A few more weeks past by, until November was coming to a close. Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron tried to act as if everything was normal. In reality they all had a dark secret that was eating away, waiting to burst out at any moment. That is exactly what was beginning to happen, they were all acting odd to each other, and only time would tell who would be the first to burst.
It was in the Gryffindor Common Room that suspicions were at an all time high. The weather was cold and bitter, and unfortunately for the occupants of Hogwarts the heating charm that usually kept the school at a comfy sixty-eight degrees, was going faulty. So as a result, all of the students and teachers were wearing many layers of clothing and carrying invisible charmed blankets around to each class.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all studying for upcoming exams after supper while the room was a bitter twenty-four degrees. All of their breaths were seen by the other, a white swirling cloud dissolving in a few seconds time. It was when Ron absent-mindedly scratched his forearm that Ginny noticed a black patch of skin peeking from behind his scarlet sweater.
"Ron, what happened?" she asked, scooting over from her place beside him on an overstuffed loveseat.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked, not looking up from his Charms notes.
"I mean your arm, it looks like there is...a scab or something." Ginny reached for Rons arm, only to have him flinch away when her hand was a few centimeters from it. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and reached for it again. "Ron, let me see your arm...it could be serious."
"I'm fine, Ginny...it's just my heat patch." Ron lied, still not looking into the frustrated face of his sister.
"A what?" Hermione asked from across the seating area.
"A-a heating patch..." Ron answered.
"Never heard of it." Hermione looked at Ron, her eyes boring into him. Ginny and Harry followed suit, staring at Ron until he finally looked up from his parchment.
"What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Why are you acting so odd...first the continuous moping...now this?" Harry interrogated, leaning forward, anticipating his answer.
"What do you mean, odd...I feel fine...I am fine." Ron assured them, looking back to his notes.
"No Ron, not fine. We want to know what's up with you...now." Ginny stated, gaining his attention back to the three.
"Well...there is nothing to know, I'm fine." Ron stated.
"Are you sure...you seem like your Aunt Flow is visiting..." Harry said, earning chuckles from Hermione and Ginny.
"I don't have an Aunt Flow...an Aunt Tessie...but not an Aunt Flow." Ron said, perplexed as to why the three of them were laughing. "What's so funny?"
"Aunt Flow is a synonym for a woman's menstrual cycle...their period." Hermione said in-between giggles.
"Eww...that's just...eww..." Ron said, making a weird face and sticking out his tongue in disgust. This caused Harry, Hermione, and Ginny to laugh harder, this time Ron joining in.
All thoughts of Ron's behavior behind, the foursome continued on their studies wordlessly.
The following morning at breakfast, Harry thought he'd surprise Hermione. So as soon as she came down the spiral staircase, he grabbed her by the waist and pushed her against the wall.
"Harry, what--" she was cut off by Harry pushing his lips upon hers in a passionate kiss. She quickly responded, even if it was seven in the morning. Their tongues found each others and met in an intricate dance. They soon found themselves on the couch, Harry on top of Hermione. As his hand found itself wandering up her blouse, she gently pushed him off. "Good morning to you too."
Harry smiled and rolled up and off of her, offering his hand. She accepted and was pulled up into Harry's broad chest, they both blushed and stepped back.
"Ready for breakfast?" Harry asked.
"Always." Hermione answered, intertwining her hand with his as they exited the familair path out of their common room.
Their hands detached and they sat in their regular seats at the Gryffindor table. Hermione was helping herself to some grapes when she heard a gasp from beside her. She turned around to find Ginny's astonished face looking at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Hermione...you're...you're glowing." Ginny said, seemingly out of breath.
"Not this again." Hermione rolled her eyes and continued to place grapes in her mouth. She continued to do this until she felt more pairs of eyes on her. She looked up from her plate again to find almost every eye of Gryffindor table on her or Harry.
"What?" They simultaneously asked. They all continued to stare at them as if they were carnival animals. Harry was usually used to this kind of attention, but there was only so much a person could take.
"Hermione, Harry...do you two feel any...different today by chance?" Ginny asked on behalf of the entire Gryffindor house, now they were catching the attention of their neighboring tables.
When the entire Great Hall seemed to be staring at them, Hermione and Harry both answered, "No" while shaking their heads.
"What is so wrong with us that you people just have to stare?!" Harry's voice boomed throughout the hall. This action earned the attention of the professors at the front of the hall. There were silent gasps until Professor McGonagall stepped out from behind the table and headed over to where Hermione and Harry now sat.
"Will the two of you please accompany me to my office?" she asked, lips pursed in a questionable way.
Harry and Hermione nodded and followed the Headmistress out of the hall. When McGonagall closed the cast iron doors, Harry and Hermione could make out the faint whispers that came from their departure. When they heard McGonagall's footsteps on the cobblestone floor, they followed at a jog to keep up with her fast paced walk.
When the three reached the gargoyles, Professor McGonagall spoke the password, "Sherbet Lemon" and entered the revolving staircase. Harry and Hermione, while clutching their sides, followed her up the steps to the Headmistresses office.
"Take a seat." she said, motioning to the two green-velvet armchairs in front of her old oak desk. They obliged and took the seats with confused written on both of their faces. "Before we start, I want you two to look in the mirrors."
"What mirr-" Hermione was interrupted by Professor McGonagall snapping her fingers and two intricate round silver mirrors appeared in front of Harry and Hermione's faces. They both gasped at their reflection. Their skin was giving off a scalet and gold glow, illuminating the area surrounding them.
Hermione touched her skin to find it was surprisingly warm. Harry did the same, and felt them a similar rush of warm on his fingertips. "What is this?" Hermione asked, turning her head to look at the other angles on her face.
McGonagall snapped her fingers again, and the mirrors dissapeared. "It is very old magic...it only happens when two people are in love."
Harry and Hermione blushed and looked down at the floor. "What type of magic is it?" Hermione questioned, daring to look in the Professor's eyes. What greeted her when she looked up was a smiling McGonagall, a very surprising site for any occupant of Hogwarts.
"It is a gift called: Altus Limbido Amor, meaning deep, passionate love. This gift is only seen once every generation in the wizarding world. Only the deepest of love can cause the gift to appear." She smiled, while looking at the astonished faces of the two teenagers and continued, "This gift causes the two people affected by it to give off a golden and/or scarlet aura. The aura can be seized by a simple potion and spell, as to not to draw to much attention. But, I see you've already succeeded in attracting the attention already." --Harry and Hermione blushed-- "I just wish you two would've come to me sooner, as to not draw the attention that you so easily attracted. But, that is the past, and we are living in the now."
"P-professor...might I ask...why us...why not some other people?" Harry asked.
"Ah, I was wondering if you'd ask that. Altus Limbido Amor only happens to the most powerful wizards whom are in love. This case being you and Miss Granger." McGonagall answered simply.
"So...are their any side-effects...other than the aura obviously." Hermione asked.
"Some have experienced feeling the others pain or happiness. Others have read each other's thoughts...the list goes on. No one knows how many side-effects their are, but there are wizards working to find them all out for future references."
"Future references...like what?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"Some wizards say that the two who harness the gift of Altus Limbido Amor have an unimaginable amount of power building up inside of them as their love progresses. This could help with many future problems. That's why some of the wizards and witches affected keep it a secret." McGonagall said.
"So are you suggesting that we not tell anyone about this?" Hermione questioned, also leaning forward in her chair.
"Tell only whom you must. Namely, someone who can keep a secret for a long period of time."
"Okay...this is...very unexpected...and a lot to deal with right now..." Hermione said, looking around the office, avoiding the gazes of Harry and McGonagall.
"I expect it is a lot to deal with...with the N.E.W.T's coming up. But if all goes well...your studies and social life will not be affected."
"Okay." Harry and Hermione chorused.
"I expect that you two want to get to class before the bell rings. So let me get the potion for you..." McGonagall said, getting up from her desk and searching on one of the many bookcases filled with multicolored potion bottles filled with some sore of liquid. She ran one of her bony fingers across a shelf with a bundle of potions on a shelf marked: Antidotes. "Ah." she said as she pulled out a fuchsia, circular glass bottle.
McGonagall walked back down to her desk and set the bottle down atop it. She wandlessly conjured two small glasses, uncapped the potion, and poured it into the two cups. She motioned for Harry and Hermione to drink the potion. They hesitated, worried about drinking the bubbly potion. The potion's aroma filled their nostrils as they lifted the glasses up to their mouths. As they swallowed, they immediately had a warm sensation fill their bodies from head to toe, followed by an aftertaste of citrus and vanilla.
"Explico Benificium." McGonagall spoke loudly and clearly. Harry and Hermione reflected one final glow and they were back to their normal, natural golden glow. "Now, off to your lessons." She made a shooing motion with her hands and excused the two students from her office.
"I am glad that all of you have been so patient with the defect of out heating spell." McGonagall spoke to the hall during supper that night, "We will have everything fixed by tomorrow with the help of Professor Flitwick." Everyone in the Great Hall erupted into loud cheers, thankful that this freezing cold spell was going to come to an end. "Now, with that said, tuck in!" McGonagall sat down and the hall erupted into feverish talk about the heat announcement and pure gossip.
"What did McGonagall want with the two of you?" Ron asked the two.
"Oh…nothing, just Head Duties." Harry lied.
"Oh…I see that you two are done glowing…I thought that she'd pulled you into her office for that." Ginny said.
"No, the glow just went away. I asked her about it, actually, and she said it was the effect of a potion that accidentally got onto out robes." Hermione added to the pot of lies.
"Oh." Ginny and Ron said. The two of them left it at that, and continued to eat, well, in Ron's case, shovel food into their mouths.
Later that night, right after supper, Hermione pulled Harry into an abandoned corner. Harry gave her a confused look, as Hermione looked his straight in the eyes. She seemed to soften up her abruptness when she looked into his eyes, trying not to let it show on her face.
"What's this about?" Harry asked as he leaned into the comfortable position of leaning against the cold bricks of the wall.
Hermione took a deep breath and answered simply, "We need to tell them."
