Title: Love Potion #14
By She-Who-Is-Not-To-Be-Psycho!
Summary: Alternative to the 6th book if Snape had taught Love Potions.
Rating: +16 to be safe
Pairings: Harry/Draco, Hermione/Ron. Starring: In-Love-With-Herself Pansy
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter world, books or characters. JKRowling does.

CHAPTER TWO: Awkward

Ron groaned. "And we will have classes with the Slytherins, too?!"

It kind of reminisced one of what happened earlier in Potions. Ron shook his head but surprisingly his expression was such he could smile. "Well, I'll try to look at it from the bright side. At least no more Love Potion, right?"

Hermione, for some reason, had grown agitated since Potions and was not looking up from her book. "It's going to last a bit longer. We all finished the potion by the end of the period and drank it 5 minutes before the bell rang."

Ron wore such pained expression you would think he was playing hurt-puppy. "Do you mean this is going to last for the whole next hour?"

"Well, Ron," said Hermione who for some reason looked ruffled, pink and quite obviously irritated. "If you had paid attention to professor Snape's class, you should know. But since it's so frustrating to be in your current state interested in me," she went some shades pinker, "why don't you go back and ask the professor for an antidote!"

"Why would I want to see Snape again!" Ron whined.

Hermione opened her mouth and her face could have exploded with rage, "You! You— are so –"

"Hey! Why don't you get mad with Harry too, he also drank the love potion!" complained Ron.

"He is not making a drama over it!" Hermione told him, "You are the one acting like you had been... been... poisoned out of your real self!"

"So we agree!" stated Ron furious. "Harry is acting normal, so it must mean he – he likes you!"

"No! Well, I don't know. But, I don't think –" Hermione became progressively flustered red. "Well, what about you! You are overreacting! Is this how you treat the person you love?"

"I'm not overreacting! I am poisoned with love potion!"

"You are beyond hope!" Hermione walked in a quick pace towards the gates after that snapping leaving Ron and Harry behind to follow on their own pace.

At this time and place, Harry's expression started to look like that of Snape before the end of the class.

Neville at least seemed to have regained some sense, and he apologized and shied away putting some distance between them all, deciding he preferred not to cause any further fights. Of course, Ron was not there to hear any of this or Harry presumed another discussion for the attention of Hermione would arise. Maybe Ron would accuse Neville of being too noble.

Neville was probably the one to have paid the lower price in this whole ordeal. Maybe his potion had been especially weak. Any case, Harry wanted to follow his example and leave those two alone but Hermione had grabbed him by the arm in her "don't be silly" stance and Ron was back before he could fled.

So now, there they were, exiting to the grounds in their 15 minute break.

Harry could understand Hermione's frustration. Though, knowing how Ron was in regular terms, he would have to give it to Ron, Hermione was especially touchy about this subject. After one or two minutes of silent walking, the quiet was broken.

Ron raised a hand to his hair, troubled. "Do you think she's mad at me?"

Harry suppressed with all his might not rolling his eyes. "Do you need me to tell you? You have been acting like a lunatic all day."

Ron frowned defensive. "Well, I'm under a love potion, I-I'm supposed to be all wacko, am I not?"

"I don't know," Harry answered quite truthfully. "What is Pansy doing?"

Ron frowned but nonetheless followed this new track of conversation. So he turned his attention where his friend's was.

The girl in question was lying flat on her stomach on the grounds, and only her face hovered over the edge of what was the start of the lake.

"I think she's trying to kiss her own reflection at the lake," Ron offered and shrugged.

Harry frowned as well with his eyes fixed on the girl. But Harry was less casual in this change of conversation as the listener would think. As a matter of fact, he was fighting to conceal that he was rather tense, because at that moment, by-passing the three was none other than Draco Malfoy. All the most obvious that he was speaking loudly for Pansy to hear.

"And then I hear she never learned how to properly tie her hair with magic, so that's why she wears it loose, so it doesn't look muggle!"

Harry, unable to help himself, felt his own feet moving forwards to move over there. So, it was not his problem, fine, but somebody had to put Malfoy on his place. And damned he be if he wasn't going to be that someone…

"Look at her, it's the Parkinson!" Draco let himself stop behind her as if casually –nevertheless, an obviously premeditated action – and was gesturing her to his friends Crabbe and Goyle.

"Where's that Tracey Davies girl you hang up with?" he drawled, looking around. "Also noticed how boring you are? Tired of playing your shadow?

"You know, it's a pity people with so pure linage can become the waste of the wizarding hierarchy like that. But you don't need me telling you, you know your own family."

Crabbe and Goyle looked pretty lost, even for the usual look of confusion they wore. Goyle's laugh came rather late and lame. Pansy's careless retort was something of the lines of, "Were you talking to me?"

And Crabbe punched Malfoy on the nose--

"Mate," came Ron's voice. It came more or less at the time of Harry's own obvious snort. That served to stop him as he felt himself moving over to reach Malfoy… he was just considering joining them in this surprising punch fest.

He paused and turned, though his eyes did not leave the group. "Yes?" he asked.

"I found Hermione," said Ron. Harry finally turned; Ron had his own eyes fixed somewhere near Hagrid's hut. "I think she is moving to Care of Magical Creatures. Come on."

"Wait, Ron -" Harry tried but Ron had grabbed him from the arm and dragged him all over to the class grounds. Darn him for being taller and bigger than him! And love-potion fed.

--

Hermione was sitting in the "front", looking for all you knew like it was her and nobody else in the entire wide world. Tentatively, Ron joined Harry behind her.

"The break is not over, you know," Ron sulked ever so tactlessly.

Harry supposed Hermione to be mad, yes, but she was altogether not looking at them. At first sight, she was engrossed in reading the very same book from before. Only Harry thought he had seen her tense when they arrived. And her eyes were not altogether moving. She was not reading, just avoiding looking over at them, but why?

It was honestly a relief Ron had not yet noticed this.

"'Mione, can I borrow your quill?" Ron had said, probably in his best attempt to act diplomatic, acting as if nothing was the matter. Hermione complied, bringing the quill to his hand, but retreating said hand immediately and looking at the front. Where, she soon found, there was nothing to be seen and she dropped her gaze to the book again.

Ron exchanged a look with Harry, as in 'what do I do now?' Then he must have remembered Harry was supposed to be as 'lost' as he was and resorted to sulk silently.

And here Harry had been whining about Slytherins…! This had to be one of the most uncomfortable moments in his life.

"I'm going to go," Harry said suddenly and resolutely standing up. What he didn't expect was Hermione turning suddenly to him holding him by the side of his robes, "No!"

Then Ron put the kind of face that showed horror and sulking at the same time, and the smugness of 'see! I knew it, and here were you denying it all!' which was when Hermione immediately released Harry. It didn't help matters much for the overly offended Ron.

Harry stayed, like the other two, there like a dummy for the longest of seconds. They were sitting in the grounds of the CoMC class with no class, alternating between uncomfortable and silent-uncomfortable.

As the silence grew, his own attention abandoned his two friends to stumble upon sight of Malfoy who was sneaking from behind a tree with a smirk and an intention, and then felt a distant hit sound and found, on the other side, there was Pansy with half her face covered in mud and a disgusted expression. Returning to Malfoy, he saw him laughing his head off back on the previous spot.

And suddenly Harry wished he wasn't in this tense situation feeling he couldn't do anything but be stiff.

"Oh, this is just stupid!" Harry said in an outburst. "Look, Ron, the potion must have been having some effects in you two. I didn't drink it – well, I did, but I didn't use Hermione's hairs. And Hermione –"

He opened his mouth, and closed it, for a second lost of what to say. "Just explain to us... well, to Ron... whatever it needs to be explained!" Well, that came out well.

Hermione's face immediately, even inhumanly, became several shades of red and she was looking down again, while Ron was looking up, almost hopeful. "You didn't drink the potion, I mean, with the hair?" He didn't smile but his eyes were child-like bright.

"No, I... Hermione?"

--

Draco had been walking Pansy back for quite some time, sputtering half insults her way and gapping for periods. It was unsightly to see him right now. Whatever he made up, whatever he sputtered... Pansy just didn't seem to get it.

"Me and Crabbe have a bit of a discussion here, you see," he stuttered uncomfortably for a whole three seconds (unsightly!) before he came up with this now. "Is it that love decreases the drinker's IQ or it's just you?"

There was no answer.

"What's wrong with your potion?" he drawled. "It doesn't appear like your brain registers what the effects are." An easy smirk grew on his face.

Nothing.

"Are you sure you shouldn't be checking with professor Snape? You probably poisoned yourself," he started snickering while saying 'poisoned'.

Silence.

He turned his head back as if to speak to Crabbe and Goyle walking behind him.

"Yes, I could be injected lust potion enough to put heat into a rhino and I wouldn't touch her, but we know she's another different story… So maybe you killed whatever hormones you had—not that's a great loss," he snorted loudly, sounding fake; "If anything, it's a greatest fate for humanity."

Reaction he got from the back of Pansy's head: zero.

Now you didn't see much of it, but Malfoy was positively frustrated. OK, you did see some of it, but not this strong. Never had he had to stop walking and pull himself together when in the middle of… this! Whatever was WRONG with this woman!

Draco held his head his in hand ready to pull his hairs off, scratching his face deformed. An image of him wrestling with Pansy came to mind, if he had ever felt like pounding a girl's face in... Oddly, that was good enough to recover his humor. Pounding Pansy's head it… Pushing her to the ground, and just pound that face in! It was better than daydream charms.

With the new, growing smirk, he called, "Five minutes, that's all I'm giving that self-control of yours, Parkinson."

Hermione was looking up and down immediately, and each time lowering her face more. Though, in the plus side, she was not turning away from them any more. Though it surely looked like it was taking a lot of effort...

"'Mione, do you feel sick?" asked ever-so-bluntly Ron Weasley.

Hermione shook his head without raising it. "No, I'm... sorry, could you... um, I don't think it's, maybe yes –" and she groaned. It was a long kind of groan.

This is a fine time for mail to arrive, some deity must have decided for them; none but a one of Harry's least favorite people had signed the letter attached to the owl that just had started to make its ways over there.

"It's nothing, I just I would prefer it if we moved under a tree shadow... if you don't mind?" Hermione continued as Harry detached the letter from the owl. Even the last part sounded like a groan, Harry noticed, with a bewildered expression. "I just feel-- I-I must have gotten a sunstroke."

Hermione had at last looked up to reveal a red face, and was displaying a lot of twitchy kind of body gestures. At that, when Hermione finally turned to leave for a tree shadow, she had only looked Harry's way.

And Ron asked the question Harry had suppressed asking so not to expose Hermione, "Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not avoiding you!" but the message totally lost its purpose when Hermione blocked her face from view even if she turned Ron's way.

"Alrigh, Harry? Ron? 'Mione...?"

Hagrid was approaching them from inside his hut and he even had the delicacy to make the situation more obvious by hesitating at the last. "Yer Gods, 'Mione, do yer feel well? Would yer like to go to the 'ospital wing?" Oh and that too.

Hermione waved her hand in dismissal, even frantically. She repeated the motion harder when Hagrid insisted "yer sure?" as some other students were passing by them.

On the other hand, other than the sulking Ron and the nervous Hermione, Harry had gone into his own private silence while reading the letter. His expression settled into a frown and the slight twitch of an eyebrow.

"It's everything alright, Harry?" asked Hermione. Harry looked up – he was almost disoriented by Hermione's lowered face. How could he ever tell his worry if she wasn't... He shook his head.

"It's nothing," he said but his expression remained stony as he re-read the letter. "Got to go," he said and he rose from the ground.

"Ya'll come fer class, ye, Harry?" asked Hagrid worried. Harry didn't get to give him an answer.