Chapter Four:
It truly amazed Hermione how she made it through the entire day without confessing to Harry and Ron about her encounter with Blaise the previous night. It was after she retreated back to her room that something Blaise had said finally hit her. 'Voldemort will die soon and Potter will stay alive to see. I'll make sure of that.' Hermione had spent the next day trying to figure out what he had meant by that statement and it wasn't until she was sitting in Potions of all classes that it came to her. Blaise was going to kill Voldemort.
"…And some potions, like the one we will learn at the end of the year, are so powerful they can kill even the immortal…" Snape was saying. This shook Hermione out of her trance, with a thankful sigh from Ron, who had been forced to take notes due to Hermione's lack of attention. Her had shot up in the air.
"Professor?" she asked tentatively. Blaise had caught her eye and was watching her suspiciously.
"What, Miss Granger, is it this time?" Snape growled at her.
"Professor, I was just wondering the name of the potion you were talking about. The one you said could kill the immortal," she said, holding Blaise's glare. His eyes flickered red again.
Snape looked at her skeptically. "Wait after class."
Harry and Ron were looking at her with their mouths slightly open. The bell rang and they stopped at the door.
"Go ahead. I'll see you guys later," she told them firmly. Ron was about to object when Harry grabbed his arm, nodded his consent to Hermione and dragged him away.
"Miss Granger?" Snape said bitterly.
"Yes, Professor. I was just wondering the name of that potion."
"Why?" he snapped at her.
"No particular reason," she lied quickly. "It just interested me and I wanted to read about it."
Snape eyed her carefully again, and then spoke. "It's called the Pelari Potion."
"And one more thing sir?"
"What?"
"Could this potion be powerful enough to…to kill Voldemort?" she muttered.
"Never repeat that name again Granger!" he screamed at her. Hermione looked at him, frightened, and dashed out of the room. She made her way to the Great Hall, and sank down between Harry and Neville. Ron was opposite them.
"What was that about?" Harry asked as she scooped some potatoes onto her plate.
"Nothing Harry. I have to get to my common room early tonight. I have some extra reading to do."
"About that potion Snape was talking about?" Ron said.
"No, for Astronomy. I haven't finished the essay yet. I only have four rolls."
"The assignment was for one and a half rolls Hermione," Harry said impatiently.
"Yeah, well, I did more. You should be used to that by now…" Hermione said, standing up. "I'll see you tomorrow…Bye!"
"I'll never understand her…" Ron said shaking his head as she left the hall.
"No one ever will Ron. I'll bet she won't even marry," Harry said jokingly, piling ice cream on his plate.
Hermione dashed out the Hall and ran up to the library. She had twenty minutes before she had to meet Blaise and she wanted to know something about that potion. She reached the potions section in the furthest corner of the library and much to her dismay, Malfoy was in the aisle.
"Well, well. If it isn't my favorite ferret…" she smiled sweetly.
"Mudblood," he nodded at her formally. "What are you doing here? I thought that you were supposed to shag Potty tonight."
"Ha. Really mature Malfoy. I have just as much right to be here as you," she said, trying to walk past him.
"No, you don't," he hissed, blocking her way.
"Move Malfoy or I'll move you!"
"Is that a threat?"
"Maybe…"
Hermione dodged Draco's outstretched arm, grabbed the book she needed and turned to leave.
"Oh and by the way…since you're so interested in who I shag, Harry's tomorrow. It's Ron tonight…" she giggled as she walked past Draco, whose mouth was now hanging open.
The sounds of her footsteps echoed in the empty corridors as Hermione walked to her common room, flipping the pages of the enormous book.
"Page 1203…1204…1205…Pelari, Pelari…" she was muttering to herself as the portrait swung open. She suddenly looked up and remembered the book Blaise had been reading the night before. She quickly scrambled over to the couch and found the book on the floor. She muttered a simple spell under her breath and the book turned to the page it was last opened to.
"'The Pelari Potion…'" she read aloud. Hermione looked at the book she had in her hands and turned to the index. "Pelari Potion on page…1221…yes!" She quickly flipped to the page and began to read:
The Pelari Potion was first created by the wizard Donovan Pelari, the greatest wizard of the time, in late 693 B.C. in order to defeat the Dark Lord Kistransa. The Lord claimed to be immortal, and Pelari spent most of his twenties through early forties coming up with the acclaimed liquid to do away with him. The mixture is one of the most complicated potions ever invented and takes about three months to make, and another month for it to take full affect (death) on its drinker. This potion can kill non- immortals as well, but it will not only kill, but also destroy the bodies. It is meant specifically for immortals. The first of characteristics that can be noticed when the immortal is going to die is hair loss, followed by quick tooth decay and then the skin begins to shrivel on the bone, until eventually the person(s) deteriorate. It is extremely powerful potion, and unknown to many. The ingredients and procedures follow…
Hermione slid the book onto the table and read some of the ingredients. "Powered wing of thestral…phoenix tears…blood of a vampire…shredded hippogriff talons…this is the most complicated potion I have ever heard of…"
"Yes…note what the book said Granger," came a voice from behind her. Hermione squealed and dropped the book. She stood up quickly and turned around.
"Good lord Zabini…What the hell are you up to, sneaking up on me like that?" Hermione snapped, clutching her chest.
"I'm not up to anything. But I brought a few friends I think could help us," Blaise said, cocking his brow.
"You do that so much…" she muttered.
"Do what?"
"That thing with your eyebrow…"
"You have a problem with it?"
"No, I was just stating that you do it a lot. And that's not the point. Who did you bring with you?"
"About time you asked. Come in," he called to the outside of the portrait. In climbed in Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Freddie Colesone and Juliette Mirtasa.
"You brought a pack of Slytherins with you. How could that possibly help?" Hermione asked bitterly.
"Tut, tut Granger. What a harsh attitude. We're not here because we want to be helping you and Zabini…we're here because we don't want the Dark Lord in our lives anymore. He's ruined any chance of us leading normal lives. And our parents have gone completely insane. We can't take it any more, and if we find out you have told anyone about what I just said…you'll regret it Mudblood!" Pansy spoke with a sweetly sick tone.
Hermione then realized that she was completely outnumbered by all the Slytherins and that she had better cooperate with them. She did not want to risk anything. She nodded silently and sat back down on the couch. She noticed that Pansy had referred to Blaise by his last name and noted that he must not be on good terms with them. Hermione then noticed that Draco was giving her an odd look and she eyed him questioningly. He quickly looked away.
"You wont be calling her that while you are in this room Parkinson," Blaise's voice rang heatedly through the room and Pansy shrunk back a bit.
"Gone soft Zabini? Living with Granger gone to your head?" Freddie hissed.
"Never. She is a better witch than almost everyone in this room, if anything, you all are lesser than her. I don't want your stupid discrimination going on in this room, or while I'm around. Discriminating against her is exactly something Voldemort would do. Stupid half-blood," Blaise snapped.
Everyone, including Hermione, raised their eyebrows at Blaise's last comment. Hermione moved to Blaise's side, stood on her tiptoes and whispered, "Thank you," in his ears. His eyes flashed at the comment but said nothing. He nodded at her and motioned for all of them to sit down.
"Now you all know why you're here. It's because you are the select few who know about the Pelari Potion, and are probably the only students in the entire school who can help me make it properly. We have only a few months to do this right. It must remain a complete secret. No one, I repeat no one can know about what goes on in this room. We will meet three times a week and work on it, and the other nights Granger and I will work on it. Did you get the fang Draco?" Blaise added as an afterthought.
"He is my godfather…I just told him I lost the other one he gave me. Gullible git…" Draco said, standing up. He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a fang…a vampire fang.
"Where did you get that?" Hermione asked quietly, looking at him.
"Snape," Draco replied simply.
"So he is a vampire!" Hermione said. "I knew it!"
Draco raised his eyebrows. "You knew?"
"Well…yeah. I mean he had all the symptoms. Pale skin, long black hair, never goes out into daylight, and I always thought there was something funny about his eyes…" Hermione explained softly.
"We aren't going to hurt you Granger. You don't have to act so scared," Draco said, sitting down. A light pink color rose in Hermione's cheeks and she looked away, his comment surprising her.
Blaise took the fang and put it on the table. He quickly accio'd the things they needed and put the cauldron onto the table. He picked up the fang and held it above the pot.
"Vampire fangs…one of the most brittle things on the face of this earth…" Blaise chuckled softly to himself. He broke it in two and a dark green liquid poured out into the cauldron.
"The venom…" Hermione said, still softly.
"Good Granger…" Blaise said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. "Pass me the white bottle Parkinson."
Pansy handed him the bottle, glaring at him.
"Shredded hippogriff talons…" he said aloud and poured the contents of the bottle into the cauldron. The gunk inside sparked. "Okay, quickly hand me the unicorn blood…"
Juliette handed him a large silver container. He opened it quickly and dumped the creamy liquid into the cauldron and lit a fire underneath it. They all waited silently around it for ten minutes. Then, slowly, a soft blue light began to appear from inside the cauldron. Blaise smirked triumphantly. Okay now we have to add one of the three Billywig stingers we need…So Granger you do that, and Draco you say the incantation. We have to wait five minutes though."
"Erm…Blaise?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Blaise?" Blaise looked at her, surprised that she said his first name.
"Yes," she said with a little more confidence, but not making eye contact.
"What?"
"Well, since we are going to be working together a lot for awhile, would you mind just calling me Hermione. I mean, I'll understand if you don't want to but"
"I'll call you Hermione," he said softly to her. She looked up into his eyes and smiled quickly. She picked up a stinger and held it above the blue glowing cauldron. Draco began to read:
"Het vergift van een vampier nam met de onschuld van een eenhoorn deel en stak, begint de dood van de onsterfelijke ziel," he said loudly, looking straight into Hermione's eyes, hers locking with his as she dropped the stinger into the mixture.
"The venom of a vampire joined with the innocence of a unicorn and stung, begin the death of the immortal soul…"
It's Dutch. I'm not sure if I got it right, I used one of the online translators so forgive me please
Blood57: I'm glad I haven't lost a reader! LOL…I hope you like this chapter
Jemma452: Yeah, I definitely wanted to put in some comedy in. I don't want it to be too serious. I hope you like this stuff in this chap
FarDeep: Thanks! I really appreciate your compliment. Sometimes I re-write certain parts over and read them to my best friend (fireflydiamond she's amazing…shes on this site too) and get her opinion. It helps
LadySerpent: I hope you do enjoy finishing it! Thanks