Chapter Three: Awkward Acknowledgements
"You wanted to talk to me, Harry?" Hermione asked, meeting him at the bottom of the stairs. Ron had hung back to ask Professor Wilkins about the paper they were supposed to do on Demiguises. He grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her to the library.
"Okay, it's about, well...Today at breakfast...I had choked on my Pumpkin Juice, and when I looked at Ron, I felt like...like...like I had a c-c-crush on him," Harry stammered, blushing furiously. Hermione's jaw dropped.
"How long have you felt like this?" she asked, after an awkward silence.
"Just since this morning. I just looked up at Ron and found myself thinking about how beautiful he is!" he exclaimed. "Was," he corrected.
"Well...Have you ever...thought that before?" she asked. Harry shook his head. "Ever felt like that about any other boy?" Again, Harry shook his head. Hermione shrugged. "Well, Harry, I don't know what to tell you...I mean, you spent your life in a cupboard. You weren't really exposed to anyone, male or female. Perhaps you were gay all the time, and Cho was just a fluke. After all, things didn't work out between you two."
"No, Hermione. This isn't natural. I mean, if I had a crush on Ron, I'd still be able to control myself! But sometimes I'm just thinking about what it would be like to hold his hand, and the next second I'm reaching for it! When I tried to hold Cho's hand, I could barely work up the nerve!" Hermione shrugged.
"Well, I'll think about it. For now, I advise you not to tell Ron." Harry made a strangled noise, as if to say, 'Like I would have anyway!' "I'll look around here, see if I can find anything."
"Okay. Thanks, Hermione." Harry stood up and headed for lunch, leaving Hermione to her books.
He entered the Great Hall and sat across from Ron, wincing as his stomach flipped over again. Ron was happily eating his potatoes, a huge smile on his face.
"What're you so happy about?" Harry asked, loading his own plate with food. Ron flashed the grin in his direction, and Harry practically melted. Ron has such a brilliant smile...
"Just talked to Professor Wilkins," he said, taking a bite of his Shepherd's Pie. "She said I was doing really well in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Said I should think about going into that area when I graduate." Harry couldn't help but snicker. Ron had a huge crush on Professor Wilkins. "And then Snape came in, and guess what?"
"What?" Harry asked, grabbing a roll.
"He asked Professor Wilkins if she could make him a potion!" Harry dropped his roll.
"What!" Ron nodded, eagerly.
"Yeah! Apparently, she's really good at potion making, too! Snape even offered to trade positions with her!" Ron closed his eyes, blissfully. "Snape nearly blew the coop when he noticed I was there. It was brilliant..." He opened his eyes again. "But now Snape's going to be hell tomorrow. He'll probably give us another essay on those damned love potions..."
Harry shot up, as if he'd been shocked. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "Ron, you're a genius!" Ron looked at him, blankly.
"I am?" Harry nodded, forced himself not to kiss Ron, then dashed out with a quick, "See you at Care of Magical Creatures!"
Harry ran for the library once more, but Hermione darted out first. They both halted in the middle of the entrance hall and said at the exact same time, "I figured it out!"
Hermione dragged Harry over to a secluded corner of the library, where dozens of books were stacked up. "It's love potions, Harry! Somebody slipped you a love potion!" Harry nodded.
"I know! I was talking to Ron, and he said something about it, and it clicked! So, how do we counter it?" She shook her head.
"Didn't you pay any attention to that essay we wrote for Professor Snape? There are hundreds upon hundreds of different love potions! We'd have to know which one you drank, first." Harry thought for a moment.
"Well, how do we tell?"
"Color, taste, texture...that sort of thing." Harry thought for a moment.
"Well, it must have been orange or clear, because my Pumpkin Juice looked the same. But it tasted sweet and bitter at the same time. Like some foul candy or something. You know how some Muggle candies taste like cough drops coated in something sweet? It was kind of like that, but it burned my throat as it went down."
"Is that everything?" Hermione asked, picking up a book. Harry nodded. "Okay, well, I have a free period next, so I'll do some research. But you're going to have to help me a lot on this."
"I'll come tonight, after dinner. I'll get Ron to take over practice. He'd enjoy that..." Hermione nodded, absentmindedly, as she scanned the Table of Contents.
"Please try to get here as soon as you can," she said. "This is really serious. There are so many dangers to being under a love potion, and considering it's you..." She let her sentence hang in the air, but both of them could finish it.
Considering it was Harry, this could be Voldemort's key to his undoing.