Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter. If I would, some of the events in Deathly Hallows wouldn't have happened. I'm free to create my own Universe in fanfiction and I'm using that freedom in this story by ignoring some deaths and two relationships. You know what I'm talking about. ;)
A/N: This is a corrected version of the first chapter. Thanks a lot to my beta Kathy for helping me improve this chapter.
Sugar and Spice
Chapter 1
It had been several months since Harry had finally defeated Voldemort and life was finally starting to go back to normal. Harry, Ron and Hermione had had mixed feelings when they went back to Hogwarts for their final year. On the one hand, they were relieved that Voldemort was finally gone and the three of them had survived to return for the year. On the other hand it had felt strange to be back within the walls of their school where the final battle had taken place and where some of their friends had lost their lives and many others had lost friends and relatives during the war. The first days of the year had been awkward and an unusual silence had filled the halls of Hogwarts.
Slowly, nearly imperceptibly, life at Hogwarts started to get back to normal. The students moaned about their homework load, Hermione and Harry, who had been named Head Girl and Head Boy, had their hands full collecting prohibited items from Zonkos from the students (what Hermione did quite diligently - "really, these fanged Frisbees are very dangerous", while Harry usually only confiscated something when Hermione was watching) and the older students had been looking forward to their first Hogsmead weekend of the term.
The Weasley twins had opened another joke shop in Hogsmead a few weeks ago. Fred and George had written to Ron that they would leave their store in Diagon Alley to their sales assistant and both would be at their new store to meet up with their school friends this Saturday.
After the obligatory visit at Honeydukes, Harry, Ron and Hermione decided to visit Fred and George at their new store.
"Look who's finally paying us a visit!" George greeted the trio.
"We nearly thought you wouldn't come and see us," Fred said.
"Of course we came. We're only late because your brother had to try all new creations at Honeydukes before coming here," Hermione explained, rolling her eyes.
"You should really try those caramel flavored sugar quills, Hermione, they're delicious. You don't know what you are missing," Ron said with a dreamy expression.
"I know very well what I miss, tooth decay. Don't moan when you get a toothache."
This time it was Ron's turn to roll his eyes. "I swear she's getting more and more health conscious every year. She doesn't even take sugar in her tea, she uses Saccharine!"
Harry watched the playful banter between his friends with amusement. It had been a long time since he last saw them so carefree.
"Hermione, why don't you take a look at our new collection of useful inventions, like you call it," Fred suggested.
"Yes, we have some cool new things. You-Know-Who is gone, but the Auror Department is still busy catching all his followers, so we thought we should help a little. We've got these glasses; when you put them on you see everybody like they really look. It's great to find Death Eaters who use Polyjuice potion," George explained.
"But it can be quite scary when you see every woman without Make-Up," Fred added, earning him a laugh from Ron and a disapproving glare from Hermione.
"That's really useful," Harry said, quite impressed. "What else have you got?"
"Why don't you show Harry and Hermione our Ministry collection and I'll show Ron our new special effect sweets?" Fred suggested and led Ron to the other room.
"Great trick!" Ron complimented his brother when they were alone. "Hermione confiscates half of your special effect sweets every time. She better not see your new ones. But why didn't you let Harry come with us?"
"Harry isn't as much of a spoilsport as Hermione, but I'm not sure what he would think of our belated birthday present for you, little brother," Fred explained with a grin.
Ron rolled his eyes. "My birthday was in March, Fred."
"Then see it as an early Christmas gift. Trust me, you'll love it. You mentioned in your last letters that you would like a little more action with our sweet Loony, but she's still hesitant. Well, that's the solution for your little problem," Fred assured and handed his brother a small box.
"Saccharine?" Ron asked confused.
Fred grinned. "Yes, it looks like the normal stuff you put in your tea, doesn't it? But these sweet little thingies will make ever boy's dreams come true. One piece is enough to make the person who eats it quite horny. This invention will make many boys at Hogwarts very happy. They just have to put a piece of saccharine in their girlfriend's tea and they are in for a very fun night," Fred explained proudly.
Ron's facial expression quickly changed from impressed and enthusiastic to worried. "I don't know if I should do that. I really care for Luna. Yes, I want to sha... make love to her, but I don't want to give her a potion that makes her do something she'll regret later."
"Don't worry about that," Fred argued. "It's all a question of the right dosage. One piece and the girl will just feel like a normal, healthy teenage boy does every day - that's not manipulation, but gender justice if you ask me. We tell all our customers not to give their girls more than one or two pieces. We can't be held responsible for anything that happens when they don't listen to us."
Ron was still looking at the box with a mixture of longing and mistrust when George entered the room. "Ah, I see you already introduced our baby brother to our newest masterpiece. And, what do you say, Ronniekinns?"
Ron looked skeptically from Fred to George, before taking the box and hiding it in his Honeydukes bag. "Alright, I'll take it. But I don't think I'll need it," Ron answered.
Fred and George burst into laughter. "Of course, Ron, I'm sure your charm is all you need," George said.
"Good luck, Don Juan," Fred added.
"Not so loud," Ron whispered, looking suspiciously at the door. "Hermione will freak out if she finds out about this."
"Hermione and Harry will be busy for a while," George said with a mischievous smile.
Before Ron had time to think about the meaning of the look on his brother's face, George added: "They are sitting in our office with a cup of tea and our whole ministry collection. Hermione looked like a kid on Christmas when we showed her the mints that make your ears turn purple when you lie."
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione were indeed sitting in the twins' office, testing all the new devices. "These mints are fabulous, Harry. Next time when I want to know if Ron has really done his patrol I'll just have to offer him a mint."
Harry laughed. "Nice idea, but I think Fred and George have already warned him," Harry argued, trying on a pair of the glasses George had told them about. "Too bad that I don't see much without my real glasses on. It would really come in handy to recognize someone who has used Polyjuice potion."
"Maybe I can find a way to charm your own glasses to work like those Fred and George invented. I doubt that they'll tell me how they made them, but I can try to examine those glasses and find out," Hermione said, adding two pieces of Saccharine to her tea.
"I don't understand how you can drink this stuff," Harry said.
"I drink a lot of tea, so it does make a difference if I use sugar or saccharine. I drink approximately four cups of tea a day, which makes 28 in a week and 112 in a month. That's quite a lot of sugar. And don't think I haven't noticed that you take two cubes instead of one. It tastes alright after a little getting used to it. You should really try."
Harry grinned. Leave it to Hermione to actually calculate the sugar cubes he consumed in one month.
"Okay, I'll try. But if it tastes awful, I'll go back to the sugar," Harry warned Hermione before adding two pieces of Saccharine and taking a sip of his tea.
Harry grimaced. "Why do you bother adding this stuff at all? My tea barely tastes sweeter at all."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course it tastes sweeter, it's just a different kind of sweet. You'll get used to it," Hermione said. She took a sip of her own tea and frowned.
"That's strange. It really doesn't taste much sweeter. Maybe this brand uses a lower dose," Hermione assumed and added two more pieces of Saccharine.
Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's stubbornness. "Suffer if you insist on it, I'll go back to the good old sugar," Harry said and added two cubes of sugar to his tea before gratefully taking a sip from his cup. "Much better," he announced satisfied while he watched Hermione drink her tea with a discontent look.
"Mine tastes better, too," Hermione said, determinedly finishing her cup of tea.
"Liar," Harry said grinning before he drank the rest of his tea, too.
A few minutes later the three Weasley brothers joined their friends in the office and Harry noticed the mischievous look on the twins' faces and the guilty one on Ron's. Harry wondered what prank Fred and George were planning now, but didn't question them. Hermione of course wasn't as kind.
"What have you done?!" Hermione asked the three brothers, giving them her best scary Head Girl glare.
"Done?" Fred asked innocently. "We haven't done anything. Right, George?"
"Of course not. We are respectable business men now."
Hermione snorted. "Of course you are. Ron, show me your bag," she demanded.
"What do I have to do with this?" Ron did his best to sound insulted.
Hermione glared at him and Ron reluctantly handed him his Honeydukes bag.
Hermione spilled the contents of the bag on the table and frowned when she saw the Saccharine. "What have you done to this stuff?!" Hermione asked the twins, her voice sounding very shrill.
"Nothing! They haven't done anything. I just… thought I should try living a little more healthy," Ron said lamely, eying the saccharine in between the huge amount of sweets.
"Ron, Hermione has just put four pieces of this saccharine in her tea and I used two," Harry said impatiently. "So tell us already what your brothers did to it!"
Ron turned pale and even the twins looked quite uncomfortable.
"You gave this to Harry and Hermione?!" Ron asked the twins.
"It wasn't planned for you, Harry. You never use saccharine, we know that! And we didn't think Hermione would use so much, she always uses two pieces," Fred said.
"Yes, we only wanted to help you two, after everything Harry has done for us," George added lamely.
"What did we just drink?!" Hermione yelled.
"It is some kind of lust potion… I swear I didn't know they gave it to you!" Ron said and now it was Harry and Hermione who turned pale.
"Are you crazy?! You gave us an aphrodisiac?! Did you think that's fun?! And what the hell did you mean when you said you wanted to help Harry?!" Hermione asked furiously.
"We just wanted to get you in the mood to make a move on Harry," Fred said.
"Come on, we've seen how you guys act around each other. You just need a little push," George added.
"What do you mean with 'how we act around each other'? We're just friends," Harry protested.
He was glad that he hadn't eaten one of those mints, because his ears would be bright purple if he had. He had stopped seeing Hermione as nothing but his best mate during those months they had spent alone in a tent. During this time he had realized that Hermione was everything he really needed. He had barely thought of Ginny at all and he hadn't even missed Ron as much as he thought he would, but he had known that he couldn't stand it if Hermione had left him, too.
On one especially cold night Harry had refused to let Hermione sit outside in the cold when it was her turn to keep watch and she had insisted that he come in. They had finally agreed to both staying inside since Hermione's protective charms were obviously working. It had been very cold in the tent, too, and the two had decided to sleep in the same bed to stay warm. During the night Harry had realized that there was nothing brotherly about his feelings for Hermione. Feeling her warm, soft and very female body pressed against his had awoken completely different feelings in him. Harry hadn't slept much during the night and in the morning he had to make a quick trip to the bathroom before Hermione was awake enough to realize the physical proof of his new feelings towards her.
"And even if we weren't, I would never want a girl to sleep with me because she's under the influence of a potion!" Harry added firmly.
"Hey, we didn't give Hermione a love potion! This potion doesn't take away the free will of the one who takes it," George explained.
"At least not in the right dosage," Fred added a little sheepishly.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Hermione asked.
"We only tested how a girl reacts to one or two pieces," Fred admitted.
"One piece is just enough to get a normal girl in the mood, two make even a girl who is a little prudish quite horny," George explained with a grin.
"I'm not prudish!" Hermione protested, earning her skeptical looks from all three Weasley brothers. "And I took four, not two! Do you two idiots have any idea what effect this dosage will have?!"
"Not really, but it's probably a good idea not to leave the Heads rooms tonight," George suggested.
"Is this all you have to say?! What if I do something stupid?! What if I leave my bed and jump the next guy I see?!" Hermione asked.
"I won't let that happen," Harry promised and took Hermione's hands in his in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. "I won't let you do anything you'll regret, I promise."
"But you took two pieces of this stuff, too. What if you're… busy?" Hermione asked, blushing.
Harry blushed, too. "Hermione, you are my best friend. It takes more than messed up hormones to make me leave you when you need me. I only took two pieces and you heard what George said. That's not enough to make me do anything I don't want to do. And the only thing I want to do is stay with you and make sure you're okay."
Hermione smiled, looking a little less worried than before. "Thanks, Harry. Thanks for always being there for me."