Just a quick note…the LOTR thingy is purely a random sequence of events that my brother put in because he read this decided to pep it up. It has no relevance at all to anything, but I thought it was funny and probably the most creative thing he's ever done with his life so I kept it in.
Chapter NineHer wish was not granted, as she managed to get to the dungeon without seeing a soul, apart from Peeves, who dumped a dozen roses, dirt and all, on her head. She sighed as she cleaned her clothes with a spell, it seemed not even the ghosts were immune to the spell.
Her heart thumped as she approached the corridor. It was the first time she had gone out in public since the whole thing came to a head in the Great Hall and she had announced her love for Malfoy. She was unsure how they were going to take it, but it would probably go one of two ways, either there would be another riot, or she would get the silent treatment from the entire school. She prayed for the latter, and thankfully, at least for now, her prayers were answered.
The Slytherins and Gryffindors glared at her, she reckoned they were probably upset that she was 'going steady' with Malfoy. She seriously regretted that joke now; it just made the whole thing more confusing. Malfoy was there already, Crabbe and Goyle seemed to have forgiven him and they were talking unconcernedly a little way down the hall on the opposite side of the corridor. Some of the students were throwing venom looks his way as well, but none said anything. She half hoped half dreaded that he would come over to her, but he didn't. He didn't even register her as being there. This just served to make her more confused. Was he affected by the spell or not?
Harry and Ron seemed to bee particularly annoyed with her, and she could not blame them. She could see how upset they were, Ron was glaring at the wall like hoping to set it alight, and Harry looked as if he was about to set himself on fire. Hermione tried not to be too hurt, by supper she hoped everything would go back to normal.
Snape swept out of the classroom and glared at them all in turn, as he got to Hermione, who was standing a little way away from the others, he snapped, "get inside," and they all filed in.
"Today we are going to be doing love potions, this will be done in pairs." He read out a list of pre-prepared pairs, girls to boys. Hermione's hand shot up. Snape closed his eyes in annoyance at anyone asking him a question, but opened then and gave her a sickly sweet smile. "Yes, Miss Granger?"
"Sir, you haven't given me a partner." She looked all around the room at the partners moving to sit next to each other.
"I know that, Miss Granger. It has come to my attention that you are the best in the class, and putting you with one of these idiots will only encourage them to get good grades for your work." His smile became a little toothier. "You, Miss Granger, will work on love potions with me."
And then Gandalf, who was sitting nearest the door jumped up in protest and saw Snape scowling back at him. He leapt through the door and bumped into Aragorn, who had the hobbits on a lead. Legolas came to the aid and picked Gandalf off the floor while Gimli and Boromir looked on in distress.
Hermione looked on with an expression of bewilderment that can only come from two books merging and the appearance of a very annoying brother. Draco thought he was going to die from laughter.
After that disturbing episode played out, Snape advanced on Hermione, taking up the empty space next to her. Hermione shrank down in her chair, aware of everyone in the room, who were intently staring at her. Snape grinned evilly and waved his wand, ingredients flashed up on the board and he passed Hermione the toad sweat.
Hermione looked from the ingredient in her hand, to the incarceration of evil sitting next to her, and stole a small glance at Draco, who quickly looked ahead to his potion. Sighing, she set to work.
"Now, this potion should only work for a few hours, but it should be enough." He grinned at Hermione, who was staring at the blue liquid in her hand. "Drink, Hermione, or I'll fail you."
Weighing up the two alternatives, falling in love with Snape and failing a lesson, she quickly drained the vial and everyone gasped. Snape's eyes narrowed in victory. "Good girl." He drank his as well, and watched for a change in her being. Hermione stood there blinking at him. The other members of the class began to smile at their partners, all but Draco who was looking at Milicent a little afraid.
Hermione felt the potion cool as it went down, and she looked at Snape, a little afraid. What did he have in mind? He was watching her intently, his smile becoming wider and wider. She looked to Draco for help. He looked helplessly back as Milicent approached him. Snape saw the exchange and his eyes widened.
"Did the spell not work, Granger?" Snape asked, shocked. "Do you feel…any different towards me?" Hermione blinked and shook her head. "Hmm, the potion was correct, I made it myself, and there is only one circumstance that can make a person immune to the potion." He turned to Draco, who was holding Milicent at arms length, and nodded. "I thought so." He strode up to the front of the class and shouted. "Alright, class dismissed, try not to get into trouble for the next few hours. Malfoy, detention."
Draco looked up, horrified. "Why?"
"Because you are obviously not influenced by your potion, therefore your potion was made incorrectly and I will punish you." Draco made a noise of outrage as the others walked out of the room, arm in arm, cooing love words at each other. Hermione took this recess in their obsession with her to escape to her common room and read Pansy's book.
It was also nice to get away from Draco again. What did Snape mean 'only one circumstance'? Was it tied to the fact that Draco kissed her? How was Draco getting on with trying to deflect Milicent's advances? Was he trying to deflect her advances? She had lost a lot of weight and although she still wasn't pretty, Draco did admit to being a sex fiend, didn't he? Isn't that what he said when he rescued her from Alfie?
Argh, Argh, Argh. Everything was so damned complicated now. Why the hell did Pansy do this? The idiot, how in the world would this stop her and Draco getting together, if they were already involved anyway. What the hell was happening to her?
She grabbed Pansy's book moodily from where it had slipped from her fingers and stormed to her room. She'd find that goddamned spell if it took her the rest of the day.
