Disclaimer: None of the characters that you recognize are mine. They belong to J K Rowling and not me.
Author's Note: Hi! This is my second Harry Potter fanfic and hopefully I'll finish this one faster than the first. My first "Lives Untold" is not completely dead but it's hard to write a story you no longer are passionate about. To read this, you should have read OotP but it is not required
"Want to Play Catch?"
Part One
"I can't believe it! We have double potions with the Slytherins again!"
Hermione Granger raised an eyebrow at Ron Weasley, who, after his rather vocal outburst, had buried his head into his hands.
"Well, it's not exactly a surprise, is it?" Hermione queried as she took a bite of her toast with Red Raspberry jam. "We've suffered through Potions with them for the past five years. Why would this one be any different?" It was the first day after summer of thier Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and besides battling Lord Voldermort, they were cursed with the wrath of Draco Malfoy and all his Slytherin cronies year after year.
Ron shrugged and reached for the scrambled eggs. "I just thought they would take pity on us."
"They?" Harry Potter, the remaining member of the Fantastic Trio asked curiously.
"You know," Ron said waving his arm about. "The evil schedule maker."
"Otherwise known as Dumbledore?" Harry asked. Harry couldn't express into words how relieved he was that Dumbledore was back to being the Headmaster of Hogwarts. He shuttered whenever he thought of Umbridge and her Educational Decrees.
"Does he make the schedules?" Hermione asked. "Or does he get someone else to do it?"
That question would have to remain a mystery as Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas arrived at the Gryffindor table, Dean's arm lazily relaxed around none other than Ginny Weasley.
"Thomas," Ron said harshly, glaring furiously at the offending arm.
"Weasley," Dean replied in the same tone and actually tightened his grip on Ginny's shoulders. The two Gryffindors regarded each other, neither blinking for several moments until Ginny sighed in exasperation.
"Hello! Will you stop glaring at each other like that! It's not like you staring at each other will do anything. Ron, just accept the fact that I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions regarding who I date and so forth and don't go all big-brother-protective mode on me, okay?" Ginny said while taking a seat.
"Fine. I'll let it go this time, Thomas," Ron said as if he was doing him a huge favor.
Dean rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, thank you! How can I ever repay you?" He asked dryly.
"You could stop dating my sister," Ron suggested.
"Ron!" This time it was Ginny, Hermione, and Harry who reprimanded him.
"Okay! Okay! Sorry. It was just a suggestion," Ron muttered as he stabbed his eggs with his fork.
* * * * *
"Quiet down class."
Professor Snape's monotonous voice drifted across the Potion's classroom, quieting an already silent group of students.
"Today we will be making a simple Youth Defining Potion. The ingredients are on the board. Get into group of three and get to work." With that, the students clamored to pair up and collect the ten ingredients elaborately sprawled out on the blackboard.
"Ok. Harry, get the first three, Ron, the middle three and I'll get the last four. Go!" Hermione commanded and then went to the store cupboard herself to get her designated supplies.
"All right," Hermione began when they had regrouped. "It says to carefully mix the first half of the Wolfs Bane with 12 Beetle Eyes and then add the rest of the Wolfs Bane. We wait exactly twenty seconds before adding Daisy Roots and Monkshood. We stir in the remaining ingredients and finally add three drops of Essence of Belladonna."
"And what is this potion supposed to do?" Ron asked while sorting the ingredients
"It's supposed to make us recall several childhood memories in quick succession. It seems that no memory is off-limits. Good, bad, forgotten, they all can resurface."
"Lovely," Harry muttered darkly.
Hermione and Ron exchanged a Look.
"Er, Harry, look – " Ron was cut off, however, by Harry speaking over him.
"So lets add this stuff now."
Twenty minutes later, they were just about done when trouble happened.
"Oh, look. It's Harry the Hero and his amazing sidekicks," a sarcastic voice said from the side.
"What do you want, Malfoy? Harry asked through clenched teeth.
"Oh, nothing. Just to see how your potion is coming along," Malfoy said with a sneer.
"It's bloody fantastic. Now go crawl back from whatever hole you came from," Ron said rather loudly.
"That hurt. Really."
"Just ignore him," Hermione said, trying to keep the peace. "Here. Add the Belladonna. Remember, only three drops so be careful."
It was that moment that a series of unrelated events intertwined to cause the disaster that was about to occur. Hermione was stretching her arms, Belladonna in hand, to give to Ron. Malfoy took a step closer, mouth opening to give some retort to the effect of, "So, Hermione has to tell you exactly what to do, eh, Weasley." Harry was turning on his heel and stumbled slightly forward. No one knew the precise cause or who bumped whom, but what transpired resulted in the vial of Belladonna being dumped, in its entirety into the brewing potion. The recipe called for three drops. Three hundred fell in.
Hermione was the first to realize what occurred. She parted her lips to call for Professor Snape when a huge BOOM was heard as their potion bubbled over and sort of exploded. Several of the girls, including Lavender, Parvati, and Pansy, shrieked in terror and hid under their table.
"Quiet!" Professor Snape thundered. "What imbecile caused this disturbance?" No one made a peep so he stomped over to the settling cloud of light green gas that had appeared from Hermione, Ron, and Harry's cauldron.
"Potter! Weasley! Granger! What is the meaning of this?" Snape yelled.
The cloud finally cleared and the entire class took a collective breath. Some rubbed their eyes, some cleaned their glasses, and others pinched their arms. Even Professor Snape looked shocked.
Where Sixth Years Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco had once stood, six-year-old Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco sat.
~
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