Chapter Sixteen; All In Love Is Fair

'... add the sliced lemur tongue ... mix in just a few drops of bat blood ... Ron could you crush that toadstone for me, please? Harry, pass me that bottle of spider milk, will you?' Hermione ran her finger down the long list of ingredients as she stirred the bubbling potion with her other hand.

After nearly a week of researching in the library, Ron had discovered a spell that could reveal the presence of a love spell. They'd immediately retreated to Moaning Myrtle's toilet to start work on the spell, just as they'd done with the Polyjuice Potion a few years ago. The actual spell required a specially formulated powder, and since it wasn't readily available from the students store cupboard nor from any of the local shops in Hogsmeade, they had to start from scratch.

Which was proving to be quite disgusting to say the least.

'Oh, gross!' Ron grimaced as he examined a jar of fresh puffin spleen and mouse lung. 'Have you ever wondered how these spells and potions are actually discovered? I mean ... who in their right mind wakes up one morning and just decides to mix up all kind of foul ... body bits ... throw in some weeds and other unmentionables ... just to see what it might do? And what about those idiots who volunteer to try them! Do they even know what they're-'

'Oh, Ron, stop it!' Hermione screwed up her face in disgust. 'You're making me feel sick!'

'I'm just saying-'

'Well, don't!'

'Well, then how can you do this,' he pointed at the potion now simmering on the cistern of the toilet, 'without the risk of vomiting-'

'Ron, shut up!' she screeched, going slightly green. 'I just try not to think about it, that's how!' Nose wrinkled, Hermione eyed the rest of the components listed in the book apprehensively.

Unfortunately, there were a few 'unmentionable' ingredients that they'd been unable to find, and as none of them were willing to risk raiding Snape's private stores again, Hermione had sent an owl-order to the apothecary's in Diagon Alley that evening. Providing that they actual had any of the ingredients in stock, they would be delivered by the following morning.

Harry was at one of the stone sinks, trying not to spill any viper venom as he struggled to open the jar.

'So, how does this spell work, exactly? Isn't it supposed to be a powder?' he asked.

'Once everything's in the potion we have to boil it, evaporate all the liquid,' Hermione said as she sprinkled the crushed toadstone onto the bubbling surface. 'We should be left with a kind of sticky paste which will dissolve into a powdery form after a few hours or so.'

Harry sullenly handed her the venom jar.

'Why don't we just find something that'll reverse a love spell? We could be wasting our time with this.'

'Harry, we need to find out if there is a love spell on Sirius at all. We can't cast a Reversing Spell on something that might not be there ... we don't know what effects that might have!'

Glumly, Harry nodded, then set to work on slicing up some caterpillars, praying that this would work.

*

On Saturday morning in the Great Hall, the post-owls flocked in through the windows, a huge cloud of brown and grey. Among them were two eagle owls carrying a small crate, which they lowered, very carefully onto the floor beside Hermione, catching the attention of several students and even Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow. Thinking quickly, Hermione made a show of getting all excited over these 'really advanced books on Magical Theory' that she'd ordered from Flourish and Blotts, before hauling the crate out of the Hall. This earned her some very weird looks and a few rotating fingers by the side of the head in the universal sign of insanity.

Next moment, a small ball of dark feathers made a belly flop into Harry's cornflakes.

'Pig!'

Ron reached over and fished out the bedraggled owl. For once, Pigwidgeon seemed to have used up all his usual energy. Sitting up in Ron's cupped hands, the little owl gave a violent shake, fluffing up his feathers and wearily held up his leg with a feeble hoot of relief.

'About time,' Harry mumbled as Ron passed him Oliver Wood's reply.

Harry and Ron slipped off to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom as soon as they'd finished breakfast to find Hermione rummaging through the box muttering, '... yeti hair ... spine of shrake ... oh, good, they did have poison arrow frog mucus!'

'Okay, this getting beyond gross, you know that, don't you?' Ron said, clutching his stomach uncertainly. 'Do we have to do this now? Right after we've eaten?'

'If you're going to be such a sissy, fine, you can go Ron. I won't stop you,' said Hermione smiling sweetly as she upturned a jar of a foul smelling slime into the cauldron.

Without a word, Ron snatched up a packet of yellow rose thorns and grudgingly set about crushing them with a vengeance.

Harry ripped open the parchment envelope and pulled out Oliver Wood's reply.

Dear Harry,

Great to hear from you! Congrats on becoming Captain, the team couldn't have made a better choice. Hope you're not going to be too lenient with those twins, now. I spent a long time whipping them into shape and you'll want them to stay that way!

As for this professor of yours, I don't recognise the name. I've asked around but no one I know has heard of Miss Torr. Then again, she could have been coaching in the U.S or somewhere else in Europe, I don't know of anyone from those areas personally, but she's definitely not on the British scene.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Good Luck for the season!

Oliver Wood.

Face grim, Harry folded up the letter. Hermione gave him an encouraging sort of smile.

'There's still Viktor. We ought to wait until we get a reply from him.'

'Sure.'

'Hey, er ... guys?'

Harry and Hermione looked over at Ron. He was leaning against the sinks, reading the spell book.

'What?'

'Have either of you read this bit?'

'Which bit?' Harry asked.

'The part that tells you how to use the powder.'

They peered over Ron's shoulder to read it.

'Oh dear,' Hermione mumbled. 'Didn't see that.'

'How are we gonna manage that?' Ron asked in disbelief.

Harry stared at the book in silence.

Hermione bit her lip.

'Um ... Harry? Are you sure you want to go through with this?'

He nodded.

'Well ... you might not like this but I think I know how we might just be able to pull this off...'

*

'That's it?' Ron asked.

Hermione nodded as she held up a vial containing the completed powder. It was a strange glow-in-the dark pink in colour, and there wasn't a lot of it, considering how much potion there'd been. Harry finished tying the post-bag onto Hedwig who was eyeing the powder curiously. Pigwidgeon had just left, a note for Sirius clutched in his talons.

'Is this going to work, Hermione?' Harry asked, looking somewhat nervous.

Hermione smiled reassuringly but her eyes darted after Pig, clearly apprehensive.

'It will, Harry, don't worry!' It sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than Harry. 'The only thing is, we need perfect timing-'

'With no practise,' Ron interjected none too helpfully.

'... because we'll only have one chance.' Hermione admitted.

Harry nodded, then ever so carefully poured the powder into a little paper bag, sealed it tight and dropped it into the post-bag. Hedwig stretched her wings and looked expectantly up at Harry, as though she were waiting to be told who this odd little package should be delivered to.

'Are you sure Hedwig can do this? It's not the easiest thing to do in flight.'

'She can do it,' Harry insisted. 'I know she can.'

'Well, are we ready?' Ron asked.

Harry nodded and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak.

*

Harry waited on the edge of the forest behind Hogsmeade, impatiently wandering round in circles. The sun was setting on the horizon, the sky turning dusky pink and yellow. Sitting down on the ground, then pacing the dirt road, Harry couldn't sit still, constantly looking around.

'Harry, will you keep still? You're making me queasy going round in circles like that,' Ron's voice called from the other side of the trees.

Harry ignored him because a black dog had just appeared up the road, walking slowly towards him. Harry waited, not looking in Ron's direction and praying that Hermione and Hedwig were ready. Sirius stopped a few feet away. They looked at each other in uneasy silence. Harry looked down at his feet, wishing he knew what to say. When he looked back up, Sirius had transformed back to human form.

'Hello, Harry,' he said cautiously, still keeping his distance. He wasn't smiling.

'Hi,' said Harry, feeling hesitant.

They fell awkwardly silent for a minute.

'You ... er ... wanted to talk to me?' Sirius held up the letter that Pig had brought him.

Harry winced. The scratches Hedwig had given Sirius were visible and they looked deep. Harry averted his eyes and spoke to his feet.

'I didn't mean for Hedwig to attack you,' he mumbled.

'That's okay. She was only trying to protect you,' said Sirius in an offhand sort of way.

Silence again.

Sirius cleared his throat. 'Look, Harry ... I didn't mean to lose my temper at you like that - it was completely uncalled for.'

Harry felt sick with shame. Apologise, you idiot, his brain screeched at him. Now's your chance!

'I want to know why you didn't tell me,' he said at last, trying to keep his voice steady. 'About Professor Torr.'

'Her name's Tia.'

'I know.'

Sirius sighed, searching for words. 'Harry, I was going to tell you ... I just wasn't sure how to tell you.' Harry nodded, accepting the answer. 'I wanted to maybe ... introduce you two ... outside of Hogwarts ... I certainly didn't want you to find out the way you did.'

Harry looked up at his godfather. 'So, you like her? A lot?'

'Yes,' he nodded. 'I do. But that doesn't mean I've stopped caring about you.' Sirius took a few steps towards Harry, slowly. He seemed ready to forgive and forget.

'Does she know about me? That you're my godfather?'

'Of course.'

Harry turned away slightly, looking over into the trees. Now that the sun had gone, night was rapidly closing in. Hoping that Ron could see him, Harry gave the signal; shoving his glasses up his nose, before turning his head to speak to Sirius.

'I don't like her,' he said firmly.

'I gathered that,' said Sirius evenly. 'From what you said last time we spoke.'

Harry's throat tightened. Should he just say sorry now and hope for the best? Looking past Sirius, Harry could see a white owl emerge from the woods, maybe two hundred metres or so away, flying straight towards them. Harry looked back at Sirius.

'I didn't mean to yell at you – '

'Its alright,' Sirius insisted. 'You were upset – '

Eyes shifted to Hedwig again. Having seen Harry, she dropped lower, closer ... closer ... on silent wings she glided down quickly ... right in line with Sirius. Fingers crossed.

Not yet ... not just yet ...

'NOW!' Harry shouted.

'What the ...?' Sirius, confused, turned and looked up.

Hedwig, with incredible agility, went into a barrel roll. At the same time, a voice shouted from the trees, 'DIFFINDO!'

The spell hit the paper sachet as it fell from the bag ... it split ... the powder billowed out in a huge pink cloud right over Sirius as he covered his face. To Harry's right, Hermione whipped off the Cloak, wand pointed at Sirius. In a blast of light, the powder coating Sirius blew into a tornado, surrounding him.

Sirius stood in complete shock, eyes darting from Harry, to Hermione, to the trees where Ron had emerged holding the owl whistle and back to Harry as Hedwig proudly landed on his shoulder.

'What the hell?'

The pink tornado flared with light, completely engulfing him. Harry held his breath. If the powder came up red, a love spell was present, if not; it would go blue.

The colour shifted ...

It turned ... purple.

Purple?

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wide eyed.

This was not good.

'Harry,' Sirius growled as the whirl of colour faded into nothing. 'What the hell was that?'

Harry eyed his godfather fearfully. Sirius looked furious! Ron and Hermione drew back as his dark eyes flashed in their direction.

'I asked you a question, Harry.'

Harry raised his head, met his godfather's stare. He wanted to appear unconcerned, like casting such a spell on his unsuspecting guardian had been nothing. But he felt nothing but shame, his stomach flipped over.

What had he just done?

If Ron and Hermione were expecting Harry to stand up to Sirius, they were disappointed.  Harry dropped his gaze.

'That was a Revelation Powder, wasn't it?'

Harry didn't bother trying to deny it. He nodded.

'What were you looking for?'

'A love spell.'

'Why?' Sirius' voice was dangerously quiet.

Stubborn silence.

'I don't really need an answer to that, do I, Harry? Look at me when I'm talking to you.'

Slowly, Harry looked back up. Sirius was obviously struggling to keep his temper under control.

'Harry, if you despise Tia this much, fine. I can't make you like her but you are not going to force me to choose between you. I care about you a lot, Harry,' Harry felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes. He blinked hard to stop them before they fell. 'But I love Tia. She's a part of my life whether you like her or not.'

'There are only two things I don't like about her.' Harry hissed, his anger rising again.

'What's that?'

'Her face.'

Harry turned abruptly and marched back up the road towards the castle.  Sirius made no move to follow.  He heard Ron and Hermione fall into step behind him. Without a word, they returned to Hogwarts. Harry didn't look back.

*

'I don't understand it!' said Hermione, rereading the spell book. 'We did everything correctly, I know we did!'

'So why did the powder go purple and not red or blue?' Harry snapped irritably.

'I don't know!' Hermione snapped back. 'The book doesn't say anything about the reading going purple.'

'We didn't get a definite result one way or the other,' said Ron. 'It was sort of in-between.'

'So is there a love spell or not?' asked Harry impatiently.

Ron shrugged, looking at Hermione. Hermione was scowling behind Harry's back; clearly she'd had enough of Harry's mood swings. She slammed her book shut.

'Hasn't it occurred to you Harry, that maybe you're over reacting to the whole thing? I know it can't be easy but the least you could do is try to get along with Professor Torr.' She ignored the appalled look on his face. 'She might not be all that she seems, but then who is? You're so stubborn, you won't even give her the benefit of the doubt!'

'Hermione, I-'

'Let her finish,' Ron growled at Harry who looked quite taken aback. Hermione continued as though she hadn't been interrupted.

'Why you won't apologise to Sirius, I don't know. I'm not sure why I even helped you with this stupid spell! There is no love spell! And you proved that by tricking him, completely disregarding his feelings! And ours! Ron and I have tried to be understanding but come on! Enough is enough! We're not going to jump to your defence every time you find something else to get paranoid about!' She paused to draw a shuddering breath and went on, a little more deflated. 'I'm sorry, Harry. I just ...'

Ron went to her, putting a comforting arm round her shoulders.  Hermione stiffened, eyeing his hand warily.  Awkwardly, Ron removed his arm, taking a step back, avoiding her eyes.

Without another word, Hermione snatched up the spell book and walked away.

*

Upon entering her dormitory, Hermione was relieved to find that Lavender and Parvati weren't around.  However, she pulled up short as a streak of ginger burst out from under her bed, pouncing on a screwed up sheet of parchment.

'Oh, Crookshanks,' Hermione sighed, finding her school bag lying open on the floor, ransacked by her playful feline.  Several rolls of parchment had been subjected to Crookshanks' games, scattered across the floor.

The cat paid her no attention, batting at his latest find.  Hermione cast him a disapproving look and set about tidying up.

When she'd finished, Hermione fell back onto her bed, staring up at the scarlet canopy of her four poster.

Feeling somewhat drained from her outburst, Hermione struggled to concentrate.  She felt a little better having vented her feelings, although she wished she could have got it out of her system without doing it front of Ron.  It was bad enough not knowing what was going on with her own feelings without worrying over what someone else may or may not be feeling.  It was too confusing.

Sighing deeply, Hermione forced herself to focus on something that might actually have a logical answer; why the powder hadn't worked.

Mentally running over the instructions Hermione was positive they'd made it correctly.  Yet it hadn't yielded a definite result, one way or the other.  What did it mean?

Sitting up, Hermione picked up the spell book again, flipping the yellowing pages.  There was no explanation for the powder turning purple; it only stated that red indicated the presence of a love spell while blue was a completely negative reading, that there was no spell present.

'But then there must have been something there,' Hermione muttered aloud, frowning and turning the page impatiently.  'Otherwise it would've turned blue.  Yet it isn't a love spell – so what else could it be?'

Brow furrowed, Hermione leant back against the headboard and proceeded to work her way through the entire book, reading from cover to cover, hoping to find some sort of answer.

Crookshanks was happily rolling on the floor, playing with the parchment ball, which kept rustling loudly.  Halfway through the book, Hermione sighed.

'Crookshanks, I'm trying to concentrate.'

The cat blinked his great yellow eyes at her, then carried on.

'Fine.'

Hermione swung off the bed.  Opening her trunk she drew out a cat toy; a soft bag of sweet smelling catnip.  Dangling it in front of Crookshanks' face, Hermione soon had the cats' attention.  Abandoning his parchment ball, Crookshanks eagerly batted at the bag with his paws.  Hermione tossed it across the room, smiling serenely as her cat sprang after it, sinking his claws into it like a lion would bring down its prey.

Picking up the parchment, Hermione was just about to toss it in the bin when she hesitated.  Peering closely at the parchment, she sniffed.  Slowly, she smoothed it out.  It was the letter Professor Torr had sent to Sirius.  The parchment smelt like a strange spice, but Hermione was at a loss for what kind.

The dormitory door opened, and Lavender and Parvati came in, gossiping happily.  Lavender paused as she noticed Hermione clutching the letter in her hands.

'Hi Hermione, who's that from?' she asked curiously.

'Oh … erm, no one,' said Hermione, folding it up quickly.

Parvati sniffed.

'Is that perfume?' she asked incredulously.

Lavender's eyes widened, her smile wide and eager.

'Oh my god, you're sending a perfume scented letter?  To who?'

Hermione flushed red.

'What? No, I'm not,' she said quickly.

Parvati and Lavender exchanging knowing looks.

'That's okay, it's not like we need to ask anyway,' said Parvati matter-of-factly.

'Excuse me?  What's that supposed to mean?'

'Oh, come on,' said Lavender.  'There's a good-looking red head out there who's had his eye on you for a long time.'

Hermione paled.

'I – I don't know what you mean …' she stammered.

'You can't tell me you haven't noticed,' Lavender giggled.

Hermione stuck out her chin defiantly, opened her mouth to defend herself, but nothing came out.  Awkwardly, she closed her mouth without saying anything, avoiding her classmates' eagerly searching eyes.

'I sincerely doubt he's interested,' she murmured finally, barely moving her lips so that it was almost inaudible.  'We're just friends.'

'Uh huh, sure, that's what they all say,' Lavender drawled, grinning slyly.

'It's true,' Hermione snapped, eyes narrowed.  'I don't think of him that way,' she added forcibly, cringing inwardly as she said it.

Parvati raised her eyebrows disbelievingly.

'Oh really?  Then why have you put Arden's Perfume on that letter?' she smiled, folding her arms, looking almost proudly at Hermione.  'My girl, I didn't know you had it in you.'

Hermione stared.

'What did you say?'

'That I didn't know – '

'No, before that – about the perfume?  You know what this is?'  She shook the letter, clutching the edge so tightly she almost tore it.

'Well, it smells like Arden's Perfume,' said Parvati, sounding unsure.  She went to her bureau and opened her drawer.  Inside were dozens and dozens of magical cosmetics; lipsticks, blusher, eye liner, eye shadow, nail polish, all in a multitude of different colours and shades.  Hermione had never seen so much make-up outside of a shop.

Carefully, Parvati removed a tiny bottle and a copy of Teen Witch magazine.  The front cover was moving, just like every picture in the wizarding world.  It portrayed a slender teenaged witch modelling a set of stylish red robes with a plunging neckline.  She smiled confidently up at Hermione, tossing her strawberry blonde hair around.  At her feet lay several handsome young wizards, all gazing adoringly up at her.

'I got a free sample a few months ago,' said Parvati, handing the little bottle to Hermione.  'It's really expensive so I haven't used any of it yet.'

Hermione cautiously opened the bottle and took a delicate sniff, then smelt the parchment again.

'It's very similar,' Hermione muttered, frowning.  'What's it made of?'

Lavender shrugged.

'I don't know, but who cares?  It's brilliant for getting guys to sit up and take notice.  But if you don't mind my saying so, I think you may have used a tad too much on that letter.  What did you do?  Soak it?'

'Hold on,' said Hermione, staring from the bottle to Lavender and Parvati.  'What exactly does this stuff do?'

Lavender and Parvati started giggling.  Refining from sighing with sheer exasperation, Hermione waited for them to stop.  Finally Lavender said, 'It gets a guy to notice you, of course!  Soon as they get a whiff of this perfume they can't stay away.'

'But love spells aren't allowed at Hogwarts!' Hermione whispered fearfully.  'You could get into huge trouble.'

'It isn't a love spell, silly,' Parvati laughed airily.  'It induces passion – there's a big difference.'

'Passion?'  Hermione repeated.  She stared down at the letter, thinking hard and fast.  'So … is that why he kissed me?' she whispered sadly under her breath.

Both Lavender and Parvati gaped at her, mouths hanging open.

'What?  Who kissed you?' they demanded excitedly.

Hermione didn't answer but her face went bright red.

Lavender squealed.  'Oh my god!  Ron kissed you?'

Hermione's face went a shade deeper, which seemed to answer the question as far as Lavender and Parvati were concerned.  They squealed again.

'When did he kiss you?'

'Was it nice?' 

'Did you like it?' 

'Is he a good kisser?'

'Did you snog him?  How far did you go?'

'Does this mean you two are going out?  Come on, girl, details!'

But Hermione didn't seem to be listening.  Cramming the letter into her pocket, she ran out of the dormitory as fast as she could.  Lavender and Parvati stared after her.  There was the sound of pounding feet and Hermione stuck her head back in.

'Thanks!' she gasped breathlessly, then vanished again, thundering back down the stairs.

Lavender and Parvati smiled at each other.

'Knew it was going to happen,' said Lavender smugly.

'It was only a matter of time,' agreed Parvati matter-of-factly.

*

'So you see?  We weren't far off after all!' said Hermione excitedly to a stunned Harry and Ron.  Almost crashing into them in front of the Fat Lady, Hermione had ushered them into the nearest empty to classroom to inform them of her discovery.

'Then the powder did work?' asked Harry, looking at the letter from a safe distance.  'But I thought it was supposed to turn red if there was – '

'It's got nothing to do with love, Harry.  This perfume induces passion; people can confuse the two, unfortunately,' She didn't notice Ron's concerned expression.  'The Revelation Powder sensed it and thus reacted to it, and because it isn't love, it didn't go completely red.'

'That's how this works?' Ron asked, indicating the letter.  'One sniff and those possessing a Y chromosome go gaga for the first pretty girl they see?'

'It must be more specific than that,' said Hermione carefully.  'My theory is that there may be some kind of pheromone in the formula, a chemical scent message.  The best example I can think of to explain it is that wild animals would use a special kind of scent to attract a suitable mate.' 

'That actually works?'

'Of course.  Humans have sort of adapted it to perfume, only we generally use it to simply smell nice, not necessarily to attract someone.' Hermione was carefully avoiding Ron's eyes.    Ron looked pained, trying once again to move into her line of sight.  Hermione turned to address Harry.

'Basically, I'd say that Sirius is under the influence of this stuff.'

'You mean he's been drugged?'  Harry looked horrified at the thought.

'Not drugged as such, but I'm sure he can't really help his behaviour.  Remember the headaches?  Maybe he's reacting to it, or trying to fight it.'

Harry's outlook definitely brightened at the thought.  Then his face fell again.

'It sounds like the Imperius Curse, or at a Confundus Charm.'

'Or it might simply be a case of overactive hormones,' said Hermione,  'you just react to them … you don't always have a logical reason for why … it just happens,' She cast Ron a hurt look, then dropped her gaze to the floor.  'For all we know, this spell may actually amplify feelings that are already there, or it could be a forced state of mind where one has no control whatsoever over what they do.'

Harry leaned back against the wall, looking curiously between Ron and Hermione.  They had both been behaving rather oddly around each other for the last day or so.

'How did you figure this out?' he asked, sounding slightly suspicious.

Instantly, Hermione and Ron glanced at each other, then sharply looked away.  Harry raised an eyebrow, questioningly.

'Did something – '

'Nothing happened!' Hermione and Ron insisted simultaneously.  Harry drew back, rather startled, raising his hands in mock surrender.

'Ooookay, forget I asked.'

Both Ron and Hermione looked satisfied, but they still wouldn't close the eight-foot gap between them.

'So, Professor Torr has been using this perfume,' said Harry slowly, looking to Hermione for confirmation.

'I don't know for sure,' she admitted.  'They do smell very similar but it could well be a variation of it.'

'Any idea where she's getting it from?'

'This sort of formula, I'd say she's brewing it herself somewhere – probably in her office or private rooms.'

'So what do we do now?' asked Ron.  'Break into her office and search it for evidence?'

Harry smiled grimly up at him.  Ron's face fell.

'I didn't mean that seriously.'

'Sounds like a plan to me,' said Harry.  'We need more evidence that she's a fraud.'

'More evidence?' said Hermione wonderingly.  'Harry, I'm not sure if the Voice Boxes count as evidence.'

'No, but this might.'

Harry delved into his pocket and pulled out a scroll of parchment.  'This arrived for you after you went back to the Tower.'

Taking the parchment, Hermione unravelled it and read;

Dear Hermione,

Thank you for your last letter, it was nice to hear from you again so soon. But I am sorry to say that I know nothing of Miss Torr, I have not heard of her before, nor have my colleagues and they know a great many coaches in the Quidditch profession. Perhaps I have mistaken the name? I have done as you asked and searched all records and contacts, yet her name is nowhere to be found. I apologise for my lack of assistance in your investigation.

My good wishes to Harry and Ron for all their coming matches.

I'll write again soon.

Love Viktor

*

To Be Continued

*

Please review

All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated.

*

Author's Notes

Lil Lupin – My memory is so weird.  I can remember ridiculous little facts that'll never be of any use whatsoever (except on a Harry Potter quiz perhaps) but 'normal' stuff just goes in one ear and out the other.  I mean, I could tell you how many staircases there are in Hogwarts castle, or when Ollivanders started business, but I couldn't tell you what I had for dinner yesterday.  I was so thrilled when I read Prisoner of Azkaban for the first time, came across the name Sirius Black and suddenly had the distinct feeling that I had read the name before  (baring in mind I'd only read the first book once, a few weeks previous) and surprised myself by finding the name in the first chapter of Philosophers Stone.  How's that for a sieve-like memory??

MorganD – Really?  I didn't know that!  It made me wonder, there may be words in the English language that could mean something in another language; who knows, someone could unknowingly swear in Swahili for all they know!  Weird.  I know several words from several different languages, including Japanese, Greek, Latin, Yiddish, Sanskrit, German, Italian, Spanish, a fair amount of French and now a few words of Portuguese, (thanks!) as well as maybe thirty/forty words in British Sign Language; but no where near enough to carry on a conversation!   ^_^

Interesting question; I guess Astrid was picking up on Harry's feelings about Professor Torr so she was more 'tuned in' to her deceptive nature.  So in that respect, Astrid may not have reacted so much if she'd been on Neville's lap.  Sparkle/Conner was constantly being petted and fussed over so he was slightly distracted.

Ha ha, had to keep that dog comment in there for the very reason that it got that kind of reaction from you!  ^_^  LOL, my sentiments exactly.

Yep, kept the powder stuff in, only I included an explanation for the unexpected reading this time.  See, I did pay attention to what you put in your e-mail.

Not sure if the anagram is still relevant in this edition.  But yes, that is the correct word.  I only used one because I was thinking about Tom Marvolo Riddle being an anagram for I am Lord Voldemort at the time I came up with her character.

Von –  Oh, hello, you're back again?  Well, can't have been too much of a disappointment then?  ^_^  Glad to have you back, Von. 

Christy – I always thought cats were quite perceptive so yeah, I suppose Ron may have been thinking about Crookshanks and Scabbers at the time.

Evol norgara – I couldn't help myself really, especially since it's looking more and more likely that JK Rowling could bring those two together at some point.  I think Ron and Hermione would make a good couple if only they'd admit to their feelings.

I'm not a huge fan of slash to be honest.  A lot that I've come across have, what I personally consider to be, such likely pairings that the fic seems wasted and silly.  (Harry/Draco; I'm sorry, but not a chance!  Ick!)  To be fair though, if it is well written, whatever the pairing, it can still be a decent fic.  I avoid anything graphic but those that are subtle and focus on expressing the feelings of the characters I think are nice.  But out of all the same sex pairings, I feel that only Sirius/Remus fall into the realms of possibility. They are quite compatible characters.   But hey, if people are dead set against slash then fair enough, that's their opinion, but I don't see why some people deliberately slag them off even when they contain a warning and are well written; it's a shame really.

Boy, I didn't half go on there; sorry, just expressing my thoughts on the matter.  ^_^

Horrors!  An evil uncle!  Not named Vernon by any chance, is he?    Hee hee, now exactly who would you want to cast a love spell on, hhm?  ^_^

Evil spapple pie –  Has Ron been smoking something?  Nope.  Might have accidentally snorted something up his nose though. ^_^  Oh the joys of teenage mood swings. It's easy to write about them, I've had enough of them myself!