HBP/HP6 stuff, that means it might have spoilers in it.
I don't own any of it. For example, if I did, you'd have a better idea why Luna and Hermione where left in the basement together.
-o-
It's impossible to manufacture or imitate love.
One of the prime tenants of anyone making love potions. Almost the most important rule, beneath only the more general rule of: You probably don't want to poison anyone this time Luna.
Luna wasn't the best alchemist of her grade, or even the entire school. She wasn't interested in memorizing the rotes that had been written in thousands of books, the spells that were approved by the Ministry, or tried and true methods practiced into eight hundred years of oblivion.
Magic had an origin. Witches and Wizards who didn't have books or teachers, just an instinctive urge to act. Magical Theory, while infinitely harder and more unpredictable then core spells was where her interest laid. That's why Dumbledore had asked her for this small boon.
As she sat in the abandoned work room, only crickets and the moonlight surrounding her, she placed her wand to her forehead, pulling out a long silvery strand, placing it directly into the small, liquid filled copper cauldron. All while the strand writhed and twitched like an eel in too small a container.
The last batch fizzled when heat was applied. Before that it was too much ice. Before that too much slug slime. Week after week, her weekends spent working on what the books declared would be impossible, without actually looking at the issue from any other direction.
A sprinkle of catmint, a pinch of thistle, and a quarter twist of lime. This time there was a good dose of moonlight to steep the potion in, though the best potions often needed months to simmer.
She didn't have months.
Dumbly-tumbly explained it quite simply at first. Love is the most powerful force in existence. And Harry needed as much as he could get if he wanted to survive.
He had the love of his friends, the love of a family (if not his, then at least the Weasleys), but he had yet to actually be in love.
Cho didn't count. Cho was a mixture of his lust and her need. Lust can be manufactured by any street corner hack.
She poured the thin glowing soup into a long glass vial, holding it up in the moonlight, inspecting it for any damage to the precious memory held in suspension.
No, he wasn't incapable of love, he just needed that last tiny push needed to go from close to closer.
It didn't help that she Knew. Knew that Ginny hadn't gotten over him. Knew she was following Hermione's advice, just to get that much closer to him. It didn't hurt that she was helping her just a little.
This batch was keeping it's consistency much better then number twenty-two. The transmission vector was almost prepared, all she needed was to get the target set in, the potion fully jelled, and then re-thinned for maximum efficiency.
In the end, if this worked right, no one would notice she did anything at all. And that was the best gift of all.
-o-
"I'm sorry about those jerks, were they hurting you?"
Wide, permanently surprised eyes looked over the redheaded girl offering her hand down to her, the blonde's heart fluttering in her chest for the very first time. Was this what they called Love-At-First-Sight? If so, it was vastly underrated. "My name is Luna. Luna Lovegood..."
-o-
She smiled going through her script in her head, "Hey Ginny, I got you this in Hogsmeade." Offering her friend a small pink perfume bottle, the contents slightly milky, slightly minty, and the result of weeks of work.
While true love can not be manufactured or imitated, people can always create and share love, however they see fit.