Hi guys!

I realize that's quite possibly a spoiler in the chapter title, but who cares ;) Thank you all for following my story! I have had some reviews now as well - you are all awesome! I love reading them :)

Here's the next to last chapter. It's quite long, but I'm sure you all won't mind.

Love, Flora

Hermione's search for an antidote had been a lot more fruitful than she could have hoped. Luckily, she remembered which cupboard Neville had levitated, and Snape had been obviously very meticulous in keeping his potions neatly ordered, as he had labeled not only the now broken vials, but the places on the shelves as well. Within 30 minutes Hermione had managed to eliminate a large number of potions names, and remained with two possible options: Amortentia Lenis and Odoratus Amabitur. She had heard of Amortentia, of course - the most powerful love potion in the world. She figured that "lenis" was probably meaning it wasn't as strong as normal Amortentia, as she expected the word "lenient" to be derived from it. By the effects she had seen, she felt very strongly in saying that this potion had not been lenient, nor mild. Odoratus Amabitur, on the other hand, had the word "odor" in it, which of course had to do something with the sense of smell. As she recalled Snape's poem and Ron's comments - she chuckled thinking of the memory - they had all been very odor-based. Furthermore, on the corner of the label, she saw three letters that she had seen on some other potions as well, but not on Amortentia Lenis. The letters spelled HBP. She quickly understood that, while she knew all the non-HBP labeled potions to a certain extent, she had no knowledge of any of the HBP labeled ones. Perhaps those were self-made potions: potions invented by none other than Snape himself? If so, she thought it odd that Snape hadn't labeled the potions "SS", but then again, she never fully grasped the motives of her potions professor.

This did further her search, as she began to roam Snape's desk for more clues. Normally she would have felt very guilty doing so, but as she recalled his behavior, she was sure he would not be ungrateful to no longer be longing after his most hated student. And after all - she had to save Harry. Every second she spent searching for the antidote meant one second more spent in agony for her best friend. She needed to power through.

Eventually she came across one drawer that Snape had sealed off with magic. To her surprise, it opened with a simple "Alohomora". Strange. She figured that it would probably be more securely protected, had Snape not left the classroom in such a hurry. He was not a person to be careless.
Nonetheless, she had what she wanted, and it didn't take her long to find the description for Odoratus Amabitur, as the files in the drawer had been alphabetically ordered.

"Odoratus Amabitur - strong love perfume.

One or two small drops of this perfume will make the nearest bystanders infatuated with the wearer, as they will project their favorite smells onto them. Furthermore, radiance of the skin will enhance attractiveness. Make sure to be in private with target, or awkward situations will ensue. Be very cautious with appliance- do not use more than two small drops at most, as to not further broaden the radius of this brew or enhance it's effects. You know what happened. Do not use on target more than once a month, as sense of smell can be permanently warped and damaged.

Effects of the perfume will wear off in 24 to 48 hours. To end the effects earlier, either kiss the target(s) romantically, or spray yourself with its antidote."

Hermione didn't think the first solution was an actual option, as she tried to envision Harry's distorted face when kissing Snape romantically. No, she thought, shaking her head, definitely not an option, and she was quite certain she had scarred herself for life. She began to browse for ingredients in the various cupboards. It would take her approximately 45 minutes to brew the antidote - a long time, but she did what was needed.

While the antidote was boiling, she rummaged Harry's bag, and felt very lucky finding the Marauders Map. After muttering "I solemnly swear I am up to no good", she straightened out the parchment and scanned for Harry's name. She found him on the second corridor, barred against a wall, quite possible one of the windows. Why on earth would he go there? It was a jarring sight, as Harry's dot closely pressed against a straight line, while an enormous amount of dots - so closely packed together that she wasn't able to make out any names - surrounding his seemed to be slowly closing in on him.

'Come on, Harry,' she heard herself say out loud, wishing the antidote wouldn't take so long to make.

Then, suddenly, Harry's dot made a little jump, and he was on the other side of the line. Had he gone through the wall? Right, no - he must have jumped out of the window! Oh God! Hermione felt nauseous. Did the mob cause him to fall out of it, or did he feel so desperate that... No, she refused to believe that. Right? On the other hand, as she now saw a dot named "Dolores Umbridge" press itself against the window, imagining the old hag was reaching out to him through the glass panels - maybe not. She couldn't think of any person more revolting than that toad. A knot formed in her stomach as she searched for Harry's dot yet again, and when she finally found him, she sighed contently. The dot was rapidly moving past the castle walls, which could only mean that Harry had successfully summoned his broom, just like they had practiced in their fourth year.

She tried to follow the dot, but Harry flew incredibly fast and it was quite a task to keep her eye fixed on the swiftly moving drop of ink. At last she saw him hovering next to the Whomping Willow, and then the dot vanished. She smiled at Harry's quick wit. She doubted even Ron would try to find him there.

Making her way out of the dungeons was easy. She had concealed Harry's bag under her cloak, as to not get any unwanted questions, and thought she would make it to the castle grounds just fine, until she was swooped aside near The Great Hall.

'Where is Harry?!' Lavender asked, accusatory. 'You know where he is! You two are always together!'

'I don't have slightest idea,' Hermione replied, feigning innocence.

'Yes you do! You are lying!'

'Hermione!'

Ron closed in on her, pushing Lavender violently aside as to get to her. The blonde girl scowled and walked off, with a angry looking Parvati at her side. Although she was thankful, Hermione was not all that happy to see Ron. It would be a lot harder to lie to him.

'Have you seen Harry? He suddenly vanished! I checked every place I could think of, but his smell, it's gone, and I can only think about him and where he is and-...'

'It's okay, Ron,' Hermione soothed, with a sympathetic smile on her face. 'He'll return. You know he cares about you.'

'He... He does? In that way?'

Hermione pursed her lips, trying not to laugh.

'I don't know about that, but he does call you his best friend now, doesn't he?'

Ron clearly felt emboldened by the statement and puffed his chest out.

'Yes, you're right. I am his best friend, after all.'

'You are. He'll be back, I'm sure.'

'It's all that toad's fault,' Ron growled. 'She tried to grope him, in plain sight! The woman has no tact. You should have seen the look on Harry's face, he looked positively mortified. I mean, I would too! Can you imagine?'

'I'd rather not,' Hermione shuddered.

'And then she gave us all a month's worth of detention, just for "scaring him off" or something. She even tried to fire Snivellus... I mean, I wouldn't mind that, would you?'

'Yes I would Ron,' Hermione replied matter-of-factly. 'And you should remember not to use that name in earshot of anyone. I do want to receive an Outstanding in my OWL's, and even if Professor Snape is not the most-...'

'Did you hear the poetry he recited to Harry? Did you hear that? He's a slimy git!'

Hermione laughed again, thinking Ron's possessiveness was kind of endearing, but she also knew that she had to get going.

'You know what Ron? Why don't you go back to the Gryffindor common room, and think of a way to properly welcome Harry back and declare your love for him in a way that won't scare him off. I'm sure he'll appreciate that.'

'Do you think he will?'

'Absolutely,' Hermione replied, enjoying mocking her friend just a little bit. 'You know red rose petals are his favorite, right? I believe Professor Sprout grows a bunch of roses in Greenhouse 1, so if-...'

She didn't need to finish her sentence, as Ron sprinted out of her sight before she could close her mouth. Trying to stifle a laugh, she made her way to the Whomping Willow as well.

Luckily, she hadn't been disturbed by any other students or professors as she reached the magical tree. A swift "Immobulus" caused the tree to halt, enabling her to enter the tight passage that would lead to the road she'd traveled with Harry twice in their third year. Thinking back about the events surrounding her time-turner always made her smile, as it had been one of the first times she had allowed herself to admire Harry and not feel guilty about it. I mean, how was she not able to think highly of him, after seeing him conjure that Patronus-charm, saving her, himself and his godfather?

'Harry?'

She entered the dimly lit shack and slowly climbed the stairs. The place still looked as awfully filthy as ever - dust piled on top of dust, broken furniture littering the ground. Not a sound from her friend, though.

'Lumos. Harry? Are you there? It's me, Hermione.'

A very rattled looking Harry peeked through a crack in the bedroom door and he let out a labored sigh.

'Oh thank Merlin, it's you. I thought-... I don't know what I thought.'

He fully opened the door and now Hermione was able to take a good look at him. He had pulled his robes off, revealing a T-shirt and jeans underneath, and had apparently tried to clean himself with some spells, but to no avail. His hair was a mess, his clothes were a mess, his glasses were put on hastily and crookedly, he looked tired and scared, but he was okay. She let out a sigh of relief. He was okay, and with her help, everything was going to go back to normal.

'Wait a minute,' Harry said, looking puzzled. 'Don't you want to... you know... Attack me?'

She chuckled.

'No, I don't. I would never, you know that. I came to help you. I'm glad you left the map in class, so I managed to trace you.'

'Great, you're brilliant, as always, Hermione... I am so glad you're not affected, I have no idea why not, but... I am so, so glad! And I'm so glad you're here and you found me, you can't imagine...'

Hermione felt her chest tighten when Harry enveloped her in a warm and meaningful hug. God, this would be so hard. She couldn't speak her mind now, that was out of the question. She didn't want Harry to think that her words would also be influenced by that darned perfume. Yes, she smelled him too, yes, she saw that he glowed, but he was still Harry. Her best friend. And suddenly she felt guilty for feeling all that. Wasn't she betraying him as well, by not speaking out?

'People have gone absolutely crazy! I mean, not just Snape, but Parvati, and Parkinson and-... Hermione, Umbridge was there! She was teaching the fourth years, and Ginny as well, and Colin Creevey, and they all stormed out of their class...'

'Oh, that sounds awful.'

'It was! I'm doomed! How are we going to stop this?'

'Well, luckily-...' Hermione started, but Harry was too indulged in his own misery to hear her answer. He started pacing back and forth.

'Should I just stay here, for the rest of the term? I guess I could live comfortably here for a while, I mean, I can handle living with the Dursley's for a full summer, or maybe-...'

'Will you stop panicking for a second,' Hermione laughed, slapping his arm. 'I have found a cure.'

'You-... You have? Already?'

Harry stopped his pace and stared at her, at disbelief and completely in awe, and she managed to not concentrate on the very apparent butterflies that were currently attacking her insides.

'My God Hermione, you always manage to amaze me.'

She felt a blush creep up her cheeks, which she hated. It made her feel silly and Hermione Granger was many things, but she was not a silly girl.

'Yes. What fell on you seems to be a concoctions of Snape's own making. He left two possible antidote options for us to try out.'

'Snape's own making? I can't imagine him wearing-... Whatever, that's not really of interest right now. What are those options?'

'Well,' Hermione said, slyly, 'one option would require you to snog anyone affected by the perfume.'

The look on Harry's face made her wheeze.

'Are you kidding me right now?' Harry managed to ask, laughing as well. Hermione figured he probably knew, going by her reaction, that she would never let him go through that ordeal.

'Yes, well. It seems to be one of the options, so I thought, might want to give you that option first. Do you, per chance, fancy kissing-...'

'NO,' Harry said firmly. 'And don't even think about finishing that sentence. Gosh, Hermione! No!'

'I get it. I'm just joking. But it would actually work, according to Snape's files. He calls it "romantic kissing", by the way-...'

'Yeah, we might want to try option 2,' Harry remarked snidely. 'Please, please tell me it's less grueling.'

Figuring she had tortured him long enough, she pulled a new vial out of her bag.

'Here. I made four batches, as the recipe required "spraying" to counteract one or two drops of the perfume. Better safe than sorry, right?'

'You truly, honestly, are the most wonderful person on this planet, and if I ever contradict that statement-...'

'I will gladly remember you about this day. Don't worry, Harry.'

He dumped the first vial on his head completely, making sure to cover every corner of his face, and Hermione helped him scrub the remaining batches unto his skin. For the last vial, he asked shyly if Hermione wanted to give him some privacy, which she gladly granted. Outside the bedroom door, she asked herself if she would dare to say anything, but she couldn't bring herself to it. It was too complicated right now. Harry had reacted amicably to her, of course, but that was always the case. They were friends, right? That's how friends acted. They helped. They didn't pry, they didn't press and they certainly didn't... Make things even more difficult. Harry had been harassed by possibly fifty students and at least two teachers - enough was enough. Now was not the moment. So, when Harry emerged from the bedroom, looking all clean and a lot less glowy, she gave him a bittersweet smile.

'How do I look?'

'Like Harry. Just Harry.'

'And... That's a good thing, right?'

She bit her lip.

'Of course it is.'

He returned the smile, and brought her in for another hug. She allowed herself to put her arms around his neck. The smell was not as strong anymore, but it was still there. Lovely, warm, comforting Harry. Her friend, her... So much more. Why did this have to be so difficult?

'Thank you, Hermione. Truly. If it weren't for you...'

'The effect would have worn off in 48 hours,' she heard herself say. 'You would have been fine, eventually.'

He laughed.

'Oh yeah, I would have been fine. I wouldn't have been. You know that. If you would have been under the influence as well, I would have been screwed.'

A pregnant pause fell and when they both looked each other in the eyes, they erupted in a fit of laughter.

'Oh Merlin,' Harry squeaked. 'That came out wrong. You know what I mean. Imagine Ron being the one who had to save me. I mean, he's great and all, but-...'

'Pretty useless in comparison to my massive intellect,' Hermione said sarcastically. They both nudged elbows, while descending from the stairs.

'If you want to go back to the castle, I might want to tell you about a surprise that Ron has in store for you. It involves rose petals...'

'No, I'd rather stay here for at least an hour or two,' Harry said, honestly. 'Just to make sure it's properly gone. I mean, I won't ask you to stay. I know you have Arithmancy in an hour and I wouldn't want you to skip class.'

Hermione looked at him.

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah. It might be better, actually. You can give me an update about how everyone's acting. If the coast is clear, I'll come out.'

Stay, a voice inside her head said. For the love of God, Hermione, stay! Stay with him and tell him how you really feel!

But she didn't. She said goodbye to Harry, giving him one last lingering hug. Not today, she reminded herself. It would happen. But not today. And with a heavy heart, she retreated back to the castle.

AN: Thank you for reading! I loved writing the interaction between them both. I tried quite hard to keep the characters as true to themselves as the plot would let me. Until now, I'm quite pleased with the result :) I'll wrap this all up next chapter. Bye!