Enchanted
Part 1
Harry sighed. He couldn't wait to get out of class. With Valentine's Day coming in a few weeks, they were learning about love potions with Snape, and his mood was even worse.
"I hate this," Ron said, adding rose petals, the final ingredient, to their potion. "It smells like a perfume factory in here." The last smells you would possibly expect in Snape's potion dungeons.
"I thought love potions weren't allowed at Hogwarts," Hermione said, bitterly remembering the article Rita Skeeter wrote in their fourth year about her using one on Viktor Krum.
"They aren't, but Professor Dumbledore wants us to learn as much as we possibly can," Ron said.
Harry snorted. "And love potions can help us defeat Voldemort by making him fall for us?"
Lavender looked horrified, but Hermione and Ron sniggered, despite the name.
"It could prove in useful anyway," Hermione said thoughtfully, changing her mind.
"Well," Snape barked. "Class is over. Clean up your area, and I want a two parchment essay on anything dealing with love potions, due Monday. Now get out!"
The class packed up quickly and ran out the door.
"So," Draco Malfoy said. "Gangly, I'm sure that lesson was easy for you. Was that the potion you used on Viktor Krum, or was it a lot stronger? It must have been hard to make anyone like you." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered, but a bit too late.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry warned. He could sense that Hermione was still thinking about that.
"Harry, let it go. Just ignore him. He's just bitter because he has a complete lack of a love life. Unless you count Pansy Parkinson!" Hermione said, giggling.
"You leave her out of this!" he said threateningly, cold gray eyes blazing.
"Ooh, someone's in love!" Ron said.
Malfoy was about to retort, but by then, all the Gryffindor boys were chorusing, "Malfoy and Parkinson, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"You shut up!" he said furiously, whipping out his wand. "Granger, this is all your fault!" He muttered a spell and waved his arm. Pink sparks shot out at Hermione. "It's a sneak preview of our next Charms lesson," he explained, "the Entrancement Enchantment." He instructed Hermione, "This is where you fall in love with your best friend. See you later!" He and his goons walked off, smirking.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Ron asked.
"I'm fine," she said calmly. "I think the spell backfired. I mean, how would Malfoy know anything about Entrancement Enchantments?"
"Suppose it did work," Harry said. "Really, do you know anything about them, Hermione?"
"I stayed away from love potions and entrancement enchantments," she said. "It just wasn't my kind of thing."
"So it could be working," Ron said. Harry and Hermione noted the hopefulness in his voice.
* * *
Harry ran to the Great Hall. He hadn't seen Hermione or Ron all morning, so he had gone to the library and done some research. It was about time for lunch, and he was really curious to find out what they had been up to.
He instantly spotted Ron, due to his flaming hair, which stood out easily in the hall. He ran over anxiously.
"What is it?" Ron asked through clenched teeth. He had been having a conversation with Seamus and Dean about some pretty Ravenclaw girls.
"It's about the enchantment –" Harry began.
"Tell me later," Ron said, "Dean said he could get me a date with someone for the Valentine's Ball."
"But it's important –" he said impatiently.
"Did you not hear the fact that Dean can get me a date?"
Harry sighed. "Fine. Have you seen Hermione?"
"She's probably in the library," Ron said quickly, obviously hoping to ward Harry off.
He was most likely right, so Harry sped off again. He ran right by Snape, who luckily was so infuriated with teaching how to make love potions, that he didn't even notice him for the first time since he started Hogwarts.
As Ron stated, and Harry guessed, Hermione was in the library poring over a particularly thick volume. He walked right up to her table, where she also failed to notice him.
"Hello," he said, after clearing his throat to get her attention. He sat down in the chair next to her.
Her head instantly snapped up. "Harry!" she cried in shock, slamming the cover of the book. "Hi!" He noted how nervous she sounded. "What's up?" She jammed the book into the shelf, after sneezing from all the dust she had created.
"Something wrong?" His news was important, but it was nothing compared to her odd behavior. "Something you're trying to hide, maybe?"
"Not at all!" she squeaked. She giggled rather nervously. "Why?"
"Well, you seem a bit –" he searched for a word that fit, but wouldn't seem to mean – "jumpy." However, it was a horrible understatement.
"Jumpy? Me? No, not at all. So what brings you to the library?" she asked quickly.
Harry just got used to it. "Well, I had already been to the library this morning, and I was researching something. You know, the Entrancement Enchantment."
Hermione gulped. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Harry began again.
"Anyway, I was checking up to see how it worked, just to make sure it didn't actually work. You know, like a Slow Acting Venom that takes a while to sink it. Apparently it does. I mean, the person enchanted gradually develops a crush, but then it speeds up and goes along faster than a normal crush."
"That's – that's nice," Hermione said. "So you think it could be working?"
He nodded. "And get this – you know how Malfoy said that you would fall in love with your best friend?" She nodded her head, remembering. "Well, he was right. The spell makes you fall for the person you're closet to, who isn't by any chance related to you. It can also completely disintegrate your crush on someone you currently like."
"Really," was all she replied after a while.
"So I narrowed it down to two people – Ron and…well, me." He began to feel as uncomfortable as Hermione looked, and she looked about ready to leap out of her seat. "So if we want to counteract this thing, if we can, we need to first find out who you're going to fall for before it gets too out of hand."
"So you want to know who my best friend is?" she asked to make sure. "Well, isn't it obvious? You've seen the way Ron and I constantly argue and disagree."
"They say opposites attract." Harry shrugged.
"I hope not!" she said loudly, attracting glares from Madam Pince and studying students, and looks from other people. She blushed a bit. "What I mean is Ron is my best friend, but I could never, ever think of him that way, even if he has a crush on me or not."
"So it's me," he said slowly.
"Admit it, Harry, you knew it all along."
He nodded guiltily. "Well, it was actually just an assumption –"
She interrupted him. "So how long until this stupid thing starts?"
"Oh I'd say…" He checked his watch. "Two seconds."
"Wha --?" Suddenly, her eyes became sort of glossy, and she sat a bit rigid. When she blinked, she seemed different somehow, and the way she looked at Harry made his spine tingle. "What was I talking about?" she asked dreamily, gazing at him.
"Oh --- uh…I don't remember either." He realized that his face was now on fire.
"What's wrong, Harry?" She asked curiously, leaning closer to him and placing a cool hand on his forehead. "I don't think you have a temperature, though you are a bit warm. Your whole face is red, did you know that?"
"Errr…yeah."
She removed her hand, but she didn't settle back in her seat. Instead, she stayed as close as possible to Harry, and she was practically in his lap.
"Maybe we should go," he suggested uncomfortably, slightly nudging her.
"Where?" she wondered, her bright, brown eyes sparkling more than ever.
"I dunno, the common room?" It was the first thing to pop up in his head.
"And what are we going to do there?" she asked rather mischievously, giving him a grin that gave him goosebumps.
"Uhhh…or we could catch up with Ron," he said hastily, "and visit Hagrid's or something –"
She leaned over until they were inches apart. "How about we do something together…alone?" she whispered softly.
His eyes widened. "Ummm…maybe that isn't a good idea –"
"Did I mention you look better without glasses?"
That caught him off guard. "What?"
She smiled and removed his glasses, his vision becoming blurry. "You look a lot cuter this way."
"Did I mention that I can't see without them?" he asked hurriedly.
She sat down on his lap, dangling his glasses between her fingers. "Good."
"Hermione, I don't think we should be doing this here," he said, glancing somewhat blindly at the many students whose attention had been averted to the two of them and an unmistakably cross Madam Pince.
"All right," she murmured. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Where should we go then?"
"You know, I meant –"
"I know what you meant," she said quietly, but firmly.
"Well, that's good. Then you know we shouldn't be doing this at all." This time, he spoke with force.
For a person under an enchantment, that worked incredibly well. She sighed dejectedly and returned to her original seat. "I understand," she sighed.
"Huh?" He was really surprised; people under spells weren't supposed to listen.
"I'm trying to fight it, Harry," she said in a small voice, which wasn't the flirtatious one she was using earlier. "Trying to be brave – like you."
Can you fight an Entrancement Enchantment? If you could, Hermione should be able to manage it. "Good for you. Keep going at it then."
She giggled girlishly. "Going at what?"
He buried his head in his hands and rested his elbows on the desk. It was hopeless.
"Is something bothering you?" she asked gently, though it wasn't a pleasant voice for Harry to head. He could practically sense her coming closer. "Look, I'm sorry if I did something…but you have to tell me what's wrong first."
She tenderly pried his fingers away from his face and smoothed out his bangs. "You must be having a hard day."
"You could say that," he muttered.
"Awww," she whispered. "I can try to make it all better…" Then she closed her eyes and leaned forward.
Harry shut his eyes too; it was just instinctive. He exhaled, and he noticed that his breath was a bit shaky. Hermione put her head closer, and their lips met for one millisecond –
"Ahem!" Madam Pince said, irritated. Their heads snapped up. "I do believe you know the library and school rules – no making out in public places where students are present!"
"No, we weren't –" Harry said desperately, blushing crimson, aware of all the eyes in the room on him.
"I think I'd be able to tell, Mr. Potter!" she said. "Now – out!" She pointed to the door.
"Come on," Hermione whispered, taking his hand. "We'll find someplace private."
"No, Hermione –" he begged, but she was leading him out the door.
"Don't worry," she replied.
"But I can't see!" he said.
She giggled. "Perfect. Now shut your eyes then, to make sure."
"But –"
"Do it."
He rolled his eyes, but then he agreed. "Come on, where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere private," was all she would say.
A few minutes later, they halted. "Fewmets," she said.
(Fewmets are dragon droppings, just so you know. It's from A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle. It's a good book, just so you know. Anyway, back to the fic --)
"The Prefect Lounge?" Harry said in surprise. "But no one comes here anymore –"
"Exactly the point." Harry could just see her wide grin, as she took him inside. "Now you can open your eyes." She finally handed him his glasses, which he promptly put on.
He already knew what he would see – a cozy little room with a few armchairs and poufs in front of a blazing fire. Elegant portraits on the wall and tapestries, oak tables, and antique lamps. It was practically like their common room, but less crowded, more secluded and quiet, and more decorated.
"Come on, Harry, sit down," she said, gesturing towards a nice, velvet loveseat.
"You know, Hermione, I just remembered that I had to –" he lied.
"No you don't," she said firmly. Of course, even under the enchantment, she could tell if he was lying or not. After all, he was pretty horrible at it. "Look, would a few minutes of relaxing kill you?"
"It would if Voldemort were back to power – wait a minute, he is," Harry said dryly.
"We're safe at Hogwarts," she said softly.
"Or so we thought in our fourth year," he muttered under his breath.
"Oh for god's sake, Harry, just sit down already!" She sounded much like her normal self.
"What?"
"Please?" she asked more softly. "I won't bite you."
Yeah right, he thought. Who knows what you'll do under this stupid spell?
"Come on, please, Harry?" She gave him a very convincing puppy dog look.
"Oh, all right," he said reluctantly. "But I have a surprise for you…close your eyes." She did. "All the way," he added, and she did. When he made sure that she couldn't see anything, he did something he wanted to do ever since he found out the enchantment had really worked –
He ran out of the portrait hole and down the hall as fast as he could.
* * *
A/N: This fic came out of nowhere (though it was slightly inspired by an old Sliders episode [I told you I was obsessed!]) Yeah, I am straying further and further away from The Mysterious Corridor (1, 2, 3) and Harry Potter and the Tapestry of Fate (1, 2, and 3), but like, five people have read it anyway (huge exaggeration, but read please them anyway). I'll try to get the other parts up soon for the two people who actually want to read them.
I have no idea why I keep making stories with sequels, but this should be a trilogy the way I estimate. (I have been wrong a lot of times, you know.) Please, please comment! Anything! So I know you actually read it, not just clicked on it by accident or something.
Disclaimer: Harry, Hermione, Ron, Malfoy, Snape, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling.
A Wind in the Door belongs to Madeline L'Engle. Trust me, the book is really good, but you should read A Wrinkle in Time first.