Open Secrets by Turn and Walk
Summary: The effects of a love potion gone horribly wrong haunt Harry and he hopes that for once his secret won't spread throughout the school. Meanwhile, Draco struggles with a secret of his own…
Pairings: Harry/Draco, one-sided Ginny/Harry.
Warnings: Slash, sexual themes, Book 7 disregarded, Book 6 partially disregarded (you'll see what I mean).
Disclaimer: Turner doesn't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
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"Wakey wakey, Drakey!" The nauseating voice of Pansy Parkinson drifted across the Slytherin common room, sticking out among the other voices as it called out the horrible travesty of a nickname she had come up with for Draco. "You'll miss breakfast!"
Draco didn't lift his head. He was somewhat comfortable on the hard sofa. "I don't care," he told his pillow.
"You can't sleep in all day!"
"It's Sunday, I can sleep in as much as I damn well please!" came the muffled response. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't particularly hungry. "Go away."
"Fine, starve if you want."
The common room fell silent. Draco enjoyed the few minutes of peace, shuffling through his mind for an answer in the comforting quiet until he was almost falling asleep again. That is, until he felt the end of the sofa sink. Someone was sitting at his feet, and he could feel a pair of eyes looking at the back of his head.
"What do you want?" he asked, still not lifting his head.
"I want to know what's wrong." Blaise. He was so observant at times.
"Nothing's wrong," Draco lied. He didn't want to tell anyone. Hell, it was difficult enough without anyone meddling in his business.
"Liar. You never miss breakfast, even if it's just for an opportunity to make a jab at Potter. Which, by the way, you completely half-assed yesterday. You haven't slept in the dormitory in almost a month. So tell me, what's wrong?" Draco cringed. He didn't think anyone had noticed.
"Okay, if you really want to know..." he began.
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"Harry? Harry?"
"It's no use, he's a hundred miles off."
"Harry!"
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were crowded around Harry, waving their hands in front of his face and shouting his name, trying to bring him out of oblivion. Ron took him by the shoulder and shook. "Harry!"
Harry blinked. "What's up?"
"What's wrong?" came the chorus of voices from his friends.
"Nothing's wrong," Harry replied. "Just... I had a strange dream last night. That's all..."
Hermione sprang to her feet. "Not... not one of those dreams? You were supposed to be practicing your Occlumency! Those were supposed to go away! Oh, Dumbledore's going to be furious-"
Harry interrupted her rant. "Relax, 'Mione. It wasn't one of those dreams."
Hermione's eyes widened. Without warning, she grabbed Harry by the elbow and dragged him away from the Gryffindor table and out of the Great Hall. Once they were safely in the Entrance Hall and sure that it was deserted, Hermione began whispering very fast.
"When did you have your dream, Harry?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Well, I fell asleep right around midnight and-"
That was all she needed. "Was Ginny in your dream at all?"
"I- no..."
Hermione swore under her breath. "What about Malfoy? Was he in your dream?"
Harry turned a shade of red that only his Uncle Vernon could top. "Um... yes."
"What was he doing?"
Harry shook his head, not daring to reveal what Malfoy had done in his dream... or what he, Harry, had done.
She swore again. "I knew this was a bad idea, I knew this was a bad idea..."
"Knew what was a bad idea?"
Hermone took a deep breath. "Listen, Harry. Have you ever heard of a love potion that was more powerful than Amortentia?"
Harry blinked. "Slughorn said..."
"I know Slughorn told us that Amortentia was the most powerful!" she interrupted. "He was lying! I'm talking about a love potion that we aren't supposed to know about, that most fully grown witches and wizards haven't even heard of! It's called Nos Xevelos Sesibo, and it's the most dangerous potion ever made!"
"It's just a love potion, can't be that dangerous."
"Trust me Harry, you're in trouble. This potion… you're in deep trouble."
"What? Why?"
"You're going to fall in love with him."
"With Malfoy? Not funny, Hermione. There's no way I could fall for that git. I'm not even gay."
"It's magic, Harry," Hermione reminded him. "Anything can happen."
It was Harry's turn to swear. "Why is this happening to me anyway?"
"Well…" Hermione bit her lip, a nonverbal confession. "Ginny conned me into helping her make some. I didn't want to do it, I told her she didn't need it, but… well, she knows things. She basically blackmailed me into it."
"Ginny?" Harry repeated, surprised. He was vaguely curious as to what blackmail Ginny could have had on Hermione, but he didn't want to change the subject, so he refrained from pressing the issue. "Blimey, if she'd only say something, I'd be… I'd be…" He paused and his face fell. "I wouldn't be interested at all…"
"Of course you wouldn't, it's the potion! She just wanted you to make the first move, and she knew you wouldn't do it if you were thinking clearly. She is your best friend's sister."
"So I'm stuck with the effects of a mysterious slow-release love potion that'll eventually make me fall for my archenemy, all because Ginny decided she wanted to be traditional for once?"
"Pretty much…" Hermione looked extremely uncomfortable.
Harry stood for a moment in dumbfounded silence. "Wait… all potions have antidotes, right? There must be some way to get it out of my system, right?"
Hermione's look of guilt became even more pronounced. "Listen, Harry. I'm not sure how Ginny got her hands on the recipe. There have only been three recorded instances of this potion's use. Two of them failed, and resulted in..." She paused, as if the word was too horrible to even think of. "Well, they ended in suicide. The other one was a happy ending, no antidote required. Since it's so rare, well... no one's ever thought to come up with an antidote."
Harry stared at the floor, trying not to explode in a fit of rage at Hermione. It wasn't really her fault, after all. "So... my options are suicide or deal with it?"
"You say 'deal with it' like it's going to be easy. And I know you won't commit suicide. That's just... not your style."
"I know it won't be easy. I imagine that the effects are going to be much more powerful than any I've ever experienced before." Harry sighed. "Sounds like there's only one solution if I don't want to be completely miserable for the rest of my life."
"What's that?" Hermione braced herself for the worst.
"I've got to get Draco Malfoy to fall for me."
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What's this? Turner has posted something? LE GASP! Yes, I finally posted chapter two, and I PROMISE to be more active! My dear friend Itami-chan, for whom I occasionally beta read, will not post my favourite work of hers until I get my butt in gear about this one, so I has motivation! She will also only update as often as I do. Even more motivation! You can expect to see a lot more out of me in the coming months.
So, anyway, hope you enjoyed it!
I may do a little side fic/prologue-y oneshot explaining what Ginny knows about Hermione that is soooooo devastating... who knows? Hopefully that helped explain a little bit why Hermione helped Ginny, because I know she wouldn't really do that. Hmm...