As he headed back down to the dungeons from the head dorms, Severus couldn't help but muse on how pleased the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, would be if he'd just seen what he'd seen in the head dorms. Not the drinking part of course, as he doubted the old wizard would have turned a blind eye to such blatant rule breaking. But he was pretty sure the headmaster would be thrilled to see such house unity, especially since it involved the two houses who had always struggled the most to get along.
Dumbledore had always claimed that house unity was his dream for Hogwarts, but it had seemed an impossibly dream until Voldemort had been killed while trying to restore his health. Before that, the very fact he was still out there and could one day come back, had cast a shadow, not just over the school, but the entire wizarding world. Those who had once been associated with him had been the most affected, and Severus knew from experience that any former Death Eater had watched themselves very carefully so that when Voldemort came back, he would have no excuse to accuse them of betrayal.
However, when Voldemort had fallen, people who had never even considered themselves trapped, had felt a fresh sense of freedom. Severus knew it was a feeling his oldest friend, Lucius Malfoy, had experienced as Lucius had confided in him that until Voldemort died it had ever occurred to him how pressured he felt to keep up appearances. But with Voldemort out of the picture, families like the Malfoys were free to carry on with their lives and live them however they saw fit.
It was that change of attitude that had made it possible for the Slytherins to finally fully interact with their fellow students and be accepted by the other houses. However, Severus knew the particular display of house unity he'd just witnessed had been a direct result of the relationship between the head students. No doubt if Draco and Hermione had never gotten together, there was no way the seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors would be hanging out together. But romance had blossomed between the pair, and with it the start of the house unity Dumbledore had long dreamed of.
Wondering how long it would take Dumbledore to claim credit for the entire thing, Severus popped the second chocolate in his mouth as he reached the dungeons. He could just imagine the old headmaster claiming that he'd deliberately placed Hermione and Draco as head students, as he foresaw a romance between them, and subsequently the changes it would be bring about in the school. However, Severus was confident that no-one had foreseen a romance between the head students, especially as Draco had confided in him that even he hadn't seen it coming. So if the romance had come as a shock to the head students, there was no way the headmaster could have predicted it. Although Severus knew that it wouldn't stop him from trying to take the credit.
Shaking his head to dispel thoughts of the headmaster, Severus headed into his office and placed the new patrol rota to one side to deliver to the Slytherin dorms the following day. Right now, even though it was a Friday evening, he had marking to do. In fact given the weekend fell over Valentine's Day, and no doubt the students would all be hyped up for the next few days, he fully intended to spend the weekend working. It was certainly better than dealing with hormonal teenagers.
Pouring himself a glass of firewhisky from his personal stash, he settled down to his marking. However, the thought of Valentine's Day seemed to have distracted him as within a couple of minutes of settling down, images of long red hair and pale skin began to dance through his head. He knew the images were of his old friend, Lily Evans, as while he hadn't been in love with her as some people speculated, he had once had a bit of a crush on her, and it had been known for him to fantasise about her. But usually he had full control of his fantasies, and while he was happy to indulge them occasionally, he didn't want to indulge while he was working so he tried his best to focus on the essay in front of him.
Annoyingly his mind had other ideas, and try as he might, Severus couldn't stop the images from dancing behind his eyes. Without intending it to happen, he was swamped with pictures of his old friend. Her long red hair, her flawless complexion, her shapely legs, her soft lips and expressive brown eyes.
Abruptly Severus dropped his quill with a frown. Lily's eyes had been green, not brown. And now he thought about it, the images in his head were not of Lily. The hair was redder, the skin slightly paler, and the lips much plumper. Suddenly as if a veil had been lifted in his mind the flashes of images all joined up and it was a teasing Ginny Weasley who danced provocatively through his mind.
"Bloody hell, there's something wrong with me," Severus spluttered, knocking back his firewhisky and pouring herself another hearty dose.
The logical side of Severus's mind was totally appalled by the images and thoughts that were assaulting his mind. Not only was Ginny a student, but she was a child. He'd never once fantasised about a student, and if he was going to do so, he would damn well pick a one that was an adult. Being a sixth year, Ginny was underage, and Severus was not the sort of wizard to fantasise about girls young enough to be his daughter.
However, another portion of his brain did not seem to be getting the message and thoughts of Ginny were filling his mind. He thought about the way she looked huddled over her cauldron in Potions lessons, he thought about the way she flew in the quidditch matches with such confidence, he thought about her laughing and joking with her friends in The Great Hall. But most of all he thought about her smiling face, looking at him with such affection.
Overcome with the urge to find her and confess his undying love, he mindlessly got to his feet. He was halfway out of his office when the logical side of his brain kicked in and he scurried back inside, slamming the door behind him. He couldn't just go up to Gryffindor Tower and declare his love for a student. He would lose his job. Hell, given she was underage, he would likely lose his liberty as well. And Severus had no intention to be locked up and thought of as a pervert. But he had to see Ginny, he had to share with her how she had stolen his heart. What he needed was to bring her to him.
With a devious smirk, he quickly jotted a note to the young Gryffindor, demanding she come down to his office. Luckily before he folded the note and magically sent it flying around the school to its intended recipient, his logical side kicked in again and he tore the message up before it could get him into serious trouble.
"What is wrong with me?" he gasped, all the time fighting the urge to declare his love for a girl that deep down he knew he felt nothing for. "This isn't me," he said out loud, repeating the words to try and make himself believe them. "Anyone would think I'd been drugged," he'd muttered.
No sooner had the words left his lips than Severus felt as though he'd been doused in cold water. For a precious moment his fixation on Ginny faded into the background as what remained of his logical mind kicked into action. He knew what he was feeling was wrong, it was an illusion. An illusion caused by something, or someone. But who and what? Who had been afforded the chance to drug him, and to what ends? Well aware that he needed to think quickly, before his overpowering fixation with Ginny asserted itself again, Severus cast his mind backwards, looking for something suspicious. And then it hit him. The chocolates he had taken in the head dorms. He was normal until then, and they were the only unknown substance to enter his system all day.
"I'll kill the lot of them," he stormed, flying out of his office and heading back towards the head dorms, trying his best to focus on his anger, lest his attraction to Ginny distract him and send him in an entirely different direction.
Unaware of what was heading their way, the boys were back enjoying their cards. Or rather they were until Theo began muttering to himself and stroking one of the cards in his hands.
"What are you doing, Theo?" Draco asked. "It's your turn."
"I can't think," Theo declared dreamily. "Not when I've had this reminder." Laying his hand down, his finger stroked the queen of hearts he'd been holding. "She's the queen of my heart."
"Who?" Harry asked in confusion. He knew Theo was single, and only last month he'd said that there wasn't a girl in Hogwarts who held his interest.
"Ginny," Theo breathed softly. "She's the most perfect girl in the world."
"She is so pretty," Vince said.
"And her hair is like fire," Greg added.
"A goddess," Blaise declared.
"There is no-one better," Seamus said.
"And such a damn good kisser," Dean added with a smirk. He was after all, the only one of the boys present who had dated Ginny, albeit very briefly.
"And she is so kind and easy to talk to," Neville said.
"And she flies like a dream," Ron remarked, his tone of voice and expression just as dreamy as the other boys.
"A beautiful soul," Draco said with reverence.
"Very funny guys," Harry snorted as he looked around the room at all the other, who were sitting with goofy smiles on their faces. He knew they were teasing him, but he just wasn't sure when they'd decided upon it as he hadn't left the room since he'd arrived. "Shall we get on?"
"How can we play cards when the love of my life doesn't know how I feel about her?" Theo demanded, surging to his feet.
"No, she's the love of my life," Blaise argued, also jumping up.
"As if she'd look at either of you two, when I'm here," Draco snorted derisively.
"None of you are having her," Ron declared. "She's mine."
"No, she's mine," Dean argued. "I can win her back over."
"Hey, you've had your chance, let someone else have a go," Seamus spat, pushing Dean in the shoulder.
"Enough," Harry called, getting the feeling that whatever was happening, it wasn't a joke aimed at him. "What the hell is going on with you lot? None of you are in love with Ginny."
"Are too," Greg pouted. "You can't tell us who we love."
"Yeah, we can love whoever we want," Vince added defiantly.
Shaking his head at the sheer madness of what he was hearing, he turned to Ron, who was sitting beside him and asked him how he felt about Ginny.
"She's the light in my life," Ron replied dreamily. "We're meant to be together, Harry."
"But she's your sister," Harry gently reminded his best friend, and for a moment he saw a flicker of horror cross over Ron's face, before it faded and Ron just shrugged.
"Who cares about that when we're soulmates," he announced loudly. "True love defies all the odds, Harry."
"The only true love here, is me and Ginny," Theo protested. "Our love is pure and real. I can't live without her."
As yet another argument got underway over who loved Ginny the most, Harry turned to the other side of him. At his other side sat Draco, and Harry quickly grabbed his attention and pulled him away from their bickering friends.
"There is something wrong here, Malfoy," he explained. "You don't love Ginny."
"But she is so pretty," Draco sighed.
"You love Hermione, don't you?" Harry prodded, determined to get through to someone.
"Oh yes, Hermione," Draco said a small smile flickering over his lips.
"You hold on to that thought," Harry ordered. "You hold onto thoughts of Hermione and tell me if you still love Ginny."
"No," Draco answered decisively before Harry spotted the determined look in his eyes slip away. "But Ginny, she's so lovely," he whispered, returning back to his dreamlike state. "I have to tell her."
"Oh no you don't," Harry cried, grabbing onto the blond as he turned to leave the head dorms. "You have to get past her other suitors first," he muttered, pushing the head boy back towards the bickering hoards.
Harry watched as Draco quickly got stuck into declaring his love for Ginny. As his friends continued to argue among themselves, Harry knew he needed help. Something peculiar was going on, and he didn't have a clue what it was. Keeping an eye on the others, to make sure none of them made a dash for the exit, Harry headed over to the bottom of the stairs and called up for Hermione.
"It's an emergency," he called when Hermione asked him what he wanted.
A couple of minutes later, Hermione emerged down the stairs, and Harry felt a surge of relief at the sight of his best friend. At least now he didn't have to deal with this madness on his own.
"What are they all bickering about?" Hermione asked with a frown, surprised to find everyone but Harry standing in the middle of the room arguing about something.
"Ginny," Harry answered. "Apparently they all love her."
"They what?" Hermione laughed. "Are you sure it's not a practical joke and they're not taking the mickey out of you? Earlier on, you were all joking about the crush she's got on you."
"I thought that at first," Harry admitted. "But I tried to speak to both Ron and Malfoy. Ron said they were soulmates, and true love defies all odds."
"Eew," Hermione muttered with a grimace. "And what did Draco say?"
"I did get him to focus for a minute, and I reminded him that he loved you. But it slipped away and then he was wanting to go and declare his love for Ginny," Harry said. "What is going on, Hermione?"
"I don't know," Hermione admitted with a sigh.
However, before she had a chance to get among the boys and try and make sense of the situation, there was a loud hammering on the door. Harry moved to answer the door, but he was almost pushed off his feet when the door opened and a furious Severus Snape swept into the room.
"Which one of you did it?" he demanded, his arrival stopping the arguing in its tracks. "Which one of you little shits poisoned me? Who the hell put a love potion in those sodding chocolates?"
With a gasp, Harry and Hermione looked at each other, and then to the half-eaten box of chocolates sitting on the table. Now things were starting to make sense. Now they were starting to see why everyone was acting so crazy. They were under the influence of a love potion.