Hermione stared for about a minute straight before her feet could move. She uprooted herself from the spot and walked mechanically out of the Hospital Wing. Ron was drugged. He was given a love potion. Ron was drugged. He was given a love potion. She repeated the lines over and over to herself like a mantra until they sank in deep.
Her feet dragged themselves forward, into the gloomy corridor faintly lit by burning torches, up and down heavy, moving staircases, toward the archway that led toward the dungeons. The potions classroom, yes, that was where she needed to go. She had to brew an antidote for Ron. She had to save him.
As she reached the dark, wrought iron doors that led to the classrooms in the dungeon, she placed her palms on the large dusty surface and pushed. The door stayed resolute, not budging for even an inch. Hermione growled under her breath and shoved her entire body onto the heavy metal, hoping to gain access to the potion ingredients and equipment within.
The door gave way, but only for a small crack, while it left Hermione panting profusely in the hallway. Just as she was about to get up and try heaving against the doors again, a pale hand reached from above her head and pushed against the door. The fingers were long and slender, with every sharp edge and soft, smooth skin molding into a work of perfection. The blue veins on the hand led down to strong, lean arms partly covered by the black robes that were the school uniform. A cool breath now blew near her ear and Hermione flinched away. She did not need to turn around to recognize to whom the strong arms belonged to.
The door immediately creaked open after the slight push and the hand immediately retracted. Refusing to look backward, Hermione barged into the empty potions classroom and began rummaging through the ingredient cupboard.
"Y'know you could have just used Flipendo," came the snarky voice of Draco Malfoy split seconds after they had entered the classroom, dripping with sarcasm, "The knock-back jinx which I'm sure you're familiar with."
It was true; she could have just used magic, but she had been so deep in her thoughts that the idea of using her wand had not occurred to her one bit. However, she hated being outsmarted all the same and had half a mind to whip around and jinx Malfoy once more. But as much as she wished to do just that, saving Ron was the only thing on her mind and she swallowed down on the biting remark she was about to throw back at the blonde.
After gathering the ingredients needed for an antidote, Hermione grabbed a cauldron and started to work. In silence, ingredients were added in order into the dark brew, and Hermione stirred tirelessly. Some ingredients had to be left to simmer for multiple hours and during that period, Hermione sat and stared into space, resolutely avoiding coming into eye contact with the blonde still leaning against the classroom door. She didn't even know why he was here in the first place, and how she hadn't noticed him coming down the corridor after her into the dungeons — she was probably still too caught up in the Ron business. And why was he still standing there?
Finally, the potion had finished simmering and Hermione checked the potions book she had taken from the teacher's counter for a final time.
"Wait…" she murmured, squinting closer at the page. There was a line of small print she hadn't caught before, squeezed into the margins of the textbook.
Revision: after simmering, 3 droplets of the original love potion must be added immediately in order for the antidote to counter the specific love potion successfully.
Hermione read and reread the minuscule handwriting, unable to believe her eyes. Letting out a loud groan, she buried her head into her palms again. How had she missed it? Seven hours of brewing and all for nothing? She was such a useless friend. She had not trusted Ron before and she had singlehandedly, with all hatred, passed him over to Lavender. Straight into the lion's maw.
The sound of footsteps echoed as they approached closer and closer. Clink. Something was placed on the table in front of her. Hermione looked up and registered the small vial of silver liquid, identical to the one Lavender had poured into Ron's drinking glass at the Hospital Wing earlier on. She lifted her gaze up higher and took in the silhouette of Malfoy, his face half engulfed in the dark shadows of the potions classroom. She had nearly forgotten he was there for he had not thrown another biting comment at her all throughout her potion making.
"I thought you might need this," he whispered. His eyes were averted from hers as she stared at him in disbelief.
"How —" Hermione's question caught in her throat before she could get it out.
"I took it from Lavender's robe pocket," he continued, shifting slightly so that he melted more into the dark background. Only his silver grey irises glinted against the firelight still ablaze under Hermione's cauldron. "The day when you — when we—"
"Yeah," Hermione broke his sentence off, gulping. So that was what he was doing with Lavender. She had got it all wrong. All of it. All, so very wrong.
Hermione blinked furiously, her mind whirring non stop. Everything seemed to make sense now. The dreamy looks Ron used to plaster on, as if mechanically, whenever Lavender came by. Draco pulling Lavender into the classroom… The headache Ron experienced during the Quidditch match because Draco had stolen the daily dose of love potion for him.
"Yeah," Draco echoed, "I saw her pour it into Weasley's drink for multiple occasions already and I…" he trailed off slightly, closing his eyes, "I thought you shouldn't be lied to like that." He flinched slightly at his own words, no doubt thinking about how he had been the real hypocrite of it all, about how he had lied to uphold his reputation. He would have to think of another way to apologize and patch things up with Hermione.
There was a long silence after his proclamation.
"Thanks," Hermione eyed him, finally breaking the ice. Draco could still tell that she hated his guts, but for that moment, her reply was laced with a rare tenderness.
Hermione meanwhile, quickly got to work before the potion got over-brewed for the love potion droplets. Plucking up the small vial, she carefully administered 3 small drops of Lavender's Amortentia into the bubbling cauldron. The contents within frothed violently as soon as the droplets hit the surface and the originally dark mixture quickly churned into one that resembled clear water.
Hermione waved her wand over the fire and it was immediately doused. Scooping up the contents of the potion, she cautiously poured them into the bottle she had borrowed from the teacher's desk as well. She hoped Slughorn would not discover all the ingredients and vials gone the next day.
As soon as the bottle was stoppered and slid snug into the depths of her robes, Hermione stood up, cleared up her mess and dragged her feet up to her dormitory once more, her lids threatening to shut themselves any second. Malfoy, who had surprisingly stayed with her all night long, trailed along after her only coming close enough to tap his wand on her shoulder, casting an invisibility charm on both of them.
The antidote was ready, and now all that Hermione needed was a plan.
