Everybody Loves Hermione

Chapter 1

Vicit Amentia

From what Ginny understood, Vicit Amentia will attract someone of the opposite gender to the drinker of the potion with similar effects of Amortentia. Yet there was no way to be sure of the effects, since she was following the instructions that had been sketched into the side of Harry's Advanced Potions textbook.

But she knew she had to take that chance. If there was any way to rid Hermione of her loneliness, this was it. Ginny could hardly stand to see another day go by watching her good friend mellow in absolute loneliness.

Ginny had gotten to the Great Hall just as breakfast had began. Not all of the students were there yet, since most tended to show up about halfway through the meal due to lack of sleep. She spotted Harry near the end of the the Gryffindor table, struggling to keep his eyes open as he brought a spoonful of cereal to his mouth. Once he noticed Ginny approaching him, he gave a smile and his tiredness faded slightly.

"Hey Gin," he said as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and took the seat beside him. "Did you sleep well?"

She smiled. "I did, thanks."

Harry nodded then continued to eat his cereal.

Truth was, she barely got a blink of sleep. She had spent all night going through the instructions on how to brew Vicit Amentia and then she gathered the ingredients. At about midnight, Ginny began to search for all the ingredients, most of which she was able to find within her own potions supplies, one she borrowed from Neville's private collection of herbs and sprouts and one involved and illicit after curfew trip to the Potion's room (a trip of which she would never tell anyone about, ever).

And by sunrise, Ginny had created Vicit Amentia, a potion that smelled of cedar trees and raspberry pudding. She had followed every direction given by the mysterious writer, and as far as she could tell, she brewed the potion to a perfect consistency. She had poured the liquid into a vial, a vial which was now placed in her left pocket of her robes.

Ginny held it in her pocket as she talked to Harry. She had to wait until a moment when Harry wasn't paying attention to her so she could reach across the table and put a drop into the goblet where Hermione normally sits.

Yet, by being Harry's girlfriend, his attention was most often on her. Even when she was just sitting there or doing her homework or anything, she would always notice he would keep his eyes on her, just to make sure she was always happy and safe. As his girlfriend, this was one of the cutest thing he ever did, but it was sure not helping her when she needed to blindside him and Hermione.

Fortunately, Harry's name was called out by Seamus Finnigan, who then motioned for Harry to go over there and talk to him. Harry got up, held Ginny's hand for a brief moment, then turned and walked towards Seamus.

Ginny took this as her chance. She quickly reached across the table and grabbed Hermione's goblet of water. Just then, Harry turned towards her so she gave him a panicked smile. He didn't seem to notice anything wrong, so he turned back to Seamus and they began to laugh at some joke that Seamus had told.

She reached in her pocket and pulled out the vial of Vicit Amentia, then did a quick scan to make sure no one was watching her. When the coast was clear, she raised the vial to the brim of the goblet and carefully let a single drop of the liquid drop into the goblet. Then a second. The instructions said that two drops would be enough to experience sufficient effects of the potion. So Ginny began to raise the vial away from the drink when…

"What are you doing?"

Ginny let out a small yelp and jerked the vial away. Yet her quick motion had let another drop of potion fly through the air and land in Hermione's cup. Three drops of Vicit Amentia. She had no idea what the effects of that would be or how much stronger the effects would be. Ginny stared at the goblet, horrified.

"Ginny?"

She looked up at her boyfriend. Harry must have gotten back while she was administering the potion.

"Harry, I…" She stared at him with terror, but then gave a sigh of defeat. "Harry, I know that Hermione has been acting very depressed lately. I thought it was an issue so I…" she paused, then quickly spouted off a lie. "I told Professor McGonnigall about it and told me to give Hermione this potion to boost her morale."

Harry studied her carefully. It was clear that this story was not one that he would easily accept, since it was highly unlikely that Professor McGonnigall would simply tell students to give potions to their friends, yet Harry seemed to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay. It's in times like these that we need to be there for her, right?"

Ginny nodded vigorously. "Of course! And if you don't mind, please don't tell her about this, it would make her lose her wits if she knew we were trying to help her behind her back."

Harry winked at her. "Now we can't have Hermione losing her wits now can we? Without her, we're all screwed!"

They laughed and she slipped the potion back into her pocket just as Hermione took her seat across from them and immediately she scowled.

"Why do men need to be such selfish pigs?" she spat. Ginny followed her gaze to see Ron, who was in a passionate early morning lip-lock with Lavender. Hermione gave an overwhelming sigh. "Is he that much of an idiot?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes he is. Now ignore him and eat up before your food turns cold."

"Whatever."

Hermione grabbed her goblet which caused Ginny moved towards the edge of her seat. She shared a quick look with Harry as they watched Hermione raise the goblet to her lips and drink her water. When she set her goblet down, they were still intently staring at her.

"So do you feel any different?" Ginny asked.

"I still feel trapped in the dungeons of hell watching that pukefest over there, if that's what you mean."

Sincerely, nothing had changed in Hermione. But her potion had worked as a signal, triggering what may be a subconscious feeling, or even a thought in every guy in the room, all focussing on one thing only: Hermione.

AN: The fun is just getting started! Hope you all enjoyed! :)