Someone to Watch Over Me

Someone to Watch Over Me

Chapter 4: Love Potions: Thoughts vs. Feelings

Hermione groaned and looked at the clock. Three AM was much too early to be awake. However, sleeping meant dreaming, and dreaming meant kissing Snape. It must be a side effect of that blasted potion. She had actually been quite proud of it, as she and the Professor had spent months perfecting it. It was more than a love potion. It was an 'infatuation' potion for lack of a better word. Instead of manipulating the drinker's feelings, it manipulated their thoughts, which in turn controlled their feelings. You see, with a normal love potion you're given fake feelings and the strong-minded can sometimes 'talk' themselves out of those fake feelings with reasonable thoughts. This new potion gave you fake thoughts, but the feelings you got from those thoughts were real and therefore took much more effort to break free from. Apparently those feelings didn't immediately wear off like the thoughts did.

Why else would she be having erotic dreams about the Professor?

She settled herself out her desk with a quill and parchment.

Hermione thought back to her own experience with it. She had a very strong and stubborn mind, and would probably not have even been affected by it if she'd had Ginny's dosage. Snape knew exactly what he was doing, making her drink a whole bottle full! Her reaction to it bothered her, though. She should have just had all thoughts altered to put him up on a pedestal. He had expected her to beg him to let her do things for him like a house elf. Instead, she had just wanted to kiss him. Actually that wasn't true; she had settled for kissing, she had wanted to shag him silly.

She knew that she should probably be grateful that he hadn't taken advantage of her. She'd have let him do anything.

Hermione shuddered, but it wasn't disgust she was feeling.

Over the months of having to work with him on a daily basis, she'd come to care for him a great deal. He was obviously lonely, and had been for a long time. At first he had resisted her attempts at a friendship, trying to scare her away. But she was stubborn, always had been. He'd finally just given in and accepted her presence.

They worked well together, not even he could argue with that, though he'd probably try. That man would argue with a stop sign. But that was one of the things Hermione liked about him. He never made things easy, always challenging her when even he knew he had no point.

And now, thanks to the potion, she was starting to think about him in a very un-academic way.

Still, it bothered her that the potion hadn't worked on her the way they thought it would. She'd have to interview Ginny about it later. Maybe she could get Snape and Draco to take it so she could see if it affected them differently.

Her eyelids began to droop, and Snape's face popped into her mind. She jerked back awake and got to her feet.

"That's it! I can't take this anymore," she announced to an annoyed Crookshanks, who was trying to sleep.

Hermione put a cloak on over her nightgown, and went to the dungeons.

She made a disgusted noise as she entered the potion's classroom, and saw the Professor grading papers.

"What are you doing up?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

He didn't even look up.

"I could ask you the same question."

She moved passed him to the supply room.

"I can't sleep. I need a potion." She studied the shelves, and then groaned.

"You're out of Dreamless Sleep?!" she bellowed, stomping back out to confront him.

Snape smirked.

"Now, Miss Granger, I know you were here when I gave the last vial to Draco last night."

"I didn't know that it was the last one. Great, now what do I do?" she muttered, and then yawned.

"There are other sleeping potions," he commented.

"I don't want to sleep, I want to not dream!"

That got his attention, and he finally looked up.

"Nightmares?"

"No-I... Yes, I guess you could call them that." She mumbled, her face turning pink.

He stared at her, curiously for a moment.

"Alright, come with me," he said finally.

He led her through the supply room and the hidden back door to his own chambers. She'd been there before a few times and so followed him unquestioningly.

"Wait here," he said, and she plopped down in a padded armchair with a sigh.

He disappeared through a door that she guessed was his bedroom.

Yawning again, she curled up in the comfortable chair, and drifted off.

"Here you... Miss Granger?"

Professor Snape found Hermione fast asleep with her mouth open, and some unattractive drool trailing down her chin.

"Mm, Professor... Harder..." she moaned.

He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling.

"Why me?"

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Ginny slowly awoke feeling like a truck had hit her. She looked down to see the top of a silky blonde head that was using her chest as a pillow.

His arms were around her, and Ginny felt very safe, and warm.

A lazy smile crossed her lips and she absently began running her fingers through his hair. Being with Draco was not going to be as bad as she'd feared. He had obviously changed a lot since he was a student. She supposed that losing your parents along with almost everything else you'd ever known would do that to you.

He hadn't told her what exactly had happened to Narcissa and Lucius. She expected that it was probably pretty painful to him, and that he'd tell her when he was ready.

Draco had been raised spoilt, and trained to be snobbish and superior. But now, he had chosen not to be any of those things. Unfortunately, there was a lot of bad blood between their families. And she knew that hers would not make things easy for him. He'd have to prove himself for them to accept him, and she honestly doubted that he would make the effort. He hadn't changed that much.

It didn't matter. Ginny had said that she'd marry him, and she would. She'd do her part, and through him, might just be able to make a huge difference in the war. Maybe they'd even fall in love. It wasn't unheard of for a witch and wizard to have an arranged marriage. Perhaps it would work for them.

At least she didn't have to worry about getting his parents' approval. She felt bad even as she thought it, but it definitely made things more convenient.

Draco started to stir, and tightened his arms around her.

"G'morning," he mumbled, snuggling as close as he could get.

Suddenly he froze, and lifted his head to look at her with a guilty expression.

"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't... I mean, I didn't try to..." he stammered.

He was just so cute!

"Thank you for taking care of me last night," she said with a small smile.

"No problem," he said, and carefully extracted himself from her and the tangled sheets.

Draco rubbed his eyes and yawned. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so hard. His body felt warm in the places that had touched her, and he liked that.

He ran a hand through his hair, and each strand easily fell into place. He glanced over at Ginny, and smirked.

"Been taking hair tips from Granger?" he teased.

Her hair was wildly frizzy, and seemed to float around her like a red cloud.

She reached down and picked her wand off of the floor where it had fallen last night.

She pointed it at her hair.

"Finite Incantatem," she said.

The curls slowly straightened and fell down her back like a fiery stream.

"So what's next?" she asked, blushing under his heavy gaze.

"Hmm? Oh, I guess I have to ask your parents for your hand," he told her.

She laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, you're serious? Draco, my parents aren't going to agree with this. I'll be lucky if they still talk to me when it's all over," she told him.

Forget her parents, Ron would go ballistic.

"No, Ginny, they have to agree, or it won't work," he said, getting upset.

Ginny frowned at him.

"Why?"

"Didn't you hear what The Dark Lord said last night?"

"Last night was a haze, and no, I stopped listening after he said he approved of me," she admitted, worried.

"He said we were to get married the old pureblood traditional way. Both sets of parents have to agree, and participate," he explained.

"But Draco, your parents are dead."

"Yes, thank you for reminding me," he said, sarcastically.

"Sorry."

"At first The Dark Lord said that he would stand up for me, but I was able to convince him that that probably wouldn't be a good idea. So, he's going to appoint Snape to do it."

"I really should have paid more attention last night, huh?" she asked, sheepishly.

He gave her a small smile.

"It's not your fault. That potion is some nasty stuff. I think you should talk to Granger about it."

She looked away.

"Hey, I think it will do you good to share it with her. Besides, the two of them have been working on that potion all year. I wouldn't be surprised if she makes you fill out a worksheet about it."

They both laughed at that then fell into a comfortable silence.

Ginny sighed heavily, and got out of bed.

"I need to go tell Dumbledore not to tell my mum. If we're going to do this right, we'll just have to convince everybody that we want to get married, and that this has nothing to do with Voldemort."

"You'd lie to your family, for me? No, for the Order?" he asked, remembering the conversation he'd had with Hermione yesterday.

She walked over to him, and took both his hands in hers.

"For you, Draco. Even if I wasn't an Order member, I'd still help you out," she told him, honestly.

Draco looked shocked.

"I really think you need to go talk to Hermione. That potion might still be affecting you."

Ginny dropped his hands, and thought about what he said.

"You're right. It really doesn't make sense that I'd go along with all of this so easily." She gestured toward the unmade bed.

"Yeah, you haven't even said anything about your apparel."

She looked down at the 'Slytherin Rules' T-shirt she was wearing and snorted.

"I should be upset about this," she said as she picked up her dress-robes off of the floor and went to the bathroom to get dressed.

"You're not?"

"Nope."

"You're not going to give it back to me are you?"

"Nope."

End Chapter