A/N: A little fyi- yeah, I know that HBP has come out and all, but I really want this fic to be about them all going back while they're sixth years. So, I'm going to incorporate some of what we saw in the sixth book, but I'm not going to stay entirely true to cannon (so sue me, this is fanfiction). Anyway, on with the story.
"Class dismissed," said Professor Slughorn.
A great din rose in the particular dungeon where potions class was held as students put away their books and their chairs scraped on the floor as they pushed them back. Quite a few groans were to be heard coming from the students themselves as they thought about their latest assignment.
"Great, just great. This is all we need. A big important project on top of our current mountain of homework," grumbled Ron Weasley as he, Harry and Hermione exited the dungeon. "Just where are we supposed to find the time to actually brew the potion?"
"I don't think it'll be too bad," said Harry Potter with a knowing smile. "With the Prince here," he indicated his Advance Potions Making textbook, "any potion we make shouldn't take too long. He's made making potions quite easy for me, he has."
"Oh, I don't think so, Harry," interjected Hermione with a cross air. "Professor Slughorn said that this was a group project. That means we all have to be in agreement on what potion we make. I for one don't think we should make any potion out of Advanced Potion Making. Professor Slughorn said the more complex the potion, the higher marks we'll receive. So I think we should go above and beyond any potion any of the other students make."
"No, you're just saying that because you don't want the Prince's help!" retorted Ron. "I thought you cared about your grade! If we use the Prince's instructions we're bound to get an Outstanding."
"I think that using the Prince is an easy way out of actually doing any work and I refuse to work on any potion with you two if we're using the Prince's instructions!" Hermione responded quite heatedly.
They continued arguing all the way to lunch. Finally, as they started eating their steak and kidney pie, the boys gave in. The Prince might be able to help then when they brewed the potion, but they needed Hermione to write the written report.
"Excellent!" Hermione beamed at them when they surrendered. "I know just the potion to make: the Reverso potion! It's a very complicated potion that's supposed to reverses the effects of any other potion…"
And so Hermione continued to prattle on about the potion as Harry and Ron prepared themselves for hours of hard work (well, watching Hermione work hard and listen to her lecture them about not working hard). As they reached the top of the stairs, Ginny joined them.
"Hey guys," said Ginny.
"Hey Ginny," said the other three, Hermione brightly, the other two still sounding glum.
"Why the long faces, boys?" Ginny asked Harry and Ron.
Before they could speak for themselves, Hermione spoke up.
"They're just miffed because Slughorn assigned us a group project and I won't let them use the Prince's help," she said.
"Well, normally I would be all for using a shortcut, but I don't think it's wise to use the Prince's help either, so I'm with Hermione on this one," said Ginny with a disapproving glance at the Prince's book that was being carried by Harry.
Harry and Ron both chose to not bother arguing with either girl because there really was no point. So instead they each heaped another helping of steak and kidney pie onto their plates and began to scarf it down.
"Now," began Hermione once again, "We need to decide where we're going to make the potion."
"In the dungeon where everyone else is making their potion," said Ron, still rather sulky. Then added sarcastically, "Or did Miss-I-Hang-On-My-Teacher's-Every-Word not catch that Slughorn told the students about the vacant dungeon that has enough room for everyone to set up their caldrons?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Of course I heard him, Ronald. But of course we're not going to make our potion there where everyone could see what we're doing. I don't want anyone trying to top us. So instead, we need somewhere else. I was thinking maybe the same toilet where we made the polyjuice potion?"
"No!" said Harry vehemently. "I will not step foot in that bathroom ever again unless there is a dire emergency. And no, Hermione, a good grade on a potions project does not count as a dire emergency," he added, seeing that Hermione had been about to protest.
"Fine," said Hermione, knowing she couldn't convince him, "If you're so set on refusing my idea, then do you have any brilliant suggestions for us?"
"We do it in the same ruddy dungeon as everyone else and we don't care whether anyone else tries to top our potion," said Ron before Harry could respond, thoroughly annoyed by how long they had been discussing a homework assignment.
Once again, before Harry could say anything, Ginny interjected. "What about the third floor corridor on the right side?" she suggested.
"Wait, wasn't that the forbidden corridor our first year that was where Dumbledore kept the sorcerer's stone?" asked Ron.
"Yeah," replied Ginny, "but they removed Fluffy and the devil's snare and all the other stuff protecting the stone. Now it's just a normal corridor, but it was never put back in use. Filch never bothered to keep it clean, so it's all dusty and no one goes around there."
The group considered it for a moment, and then Hermione said, "I don't see why not. I'll write up a list of ingredients for you boys to get and we'll meet on the third floor by the statue of Luis the Lucky. I've got to go to the library." And before the boys could protest to being given the job of getting the ingredients (which, considering the difficulty of the potion, were not going to be easy to find) without their agreement, Hermione got up and left the hall on her way to her precious library.
"Sometimes I wonder why we ever befriended that one," muttered Ron moodily.
"Because you wouldn't have passed your O.W.L.S. without her," replied Ginny sensibly, "much less ever been able to get past the devil's snare your first year, or figure out that a basilisk was petrifying the students, or found all the spells that Harry needed to get through the third task, or-"
"Okay, okay, we get your point," said Ron quickly, cutting Ginny off from what would have been an exceedingly long list. She was right: Hermione had done an awful lot for Harry and Ron, and they both knew it.
With that thought in their minds, Harry and Ron said goodbye to Ginny and headed back up to the common room to study (their first week and teachers were already piling them with homework) during their free period.
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"Alright then. Let's begin, shall we?"
It was three days later, and the trio was in one of the classrooms of the very deserted corridor about to begin brewing the potion. Harry and Ron had spent the last three days going everywhere from the kitchen for a sprig of parsley, to the forest for a bowtruckle finger (Ron lost more than a little blood on that venture) collecting ingredients for the ridiculously long (in their opinion) list Hermione had given them. Needless to say, all the work they had had to do up to this point did not improve their moods. Both were as cross as ever about doing the project Hermione's way.
Ginny, not having much else to do anyway, decided to come along, partly to enjoy watching the friends antagonize each other, and partly to intervene just in case they got too upset. They were, after all, concocting a delicate potion and fighting around a simmering cauldron is always dangerous.
Hermione, quite the opposite of the boys, was thoroughly enjoying herself. There was nothing quite like brewing a potion that would top everyone else's, or doing anything that would top everyone else (in her opinion anyway). Hermione was very competitive. In this case, however, it might have been wiser of her to be sensitive to her friend's feelings on the matter.
And so they began the potion. They had all their ingredients, their fire was the right temperature, and all their utensils were washed and ready to be used. Everything should have gone perfectly. Except that it didn't. Things rarely go perfectly, especially when dealing with conflicting personalities and feelings.
The finger can't really be pointed at any one person, because everyone contributed to the potion's demise. You might say that it started with Hermione being far too bossy as she told the boys which way to dice the flobberworm and how exactly to stir the potion. However, their reactions to her bossiness were far more severe than they usually were. Ginny didn't help much either by galling Ron even more.
"No Ron! Don't put that in the cauldron!" screeched Hermione. "You call that powdered? It's full of clumps! It'll ruin the potion! Honestly, can't you do anything right?"
Hermione was quite annoyed with both Harry and Ron at this point. They seemed to be ignoring her explicit instructions on purpose. Up until this point, she'd been able to fix them, but if Ron had dumped in what he called "powdered" augurey claw (which he hadn't thoroughly mashed to the point of being powdered), the potion would have been ruined. What she hadn't noticed was that Harry was stirring the potion the wrong way, albeit unintentionally.
"How dare you insult my intelligence!" cried Ron, indignant. "Just because I'm not an over-achiever like you doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
"That may be true, Ron," commented Ginny from the side, "but you're still stupid."
Now Ron was just plain livid, and it showed as the crimson that had already reached his ears spread to his face. Ginny suddenly realized what a big mistake she had made.
"Fine!" Ron yelled. "Call me whatever you want, but what are you gonna do when I dump this powdered claw into the potion! Huh?"
He threateningly held the contents of the mortar nearer the cauldron to emphasize his threat.
"No!" cried Hermione.
Ginny quickly ran over to the cauldron to try to placate her brother as she stood by Hermione on the opposite side of the cauldron from Ron.
"Come on, Ron, ease up. You know I was just kidding!" she said with an uneasy laugh.
"Oh yeah?" said Ron roughly. "Well I'm not laughing!"
"Ron, come on, mate, it was just a joke," said Harry, finally speaking up and trying to calm his friend.
"I don't think Hermione was kidding, was she? She never does when we're dealing with her homework," replied Ron angrily, even more defensive now that he felt like all his friends were against him.
"You know what? I think I will dump this stuff!" he said defiantly, and before Harry could even reach out to stop (because he was standing right next to him), Ron threw it in the potion (the 'powder' and the bowl).
The girls didn't even had time to scream before the cauldron exploded and everything went black…
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Hermione woke up, every inch of her aching and feeling like she had just stepped out of the spinning teacups, but the first thought in her mind as she regained consciousness was I am going to kill Ronald with my bare hands!
She began to sit up, fully intent on giving Ron a remonstrance worse than any he had ever received from Mrs. Weasley, when she realized something: Ginny was lying next to her, but there was no debris from an exploded cauldron, and no sign of Harry or Ron.
A/N: Alrighty guys! I finally posted chapter two! And yes, I am going to be posting more regularly now. Never fear. I hope the story isn't soundy too unoriginal so far (I know a lot of the future plot isn't gonna be anything you've ever read before!). So review and let me know! Gracias!
I'll try to post the next chapter within the week. Muchas smoochas!
Twinkling Blue Eyes