Chapter 10

True to his word, Sirius showed up the next night.

Lhara was busy mixing ingredients when she heard a scraping noise and turned to see a huge black paw on a greenhouse window. She put down her things and hurried outside clutching something like a picnic basket.

Silhouetted in the moonlight, he cut a handsome figure - tall, lean, powerful. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him walk toward her.

Honestly, woman. Get a hold of yourself. You're not sixteen anymore, she told herself. He's not that good-looking-
-Shut up, she answered.
Subconsciously a hand went up to smooth her hair and she smiled brightly.

"Lhara" His voice sent delicious tremors through her body. He held out his hand and together they walked down to the edge of the forest.

"How are things going?" he asked.

She sighed.
"Not as well as I hoped. I thought I'd be further along by now."

"You're having problems with the ingredients?"

"No, I think I have the ingredients down, it's the incantation that's slowing me down."

"You said before that the writing of that spell was a long story. Well, I've got the time." He motioned to the ground next to a large tree. "And it appears you've got some food?"

Just then his stomach made a rumbling noise and they both laughed.
"Oh! Sorry! I, uh, haven't been eating regularly lately." He joked.

They sat down with the basket and began to eat. Sirius waited patiently for her to start her story.

"I don't know where to begin," she said.

"Try this - 'A long time ago ...'"

"A long time ago, I was in love with you." Sirius stopped chewing his food.
Say it, she thought. Don't be a coward. Just tell him everything.

"I was in love with you and I never told you. The whole time we were at Hogwarts. And after. I'd see you with James when I came to visit Lily." She paused and gave a small laugh. "She told me to tell you, you know. She thought you might ... well... anyway this went on for years. We even danced together at their wedding, do you remember?"

Sirius nodded, his gaze fixed on her, the food forgotten.

"I was so shy back then. The original shrinking violet. But eventually I worked up enough courage to tell you. Then 'IT' happened. Lily and James were dead, little Harry was gone and you stood accused of betraying them all.

"I couldn't believe that you could do something like that. I just couldn't. But you were sent to Azkaban so I thought it must be true. But it couldn't be true. I couldn't love someone so coldhearted. So evil." She looked at him with eyes full of sorrow.

Sirius shook his head slowly but didn't say anything.

"So I decided I had to remove my heart. I thought it was better to live without one than to live with a heart that loved a killer. I wrote the spell and just when I was about to go through with it, I changed my mind. It sounds strange now, but I had a dream. Lily came to me and told me that pain is part of life and love. I realized I'd be getting rid of the good feelings as well as the bad."

She looked quickly toward the lake and brushed away a stray tear. After she took a deep breath, she continued.

"Anyway, I didn't perform the spell. But I did register it with the Ministry of Magic, like you're supposed to. And years later one of the editors of a new spell book asked me if she could include it. That's how it came to be in Hermione's spell book."

Sirius sat in silence. He seemed to be just staring at her, no doubt trying to take in all she'd just told him.

Eventually, he spoke.
"What about now?"

"What do you mean?"

He cleared his throat.
"How do you feel about me now?"

Her heart flipped with joy. Could it be possible he had feelings for her?
She tried to control her nervousness by looking at the ground as though it was the most interesting thing in the world, unable to meet his piercing gaze.

"A lot has happened since the last time we knew each other, all those years ago," she said quietly. "We're different people now."

Sirius nodded reluctantly and looked away.

"So I guess we'd better get to know each other now, right?"
She reached over and held his hand, willing him to look back at her.

When he looked at her, his eyes were shining bright and a smile was growing.
"Yeah. I guess so."

Lhara smiled broadly and touched his face.
"I always loved your smile." She said.

He covered her hand with his own and seemed to devour her with his eyes.
"Lhara. Sweet Lhara."

They leaned in and kissed, a slow gentle exploration of old souls.
She sighed when their lips parted.

"Mmm. That was worth the wait." She said.

Soon - too soon for both of them - he had to leave. She felt a pang of something like loss when she watched him disappear into the forest, but shook it off. Sirius was safe on Hogwarts grounds and had promised to continue to visit her as she worked on the counter spell. Sirius was back in her life and that was a good thing. Maybe things could work out right for everybody ...

After two more days of intense research, Lhara had what she thought was the base for the counter-spell. She was worried, however. She didn't know if Hermione would even attempt it!

Without her heart, it would be difficult to convince Hermione WHY she should attempt this spell. After all, Hermione saw nothing wrong with the way things were now. How could they get her to do it? They called a brain-storming meeting.

"Maybe we could paralyze her?" Ron suggested. "If we put her in a full body-bind then we can just pour the potion down her throat?"

"An interesting suggestion, Ron, but she needs to be able to speak. She had to drink the potion AND recite the words." Lhara said.

"Oh" Ron said dejectedly. They sat in silence, pondering this problem.

"Maybe ..." Harry started.

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe we could tell her it's extra credit for one of her classes?"

Ron brightened. "Brilliant! She'd do anything for extra credit!"

"I think you're right. She's likely to do whatever a professor tells her to do, right? Who is her Women's Studies professor?" Lhara asked.

"Professor Saphron. But what about that jar? How are we gonna get that?" Harry said.

"Leave that to me! I can be in an out in a flash. She'll never know I was there."
Ron said, confidently.

With all of them working together, there was hope for Hermione.

So, Lhara arranged it with Professor Saphron, to trick Hermione - for her own good. Professor Saphron would ask Hermione to stay after class to assist her with a 'new spell'. She'd get her to drink the potion and say the incantation. Harry, Ron and Lhara would all hide in the back of the room and watch.

It was the worst 13 hours wait of Harry's life. He couldn't eat or sleep.
Would she take the potion? Would it work? Would she forgive him?

Finally, the moment arrived. Professor Saphron asked Hermione to stay and while the professor was busy explaining what needed to be done, Harry, Ron and Lhara slipped into the room.

"Now, Hermione, as my best student I'm sure you'll have no problem with this spell." Professor Saphron had placed the jar containing Hermione's heart close to her, but hidden from Hermione's view - since it had to be close to the spell caster.

"Thank you, Professor. I'll try not to let you down."

Hermione picked up the potion and drank it quickly, grimacing at its bitter taste.
Harry started to move closer to her.

"Now, say the words."

Everyone held their breath as Hermione said in a clear voice. "Amore Cordis"

Harry looked at the jar and then Hermione.

Nothing had happened!?

He must have made a noise, because suddenly Hermione saw Harry in the shadows.

"Harry, what are you doing? Ron? Miss Mahr? What is going on?"

Harry shook his head in utter despair. She was unchanged - still without her heart.
The spell didn't work.

It didn't work.