Love is Thicker than Blood – Part Five
Emberlynne woke up the first day of classes early and hungry. She moved the red curtains around her bed open and put her feet on the cold tile floor. Emberlynne didn't think anyone would be awake for at least another hour. She began to prepare for the day; Putting the needed books into her bag, putting on her uniform and robes. Suddenly she stopped. Emberlynne could hear something that seemed like the sound pages turning. She walked over to where the sound was coming from; it was Hermione's bed.
"Hermione?" Emberlynne whispered.
A hand pulled open the curtain and there was Hermione, a book in hand with her index finger keeping her place.
"Good morning Emberlynne." Hermione greeted quietly.
"What are you reading?" Emberlynne asked eyeing Hermione's book.
"Oh, it's just a muggle book, you probably haven't…" Hermione began, but she was unable to finish because Emberlynne had seen the title.
"Pride and Prejudice!?" Emberlynne quietly exclaimed.
"Oh, have you heard of it?" Hermione asked.
"Heard of it? I've only read it six times." Emberlynne stated happily.
"Really? This is my third time." Hermione said, her smile growing.
"Isn't it the greatest?" Emberlynne asked enthusiastically.
"Oh yes!" Hermione agreed.
The two girls chatted on about the book, and several others they'd read; muggle or magic. They only stopped when all the other girls had woken up and were getting ready for the day. Hermione got up to get ready as well. Emberlynne moved to sit on the bed and wait so that Hermione could get into her trunk.
When Hermione was ready she and Emberlynne made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, where they met up with Harry and Ron who were already filling their plates with eggs and sausage. There wasn't much conversation over breakfast, seeing as how everyone was hungry, especially Hermione and Emberlynne because of waking up early.
On the way to potions, almost everyone was groaning.
"I tell you, Snape shouldn't be allowed to teach; especially this early in the morning." Ron said bitterly.
Emberlynne was shocked. She'd never really heard anyone speak ill of Severus Snape.
"Why would you say something like that?" Emberlynne asked.
"Because the man is a slimy, unfair, git." Harry stated simply.
"They're right. Snape makes even me look stupid." Hermione pouted.
"I'm sure he's not all that bad." Emberlynne defended.
"Well, you're in for a surprise." Harry and Ron said in unison.
Emberlynne just rolled her eyes as they made their way to the dungeon classroom. As they entered, most of the Slytherins were already in attendance. As for the Gryffindors, well, they stayed away as long as they could.
The four Gryffindors took a seat in the very back of the room, so they could be away from Snape. As the minutes passed the rest of the class trickled in and waited for their professor. Severus entered from his office door just after the bell rang. He was quiet for a moment as he took role. When he finished, he began class.
"Alright, today you'll be making a truth serum. You'll be working with a partner, which means two and no more. The instructions six hundred – seventy four, follow the instructions to the letter for you'll be testing the serum no your partner. We wouldn't want any accidents now would we? " Snape finished. Emberlynne couldn't help but laugh at Snape's twisted form of humor, which got her several confused stares from all the other Gryffindors. Everyone pulled into partners and since Hermione was working with Ron, Emberlynne worked with Harry.
"I should warn you, I'm really no good at potions." Harry admitted sheepishly.
"Don't worry, I am, just hand me what I ask for." Emberlynne said laughing.
"Fine with me." Harry said smiling as he turned to the instructed page in his potion's book.
As the work continued, Emberlynne flirted without even noticing it, Harry didn't really realize it either; but Snape did. The potion improved as well, it went from a light pink to clear. Snape was going around checking over the student's work making his snide, sarcastic comments; when he reached Harry and Emberlynne's potion, he examined the potion, but to his disappointment he couldn't find anything wrong with it.
"Don't forget to test it. Oh, Emberlynne, see me after class, which is in about ten minutes, so, you should all be cleaning up and putting samples of your potion in a vial, label it and leave it on my desk." Snape announced.
"Here, you can test it on me." Harry volunteered.
"Alright" Emberlynne agreed, she filled a cup with the clear liquid and handed it to Harry.
Harry drained the cup, and nothing really happened, that was a good sign.
"Alright, Harry, who do you like?" Emberlynne asked, it was really the only question she could think of that most people wouldn't answer honestly unless under the influence.
"Emberlynne" Harry answered in a blank monotone.
Emberlynne beamed, the potion worked. She filled a vial and labeled it, and then while Harry cleaned up, she took the bottle up to Snape's desk. When she got back to the work station, Emberlynne spooned some more of the potion into a larger bottle and slipped it carefully into her bag while Harry wasn't looking.
When the bell rang, the class filtered out, but Emberlynne stayed behind.