#samb:c2

Narcissa was several minutes late to the potions class, as was usual for her this year; what was the point in turning up on time when Slughorn would let her get away with being a little late? Ordinarily, she would swan in and take her place beside Regulus, or Simone, or whichever of the Greengrass twins that she felt like sitting beside that day, but she quickly realised on a brief scan of the class that it was not to be the case. Instead, the class appeared to be split into assigned partners - there was no other reason for Regulus to be paired up with Gladys Gudgeon, after all. 

If she was dismayed or surprised at having to sit beside the boy whom she recognised from a conversation several days earlier, and whose name was drawing a blank, she did not show it - though her usual impassive expression did not indicate that she was particularly pleased either.

In the background, Slughorn explained that they would be making the Draught of Peace. The moment he was done, she turned to her new partner: “I will not be touching any innards of anything that was once breathing.”