"Okay, Class! Just remember today's lesson! Make sure to do your homework and no slacking off…that means you, Weasley." Professor Flitwick eyes Ron dangerously. Ron just gives him a smirk and a friendly wave. "See you all tomorrow and have a nice day."
"God, I thought he'd never stop talking!" Ron mumbles out the door. "That potion is making me too….too…what's the word, Harry?"
"Anxious?"
"That's it!" Ron snaps his finger. "I had a whole bunch of freaked up dreams last night."
"You think you're the only one?" Harry asks exasperated.
"Were they as freaky as mine?" Ron asks.
"Can't tell your for sure, but if yours all of a sudden had Laurel popping up around every corner…"
"'Morning, Harry!" Laurel jumps up from behind the two boys.
"Wahh!"
Laurel giggles. "Surprised to see me, Harry? Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. I am in such a good mood this morning, are you two? I don't know what's wrong with me; I'm never this perky. So, please excuse my joie de vivre."
"What the hell is joie de vivre?" Ron slowly walks farther away from Laurel.
"It's French, Ronald, don't worry about it." Laurel pats him on the back. "I have to quick grab something from my common room, so I'll just have to meet you guys back up with Myrtle in about ten minutes, okay? Peachy." Laurel bounds off down the hallway.
Ron laughs shortly to himself. "Quite the bouncy bitch this morning isn't she?"
Harry laughs too. "All that joie de vivre crap."
"Joie de vivre. It's just an expression that means you have energy, high spirits, a spring in your step." Harry and Ron turn around to see Hermione with her books clutched to her chest. "Good morning, boys."
"Uh…Morning." Harry waves.
Ron didn't say anything.
"I'll see you two after lunch in the library for our tutorial. Until then, Good day." Hermione turns and leaves.
"Malfoy." Harry plainly says.
"What about him?" Ron asks.
"Can we kill him? Can we kill him…now?" Harry hands slowly get tensed up.
Ron just gives Harry a pat on the back. "Let's go visit Myrtle, and then we'll see what we can do, okay?"
"Why are you the calm one this morning and I'm so… so…" Harry drones on.
"Boisterous?"
Harry sighs. "That might be, but…since when did your vocabulary get bigger?"
"I'm actually listening to Hermione and Laurel lately?" Ron rolls his eyes.
"What's wrong with us?" Harry ponders.
"Yes, we're senseless bastards, aren't we? But it's all for the best. After we get Hermione back we can just go back to being senseless." Ron says.
"That made very little sense." Harry tries not to laugh.
"See, that's why senseless bastard fits me so well." Roy replies.
"Yeah." Harry agrees. "But you're a pretty good friend for being a senseless bastard."
"You too, Harry. You too."
*****
"What took you two so long?" Laurel yells in Ron and Harry's faces. "I said I'd have to meet you here not you meet me here."
"We can explain." Ron puts ups his hands in self-defense.
Laurel sighs. "Very well then. Explain."
Harry clears his throat. "We had a little run-in with Hermione after you left to go to your common room and then we got to thinking and got very off-track."
"Very." Ron backs Harry up.
Laurel just stares at them. "You two are getting weirder and weirder."
"And you're not getting weirder?" Ron asks. "When we first met you were talking like you were back in the Shakespearian age!" Ron puts on a high voice and tries to imitate Laurel. " 'Troublesome pickle, is it not?'"
Laurel frowns. "Stop mocking me. I didn't have any friends then, what did you expect me to do besides apologize over and over?" She looks down at the floor. "And it's kinda fun talking like that."
"We're getting off-track again." Harry concludes.
Laurel looks at Ron and they both look back at Harry. "Very."
Laurel claps her hands together. "Okay! The potion is ready!" Laurel shuffles through her bag and grabs a knife that she used for cutting up ingredients in Potions Class. "Get over the pot, hurry now."
"You're not going to cut off our whole finger, are you?" Ron asks. "Because that's a bloody big knife."
"Oh don't worry!" Laurel waves it off. "It'll just be a little prick. Who wants to go first?"
Harry and Ron both put their hands, palm up, over the cauldron. Laurel talks to herself in astonishment about being so willing to participate. She takes the knife and wipes it off on her robes a few times before putting it near the boy's fingers. She takes the blade and makes a tiny slit in the tip of Harry and Ron's ring finger. She tells them to squeeze it until blood would flow enough to drip down into the pot. Harry and Ron do so, and the dark burgundy fluid slowly dribbles into the cauldron. After Laurel signals them to stop squeezing, both the boys take their finger and suck on it to stop the blood flow. Laurel squats down and begins to stir the concoction.
"See, that wasn't so bad." Laurel says.
"I lost so much blood, I believe I'm going to faint." Ron jokes.
"Save the acting for when you give the potion to Hermione." Laurel replies and grabs the butterbeer bottle from her bag. She submerges the bottle and bubbles come to the top. After it was full she takes it out of the cauldron and wipes the excess potion on the outside off with a rag. "Here you are. Knock yourselves out."
Harry takes the bottle from her. "Thank you, Laurel. We couldn't have gotten this far without you."
Laurel blushes. "Aw, it was nothing." She sighs. "Plus, I had the opportunity to get to know you two better."
"Don't talk like it's over now that we got the potion." Ron says quietly.
Harry smiles in agreement. "You know what surprises me?"
"What?" Ron asks.
"Ever since we saw Malfoy in that lair with all those potions, there have been no more attacks." Harry replies. "Isn't that a bit strange?"
Ron shrugs. "Just goes to show you how stupid he is."
Laurel checks her wristwatch. "You two better get going to class and then lunch. I'll have to catch up with you afterwards and ask you how everything went."
"Alright." Harry stows the potion safely in his robe's pocket. "Let's go, Ron."
"Right behind you."
Laurel turns the opposite way after they leave Myrtle's bathroom. "Good luck you two!"
"Thanks again, Laurel." The two wave and head off to class.
After a long lesson (it seemed extra long due to all the apprehensiveness), Harry and Ron slowly walked down to the library to meet up with Hermione. They took a seat at one of the tables near the back and waited quietly. After a while, she showed up and sat down across from them. She hummed to herself as she took out a roll of parchment, her quill and ink, as well as some books. She dips the quill into the ink and writes the date on top of the paper.
"Good afternoon." She says after a while.
"Hi." The two boys reply.
"Do you have any particular subject you want to cover?" Hermione asks. "Or do you just want me to start anywhere."
"I'm having a little trouble understanding the Goblin Rebellion." Ron says.
"The Goblin Rebellion?" Harry whispers to Ron in disgust.
Ron smiled contritely. "It was the first thing that came to mind."
"Okay, the Goblin Rebellion it is." Hermione shifts through her books and turns to a few different pages. "It all started around 1714…"
"When are we going to give her the drink?" Ron asked quietly to Harry.
"Not sure." Harry moans.
"We can't wait too long." Ron adds.
"Don't worry, I'll bring it out at a good time." Harry replies. "Just trust me."
"Okay." Ron nods and goes back to pretending to take notes from Hermione's lecture.
"…Most of the arguments were over civil rights, but there was also a rumor of disagreement in salary…"
"How about now?" Ron asks.
"Not yet." Harry says.
"How about now?"
"Not yet…"
"How about now?"
"Not yet, damn it!" Harry looses his temper for a second.
"Are you two even listening?" Hermione questions.
"Yup." Ron shows her his notes.
Hermione sighs in defeat. "Fine. I see."
"Miss Hermione…" Harry says.
"Just Hermione is fine." Hermione replies.
"Oh, yes," Harry coughs. "Sorry. Well, Hermione, since we're taking a short break…how about a butterbeer?"
"How do you know what butterbeer is?" Hermione asks.
Harry tries to go along. "I'm not as foreign as I look." He takes out the bottle and sets it on the table. "You can have this one."
"You sure?" Hermione hesitates.
"I'm positive. I'm not that thirsty, anyways." Harry replies.
"Neither am I." Ron agrees.
Hermione looks from Harry to Ron and then to the bottle. She takes it and sets it next to her books. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Harry and Ron smile.
Hermione writes down a few annotations on the parchment and then picks up the butterbeer to drink. She takes a sip and sets it down and begins to write again. Harry and Ron just look at her. She picks the bottle up again and takes a bigger swig. The two boys couldn't believe that she didn't question the taste or the abnormal thickness. She didn't even curl her nose at it. Hermione takes the bottle and puts it to her mouth, taking several gulps at a time.
"I take it that you like butterbeer." Ron comments oddly. Of course he knew she liked it, but never this much.
Hermione smiles. "For some reason, this one tastes a lot more refreshing at the moment."
"Glad you like it." Harry casts a look at Ron who chuckles to himself quietly.
Before they knew it, Hermione had downed the entire sixteen ounces. "Thank you again. You didn't want the bottle back, did you?"
"Uh, no. You can have it." Harry replies.
Hermione clear her throat. "Anyways, back to the rebellion…"
Ron stands up suddenly. "Remember the time when we—!"
Harry grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him back down to sit. "It won't kick in immediately!"
"I was just coaxing her along; like Laurel said to do." Ron argues.
"I don't think she meant it to be that elaborate." Harry whispers, noticing Hermione's strange stares.
Hermione blinks a few times. "Remember the time when we…what?" She asks Ron.
"Nothing, it was nothing!" Harry tries to cover it up.
Ron pretends to cough into his fist. "Troll."
"Troll?" Hermione questioned.
"You're a bit too eager." Harry tells Ron.
"I'm surprised you're not." Ron counters.
"I can see," Hermione begins to stand. "That you two are not in the mood for studying. Perhaps we should postpone this session to a later date…"
"No, that's perfectly fine!" Harry stands up too to stop her. "I'm completely into studying."
Ron stands too. "Can't help but love it."
Hermione, unpredictably, smiles. She then sits back down. "Earlier this morning you were complaining over the meaning of joie de vivre, right?" Harry and Ron just look confused. Hermione laughs. "I wasn't surprised, of course, but now you two both have joie de vivre."
"Uh, sure!" Ron sits down as well.
Harry sits eventually. "What makes you think that?"
Hermione closes her books. "Just a feeling. Anyways, perhaps we should talk about something else besides the Goblin Rebellion. Though, the Goblin Rebellion was a very important time in our history. It showed once more that wizards believed themselves to be higher in superiority to other creatures. It's like the present day with our house-elves."
"Spew!" Ron suddenly shouts.
"Spew?" Hermione asks angrily. "It's S.P.E.W for your information, and besides, how would you know about it?"
"Because I'm a part of Spew. You assigned me to the job." Ron says suavely.
"I did no such thing. I already have a committee." Hermione answers.
"And who's on the committee?" Ron asks.
"This isn't going to go anywhere, Ron." Harry says.
"But she didn't give anybody else board positions for her little spew project. Who else would she say besides us?" Ron replies.
"Hermione never seems to remember our names though." Harry points out quietly.
"Exactly." Ron nods. "I'm thinking, along with Laurel's coaxing idea, that we have to get Hermione to remember our names, and then she'll remember us. Once you meet someone, you never truly forget them, right?"
"Stop talking like some philosopher!" Harry yells. Ron smirks. "Have you forgotten?" Harry continues. "Malfoy's potion made her a nutter. When it comes to us, she's completely off her rocker."
"I guess you're right." Ron suddenly says. "Where was I going with this again?"
Harry goes limp and slams his head on the table.
"Oh yeah!" Ron grins as he grabs the scruff of Harry's robes and makes him sit up. "Could I talk to you privately for a second?"
Harry just gets up and walks away with Ron to go behind a bookshelf. Ron then looked very excited. "You're right!"
"About what?"
"About Malfoy making Hermione a complete nutter." Ron says. "You know what I was saying about the whole name thing? How Hermione can never seem to remember our names?"
"Yeah."
"Haven't we called on each other by name around her before?" Ron asks.
It hit Harry. "That's right! I've called you Ron in front of her before. You've called me Harry too. Wouldn't she have gotten the hint?"
"Any normal person would." Ron says. "We have to tell Laurel about this."
"It may be a huge part in having Hermione remember us and the past." Harry grins.
Ron sneers. "Malfoy, you blundering jackass! Hermione's too smart to forget a stupid thing like that. He made it too easy for us to figure out a way around it."
Harry laughs. "Aren't we lucky to know the little waif?"
Ron laughs for a while and then stops. "Harry?"
"What?"
"What's a waif?"
Harry sighs. "Never mind that. We have to stretch out this lesson so we can get Hermione closer to us. I have a small plan, I just need to run it by Laurel."
"Alright. Let's go." Ron drags Harry back to the table where Hermione sat.
The lesson continued throughout the lunch time, until it was time to leave to their next class. For the two boys, the afternoon went by a little more unproblematic, knowing that things just might be getting easier and easier. After dinner, they met up with Laurel outside on the castle grounds. It was getting late in November, so she had on her silver and blue scarf. They told her everything that had happened that afternoon at the tutorial.
"That's wonderful!" Laurel clapped her gloved hands. "Did she really drink it all without a single complaint?"
"Yeah." Harry nodded. "She said, actually, that it was delicious and refreshing."
Laurel giggles to herself. "I may be a witch, but I'm a good cook."
"Harry? Didn't you say you had some sort of plan?" Ron asks.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that for a while." Harry says.
"Well, what is it?" Laurel asks impatiently.
"We have to get Hermione to be somewhat of a chum again before we can do this." Harry explains. "We can pretend that we have to go visit Hagrid to get information about something suspicious going on. We could use my father's invisibility cloak to get across the grounds like usual."
"Wow, you have an invisibility cloak?" Asks Laurel.
Harry just smiles and continues. "It has to spark something. She liked going on adventures and stuff like that before, even though she kept on reminding us about the rules. To get back our Hermione, we have to try to put the old one back into her. Meanwhile, there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up. We can invite her to come along with us and hang out and stuff like that."
"Wouldn't she just want to hang around Lavender and Parvarti like usual?" Ron asks.
"We'll have to persuade her to come with us then." Harry concludes.
"Sounds like a good start to me." Laurel says. "A great start. Good work guys. I'm so proud of my men!"
"Your men?" Harry and Ron look at her eccentrically.
Laurel as too caught up in her joie de vivre to reply. She snaps back after a while. "Well, Harry, Ron," She smiles. "It has begun!"