Harry Potter was in trouble. Stuck between an angry Filch and Moaning Myrtle, he really wished he had a Dark Lord to distract them. Or at least a Weasley twin. Which is worse, seeing McGonagall in her night robe or having Myrtle fawn over me?
He twirled around (in a very manly fashion of course), Invisibility Cloak swishing around him, and opened the door to the girl's bathroom praying he hadn't made a sound. He wasn't prepared for what he saw.
Ginny Weasley, his best mate's little sister, standing in the middle of the bathroom with a smoldering cauldron with colored fumes rising from its depths. Harry couldn't see the potion but giving the location of its concoction and the current time, a little over midnight, he could tell that it wasn't exactly hot chocolate.
Moaning Myrtle must have made the same connection, as she was floating above Ginny with a less than ecstatic look on her face.
"Myrtle! Go away! I've told you a hundred times to look out for Mrs. Norris!" Ginny seemed to be a nervous wreak, her voice broke three times and Harry could see the way her hand shook as she added another ingredient to her potion.
"You promised me you would tell me what you're brewing. I want to know now!" Responded Myrtle, in more or less a wail of despair, Ginny rolled her eyes at the ghost's childish antics and exclaimed,
"Fine! It's a Love Potion."
"But, why do you need-"
"Somebody I know needs a little push to realize how much he loves me, and I can't risk that beaver know-it-all finding out!"
Harry was sick to his stomach, he had a pretty good idea who Ginny was trying to "enchant" considering the way she had been throwing herself at him all summer. He had spent most of his time tripping to avoid her, and had the bruises to prove it.
"That's, just…. you're going to…not even I am that desperate…"
"Shut it! I'm almost done, and believe me, once he drinks his morning pumpkin juice everything will be perfect."
"You know, no one else might see you but I am going to go tell her! Next time, don't call me thick!" Myrtle's wail almost knocked Harry out cold, but he was already forming a plan in his mind.
If little Ginny Weasley thought he was going to be that easy to trick, he had fought bloody Voldemort for crying out loud, then Peeves must have hit her pretty hard over the head. She didn't know it yet but what was coming for her was worthy of her brothers.
He was starting to get a little carried away when he heard Ginny threatening to tell McGonagall that Myrtle spied on the prefects taking baths and heard her cap her vial of potion. Not wanting to find out what would happen if he were discovered, he ran out the door and to the Gryffindor common room.
Leaving a bewildered Fat Lady behind, he was about to run up the stairs to his dorm when he spied a brown haired girl asleep by the fire. Hermione, he thought with a smile, the day you stop reading is the day Malfoy declares his undying love to Neville. Taking off his cloak, he walked over to her and was about to wake her up when he noticed what she was researching. There, underneath her hand, lay Magia Diabolica.
He immediately stiffened, yet he knew that she was doing this for him. As much as Harry appreciated Ron and Hermione, he sometimes wished they would turn their backs on him and leave him to deal with the Horcruxes alone. He knew they had been with him for six years now and had willingly agreed, actually insisting, to accompany him but he couldn't help but feel responsible for turning their lives into a whirlwind of danger.
"Snake…locket.... cup…" Hermione's mumbles reached Harry's pained ears as he realized that he had even contaminated her dreams. Not really knowing why, he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. He couldn't help but notice how she smelled of vanilla and parchment, and the ink that smeared her fingers.
As he thought about his best friend, the door creaked open and Harry half sprinted towards the girls dorms before realizing that he wasn't allowed up. Harry climbed up to his dorm with Hermione still in his arms and placed her on his bed. Not really bothering to think about what she would say in the morning, since they had already slept together plenty of times, and lay down next to her.
She shifted and turned on her side, her back to him, and he did the same. Hoping Ron's snores would not wake Hermione, he fell asleep thinking about what he was going to do to Ginny but when he dreamt, they were all about the girl lying next to him.
"Harry!"
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