CHAPTER 6

Hermione woke up at 9:30 and got ready. She ran to the Potions Classroom to check on the antidote. Snape was already there.

"Good morning, Ms. Granger. Exactly 24 hours." Snape said. "Now that it has turned pearly white, add the Dragon Blood and stir 9 times anti-clockwise. Next, put the bicorn horn in the mortar. Crush to a fine powder and add 4 measures of the crushed horn to your cauldron. Leave to brew for about an hour and 20 minutes. That's how much I've done. I will just assist you in doing the rest. I would say we're nearly finished."

Hermione visited Draco once again.

"Draco, don't worry. It's almost done. Just hold on." she said to him, holding his hand tightly.

She left the Hospital Wing after exactly an hour and 20 minutes, leaving a letter under Draco's pillow.

'Dear Draco,

I hope we can finish the antidote in time.

Professor Snape is helping me. Stay strong and

don't let go. I love you.

Love,

Hermione.'

"A little bit of crushed Bezoar might help, I know it's for poisons but it's the best thing we've got so far," she thought, running back to the dungeons. "Professor Snape might have it in his private stores..."

And he did. So she asked him for the Bezoar, crushed it, and added it to her cauldron.

"So...How is it going, Ms. Granger? Have you added the Bezoar?" Snape had just walked in.

"Fine. Just heating it up." she replied. The Bezoar was slowly melting. "I wonder if I should add Ambrocius Nectar," she thought. "I heard it makes the Bezoar stronger and wakes you up from a really deep sleep, but I doubt it will be enough. It's worth a try, I guess." she thought.

"Professor Snape, do you have Ambrocius Nectar?" she asked him.

"Yes Ms. Granger, I do. A wrinkly brain you have there, Ms. Granger. Stay here while I get it." Snape replied and walked away. She added a pinch of Bezoar to her cauldron and heated it up.

"10, 9, 8, 7..." she counted down.

"Here it is." Snape came back with a small phial filled with a mint green translucent liquid.

"Thank you, Professor."

She took the phial and uncorked it. She poured all the contents of the phial into the cauldron and stirred it.

"Professor, do you think it will be enough? We would probably need a lot more, or maybe we can substitute it with something else. The problem is, I'm not sure if we can find it."

Snape hesitated.

"Don't worry, Ms. Granger. I have 7 more phials of that. It is quite rare, but you can get a phial for around 30 to 40 Galleons in the Apothecary. We'll get this done."

"Thank you so much, Professor. I'll get the other phials. Where are they?" she asked.

"In my private stores. Row 25, Column 4 to 11. They have labels, but in Ancient Greek. You can make it go down so you don't have to climb up." he said. She ran to his private stores, looked for the phials, and brought 3 of them down using her wand. She ran back to the dungeons and poured all of the Ambrocius Nectar into her cauldron.

"Professor? Do you think it's done?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, I think so. Maybe just add a tiny bit more of the Bezoar to your cauldron, heat it up, and stir it twice clockwise." Snape suggested.

"OK, Professor." She did exactly what Snape had told her to do, then she thanked him, put it in a phial, and ran to the Hospital Wing. She asked Madam Pomfrey to check if it's OK, then she slowly poured it into his mouth.

"It might take around 2 hours to take up effect but when he wakes up, just let him rest first." Madam Pomfrey advised. Hermione nodded and walked away, feeling like she was in Heaven.