Love Potion No. 9

"And what Mr. Weasley do you get when you add the hair of a demiguise to a scale from the tail of a chimaera?" Professor Snape asked nastily, looking down his beaky nose at Ron.

"Erm...actually, ask Malfoy," Ron said, noting happily the look that Malfoy gave him.

"Mr. Malfoy?" asked Snape.

"The fifth ingredient to a love potion," Malfoy answered smugly.

Ron turned to Harry and rolled his eyes. Then, after thinking for a moment, Ron ripped a section of his parchment and scribbled a note to Harry.

Can you believe that slimy git? Snape hasn't even gone over this stuff and he expects us to know what the hell he's talking about. But then again, you would expect Malfoy to know what he's on about...

Harry read the note and grinned at his friend. He then felt a poke on the shoulder from Hermione's quill as she silently demanded to know what was so amusing. Harry smiled again and showed her the note. Frowning, she read the note, her lips pursed. Heaving a huge sigh, she handed the piece of parchment back to Harry, pointedly looking at the Professor.

Harry nudged Ron and they both looked at Professor Snape obediently. Snape droned on and on about how if the love potion was taken, the person inflicted would fall in love with the first person of the opposite sex to say their name. Harry didn't bother to listen as he knew that Hermione would just tell him what they did in class later that day. So he sat staring hard at his potions book trying to rearrange the words with his mind.

Hermione on the other hand was listening avidly to the lecture and itching to actually make the potion herself. Secretly, she was hoping to be paired up with Harry so maybe the potion would work on him. She knew that was not the nicest thing to wish on a person, especially her best friend, but she was desperate. Hermione cringed at what she had just thought. Desperate? Hermione Granger? She didn't need boys. Hermione had schoolwork and well, schoolwork to keep her mind occupied and she didn't need the help of Harry James Potter, especially in the love department.

Hermione had been in love with Harry ever since she had known him, and probably before that when she had read about him in one of her many books. Strangely enough, she hadn't planned on becoming one of his best friends, that had happened entirely on its own. She actually would have preferred admiring him from afar, but as luck would have it, she was thrown into the deep end with him, whether she liked it or not. For years she tried to deny the attraction that she felt whenever she was around Harry. But every time she was near him or whenever he looked at her and smiled it felt like she had been punched in the stomach. It was hard business being one of Harry Potter's closest friends, but she liked it all the same.

Snapping back into attention, Hermione finally heard Snape pairing up students to make the love potion. She quickly busied herself with arranging her parchment and book on her desk, making quite a lot of noise. Unfortunately, Snape heard Hermione shuffling about and pounced on her with a malicious look on his ugly face. Upon seeing that look, Hermione's heart dropped into her shoes and she gulped loudly. Snape smirked.

"Granger and Malfoy," he said simply.

What? No way! Hermione screamed in her head, her face turning red with anger. She chanced a look at Malfoy who had pretty much the same reaction that she did. This class has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Hermione thought savagely as she received sympathetic looks from Harry and Ron. Hermione looked wistfully at Harry for a moment until Snape cleared his throat at Hermione's back.

Accepting her fate quietly, Hermione picked up her Potions book, her quill and her parchment and shuffled over to Malfoy's desk. Dropping her things to the floor, she stood about a foot away from Malfoy with her arms crossed over her chest. Malfoy gave her a look that screamed disgust and unfortunately for Hermione, opened his mouth.

"Well, don't just stand there Granger. We are in 7^th year, I don't have cooties," Malfoy drawled.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Hermione replied, glaring at the floor, wishing it would swallow her up.

Malfoy gave no hint that he heard what Hermione had said; instead he kept himself busy by getting the ingredients involved with the potion. Hermione sighed and took out her cauldron, biting back a curse. She looked over to Harry and Ron. They had been paired with Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, respectively. Harry wasn't looking too happy about the arrangement due to the fact that it was still widely known that Parvati was still sore about the way Harry had treated her during the Yule Ball 4^th year.

Harry caught Hermione's eye and gave her a somewhat forced grin, mouthing the word sorry. Hermione smiled back and shrugged her shoulders and reluctantly turned back to Malfoy who had arrived back at the desk.

It's not that bad. It's only for the class; you'll never have to talk to him again. Hermione told herself. But something told her that maybe things were going to be a little different.