The Amorae Potion

Chapter 5 - Voldie's Underwear

//Snape smiled at her, or rather, he bared his teeth at her. One could never actually picture Snape smiling for real at a person. Apparently, at least, Snape couldn't picture it since that was probably the reason why his face looked so strained and stretched when he did it. Ginny thought the smile made him look very much insane, like Hagrid on one of this "drinking days", and that was saying something too.//

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As fate would have it, while Harry was rather preoccupied preparing himself from being assaulted by the Gryffindor Chaser, Angelina Johnson, Ginny was having her own problems as well...

"Limon drops?....uh, Popsicle sticks?.... Refried Beans?... Oh come on, just let me in, will ya? This is important!" Ginny pleaded to the gargoyle statue guarding the doorway of Professor Dumbledore's office.

Nothing happened and its stone face didn't change. Ginny gave an exasperated sigh and stomped her feet some impatiently.

Ginny had been trying to get into Dumbledore's office for the past ten minutes now and was fast running out of ideas of what the password could be. She had already gone though the majority of all the Muggle candies she knew since Harry had told her a while back that the password would probably be something like that. When she had asked him why he had merely shrugged and said he had no idea and that Dumbledore was probably just crazy like that.

Ginny was beginning to agree.

"Come on! Just let me in already!" she demanded irately to the gargoyle. "I've got to see Professor Dumbledore now!"

Clearly deaf to her urgency, the statue continued to stare blankly at her.

Ginny threw up her hands and shouted: "Licorice ropes!....Mars bars!.... Some other stupid Muggle candy... oh,

gosh, I don't know! Just let me in!.... Droobles Best Blowing Gum!.......Cockroachclusters!.... No, wait, that was last years...."

Now her patience was nearly gone. "Damn, stupid door!" she shouted, kicking the gargoyle statue with her toe. While proving ineffective in moving the statue, the kick did succeed in injuring her toe. A rivet of pain flooded up her foot. "Owww!" she moaned, grabbing the damaged toe in agony. She hopped around the hallway some.

"Fine, uh.... Fudge is a Pansy!.... Er, Snape's a stupid, smelly old git!" she guessed, though not much expecting them to work.

As usual, the gargoyle didn't respond to her, but someone else did...

"A stupid, smelly old git, am I, Ms. Weasley?" came Snape's cool, vindictive voice behind her.

Ginny literally leaped up in surprise. Taking her hand off her foot, she spun quickly around, splattering some of the wall beside her with green slime that flew off her goo-covered robes. After gaining her balance (Since leaping around on practically one foot was a difficult task) she nearly fell backwards as she came quite suddenly face to face (Or rather face to chest as that was how high Ginny was on Snape) with Professor Snape who was glaring down at her over his abnormally large, hooked nose only a few inches from her. His hands were folded comfortably behind him as he allowed a thin smile to cross his face. "Surprised to see me, Ms. Weasley?" he asked icily. "And what are you doing lurking around Professor Dumbledore's office, hm?"

Ginny's jaw dropped but no words came out of her mouth. Her throat felt completely dry, like she had swallowed a handful of sand. She opened her mouth then closed it; then she opened it again, trying to find her voice. After her fourth attempt, she was able to stammer: "I-I.... uh, well, you see...er...--" but no thought came to her as to where to go after that.

"I would hope," Snape interrupted, "that it is to deliver to him my Amorae Potion I gave you that I worked so very hard to make. That is the reason, right, Ms. Weasley?"

Erm," Ginny looked down at her filthy robes guiltily. She frowned at all the green smudges on it, wishing she had cleaned them some more before coming up to Dumbledore's office. Then she looked back up at Snape. "Yeah, that's right, sir," she lied, careful to keep her tone even.

"And where is it?" Snape asked, not bothering to mask his suspicion. "I don't see it in your hands, and why are you just standing here at the Headmaster's doorway?"

"Uh." Ginny took a step away from Snape, desiring more space to think as it was rather intimidating and hard trying to come up with a suitable lie while Snape was towering over her like he was.

"Didn't I tell you the password?" inquired Snape, his beetle eyes burning into her. Then his face turned sour, and he sighed in aggravation. "Oh, yes, that's right I didn't. How foolish of me. No matter. I'll take the potion to him myself, I guess, then." He stretched out his hand to Ginny expectantly.

Ginny blinked blankly and stared at it, her facing turning a vivid red. "Well?" he said impatiently; "What are you waiting for? Take it out of where ever you're hiding it, and give it to me now."

Ginny was absolutely horror struck at Snape. She switched her gaze from his hand up to his face to see if he was possibly joking. He couldn't seriously be asking for the...

"I, uh, already delivered it to Professor Dumbledore, sir," she blurted out, rather louder then she meant to and in much more of rush then she had anticipated.

Snape snapped his hand back from her swiftly. His eyebrows leaped up. "Indeed?" he said sharply, staring even harder down at Ginny.

Ginny swallowed nervously and gave a weak nod.

"Well, if that is the case, Ms. Weasley." An evil look formed on Snape's face. "Then I am most curious for you to tell me why you're still here, and just how you were able to deliver the potion to Professor Dumbledore if you don't have the password into his office."

Ginny was taken by surprise. "Oh! Well, I, umm, well, you see...I--"

"Or perhaps, you are telling me a lie of some sort..."

"NO!" shouted Ginny in panic. Snape eyes narrowed, and she quickly restrained herself. "I mean, no. No. Of course not, Professor. I, ER you see, I met Dumbledore on my way here by the...um.... Library, and I, uh, gave it to him then. He sent me here to go fetch his... er...the Sorting Hat... and that's why I'm hanging around here.... Now.... This very instant....That is....Yeah...."

There was an awkward pause following Ginny's explaining. Snape didn't move at all but continued to glare at her impressively which made Ginny start to grow uneasy. A wild thought of escape began racing through her mind. Run. Run! It seemed to scream. She fought to keep from obliging it, remembering that Harry was still out there in need. Just forget him! the voice insisted. Every man for himself. Harry'll understand that. You know he will... Ginny swallowed and locked her knees. No, she couldn't.... Not yet anyway.... She focused her gaze back at Snape, making sure not to blink though, as soon as she did, her eyes started itching and watering dreadfully. The Potions Teacher stared back with his dark, black eyes peering straight into her's, enveloping her in their cold, empty, tunnel-like centers. She shivered and continued to look back treating him just like she would if she was staring down a hippogriff. I mustn't blink. I mustn't blink. I mustn't.....

Snape snorted and looked away from her at last.

Ginny breathed out heavily in relief and furiously blinked her watery eyes, rubbing them with her robe's sleeve while he was turned away.

"I see then," Snape said silkily, his nostrils flaring. He looked back at Ginny who quickly dropped her arm to her side. "Well then I guess I owe you an apology then. Here I was about to accuse you of losing my Amorae Potion when you already gave it to Dumbledore. Funny, no? Ah, how very untrusting I am, don't you agree, Ms. Weasley?"

Ginny's face started to turn redder then a holly berry. "Oh, uh, yeah, right... uh...Haha!"

Snape smiled at her, or rather, he bared his teeth at her. One could never actually picture Snape smiling for real at a person. Apparently, at least, Snape couldn't picture it since that was probably the reason why his face looked so strained and stretched when he did it. Ginny thought the smile made him look very much insane, like Hagrid's on one of this "drinking days", and that was saying something too.

Ginny took another step away from him.

"Yes, yes the jokes on me I guess," Snape said; "but alas! No time to chat now though, hm? Come on then, Ms. Weasley. Let's be on our way."

Ginny started. "B-Be on our way?" she repeated in alarm.

"Why of course!" Snape said, blinking at her in pretend surprise (He wasn't very good at it). "You said you needed to go get the Sorting hat for Dumbledore, right? We mustn't keep the poor man waiting, so we'd better get in there. To show you my sincerity, I'll go ahead and tell you the password and help you find the hat, how's that?"

Ginny's face turned from bright red to gray. "B-but... uh, I can do it by myself, Professor. I don't need any help.... really."

"Oh, but I insist. After almost accusing you? It's the least I can do to make up for it, my dear." He sounded like he had just eaten something rather disagreeable by the way he said 'my dear' but Ginny chose not to comment, as she was quite frightened already.

"Well, let us go then," Snape commanded, taking Ginny's arm in his spidery hand. He squeezed down just a little too tightly causing Ginny to feel small pin-like needles race along it. She bit her lip right as Snape approached the statue and shouted the password to it...

"Voldie's Underwear," he boomed.

The gargoyle's face unfroze and he got up and out of their way at once, allowing Snape to stroll past it briskly. He dragged Ginny along with him, so roughly that Ginny hadn't the chance to fully contemplate the very startling question of just why Dumbledore's password was Voldemort's underclothing of all things. Humph! That's the last time I'm listening to Harry! She resolved. I'm beginning to think Dumbledore really is quite mad.... Or maybe just very peculiar...

They entered Dumbledore's office.

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"So which way do you think he went?" Ron asked as Malfoy and him looked from right to left down one side of the castle corridors to the other. Both looked pretty well deserted.

Malfoy caste Ron an annoyed look. "How should I know where Potter ran off to? You're the one who's suppose to be his friend, after all."

Ron scowled. "Well what makes you think I had any idea where Harry went to? You're the one who's always stalking him after all."

Draco's ears turned pink. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that," he muttered. He turned and went down the passageway to their left, so his face couldn't be viewable to Ron.

Ron saw the blush before he could hide it and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right, whatever," he muttered, shoving his hands in his robe pockets. He followed Draco down the hallway glumly.

They continued down the hallway in silence for a while, neither one very eager to talk to the other. The hallway soon ended and they went down another one that was also completely deserted. Where was everyone, anyway?

All Ron could hear was Professor Flitwick's voice in on of the classrooms to their right. He sounded slightly panicked. Suddenly a loud explosion sounded though the room and smoke billowed though the crack underneath the classroom's doorway. They looked sideways at it, only slightly interested since explosions were natural everyday occurrences in Hogwarts, before turning another corner in the hallway.

Ron began to whistle a tone just to preoccupy himself with doing something.

Malfoy glared at him, clearly wanting him to quit it, but Ron merely whistled louder to annoy him more since, after all, annoying Malfoy was one of his favorite things... Apart from maybe arguing with Hermione. To him, arguing with her was great fun, especially the after effects of the battle for reasons Ron didn't want to get into about as they would make him go scarlet and he didn't want Malfoy to see.

Why was he with Malfoy of all people anyway? Ron wondered.

Ron looked over at the silver haired boy for a moment-- he was staring ahead of them with a thoughtful look on his face-- and scowled. Annoying git, probably plotting something nasty at this very moment. He folded his arms over his chest, forgetting to keep whistling.

"Angelina, I'm telling you! You're making a big mistake!"

Ron and Malfoy stopped in their tracks abruptly in surprise as the sound of Fred's horror-filled voice boomed from a doorway to their left. There was a big crash and a loud thump.

"A big mistake, eh?" They heard Angelina yell. Another crash sounded. "The only big mistake I've made, Fred Weasley, was ever going out with you to begin with."

Ron stood still, staring at the doorway. He noticed that it was Filch's office.

"--sticking my neck out for you two to help you, and you repay me by attacking me!"

Attacking her? Fred? Ron glanced at Malfoy inquisitively, then went closer towards the door that was slightly ajar and listened. The thought of finding Harry momentarily left his mind.

He could hear slight shuffling of feet inside and something heavy being scooted over (Probably a chair) then heavy breathing.

"Come on, Harry," Angelina said at last, sounding slightly out of breathe. "I'm not going to let you stay here with such_ violent_ people as these!" (Was it just Ron's imagination or did somebody just whimper?) "You're coming with me to see McGonagall so I can inform her, since I am a Perfect, to subtract ten points from Gryffindor for the Weasley twins vulgar conduct."

Harry? Ron's eyes met Malfoy's then he quickly went back to listening.

A shaky voice spoke which Ron identified as Harry's: "B-but...b-but..."

"No 'buts'!" Angelina suddenly yelled. There was a small clank. "It's bad enough that I had to put up with Fred and George's bullying, so I am certainly not going to take any from you!"

Malfoy started to grinned next to Ron, clearing enjoying the conversation. Ron had a feeling he was going to get that blackmail opportunity he was talking about as Malfoy moved even closer at the door, his ear completely against it.

It creaked open slightly as more of his weight was added to it.

Suddenly there was a loud groan. "Oh no!" Harry said, agony in his voice. He sounded like he was going to be sick.

"Harry?"

"It hurts!.... A-A pain."

Ron was alarmed and also pressed against the doorway with Malfoy.

It slid open another inch.

".....Harry? Harry, tell me what's wrong? Are you sick?"

".....D-Don't... touch....me! P-Potion....will....be....trigg..trigg...Ahhh!"

Ron shuttered as there was a sound of someone stumbling. The door opened another crack as he and Malfoy leaned

harder against it.

""Potion? What potion? Harry, what's the matter with you? I don't under........stand...I..uh..."

There was an awkward pause in which the door Malfoy and Ron was at opened another inch in eager anticipation.

At last, Angelina spoke again, sounding strangely scared. "H-Harry?" she whispered softly. "Why didn't you tell....I feel so....I......" Suddenly her voice changed to a weird, sorta high purr. "You know, Harry," (There was a sound of some movement inside), "your eyes are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen....So green... and so very... very... very... very pretty!"

"WHAT?" Ron mouthed in shock. He looked at Malfoy for some clearance, hoping he had just misheard what Angelina had just said.

Malfoy looked just as surprised as him and leaned in closer to the door until......

BAMM!

A lot of things quickly happened, none of which Ron had expected. He suddenly found, to his surprise, himself laying face down on the cold, slightly damp ground with the smell of fish all around him and Malfoy lying next to him. That wasn't the most surprising thing to him though. No, it was when he looked up he saw a rather petrified looking Harry Potter with his wand drawn staring wide-eyed at him and Malfoy, a misty-eyed Ms. Norris looking friendlier then he had ever seen her weaving between Harry's legs purring and pawing at him, Angelina Johnson looking like she was some wild cat on heat herself ready to pounce on Harry and pen him to the ground, and his two twin brothers laying in a crumpled heap near the couch looking like they had just been trampled by a herd of Hippogriffs. That is... until Harry jumped up and started screaming.

"Ah....Ah.... Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!"

Ron clapped his hands over his ears in pain.

"Potter? Potter, what the bloody hell are you...Now....Wait.... Wait a minute there.... hey! Watch it will ya?! Ack!"

Harry ignored Malfoy's rather loud protests as he came tearing between Ron and him, stepping on Malfoy's back as he went racing straight through the opened door. He continued to scream as he went down the hallway waving his arms around like an idiot, running like Voldemort and his whole Death Eater army was at his tail.

Ron and Malfoy shot quickly up from the ground, Ron, doing a half-circled spin around as Ms. Norris ran through his legs and out the door after Harry.

They prepared to follow him but a disturbance behind made them stop and turn around.

Angelina had finally recovered, being taken a little by surprise at Harry's abrupt departure, and was trying with all her might to pursue Harry who's loud scream was fading away in the distance. Unfortunately for her, Fred and George had managed to latch onto her legs and were keeping her back with all they strength they could muster.

"R-Run!" Fred yelled at Ron who was stopped in his tracks, confused as to what they were doing. "Run, you nit-wit! Can't you see she's mad? Get out of here while you still can... A-And go help Harry! He's in a bit of a rut if you ask me."

Ron hesitated even as Malfoy turned and ran out the doorway. He watched Angelina Johnson hissing and clawing trying to get free of Fred and George who had now completely wrapped themselves around her legs, holding her feet down as she tried to shake them off. Her eyes were fixed on the doorway behind Ron, intent of chasing after Harry. It was really quite scary.

"What's all this about?" he asked.

"Have you lost your...your marbles?" George demanded. "Ron, now's not the time to talk about that! Go find Harry! We'll hold her off as long as we can."

"B-But..."

"GO!"

Ron had no choice. He turned and left the room, following after Malfoy.

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