Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did so I could have pulled Harry and Hermione together…
A/N: My response to the "Epiphany Potion" by Zeroth Child, it can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26688 . This is going to be another one shot, and I hope you'll enjoy it, if you read please let me know what you think of it. I think the title of the challenge is pretty self-explanatory of what the plot of the fic will be, so now let's get to it, uh?
A Potion, A Revelation
It was a bright, sunny day in the middle of May, and Hermione Granger felt quite happy. She always loved the good weather, although rain gave her an excuse to stay inside and read. Now, though, the air was warmer, so in such a day she could enjoy a read under her favourite tree by the lake.
First, though, she had to go through the Potions lesson, the last one of the day, and also of the week as it was a Friday.
On her sides stood her best friends, Ron Weasley on her left, Harry Potter on the right.
The three of them were making their way down to the dungeons, where Slughorn would probably try once more to get Harry join his Slug Club. The fame-struck professor had always claimed Harry's mother was part of that club herself so he should be too.
Hermione had gone to a couple of the meetings of the club, and had no trouble admitting it was awful, so she understood perfectly Harry's reluctance to join.
Her train of thought was however disrupted as Malfoy and his cronies started insulting Harry as their usual, once the trio had entered the classroom, where the Slytherins already were.
"Malfoy, if you could do your essays as well as you can insult others, you'd have already graduated" Hermione said, bored, while preparing her cauldron for the upcoming lesson. "But your grades seem to prove you can't, am I mistaken? So maybe you should shut up and focus on your work instead" she continued.
"Why, you little…" Malfoy growled, drawing his wand. He never finished what he was saying though.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'd advise you to put away your wand, we are going to brew potions here, not to attempt transfiguration" Slughorn said, entering the classroom from the door connecting it to his office, a steaming cauldron in his hands. He placed it in the middle of the room, and looked around to see if someone recognized the concoction in it.
He grinned as he saw a flicker of recognition passing over Hermione's face.
"Miss Granger, perhaps you can tell us what this is?" he asked her.
"Er…" she stammered. "I believe it to be an Epiphany Potion, Professor" she said.
"Very good. Very good indeed, few students in my many years of teaching have recognized it before I told them. Five points to Gryffindor" he said. "Of course, Mr. Potter, your mother was one of those" he added then, turning toward Harry who gave a small smile, and then groaned as soon as the older man resumed talking.
"I am sure Miss Granger could tell us what this potion does, how it is brewed and many other things on it, but it isn't actually difficult. Well, what it does, at least. Being called Epiphany Potion, it is obvious that it allows the drinker to realize something that had been staring at them the whole time but that they didn't grasp"
"As for how it is brewed, I'm sure your potion books have all the instructions, so I don't feel like I should rewrite them. I'll be of assistance to any of you having trouble with it, but we won't attempt the actual brewing till next lesson. Today, I want a volunteer to try the potion and see how it works"
Hermione tried to restrain herself from raising her hand, but really, it was too tempting. She really wondered what might the potion make her realize.
As she walked to the centre of the room where the cauldron was, Slughorn had already prepared a vial of the bluish liquid.
"Down it in one gulp, Miss Granger, otherwise it might not be effective" he advised her, and she nodded. The brunette then raised the vial to her lips.
It smelled a bit funny, but she willed herself to ignore it, and tipped the glass so the liquid spilled inside her mouth. She gulped it down, and gave back the empty vial to the Professor, who was now looking at her expectantly, just like all her classmates.
She heard mutters come from the Slytherins, "I bet it will make her realize how ugly she is" Pansy smirked, while Millicent laughed loudly, earning herself a glare from the Professor.
"She will realize she doesn't belong here" Malfoy said loudly, and Harry had his wand out in a flash, but Slughorn had already taken ten points from the Slytherin boy and assigned him detention for that night.
As she observed all of this take place, she felt her chest grow warmer and warmer, and guessed the potion was starting to affect her. Soon, her forehead was covered by a thin layer of perspiration.
"I'm in love with Harry" started ringing in her brain. She shook her head. It couldn't be.
"I'm in love with Harry James Potter and I want nothing more than to be his wife and bear his children"
Hermione's face clearly expressed her surprise as the thought grow harder and harder to ignore, forcing her to admit defeat and accept it as the truth the potion had revealed her.
"I daresay, Miss Granger, that the potion worked and gave you quite a shock" Slughorn said. "Will you be so kind to tell us the whole process of it taking action and then what shocked you so much?"
Hermione gulped. He was asking her to admit she was in love with Harry, in front of the whole classroom? With Ron who fancied her and would surely get overly jealous?
She gulped again.
"I…I…well, it started to feel warm in my chest, it grew warmer and warmer, and then a thought started ringing in my head, I tried denying it, but it grew more detailed and more forceful, till I could do nothing else than to accept it as the truth" she said, hoping the professor would be satisfied enough.
"Ah, yes, yes, that is how it usually works" he said, clapping his hands. "Now, what was the thought you so hardly tried to deny?"
"Professor, maybe she doesn't want to tell in front of the classroom" Harry interjected, a bit annoyed at the old man's insistence. He could clearly see the little signs of her being embarrassed.
Slughorn looked surprised for a moment, before nodding.
"Of course, of course. You don't have to tell us, the fact it worked and you described the process is good enough" he said, and Hermione was really grateful to Harry for having spared her the embarrassment.
That afternoon, she retreated to the library, trying to avoid everyone and clear her thoughts. Harry, however, had other plans.
He plopped down on her right side, and grinned at her. "Well, now that it is just the two of us you can spill it, Granger" he teased her, and she flushed. That made him chuckle, and she gave him a tiny smile.
She knew it might ruin their friendship, but she also knew she would go mad if she didn't tell someone, so she decided to be a true Gryffindor, tell him and then face the consequences, whatever those might be.
"Well…you see…the potion…I mean…" she stammered, and he smiled encouragingly at her.
"IminlovewithyouHarry" she blurted out, matching the colour of Weasley hair.
He stared at her, dumbfounded, for a couple minutes, and she really started getting nervous. He seemed pensive, and finally his eyes widened in realization.
"He must have taken all this time to decipher what I said" she thought, and a cute smile graced her face, before she was assaulted by nervousness again.
She almost jumped when she felt something touch her right cheek, before she realized it was his left hand. Looking up at him she found green orbs staring back at her, almost lovingly she dared think, and maybe lustfully.
"I'm really glad you drank that potion then, Hermione" he huskily said, moving closer, so that his lips were mere inches from her own. "Because I'm in love with you too" he finished in a whisper that tickled her lips, before kissing her.
And as her arms laced around his neck and she responded to the kiss, her tongue dancing with his own in a primal dance lead by instinct and love and passion, a little moan coming out of her throat, she was really glad she had raised her hand in classroom, that day.
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