Potion Magic

Chapter 7

Ginny plopped down on top of Hermione's bed, and took a good long look at her brother. His face was a pale apricot color and there were diminishing clusters of blisters all over his face. Ron insisted that he felt fine, but Ginny was sure that she was protecting her, being brave and not admitting to the pain. But what was more puzzling to Ginny was Hermione.

Hermione had been sheepishly happy to see her and the twins when they arrived. She looked positively glowing and content. But within a few seconds of their arrival, Hermione's demeanor completely changed. Ginny was concerned to see her look so desperately worried, and she watched a shocking realization hit Hermione's face like a slap. Visibly upset, Hermione looked panicked, as she stared at Ron with tears filling her eyes. Fred, and then George, noticed this also, and figured that Hermione was anguished at Ron's injury; obviously, she was worried about the possibility of blindness and the upcoming procedure.

Now Ginny Weasley had always been ultra - intuitive. It was a gift she had inherited from her mother, and both of them were aware that in their genetic family line, the gift of intuitive perception was an X-linked chromosomal trait -- one that was passed on exclusively to the girls, and skipped the boys. Or as Ginny put it, "Only the women in our family can tell what you are thinking. The boys have no clue!" Indeed, none of the boys had this Empathic gift; it belonged to Ginny and Molly Weasley alone. And Ginny did consider it a gift, to be able to look at people and see what they were feeling.

And as Ginny looked at Hermione's face, she knew that something else, something more was wrong. She couldn't explain it, but Ginny KNEW that Hermione was upset about something else. She didn't know what had happened between Hermione and Ron, but she had always known that they cared for each other more than they would admit. Wanting to be supportive to her friend, but not alert her boisterous brothers to Hermione's distress, Ginny slid over to Hermione's side and put her arm around her shoulder. Her gaze was fixed on Ron, but through her gentle touch, Ginny tried to comfort Hermione.

Madam Pomphrey soon returned and ordered everyone to leave so that she might begin work on cleaning Ron's corneas. The Sleeping Draught was in her hand, as she shooed all the students away. But Hermione was steadfast in wanting a private moment alone with Ron before the procedure begin, and sympathetic Madam Pomphrey obliged her, but only gave her 2 minutes to say her good byes. Hermione kneeled at Ron's side and took his hand.

"Ron, we don't have much time till Madam Pomphrey comes back." She could feel her face redden, and then she realized that this was no time to be demure or embarrassed. "There's a very good possibility that when you wake up, you're not going to remember any of the times that we connected with the potion. When Madam Pomphrey gives you that Sleeping Draught and performs the memory charm, that'll be it. So, I just want you to know that I'll be waiting for you. I will keep our secrets, and I will treasure every moment we spent together connected. Ron, you are brave and tenacious, and I want you to try to fight to remember what happened, to remember us."

She kissed his cheek, and continued, swallowing tears and controlling her voice. "When you wake up, your eyes may still be bandaged for some time, while your corneas heal. I'm going to bring you something that you can touch and feel when you wake up. It'll be something that you'll know is just from me to help you remember how great we could be together. Oh, Ron, please fight to try to remember me!" With that, Hermione kissed his cheek and ran out of the room, just as Madam Pomphrey returned.

Ron tried to call after Hermione, but choked on the words. He heard her footsteps fade away as she left, and thought, "I'll fight for you Hermione. I promise not to forget you. I only hope that I get to actually SEE you again, sweet girl." Ron's attention was turned back to the possibility of blindness as Madam Pomphrey guided him to sit up and helped him to drink the Sleeping Draught. But Ron's last thoughts before darkness were of the memory of Hermione, and how much he wanted to get back to that place within her heart.

Hermione maintained a brave composure through the hospital ward, but dissolved into tears once she reached the main hallway. She slid down to the floor in a sitting position and didn't notice that Ginny had waited for her. Empathic Ginny knew that Hermione was mourning the loss of something, but what? What could she have lost with Ron? Thinking that maybe she could help, Ginny helped Hermione back to her feet and helped her stumble back to Gryffindor tower. Everyone there was aware of Ron's accident, so they were very sympathetic when they saw the prostrate girl; Ginny dodged all questions as she led her friend to her dormitory room.

Hermione fell face down onto the scarlet velvet cover of her bed, and let loose in racking sobs. Ginny looked at her friend, and searched for comforting words. Finding none, she walked over to the foot of the bed, climbed up next to Hermione, and started gently rubbing her shoulders. Ginny could sense within Hermione the depth of her pain and disappointment, but she wasn't sure where all this was coming from.

After a time, Hermione calmed down and sat up, red eyed and blotchy faced. She laughed and said, "I must be quite a sight!" Ginny handed her a tissue, and waited for Hermione to speak. But the words did not come, as Hermione drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. It seemed as if she was trying to shut the whole world out.

Ginny took a deep breath and then spoke, praying that she was not saying something that would cause her friend more pain. "Hey, you're not alone. It's going to be okay. Madam Pomphrey can work wonders. One time, Charlie and Hagrid..." Hermione interrupted her with a fresh round of wailing.

At that moment, Ginny sensed the problem: Hermione was not in distress because of guilt about her accidentally causing Ron's injury. And although she was very upset about the potential for blindness, but that still WASN'T it. Hermione was crushed that Ron was going to wake up and not remember any of this after the Memory Charm. "But why?" Ginny asked herself. "Why does Hermione want Ron to remember being sprayed with a stinky orange potion, losing his sight, and being covered with blisters? Something must have happened between them in the hospital wing. It's about time," chuckled Ginny to herself.

Suddenly, Hermione jumped up off of her bed and began rushing about her room. "Enough of this. I've got something that - which I've got to go do. Very important. Got to go do it right now."

Ginny was stalwart and not to be shaken off the trail. "Ok, how can I help?"

Stunned, Hermione spoke slowly. "Ginny, you can't help me with this. This is something that I have to make on my own. I'm off to the library. " Ginny was not about to be so easily dismissed, and besides, she knew that she might learn something from Hermione, who absorbed information at light speed.

"So, I'll go with you to the library. I can help you find things. I'll get books for you. I can look things up. I won't get in your way and I won't bother you. Come on, he's my brother, too!"

Hermione looked at Ginny's sweet face, with her light sprinkling of freckles and brow furrowed with concern. "I'm sorry I've behaved so badly. You have been nothing but kind and sweet. Ok, you can help me, Ginny, but I can't share everything with you. I promised Ron that there were some things that I would keep a secret." Ginny smiled and picked up Hermione's book bag, shutting the door behind them as they left for the library.

Hermione and Ginny worked in the library long into the night. Ginny wasn't sure what they were looking for, but Hermione had her taking lots of notes from One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi about the uses of fenugreek. Hermione was reading at a breakneck speed; she had a large pile of Transfiguration books in front of her, and was making a long list that looked like a shopping list. Ginny figured that her parchment must have been about 3 feet long.

In Important Modern Magical Discoveries, Hermione was looking up how to make an enchanted copy of a person's face. She discovered that she would actually have to have physical contact with both Ron and Harry to do what she had planned.

Where There's A Wand, There's A Way gave her all kinds of tips on how to transfigure simple objects into jewelry. She was especially interested in learning how to do enchanted engraving that would make the jewelry "spring to life" whenever it was touched.

The library's battered copy of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms was a familiar friend to Hermione, but it did not give her the information she wanted on how to condense and shrink movable objects, so that they would spring back to their original size when touched by the owner. She considered approaching Professor Flitwick for help, but decided to continue her library search first.

Ginny was taking notes from back issues of Transfiguration Today about the general properties of Wizard Space. Hermione had directed her to look for specific examples of charms that would cause the objects to hold more than their outer dimensions would seem to allow. Confused but compliant, Ginny continued working without question.

Harry came to the library and found them both hard at work, well after most of the students had gone to bed. He smiled to see Hermione and Ginny working together, obviously to try to help Ron in some way. Quietly, he sat down next to Ginny and asked, "What is it that you're trying to find?"

Ginny sighed, "I have no idea what all of this is for. Hermione's got me running all over the place! One minute, I think she's trying to recreate that potion accident, next I'm looking up all these weird transfiguration things like seashells into reptiles, and sticks into trees. And get this, for the last hour, she has been in the Medieval Art books, looking at castle architecture and blueprints, of all things. I don't get it, Harry."

"Well, I still think you are really great to help her. I've never, ever seen her like this - so frantic, so determined. And I've studied with Hermione many times. We've been through a lot together over the years. You seem to be keeping up pretty well. You must be quite the intelligent young witch, Miss Weasley," said Harry, which made Ginny blush all the way to her ears. Harry thought that Ginny looked very sweet, with her hair tied back in a ribbon and her fingertips dark with ink. There was a small ink smudge on Ginny's cheek, and as Harry reached over to wipe it off, he watched her heart-shaped face light up. Goodness, had Ginny's eyes always been so starry and bright? She really had become quite pretty, Harry thought. He wondered why he had never noticed it before. Her beauty seemed different than most other girls that Harry considered pretty - they suddenly seemed common and over done next to Ginny. Whoa, this was a lot to think about all at once!

What Harry didn't realize was that Ginny, being empathic, knew exactly what he was feeling. She had liked him for SO LONG and he finally was looking at her as a girl, a pretty girl, and not as his best friend's little sister. What a great feeling!

Hermione came over and sat down. Harry thought she looked very tired. Well, at least working in the library will give her something to do while we wait to find out about Ron, thought Harry.

She turned her most pleading look on Harry and said, "Harry, my friend...I need to borrow something. I don't want to say out loud what it is, but it's to help Ron, and I need to get some stuff....".

He stopped her with a wave of his hand. "I know what you want and I'll go get it right now. Anything you need. Say no more. Besides, if you're going, I want to go too!" Smiling at both of them, and sharing an understanding glance at Ginny, Harry left for Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione turned to Ginny. "I need some photographs of your family. If you can get some so that I can look at a picture of each person, that would be great. Recent stuff would be super, but I can use old photos, too." Ginny nodded and left.

Alone at last, Hermione began to gather the things on her long parchment list. She picked up her wand and began to focus upon Hagrid's cabin: "Accio Letharum." Hermione had summoned a long leather strap. She had never summoned something from outside the castle before, but this was an emergency. Focusing with all of her might, she was relieved to see the leather strap come flying through the open window and settle gently down at her feet.

She decided to wait until Harry's return to trim the leather strap to length. Hermione checked the strap off of her list. Next, she needed a wizard chess set and board. In order to equip it for Ron to use while he was unable to see was going to require some advanced magic. Ron would need to be able to touch and feel the pieces without them attacking him! Contemplating her options, she came to the only realistic decision possible: she was going to have to go ask Professor McGonagall for help. As much as Hermione wanted to make this gift for Ron all by herself, she wanted even more for it to be done in time for Ron to wake up. That way he would have everything while the bandages were still on and couldn't see - and who knew - Hermione thought with a stab of pain, maybe he wouldn't ever be able to see it.

Hastily, she scribbled out a note to Harry and Ginny, letting them know where she had gone and that, hopefully, she'd be right back. Screwing up all of her courage, Hermione began the long trek to the teacher's tower. She had been to visit Professor McGonagall a few times before, when in her third year at Hogwarts, she had used a time turner to attend several classes at the same time. It had driven her nearly mad! But Professor McGonagall had always been very kind and supportive of her in the past, so Hermione was hoping that she would be willing to help her make or teach her how to make a part of her special gift to Ron. Unfortunately, the hour was late. She hoped that Professor McGonagall wasn't asleep.

As Hermione approached the large portrait of an elegant lady with a striped tabby cat, she scrambled to remember the password to the entrance to Professor McGonagall's quarters. The lady in the picture stroked the purring cat and said, "Password?" Hermione had to dig deep to remember and then it came to her: "lemon curd". The portrait swung open to reveal a silver quill and a large sheet of parchment. With many embellishments, the quill began to write, "Who wishes to see Professor McGonagall?" Hermione picked up the quill and carefully wrote back, "Hermione Granger. I need to see you in regards to something that involves Ronald Weasley. I am very sorry about the late hour, but I'm against a deadline. Could you speak with me please?" Hermione waited a minute and then the quill began to write back, "Professor McGonagall will be happy to see you once she has been properly attired. She will join you shortly."

Soon the wooden door opened and there stood Professor McGonagall. Hermione had to stifle a giggle. She had never seen so many different tartan plaids on someone at the same time! Professor McGonagall was wearing a red plaid flannel bathrobe, a blue plaid flannel pair of pajamas, and a bright green plaid flannel nightcap - trimmed with eyelet lace. Hermione suspected that she might have recently applied a wrinkle-reducing potion to her face, for there were faint pink traces around the edges of her jaw, forehead, and neck. The finishing touch was yellow fluffy duck slippers. Her face was both stern and sympathetic, so Hermione approached her respectfully and cautiously.

"Professor, I'm very sorry to bother you in the evening after hours like this, but I have something very complicated that I have to complete tonight. It's for Ron. He's in the hospital wing and his eyes are badly hurt. Madam Pomphrey has had to clean his corneas, but she's not sure if he will regain his eyesight or not." Hermione noticed her stoic face soften, and continued. "Ron is my dear friend, and I accidentally hurt him. I want to make him something that he can use when he wakes up. Madam Pomphrey says that his eyes will have to have to stay bandaged for a while. Ron loves to play wizard chess. It's one of his favorite things. I want to be able to transfigure a wizard chessboard and its pieces into a small metal disk . If this works, Ron would be able to touch this disk and the board and pieces will spring forth, ready to be played with. We need the board to be enchanted so that Ron can touch and move all the pieces with out them attacking him. Ideally, I'd like him to be able to either play chess with someone else, or if he's alone, play against the board itself. The board would need to be able to talk to him....".

Professor McGonagall cut her off with a raised hand. "Miss Granger, you are a very talented witch, and a kind and caring friend to Mr. Weasley. But there is no way that you possess the skills that it would take to perform that level of self-reversible transfiguration! My dear girl, there are many grown wizards who specialize in transfiguration who would not be able to perform such a complicated feat. "

Hermione felt a large lump in her throat and tears well up in her eyes. She was so disappointed; she had been so sure that Professor McGonagall would tell her what to do.

"So, Miss Granger, since you don't have the skills to make this chess board yourself, I will do it for you." With a wave of her wand, McGonagall conjured a wizard chessboard. The pieces were heavy pewter, and ornately decorated and detailed. She talked aloud as she worked. "Ok, he needs to be able to tell which pieces are on which side, but he can't see them --- a ha! Tempaturatum! There! The black pieces will be cool to the touch, and the white pieces will be warm to the touch." She performed a complicated Silencing Charm that would keep the pieces from attacking the chess players, but then they would still fight each other. The queens in this chess set seemed particularly vicious. "Perfect," thought Hermione. Then, with a wave of her wand, the playing board was resurfaced. The white squares were soft and fluffy like lamb's wool, and the black squares were smooth and cool as satin; it was now easy to tell them apart to the touch.

To finish, McGonagall pressed the silver button on the top right hand corner of the board. As she did so, the chess pieces marched into position and the entire board folded itself up neatly and was compressed into the tiny silver button. With a sly glimmer in her eye, McGonagall asked Hermione, "Was this what you had in mind?"

Hermione stammered, "Professor, I'm grateful beyond words. Thank you so much for your help. This chess set will mean a lot to Ron, seeing that you made it for him. I could have never made this myself."

Straightening up her plaid nightcap, McGonagall smiled and said, "Then I bid you good night, Miss Granger. It is almost lights out time, and you would not want to be found out of bounds." She put the "chess set" button into Hermione's hand as she showed her to the door. McGonagall grinned as it closed it behind her, returning to her reading and her cup of Earl Grey tea.

Hermione walked briskly down the corridor toward the library, wanting to collect her books and research materials before lights out. As she came around the corner toward the library entrance, she heard someone say, "Look, there she is!". But no one was there. It took Hermione a moment to piece together that it was Ginny who had said that, and that she and Harry were together under the Invisibility Cloak.

She turned toward the direction of the voices and addressed them, "So you two hooked up, have you? Well, I just got one part of this project completed, thanks to Professor McGonagall. Amazing what professors will do for you when you just ask them."

Harry was so surprised that the cloak slipped off his head and right shoulder, making his head look like it was floating in midair. "Hermione! What did you do? What did you tell her?" Harry sounded panicked.

"Will you calm down? I'm not doing anything wrong or bad, Harry Potter. I'm simply making a gift for Ron, something for him for when he wakes up, and his eyes are still bandaged and he can't see. I went to Professor McGonagall because I wanted to know how to transfigure a wizard chess board and pieces into a small silver button; I wanted the pieces and the board to be adapted for Ron so he could play wizard chess, even when he couldn't see. She said it was a form of Self-Reversible Transfiguration and there were many adult wizards who would never be able to do anything as complicated."

Ginny was awestruck, "So, did she tell you how to do it?"

Hermione smiled, "No. She did it for me. Watch this!"

She placed the silver button in the palm of her hand, and pressed it 2 times to open it. As the board unfolded itself, she noticed that Professor McGonagall had enchanted the board with a handy Hover Charm, adjustable to the height of the players. The pieces marched into position, and then the board asked, "Ladies and Gentleman, who will be playing today, or would someone care to play against me? What color would you like to be?"

Harry was amazed as he ran his fingers over the squares, noting their different texture. "This will be perfect for Ron. Hermione, if you could get McGonagall to go into business with you, you could make a ton of money selling these boards!"

Suddenly, approaching them from behind came loud thudding footsteps and the exclamation of, "Who took Fang's leash? I saw it come into that window o'er there - it just jolly got up and flew off into the library! Where is it!" Hagrid was out of breath from running, and made a loud crash as he sat down on a nearby couch.

Harry took the Invisibility Cloak off of him and Ginny, and walked toward Hagrid. "Well, I should 'ave known that it would was you all! I would have given ya Fang's leash, but why do ya need it?"

Hermione smiled at Hagrid's generosity, "You do know about what happened to Ron?"

Hagrid nodded, "it's a bloody shame, of all the people that could 'ave been sprayed with that mess, poor Ron ended up with Madam Pomphrey. She's a good 'un, though, she's fixed me up more than a few times, I must say. Will he be all right?"

Hermione sighed, "We don't know yet. Madam Pomphrey has to scrub his corneas, and there may be some permanent damage to his eyesight. So, I'm trying to make him something special that he can use to have fun with for when he wakes up. Madam Pomphrey said that he'll have to stay bandaged for at least a few days, regardless."

Hagrid stood up to leave. "Well then, keep Fang's leash and use it for Ron. What are ya going to make with it, anyhow?"

Hermione smiled proudly and said, "A wristband, covered with silver buttons. Every button will do something different. Here's the first one." She pressed the silver button in her palm and the wizard chessboard neatly unfolded itself and the ornate pieces marched into position, ready for action.

"That's a girl, Hermione. Always using that excellent brain of yours to help your friends. Send me an owl if you need any more help. Night all." Hagrid strolled back to his cabin to console a very confused boarhound, in search of his leash.

Ginny focused her empathic skills toward Hermione as she spoke of the wristband that she was making for Ron, and felt the strong need toward completion that Hermione was feeling. But why? Why was it so important for Ron to get this right away --- when he wakes up! A realization hit Ginny -- Hermione was making this wristband to help Ron remember what the Memory Charm was going to erase. But remember what? Well, it must be pretty important to them both for Hermione to be this frantic and freaked out. And a wizard chessboard? Had they played together in the hospital wing? Ginny tried to connect the rest of the research that Hermione had had her working on, to make sense of it.

"Ginny! GINNY!" Harry had practically had to shout her name to get her attention. "What do you have in your book bag for Hermione?"

"Oh, I brought all of those pictures that she asked me for. Do you want to see them?"

Harry and Hermione both dove into her bag, and were soon laughing uncontrollably at an old picture of Percy. "OH MY GOODNESS! I never knew that his ears were SO big! He has the largest earlobes I've ever seen! How old is he in this picture? Harry asked, gasping for breath.

"He's about 9 there. I was just a baby, so I don't remember him then," Ginny replied. " Mum and Dad got his ears fixed before he started Hogwarts. Fred and George still like to tease him about it. They say that with his long nose and those ears that he looks like an elephant head!"

Hermione reached at took out another picture from her bag. It was obviously a wedding picture of Ron's parents. They were smiling and waving at the camera. Arthur looked quite dashing in a cut away and top hat, and Molly was dressed in a long cream colored gown of filmy lace, bedecked with ribbons and beads and pearls. They both looked quite young, unsure of themselves, and were very obviously in love. Hermione sighed and said, "That's how a great family gets started. Two people love each other very much." Ginny felt a tingle all the way down to her toes as she felt Harry's gaze upon her as Hermione spoke.

Ginny grabbed another picture with a giggle. "This is another great one. This is Ron, a couple of summers ago playing Quidditch...."

Hermione finished her sentence, "in the field next to your house. He told me about it, and about how much he loves that field and all his adventures there."

Ginny smiled. "Yeah, we all practically grew up out there. I'm surprised that he told you about it though, Hermione. That's not the kind of thing that Ron usually talks about with people outside of the family."

Hermione answered quickly, "Well, we were sitting there together a long time with that horrible bandage around his head and we talked about a lot of things. I feel like I know Ron pretty well now. I think I know what he likes."

Harry looked at her mischievously, "I don't doubt it, Hermione. When I got back with your books, you and Ron were in the bathroom together, taking a bath. Not in the same tub, mind you, and Ron is totally blind. But he did look very happy to be there. I don't think he got to know you quite as well as he would have liked to!"

Blushing as she remembered the memory of kissing Ron in the bathtub, Hermione tried to recover. "It's not what you think, Harry. I just want to help him feel better."

Harry looked knowingly and smirked, "Yeah, I think Ron would like to feel better like that bathtub thing again real soon!"

Ginny pulled some more pictures out. There was Bill, reading bedtime stories to Ron at about age four. Ron was curled up with a miniature stuffed dragon doll, listening to Bill with rapt attention. He was so adorable that Hermione felt a terrible urge to hug the photo; she could almost feel the warmth of his arm around her, and it made her want to feel his embrace again.

There was a picture of Fred and George, proudly displaying a large steaming cauldron that was on the verge of an explosion, and a recent photo from Romania of Charlie with a dragon, both beautiful and fearsome. My, he is quite handsome, thought Hermione. She noted that Ron bore a strong physical resemblance to his brother, Charlie, especially about the eyes.

Hermione broke into giggles when she reached a picture of Ginny and Ron, on what must have been Ginny's first day at Hogwarts. Ginny looked serious and terrified, and Ron was a beaming big brother.

"Hey, where did you get that one, Ginny?" Hermione asked. "I think I have the same one with my albums." It was a picture of Ron, Harry, and Hermione, taken when they were first years and Gryffindor had just won the house cup. They were jumping up and down in the Great Hall, and hugging each other. Percy was there in the background, giving everyone pats on the back, and Neville just stood there, his face frozen in total surprise. Ron looked so jubilant, standing between Harry and Hermione, his arms around both of them.

Hermione was really enjoying looking at these happy photos, when Harry suddenly grabbed one and shoved it in his book bag. "Harry, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to hide something from me, " asked Hermione.

Harry looked at Ginny with a scolding look and asked her, "Where did you get that one? I don't think Ron will like that picture."

Ginny was unabashed, "Oh, yeah, right - Ron won't like that picture. He only SLEEPS WITH IT UNDER HIS PILLOW!" Harry's eyes grew big. He could not believe that Ginny had just betrayed her brother in such a way.

"Sleeps with what? Oh, this I've got to see!" Hermione dove into Harry's book bag, and came back up clutching the photo that Ron supposedly slept with under his pillow.

It was her. Hermione was wearing periwinkle blue robes of a soft floaty material, with her hair upswept in an elegant bun. She was smiling and dancing in the picture, but her partner was nowhere to be seen. The picture had been taken at the Yule Ball last year, and Ron had been very jealous that she had gone with Viktor Krum. Hermione was touched that he had kept this photo of her hidden away. It reminded her of his pledge not to discuss their interludes together with anyone else. "I can use this photo with out Ron ever knowing where it came from." With this, Harry's expression of concern softened.

Harry could stand it no more. "Ok, Hermione. What gives? What are you going to do with these pictures?" She stood up and pulled out her wand. "Creatica Figuratorum!" With a wave of her wand, the picture of Hermione in the blue robes changed dimensions; it started as a plane object, a flat photograph, but Hermione had transformed it into a raised relief in 3 dimensions. Ginny reached into the newly created diorama, and touched the "figurine" that was Hermione. Her robes were silky soft to the touch, hair swept up, skin soft and life like. "Now Ron can see me, even when he can't see," said Hermione, blushing, remembering the last time Ron had run his hand over her face. She got a warm melting sensation in her stomach as she thought about it, and wondered why Ginny was looking at her so curiously.

Casting the memory aside, Hermione stood up and proceeded to line up the pictures. Expediently, she transfigured all the pictures into 3 dimensional dioramas with figures. Harry thought it was cool, and said that everybody looked like little lifelike dolls. Hermione proceeded to transfigure the photos into the same silver button shape as the chessboard. Harry thought for a minute, "Hey, Hermione, how is Ron going to tell all of these buttons apart? Won't they all feel the same to him?"

Hermione had already planned for this -- she was going to magically engrave the buttons with her wand and a simple Engraving Potion.

"But Hermione, you don't have the ingredients for a Engraving Potion! Where are we going to..... oh, no! We can't! He'll catch us!" Harry was frantic as soon as he realized why Hermione needed his invisibility cloak. She intended to break into Snape's classroom and the adjoining student cupboards and take the potion ingredients that she needed.

"OH, that's just great. Thank you so much, Harry Potter! Why is it that you never back down from you-know-who and Malfoy could send bubonic plague covered quaffles your way, but the moment Snape is mentioned you suddenly get all conservative on me? Fine, I'll go by myself."

A small voice piped up. "No, you won't. I'm going, too. Beside, Snape actually likes me. He likes the way I cut up my ingredients. He even said one time that he thought I was meticulous."

Harry and Hermione thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Hermione was doubled over with laughter, and Harry pretended to be Snape with a silky voice, "Oh, my meticulous beauty! Dear Miss Weasley, please come stand next to me and let me proclaim my love while we stir the cauldron. Your eyes are as sparkling as dried newt skins. Let me sprinkle dragonfly eggs all over your fastidious hands, while I write sonnets and you can work my cleaver....".

Ginny muttered, "Thanks a lot, I was just trying to help."

Hermione stood up and calmly said, "We'll all go to the Potions dungeon together. (A pause) Me, Harry, and the Bride of Snape!"

Ginny felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she would be hearing Snape jokes for years to come. She was right.