The Perfect Plan

October arrived at Hogwarts on the heels of crisp autumn breezes and piles of homework. Students had settled into the routine of school and that Thursday afternoon was no exception. Fiona was seated at her usual table in the library, her nose buried deep in an old book on human transfiguration. Dara sat across from her, casually flipping through the Herbology text and sighing loudly.

"Dara, could you please be quiet? I've got to finish this essay for McGonagall."

Dara placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward on her hands. "But it's not due until Monday. Please, Fiona, I need your help with this Herbology assignment. You can work on that tomorrow."

"Can't. I'm busy tomorrow."

"Meeting Draco?" Fiona blushed slightly and avoided Dara's eyes.

The two of them had not noticed their head of house approaching the table. Professor Snape cleared his throat to interrupt the conversation and both girls looked up suddenly.

"Miss Austin, if you would come with me." He turned, his robes billowing out behind him.

Fiona shrugged her shoulders at Dara's curious glance, gathered her books and followed Snape out of the library. She found herself moving at an almost trot in order to keep up with his normal pace.

"Sir, may I ask where we are going?"

He stopped suddenly in front of a gargoyle and without acknowledging her, muttered something under his breath. The statue sprung aside and a staircase appeared and began moving upwards. He gestured to Fiona to precede him up the stairs and followed after her.

At the top of the stairs, Fiona found herself outside the Headmaster's office. Professor Snape knocked on the door and was immediately bid entrance for the two of them. Portraits of previous Headmasters lined the walls, all of them in deep sleep. Shelves full of books stretched up toward the ceiling. To one side of the massive desk was a bird perch, empty for the moment.

At this point, Fiona's nerves were getting the best of her. In her previous five years at Hogwarts, she had not had any reason to be called to Dumbledore's office. She looked at Snape's face to see if she could gather any information but his expression was impassive as it usually was in group situations. Typically, the Potions Master could be counted on to help out his Slytherins with a wink or a nod, but it looked as though she was on her own in this case. And since she was one of his favorite students, that did not provide her with any reassurance. If she was in trouble, he would not hesitate to make her life difficult.

Albus Dumbledore sat behind his desk, a grave look on his face. His normally twinkling eyes were solemn. He stood as they entered, and indicated for them to be seated. Fiona sat on the edge of the chair he had designated while her Head of House settled in the one to her right.

"Miss Austin, thank you for joining us. I am certain that you are wondering why we have called you here today."

She nodded; not certain if she could trust her voice to speak. The old wizard levitated a piece of parchment across the room until it was in front of Fiona.

"Do you recognize this, Miss Austin?"

"Y-y-yes, s-sir."

"Can you explain how it ended up in Mr. Weasley's possession?"

Fiona's jaw dropped. "Pardon me, Professor?"

Snape snorted suddenly, causing Fiona to jump in her seat. "For Merlin's sake, Miss Austin. If you were set on seducing someone, why did you set your sights on a Weasley? I thought you had better taste than that."

She turned toward Snape in anger. "Pardon me, Professor, but I did not send that letter to any Gryffindor and certainly would not have sent it to Mr. Weasley."

Dumbledore spoke, directing the attention of both of the Slytherins back to him. "Who was the intended recipient of the letter, Miss Austin?"

"I sent it to Draco Malfoy, but he did receive the letter. I met him that night."

"Very curious. You see, Miss Austin, Mr. Weasley has informed us that he is the one that received this note from you and is the one that met you that night."

Fiona looked from one of her professors to the other in deep confusion. "I know that it was dark that night and hard to see, but I don't know how I could have mistaken Draco for someone else. And then the next day he sent me flowers..."

"Did he sign the note with the flowers? Or did you assume that he was the one that sent them to you? Because Mr. Weasley insists he is the one responsible for the flowers as well."

At this point, Fiona was beyond confused. "Alright. But I'm sorry, Headmaster, I am confused. Even if I did meet him, and I'm certain that I did not, why would that involve anyone else at this point?"

"Miss Austin, it is not the actual relationship that concerns me. In this case, we know that the Furere Aliqua Potion was used on this letter. What I need to know from you is, did you use any other charms or potions?"

Fiona knew that she was in trouble by the Headmaster's tone but she also knew that it was useless to hide any information at this point. "I-I used the Redamo charm."

At this, Snape exploded out of his chair and began to yell as he paced back and forth across the office. "I would have never expected something like this from someone with your level of knowledge in Potions. A Hufflepuff, maybe, but I never expected such a level of incompetence from you. Did you even read all of the warnings, Fiona? Or were you so desperate that you just jumped ahead and did what you wanted without any..."

"Severus, that's enough." Dumbledore broke into Snape's rant before he could go any farther. "Miss Austin, what Professor Snape is trying to say is that when the potion and charm are used together there can be some unwanted side effects."

Snape pulled out a copy of Most Potente Potions and opened it to the chapter containing the potion she had brewed. In the footnote in very small print was a warning regarding the use of the potion and the very charm that she had cast. In order to prevent concomitant use, when used together this combination has a high probability of resulting in...

"Heart Binding? Sir, what does this mean? I'm bound to Draco?"

At this, her Head of House sat back down in his chair, his hands in his face. After a moment of silence, he looked over at her and sighed. "Fiona, have you been listening to what we have been saying? Draco never got your note."

"How could that be?"

"When you sent the letter to Mr. Malfoy, exactly how did you word it?"

"I sent it with my raven and told him to take it to Draco."

"Are you certain about that?" The Headmaster's eyes gazed upon her intently.

Fiona closed her eyes and thought hard "No, you are right. I told him to take it to...my true love." She slumped back in her seat, dejected. This can't be happening to me.

"We tested the parchment and found traces of the potion that you used on it. However, in all of the tests that we have run on Mr. Weasley, we were unable to pinpoint the exact charm that was used. Can you explain why you felt the need to use both of these?"

"I just wanted Draco to notice me. And I knew from the description of the potion that a charm would be needed to solidify its effects." Doing things to be noticed was something the Headmaster would write off as a typical teenage stunt and she knew Dumbledore would accept this explanation. She also knew that Snape would know that there was more to the story, which the snort she heard from his seat confirmed.

Snape began to speak. "Did you ever wonder why Love Potions are so tightly regulated and controlled? Every Potions Master and apothecary must report every batch made as well as every sale of the product to the Ministry of Magic. Illegal brewing of these potions is serious and usually the punishment is harsh. If you had read the warnings at the bottom of the page as well as the following page, you would have noted that there was an extra ingredient - an ingredient that has nothing to do with the actual effect of the potion. Did you notice this?"

"I wondered why it was there, but looking at the properties-"

"Fiona, that ingredient is added for one reason only - to keep wizards from using it with love and lust charms. The Furere Aliqua Potion is one of the strongest there is. When it was first developed, a group of dark wizards were using it to seduce young witches in order to dominate them and bring them under their power. However, they found that the potion was not enough on its own and these wizards began to test it in combination with various charms in order to increase the effectiveness."

Dumbledore then explained how the Ministry of Magic had discovered what this group was doing. The Department for Magical Law Enforcement issued a directive to the creator of the potion to do two things, whom at the time was the only one with the recipe. First, an ingredient was added to the potion to make it 'less desirable' to use with the charms. Second, the potion would be rendered ineffective if the ingredient were not added.

These changes made it so when it was used with any of the known "love" charms, a Heart Binding would occur. However, it was not just a simple Heart Binding. It was one that made the wizard submissive to the witch he was trying to seduce. Additionally, if the two were separated for long periods of time, the wizard would become very ill and unable to function. The strength of the bond was dependent on the strength of the wizard.

Snape broke in to finish the explanation. "Since the potion was highly regulated and could only be made by Potions Masters, all of whom were male at the time, the side effects were gender specific rather than geared toward the castor of the charm. That is why the warning is there. To keep the wizarding community from abusing the potion." He stared at his student, the disappointment evident in his eyes.

Fiona sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, letting the information run through her mind. So due to her own stupidity (which she readily admitted at this point), there was a young man in the Hospital Wing. And the only way to get him out of the infirmary was for her to spend time with him.

Professor Flitwick was consulted about the strength of the bond. Even though her potion was flawless (Snape had stated this with barely concealed pride in his voice), Fiona's charm was not very strong. They concluded that the bond was not a permanent one and in fact, they thought it would more than likely last less than a year.

When Fiona finally was allowed to leave the Headmaster's office, she felt like she could not be more humiliated. Over the course of that hour she had lost fifty points for Slytherin, received a week of detentions, and been assigned tutoring sessions. The fifty points and detentions were for being out after hours. The tutoring sessions were Dumbledore's unique punishment for her use of the potion and charm.

As the only way for Ron to get better was to spend time with his bonded, the old wizard designated daily meeting times for the two students, at least two hours every day. Dumbledore assigned Ron Weasley as a DADA and Charms tutor for Fiona while on the flip side, Fiona would be expected to tutor Ron in Potions, even though he was a year ahead.

Fiona found herself being escorted to the Hospital Wing by Snape after leaving Dumbledore's office. For the second time that day, she found herself running in order to keep up with her teacher. Neither of the Slytherins spoke, as both were deep in thought.

To Fiona, Professor Snape was everything she had expected of her own father. She loved her father dearly, but as a Ravenclaw, he did not understand her as well as her Head of House. As a master of potions and a Slytherin, Snape had been a mentor to her. To have displeased Snape was worse to Fiona than if she had hurt her own father.

Snape opened the door to the infirmary and ushered Fiona in. As she passed him, he placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her and murmured, "Miss Austin, I think that you have already concluded my intense disappointment in your actions. Rest assured that I will be watching you closely."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

He removed his hand and left her alone in the doorway.

Taking a deep breath, Fiona walked into the Hospital Wing. The beds were all empty except for one that was situated across from Madam Pomfrey's office. The redheaded Gryffindor lay on his side, curled up in fetal position. He had watched her with Snape and now his eyes met hers as she crossed the room. A shiver ran up her spine at the intensity of the anger she saw.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"What do you want? Come to taunt me some more?"

She was surprised by the pain and anguish in his voice, but did not let the surprise show. "No, I came to help you get better. And to tell you that I am sorry."

"An apology from a Slytherin? Did hell freeze over while I've been in here?" Ron rolled to his back, anything to get away from her, and moaned as a wave of pain hit him. Madam Pomfrey heard the groans and rushed out of her office to his bedside.

Noting that Fiona was there, she moved a chair to the side of the bed. "About time the Headmaster sent you up here. Now, sit down child, and hold his hand."

"Hold his hand?"

"Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you anything? If Mr. Weasley is separated from you for too long, he gets ill. The bond usually doesn't need physical contact, but as sick as he is, it is the fastest way of treating him at this point. Now do as I said." The medi-witch looked aggravated that a student dared to question her treatment of a patient.

The sixth year grasped Ron's hand and was rewarded with an immediate sigh of relief from the patient. Madam Pomfrey bustled around for a few more moments, placing a glass of water on the small table next to the bed and handing another to Fiona. She studied the girl seated next to the bed.

"With you here, he should fall asleep soon. You will need to stay here for the rest of the evening. I'll have the house elves bring some supper for you both." Fiona could hear the disapproval in the older witch's tone. She obviously did not want the girl there, but had no choice since her patient needed her to recover. Fiona nodded her thanks.

The medi-witch returned to her office, leaving the two students alone. Fiona reached into her bag and pulled out her Herbology textbook, intending to study as she sat there. She sat up and saw that Ron's eyes were on her.

"Why?"

That one word resounded through the large room, echoing back into Fiona's head. Why? How did she explain to someone she didn't know that it was all her stupidity, that the culmination of a series of mistakes that did this to him? Where would she even begin? They sat there in silence while she tried to find an answer for him. Finally she spoke.

"I..."

But he was already asleep.