Bon Appetite! - Chapter Three

Draco Malfoy sat on his large, fluffy, king-sized bed and amused himself by reading a "highly educational" book he had found in the library, (How to Terrorize. Horrify, and Scare the Hell Out of Your Enemy). As he was reading the potions section, "Creepy Concotions", he came up with a brilliant idea.He could feed something foul to Granger, as he had the perfect way of doing so on Friday! He could poison Granger's crepe while she wasn't looking! But what to use? Oh, Draco thought, he would definitely think of something. In the mean time, he pulled out his copy of Advanced Potion Making and set to work on Snape's essay.
Hermione crept up the stairs to the boys' dorm room. It was one o'clock in the morning, so they should all be asleep. She opened the door slowly and flinched when it creaked loudly. She could hear snoring. Lots of snoring. They were still asleep. She slid into the room and carefully crawled across the floor to the foot of Harry's bed. The boys must have snuck out sometime that night, for the invisibility cloak was lying on top of Harry's trunk. This made her job a lot easier. She needed the cloak tonight; she wasn't going to sneak down to the dungeons without it. Hermione quickly pulled the cloak off the trunk and began to walk back towards the door. She stopped abruptly when she heard a voice.

"What are you doing in here? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Hermione's breathing quickened; she immediately identified the voice to be Ron's. She pushed a bit further back into the shadows. Hermione waited, but he didn't start towards her, or even shift in his bed. Then she heard him again.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing here? God damn it Malfoy!"

Hermione straightened; she was puzzled; did Ron think she was Malfoy? How could he? There would be no way for him to- then it hit her, he was talking in his sleep! She almost laughed out of relief! She continued to the door, slipped through, and shut it carefully behind her. She proceeded to put the cloak on and climb out the portrait hole, ignoring the Fat Lady as she questioned thin air: "I may not be able to see you but I can hear you, what are you doing out at this hour?"

Hermione continued through the large, labyrinth-like castle until she reached the dungeons. Carefully, she slipped through the door, which was already ajar and moved over to the great black chest of potions. If only they were allowed to keep the potions they had made in class! If that had been so, she would not have to go through with any of this! 'Oh well,' she thought. 'It's worth it.'

Hermione tried the doors of the cabinet; it obviously didn't work. However much Hermione disliked Snape, she would admit that he was a smart man; definitely smart enough to lock the cabinet against people just like her. Hermione had prepared for this part though. She started trying spells.

"Alohamora." Just as she had suspected, this simple spell didn't work. She tried more and more incantations until she reached the point where she had only one spell left. Hermione had absolutely no hope anymore, but she tried the last spell anyway. "Ouvrir," she muttered. Nothing happened.

Hermione sat down in front of the student-proof cabinet with absolutely no ideas. She remembered in first year when she had unlocked the door hiding Fluffy. 'Wow,' she thought. 'They keep three-headed dogs behind doors that take a mere 'Alohamora' to open, while potion ingredients are stored in a cabinet that even I can't break into.' There had to be another way. She wracked her mind for answers. She had thought of everything she could.

"Snape's probably put some sort of charm on it. I'll bet the only one here who would be able to get in would be Dumbledo-."

Suddenly Hermione gasped, Dumbledore's office had a password, what if Snape's potion chest did too? Hermione began to think of something Snape would use for a password. 'Dark? No. Creepy? No. Slythern!'

"Slythern," she said out loud. Nothing happened "Potions...Snape...Hogwarts...I hate Harry Potter..."

Nothing was working; she'd have to think of something else. "Defence Against the Dark Arts..." No, maybe it was the name of a potion or ingredient. "Wolfsbane, eye of newt, Sleeping Potion."

Hermione was getting desperate, she could be here forever! "Muggle, mudblood," Hermione was getting angry. "Dirty, creepy, slimy, ugly git!"

The doors swung open, nearly missing Hermione's head. Her mouth hung open. "Dirty, creepy, slimy, ugly git?" she repeated, astonished. She had just been insulting Snape, she obviously hadn't expected it to be the password! After a few moments of shock, she stood and looked into the cabinet. It was full of hundreds of potion ingredients, all labeled. She read through the names and located all that she needed. She closed the cabinet, heard it lock itself, put on the cloak and walked back to her dorm, amazed at her good luck.

Draco had it all figured out. While he had been working on his potions homework, he had decided to send Granger back in time for a day or two. It was so, so, fun being evil. He had everything he needed, thanks to his personal potions supply, and had already started to make the potion. He had charmed his caldron to warm the potion for the next six hours. By then it would be ready. Draco smirked.

"Granger, you have no idea, no idea whatsoever."

Hermione had the potion all ready to go in a small vile. She smiled, stuffed the corked bottle into her book bag, and started towards her French lesson. This was the day! She couldn't wait; this was the prank of a lifetime! All she had to do was tip the vile over the crepe, and as long as she let only a drop out she would be fine. After all, if he were to consume the whole vile, who knew when they would ever see him again!

The night before, she had begun to worry, after all, what would people think if Malfoy told when he returned (which she was sure he would)? It's not like he would be transported to another time and not talk; somebody was sure to figure her out! She had been so worried that she had almost aborted the plan. Then she re-read her potions book, and it said that a person forgets all about the ordeal after they come back. Of course, there were ways to tweak the rule, such as writing about the experience while one is still in the past, but Malfoy wasn't likely to do so.

Hermione took her seat next to Malfoy and waited for the class to start.

Draco had the potion ready in a small vile in his pocket. This idea was the best idea he had ever, ever had; it was worthy of a blue ribbon. He watched as Granger sat down, all the while chuckling inside, waiting for the class to start.