Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.
It's for the Best
Chapter 8 - Who's the Culprit
Hermione Granger was the brightest witch of her age for a reason. She studied hard for her classes and paid attention to her surroundings, and she knew what she had seen happen. People's demeanors don't change that fast without outside influence, and based off of Harry's change immediately following his drink of tea coupled with his confession from earlier, there was only one explanation that fit the facts. The only trouble was that she couldn't believe it.
That's why she found herself alone in the room she was sharing with that…girl. Hermione didn't want to believe that her best female friend had done what she suspected, and was now with Harry…the brunette winced at the thought of what those two were up to.
Hermione had a furious look on her face as she pulled out certain potion ingredients from her trunk and expertly mixed them into a glass. She wished she were of age and could just perform the spell, but this method would have to do. She carefully stirred it clockwise five times, and then counter-clockwise twice. The liquid was now light pink. She used an eye dropper to get some to add to Harry's tea. If she was wrong, the contents of the blue cup Harry had left behind when he went off with Ginny would turn red when she added a few drops to it. If she was correct, it would turn blue, and Hermione was going to study the cruciatus curse using the youngest Weasley as a test subject. `No,' she thought. `Not nearly creative enough. Besides, that would put me in Azkaban. I'll have to restrict myself to legal methods of punishment.'
With a slightly trembling hand, Hermione Jean Granger held the dropper in front of her eyes. Theoretically, the results of this test could destroy her closest friendships. She took a deep breath and poured a few drops into the cup of tea. The liquid began bubbling as the color raced around the spectrum until ten seconds later it settled on light blue.
-
"Oh, Ginny," muttered Harry as he kissed her neck. "You are so beautiful."
"Shut up and snog me more!" she answered as she moved his face so their lips were meeting again." She moaned into his mouth as she closed her eyes once more until a loud noise interrupted them.
Hermione slammed the door to the broom shed open to find her best friend being used by this…this. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HARRY, YOU SLAG!!!!"
"What?" said Ginny, shocked that Hermione would say that about her.
"Hermione!" shouted Harry angrily as he stood up, walking toward her. "How can you say that about Ginny?"
"I thought you might like Harry, but I never expected you to resort to name-calling!" yelled Ginny as she walked up beside Harry and took his hand.
Hermione slapped Ginny across the face. "Get your filthy hands off him, NOW!"
Harry let go of Ginny and grabbed both of Hermione's wrists, holding her still but not hurting her and got in between the two girls so Ginny couldn't hit Hermione. "What has gotten into you Hermione?"
"It's more about what's gotten into you, Harry! That…that…scarlet woman gave you a love potion!"
"I DID NOT!"
"I just tested the bloody tea you gave him, you traitor!" She pulled against Harry's hands in an attempt to hit Ginny again.
"You liar!" Ginny shouted right next to Harry's ear as she tried to get past him. "You're just lucky I left my wand in my room!"
"A love potion?" questioned Harry with a pale expression on his face.
"That explains why your feelings change when you leave here and that wench isn't able to…"
"I DID NOT!!!! HARRY, HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT HUSSY?" Tears were actually starting to form in Ginny's eyes. "I'd never do that to you, I swear!" She sniffed. "I owe you my life. I…"
"I'd think you'd remember that while you're brewing your potions!"
"I didn't…"
"Does that mean you bought them?"
Harry had been silent during this argument as anger grew inside him about the idea that he'd been slipped a love potion. He turned to Ginny with a look of contempt, but spoke calmly. "If Hermione says my tea had a love potion in it, then my tea had a love potion in it. You gave it to me. I never thought you'd do something like that to me." He backed away from the now crying girl.
"I don't know what happened, but I swear I didn't! Daddy gave me the cups and told me to give you the blue one, but he would never! He can't have!"
"Now you're accusing your own father?" sneered Hermione. "Anything to keep Harry!"
"NO!" stated a no-longer-crying Ginny whose face was now red with anger. "Why would I want to keep Harry? He's boring! But I did not slip anybody a love potion! I certainly don't need to, unlike some `plain but ambitious girls' I know!" She got around Harry who was apparently in shock and slapped Hermione, who punched Ginny in response.
"GIRLS!!!" shouted Harry as he forced his way between them again.
"There you three are," came Arthur Weasley's jovial voice from the open doorway. "I expected to just find Harry and Ginny in here," he added with a wink. He was carrying a tray with three cups on it.
"Er, hi Mr. Weasley," said Hermione timidly as the three teenagers tried to calm down.
"I hope your argument is settled," he said. "I heard yelling from ten feet away."
"Y-yes daddy."
"Good. Your mother sent me out here to give you some lemonade." He held the tray with his left hand as he took each cup and handed it to each of them in turn.
"Thanks, daddy."
"You're welcome. I'll be on my way now. Drink up." He turned around and walked off.
"Don't drink this!" hissed Hermione. "I want to test it."
"You really think my dad…"
"I don't know, Ginny, but I think we should test it," interrupted Harry.
"Fine, but I don't like it."
The three of them walked back to the house without taking a sip of their drinks and went into Ginny's room without a word.
"I'll test my drink first," declared Hermione as she got more potion in her dropper. "If it turns red, there's no love potion, but if it turns blue, there is."
She put a few drops in her lemonade, and ten seconds later it was red. "I told you Daddy wouldn't…"
"Now we'll test Harry's," Hermione interrupted as she glared at the redhead.
When it turned blue, Ginny's eyes widened. "What?"
"I guess he's in on it with you," said Hermione coldly.
"Let's test hers," said Harry.
All three of them were in shock as they stared at the light blue liquid in Ginny's cup for about two minutes.
"Ginny, I…"
"Hermione, I…"
"I guess you both owe each other an apology," said Harry with a grin that faded within seconds. "But why is he doing it? If neither of us…I guess…fancies each other."
"Daddy would never do that! There has to be some other explanation!"
"Then who? Someone else in your family spiked the drinks and gave them to your dad?"
"I don't know," admitted Ginny. "But I do know I'm thirsty. I guess I'll have to get my own drinks now. I guess I'll wash this out in the loo and get some water."
"I'll give you some of my lemonade," said Hermione.
"Thanks, but I don't want red lemonade."
"It should clear up in about a minute and be fine to drink. But yours and Harry's are a different story. Clean out your glasses and we'll split mine."
True to Hermione's word, by the time Harry and Ginny had washed out their cups, Hermione's looked like ordinary lemonade, so she poured some in each cup.
"So what do we do, now?" asked Harry.
"I suggest we pretend we don't know what's going on and keep our eyes open," said Hermione. "You two pretend you're still together."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other nervously. "Er, I don't know if we should or can. I…"
"I know how you feel," muttered Ginny shyly. "It's like we've been…"
"Used."
"Violated! I can't believe we were…"
"Snogging. I know. It's like I was kissing my sister."
"I know! It's just…gross. I…"
Harry took a deep breath. "Can we try to put this behind us and forget about it? Neither one of us was at fault."
"We can try, but when I look at you I…" She shuttered. "I'm sorry, Harry. I mean, I suppose you are attractive, and nice, and I used to have that crush - a long time ago - but I'm over it and you are definitely not my type anymore."
"I don't think you're helping Harry's self-esteem," interjected Hermione.
"Yeah, well I never fancied you," replied Harry, ignoring Hermione's comment as he began to get angry.
"I was a stupid little girl when I…"
"Harry! Ginny! Stop it! You're both angry but hurting each other won't solve anything! It looks like both of you are victims. The question is who's doing this and why."
"Maybe Mr. Weasley thinks that if his daughter got together with the Boy-Who-Lived…"
"Dad would NEVER do that, Potter!"
"Oh, your mum then…"
At that moment, Ginny slapped Harry hard. "You're just assuming that it has to be my family doing this!"
"Who else could it be? This is your house!" yelled Harry.
"Quiet!" hissed Hermione. "Before you two kill each other, we should actually get proof of who is feeding you both love potion. Then maybe we'll know what to do."
Harry looked at Hermione. "So what's your plan? We check every drink we get?"
"And watch them prepared. I think your dad's cloak would be quite useful."
-
The next morning, Molly was cooking breakfast when Arthur walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Dear."
"Good morning."
"I can see you've breakfast almost ready. I'll set the table and get everybody's drink."
"Thank you, Arthur."
Ginny was under an invisibility cloak with Harry and Hermione. She cringed when she realized what she'd have done under that cloak with Harry just the day before. They were standing very close together and bent over a bit so they could fit as they stayed perfectly still in a corner. They watched Arthur pouring the glasses of pumpkin juice. When she saw her own father add a few drops of something to one of the cups, her entire face turned Weasley red, and her temperament with it. She came out from under the cloak yelling.
"DADDY! HOW COULD YOU?" She walked straight up to the startled man and grabbed the dropper out of his hand, causing him to drop the glass in his other hand.
"What's going on here?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she turned off the stove, "and don't yell at your father."
"He was putting this in one of the drinks!" said Ginny.
"This was just a little joke from Fred and George. It would've changed Harry into a canary."
"We'll see about that!" Ginny was glaring at her father with more venom than ever before in her life. "Hermione?"
"Really, Arthur," said Molly, "You shouldn't be so childish. You're supposed to set a good…"
"It's love potion," declared Hermione, showing her test results.
Harry pulled his cloak off, revealing both occupants. The bushy-haired teenage girl walked up to Ginny and took the dropper.
"What?" asked Molly as her eyes bulged out. "Arthur, why were you giving…"
"This isn't the first dose he's given me," said Harry. "I should say, both me and Ginny."
"We discovered it yesterday," said Hermione, "which is why we were spying."
"Arthur?" the Weasley matriarch said as she put her hands on her hips and glared at her husband. "Why are you giving those kids love potions? Harry? Our own Ginny? How could you? Where did you even get them?"
"I," Arthur got a glazed look in his eyes. "I…" He put his hands on his head and shut his eyes tightly, indicating a headache. "I don't…remember." He fell to the floor.
Molly's mood changed immediately as she realized, "He's been bewitched! Probably the Imperius curse." She pulled out her wand and performed a spell before smiling softly. "He's alright. He only fainted from the strain of fighting it off, but from what he said, the memory of who did it or why may have been obliviated."
"Do you think this might one of Voldemort's schemes?" asked Harry.
With her head down, Ginny admitted softly, "He's used me before."
"I don't know," said Molly. "Enervate." Arthur got up and Molly led him back to bed, telling him to take the day off and promising to let Dumbledore know about what happened after she floos his work.
Harry sighed. "I guess we won't find out what exactly happened anytime soon. We might as well serve up the breakfast Mrs. Weasley made."
Harry dished out the bacon and eggs and the girls put them on the table. Harry and Ginny ended up walking to the table to take their seats at the same moment. They both looked at each other, and the seats that were next to each other.
Hermione cleared her throat behind them. "How about if I sit between you two if things are a bit…uncomfortable."
Without a word, Harry and Ginny complied and sat down. An owl flew into the dining room through an open window. It landed in front of Hermione, who removed a copy of the Daily Prophet and gave the owl a coin. She unrolled it and dropped it on the table a few seconds later as she gasped.
"What happened?" asked Harry, picking up her newspaper.
"Harry Potter's Home Destroyed - His Remaining Family Missing
By Anna Jesse
Less than two weeks ago, Harry Potter's boyhood home with his muggle relatives was attacked, and his uncle was killed. Mr. Potter and Ministry Aurors stopped those Death Eaters.
Yesterday, that same home was attacked again, but this time the house wasn't left standing. It was burned to the ground and the Dark Mark was over the house. A reliable source confirmed that Mr. Potter had left the house after the first attack to stay at an undisclosed safe house, but his remaining relatives - Mr. Potter's aunt and cousin - were left there. However, no one was found in the wreckage - dead or alive. It has been speculated that You-Know-Who has captured them…"
"Well," said Harry, "I'm glad I got them out of there. Obviously Dumbledore didn't protect them."
At that moment, Dobby popped into the house and bowed low.
"Master…Dobby means, Harry Potter sir, I went to your family's house to get the mail for your Petuny when Dobby sees that the house is being…"
"We just found out Dobby, but thanks for coming to tell me."
At that moment, Ron walked into the room with a smile on his face. "I smell breakfast. He looked at the other teenagers. "Harry, why aren't you sitting next to Ginny? What's going on?"
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