Disclaimer: I do not own Negima.

Tibby: I'm rolling in with several ideas. The only problem is that I start another one before I finish the one that preceded it and I haven't gotten far on those that I have come up with, this being my third one.

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The day had started out normal enough. Negi taught his class, though not without the usual hitches. It was when they returned home that the wheel of events began to turn. Konoka had not returned with them, instead deciding to hang out with Setsuna. She also mentioned that she might be spending the night elsewhere and not to worry if she didn't return that night. That left Negi, Asuna and Albert on their own.

The ermine mentioned that he had recently dug out an old parchment with ingredients listed to make a potion. This potion would supposedly increase the power of a magi exponentially.

"Just think, aniki! You could become even more powerful by drinking this potion! We should mix some up right away!" Albert exclaims eagerly from his perch (which was Negi's shoulder).

Negi looks over at his small friend, "So my spells would be stronger?"

Albert grins, "Not only that, but you should be able to cast a lot more spells than you can now. You'll have more magic than you know what to do with!"

The boy smiles brightly, balling his hands into eager fists, "Then lets get to work on making that potion!"

Asuna, who had been listening the entire time, gains a look of unease, "Are you sure about this? I mean, you don't exactly seem to have much luck when it comes to making potions. That love potion from awhile back was proof of that…."

The ermine looks over at Asuna, still appearing as confident as ever, "Don't worry so much, Ane-san! He has my help this time around, so things should turn out smoothly! Soon you won't have to worry so much about big brother here when he's by himself!"

She immediately turns her back to them, folding her arms, "Pah! Like I worry too much! It'll be nice not to have to come running to his aid all the time." Upon feeling their gaze on her back, she growls lightly and darts out, "I'm taking a shower and then delivering the evening paper! Don't disturb me while I'm showering or so help me…!"

Negi smiles nervously once she disappears, "Asuna-san really does worry too much." He turns back towards Albert, "Lets start gathering the ingredients for the potion. By the looks of it, we'll need to take a trip to the store to get a few of the ingredients and I would rather do that while it's still light outside." He gathers his robe and slips that on before grabbing his staff, his eyes traveling in the direction of the bathroom, "Shouldn't we tell Asuna-san that we're going? I don't want her to worry…."

Albert waves his paw, "It'll be fine! It's not like we'll be gone for too long anyway."

Negi nods before casting another glance at the bathroom door as he quickly makes his way out the front with Albert on his shoulder. They returned later to a thrashing from Asuna however, who had been worried over him disappearing. After some apologizing from Negi, she had calmed down and he immediately began to work on the potion with the ingredients they had gathered.

Asuna, now in her pajamas, watches him from her position on her bed. Since he was in his small study area, they were basically even in height from the floor. She looks from the potion to the back of his head, "And you're positive that this will do what it's supposed to?"

He glances over his shoulder at her and nods, "Yes, it should. As long as I get all of the ingredients right and in the right amounts, it should work."

"And if it doesn't?" she questions somewhat hesitantly.

He smiles nervously, "Well, we would be seeing what'll happen for ourselves. Hopefully it won't be too bad. But things should be fine!"

She slips under the covers, looking away for the time-being, "If you say so, but don't come crying to me if things don't work out the way they should." She closes her eyes, "I'm going to sleep, so try to keep for the most part quiet."

Negi complies silently before once again focusing his complete attention on the potion. Within another hour or so of adding, mixing and heating, the potion was complete.

The boy smiles brightly at the accomplishment, "We're done!"

Albert, who had been off to the side reading off the ingredients, hops onto Negi's shoulder and looks at the steaming vial of a reddish liquid, "Make sure you wait until it cools down a bit before drinking it, aniki. It would be a shame if you burned your mouth."

Negi yawns before climbing down onto ground level and searching for his own pajamas in effort to pass some time while waiting for the potion to cool. Upon finding them, he undresses and then dresses into them, all the while making sure that Asuna was sleeping. He climbs back up into his study area and tests the vial's temperature, only to find that it was still a little too warm. He sighs, picks a book off of the shelf and begins to read, occasionally stealing glances at Asuna while deep in thought, 'I wonder what would happen to her once my powers get stronger. Will she be stronger too because of it? I really hope so. Afterall, she's my closest partner and I don't want to go on ahead without her.'

"Aniki, the potion's cooled down enough I think! Hurry up and down it so that we can see the results quicker!" Albert shouts, although quietly as not to disturb Asuna from her slumber.

Negi nods and sets down the book he had been reading before reaching over and gently taking the vial. He swirls it around a bit, staring at it deeply, "Even if I drink this, everything aside from my power will remain the same, right?"

The ermine blinks, "What do you mean?"

The boy shrugs, "Like I'll look the same and act the same. I know I'll be getting a lot of power, but I don't want that to change anything about me or about how people will act around me. I want life to remain the same as it is now, even with that power."

The talking animal laughs a bit, patting the back of Negi's head fondly, "It'll be fine! If anything other than your power will change, it'll be that you're kicking butt even more and harder than before!"

At Albert's reassurance, Negi smiles before returning his eyes to the vial, "Bottom's up then." He tilts back his head slightly before bringing the vial to his lips and slowly drinking it. As was to be expected, it did not have a pleasant taste and Negi's face scrunches up after finishing, "I don't think I want to have that stuff again."

"So, how are you feeling aniki?" Albert questions, looking the boy over a little.

Negi raises his hands in front of him and looks at his palms, "I don't feel any different. I would've thought that I was supposed to feel some sort of surge of power, but I guess not. Maybe we did something wrong?" He picks up the parchment and looks over it, although his eyes were beginning to cloud over a bit from drowsiness. He rubs at his eyes with the back of his hand, "Eh, we'll figure this out tomorrow. I'm getting rather tired right now. Let's just sleep on it and see if anything feels different tomorrow."

With that said, he climbs down while Albert remained behind to clean up. The boy slides under the covers of his futon and lies on his back for awhile before rolling over onto his stomach. He buries his face into his pillow a little before slowly dozing off, followed by Albert within a few minutes.

However, he wakes up a little after one in the morning with his body in serious pain. He grimaces, tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes, "It… hurts…." His words were in a barely audible whisper, him being in too much pain to want to talk anyway. He whimpers softly, his dark eyes traveling up to Asuna's bunk as he forces his body to begin moving, 'I know Asuna-san doesn't like me crawling into her bed… but I hurt so much…! I might feel better with her… like I would with my sister….'

He slowly and achingly begins rising to his feet, not noticing at the moment that his pajamas were rather tight on him. The boy drags himself up the ladder with a pillow in hand and upon reaching the top, quietly and carefully lies himself down next to her. He sets the pillow under his head and slips under the covers. He shuts his eyes tightly in pain, whimpering again before rolling over onto his side and hugging her. He had started to cry softly, not understanding why he was hurting so much.

Asuna wakes slightly and looks at him, her eyes half-lidded, "Wha…?"

Negi looks up at her, looking nothing short of pathetic with his cheeks wet from tears, "A-Asuna-san… please… just tonight… let me sleep here just tonight….." He buries his face just below her collar bone, shutting his eyes tightly again as well as tightening his hug.

She blinks, partially conscious and her tired eyes widen slightly upon realizing that his body was quivering. Not feeling up to thrashing him from both exhaustion and sympathy, she surprisingly wraps her arms around him, "Fine… just tonight though since you don't look too good…." She closes her oddly-colored eyes once more, returning to an unconscious state within moments.

Negi's lips twitch into a faint smile and would have been amused at Asuna's quickness to fall back to sleep if it weren't for the pain he was in. He remains cuddled up against her, feeling comforted in some way, shape or form. Although he continues to be in a great deal of agony, he ends up falling back asleep after an half an hour or so. They both would be in for a big surprise when they woke up later that morning….