Harry Potter is not mine, and I'm not making any money from this.
This chapter is a bit different and shouldn't be taken super seriously. I hope you enjoy it. Please lemme know.
"Alright. You're acting weird and we want to get to the bottom of it." The two boys stood shoulder to shoulder to the third, who was seated and looking up at them, a bit confused. His hair was a bit ruffled and his uniform askew from being manhandled the way that he had been. The standing boys had grabbed the third and forced him into this room, and into that chair.
The seated boy leaned around the boys, looking at the door, as if he could make a break for it. "I have to tell her I love her." He said, he gnawed on his lip in anticipation. "I have to kiss her and tell her." He tried to lunge but the two boys caught him by the arms and forced him back into the chair.
With a brandish of a wand, ropes fastened the lovesick boy to the chair. "Go get Fred." One said to the other.
Three hours earlier...
The Gryffindor Common room was rife with excitement over the Quidditch victory over Hufflepuff. That put Gryffindor against Ravenclaw for the Quidditch Cup for the end of the year. Hermione was amidst the celebrating, but her heart was being called away to the Library, to research some spells Snape had given her to work on for the Dueling Club. She was about to slip out when she heard a loud pop.
Fred and George Weasley had just uncorked some sort of bottle that was now foaming over and dripping onto the carpet. Hermione made a face at the mess. The two boys poured out the champagne into glasses and handed them out to everyone who wanted one. George crammed his bony hips next to hers in the arm chair and wrapped an arm around her. "You should try this! It takes like candy!" He nudged a glass of the bubbling drink towards her and Hermione shook her head.
"No thank you. I was about to head to the Library actually," She started to scoot up to stand, but he tightened his arm around her.
"My dear girl you work too hard. Anyone tell you that? I'm not asking you to marry the thing, just drink it." She glared at him and mentally thought up her argument. The Weasley twins were damn stubborn and manipulative. She'd have to think quick to be able to get him to leave-
He tipped the glass against her lips the moment she opened her mouth to present her argument. The liquid was chilled and bubbly like it looked. And it did taste of candy, of light peppermint and chocolate despite it's pale colour. She swallowed the drink and pulled away from him. "George Weasley you are the rudest boy in this room and should be ashamed!" The drink settled warmly into her stomach and as her heart beat she felt a tingling sensation travel from her stomach to the outer reaches of her fingers. Her vision swam. She narrowed her eyes at George, who embodied innocence.
"What did you make me drink?" She asked him.
"Something Fred and I cooked up. We haven't named it yet."
Knowing all about their prank items, Hermine glared at him, "what does it do?"
George once again was the picture of innocence. "We'll find out." George gestured at the room around them; at everyone drinking. Hermione noticed Lavender Brown and Ronald Weasley talking with drinks in their hands. Harry and Neville were talking to Padma and Ginny Weasley. Hermione glanced around and noticed everyone had paired off into conversations with the opposite gender. Fred was talking to a girl in his year as well. Then there, of course, was George and herself talking.
Hermione struggled up to her feet and grabbed her bag quickly. "I will not be some test subject of yours, George Weasley!" She glared at him, and he simply smiled back at her. She turned and stomped out of the common room.
In the Library, she put herself as far from anyone as she could get and systematically set up her study station. She had just cracked open a voluminous work of defensive spells when another wave assaulted her system. Her vision swam and she pitched forward. She managed to catch her self on the desk with her hands. The Infirmary. She pushed herself up and stumbled.
She imagined cracking her head against the corner of the table and dying before anyone found her. A strong masculine musk overtook her as she fell and then she was softly in the arms of the source of the smell. She looked up to see the always lovely eyes of Draco Malfoy.
"Hermione what has gotten into you? I've never seen you so clumsy before." He righted her up, but all Hermione could focus on was the movement of his lips.
"Fred and George." She waved her hand dismissively. "Gave all the Gryffindor's some new experimental thing. I'm not sure what and neither do they. I don't feel that weird. But maybe I should go to the Infirmary?" She asked him. He nodded slowly and started to pack up her books. She stood with her hand on the back of the chair and watched him, a soft smile on her face. He was so thoughtful and helpful.
"Thank you, Draco," she said her voice was laden with emotion. He paused for a moment and then resumed his work.
"It's no big deal, silly. I pack up your back all the time." She wrapped her arms around his back in a hug.
"No, it's more then that. You're always taking care of me. Like when I forget to eat, and all." She drew his smell deeply into her lungs. His cologne had never really been something she noticed before, but it was so...perfect now.
"I do it because I care about you." He responded. He hoisted her bag onto his arm and turned. He wrapped his arm around her in a hug and kissed her cheek. "Now stop being weird and come with me." She giggled and the two left the library.
Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor Common room...
The fourth years and above were having a pretty good time themselves. Lavender and Ron were snogging in the corner. Fred had a girl sitting on his lap holding hands and smiling at each other. Neville and Padma were thumbwrestling. Harry and Ginny were awkwardly sitting next to each other on the couch. George watched on with a half grin. Their little concoction was a love potion of sorts. Only it didn't create emotion. It added on what was already there, and brought it to the surface. Lavender wouldn't have been all over Ron if she hadn't already liked him before hand.
In the back of George's mind, he was curious about what Hermione was getting up to.
"Hermione for the Love of all-" He pulled back a little from her face and tried to put some distance between them. He backed up and she followed, her lips trying to capture his. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Hermione Jean Granger!" He tried to get through to her.
"Draco just hush and kiss me. I want to kiss you so bad." She pushed his hands off her shoulders and kissed him fiercely. She wrapped her arms around him. He allowed for a moment, but his pants were getting tight and this wasn't something he wanted her to...notice.
He tried to put room between them but his back hit the wall. "Hermione." He turned his face to the side. "Dammit stop! I'll call for a teacher or something!"
A few more people were making out in the common room now, and George looked on with a grin. Fred and Alicia had their foreheads together and were talking sweetly. George shoved a cork into the bottle, it only had a little bit left in it. He figured he should locate Hermione and give her the nulling agent. He put the bottle of the 'cure' into his bag as well as the almost empty one and left the room. He didn't notice but Ron broke off from Lavender and walked after him.
"..for a teacher or something!" There were signs of distress in the voice of the person down the corridor and George quickened his pace. When he rounded the corner, he saw Hermione and Draco. Draco was pinned against the wall trying to get away from Hermione who was trying to suck Draco's face. George couldn't stop and laugh, and instead took out the nulling agent from his bag and opened it. He left his bag on the ground and popped the green potion into Hermione's puckered lips. She drank once and then suddenly jerked backwards. The agent was meant to work quickly. She wiped her lips and blushed beet red. Draco was panting, his eyes wide.
"Dammit George,"Hermione hissed. "Draco, I'm sorry." She turned and fled towards the Gryffindor Common room. She bumped shoulders with Ron, who was standing just outside the portrait.
"Hermione?" He asked, his voice light. Hermoine lifted her eyebrow at him. Since their successful partnership in Professor Slughorn's class, they had been regular potion partners. They didn't do much talking to each other outside of class, but Ron was never rude anymore.
"Yes Ronald?" She asked. She didn't mean to be rude, but she was insanely embarrassed and wanted to bury herself in her covers and try to pretend it didn't happen. Ron took a ginger step towards her. He was close enough to touch her now. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She watched him do it with wild eyes. "Ronald?"
He dove in for a kiss, his hands softly held onto her face. The kiss was so soft and careful it made Hermione's heart putter. She jerked back when she remembered who was kissing her. "Ronald how dare you, I am with Draco." He frowned at this and shook his head, as if that didn't matter.
"You have any idea how long I've wanted to do that, Hermione?" He smiled lazily and pulled her into a kiss again. She took hold of his hands and pushed him while she stepped back. She felt what it was like to be in Draco's position.
"This is that stuff that George and Fred gave you, Ronald. It's not real," she pleaded with him. "George is just back that way with a cure for it." She took another step back. Ron shook his head.
"No. No it's not. It is real. I know." He tried to dive in for a kiss again but Hermione dodged out of his way quickly and took of down the hallway. She skidded to a stop when she saw Draco and George and breathed a sigh of relief. "George! Give him the nulling agent!" She barked, gesturing behind her. Ron had just rounded the bend. Draco's expression morphed into extreme annoyance and George and Draco advanced on Ron. They grabbed him about the shoulders and pinned him against the wall. Ron was struggling feebly, his eyes on Hermione. His face was set in concentration.
"Give him the agent," George said to Hermione, "it's in my pocket." Hermione made an uncomfortable face as she had to reach into George's pocket and pull out the small bottle. She unstoppered it and raised it to Ron's face. He looked innocent as she neared and suddenly he lurched forward and smacked his lips into Hermione's. She dropped the bottle and it exploded across the floor. Draco growled angrily and the two of them drug Ron down the hallway into a random room.
Now...
"You don't love Hermione." Draco ground out, his hands curled into fists. Ron struggled in the chair and glared at Draco.
"Yes. I do," Ron retorted. "I've loved her since I first saw her. Her big bushy hair, her brown eyes. When she stepped up to defend your ass while we were waiting t be sorted. But she picked you! A filthy Malfoy!" Ron tried to struggle out of his bonds again for a few seconds and let out a grunt of outrage. "Watching her, all these years, be friends with you. Laughing at you, sitting at Ravenclaw table, always being your partner in class." Ron looked absolutely disgusted. "So I was mean to her. Mean to you. I tried to forget about her, she clearly had terrible taste in friends, and in guys." Draco's fists were clenched at his sides and it took everything not to hit him.
"But she's so bloody perfect. After I'd been a bully to her all these years, she still forgave me. And now we're bloody partners, and I can't hardly stand it. Sitting so close to her, but I can't...I can't tell her." Tears actually pricked the red head's eyes. Draco scowled deeply. This was the most ridiculous and offensive thing he had ever heard.
George returned with Fred, who looked a bit disheveled himself. Fred uncorked a small vial and tipped it into Ron's mouth.
"What has he said?" George asked Draco, who couldn't hide his look of hatred.
"I'm going to bed," Draco replied without a word and stormed out. George let up the ropes on Ron and the brothers returned to the Gryffindor common room, Ron's face the reddest shade it had ever been.
The professor's sat as they always did, watching the students. Breakfast had been served ten minutes ago, so the majority of the students were well into eating so there was a natural silence that fell over the room. But as the minutes ticked by, they noticed something a bit strange.
The volume of conversation filled most of the House table's, except for the Gryffindor table. It looked as if every fourth year and up sat deathly quiet, barely picking at their food.
McGonagall raised a faint eyebrow at this, her lips pressed into a line so thin they seemed to disappear. She caught George Weasley's eye and the boy winked at her.
She'd get to the bottom of this.
Well this chapter was set to be released on Valentine's day...and here it is a month later. My excuse is some personal reasons, and I also burned the ever loving crap out of my hand. I still don't have full mobility, but I can at least use my fingers to type now. I love you all, review and let me know what you think!