June 1999:

It should have been easy, really. It should have taken seconds, in the grand scheme of things.

Theodore was nothing if not stealthy. He knew he only had a small window of opportunity if he was going to make everything go the way he wanted it. It had to be a fast job – Blaise told him to put it into the whole punch bowl to make things extra spicy, but Theo had flat out refused in case something incredibly disastrous happened.

"It's only a bit of alcohol." Blaise told him matter of factly as they looked around the Great Hall at the Eighth Year Alumni all standing around chatting or living it up on the dancefloor.

Headmaster McGonagall had spared no expense for their leaving party, feeling that the year group had earned it for working up the nerve to come back to Hogwarts for an extra year after the War.

Theo glanced around at the collections of students – seventh year and eighth all mixed in together, respective houses all cuddled into corners of the room or sitting at the rounded tables with their drinks held tightly in their hands.

"It has a bit more of a kick to it than normal alcohol though, doesn't it?" Theo whispered back to him. "We need to give it to someone we think will be able to handle it-" He continued to view the room with interrogative eyes. "-someone who is quiet enough to not kick up a massive fuss if they were to get slightly tipsy-"

There.

Right there, sitting next to the clever powerhouse that was Hermione Granger.

Neville Longbottom.

Quiet, unassuming Neville Longbottom. Who granted, had come into his own in the last few years, which Theodore quite admired. He was showing more confidence now, which made Theo think that the boy would be able to handle a few drops of alcohol, but not be dramatic enough to shout about it if he were to suddenly fall ill.

Blaise seemed to follow Theo's line of sight and gave his friend a small grin. "Splendid." A small tap on the back and a little push. "Off you go, then."

Theo frowned and looked at the other boy. "And who do you plan on using your bit of spice on?"

The 'spice' in question was an alcoholic substance with a bit of extra kick, causing the drinker to not quite act like themselves. It was something that the boys had taken the time to brew up together for a bit of fun for the end of year.

'Potus Semper', the book had called it.

It took a full month to brew, even though the first time they came across it, the book had originally said 72 hours under a full moon and to use Agave. Strange, as this was a completely different time frame and plant extract to what they actually ended up using when they actually came to brew the potion properly.

Neither boy questioned this though, going along with making the potion in exactly the way the book had said.

"Parkinson." Blaise's voice cut through Theo's memories, bringing him back to the present moment. "She called me a massive bellend the other day for causing a shadow over her while she was topping up her tan on the grass."

Jesus, could Blaise hold a grudge.

"I call you a bell end all the time?" Theo replied with a smirk.

"You're allowed." Blaise told him matter of factly. "You and Draco are the only ones who can use expletives against my name and not die a painful death."

Well, at least that was something.

And then off he went, boldly walking over to Pansy who was currently draped across Draco's lap at the table in the corner of the Hall.

Theo watched him intensely as he casually chatted to the pair and poured the tiny vial of violet liquid into Pansy's drinking cup when the Witch and Wizard were to pre-occupied with looking at each other that neither even stopped to look at what Blaise was up to.

Far too easy.

Theo had made this too difficult for himself.

He had barely spoken to Longbottom or any of the students currently sitting at the same table as him.

Theo was quite an outgoing sort, but always stopped short of approaching Gryffindors or Ravenclaws for fear of them looking at him as some sort of viper. But needs must. And he knew Hermione Granger. Everyone knew Hermione Granger, the war hero. And truth be told, apart from her slightly condescending attitude at times, she always stopped to say hello or good morning to Theo in the corridors when they passed each other of a morning.

And so, his feet found themselves approaching their table carefully. Some looked up, gave small smiles, and looked away again. Some gave him slightly suspicious glances – only fair, considering just a year ago he was locked in a dungeon for being on the wrong side of a war that really had bugger all to do with him – but Hermione Granger gave him a warm smile and a wave, which caused Longbottom to look up at him as Theo loomed from above.

"Evening." He found his voice shaking slightly, for reasons unknown. Maybe it was the fact that he now had to do this. He had to get the job done.

"Everyone having a good time?"

"Brilliant thank you, and you?" Hermione asked with a smile.

Longbottom was still staring up at him, Theo could feel the boys dark brown eyes looking right into him.

This was going to be harder than he thought – Longbottom was not going to take his eyes off him at all.

"Yeah, not bad." Theo answered, taking a casual sip from his cup and trying to think of his next move.

He was never going to be able to get their attention away for long enough to pour the liquid into their cups.

And that was when the idea struck him.

Yes…yes, it could work as long as Theo could act casual for long enough.

Neville's eyes left him to say something to Hermione, which then gave Theo the perfect opportunity to pour the violet liquid into his own drink. The vial slipped back into the handy little pocket of his dress robes and he swirled the liquid into the punch in his cup, creating a dazzling colour of sparkling amethyst.

Time to get the show on the road.

A few pretend sips from his cup and a couple of 'ohhs' and 'oh, that tastes amazings' had eventually piqued both of the Gryffindor's interests.

They looked up at him inquisitively.

"The punch isn't that great, mate." Longbottom told him with a raised eyebrow. "Sub-par in comparison to the Yule Ball's mix, if I'm honest."

Theo gave him a small smirk.

"Ah yes, but I've added my own little remedy to bring out the flavour."

"Alcohol?" Hermione enquired, her eyebrow also raised.

Shit.

Theo shook his head.

"No, just a little flavouring to make the taste pop a little more."

And then it was time.

Theo held the cup down and let them peer into it, seeing the colourful mixture glistening back into their eyes. Longbottom was closest, looking at the mixture with a look of both curiosity and suspicion.

"Bet it smells like a sweet shop." He said in a quiet voice, seemingly more to himself than anyone else.

He wasn't far wrong.

"Here."

And Theo had finally forced the cup into the boy's hand.

Neville appeared to be looking at the mixture swirling inside the cup, giving it a clear once over before he finally bent his head, taking a deep breath and breathing in the scent of the punch and potion mixed together. He pulled back suddenly, giving a little cough.

"Bloody hell, that's sweet stuff." And the cup was then being held further away from him. "I'm not into sweet drinks to be honest, my Gran always told me they would rot my teeth and I'd end up looking like Peter Pettigrew."

Theo watched Hermione wrinkle her nose with a laugh. "She sounds like a lovely woman, your Gran."

And then Theo could only stand back aghast and watch as Hermione Granger promptly took the drink from Longbottom's hand, gave it a quick sniff, before shrugging and taking three large gulps.

Fuck.

Fuck. It. All.

What the fuck did he do now? Wait around to see if he had poisoned the War hero with strong alcohol that would then lead to her untimely death? Or worse… she could end up so blind drunk that she would end up on tables, dancing around half naked?

Shit.

"Where did you get the recipe for this from?" She was asking him, seeming completely unfazed. At least the effects were not instant, and he would have time to make a dramatic escape.

"Some book in the library." He replied without thinking, feeling the sweat beading on the back of his neck.

How could he fuck this up so badly? He could feel Blaise giving him a look of pure death from across the room. He already knew what had happened.

"Which one?" She was smacking her lips and suddenly taking another sip.

Theo was about to have an aneurism. Blaise was waving his arms in the distance at him like a lunatic. But to anyone unsuspecting, he could have been high on illegal drugs and dancing around like a dickhead.

But it was too late, Hermione had already drained the cup.

Well, bollocks.

Theo then remembered her most recent question. He scratched his head, trying to piece his brain back together.

"Er… it began with a Sic? – no, maybe it was Suck-"

"Subcinctus Sermo?"

Oh, trust her to know which bloody book he would have used.

He nodded, watching Blaise out of the corner of his eye who now appeared to have other students around him, copying his erratic moves of warning and mistaking them for a new dance craze on the dancefloor. His eyes were looking at Theo furiously to 'hurry the fuck up'.

"Yeah, that's the one." His eyes landed back down at her face just as a curious look fell across it.

"I've never come across a spell for a flavour changing potion before inside that book-" and then she was handing him back his empty cup. "-but then again, it is a word shifting book, so the chances are that the potion has never shown itself to me when I've looked."

Theo took a few seconds to catch on, before a few small things started slotting together.

"Excuse me, what?"

She gave him a shrug.

"That's why it's kept in the restricted section. The words in the book change every now and again." There was a small roll of her eyes, like he should already know this information. "The book title itself translates as 'Shift Words,'" she gave him a little raise of her eyebrow again. "The pages often change to come up with a different potion."

He took one large fucking gulp of air.

Neither he nor Blaise had bothered to decipher the name of the book. And neither of them had bothered to re-check the potion name, either. They went by the page number to find the potions mixture again to use it – 346.

Bugger.

What the fuck had he given Hermione Granger?

"The spells within the book are mostly harmless though," She then declared before going back to the punch in her own cup. "The book is in the restricted section purely to stop absolute idiots like yourself who don't know what the book actually does from using it."

Rude.

But then she gave him the smallest of smiles, and he immediately realised that he quite liked Hermione Granger.

He was about to reply, but out of seemingly nowhere he found himself being grabbed and pushed by what Theo could only describe to be as the start of a raucous Conga line … with Blaise Zabini right at the front of it, clinging onto Theo's waist and not letting go.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Theo shouted at him over the din as he was pushed about.

The other students behind Blaise were kicking their legs out on both sides as they all practically galloped behind, laughing and shouting.

"Had to think of a way to get you away considering you were incapable of doing it your bloody self, didn't I?" Blaise shouted to him as they rounded past the tables and back onto the dancefloor, the line still following them.

"And a pissing Conga line was the best distraction technique you had?" Theo ripped himself away and the crowd continued to follow Blaise in a line. "I am deeply ashamed of you."

"Got the job done though, didn't it? See you in a bit!" And then he was off again, disappearing into a crowd of students, all seemingly following their leader.

Theo however, had more important matters to attend to.

He was about to make his exit and find that bloody book, when he turned and bumped straight into Pansy and Draco, arms around each other on the dancefloor and she appeared to be sucking on his neck like a leach.

"Alright mate?" Draco asked him casually, his arms trying to extract themselves from Pansy's grasp.

She looked drunk… Oh. Oh, this lifted his spirits a little. Maybe it was the right potion after all. Maybe it took a while to take affect and Hermione did not have it in her system fully yet.

"What's up with Pansy?" Theo eyed her cautiously.

She looked out of it.

Fuck.

Were they going to be responsible for two corpses in the morning if they had made the potion too strong? Another anxious sweat broke out on the back of his neck.

Draco only tittered. "She's been spiking her own drink with alcohol all night." He told Theo with a shrug. "Couldn't manage her last drink at all, think I might have to take her back to the dorms in a minute."

Theo knew he looked deep in thought, but he couldn't help it. "She didn't drink her last drink, you say?"

Draco gave him a small frown. "No, she said it smelled too sweet." Now he was eyeing Theo suspiciously. "She didn't want it."

Oh, shit. Too sweet… "So, it's still there, then?" Theo glanced over at their table.

"No, you absolute Vulture." Draco clearly seemed to be under the impression that Theo was wanting to finish the tipple off for himself. "She handed it to me, so I necked it."

Not the answer Theo wanted.

Not the answer at all.

All he could do was nod as the world crumbled around him

Two drinks intended for different people were now inside the intestines of a war hero and a Pureblood with absolutely no capacity to take a joke.

Shit on it.

And to top it off… he had absolutely no idea what was in that potion now that he knew that the words and potions themselves changed on the page.

What a rookie mistake to make.

He was in deep shit.

Deeeeeep shit.

He needed to find that book.

He needed to find that book and get to the bottom of exactly what he had done – what they had done. This could turn into a Greek fucking tragedy if they weren't careful.

"Mate, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Draco interrupted his thought process, causing Theo to snap back into his body.

If only Draco knew that in a few hours, depending on what happened, that Theo seeing a ghost with shockingly blonde hair and an expression that could sour milk could be a very real fucking possibility.

"Nexum Semper." Theo breathed out, putting his head into his hands.

"Calendula plant…" Blaise's voice was just above a whisper as they viewed the book by candle light in the dark library. "…Used as an ingredient for sexual attraction…"

This could not get any fucking worse.

They'd only gone and created the wrong potion, as Theo had suspected.

"Bind together always…" Oh, it just got fucking worse, didn't it?

"Here!" Blaise's eyes were travelling down the bottom of the page. "Says that the drinkers will forfeit the potion's bond if both are either married or in love with the right person by the time they are thirty."

Thirty… that was years away.

"And there has to be some sort of attraction there in the first place for them to even start to bond together-" Blaise sounded pleased. "So all of this is a moot point really, but-" And he was silent for a few seconds as he read the bottom of the page.

Theo's eyes glanced down for a moment, seeing words like 'attraction', 'desire', 'prolonged' and 'hormones' before the book was snapped shut and whisked away in a flurry of movement.

"I was still reading that, you pleb." Theo announced and stood up as he watched Blaise vanishing the book, looking vexed. "What did you read that was worth you nearly snapping the spine of that bloody book?"

Blaise's face suddenly became relaxed and passive. "Nothing." He looked Theo dead in the eye. "It's a load of bollocks mate, we don't know what type of potion we actually made here. Chances are we didn't even make it right – we just need to forget about it."

Theo gave him a look, but then decided that his friend was probably right. Shut it out, stop worrying and put it all behind them.

Stop this nonsense.

Yes.

Forget all about it.

That should be fucking simple.

Shouldn't it?