Hermione tapped the book and muttered an incantation. The book flipped to the hate spell that Pansy had last used from the book. Hermione clenched her fist in victory and began to read the page hungrily, as well as the warning at the bottom of the page, the very one that Pansy had so foolishly ignored.
"Well, a mile area is right." Hermione said to herself. "So, she did a spell on me to make Draco hate me. But the spell backfired and made everyone love me. How does that work? She sat crossed legged on her bed and stroked a strand of hair thoughtfully. Just then, she heard the noise of a door opening, a few seconds later there were footsteps up the stairs, but she was too lost in thought to care. A moment later, Draco appeared. She looked up at him. "What are you doing here?" She asked and he shrugged.
"Milicent is still following me around, the potion hasn't worn off yet. I couldn't get rid of her so when she went into the bathroom to 'freshen up' I escaped via the secret passage. Thought I would hang out here a while." He looked around suspiciously. "Is Snape here? Because if he is, I could just leave." He smirked.
"No, he isn't. The potion didn't work on me." She said, and he climbed onto and stretched himself out on her bed. She looked at him with an eyebrow raised. She hid her feelings of jubilation well, she thought. He hadn't decided to take advantage of Milicent, and instead decided to come and see her! But wait, was that a bad or good thing. She shook her head and turned back to the book.
"Come on, Granger, you're all I got until you sort out this fiasco." Hermione shrugged and lay down, so her feet were on the pillow, leafing through the book she was reading. "What's that?"
"The solution to the problem." He tried to take the book from her, but she slammed it shut and slid it out of his reach. She didn't want him to find out until she was sure what they were dealing with. "I wonder why the potion didn't affect us." Hermione whispered, looking into his eyes. "I mean, everyone else is now madly in love with their partners, I mean, who knows what they are doing, I hate to think what will happen when it wears off." Draco smirked at the thought. "But, you're not in love with Milicent, are you?"
"Let me think…" Draco looked up at her canopy for a second. "No." He smirked again.
"Why did you have to think about it?" Hermione asked, amused.
"Why? Jealous?" He smirked again, and Hermione once again turned back to the book, not even giving him the satisfaction of knowing that she didn't know how to answer.
"Let me see." Draco whined, trying to grab the book from her again. Hermione held the book high above her head, and Draco sighed, giving up the game, and lying back down.
"Well, I know what happened at last." She opened the book and chose the page, holding it so Draco couldn't see what was on the page. "Pansy tried to cast a spell to make you hate me."
"But I do hate you." Hermione raised her eyebrow at the boy, lying on her bed and looking totally at ease. Draco shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, like befriending you." He tried to snatch the book from her hand again but she was wise to him.
"Anyway, Stupid bitch was supposed to put Harbitrate Grevane into the potion, I'm guessing she put Harbitrate Grevene in. Harbitrate Grevane and Harbitrate Grevene are sister herbs, one encompassing the properties of hate, the other love."
"So she did a spell on me to make me hate you, but it turned into a love spell, still directed at me." Hermione nodded as Draco summed up the entire plot. "But the potion backfired and made everyone except me love you. That makes no sense; the spell couldn't possibly be strong enough to do that. Then there's the whole episode in the potions lab, we were the only ones not affected by it, do you think the two are connected." Hermione stared at Draco for a while, pondering something. "What?"
"I wasn't affected either…" Hermione thought. "I didn't fall in love with Snape."
"So?"
"Well, he punished you for it, like it was your fault that his plan backfired…"
"Yes, I have to wash his underwear." Draco stuck his tongue out in disgust at the thought.
"But why?"
"I don't know…" Draco said, getting a little annoyed. Hermione picked up the book again and leafed through it thoughtfully.
"It's got to be in here somewhere." She checked the index for love spells and found the right page. "Here we are." Then she read aloud:
"If a love spell is corrupted in some way, or the desired affect is already present, then the spell may rebound and hit any of the surrounding people."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked, grabbing the book. Hermione let it slip through her fingers and he read it carefully. "Is this what happened to me?"
"Well, if it did…"
"Then what?"
"Nothing." Draco watched her for a second, as she sat biting her lip, then pitched forward and kissed her passionately. She returned it eagerly, running her fingers thorough his hair, but suddenly she pushed him away, and he sat back, slightly annoyed.
"What?" Draco moved slightly closer to her and ran his fingers though her hair. "You want this too." Hermione shook her head
"I think you may be under the influence of Pansy's Potion." Hermione told him.
"Am I?"
"I'm not sure. Until I am, please stop kissing me the whole time please. I mean, a second ago you said you hated me."
"I do hate you." He said automatically. "That doesn't mean I don't want to kiss you."
"Right." Hermione shook her head, and turned to continue her pacing. "All we have to do is get the locket that would have been made as a result and reverse the effect."
"How do we do that?" Hermione nodded.
"Not sure yet." Draco nodded, his heart thudding against his chest. Feeling the sudden urge to be away from Hermione, he stood.
"I'm sure Milicent has left by now." Hermione nodded, and Draco left.
Hermione watched him go with a sick feeling in her stomach. None of this made sense. She didn't love him, she couldn't. He couldn't love her either, but it seemed, what did it seem? She didn't even know anymore. She threw the book onto the floor and sighed heavily.
"Hermione…" A voice made her look, Draco was back.
It wasn't. It was Dean, and the look in his eyes filled her with terror.