'Maybe we don't know Hermione as well as we think we do.'
'I won't accept it!' Ron protested hands down. 'It's not right. We've got to stop it!'
'You only want to stop it so you can be with her!'
~ Chaos and Mayhem! ~
After Lucius' impromptu visit to the Great Hall, Hermione was taken away by Hagrid to Professor McGonagall's office. Harry on other hand, feeling humiliated, anguished, guilt-ridden and angry all at once, made a speedy exit to his dormitory room, avoiding anyone who came in his path. However, he could not avoid Ron, who eventually cornered him.
'Harry, what is going on?' Ron exclaimed desperately, slamming the door shut. `Why is Hermione acting like such a git?'
Harry sat on his bed, his head weighed in his palms. The storm continued to rage outside; the wind howled, and buckets of wind-swept rain slapped relentlessly against their window.
'I don't know any more then you do, Ron,' said Harry palely, head down. Ron proceeded to express his outrage on the matter.
'This isn't normal behaviour! I mean, Hermione? In love with Malfoy?'
'I told you, I don't know!' said Harry, snapping his head up. 'Maybe we don't know Hermione as well as we think we do.'
'I won't accept it!' Ron protested hands down. 'It's not right. We've got to stop it!'
'You only want to stop it so you can be with her!'
'Harry, ENOUGH!'
Harry went quiet. Ron's entire head was turning a dangerous shade of scarlet.
'I have had it with you lot! One minute you're in love with Hermione, then she's in love with Malfoy, then she hates you, Malfoy loves her...do you know what this is doing to me? I'm beginning to fear for my mental health!'
There was so much on Harry's mind at this point that he too began to fear for his mental health. Prominent in his thoughts were Hermione's last words: 'I hate you, Harry Potter! I hate you!' He winced; they trampled his already injured heart.
'Harry?' said Ron more calmly. 'You all right?'
'Yeah,' said Harry unconvincingly, wiping his eyes.
It was around this time that Fred and George exploded into the room, without as much as a knock. Ron and Harry jumped in fright.
'Ron, brother!' said George, sounding very panicked and gripping Ron hard by the shoulders. 'Has she found you yet?'
'Who?' said Ron, totally bewildered. 'What are you two on about?'
'Ginny!' they affirmed.
'I haven't seen Ginny for ages, why?' he said, shoving George off him.
'Er...well, she's a little...'
'Mental!' Fred revealed.
'Insane!' bared George.
'Ludicrously insane!'
'Insanely insane!'
'Mad!'
'Completely...!'
'All right ALREADY!' Ron roared, at his wits' end.
'You don't understand, Ron! She - '
Speak of the devil, Ginny Weasley herself stood in the doorway. The discovery of her presence was accompanied by a flash and crack of lightning.
'Uh oh,' groaned Fred.
'Here we go,' lamented George, awaiting the worst.
`Ron!' said Ginny breathlessly. Sensing something very off, Ron took a step backwards.
'Er, Ginny? What's wrong? Why are Fred and - AAAHHH!'
Resembling what Hermione had done earlier to Harry in the Great Hall, Ginny sprang forward, flung herself onto Ron, and sent them both flying backwards on the floor.
'Oh, RON!' Ginny cried sorrowfully, sitting on top of him. 'I tried telling them I was adopted, by they wouldn't believe me!'
'What?' Ron spluttered, aghast. 'Adopted?'
'I understand it's a shock, but now you know! That's why I'm in love with you! Now we can be together! You don't have to be afraid!'
As Ginny leant in for a kiss, Ron clearly could not have been more afraid of anything in his life.
'AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!' he wailed, petrified, as she drew closer. 'GINNY, NO! YOU'RE MAD!'
George, going over to heave Ginny off her poor, defenseless brother, scoffed and uttered, 'what did we say?'
~ A Bit Of Aphrodite In Us All ~
Ginny had not been an easy problem to sustain. She blatantly, and quite violently, refused to be parted with Ron, and chased him maddeningly around the room, until Ron was driven completely insane with fear and had no choice but to hide and cower under his bed. During the mayhem, Fred popped out to pick up some `Sleep Easy-squeezy Slime' from his dormitory room.
`Our latest invention!' he said at the time, forcing a restrained Ginny to take a mouthful. `A potent cure for insomnia, and the occasional hangover. It's still in testing, but she should be sedated for a couple of hours or so before falling asleep.'
He proved right. Harry, Ron, Fred, George and Ginny were now in the common room, seated around the fireplace; Ginny, for her part, was curled up on the couch next to Harry, half-asleep.
`I don't understand,' said Ron, keeping a weary eye on Ginny. `She was cured of that love potion last week, right?'
`Re…cap…' Ginny purred distantly under her breath.
`What did she say?' said Ron, looking at Harry.
`Something about "recap", I think,' said Harry, unsure.
`What's "recap"?'
`She means relapse,' George cleared up.
`Potion relapse,' said Fred, to be exact.
`And what's that then?'
`Don't you ever pay attention in Potions class, Ron?' said Fred, almost sounding like Hermione. Ron snickered.
`Of course I bloody don't. And neither do you two!'
`Yeah, we know,' said George, waving his hand. `We found out about this relapse thing earlier when Ginny started hassling us for your whereabouts.'
`She said Hermione told her she had something called "potion recap". Of course, what she meant to say was potion relapse. Explain, George.'
`Don't mind if I do, Fred! Potion relapse is when a potion hasn't been properly cleansed from your body. Such a thing often occurs when treatment has been inconclusive.'
`Very intellectual, George!' praised Fred.
`Cheers, brother! Took all my brainpower that one did.'
`Let me get this straight,' said Ron, still confused. `Ginny has re-thingy meaning she still thinks she's in love with me? Is that what you're trying to say?'
`You're smarter then you look brother!' commended Fred, to which Ron frowned. `Potion relapse makes you loony basically.' He nodded at Ginny. `Makes you think up daft reasons for why you're suddenly infatuated with someone.'
`How do you guys know all this?' Ron asked, astounded. He wasn't used to the twins being so glaringly book-smart.
`Remember two days ago?' said George. `When Hermione came out from behind that statue of the Slytherin snake?
`Yeah…'
Harry's ears suddenly perked up.
`We found a way to get back there! Seems Professor Snape has built himself a state-of-the-art secret laboratory.'
`He should've known he can't keep anything secret from us!' said Fred proudly.
`Why would Hermione be in Snape's secret laboratory?' wondered Harry, breaking his silence. Fred shrugged.
`Dunno. But we found that potion book down there. The one the teachers have been looking for? A Wizards and Witches Guide to Love Made Easy. That's how we learnt about love potion relapse. Someone had taken notes and shoved them in the back. Here,' he said, and pulled out a folded bit of paper from his pocket.
`Can I see that?' Harry asked.
Fred passed the paper to Harry.
`What's Snape doing stealing a love potion book?' Ron questioned.
`Having problems with the ladies most likely,' resolved George. Ron rolled his eyes.
`Yeah, but still! I can't see Snape - '
`Of course!' Harry blurted out. Everyone turned to Harry in suspense.
`What is it, Harry?' said Ron.
Harry found himself thinking clearly for the first time in - well, what felt like ages. Finally, things were starting to make sense!
`Do you remember two days ago, when I met you all for breakfast and Malfoy came over to us?'
`Yes!' sniveled Ron, pouting. `He called my behind big! Lousy prat…'
`And do you remember what happened afterwards? Snape came over and Malfoy asked if he could get some help on an extra credit potions assignment?'
`So?'
`So, think about it!' Harry was standing now, pacing impressively up and down the fireplace. `If Ginny wasn't cured of the Aphora Bewitching Potion properly, then that means everyone else who took it wasn't either!'
`Of course!' said Fred, enlightened. `That means you…' he looked at Harry, `…and…'
`Malfoy!' Ron declared.
`Exactly!' said Harry. `Malfoy must still think he's in love with Hermione. Snape would've given Malfoy permission to use his laboratory, thinking he was working on some assignment...' Harry paused, processing his thoughts '...then, Malfoy must've some how lured Hermione down there, after she and I had been in the library. Just before she went away with you guys!' He gestured to Fred and George. 'So I didn't just imagine her yelling for help. That's why she was crying when we she came out from behind the snake statue...'
`So, then,' Ron went on, `Malfoy has done something to Hermione?' Harry nodded.
`This is Malfoy's handwriting,' he said, holding up the sheet of paper Fred had given him. `I can tell. I've received enough notes and drawings from Malfoy in class to know. He's used that book to put Hermione on the Aphora Bewitching Potion.'
`THAT GIT!' Ron yelled, outraged.
`By George, I think he's got it!' said Fred, bowing his head to Harry.
`Indeed!' applauded George. `Well done, Harry! Bloody brilliant!'
Unfortunately, this moment of triumph did not last long. Professor McGonagall had come in through the portrait hole, her countenance exceptionally grave.
`Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Please come with me, I need to speak with you at once.'
A/N: Released two chapters because I didn't have the heart to leave you with the 'I hate you Harry' ending :)
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