A/N: Whoot!!!! Chapter five's out!!!! A wonderful thank you to all of my reviewers, and of course to my wonderful beta, Aniki the Infamous! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Yep, Rowling here, writing fanfiction to spend my time, sick with Swine Flu... Did you think that I was Rowling? (Don't own it)
Ginny gazed rather vacantly up at the two Slytherins, ignoring the book of love potions between her elbows. Both stared down at her calmly, and Zabini perched himself on the edge of the library table, looming over her sitting form. Parkinson simply stood in front of the table, hands folded in front of her and a very versatile face that gave the impression of a well-educated business woman.
"All we wish is to properly give Harry Potter something to distract him from torturing Slytherins. Because he is not as devoted to you as he should be, he needs other things to occupy his time, and resorts to petty insults. If you give him the love potion, which we have brewed for you, to him, he is sure to fall completely in love with you, as he should have before." Pansy refrained from bouncing on the balls of her feet, feeling in the back of her mind that really, bouncing in excitement wouldn't help the situation.
They were so close. Weasley had been hanging off Potter's shoulder for the past few days non-stop, so it wouldn't look at all suspicious for her to touch his chosen drink and secretly tap a miniscule bottle of love potion in. And the girl had even thought of the idea herself. She'd been researching love potions when Pansy and Blaise had discovered her research corner, so what should it matter if two Slytherins happened to be the one supplying her with the potion?
Weasley paused, shifting her gaze back and forth between the two Slytherins, business-like Pansy and casual out-of-it Blaise, before directing her gaze back down at her book. "I'm not sure if I should. I mean, what if you poisoned it or something, and this is some plot to get back at him for winning the war? Then I'd be responsible for his death. I mean, Harry once saved Ron from poisoning with a bezoar, but what's the chance someone always has one ready? Maybe Professor Snape, but I don't think so. It's too risky. No thank you."
Weasley gathered her books with one arm, grabbing her bag with the other and beginning to move around the table. Blaise quickly slid around the table out of her way, but Pansy dodged Blaise's knees and blocked the girl.
"But won't it also be just as risky if you make it yourself? You could easily mess up, and then Harry would have who-knows-what problems. I swear, Ginny, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Blaise and me's love potion. You don't even have to pay!"
Ginny straightened, glaring at Pansy as Blaise wandered behind her and watched.
"Are you saying that I don't have enough money to buy a love potion?" Ginny scowled and moved her gaze over to Blaise. "And you! Do something, and stop staring at me!" Blaise raised an aristocratic eyebrow and moved back over towards the table, out of Ginny's sight, and watched from that angle.
Pansy quickly backpedaled, even taking an extra step back and slouching to make Ginny appear to be taller, although in actuality Pansy still had an inch on her.
"That's nothing like what I meant. I wasn't even thinking about your family. I was just thinking about how everyone likes free stuff. Even I'm more inclined to get something if it's free or has little cost. And anyways, making a love potion is very time-consuming. You won't need to spend any time at all on this."
Pansy scrabbled in her pockets, glanced around, and pulled out the small vial of love potion prescribed for Potter, holding it up slightly for Ginny to see. Ginny gazed down at it forlornly, as though she could see all the time and money combined and crammed into the light pink liquid.
"See? Why won't you just take this? It's so much easier than making it yourself. And it's already keyed into you. Why not?" Pansy casually lowered her arm, signaling at Blaise from behind her. A quick jab at herself, and then in the direction of the library door.
Blaise rolled his eyes and grabbed Pansy's arm, pulling her towards him. "Let's not waste any more of our time, Pansy. She wants to make her own, she even knows that there's no possible way that Potter will truly care about her otherwise. We can key it into someone else."
Pansy jerked her arm from his, glaring at him and slipping the potion in her pocket. "Fine. Let's go." She picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder.
"Wait." The single word filled Pansy with satisfaction, and she paused, spinning around to face Ginny. A fake expression of shock bought the girl, and she looked down.
"Can I please have the love potion? I don't think I can make it myself." Ginny glanced up at Pansy and Blaise, quickly directing her gaze back at her knees.
Pansy grinned, pinching the bottle between her middle and forefinger, spinning it out and offering it to Ginny. "Just be sure to spike it during breakfast on a day without classes, just so that the two of you have plenty of alone time. Tomorrow's Saturday, that would be a good day."
Ginny nodded, taking the proffered bottle and slipping it in her pocket. "I need to go." She grabbed her bag and fled the library, not even taking a second to glance backward.
"So ungrateful," Pansy murmured to Blaise. "She doesn't even know that the love potion isn't for her, and we didn't get so much as a thank you."
Blaise nodded, staring after the girl thoughtfully. Neither noticed the flash of brown hair disappearing from behind a bookshelf and following Ginny's path out of the library.
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Elizabeth couldn't remember ever being so frustrated in her entire life. This was urgent, and Draco wasn't to be found anywhere. Honestly, students in Elizabeth's year, they were pretty easy to find. The common room, the library, class, or the dormitories. All of which Elizabeth had already check several times for the one and only Draco Malfoy. Who was never to be found anywhere. How in Merlin's name was Elizabeth supposed to report important events to him if he was never there?
It was exactly nine o'clock, right at curfew, when Elizabeth at last caught Draco entering the busy common room. She immediately latched onto his arm, and pulled him off to a corner of the room. Draco frowned down at her.
"Elizabeth, what are you doing?"
Elizabeth frantically shook her head. "I followed Blaise and Pansy. They made a love potion, and they gave it to Ginny Weasley for Harry Potter. They want him to fall in love with her so that he won't have enough time for bullying Slytherins. She's probably going to give it to him tomorrow morning at breakfast."
Draco's eyes widened immeasurably, and he suddenly towered over her. Elizabeth backed up a step. "Merlin, Elizabeth, you couldn't tell me this sooner? Like, before curfew? When I can leave the common room to take steps to prevent that? Why can't you—"
"I couldn't find you!" Elizabeth yelled over his rant. "I checked everywhere; you weren't there! You're never there when I need to find you, I know that's why we meet at certain specific times in corners, but with this I really needed to tell you immediately. Why aren't you somewhere sensible?"
Silence greeted her words, and Elizabeth followed Draco's gaze to the rest of the soundless common room. Surprised faces, older and younger than her, stared blankly up at her, and Elizabeth mentally recounted her words, and how they could be interpreted.
"I-We aren't-You know…" Elizabeth stuttered, and her face turned a bright shade of red.
Draco simply raised an eyebrow at the crowd. "Do you honestly think I'd date her?" He questioned the room. Some shrugged and went back to their various projects and conversations, while others smirked at Elizabeth and continued to watch the pair.
Draco rolled his eyes, turning back to scowl down at Elizabeth. "I'll see what I can do. Goodnight, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth could only watch as he climbed the boys' dormitory stairs, and with one last glance around the common room, she turned into the girls' dormitory.
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Draco shadowed himself in an alcove by the great hall's entrance, watching desperately for Granger, dark circles underneath his eyes. After Elizabeth's warning last night, he hadn't been able to sleep at all, turning and tossing in his bed all night and being unable to think of anything but the possible events of the next day. Through the long night, Draco gradually narrowed down all of his options, and left him with but two. One: Run and talk Harry out of it, and admit he'd been having him watched, or Two: Ask Granger to stop Weasley. As Draco didn't quite have a death wish yet, he'd chosen option two.
He waved his hand slightly when Granger came into view, right when her eyes appeared to perhaps be looking somewhere in his general direction. Granger's eyes widened when she saw him, and she quickly shooed Harry and Weasley in ahead of her and headed straight for him. It was quite odd; Draco'd expected her to avoid him, as she had no reason to want to talk to him besides to help Harry, and she didn't know about the love potion, or did she? Did the Weaselette tell her? She wasn't supporting it, was she?
"Draco! I'm so glad to see you alone; I needed to talk to you." Granger didn't even pause to let him speak before continuing. "Look, I think I figured out why you're so interested in Harry. You like him, right? Like in a like-like crush way. Right?"
Draco shrugged to himself. It couldn't hurt, could it? Perhaps it would even help Granger recognize the situation's urgency when he told her about the love potion in a second. He cautiously half-nodded and snapped open his mouth. "Granger, today-"
"I knew it! I was so stupid not to realize it before. Anyways, Harry doesn't like Ginny."
Any thoughts of the love potion disappeared from Draco's mind, and he blinked several times, furrowing his eyebrows and staring steadily into Granger's eyes. Wait… Harry liked the Weasley girl… didn't he? He broke up with her, yes, but the cause was never properly discovered, and anyway, he got back together with her only a few days later. And obviously he didn't like her quite enough to satisfy the Weasley girl, but Draco was pretty sure that Harry could be falling all over her and she'd still say he didn't like her enough…
It was possible.
"Pardon?" He asked, and Granger grinned a smile so large Draco was rather afraid he'd fall in.
"He doesn't like Ginny. At all, really. He's just dating her so he can keep being friends with Ron. You should ask him out, Draco! I honestly don't think he's totally straight, so he'll probably say yes, if not to just get Ginny off his back. He definitely doesn't love her in any form."
Draco was still in his post-apocalyptic daze. Harry didn't like the Weasley girl? And wasn't completely straight? And might actually go out with him? No… there had to be some kind of catch in this, some kind of thing that would make this all seem an insignificant thing in the face of it. "…doesn't love her in any form," Granger had just said, and for some reason it struck a chord in Draco's brain, and he strained to remember what ever detail had been overlooked.
Love… love… The love potion! Draco's eyes widened, and Granger inevitably noticed, her face taking on a less excited and more confused hue, her eyebrows knitting and her lips pursing slightly as the smile fell off. Draco abruptly reached forward and yanked Granger into the alcove with him, flattening her body against him.
"The love potion, Granger! You distracted me too much; I almost forgot!" Granger blinked a few times at him, tilting her head just the slightest degree.
"What love potion? Draco, what are you even talking about?"
Draco frantically checked his watch, biting his lip and finally locking his eyes up with Granger's. "That's what I needed to tell you, Granger! An informant of mine informed me yesterday, Ginny Weasley is going to spike Harry's breakfast today with a love potion Pansy and Blaise made for her!"
Granger frowned and squinted at him. "What?"
"Love potion. Weasley spiking Harry. Pansy and Blaise," Draco growled.
Granger's eyes drifted to the left side as she digested the information. "I though Ginny seemed a bit off today… Kind of a nervous kind of excited, really. I wondered what was wrong."
"Granger," Draco's eyes darkened imperceptibly, "She could be administering the potion right now. We have to get in there now, or she could hurt Harry."
Granger nodded briskly, squeezing out of the alcove and turning towards the doors. "How should we stop her?"
Draco sighed, stepping out of the niche and pausing for a second. "If he's about to drink it, we cause a big ruckus. If she's still in the process, you quietly tell her not to."
"How do we know if what Harry's drinking has been spiked yet?"
Draco shrugged and continued towards the doors. "We make an educated guess."
The scene that greeted them inside the double doors was abhorrently normal, compared to the events that Draco and Hermione were greeting. Ginny was staring, transfixed, at Harry as he put a forkful of scrambled eggs in his mouth, and lifted his glass of orange juice to his lips. He tipped the glass slightly, letting the last few mouthfuls of orange juice into his mouth, and Ginny leaned back slightly, a contented smile on her face as she offered him more juice.
Draco didn't even notice Granger shift beside him until she was a flurry in his vision, dashing forward towards Harry as Draco stared.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed, vivaciously attracting the attention of those who had not been watching the scene unfold before. "Don't drink more!"
Harry smiled at her amiably, a puzzled expression upon his face. His eyebrows suddenly furrowed, and his smile disappeared, replaced by a confused frown. Harry swayed a little in his seat, and Ron, whilst watching Hermione run forward, reached out an arm to steady him, questioning words unable for Draco to hear. Ginny leaned forward across the table, concern flittering across her face. Harry leaned back against Ron for a second, his eyes widening, before finally rocking forward and falling onto the empty space on the bench next to him and laying there silently.
At last, Draco shot forward, sprinting toward Harry's fallen body as Hermione reached him and began taking his pulse. The teachers and students stood up in a wave, and Madam Pomfrey hurried around the growing crowd around the Gryffindor table, clearing a space for herself next to Harry and retaking Hermione's pulse readings.
As Draco finally reached Harry and attempted to find a spot to stand, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini watched silently from across the hall, staring blankly as a moiety of the school gathered around the Gryffindors. As a frown gathered on the faces of all those around them, they both turned and cast an easily-read glare at the other.
This is all your fault.