Fic Request Fulfilled for manda_lalala
Title: Amortentia
Author: _seratonin
Beta: smartasschef14
Rating: PG
Word count: 4406
Summary: Love potions, Ron, and Hermione never really work well.
Warnings: AU. I've basically disregarded anything after HBP with Slughorn's first lesson in order to make the plot work.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Notes: I hope my requestee likes this!
The room filled, slowly, with the scent of teenage love. He could smell the musty pages of books wafting past him as she poured, the smell of spilled ink, thick under his nose as she mixed, and he could smell the soft scent of marigolds as she measured. None of it surprised him, of course, he'd spent years around the mixture of scents, although now, in Slughorn's dungeon, he was surrounded in it, dazed by it's intoxication. He found he couldn't move as the crimson red stained his cheeks, making him a horribly useless potions partner; though he could hardly help that. The smell lingered around him, filling the dark dungeon so completely that it felt as though his mind had been filled with the fragrance, as well and it incapacitated him entirely, making him forget how to use his limbs.
She moved at lightening speed, doing her best to ignore the scent she knew all too well. She figured if she focused on making the potion she'd be able to forget about the oddly distinctive smells around her. So as she smelled fresh grass, she poured an amber coloured liquid into the cauldron in front of her, as she recognized the scent of new parchment she mixed the content quickly, three times to the left and four to the right, and as she was hit by the smell of summer - one which she couldn't quite explain but loved, none the less - she measured a pinch of lacewings into the potion. She worked twice as fast, reading quickly and following the instructions from her book to a perfect match, in hopes that her two male potion partners wouldn't noticed the faint, frazzled blush of her cheeks.
It was Valentine’s day and the school had been buzzing with new couples - after all, what could be more important than Alice Torington, a sixth year Ravenclaw, and her new Hufflepuff boyfriend? This was why the three of them found themselves sitting in the dungeon (which Slughorn had enchanted pink for the occasion), working on their latest assignment. Slughorn had laughed, good naturedly as he instructed his sixth year potions class to turn to page sixty-two of their texts and begin on their very own love potion. The group to come the closest to the correct brewing would be given bonus marks and be awarded points for their house.
Hermione had gotten right into it and had made it nearly the entire period without being affected by the scents until she'd added one of the final ingredients, causing the potion to turn it's attributed mother-of-pearl sheen. Neither Ron, nor Harry, had helped much, though when she'd asked Harry to get her beetle wings from Slughorn's back cupboard he'd looked at her as though only just realizing she was there, his cheeks flushed. Ron never looked up at her as he examined his hands intently the whole period. After that she'd given up any thoughts that her two partners would be of any help and set herself to brewing the potion single handily.
She quickly finished the potion off, smiling, despite her frazzled reaction to the smells, and glanced quickly at the boys sitting opposite her. 'I'm going to get Slughorn,' she told them, staring only at Harry. 'He'll want to see it, I suppose,' she gestured to the potion with an annoyed expression - unsure whether to feel happy with it's completion or irritated by it's affect on her.
She hopped down from the three legged stool she'd been sitting on and decided to let the happy dominate her emotions as she noticed that the other groups, scattered around their tables, seemed to only be half-way through the potion's steps. Slughorn had left the classroom mid way through the period and she couldn't help but suspect he'd gone back to his office for a quick Valentines day pick me up. She smoothed her skirt over her thighs and took a deep breath - regretting it immediately as she caught another strong whiff of the potion - and moved through the maze of tables towards the Professor’s office, hoping she wouldn't be disturbing him.
Ron had barely noticed her absence as he was lost in his own thoughts. At the start of term, when Slughorn had shown the class the different potions sitting around the room he had been very glad to hear that he'd never see the Amortentia again, since they wouldn't be allowed to brew it themselves. When he had first smelled the potion he had been caught off guard. He had dimly heard Hermione explain to the class, exactly what the mother-of-pearl coloured potion was, but he had found it hard to focus on her as her scent consumed him. It had thrown him off, at first, as he tried to pin point where he had smelled the delicious scent before and when it finally struck him (and it had struck him hard) he was staggered by it. He had been glad to get out of the classroom, then.
Now, though, the smell was intoxicating and he couldn't help but want to be near it and, at the same time, want to hold his breath and keep it from his lungs, as it was playing tricks with his mind.
'Hey, Weasel, can you smell Mudblood in there?' Draco's sneer broke his train of thought and he was jolted out of his revere as Draco's elbow connected with his back.
What happened next, happened in such quick succession that it was hard for even Harry to react. Draco snickered at his own joke as Ron flew forward from the contact, throwing his hands out in front of him to shield his face from the table's surface. Unfortunetly his hands came into contact with the freshly brewed potion, spilling it's content, covering the table in a layer of mother-of-pearl colour.
Ron choked, wiping his face dry with the sleeve of his cloak, sputtering and angry. Malfoy only howled louder at this, though Ron didn't seem to care much, as he was up in a matter of seconds, towering of Draco, his face contorted in a scowl that could turn milk.
'What did you call her, Malfoy?' he spit. Every eye in the dungeon was now focused on their table, watching intently, hoping for a fight.
Harry found it distinctly interesting that his friend had jumped so fully to the defensive of their friend, though her name hadn't even been mentioned in the exchange. He didn't bother dwelling on this because it made him rather uneasy to think of it, and instead, made himself busy by pulling his wand from the inner pocket of his cloak and cleaning up the mess which covered their table; knowing Hermione would be furious that her hard work had gone to waste. The content of the cauldron quickly fell back into it, shining as though nothing had disturbed it.
Malfoy and Ron had now drawn their wands, jabbing them into each other's chests with great force, Harry was surprised neither had a wand sticking out of them. At that precise moment Hermione came strolling through Slughorn's office door, the Professor following behind her. The class suddenly averted their eyes, becoming engrossed in their potion, again. Ron and Malfoy didn't budge.
'Ron? What are you doing?' she hissed, alarm lacing her voice. She hurried quickly to his side, her brows furrowed in confusion. 'Sit down,' she said, tugging on his robes, trying, to no avail, to steer him back to his stool.
Slughorn coughed, 'Ms. Granger? You wanted to show me your potion?' he interrupted.
She seemed fluster but quickly turned to him, Ron and Malfoy breaking apart with one warning glance tossed over their shoulder as they moved back to their tables.
'Yes, Professor,' Hermione gestured toward the table top where the cauldron sat. 'We've finished,' she told him, adding the "we" for good measure, though the three of them knew she had done it entirely on her own.
'Very good Ms. Granger. Everything seems in order,' he nodded as he examined the content. 'Perfect colour ...' he muttered to himself.
Hermione blushed - though it was impossible to see because the scent of the potion had already stained her cheeks - at his compliment. 'Thank you, sir.'
The period ended with one burnt eyebrow (no one knew how the Hufflepuff had managed that) and three green coloured potions. No one had come close to the real thing, despite Slughorn's instructions.
Hermione's potion had come out exactly as it should have, earning the three of them extra credit and fifty points for Gryffindor.
They quickly exited the dungeon, glad to be above ground again. Ron and Harry set off for Divination, parting ways with Hermione who had Arithmacy. By the time they were seated on small, squashy cushions around their table in the tower, Ron had become very flushed and the dazed look which hung onto his features alerted Harry to his difference.
'Er, Ron? Is everything alright?' he muttered, opening his text as Professor Trelawney had instructed.
He looked over, his eyes glazed over, 'yeah, of course, mate. Do you think Hermione will come watch our practise tonight?' His expression changed from dreamy to confused - as though he hadn't been meaning to say what he had.
'Er, I'm not sure. We could ask her.' Harry felt rather uncomfortable, discussing his friends not so subtle attraction to one another.
'I hope so,' again he seemed stunned by his words which made him blush a violent red.
'Yeah ...' was all Harry could muster up as he turned away from Ron and focused all of his attention on Trelawney, who was predicting the death of Neville's toad.
'Yes, I See it. You might want to say goodbye to him now, dear boy. He hasn't much time ...' he caught the start of a long rant.
'She hasn't been to the last few practises we've had, you know?' Ron carried on, completely unaware that he was now speaking to himself as Harry flipped idly through his text.
The period carried on much as it had - Trelawney spent more than half of it discussing Trevor's odds, and Ron had carried on, getting angrier and angrier with Hermione as he counted just how many practises she'd actually missed. By the end of it Harry wasn't sure whether it would be wisest to hit Ron or take him down to the Hospital Wing, to see Madame Pomfrey.
They both had their perks, though he wasn't sure Ron wouldn't hit him back.
'Is everything okay?' he asked as Ron finally stopped talking to take a breath.
This seemed to throw him off. 'Yeah, of course.'
They walked the rest of the way in silence - much to Harry's relief - and were back at the Gryffindor Tower before long. The two boys quickly hurried up to their dormitory for their Quidditch things. When they had gone back to the common room they met with Hermione who was immersed in a book and Ginny who was standing by one of the tables, waiting to head down to the pitch with the boys.
'Ready?' she asked, pushing away from the table top and grabbing her broom from beside her, 'Katie's already headed down, and I think Demelza is on her way.'
'Hermione? Are you coming to watch?' Ron muttered, going red in the cheeks.
She looked up, holding her finger midway down the page to keep her spot. 'Oh, um. I was thinking I might just stay here, it's supposed to snow tonight.'
'You haven't been to the last three practises, Hermione,' he pointed out, annoyed at her lack of commitment to their game.
'Well, yes, but I've got an Arithmacy essay to start,' she said, her brows furrowing together in confusion.
Ginny didn't seem to understand exactly why it was such an important fact that Hermione attend practise, either.
'I just think that since three of your best friends are on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, that, you know, you might think it important to come support us ...' he finished lamely, going beet red again. He clearly hadn't through his argument through very carefully.
Never the less, Hermione found herself accompanying them down to the Quidditch pitch, a cloak drawn tightly around her as soft snowflakes fell from the dark sky. She didn't seem too pleased at where she was headed but Ron, on the other hand, was positively beaming.
She sat, annoyed, in the stands as the team sped around the stadium, each after their respective ball. Harry caught the snitch in record time, while simultaneously ordering the rest of them around. Ron saved nearly all of the Quaffles - he'd gotten much better over the past year - and Katie flew circles around the pitch,
swerving Bludgers as she went.
The snow came down harder as the night wore on. Hermione's cloak soon became too light for the weather and she drew it closer to her, trying to keep the heat from escaping, hoping the practise wouldn't go on for too much longer.
Finally the Gryffindor team descended down and, covered in mud from the wet ground, headed towards the change rooms. Harry, Ron, and Ginny flew towards her, greeting her with wide smiles. They, apparently, were unaware of the cold, though it didn't stop her from shivering.
'Here, Hermione. Take my cloak.' Ron held it out to her and she gladly took it, wrapping it around her own.
'Shall we head back to the castle and change there?' Harry suggested, collecting the last bludger and stuffing it viciously back into it's trunk.
'Sounds good,' Ginny agreed, helping Harry lug the trunk back to storage.
The four headed back to the school, Ron chatting all the way. 'Hermione, did you see that save? Katie hit it hard, but I caught it. And then when she tossed it high? I got that one too. I really think I've improved.'
'Yes, you played very well tonight,' Hermione humoured him as she clutched at her robes; it really wasn't a good day to watch Quidditch.
'Demelza did well, too,' Ginny mentioned.
'Yeah, but you saw those saves, didn't you?' Ron asked eagerly.
Hermione seemed even more confused than before. She couldn't quite figure out what was up with Ron, though she could tell, very clearly, that something was wrong. He wasn't acting his usual self, and she couldn't seem to understand exactly what had gotten into him. She decided she would ask Harry once Ron was out of ear shot.
Ron didn't seem to want to give her this opportunity, as he stuck by her side nearly all night. He sat with her by the fire as she started on her Arithmacy essay, watching her with admiring eyes which made her nervous and unable to focus on writing. After working at it for nearly two hours with only three lines to show for her time, she slammed her quill down and turned to him.
'What is with you?' she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
He kept that same admiring smile one his lips, 'Nothing. Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm fine. I just -' he cut himself off.
'What?' she urged, hoping he'd have the answers which she did not.
'I just think you look very pretty today,' he muttered, blushing as he spoke.
She moved back, startled by his words - though not even she could deny the race of her heartbeat. 'What?' she breathed, her head swarming with confusion.
'I was hoping you'd want to come to Hogsmeade with me, this weekend?' he said, his eyes hopeful.
'Oh! Um. Sure, Ron. That'd be lovely,' she nodded, reassuring him. She was surprised she managed to get the words out, coherently.
His face broke out into a beaming smile, 'great! Alright. Good. Um, I'm going to, er, I'm going to just ...' he gestured happily towards the stairs which lead to the boys dorms before hurrying up them at top speed.
She was shocked - to say the least. She wasn't sure what had brought this out in him, though she wasn't about to doubt it; she'd been hoping for him to make a move - any move - and now that he had (albeit, very out of the blue, and odd for his character) she wasn't about to over think it. She closed her eyes as the fire warmed her, completely forgetting about the essay she was hoping to have finished that night.
It had been years since she first realized she had more than just friendly feelings for her best friend, though she'd done her best to both prompt his feelings and quall them. First, waiting patiently for his stupid boy brain to come to the same conclusion she had. Then, when that was clearly not going to happen, she tried to make him jealous with Viktor. Again, this had failed miserably, and so she had tried making the first move - asking him to Slughorn's Christmas party a few months ago. That had backfired drastically and so she decided she would just ignore her feelings for him entirely, hoping this would force them to extinguish.
Now, though, her heart swelled with excitement as she thought of his words. He had invited her to Hogsmeade, and although they would have gone together anyway, it seemed so much more different now he'd asked her.
She had been completely caught up in her own thoughts and by the time she was shaken from her mind by the sound of a seventh year coughing at one of the tables on the opposite side of the room, the common room had nearly emptied out.
Hermione wasn't at all in the mood to go to sleep and so she decided a walk around the seventh floor would help put her mind to rest. She discarded her quill and parchment, leaving them on the table by the fire to collect later. Lightly, she moved towards the portrait hole, eager to get out of the too quiet room.
Half way down the hall she heard whispered voices talking by a rather annoyed portrait. She recognized the two, easily spotting Harry and Ginny's voices. As she neared them she began to pick up bits of their conversation.
'-up with Ron? He seemed even more strange tonight,' Ginny was saying.
She had figured neither Harry nor Ginny had noticed, since they hadn't mentioned Ron's odd behaviour, but obviously they had. She paused, just as she was about to turn the corner. She was eager to hear what Harry had to say - if anyone knew what was wrong with Ron, it would be Harry. She stopped, waiting for his answer. He seemed hesitant to answer.
Finally he decided to play dumb, 'what do you mean?' he whispered to Ginny.
Hermione could practically hear her friend rolling her eyes. 'Oh come on, Harry. You can't tell me you didn't notice my brother, tonight. He was practically bouncing around, pointing out all of the saves he'd made at practise -'
'He did play well,' Harry pointed out.
'- and you must have noticed how often he looked down at the stands, to see if Hermione had noticed -'
'He was probably just looking around the grounds -'
'I mean, we all know how much he's liked Hermione, but tonight he seemed -' something in Harry's face must have changed because Ginny switched gears, '- you know something, don't you. What is it? You have to tell me,' her voice challenged him,
Harry let out a frustrated sigh and she knew he was scuffing the toe of his sneaker into the floor.
'Alright. But you can't say anything to anyone. Especially not Hermione. Okay?'
Ginny must had nodded.
'Well, today, during potions we were brewing love potions -'
Ginny must have looked sceptical.
'Alright, Hermione was brewing a love potion. Anyway. She left to get Slughorn and Malfoy shoved Ron and he sort of ... fell into the cauldron. It went everywhere and I guess he might have ... had some. I cleaned it up but I didn't think he'd could have had enough to even make a difference. I suppose it was enough, though ...'
Hermione's heart pounded in her ears as she tried to comprehend what she had heard. Surely Ron hadn't asked her to Hogsmeade just because he'd had some of the love potion, had he? She tried desperately to remember the many things she'd read about love potions, though her mind kept thinking of Ron and how she wished more than anything, that Harry was wrong.
He must have asked her because he wanted to go out with her, right? It couldn't have just been because he'd had some of her love potion, could it? She could feel reality crashing down around her as she breathed jagged breaths. She had been a fool to think he was interested in her. And had it not been her who had noticed his odd behaviour? Of course, she was just being naive to think that he actually had feelings for her. Why would he? She was nothing but a friend to him.
She turned, her bushy hair flying wildly around her as she flew down the corridor, back to the portrait of the Fat Lady, snoozing lightly in her frame. 'Lion tail,' she said furiously. The portrait swung open and she didn't bother answering the Fat Lady as she wondered what she was so angry about.
Hermione cursed herself all the way up the stairs as she headed to her dormitory. She should have know - but then again, she hadn't really wanted to listen to reason. She was so stubborn, so glad that he'd finally done something about all the tension - but she'd just been stupid.
She drew the hangings around her bed, not bothering to change into her nightgown, and let her head fall violently to the pillow. She hadn't expected to get much sleep that night and when the sun began to peek through her curtains she rolled out of her four poster and went to the washroom to fix herself up.
'Good morning, Hermione,' Ginny's voice was cheery, startling her as she hadn't seen her when she'd walked in.
She threw her a tight smile in response and moved to the toilet stall, hoping Ginny would leave before she came out. She had no such luck.
'Is everything alright?' Ginny asked when she immerged, walking toward the sinks.
'Yes,' she said stiffly, scrubbing her hands with furious abundance.
Ginny's brows knit together, clearly unconvinced. She was about to speak when Hermione interrupted her.
'Sorry, Ginny, I really haven't got time to talk. I wanted to speak to Professor Sprout about something before class. I'll see you later.' She left the washroom quickly, not giving her friend a second glance.
She changed and was sure to be out of the common room before either of the boys had woken up. She wasn't in the mood to see either of them and her encounter with Ginny hadn't been one she had been looking forward to. She was sure Ron would still be under the influence of the love potion, though, try as she might, her brain seemed to have turned off and wouldn't allow her to shuffle through her memory which she knew must have contained tons of information on love potions; after all, she had known so much when Slughorn had asked about it on the first day of class.
It was, of course, impossible to avoid Ron and Harry once breakfast was over. They spent the entire morning in class together; sharing a table. She gave them each the cold shoulder and many icy glances were thrown in their direction whenever either of them asked what was wrong.
Ron seemed to still be under the potions affects and he seemed tortured by Hermione's attitude. She'd heard him protest loudly, many times.
'I don't get it, Harry. Have I done something? I would never hurt her on purpose, you know that, right?' Harry answered with many uncomfortable nods.
By lunch she was fuming and very happy to only have potions with the two before she would be able to escape to Arithmacy for the rest of the afternoon. Ron had apologized nearly a dozen times by the end of the day and she had merely given him a frosty glare before carrying on as though she hadn't heard him.
By nightfall she was sitting in front of the fire, her essay out on the table as she tried her best to focus. She had only gotten four lines down by then and she was about ready to give up when Ron came down the stairs. He spotted her quickly and walked over to her.
'Harry has a theory,' he muttered quietly to her as he flopped onto the sofa beside her.
She didn't bother acknowledging him.
He sighed. 'He says you might have heard about potions yesterday. With Malfoy and me spilling everything ...'
His words made her anger flare up. 'That's the only reason you asked me to Hogsmeade, the only reason you said the things you did,' she was furious. 'You drank my bloody love potion and it made you all stupid.'
He blushed a deep scarlet. 'Hermione ...' he started. She wasn't about to let him get a word in.
'In fourth year you act like a complete git, making fun of me and Viktor,' Ron's jaw clenched, 'and then you drool over Fleur. And in fifth year you -'
'Hermione? Will you let me speak?' he interrupted her, his blush deepening. She glared at him but let him continue. 'You think I only acted the way I did because of the potion but, it really just ...'
'What, Ron?' she asked, becoming annoyed.
'Well, I guess it just gave me the courage to say what I always want to ...'
She let out a tiny gasp as Ron turned blood red, looking down at his hands in his lap, wringing them out as he waited for her to speak. Hermione whispered a tight, 'Ron?' and as he looked up she couldn't help but smile as she noticed just how nervous he seemed to be. 'I'm glad,' and she placed a quick kiss on his cheek before she turned to watch the fire, as a warmth spread through her.
------------------------
ORIGINAL REQUEST:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive: This is an idea I had and wrote myself poorly, so if someone else can write it well that would be awesome. Slughorn has them create a love potion for V-day, and one of them accidentally ingests it causing their relationship to finally start, and the other gets upset when they realize it's just the potion even though it's not.
Preferred Rating: Anything
Specifics you want (optional, maximum of three): N/A
Deal Breakers (what don't you want?): No established relationship, no first person POV, not from Harry's POV.
Thanks for participating in the exchange! Happy Valentine's Day! ♥
Author: _seratonin
Beta: smartasschef14
Rating: PG
Word count: 4406
Summary: Love potions, Ron, and Hermione never really work well.
Warnings: AU. I've basically disregarded anything after HBP with Slughorn's first lesson in order to make the plot work.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Notes: I hope my requestee likes this!
The room filled, slowly, with the scent of teenage love. He could smell the musty pages of books wafting past him as she poured, the smell of spilled ink, thick under his nose as she mixed, and he could smell the soft scent of marigolds as she measured. None of it surprised him, of course, he'd spent years around the mixture of scents, although now, in Slughorn's dungeon, he was surrounded in it, dazed by it's intoxication. He found he couldn't move as the crimson red stained his cheeks, making him a horribly useless potions partner; though he could hardly help that. The smell lingered around him, filling the dark dungeon so completely that it felt as though his mind had been filled with the fragrance, as well and it incapacitated him entirely, making him forget how to use his limbs.
She moved at lightening speed, doing her best to ignore the scent she knew all too well. She figured if she focused on making the potion she'd be able to forget about the oddly distinctive smells around her. So as she smelled fresh grass, she poured an amber coloured liquid into the cauldron in front of her, as she recognized the scent of new parchment she mixed the content quickly, three times to the left and four to the right, and as she was hit by the smell of summer - one which she couldn't quite explain but loved, none the less - she measured a pinch of lacewings into the potion. She worked twice as fast, reading quickly and following the instructions from her book to a perfect match, in hopes that her two male potion partners wouldn't noticed the faint, frazzled blush of her cheeks.
It was Valentine’s day and the school had been buzzing with new couples - after all, what could be more important than Alice Torington, a sixth year Ravenclaw, and her new Hufflepuff boyfriend? This was why the three of them found themselves sitting in the dungeon (which Slughorn had enchanted pink for the occasion), working on their latest assignment. Slughorn had laughed, good naturedly as he instructed his sixth year potions class to turn to page sixty-two of their texts and begin on their very own love potion. The group to come the closest to the correct brewing would be given bonus marks and be awarded points for their house.
Hermione had gotten right into it and had made it nearly the entire period without being affected by the scents until she'd added one of the final ingredients, causing the potion to turn it's attributed mother-of-pearl sheen. Neither Ron, nor Harry, had helped much, though when she'd asked Harry to get her beetle wings from Slughorn's back cupboard he'd looked at her as though only just realizing she was there, his cheeks flushed. Ron never looked up at her as he examined his hands intently the whole period. After that she'd given up any thoughts that her two partners would be of any help and set herself to brewing the potion single handily.
She quickly finished the potion off, smiling, despite her frazzled reaction to the smells, and glanced quickly at the boys sitting opposite her. 'I'm going to get Slughorn,' she told them, staring only at Harry. 'He'll want to see it, I suppose,' she gestured to the potion with an annoyed expression - unsure whether to feel happy with it's completion or irritated by it's affect on her.
She hopped down from the three legged stool she'd been sitting on and decided to let the happy dominate her emotions as she noticed that the other groups, scattered around their tables, seemed to only be half-way through the potion's steps. Slughorn had left the classroom mid way through the period and she couldn't help but suspect he'd gone back to his office for a quick Valentines day pick me up. She smoothed her skirt over her thighs and took a deep breath - regretting it immediately as she caught another strong whiff of the potion - and moved through the maze of tables towards the Professor’s office, hoping she wouldn't be disturbing him.
Ron had barely noticed her absence as he was lost in his own thoughts. At the start of term, when Slughorn had shown the class the different potions sitting around the room he had been very glad to hear that he'd never see the Amortentia again, since they wouldn't be allowed to brew it themselves. When he had first smelled the potion he had been caught off guard. He had dimly heard Hermione explain to the class, exactly what the mother-of-pearl coloured potion was, but he had found it hard to focus on her as her scent consumed him. It had thrown him off, at first, as he tried to pin point where he had smelled the delicious scent before and when it finally struck him (and it had struck him hard) he was staggered by it. He had been glad to get out of the classroom, then.
Now, though, the smell was intoxicating and he couldn't help but want to be near it and, at the same time, want to hold his breath and keep it from his lungs, as it was playing tricks with his mind.
'Hey, Weasel, can you smell Mudblood in there?' Draco's sneer broke his train of thought and he was jolted out of his revere as Draco's elbow connected with his back.
What happened next, happened in such quick succession that it was hard for even Harry to react. Draco snickered at his own joke as Ron flew forward from the contact, throwing his hands out in front of him to shield his face from the table's surface. Unfortunetly his hands came into contact with the freshly brewed potion, spilling it's content, covering the table in a layer of mother-of-pearl colour.
Ron choked, wiping his face dry with the sleeve of his cloak, sputtering and angry. Malfoy only howled louder at this, though Ron didn't seem to care much, as he was up in a matter of seconds, towering of Draco, his face contorted in a scowl that could turn milk.
'What did you call her, Malfoy?' he spit. Every eye in the dungeon was now focused on their table, watching intently, hoping for a fight.
Harry found it distinctly interesting that his friend had jumped so fully to the defensive of their friend, though her name hadn't even been mentioned in the exchange. He didn't bother dwelling on this because it made him rather uneasy to think of it, and instead, made himself busy by pulling his wand from the inner pocket of his cloak and cleaning up the mess which covered their table; knowing Hermione would be furious that her hard work had gone to waste. The content of the cauldron quickly fell back into it, shining as though nothing had disturbed it.
Malfoy and Ron had now drawn their wands, jabbing them into each other's chests with great force, Harry was surprised neither had a wand sticking out of them. At that precise moment Hermione came strolling through Slughorn's office door, the Professor following behind her. The class suddenly averted their eyes, becoming engrossed in their potion, again. Ron and Malfoy didn't budge.
'Ron? What are you doing?' she hissed, alarm lacing her voice. She hurried quickly to his side, her brows furrowed in confusion. 'Sit down,' she said, tugging on his robes, trying, to no avail, to steer him back to his stool.
Slughorn coughed, 'Ms. Granger? You wanted to show me your potion?' he interrupted.
She seemed fluster but quickly turned to him, Ron and Malfoy breaking apart with one warning glance tossed over their shoulder as they moved back to their tables.
'Yes, Professor,' Hermione gestured toward the table top where the cauldron sat. 'We've finished,' she told him, adding the "we" for good measure, though the three of them knew she had done it entirely on her own.
'Very good Ms. Granger. Everything seems in order,' he nodded as he examined the content. 'Perfect colour ...' he muttered to himself.
Hermione blushed - though it was impossible to see because the scent of the potion had already stained her cheeks - at his compliment. 'Thank you, sir.'
The period ended with one burnt eyebrow (no one knew how the Hufflepuff had managed that) and three green coloured potions. No one had come close to the real thing, despite Slughorn's instructions.
Hermione's potion had come out exactly as it should have, earning the three of them extra credit and fifty points for Gryffindor.
They quickly exited the dungeon, glad to be above ground again. Ron and Harry set off for Divination, parting ways with Hermione who had Arithmacy. By the time they were seated on small, squashy cushions around their table in the tower, Ron had become very flushed and the dazed look which hung onto his features alerted Harry to his difference.
'Er, Ron? Is everything alright?' he muttered, opening his text as Professor Trelawney had instructed.
He looked over, his eyes glazed over, 'yeah, of course, mate. Do you think Hermione will come watch our practise tonight?' His expression changed from dreamy to confused - as though he hadn't been meaning to say what he had.
'Er, I'm not sure. We could ask her.' Harry felt rather uncomfortable, discussing his friends not so subtle attraction to one another.
'I hope so,' again he seemed stunned by his words which made him blush a violent red.
'Yeah ...' was all Harry could muster up as he turned away from Ron and focused all of his attention on Trelawney, who was predicting the death of Neville's toad.
'Yes, I See it. You might want to say goodbye to him now, dear boy. He hasn't much time ...' he caught the start of a long rant.
'She hasn't been to the last few practises we've had, you know?' Ron carried on, completely unaware that he was now speaking to himself as Harry flipped idly through his text.
The period carried on much as it had - Trelawney spent more than half of it discussing Trevor's odds, and Ron had carried on, getting angrier and angrier with Hermione as he counted just how many practises she'd actually missed. By the end of it Harry wasn't sure whether it would be wisest to hit Ron or take him down to the Hospital Wing, to see Madame Pomfrey.
They both had their perks, though he wasn't sure Ron wouldn't hit him back.
'Is everything okay?' he asked as Ron finally stopped talking to take a breath.
This seemed to throw him off. 'Yeah, of course.'
They walked the rest of the way in silence - much to Harry's relief - and were back at the Gryffindor Tower before long. The two boys quickly hurried up to their dormitory for their Quidditch things. When they had gone back to the common room they met with Hermione who was immersed in a book and Ginny who was standing by one of the tables, waiting to head down to the pitch with the boys.
'Ready?' she asked, pushing away from the table top and grabbing her broom from beside her, 'Katie's already headed down, and I think Demelza is on her way.'
'Hermione? Are you coming to watch?' Ron muttered, going red in the cheeks.
She looked up, holding her finger midway down the page to keep her spot. 'Oh, um. I was thinking I might just stay here, it's supposed to snow tonight.'
'You haven't been to the last three practises, Hermione,' he pointed out, annoyed at her lack of commitment to their game.
'Well, yes, but I've got an Arithmacy essay to start,' she said, her brows furrowing together in confusion.
Ginny didn't seem to understand exactly why it was such an important fact that Hermione attend practise, either.
'I just think that since three of your best friends are on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, that, you know, you might think it important to come support us ...' he finished lamely, going beet red again. He clearly hadn't through his argument through very carefully.
Never the less, Hermione found herself accompanying them down to the Quidditch pitch, a cloak drawn tightly around her as soft snowflakes fell from the dark sky. She didn't seem too pleased at where she was headed but Ron, on the other hand, was positively beaming.
She sat, annoyed, in the stands as the team sped around the stadium, each after their respective ball. Harry caught the snitch in record time, while simultaneously ordering the rest of them around. Ron saved nearly all of the Quaffles - he'd gotten much better over the past year - and Katie flew circles around the pitch,
swerving Bludgers as she went.
The snow came down harder as the night wore on. Hermione's cloak soon became too light for the weather and she drew it closer to her, trying to keep the heat from escaping, hoping the practise wouldn't go on for too much longer.
Finally the Gryffindor team descended down and, covered in mud from the wet ground, headed towards the change rooms. Harry, Ron, and Ginny flew towards her, greeting her with wide smiles. They, apparently, were unaware of the cold, though it didn't stop her from shivering.
'Here, Hermione. Take my cloak.' Ron held it out to her and she gladly took it, wrapping it around her own.
'Shall we head back to the castle and change there?' Harry suggested, collecting the last bludger and stuffing it viciously back into it's trunk.
'Sounds good,' Ginny agreed, helping Harry lug the trunk back to storage.
The four headed back to the school, Ron chatting all the way. 'Hermione, did you see that save? Katie hit it hard, but I caught it. And then when she tossed it high? I got that one too. I really think I've improved.'
'Yes, you played very well tonight,' Hermione humoured him as she clutched at her robes; it really wasn't a good day to watch Quidditch.
'Demelza did well, too,' Ginny mentioned.
'Yeah, but you saw those saves, didn't you?' Ron asked eagerly.
Hermione seemed even more confused than before. She couldn't quite figure out what was up with Ron, though she could tell, very clearly, that something was wrong. He wasn't acting his usual self, and she couldn't seem to understand exactly what had gotten into him. She decided she would ask Harry once Ron was out of ear shot.
Ron didn't seem to want to give her this opportunity, as he stuck by her side nearly all night. He sat with her by the fire as she started on her Arithmacy essay, watching her with admiring eyes which made her nervous and unable to focus on writing. After working at it for nearly two hours with only three lines to show for her time, she slammed her quill down and turned to him.
'What is with you?' she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
He kept that same admiring smile one his lips, 'Nothing. Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm fine. I just -' he cut himself off.
'What?' she urged, hoping he'd have the answers which she did not.
'I just think you look very pretty today,' he muttered, blushing as he spoke.
She moved back, startled by his words - though not even she could deny the race of her heartbeat. 'What?' she breathed, her head swarming with confusion.
'I was hoping you'd want to come to Hogsmeade with me, this weekend?' he said, his eyes hopeful.
'Oh! Um. Sure, Ron. That'd be lovely,' she nodded, reassuring him. She was surprised she managed to get the words out, coherently.
His face broke out into a beaming smile, 'great! Alright. Good. Um, I'm going to, er, I'm going to just ...' he gestured happily towards the stairs which lead to the boys dorms before hurrying up them at top speed.
She was shocked - to say the least. She wasn't sure what had brought this out in him, though she wasn't about to doubt it; she'd been hoping for him to make a move - any move - and now that he had (albeit, very out of the blue, and odd for his character) she wasn't about to over think it. She closed her eyes as the fire warmed her, completely forgetting about the essay she was hoping to have finished that night.
It had been years since she first realized she had more than just friendly feelings for her best friend, though she'd done her best to both prompt his feelings and quall them. First, waiting patiently for his stupid boy brain to come to the same conclusion she had. Then, when that was clearly not going to happen, she tried to make him jealous with Viktor. Again, this had failed miserably, and so she had tried making the first move - asking him to Slughorn's Christmas party a few months ago. That had backfired drastically and so she decided she would just ignore her feelings for him entirely, hoping this would force them to extinguish.
Now, though, her heart swelled with excitement as she thought of his words. He had invited her to Hogsmeade, and although they would have gone together anyway, it seemed so much more different now he'd asked her.
She had been completely caught up in her own thoughts and by the time she was shaken from her mind by the sound of a seventh year coughing at one of the tables on the opposite side of the room, the common room had nearly emptied out.
Hermione wasn't at all in the mood to go to sleep and so she decided a walk around the seventh floor would help put her mind to rest. She discarded her quill and parchment, leaving them on the table by the fire to collect later. Lightly, she moved towards the portrait hole, eager to get out of the too quiet room.
Half way down the hall she heard whispered voices talking by a rather annoyed portrait. She recognized the two, easily spotting Harry and Ginny's voices. As she neared them she began to pick up bits of their conversation.
'-up with Ron? He seemed even more strange tonight,' Ginny was saying.
She had figured neither Harry nor Ginny had noticed, since they hadn't mentioned Ron's odd behaviour, but obviously they had. She paused, just as she was about to turn the corner. She was eager to hear what Harry had to say - if anyone knew what was wrong with Ron, it would be Harry. She stopped, waiting for his answer. He seemed hesitant to answer.
Finally he decided to play dumb, 'what do you mean?' he whispered to Ginny.
Hermione could practically hear her friend rolling her eyes. 'Oh come on, Harry. You can't tell me you didn't notice my brother, tonight. He was practically bouncing around, pointing out all of the saves he'd made at practise -'
'He did play well,' Harry pointed out.
'- and you must have noticed how often he looked down at the stands, to see if Hermione had noticed -'
'He was probably just looking around the grounds -'
'I mean, we all know how much he's liked Hermione, but tonight he seemed -' something in Harry's face must have changed because Ginny switched gears, '- you know something, don't you. What is it? You have to tell me,' her voice challenged him,
Harry let out a frustrated sigh and she knew he was scuffing the toe of his sneaker into the floor.
'Alright. But you can't say anything to anyone. Especially not Hermione. Okay?'
Ginny must had nodded.
'Well, today, during potions we were brewing love potions -'
Ginny must have looked sceptical.
'Alright, Hermione was brewing a love potion. Anyway. She left to get Slughorn and Malfoy shoved Ron and he sort of ... fell into the cauldron. It went everywhere and I guess he might have ... had some. I cleaned it up but I didn't think he'd could have had enough to even make a difference. I suppose it was enough, though ...'
Hermione's heart pounded in her ears as she tried to comprehend what she had heard. Surely Ron hadn't asked her to Hogsmeade just because he'd had some of the love potion, had he? She tried desperately to remember the many things she'd read about love potions, though her mind kept thinking of Ron and how she wished more than anything, that Harry was wrong.
He must have asked her because he wanted to go out with her, right? It couldn't have just been because he'd had some of her love potion, could it? She could feel reality crashing down around her as she breathed jagged breaths. She had been a fool to think he was interested in her. And had it not been her who had noticed his odd behaviour? Of course, she was just being naive to think that he actually had feelings for her. Why would he? She was nothing but a friend to him.
She turned, her bushy hair flying wildly around her as she flew down the corridor, back to the portrait of the Fat Lady, snoozing lightly in her frame. 'Lion tail,' she said furiously. The portrait swung open and she didn't bother answering the Fat Lady as she wondered what she was so angry about.
Hermione cursed herself all the way up the stairs as she headed to her dormitory. She should have know - but then again, she hadn't really wanted to listen to reason. She was so stubborn, so glad that he'd finally done something about all the tension - but she'd just been stupid.
She drew the hangings around her bed, not bothering to change into her nightgown, and let her head fall violently to the pillow. She hadn't expected to get much sleep that night and when the sun began to peek through her curtains she rolled out of her four poster and went to the washroom to fix herself up.
'Good morning, Hermione,' Ginny's voice was cheery, startling her as she hadn't seen her when she'd walked in.
She threw her a tight smile in response and moved to the toilet stall, hoping Ginny would leave before she came out. She had no such luck.
'Is everything alright?' Ginny asked when she immerged, walking toward the sinks.
'Yes,' she said stiffly, scrubbing her hands with furious abundance.
Ginny's brows knit together, clearly unconvinced. She was about to speak when Hermione interrupted her.
'Sorry, Ginny, I really haven't got time to talk. I wanted to speak to Professor Sprout about something before class. I'll see you later.' She left the washroom quickly, not giving her friend a second glance.
She changed and was sure to be out of the common room before either of the boys had woken up. She wasn't in the mood to see either of them and her encounter with Ginny hadn't been one she had been looking forward to. She was sure Ron would still be under the influence of the love potion, though, try as she might, her brain seemed to have turned off and wouldn't allow her to shuffle through her memory which she knew must have contained tons of information on love potions; after all, she had known so much when Slughorn had asked about it on the first day of class.
It was, of course, impossible to avoid Ron and Harry once breakfast was over. They spent the entire morning in class together; sharing a table. She gave them each the cold shoulder and many icy glances were thrown in their direction whenever either of them asked what was wrong.
Ron seemed to still be under the potions affects and he seemed tortured by Hermione's attitude. She'd heard him protest loudly, many times.
'I don't get it, Harry. Have I done something? I would never hurt her on purpose, you know that, right?' Harry answered with many uncomfortable nods.
By lunch she was fuming and very happy to only have potions with the two before she would be able to escape to Arithmacy for the rest of the afternoon. Ron had apologized nearly a dozen times by the end of the day and she had merely given him a frosty glare before carrying on as though she hadn't heard him.
By nightfall she was sitting in front of the fire, her essay out on the table as she tried her best to focus. She had only gotten four lines down by then and she was about ready to give up when Ron came down the stairs. He spotted her quickly and walked over to her.
'Harry has a theory,' he muttered quietly to her as he flopped onto the sofa beside her.
She didn't bother acknowledging him.
He sighed. 'He says you might have heard about potions yesterday. With Malfoy and me spilling everything ...'
His words made her anger flare up. 'That's the only reason you asked me to Hogsmeade, the only reason you said the things you did,' she was furious. 'You drank my bloody love potion and it made you all stupid.'
He blushed a deep scarlet. 'Hermione ...' he started. She wasn't about to let him get a word in.
'In fourth year you act like a complete git, making fun of me and Viktor,' Ron's jaw clenched, 'and then you drool over Fleur. And in fifth year you -'
'Hermione? Will you let me speak?' he interrupted her, his blush deepening. She glared at him but let him continue. 'You think I only acted the way I did because of the potion but, it really just ...'
'What, Ron?' she asked, becoming annoyed.
'Well, I guess it just gave me the courage to say what I always want to ...'
She let out a tiny gasp as Ron turned blood red, looking down at his hands in his lap, wringing them out as he waited for her to speak. Hermione whispered a tight, 'Ron?' and as he looked up she couldn't help but smile as she noticed just how nervous he seemed to be. 'I'm glad,' and she placed a quick kiss on his cheek before she turned to watch the fire, as a warmth spread through her.
------------------------
ORIGINAL REQUEST:
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive: This is an idea I had and wrote myself poorly, so if someone else can write it well that would be awesome. Slughorn has them create a love potion for V-day, and one of them accidentally ingests it causing their relationship to finally start, and the other gets upset when they realize it's just the potion even though it's not.
Preferred Rating: Anything
Specifics you want (optional, maximum of three): N/A
Deal Breakers (what don't you want?): No established relationship, no first person POV, not from Harry's POV.
Thanks for participating in the exchange! Happy Valentine's Day! ♥