Love in a Bottle

Love in a Bottle

Prologue

Along Knockturn Alley, amongst a series of odd-looking shops, a small, dilapidated, and not easily noticeable shop stood. Witches and wizards passed by without a second glance at it. If one chanced to stop and look closely, they'd see hanging on the window a poster, on which was written in bold letters the words: "Love Problems? We have the answer."

The inside of the shop was depressingly bare. It was quite dim and very hazy; the heavy smell of vanilla hung in the air, garish curtains draped on the window, and an old rusty lamp sat on a table which looked like it was a thousand centuries old. A yellowish glow flickered from the lamp, filling the room with an eerie presence.

A pale-faced girl around sixteen years of age with light blond hair pulled into pigtails was talking to the shopkeeper, an old hag with gnarled yellowish teeth and long dirty brown hair streaked with gray which shrouded half of her face, covering her right eye. Her left eye, pale gray in color and gleaming in the dark, appraised the girl silently. The hag looked really creepy, and if the girl had any sense, she wouldn't have been there.

"A-a-are you sure this will work?" the girl stammered, nervously, her normally shrill voice quivering. Her eyes darted across the tiny shop, afraid that someone might come in and see her buying. She was clutching a tiny vial which contained a colorless liquid; her right hand, holding the vial, trembled slightly.

The old hag gave a gnarled smile, making her even look scarier than she could possibly be. "Just two drops should do the trick. Not a drop more. Or else, suffer the consequence." She pointed one bony finger towards the vial the girl was holding, "I assure you, satisfaction is one hundred percent guaranteed," she said with another creepy smile, making the girl even more uncomfortable.

A shiver ran down her spine, and she shuddered, her mind undecided as to whether or not she should buy this vial.

'Are you nuts? A hundred galleons for that teeny weeny vial of crap nonsense?' The rational part of her seemed to tell her. Another voice answered back, 'A hundred galleons is no big deal if you get the boy you've always wanted. Don't you think so?'

She shook her head, the voices inside her head confusing her. 'Stop it, I don't want to hear another word from you two. Just shut up.'

But the first voice became even louder. 'There's absolutely no rational reason to throw a hundred galleons away for something not even proven to be effective. C'mon, you're not that desperate. Are you?' it said sarcastically.

The other voice chimed in, 'Don't listen to her, just pay the hag and take the vial. Tomorrow you will finally get the boy of your dreams.'

She stared desperately at the vial in her hands, still shaking, her heart pounding loudly. Confused, she bit her lip, struggling to decide, then her mouth pressed into a thin line, her jaw jutted out, her eyes filled with determination, and she made her decision.

"I'll take it," she said, placing the hundred galleons on the bony outstretched hands of the hag.

The girl put the vial into her bag and left quickly, without a backward glance. The hag peered through the shop's window and stared at the retreating figure of the girl. She gave a spine-chilling cackle, then muttered, "Pity the fools blinded by love." With that she hung a sign that proclaimed "WE ARE CLOSED" on the door.


CHAPTER ONE

"Hey, Hannah, what are you doing there? It's already time for dinner, come on!"

Hannah Abbott turned around to see Susan Bones, a fellow Hufflepuff, standing in the corridor with her hands on her hips, looking expectantly at her.

"I'm not really feeling very hungry. You go ahead, I'll see you later."

Susan shrugged, then went ahead without a backward glance. Hannah returned to look out of the window, her mind totally confused. Then she remembered what the witch told her at the shop.

"Just two drops and rest assured the boy of your dreams will be yours for eternity." The old hag had cackled gleefully and waggled a bony finger at her. "This is the opportunity you've been waiting for."

Hannah shuddered. A thrill of excitement surged through her body; her right hand automatically slid to her pocket. Her fingers deftly closed on the small vial which contained the potion. A look of determination crossed her face, she pressed her lips and finally decided: 'Tonight is the night.'

She hurriedly walked to the Great Hall, where everyone was already seated and having dinner.

"Hannah, over here!" Susan called out to her, motioning towards the empty seat next to her. Hannah gratefully took the seat. "I thought you said you weren't hungry?" asked Susan.

Hannah chose not to answer and instead served herself some mashed potatoes and a small serving of pot roast. She took a mouthful of food as she looked up, glancing at the Gryffindor table.

'He looks so cute,' Hannah sighed dreamily. She'd had a crush on him since her first year at Hogwarts, and that feeling had developed into something more after that incident last year. She could still remember clearly what exactly happened that day...

Hannah had been watching the Quidditch Match when Malcolm Baddock, who was the beater for the Slytherin team, got hit with a Bludger with such a force that he crashed into her. The stuck up Slytherin didn't even apologize as he disentangled himself from Hannah, who had been knocked unconscious. He had barely glanced at the crumpled form of Hannah, mumbling, "Stupid girl." Baddock had walked away while the rest of the students crowded around Hannah.

When Hannah woke up, she had discovered she was being carried by the boy she'd had a crush on for years. "What happened...?" she started saying, but he had quickly told her, "Relax, we're almost there. Madam Pomfrey will take care of you."

She had simply stared at him, dumbfounded. 'If this is a dream, I don't ever wanna wake up.' She had sprained her ankle but it didn't matter to her. She couldn't believe that here she was being carried by the boy of her dreams; she hadn't realized she was gaping at him with her mouth open. She'd quickly closed her mouth and blushed furiously. It was fortunate that he was looking straight ahead and not at her, for her face and ears had turned beet red.

"Here we are," he had said, using his right hand to turn the doorknob open. Inside the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey instructed him to place Hannah on the bed, and then told him to leave so she could assess Hannah's injuries. Hannah could never forget how he kindly smiled at her before leaving the infirmary.

It was now a year since that incident, and she never had the chance to exchange words with him again. She had tried to work up the nerve to ask him to the Yule Ball, but she got cold feet at the last minute. How she wished she had been sorted to Gryffindor instead of Hufflepuff. But now that she had the potion, she wouldn't have to make wishful thinking anymore. Her right hand slid inside her robe pocket to take the vial. She froze. The vial wasn't there; she looked down and checked her other pocket.

"Oh, no." She looked frantically around her. Upon observing the absorbed expression on everyone's faces, she looked down in panic, thinking, 'It's probably somewhere around here.' She went down on her knees and checked under the table.

"Hannah, what in the name of Jupiter are you doing?" Susan looked at her like she had gone demented.

"I dropped something, I need to find it," she answered in a hushed voice. Her cheeks reddened, thinking how was she going to explain that it was a vial of love potion which cost her a hundred galleons.

"Are you sure you dropped it? Maybe you left in your room?" Susan tugged at her to return to her seat. "Don't make a scene here, Hannah," she whispered quickly.

Hannah reluctantly went back to her seat, but she kept on looking down the floor in search of the vial.

"Anything wrong, Hannah?" asked Ernie MacMillan. He was looking at her earnestly.

Hannah shook her head, her blond pigtails bobbing slightly. "I'm fine," she said softly, her face unusually pale.

"If you say so," replied Ernie, doubt in his voice. He had seen her looking on the floor like she had lost something. But he didn't push the subject, and swallowed a mouthful of pot roast instead.

Soon, dessert appeared in front of the students. There were loads of yummy goodies to choose from -- chocolate éclairs, pumpkin pies, treacle tarts, black forest cake, almond streusel cake and many more.

All of the students gobbled as much dessert as they could, except for Hannah, who was looking thoroughly miserable.

'What a lousy way to throw away a hundred galleons. I had the chance to get him to finally notice me but now that will be next to impossible, thanks to my stupidity.' A single tear slid down her cheek, and she quickly dabbed her eye with the table napkin.

"Hannah, aren't you going to try some dessert?" Susan looked inquiringly at her. When Hannah didn't respond, Susan handed her a chocolate eclair. Hannah slowly took it. "It's unbelievably yummy!" Susan exclaimed. "I mean in all my years here in Hogwarts... tonight there is something special with this éclair. I just couldn't pinpoint what..." Susan trailed off as she took a mouthful of that very dessert.

Hannah placed the éclair on her yet barely touched plate. Not having the appetite to eat, she looked at Susan and noticed with some amusement that Susan had already gobbled about a dozen chocolate éclairs. Her mouth twitched with amusement upon seeing the reed-thin Susan, who was a picky eater, pigging out on chocolate. Then she noticed Marie Picklesworth who was seated next to Susan, also stuffing herself as if she had not eaten for days. Hannah peered closely at Marie; she had known her for years and knew that Marie absolutely hated anything with chocolate in it -- and now she was shoveling chocolate into her mouth like it was her last day on Earth.

"Oh, this is so heavenly," drooled Sheryll Townsend, seated two seats away from Hannah's left. Hannah stared at her with shock, because the normally ladylike Hufflepuff girl's mouth was smeared with chocolate. She noticed Hannah staring at her, and said, "Are you going to eat that?" pointing at the éclair on her plate. Before Hannah could reply, Sheryll snatched the éclair and instantly devoured it.

Hannah was shocked. This time she looked around her, and noticed that everyone around was busy gorging themselves with chocolate éclairs. There were many desserts on the table, but the students were just interested in that particular delicacy.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were arguing with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan over the éclair; while Hermione Granger and the rest of the Gryffindor girls giggled uncontrollably while stuffing themselves with it, not in the least caring that the four boys were arguing heatedly.

Over the Slytherin table, Malfoy, whose hands were filled with éclairs, stood up and left the table hurriedly. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and all the Slytherin girls hurried after Malfoy.

Meanwhile, at the Ravenclaw table, Mandy Brocklehurst, Cho Chang, Terry Boot, Padma Patil, and Lisa Turpin were noisily arguing on who got to eat the last éclair available.

Hannah was amused and confused at her schoolmates' sudden change of behavior; then a sudden thought struck her. "Oh no, the potion!" she whispered in horror.

To be continued