's what she said. They weren't anywhere I could see though," replied the tall, gangly redhead to Matt's left. The boys chuckled a little bit at that, though they stopped abruptly as they rounded a corner and nearly ran into a cluster of Slytherins.
"Well, if it isn't Potter and the Weasle," drawled the pale, blond boy who was clearly the center of the group. "And it looks like they've picked up a stray. Red hair, hand-me-down robes. Hmm. Relative of yours, Weasley?"
Matt flushed, and Ron ground his teeth. "He's my cousin, and he just transferred here from America. Don't mind Malfoy, Matt. His people skills could be beat by a flobberworm's." Matt chuckled uneasily. "C'mon Harry, Matt, let's get to class, Slughorn'll probably want to meet his new student beforehand."
"What I want to know," Malfoy called after them, "is how a relative of the Weasles got into Hufflepuff? I at least thought their sorry family was consistent!" The laughter of the group of Slytherins followed them into the dungeon where Advanced Potions was held, and Matt said nothing as Harry and Ron picked out a table in the back with five stools.
"Don't worry about him, Matt. Malfoy'll have it out for anyone that hangs around with us, so if it's gonna bother you, now would be the time to go sit with Dean Thomas over there," Harry said laughingly. Matt offered a weak grin.
"No, I think I don't need approval from the likes of him. Is he seriously like that all the time?"
Harry winked. "Only if he really likes you." Ron elbowed him in the ribs.
"Look, Draco's got his hands on another girl. Wonder how Pansy feels about that?"
"Dunno, seems like he's been running through the girls in our year awfully fast. Better get to anyone you have your eye on fast, Ron," Harry replied, laughing.
"Shut up Harry," Ron said, ears turning red.
"Aw, Ron, you got your eye on someone?" Matt asked jokingly, but before Ron could respond, Professor Slughorn rapped on his desk and called the class to attention.
"Alright class, today we're going to do a bit of review, because this potion has become increasingly popular among the servants of He Who Must Not Be Named, and Professor Dumbledore has asked me to go over it with all of the classes. Who can tell me about the Polyjuice Potion, and why it might be dangerous in the hands of a Death Eater?"
"This is the part where Hermione would raise her hand. You'll learn to give her plenty of space when she does that, she can be pretty aggressive," Harry whispered into Matt's ear, sending little swirls of warm breath down Matt's neck. He shivered and glanced to see Harry's easy grin.
Matt was saved having to respond when Slughorn turned to Harry, smiling.
"Harry! How about you, old chap? What can you tell us about the Polyjuice?"
"Well sir, it can give you the appearance of anyone you like, so it means that a Death Eater could look exactly like your own mum and you'd never know unless you have some sort of safety question. They just have to get hold of a hair or something from the person they want to look like," Harry said, every bit the good student.
"Exactly! Never fail, do you Harry? Ten points!" Slughorn cried happily.
"He's in a good mood today," Ron commented as Slughorn continued on his topic.
"Yeah," Harry said, "dunno why though. At least I didn't have to look up the answer to that one." At Matt's puzzled look he continued, "Hermione, Ron and I made up a batch of Polyjuice in our second year."
"Woah," Matt said. "How'd it turn out?"
"Hermione got cat hair by accident," Ron laughed, "but we did the potion right."
"Yeah," Harry said, eyes misting over nostalgically, "that was the only time we've been in the Slytherin common room, and I wish we'd taken better advantage of the situation."
Matt raised an eyebrow. "What d'you mean?"
For some reason, Harry flushed and quickly nodded towards the front of the classroom. "He's giving instructions now, better pay attention to this part," he grunted.