"How much bloody shit does this potion take?" Ron sighs loudly behind a large bag he carried in his arms.

            "Too much." Harry replied.

            Laurel shakes her head as she checks her pockets for coins. "Good thing the pharmacy had reasonable prices. Come on, I still have enough for some Butterbeers. It's on me."

            The three head to the Three Broomsticks and have a seat by a round table next to the window. They order three butterbeers and Laurel takes out the ingredient list to check that they had everything. Only one ingredient was missing.

            "We need something of the person we want Hermione to remember." Laurel says. "That's you two."

            "This is vaguely familiar." Ron moans. "This is the Polyjuice Potion all over again!"

            "You two made a Polyjuice potion?" Laurel said surprised.

            Harry glares at Ron. "Shut it."

            "Sorry…"

            Laurel checks it off. "I know the easiest way to do that."

            "Yeah, we just put a few of our hairs in it." Ron says.

            "No," Laurel rejects. "Do you want her to spit it out from the grittiness?"

            "Then what are we going to use?" Harry asks.

            Laurel replies simply, "Blood. It will mix in very easily because it is another fluid."

            "You want our blood?" Ron said.

            "Unless you have a better idea." Laurel snaps. "It'll be just a little prick. You don't faint at the sight of blood, do you Ronald?"

            "No."

            "Harry?"

            "Me neither."

            "Good." Laurel smiles. "It is half way complete."

            "There's one problem still left." Ron points out. "We may have the potion ready, but how will we get Hermione to drink it? She wants nothing to do with Harry and I."

            "Damn, forgot about that." Harry moans.

            "I recall you two saying that Hermione thinks you're new to Hogwarts." Laurel says. "So, maybe you could ask to be tutored. She's quite the bookworm to being with."

            "Sounds too simple." Ron ponders.

            "It is." Laurel replies. "The hard part will be the recovery effort. We need to coax Hermione along. We have to get Hermione to want to remember you two." Laurel laughs. "And if all else fails, you should try to put on the charm."

            "Ron's job." Harry points.

            "You gotta try too!" Ron yells. "I'm horrible at seduction."

            Laurel laughs out loud. "Seduction, you call it? Ron, I think you're taking this whole thing a tid-bit too drastically. I mean, we're trying to get Hermione back in sync, not back in bed."

            Ron glows red. "I didn't mean it that way…!"

            "Kind of set yourself up though." Harry says, trying not to laugh.

            "What about you and Cho, Harry?" Ron asks out of anger.

            "Do not even ask. Do not even go there." Harry turns to look out the window.

            "Gosh, look at you two!" Laurel sighs loudly. "So Ron said something stupid without thinking."

            "Hey."

            "It's true, Ronald, don't try to get out of it." Laurel says. "Look, I know how you two feel about Hermione. It's obviously getting to your heads. It's no reason to be at each other's throats. You two aren't the only one with problems of that kind."

            Harry looks back at Laurel with concern. She was blushing and trying to hide her red cheeks in her hands as she leans on the table with her elbows. Harry wondered what she meant by that, though it was sort of evident. He downed the rest of his butterbeer as he watches Hermione walk in the door with Lavender. Ron perks up as well, the tips of his ears grow pink. Hermione looks at them for a minute and then continues to talk with her friend.

            "Take all the blood you need, Laurel." Says Harry.

            "Drain me dry." Ron adds.

            Laurel comes back to reality, shakes her head a few times, fans herself, and then tucks her bangs behind her ears. "Okay. We'll get started when we get back to Hogwarts. Where are we going to brew it, where nobody will find out."

            Harry and Ron look at each other. Harry lifts one of his eyebrows. "Thinking what I am?"

            "It's the best bet. Worked before." Ron replied.

            "You two have something?" Laurel asks.

            Harry leans in and whispers. "Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."

            Laurel curls up her nose. "That place is awful. I made the mistake of going there in the first year."

            "We made the mistake the second year." Ron says.

            "Why were you in the girl's lavatory?" Laurel asks surprised.

            Harry whispers again, "Polyjuice Potion. Hermione recommended the place."

            "Smart girl." Laurel says more to herself then to Harry and Ron. "Good idea though. We'll start as soon as possible."

            "First," Ron interrupts. "We need to get Hermione near enough to us for her to get to know us better then she 'does'."

            "That could work." Harry nods his head. "The tutoring thing. I could ask for help in my History. I don't really need it, but it's an excuse."

            "And, seeing I grew up in the magical world. I can ask for help in my Muggle Studies." Ron says like a breeze.

            "All I can say is good luck." Laurel replies.

*****

            Moaning Myrtle was sitting on one of the sinks when Harry and Ron entered her bathroom. After the return from Hogsmeade, Laurel went up to the lavatory to get the potion started, while the two boys tried to find Hermione to convince her to tutor them. The weeping ghost perked up as she spotted her two old friends come in.

            She giggles. "Hullo, Harry."

            Harry tries not to sigh, but smile. "Hullo, Myrtle."

            "Did you two find Hermione?" Laurel asked from the floor with her little cauldron and stand.

            "Yeah, we did." Ron answered. "She would talk to Harry."

            "She was still a little steamed at Ron." Harry adds.

            "Oh," Laurel said. "Well, what did she say?"

            "She was very hesitate and a little snotty." Ron remarks.

            "Did she agree?" Laurel asks.

            "Surprisingly, yes." Harry replies. "She said that it wouldn't be very courteous of her to leave two exchange students questioning over simple work."

            Laurel looks to the ceiling and laughs. "Oh boy, Draco sure is stupid, isn't he? He made this potion obviously to upset you two, but he isn't doing a very good job of covering it up. A good, devious little person would know well enough to make a potion that wasn't so strong and the victim wouldn't have much changed about him or herself. You guys can tell Hermione is deranged, not doubt. Some planning he went through. I mean, you two don't even look foreign! You don't even have American accents, or something. So why would you be exchange students? It's an insult to Hermione's intelligence."

            "How long until the potion is finished?" Harry asks.

            "It will take about three days, not long. We won't add the blood until an hour before it has to be used. The three days start tomorrow." Laurel replies.

            "Good, that gives us time to have Hermione get used to us and the studying." Ron says. "Enough time to get her to at least trust us in offering her something to drink."

            "Like I said, I think this potion made her a little light in the head, if you know what I mean. Getting her to drink this should be no problem." Laurel said.

            "For you, maybe. But getting her to trust Harry and me." Ron points out.

            "Oh."

            "After we get Hermione back to normal," Harry ponders. "How are we going to get Malfoy caught for all those elixirs he's got kept in that chamber?"

            "Another chamber, is it?" Myrtle says dully as usual.

            "We can always ask Hermione, if she'll remember anything." Ron replies.

            "Um," Laurel hums unsteadily. "We need to have Hermione drink at least sixteen ounces of this stuff."

            Harry and Ron look at her wide-eyed. "You're off your rocker."

            "No, I'm not." Laurel shakes her head. "I know it sounds insane, but it's what the book calls for. Unless we have some harmless way to flavor this up a bit, we might have some trouble getting her to drink all of it."

            "Why is this so damn hard!?" Ron kicks one of the sink pipes.

            "Hey, don't kick my sink." Myrtle spits.

            "I'll kick you!" Ron yells. "Wait! I can't!"

            Myrtle wails inhumanly loud and soars over to a cubical only to dive into the toilet, splashing water out into the small hallway.

            "We'll taste test a drop before we give it to her." Harry suggests.

            Laurel sighs. "It may be taking a bet, but it's the only thing we got right now." She takes a peppermint out of her pocket. "I'll add this…and we'll taste a glob on the third day as well. Let it begin." Laurel drops the mint into the potion and it hisses as the small candy sinks to the bottom of the cauldron, turning the potion a creamy red-orange. "Did you set up a date for the tutorial?"
            "During lunch period in the library." Harry replies.

            "All I can say is good luck." Laurel repeats herself from that afternoon.

            "That's all you can say?" Ron asks.

            Laurel eyes him for a second, then looks back at her creamy concoction. "And God Bless Peppermints."