Wonder Witch Love Potion 69
Hermione has her hands full between work issues, private life issues, and her personal obligations. On top of everything else, she had offered to help George keep up with product production when he reopened his shop. However, so does Ron, and thanks to his brilliant bumbling, George and Hermione have a huge problem on their hands. Ironically, the answer is out there, pretending to be dead…
The New Wonder Witch Love Potion
"Ginny, grab the potions by the kitchen sink, will you?" Hermione called out from the loo. She was running late, having overslept, again, from vivid dreams of Severus Snape. Not Ron, Severus Snape. Why am I pining for Severus Snape? He's dead. I saw him die.
"Sure thing," Ginny called back.
Hermione vanquished the steam from the loo with a wave of her wand and tried to comb out her hair, using handfuls of Detangler Solution, and running the details of her dreams over and over in her mind. It's like my bloody schoolgirl crush on him all over again! Why now? Why him of all wizards? He's dead—I know he's dead. She'd been completely enamored of him in school. His voice, the way his robes billowed as he moved… Heck, they practically billowed when he stood still! Hermione tugged her brush through her hair to try, unsuccessfully, to dispel any more thoughts about Severus Snape. His hands, the way he wrote on the backboard, the way he prepared ingredients with such precision, the way he held his quill, tapped his lip as he thought… and those eyes! Circe, those eyes! They were so black you could get lost in them, even when he was glaring at me, which was all the time—get a grip, Granger! The man is dead! You love Ron. You are marrying Ron! she reminded herself as she braided her hair. In a little over a month, you're marrying Ron. You love Ron.
"Hermione, are you ready?" Ginny called from the hall.
"Yes," she yelled back, grabbing her work robes and running to join Ginny at the Floo. In a swoosh of green flames, she was walking out of the Floo of Cortkey's Café and struggling to balance her box as she purchased a large cup of breakfast tea.
"No pasties today, dear?" the elderly shop keep asked.
Hermione smiled. "Only if you deliver them for me to Weasleys' – "
"Wizarding Wheezes," the woman finished for her, grinning back. "If I send my grandson with the pasties, do you promise to send him back?"
"I solemnly swear," Hermione replied, laughing as she exited the shop. "Without warts, pustules, or feathers."
She struggled at the door to George's shop, until little Roderick Magpantay showed up with his grandma's delivery, and opened the door for her, eager to be first in the shop. Hermione laughed as he set the bag down on the counter and turned to look at the items on display. "Fifteen minutes and I have to kick you out," she said, and he nodded, heading for the trick wands.
"You know, I should hire that kid," George said, opening the bag. "He knows the products as well as I do and far better than my own staff."
"Considering you're always letting him test the candies, I doubt his grandmother would give him to you," she replied. "Roderick, how would you like to help me put this stuff up?"
Roderick turned, grinning. "Usual payment?"
"Sure," George said, laughing. "Just be sure to stick around here until you molt."
Putting away the Charmed and Transfiguring trick items went so much faster with Roderick helping, and within minutes, the little tyke was sprouting feathers and beaming up at George.
Ginny entered carrying a pile of Wonder Witch boxes and stacked them on the shelf just as Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, and a third girl, another Hufflepuff from Ginny's year, entered the shop and hurried over to say hello. Hermione walked over to greet Susan and Hannah and was introduced to Megan as Ginny tore open the last box, offering her friends a sample. Each girl took one, exclaiming over the divine taste of the truffles. "Go on then, Hermione, give it a go," Susan coaxed her, grinning. "So, when do they take effect?"
"Sorry, I have to pass. I've got to be in the office in less than an hour, and I can't be daydreaming while renegotiating Goblin rights," Hermione replied as she shook her head, laughing. She turned, walked to the back workroom, and then suddenly froze in the doorway. "What are you doing?!" she screeched, eyeing the empty bottles on the worktable next to Ron.
"Making Wonder Witch Truffles," Ron answered back, looking at her as if she'd cracked her nut as he stacked bright pink boxes aside.
"Where did you get those vials?" Hermione shrieked, running forward and grabbing an empty vial, praying that it wasn't one from her kitchen worktable. Unfortunately, it was.
Ron shrugged. "I dunno. From you, I suppose, since the box had your note inside and the vials were labeled in your handwriting. Ginny gave them to me." He turned and levitated the flat holding the boxes to float them into the shop.
"Wait!" Hermione said, turning. "You can't! It's a mistake, the potions—they're not for the shop!"
"What's not for the shop?" George asked as he licked his fingers. "Hey, Ron, these are delicious. The girls like them too," he said, jerking his head at Susan, Hannah, and Megan, all standing next to Ginny, looking at her, wondering what was going on.
Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and pulled him back into the workroom. "Didn't I include a list of which potions were which?"
"Yes, Hermione," Ron replied. "You always do."
"And did you actually read it?" she snapped back.
"Of course I read it! Do you think I'm an idiot?" Ron snapped back, agitated. "You said to use the pale pink for the Romantic Dreams, the soft gold for the Luscious Lips, and the peach ones for the Romantic Daydreams."
"I said to use the soft golden pink, and warm peach ones," she asked, looking at the workspace with a sense of dread. "What about the shimmering pale amber and pale blush peach ones? You didn't use them, did you?"
"Yes, I did!" he snapped angrily. "All of it!"
"How?" Hermione nearly stumbled as her mind whirled. "In which?"
"In the Wonder Witch Romantic Interlude Truffles—just as we decided," Ron spit at her. "And The Daydream ones."
Hermione was going to be sick. "Oh, my, gods, Ron! Tell me you didn't mix them?"
"Mix which ones?" Ron asked, glaring at her, and Hermione suddenly felt a panic coming on. "I put the peach colored ones in the truffles. What's the problem?"
She wanted to strangle him for his sloppiness. "They are different potions, and two of them are not for the shop! One—I don't even know what it does!" she said a bit louder than she'd intended.
"There was a difference?" he asked, obviously flabbergasted by her remark.
"The shimmery pale amber and soft golden pink potion were a near match in color, especially for someone who really doesn't pay attention to colors!" she snapped, frustrated at him and growing more worried by the second. "The other was a blush peach tone, and the fourth would have been a warm peach hue. Geeze, Ron, if I don't spell it out—things could get really bad—and you don't even realize how bad you've goofed things up!"
"I didn't—you didn't tell me there were four different potions—you only listed three!" Ron yelled back.
"You didn't think that maybe you were only to use the three I indicated?" Hermione shouted.
"What's going on in there?" George shouted over them.
Hermione rounded on George. "Your idiot brother may have used an untested, unknown potion in your truffles!"
"It's not my fault," Ron yelled at them. "She didn't label them right!"
"I didn't label them right!" she screeched. "So, unless they are in a potions book with a swatch sample of it-should-look-like-this in vivid magical color hues that even a color blind wizard could see, you couldn't figure out that the other two were not for you?!" Hermione snarled. "The potions I brewed for George was a soft golden pink and a warm peach! Completely different from the shimmering pale amber and blush peach, and I even marked the ones you were to use with a WWW in bright fuchsia on the labels. What part of WWW in fuchsia pink are you unable to recognize?"
"There were only a few that didn't have the labels—any labels!" he shouted at her. "How was I to know? I thought you'd missed a few. You're not perfect you know!"
"But I am careful!" she shouted as George tried to pull them apart before they really started fighting. "At least with something that could be dangerous, unpredictable, or deadly!"
"Hermione, you had best tell me what happened and what the hell you're talking about," George said furiously, although he looked afraid.
"Your idiot brother used an unlabeled, unknown potion in your new truffles, that's what!" Hermione said angrily.
"Oh. My. Bloody hell!" Ginny gasped, turning to look at her friends and back to the scene in the workroom.
"What?" George and Hermione said at once.
"I ate them—oh, bloody hell! We all ate them! Are the ones you just finished the ones with—oh, my..." Ginny stammered. "Ron, you idiot! How could you?! What's going to happen? Hermione?"
"Let's calm down," George said, trying to be rational. "Let's have the four of you come up to my flat, and we'll figure this out. Hermione, tell me what those potions were and what was in them. Maybe we can work this out?"
"Let me owl work first," Hermione stated.
—{ }—
A very thin, pretty woman, possibly a model at one time, walked out of Wallace Widdingsworth's office with a smug smile on his face and Apparated home. The woman dropped his coat and shopping bag on the sofa and waited for his body to return to normal as he scanned the neat, tiny script of the original piece. Copper-flaked brown eyes began to darken as the change started, and the long nails and delicate fingers took on a much more masculine form. He removed his now tightly fitting dress in favor of proper men's robes before the costly thing tore at the seams. He knew that the name Jane Greenger was unfamiliar, but the article was just too well researched, and the writing style too familiar. He also knew with absolute certainty that the supporting material had come from the Hogwarts library, which Miss Greenger had quoted perfectly. Again, a style of writing that is all too familiar. Now, staring at the proof in his hand, Severus felt triumphant. This article was written by none other than Hermione Granger! Although, why she had submitted it under a pseudonym… Unless she wanted anonymity, to have her article acknowledged by its context and not by her fame as one of the golden trio. Severus smiled. Good for her.
Severus walked through the house to his lab and sat down at his desk to look at his find. Hermione. Severus couldn't get the girl off his mind, especially since he'd seen her at the opera. He had only meant to walk up and say hello. Well, that's a lie. I wanted to kiss her the moment I saw her. When he'd taken her hand to help steady her after she'd tripped, feeling her cling to him as she'd gained her footing, he'd been unable to resist. What I hadn't expected was such a passionate response to my kiss and the way she reacted to my touch. It was unlike any encounter he'd ever had, imagined or real. Her passion had stroked his, igniting a lust deep inside him he'd long buried and thought had died along with Lily. But then, no witch had ever earned his attention like she had. There hadn't been anyone worthy enough to challenge the unrequited love and desperate regrets that he'd had for Lily. Not until the little girl had entered his classroom, who raised her hand to every question he asked in class, rhetorical or not, giving textbook answers with perfect recollection. Oh, I'd noticed all right. How the bushy-haired prepubescent with large teeth grew into a stunning beauty the other boys took for granted. The intelligent, kind, and witty girl who'd saved Potter's arse over and over again. She's the true hero of the war—Hermione. Potter would have been lost—or dead without her aid all those years.
Her unrestrained passion in the corridor, the sensual responsiveness to his touch, the way she'd kissed him—he couldn't have restrained his own reactions to her, his own response to her, if he'd tried. Only her refusal, which had never been uttered, would have stopped him from having her. His dream had come to fruition, although not like anything he'd imagined his coupling with her would be like. He knew she'd tried brewing the Love-Drawing Potion the moment he'd gotten home and had woken up, stiff and sore from what had seemed like only a fevered dream, except he could still smell her perfume and the scent of their sex on his clothes and hands. He knew why she had brewed it, but had no idea what would have possessed her to try it, unless she was having doubts about her engagement to Weasley. Unless she's finally come to her senses and seen how inadequate, how beneath her he really is.
He pulled out the folder with all her clippings, carefully placing the article inside and slipping it into a safe place in his desk. Who am I kidding here? She'd never want the likes of me. She has everything she always wanted.
Still, the Love-Drawing Potion had drawn him to her, like a rutting alley cat to a female cat in heat. And I responded to her in just that manner. It had to be the potion. It didn't surprise him in the slightest that Hermione could be his soul mate. She was his match in nearly every way. Look at everything we share in common, not that she could possibly know it. I never gave her the opportunity to get to know me. Except for the twenty-year age difference, and considering the fact I insulted her in every conceivable manner I could devise. But I had no choice. I was still maintaining my cover, and Dumbledore had been right all along. With Potter returning to the wizarding world and attending Hogwarts, the Dark Lord began fighting his way back as well. I couldn't have shown her favoritism as a child. Besides, if I am being truly honest with myself, it wasn't until I saw her at the Yule Ball that I really took any real notice of her. She was a stunning beauty on the arm of that Bulgarian, Krum. He looked so much like I did at his age—it was like watching a vision of her and me. Then at Dumbledore's funeral, I saw the incredible young woman I knew she would grow up to be already beginning to bloom. She had changed so much that year. No, not that much—it's just that I simply finally looked at her differently—that's all.
Then there was that night, in the Forest Dean when I'd been waiting to try and see Potter, to give him the sword. Hermione had come out of nowhere, a dark apparition, her porcelain skin aglow in the moonlight, and I had simply stared at her enthralled. She was a vision. Even when I realized she was out there in the snow to relieve herself, I couldn't turn away. Oh, I couldn't see much, watching her back draped in her long cloak, but she'd been so beautiful, her face so delicate in the moonlight, and the way the light danced in her hair. Hermione Transfigured a leaf into a cup, rather than squat on the ground, Vanquishing the cup and contents when she'd finished, then Transfigured another leaf to wipe herself. For some reason the image had stayed with him. I loved her ingenuity, her cleverness.
He also remembered the tears she'd shed for him in the Shrieking Shack. Real tears, which had filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks before she had wiped them away on her sleeve, leaving a tiny trace of blood on her face. My blood. She had cried over me. I never knew she would have ever shown me any remorse, would have been sad at my demise, but I saw the proof. For the first time ever, a woman had shown real caring for me.
He wasn't stalking her, but he did had seen her several times in Diagon Alley and occasionally around London. He'd even sat next to her in a café across from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes and watched her having lunch with her friends. She has truly come into her own: successful, accomplished, even at such a young age, respected and brilliant. She was in his thoughts all too frequently, and recently she'd been haunting his dreams as well as having been the object of his fantasies when he relieved himself. But he knew they could never come true. Still, that night at the opera, that was real. Surreal—but real.
Severus absently rubbed the scar on his neck from Nagini's bite. The antivenin had worked, saved his life, and the Hyperthermia Elixir, although slower acting than he'd anticipated, had bought him enough time for Aberforth to find him. How he'd ended up in Malfoy manor was a mystery, but Narcissa had helped him heal, and Lucius had kept him hidden.
Severus pulled the flask of Polyjuice Potion from his pocketbook and placed it in the larger drawer of his desk. He'd made a batch of Polyjuice Potion so he could do his shopping anonymously, allowing him to move about freely, either as the tall woman he'd used today or as a tall, dark, handsome man who wasn't too dissimilar to his own build.
Now he questioned his decision to remain dead. I think it's time I paid Kingsley a visit.
—{ }—
Hermione buried herself into her work, still waiting for George's Patronus. So far, the girls hadn't shown any signs from the errant chocolates, which was not really a good thing. Ron was completely unsure which batch contained which potions, and Ginny clearly remembered seeing him mix them, but couldn't remember which bottles he had used or in which combination. Ginny also confessed to bringing all the potion bottles and vials from her kitchen, which meant Ron had obviously used almost a whole cauldron of both of her experimental potions.
Regardless of how much Hermione had wanted to stay and observe her friends to make sure nothing horrendous happened, she had to get to the office. She had made George swear he'd contact her the moment the potions did anything, which alleviated her concerns a milligram. Hermione kept glancing at the clock, deeply worried and anticipating the worst.
Lupin stopped by her office and sat down in the chair, looking as ragged and haggard as he'd ever looked, only even more so with a questionable stain on his left shoulder. "I'm supposed to give you an invite to Teddy's teething party," he said jovially.
"Teething party?" Hermione asked, looking up, smiling. "Well, that's a much better reason than the last time you stopped by my office."
"Still no luck?" he asked, handing her a tiny, rattle-shaped invitation.
"No, we tried unsuccessfully to have the law changed to allow the old orphanage to be bought and given to St. Mungo's as a werewolf clinic. Nevertheless, the suggestion is still being considered even if it's been frozen in committee. What I need is a benefactor, a wealthy patron who'd front the money, and then I know I could get approval from the Ministry, and then St. Mungo's would gladly sanction the clinic idea." Hermione pulled out her date planner from her briefcase. "I know the building would be ideal. It even has private rooms and the primary dormitory would be ideal as a recovery room. Also, Minerva was thrilled with the idea of having teachers on staff for the kids and even offered Hogwarts' support. I just can't get it off the ground."
"At least the Wolfsbane Potion is available," Remus said with a warm smile. "That alone is making my job of recruitment easier."
"If I ever get this clinic up and going, would you consider teaching again?" she asked. "If you say yes, it might make things easier to sway my superiors."
Remus looked positively awed by her request. "Hermione, I'd be delighted to teach again."
"Good, that's one more reason to have the clinic," Hermione said, smiling. "Magic tutorial for the young ones. Can't have untrained witch and wizard werewolves doing random emotional outbursts of magic all over England, can we? I wonder if I should talk to the Greengrasses or the Montgomerys…" she said, making a notation to give both families a visit. "I'll take Harry along."
"Merlin help them," Remus stated.
"Remus, how is Tonks doing?" she asked.
Remus looked down a moment and took a deep breath. "She's the same. Not too sure what hit her. The Healers don't think it was a new spell, but possibly several at once that reacted badly together. However, they haven't been able to unravel it. She's unconscious most of the time, thankfully, so I don't think she's in pain."
"Oh, Remus, I'm sorry," she said, taking a deep breath herself. "I was hoping… If there is anything I can do—for you or for her…"
"Thanks, but I already owe you so much," Remus said, smiling again, but it didn't quite reach his eyes this time. "Thanks to you, I have a job. A career if this clinic opens up, and people like me are actually getting a chance of a normal-ish life. But still, I appreciate everything you do for Teddy. You and your friends are going to spoil my son!"
"We're going to spoil him?" she laughed. "Who is it that's throwing him a teething party?"
"Touché."
—{ }—
Anxious about what effects the truffles had on the girls, Hermione went to George's shop immediately after her last meeting, which, of course, ran late. Oddly, the closed sign was in the window. Nevertheless, since she was an unofficial employee as an extra Potions brewer for George, and needed to keep her own hours, she had a key! She entered the shop, furious when she saw that the new boxes of Wonder Witch Romantic Interlude Truffles, Romantic Dreams Creams, Luscious Lips lip-gloss, and the Romantic Daydreams chocolates were still on the shelves.
She wanted to scream! She ran to the backroom and collected crates, carrying and dragging them to the Wonder Witch section to pull the possibly contaminated products from the shelves. The Romantic Interlude Truffles and Romantic Dreams Creams were stacked magically into one crate, and she was Levitating the Romantic Daydreams into another when George showed up at her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" he asked, making her jump.
"What does it look like?" she asked, catching her breath. "These have to be tested and checked for contamination."
"They're fine," George stated, crossing his arms.
Hermione turned around to face him. "Oh, really. And just who tested them? Oh, yes, Ginny, Hannah, Susan, Megan and, oh, yes, you!"
"And Ron and Angelina," he said. "No one had any bad side effects."
"Angelina had one?" she asked, gobsmacked.
"Sure, she tests stuff all the time. Angelina came by just after you left, hung around for a few—well, a while, and then went up to Hogsmeade to check on the progress on the new shop," he said, surprised that she didn't know it.
She did, of course; she was only astounded that he'd had Angelina test a contaminated product.
"Oh, and Neville apparently showed up and started a conversation with Hannah. He may have had one… although, I'm not sure. They both seemed fine when they left. Ron offered to take Megan home, and Susan, well, Susan, she's still kind of here."
"What do you mean she's still kind of here?" Hermione asked stunned.
"She and I, well, we, er…" he stammered. "I dunno if it's the potion, but we sort of…"
Hermione covered her mouth in shock. "Oh, my—you didn't take advantage of her, did you?"
"Not exactly, more like she took advantage of me," he said, grinning. "Who knew that she'd always had a crush on me? Anyway, it isn't too bad, no one is upset or anything."
"Where is Ginny?" Hermione asked, worried.
"She went home," George stated. "Why?"
"Okay," Hermione said, trying to get a grasp on what happened. "So, except that Susan confessed that she's harbored an infatuation for you for years, shagged you, and is apparently waiting on you to go back upstairs, nothing happened?" she asked incredulously. "Are you daft? It's the potions! It has to be!"
"Hermione, if it was the potions, they seemed to have worn off hours ago. We've been sitting up there talking." George looked up at the ceiling as if he could see Susan waiting for him, then looked at Hermione's angry expression and grimaced. "Okay, snogging and talking—but there is something there. I dunno what yet, but she's adorable, really fun, easy to talk to, and likes me. If this potion makes people want to come together, what's the harm?"
"Sure, okay. But I'm pulling the Wonder Witch Truffles from the shelves and brewing another cauldron of the potion. We're starting from scratch!" she insisted.
"Sure," George said, looking at the boxes in her crates with a sorrowful look. "I, er, need to go. Talk tomorrow?"
"Oh, yes, we'll talk tomorrow." She shrunk the crates and picked them up. "After I find and talk to everyone who ate these truffles."
—{ }—
Author's Notes:
I want to give a great big thank you hug to MadBrilliant for combing through this to point out my numerous errors and help me make this presentable for reading. You're the best, thank you!