The Amorae Potion

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It took only Harry a second to realize where they were. If the sinks didn´t clue him in, then the urinal he was standing right next to did. "The boys´ bathroom, huh?" he stated. He looked around at the row of bathroom stalls and the dimly lit light-fixtures above the sinks, noticing that the sink faucets were shaped as snake heads and that the majority of the room was in different shades of green. It was apparent this bathroom was meant for the Slytherins, which was comforting to him a little since, because it was Slytherin, the room was sure to have some more protection then normal rooms. "Well, I must admit, Ron, you´ve really out done yourself this time. Myrtle couldn´t possibly go in he--"

He was cut short by an unholy shriek of rage that sent trimmers through the whole room.

"Oh crap!" Harry tumbled back as the doorway of the bathroom shook violently. Dust and loose ceiling paint rained down on them as the entire room shuttered. It was very clear Myrtle was not happy that she could no longer pursue her prey. Harry let out a squeak of fright and fell into Ron´s arms who was conveniently in front of him. He clung to the red headed boy desperately. Ron didn´t seem to mind at all, and he clung back to him, letting out a scared whimper.

It was like all hell had broke loose and was taking it´s vengeance out on the little room. The walls shook; and there were several sounds of explosions going off and a round of bullets that made very noticeable dents in the doorway´s tough metal exterior. The glass above the sinks ended up cracking under all the rubble that was falling around them, and a large section of the ceiling completely caved in, turning Ron and Harry white when the chalk scattered into the air...

Over the noise, Harry shouted to Ron: "We´ve got to do something, Ron! If we don´t, she´s going to level this whole place!"

"Yeah, but what?" Ron shouted back, shielding his face from some of the debris as the walls shuttered violently again.

Harry thought quickly and brought out his wand. "Clypeus!" he commanded and a thin stream of red light shot out his wand end. It expanded and zoomed around the entire room´s parameter, creating a glowing shield.

As he did, the explosions and sounds outside became muffled and the shaking died down some.

Harry relaxed a bit. "There. That ought to keep the damage to a minimum for a while..... It´s not permanent though. It´ll only withstand for thirty minutes at the most. Depending on how much it is hit, it may be less."

Ron uncovered his head slowly and looked up at Harry. "So what do you suggest we do until then?" he asked.

"Well, I dunno about you, but I really need to go to the bathroom, so if you´ll just hold that thought for one minute..." Harry headed for one of the stalls.

Ron reddened some. "Now is not the time for that, Harry!"

"Hey! When you gotta go, you gotta go!" came Harry´s response inside the stall as the door shut.

Ron sighed in aggravation.

A little while later, there was the sound of the toilet flushing and Harry came out again. He strolled over to Ron but suddenly stopped in his tracks as he noticed something. His face transformed into a look of confusion. "Hey, Ron, doesn´t it seem.... quiet to you?" he asked.

"Hm?" Ron stared at Harry then realized just what he meant. "Oh....yeah...." His eyes widened. "It does." He cocked his ear towards the doorway to listen.

Myrtle had stopped making noise for some time now. Ron had been so preoccupied with other thoughts that he hadn´t noticed. He waited and listened, but the silence was eerie and nothing happened. Harry shot him a look of apprehension, which he returned.

"Stay here. I´m going to check it out and see what she´s up to," whispered Harry to him with a brave glint in his eye.

Ron gave him a glance of worried but nodded in understanding anyway.

Harry tip-toed towards the bathroom door that now looked more like a lumpy, battered piece of metal then a door since so many bullets and explosions had hit it. He made a mental note to put a few more shielding charms on it after he was done investigating, just to be a little safer. Bending down on his knees, he leaned towards the keyhole in the door and peered out through it cautiously. It took a while for his eyes to focus to the lighting, but when they had he was able to make out Myrtle. She was still there and wasn´t by any means giving up either. He watched as she piled another stick of dynamite against the door, adding to an already large pile. An insane grin was on her face as she stacked the dynamite one by one on top of one another. Behind her was enough explosive power to blow up... well, actually Harry wasn´t sure how much explosive power it was, but he was sure that it was more then enough to do in the Slytherin bathroom. Plus the rest of the corridor, maybe, he thought grimly.

Myrtle´s head suddenly snapped up as if sensing Harry´s presents. She looked sharply over towards the keyhole, but Harry was quick and retreated before she could see him.

"Well?" Ron hissed as Harry fell back to where he was by the sinks.

"Uh...." Harry got out his wand and muttered: "Tego!" with it pointed at the door. Another barrier was added to the shield, making the color flash from red to vibrant pink.

Inferring that this meant bad news, Ron reached for his wand too. "Not good, huh?"

"Nope. Not really," Harry stated. "Don´t suppose you have any brilliant ideas of how to get us out of here, do you?"

Ron stared at him blankly. "You mean you don´t?" he asked in growing horror.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, closed it, and then cursed loudly.

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Ginny woke up with a start. Her eyes popped open and she found herself staring up at a large nosed man with a liberal amount of greasy hair cascading down his face. He had a very sour look on his face and was certainly not the most pleasant thing to wake up to, which was probably one of the reasons why she screamed and bolted up and away from him into a bush.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," Snape snapped coldly. "Now shut up and get out of there now."

Wincing as the branches cut into her arms, Ginny did as she was told, shaking all over like a leaf. Snape? She had been found by Snape! How long had she been unconscious anyway? It couldn´t have been too long, judging by how bright it still was outside. It wasn´t past noon anyway. And what about the Sorting Hat? Ginny looked franticly around the area until she found the frayed old Hat laying still in the grass, acting completely like a hat should: not alive.

Had she dreamed it all up then? Somehow Ginny wasn´t too sure. The ordeal just seemed too real.

She picked up the hat from the grass and dusted it off some. She looked back up and found that Snape was still watching her. "Well?" he demanded.

She was tempted to say, Well, what? but restrained herself. "What do you mean, sir?"

"I´m waiting for you to tell me what you´re doing here," Snape stated, annoyed at her attempts to play dumb.

"Uh, well, I had to bring Professor Dumbledore the Sorting Hat, remember?" Ginny said, holding the hat up to him as proof.

Snape´s eyes narrowed at the hat. "Then why were you here unconscious on the ground?"

Ginny opened her mouth then closed it, and she lowered her head away from Snape. Her gaze trailed guiltily to a flowerpot nearby to their left. "Umm."

"Um, I...was.... sleepy and wanted to take a nap?"

Snape´s lips thinned. "Hn," was all he said, his face giving little to no doubt to Ginny as to what he thought of that reason.

Snape arched an eyebrow, taking no notice of her struggles. "Azkaban?" he said in surprise. "And here I thought you had just something minor." An evil smirk, that he was oh, so good at, crossed his face. "Well, Ms. Weasley, I think it´s about time we go see Professor Dumbledore and settle this matter."

Thin streams of tears were falling down Ginny´s face. She closed her eyes to try to stop them in vain. The trauma of all that had happened had been too much for her. With Harry and the Love Potion, Dumbledore and Sprout, the Hat, and now the prospect of being sent to Azkaban looming in her mind, she just couldn´t help but cry, especially when she thought of Harry. She was too late to save him. Breakfast had ended two hours ago. He was bound to encounter a girl by now. The idea of him being fondled by another girl was just icing on the cake to Ginny. Even though she knew Harry had no remote interest in her, she couldn´t help but like him anyway. Those brilliant green eyes, unruly black hair, she liked everything about him right down to his knobby knees. She wanted nothing more then to....

Her eyes suddenly snapped open. Wait a second...What did Snape just say?

The tears stopped in an instant and Ginny looked up. Horror and fear was etched completely all over her face. "D-D-D-Did you just say we were g-going to see Dumbledore?" she asked Snape.

Snape gave her an annoyed glance and tugged her with him as he headed towards the Greenhouses Ginny had previously fled from. "That´s Headmaster Dumbledore to you, Ms. Weasley, and yes, that is what I said."

"Oh, sh-"

"Language."

"Crap!"

Snape looked at Ginny in mild surprise. "Problem?"

"Professor," Ginny said earnestly. "I know this is going to sound odd, but I´m pleading with you: Please, don´t go get Dumbledore! Y-You don´t want to see him right now. Trust me!"

"Scared now, are you?" Snape asked with a sneer.

"Uh, no. I--"

Ginny fell silent as they arrived at the doorway to Greenhouse Three. She bit her lip and fought like a wild thing to get free. No! No! I´ve got to escape! she thought franticly. She almost considered biting Snape´s hand but stopped herself. Snape, as usual, didn´t consider knocking and reached for the door handle, only expelling a little effort in keeping Ginny from running away.

The door crept open slowly and Ginny felt the breath catch in her throat. She cringed and quickly averted her eyes, not wanting to go blind.

Seconds ticked by and nothing happened. Ginny's curiosity at got the better of her, and she opened one eye to look into the room.

Her jaw dropped at what she saw.