Chapter 13
Potions
Harry and Hermione stood together outside Professor Dumbledore's office. He had summoned them after they had confessed to the group that they were from the future.
"Do you think that he's ready to send us back?" Harry asked. "I honestly don't think that I want to go back now. I want to spend some more time with my parents."
"It's not really our decision." Hermione tried to explain gently.
"Well, why not? Why can't we stay just a little bit longer?" Harry muttered. Before Hermione had time to answer, the spiral staircase appeared with Dumbledore riding down the steps.
"I don't think that it would be a good idea for you two to stay much longer than a day or so." Dumbledore interjected. "Harry, you can always talk to your parents when you get back. I don't see why there is any need to stay longer." Harry sighed. He knew that if he stayed much longer that it would seem suspicious to everyone.
"Yes, you're right." Harry said, forcing a smile. Hermione frowned, but Dumbledore didn't notice. "Keep an eye on them for me." Harry added. It sounded stupid, even to himself, but he didn't know what else to say to display his emotions. Dumbledore gave him a searching look, one that Harry was all to familiar with. He felt as though he were being X-rayed with those piercing eyes. Dumbledore nodded, as though understanding what Harry was trying to really say: protect them, save them from dying.
"I think that it is best that you two head back and tell everyone that you told about your identity to come to my office tomorrow evening. Their memories will need to be modified." Dumbledore looked at Harry, as though trying to give him a hint, but Harry didn't get it.
"Let's go Harry." Hermione said, taking his hand and pulling him away from Dumbledore. They headed back to Gryffindor tower, not speaking the entire way there, mainly because they did not know what to say. When they entered the Gryffindor common room, Harry noticed that Peter and Remus were there now. Remus gave Harry a strange look when he approached him, but Peter acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"So," Remus began in a quiet voice so that only Harry could hear. "They told me everything. Very interesting story."
Harry frowned. "Um...thanks, I think...." He paused, clearing his throat uncomfortably as he took one of the empty seats by the fireplace. Hermione sat on the steps with Lily and the two of them immediately launched deep into conversation. 'Probably about what books they've read again,' Harry thought with slight amusement. Peter came up behind Harry and Remus, cocking his head to one side.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked innocently. TOO innocently for Harry's liking. Harry tried not to show any signs of his hate towards the man, for fear of suspicion.
"We found out who Neville really is, Peter." Remus explained.
Peter frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked, very confused. "Who is he?"
"Well, Neville is really James's son."
"What?" Peter was more confused than ever.
Harry quickly explained. "Yeah-I'm from the future."
"How did you get here if you are from the future?" Peter wanted to know.
"Well...." Harry thought hard to come up with a good excuse to get out of the conversation. "What's the point of my telling you what happened when you guys are going to have your memories modified anyway?" he asked.
Peter blinked and then turned to Remus. "We are?"
"Yeah," Harry told Remus. "Dumbledore just told Hermione and I just now."
Remus looked very disappointed. "He did?"
Harry nodded.
"That sucks." He grumbled, sighing.
Harry sniggered.
"Uh..." Harry glanced around the room. "D'you know where James is?"
Remus shrugged. "With Sirius maybe? I think they said something about something with potions...maybe they're working on potions homework. But then again..I didn't think we had any, but I hate making them anyway."
Harry smiled, remembering how in his third year, Professor Snape would make potions for Lupin. "Okay. Well where would they be then, if they were working on their potions homework?"
"In the dungeons of course."
"Okay." Harry hurried over to Hermione who was talking to Lily about a book on "Love potions."
"Well," Hermione was saying in a low voice, "I got the idea after this article was sent to me saying that I was using love potions on Harry. So I was thinking about giving him a small sip of it later this year, just to see what would happen. Luckily it doesn't seem to be....oh-hi um, Harry." Hermione was blushing a deep shade of pink as she saw him coming up to her.
Harry laughed. "I heard everything," he teased.
Hermione and Lily both began giggling girlishly. "Ooooooh he is so cute," Hermione whispered into Lily's ear. Lily totally agreed.
"He gets it from his father." She nudged Hermione in the shoulder and then winked at Harry who also blushed.
"Moooooom," He complained. He couldn't believe how naturally he said that word to her. "Um-I mean-Lily." He corrected himself.
Lily grinned. "That's all right, Harry. I'll have to get used to being called mom eventually."
"So what's up, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Did you want something?"
Harry nodded. "I need you to come with me. ALONE," he added, looking at his mother with a warning look.
"Ohhhhhhh," Lily teased. "Hmmmm. Don't do anything naughty now. Behave yourselves. I do not want to become a grandmother too soon."
"MOM!" Harry snapped. "Do you MIND?" He grabbed Hermione's hand and quickly pulled her out of the tower. They went out into the hallway and Hermione collapsed into laughter.
"Mooooom," she mimicked, pinching his cheek playfully.
"Hermione, shut up." Harry snapped. "Bookworm." He winked at her, and she just stuck her tongue out.
"So where are you taking me?" she wanted to know.
"We have to go and find my Dad and Sirius. Remus said something about making potions in the dungeon. I want to see what they're up to."
Hermione nodded. "Okay, but we have to be really careful. They're not the only students here at Hogwarts right now, you know."
They made it down to the dungeon in no time, and sure enough, Sirius and James stood in the back of the classroom behind a cauldron. Hermione and Harry could hear the sound of something bubbling as they grew closer to the two boys, who were whispering amongst themselves.
"Dad?" Harry asked. James let out a yell and nearly dropped the ingredient he was preparing to drop into the cauldron.
James grinned nervously. "That's uh---a little strange to hear from you, uh, son." He shuddered a little but smiled nonetheless. "How did you know we were down here?" he asked.
Harry looked at Hermione, who shrugged. "Remus told us you were here." Harry replied. "Are you doing potions homework or something?"
James cleared his throat. "Uh---yeah."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Please. That's how I sound when I'm lying. What are you really up to?"
Sirius continued. "Um, we figured Dumbledore would probably obliviate our memories so we created a bunch of memory potions so that it wouldn't work. We'll just have to keep drinking it every day until he does it."
"He's going to do it tomorrow," Hermione told them.
"Oh." James nodded. "Well, that helps then. Good, this stuff smells awful." He grimaced.
Hermione giggled. "Yeah. You two should try out the polyjuice potion sometime. That's a bit tricky, though, since it takes almost a month to make."
"And make sure you don't have any animal hair around," Harry sniggered.
Hermione glared at him. "How was I supposed to know that Millicent Bulstrode had a cat?"
"What are you two talking about?" James laughed.
"Well," Hermione began, "We were going to sneak into the Slytherin common room to do some snooping about something that was um...well, yeah, anyway.." she sighed. "I wouldn't advise taking any unless you have a good reason to. And make SURE you have the person's hair, not the hair of their pet."
James laughed. "Why?"
"Let's just say it takes a while to shed," Hermione replied.
Sirius pointed at her. "Haha." He teased.
Harry normally would have defended Hermione, but he was laughing too hard himself at the time. She slapped him on the shoulder.
"Stop that!" she snapped.
'OW! Okay." Harry gasped. "Geeze, that hurt!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh get over it, you baby." She snipped.
Sirius and James glanced at each other before going back to working on their potion. What neither of them realized was that someone had been peering through the doorway.
"Well, well, well."
Everyone gasped and whirled around, only to see Snape sneering at them.
"Who do we have here? If it isn't Potter's Junior and Senior."
"What are you doing here, Snape?" James snapped. "I don't recall giving you an invitation."
Snape came up to him. "This place, in case you didn't realize, belongs to all students, not just you."
"How did you know that he was my son, Severus?" James asked, pointing at Harry.
"What?" Snape asked, utterly confused.
"Why did you say Junior and Senior?" James asked, baffled.
"I uh-I meant you and Sirius for your information, acting like father and son over there. Yeah."
James rasied an eyebrow. "That's not very believable, Snape. How did you know?" he repeated his question.
"Your little friend Peter Pettigrew happened to be talking a little too loudly and I overheard," Snape smirked.
"Wait a second," James added, "I didn't tell Peter anything."
Harry nodded. "Remus accidentally let it slip."
James understood. "Oh. I see. Well then..." He pulled out his wand and shot a spell at Snape. "Obliv!" he shouted, and Snape did not duck in time.
"What did you do to him?" Hermione asked in horror.
"Oh, just a short term memory spell. He won't remember anything that's happened within the last half an hour."
Hermione continued staring at Snape, stunned. "Why isn't he moving?" she asked with concern.
"Um...it takes a little bit for the spell to actually work."
"Oh," Hermione replied with a nod. "Okay, so we're just going to leave him here, then?"
James nodded. "Yep."
"You guys..I'll never understand you, will I?" Hermione groaned.
"Probably not." Harry grinned. "So, is anyone else here hungry?"
"I'm starved. Let's go to the kitchens and get some food for you guys." Sirius suggested.
"That works." James added. Harry could have sworn he heard Hermione muttered, "guys" under her breath.
Harry and Hermione stood together outside Professor Dumbledore's office. He had summoned them after they had confessed to the group that they were from the future.
"Do you think that he's ready to send us back?" Harry asked. "I honestly don't think that I want to go back now. I want to spend some more time with my parents."
"It's not really our decision." Hermione tried to explain gently.
"Well, why not? Why can't we stay just a little bit longer?" Harry muttered. Before Hermione had time to answer, the spiral staircase appeared with Dumbledore riding down the steps.
"I don't think that it would be a good idea for you two to stay much longer than a day or so." Dumbledore interjected. "Harry, you can always talk to your parents when you get back. I don't see why there is any need to stay longer." Harry sighed. He knew that if he stayed much longer that it would seem suspicious to everyone.
"Yes, you're right." Harry said, forcing a smile. Hermione frowned, but Dumbledore didn't notice. "Keep an eye on them for me." Harry added. It sounded stupid, even to himself, but he didn't know what else to say to display his emotions. Dumbledore gave him a searching look, one that Harry was all to familiar with. He felt as though he were being X-rayed with those piercing eyes. Dumbledore nodded, as though understanding what Harry was trying to really say: protect them, save them from dying.
"I think that it is best that you two head back and tell everyone that you told about your identity to come to my office tomorrow evening. Their memories will need to be modified." Dumbledore looked at Harry, as though trying to give him a hint, but Harry didn't get it.
"Let's go Harry." Hermione said, taking his hand and pulling him away from Dumbledore. They headed back to Gryffindor tower, not speaking the entire way there, mainly because they did not know what to say. When they entered the Gryffindor common room, Harry noticed that Peter and Remus were there now. Remus gave Harry a strange look when he approached him, but Peter acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"So," Remus began in a quiet voice so that only Harry could hear. "They told me everything. Very interesting story."
Harry frowned. "Um...thanks, I think...." He paused, clearing his throat uncomfortably as he took one of the empty seats by the fireplace. Hermione sat on the steps with Lily and the two of them immediately launched deep into conversation. 'Probably about what books they've read again,' Harry thought with slight amusement. Peter came up behind Harry and Remus, cocking his head to one side.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked innocently. TOO innocently for Harry's liking. Harry tried not to show any signs of his hate towards the man, for fear of suspicion.
"We found out who Neville really is, Peter." Remus explained.
Peter frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked, very confused. "Who is he?"
"Well, Neville is really James's son."
"What?" Peter was more confused than ever.
Harry quickly explained. "Yeah-I'm from the future."
"How did you get here if you are from the future?" Peter wanted to know.
"Well...." Harry thought hard to come up with a good excuse to get out of the conversation. "What's the point of my telling you what happened when you guys are going to have your memories modified anyway?" he asked.
Peter blinked and then turned to Remus. "We are?"
"Yeah," Harry told Remus. "Dumbledore just told Hermione and I just now."
Remus looked very disappointed. "He did?"
Harry nodded.
"That sucks." He grumbled, sighing.
Harry sniggered.
"Uh..." Harry glanced around the room. "D'you know where James is?"
Remus shrugged. "With Sirius maybe? I think they said something about something with potions...maybe they're working on potions homework. But then again..I didn't think we had any, but I hate making them anyway."
Harry smiled, remembering how in his third year, Professor Snape would make potions for Lupin. "Okay. Well where would they be then, if they were working on their potions homework?"
"In the dungeons of course."
"Okay." Harry hurried over to Hermione who was talking to Lily about a book on "Love potions."
"Well," Hermione was saying in a low voice, "I got the idea after this article was sent to me saying that I was using love potions on Harry. So I was thinking about giving him a small sip of it later this year, just to see what would happen. Luckily it doesn't seem to be....oh-hi um, Harry." Hermione was blushing a deep shade of pink as she saw him coming up to her.
Harry laughed. "I heard everything," he teased.
Hermione and Lily both began giggling girlishly. "Ooooooh he is so cute," Hermione whispered into Lily's ear. Lily totally agreed.
"He gets it from his father." She nudged Hermione in the shoulder and then winked at Harry who also blushed.
"Moooooom," He complained. He couldn't believe how naturally he said that word to her. "Um-I mean-Lily." He corrected himself.
Lily grinned. "That's all right, Harry. I'll have to get used to being called mom eventually."
"So what's up, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Did you want something?"
Harry nodded. "I need you to come with me. ALONE," he added, looking at his mother with a warning look.
"Ohhhhhhh," Lily teased. "Hmmmm. Don't do anything naughty now. Behave yourselves. I do not want to become a grandmother too soon."
"MOM!" Harry snapped. "Do you MIND?" He grabbed Hermione's hand and quickly pulled her out of the tower. They went out into the hallway and Hermione collapsed into laughter.
"Mooooom," she mimicked, pinching his cheek playfully.
"Hermione, shut up." Harry snapped. "Bookworm." He winked at her, and she just stuck her tongue out.
"So where are you taking me?" she wanted to know.
"We have to go and find my Dad and Sirius. Remus said something about making potions in the dungeon. I want to see what they're up to."
Hermione nodded. "Okay, but we have to be really careful. They're not the only students here at Hogwarts right now, you know."
They made it down to the dungeon in no time, and sure enough, Sirius and James stood in the back of the classroom behind a cauldron. Hermione and Harry could hear the sound of something bubbling as they grew closer to the two boys, who were whispering amongst themselves.
"Dad?" Harry asked. James let out a yell and nearly dropped the ingredient he was preparing to drop into the cauldron.
James grinned nervously. "That's uh---a little strange to hear from you, uh, son." He shuddered a little but smiled nonetheless. "How did you know we were down here?" he asked.
Harry looked at Hermione, who shrugged. "Remus told us you were here." Harry replied. "Are you doing potions homework or something?"
James cleared his throat. "Uh---yeah."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Please. That's how I sound when I'm lying. What are you really up to?"
Sirius continued. "Um, we figured Dumbledore would probably obliviate our memories so we created a bunch of memory potions so that it wouldn't work. We'll just have to keep drinking it every day until he does it."
"He's going to do it tomorrow," Hermione told them.
"Oh." James nodded. "Well, that helps then. Good, this stuff smells awful." He grimaced.
Hermione giggled. "Yeah. You two should try out the polyjuice potion sometime. That's a bit tricky, though, since it takes almost a month to make."
"And make sure you don't have any animal hair around," Harry sniggered.
Hermione glared at him. "How was I supposed to know that Millicent Bulstrode had a cat?"
"What are you two talking about?" James laughed.
"Well," Hermione began, "We were going to sneak into the Slytherin common room to do some snooping about something that was um...well, yeah, anyway.." she sighed. "I wouldn't advise taking any unless you have a good reason to. And make SURE you have the person's hair, not the hair of their pet."
James laughed. "Why?"
"Let's just say it takes a while to shed," Hermione replied.
Sirius pointed at her. "Haha." He teased.
Harry normally would have defended Hermione, but he was laughing too hard himself at the time. She slapped him on the shoulder.
"Stop that!" she snapped.
'OW! Okay." Harry gasped. "Geeze, that hurt!"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh get over it, you baby." She snipped.
Sirius and James glanced at each other before going back to working on their potion. What neither of them realized was that someone had been peering through the doorway.
"Well, well, well."
Everyone gasped and whirled around, only to see Snape sneering at them.
"Who do we have here? If it isn't Potter's Junior and Senior."
"What are you doing here, Snape?" James snapped. "I don't recall giving you an invitation."
Snape came up to him. "This place, in case you didn't realize, belongs to all students, not just you."
"How did you know that he was my son, Severus?" James asked, pointing at Harry.
"What?" Snape asked, utterly confused.
"Why did you say Junior and Senior?" James asked, baffled.
"I uh-I meant you and Sirius for your information, acting like father and son over there. Yeah."
James rasied an eyebrow. "That's not very believable, Snape. How did you know?" he repeated his question.
"Your little friend Peter Pettigrew happened to be talking a little too loudly and I overheard," Snape smirked.
"Wait a second," James added, "I didn't tell Peter anything."
Harry nodded. "Remus accidentally let it slip."
James understood. "Oh. I see. Well then..." He pulled out his wand and shot a spell at Snape. "Obliv!" he shouted, and Snape did not duck in time.
"What did you do to him?" Hermione asked in horror.
"Oh, just a short term memory spell. He won't remember anything that's happened within the last half an hour."
Hermione continued staring at Snape, stunned. "Why isn't he moving?" she asked with concern.
"Um...it takes a little bit for the spell to actually work."
"Oh," Hermione replied with a nod. "Okay, so we're just going to leave him here, then?"
James nodded. "Yep."
"You guys..I'll never understand you, will I?" Hermione groaned.
"Probably not." Harry grinned. "So, is anyone else here hungry?"
"I'm starved. Let's go to the kitchens and get some food for you guys." Sirius suggested.
"That works." James added. Harry could have sworn he heard Hermione muttered, "guys" under her breath.