AN: SO very sorry I haven't been writing recently….I've been busy :/ The next chapter for my other story will be up soon, too. :)
Luna peeked through the half-opened door. George was nowhere to be seen. She tiptoed and shuddered when the floor beneath her creaked. She scanned the room slowly. Hmm, now where would George have hidden them? Luna had woken up that morning to find her slippers missing. She had immediately suspected that George was behind it.
The room was a HUGE mess. Potions Books lay everywhere, lost socks appeared in the randomest places, the bed looked like it hadn't been made since ages ago, and bits and pieces of stationary and parchment lay around – some even floated around aimlessly in the warm summer air. Luna decided to search the old desk first. It had plenty of drawers, each labeled neatly (this Luna was surprised by), and the first drawer (labeled "Paperwork") made an overly enthusiastic amount of noise when she tried to open it. She looked around for any sign of George before beginning to rummage the drawer. It was filled with piles and piles of bills, receipts, letters, a few coins, and an address book – but no slippers. Luna sighed and moved on to another drawer, which was labeled "Stuff" in scribbly handwriting. This seems more promising. She dragged it open and found that it had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. And, it was filled with…stuff. Charms, pencils, candy wrappers, buttons, scarves, wrapping paper, photographs, owl food, socks, traces of floo powder, and – slippers. Luna's slippers. She sighed in both relief and annoyance as she pulled them out of the pile of stuff.
She stood up, and as her arm swung loosely to her head (in order to adjust her ponytail), she heard a soft clink. She swooped around to find a miniature bottle of translucent purple liquid rolling around on the old desk. She bent down in time to save it from falling off the desk. As she examined the potion carefully, something else caught her eye. On the bed lay a book titled: "The Cichlid Flower Species: An Encyclopedia". She had always wanted to read that book! She flipped open the pages casually. She was greeted by images of not flowers, but cauldrons. She raised her eyebrows with obvious curiosity. Well, she was not one for words, so she just scanned through the images as she turned from page to page. Flip, cauldron, flip, berries, flip, spoon, flip – she stopped abruptly when she saw a familiar bottle of translucent purple liquid. She held up the bottle in her palm and compared it to the image – yep, they're definitely the same thing. She then started to read:
Timeless
Description: Timeless is a potion with the ability to go back, or forward, in time. The amount of time that someone is able to stay in their chosen time period is determined by the amount of potion drunk. Once drunk, the potion would take effect in exactly 24 hours. The recipe is as follows:
Luna stopped reading then. Her thoughts flowed through her mind like a waterfall – rapid, but calm at the same time. I will ask George about this later. Why was he making this? Is this even possible? Does it work? Why would George want to go back in time?
Then, it hit her.
Fred.
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"Luna!" a very tired looking Neville raced toward Luna.
"Hi Neville." She greeted him in her usual dreamy tone. "How can I help you?"
"I've just spent a whole day making a new potion for Ron. I still owe him for teaching me how to play quidditch. It's supposed to make you run fast. Could you test it for me? I've tested it myself already, but I wanted you to try it, you know, just in case." Neville stammered a little.
"Sure, Neville. I'll be honored to." Came the gracious reply.
"Here." He passed her an odd-looking small bottle of green liquid. "Only try it after you've eaten dinner – it works better with a full stomach."
"Thanks, Neville." And with that, she skipped away.
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Everyone finished up the remains of the simple yet delicious dinner prepared for them. Murmurs of appreciation and praise echoed amongst them.
All the teenagers decided to go to bed, while the adults hung around for a little while more. Luna dragged her tired body up the uneven stairs and into her room. Next to her, George walked up to his room. He was already half-asleep. Luna doubted that he would even make it to his bed. Right before Luna went to change into pajamas, she remembered Neville's potion. She pulled it out of her pocket, where she had last left it. With her eyes half-closed, she chugged the bitter-tasting potion down. She waited and waited, but nothing happened.
Neville will have to try harder, I guess.
And with that, she fell fast asleep.
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Sunshine streamed through the blinds in Luna's room. She woke up, feeling quite dizzy. In her hand, she still clutched the empty bottle which used to be filled up with Neville's bitter green potion. As she turned to one side in order to check the time on her bedside clock, she felt something crack against her sides. There was something in her pocket (she had forgotten to change into pajamas last night). She dipped her hand into her pocket and gasped when her fingertips met a gooey liquid mess. She pulled her hand out to find green clumps of liquid stuck to her palm. She shuddered in disgust and rushed to the bathroom to wash it off. She peeled her clothes off and stuck them into the laundry bin. And then, she headed toward her closet, hoping to find a set of fresh clothes.
What was that green stuff in my pocket? I only had a piece of candy and Neville's potion in my pocket – and I drank that last night! Wait a sec – George's potion was in my pocket! I was planning on telling him about it, but I forgot…..but the green stuff didn't look like "Timeless", it should've been purple…hmm…wait a minute – Neville's potion was green….that means….last night I drank…..who's potion?
Oh great.