Love Potion #?

The make-up exam with Snape went smoothly enough, aside from Hermione's being distracted by the faint glow still lingering about the Professor. Gavin, due to his detention and having angered Snape beyond reason, was not allowed to partner Hermione, so Snape had pulled one of his more mischievous Slytherins in to help, with the ulterior motive of keeping him out of trouble for one night.

Hermione knew J.T. only by reputation. He was a bright student, top of his year in Slytherin, but forever on the verge of expulsion. On the second day of term, Filch's office had been drown in Dung Bombs, and the entire school suspected J.T., even the teachers, but no one had been able to prove anything.

"O.k.," Hermione said nervously, "you add your next set of ingredients, then I'll stir."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," J.T. mumbled, tearing milkwort and tossing it carelessly in to the cauldron. "What're we doing anyway? You know that the first year Hufflepuffs are having their first Astronomy lesson tonight? Do you have any idea what I could be doing right now?" he asked in a wistful voice.

"Scaring first years into jumping off the Astronomy tower?" Hermione asked, stirring the potion clockwise.

"Nah, I wouldn't go that far," the boy replied, flopping down in a chair. "But first years are always so jumpy. Make a loud noise and they run," he said, clapping his hands together and smiling as the sound echoed through the dungeon.

Snape swooped over and cleared his throat, causing J.T. to look up at him in polite curiosity. "If you're quite finished," he growled, bending over the cauldron. He snorted irritably and straightened. "Very well. Say the incantation."

J.T. stood back up and took the piece of parchment Hermione handed to him. They said the Latin words and Hermione hovered over the brew tensely. She'd watched J.T. closely, to be sure he didn't pull some classic J.T. prank, but was still worried. She breathed a sigh of relief a minute later when the concoction faded to the glassy clear that it had in class two days before.

Snape ground his teeth and said through clenched jaws. "Ten points each to Gryffindor and Slytherin. Now go back to your common rooms!" he snapped and stalked back to his desk to finish marking seventh year essays.

"Ten points! That's it?" J.T. cried indignantly after they left the Potions room. "He could have at least excused me from the next exam."

"Slytherins," Hermione snorted. "Always looking for the easy way out."

"Ha! At least we don't have our heads shoved up the Professors' asses like some Gryffindors I could mention," he mumbled and strode off to the Slytherin dungeon common room. Hermione threw a rude gesture at his retreating back and made her way up to Gryffindor tower.

"How'd it go?" Ginny asked, putting her book aside as Hermione crawled through the portrait hole.

"Alright," Hermione said, dropping her bag and taking an armchair in front of the fireplace. "I got the potion correct and ten points for Gryffindor."

Ginny scowled. "McGonagall would have given you twenty."

"Yeah, but McGonagall's not a greasy git," Ron said, leaning over the back of the couch. "By the way, 'Mione, there's a prefects' meeting tomorrow morning. Ten o'clock, staff room. Hey, what's that?" Ron asked, snatching the book Ginny had been reading off her lap.

"Ron! Give it back!" Ginny screeched, making everyone in the common room look up.

"Uh huh! I don't think so," Ron crowed holding the book over his head and dashing around the room. " '...he grew harder than he'd ever thought possible, delving into her hot velvet...' " Ron read as he ran between chairs and tables, dodging Ginny's reaching hands. " '... he moved, rubbing his throbbing erection--' "

Ginny finally managed to tackle her brother and wrench the book out of his grasp. "You jerk!" she cried, smacking him on the head with the thick tome. "That was cruel!"

"Gees, Gin. I'm sorry. What say you let me borrow that sometime, eh?" Ron asked, fending off his sister's blows.

"Not a chance," Ginny growled and got up, kicking Ron in the ribs for good measure.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, coming down from the boys' dormitory.

Ron laughed and jumped up, rushing over to his friend. "Ginny's got a-- hey!" he cried, as Ginny threw a Muggle Studies book at the back of his head.

"If you stop right there, Ronald Weasley, I'll let you borrow it for a week!" Ginny said, hands on her hips and face beet red.

"Deal!" Ron cried happily.

Hermione chuckled and shook her head, making her way up to her dorm.

* * * * *

Hermion and Ron arrived at the staff room a few minutes late, due to Ron not wanting to wake up before noon on a Saturday.

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, how nice of you to join us," Snape hissed as they walked through the door.

"Sit down, you two," McGonagall said, throwing Snape an exasperated look.

Hermione took a seat next to Ashley Kirwin, a sixth year Ravenclaw prefect, while Ron sat next to Ashley's counterpart, Terry Boot.

"Now that all of our prefects are awake and present," Dumbledore said, smiling at Ron, who flushed hot pink, "let the meeting begin."

The Headmaster stood and handed around sheets of parchment to the prefects. "I thought, and most of the staff has agreed," he started while Professor Snape sneered, "that the severe morale drop due to Voldemort's open return could use a bit of reversing. And what better way to increase morale than to throw a few excellent parties?"

The girls smiled excitedly while the boys groaned. "There's Halloween, of course, and Christmas or New Year's, whichever you settle on, then Valentine's Day, perhaps an egg hunt for Easter, and a Ball will accompany the Leaving Feast at the end of the year."

The meeting took about an hour, the prefects and teachers voting on a costume ball for Halloween, a New Year's Eve party, a Valentine's Day dinner and dance, an Easter Egg hunt, and a masquerade ball for the Leaving Feast.

"Four bloody dances in one year?" Harry squeaked when Ron and Hermione told him the news.

"I know," Ron agreed miserably. "The boys tried to protest, but the girls shouted us down."

"That's fine. I'll just fall off my broom at every Quidditch practice and stay in the Hospital Wing all year," Harry said with a determined air.

"You'll do no such thing," Hermione frowned.

"I'll be right there with you, mate," Ron said, ignoring Hermione.

"It's good for inter-House relations!," she huffed indignantly.

"Yeah, that's the other thing," Ron scowled. "To set an example for the rest of the school, the prefects are required to accompany people from another House to all the dances and crap."

"Phew!" Harry breathed, pretending to wipe sweat from his forehead. "Glad I'm not a prefect."

"It was Paige's idea, so blame her," Ron said. "Slytherins are always up to no good."

"Humph!" Hermione snorted. "She probably did it just to make sure I couldn't ask out her precious boyfriend."

"WHAT?" Harry yelled. "You like GAVIN?"

"No," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "But Paige thinks I do."

"Oh," Ron said, shrugging it off. "Well, if they think I'm going to ask a Slytherin to the Halloween dance, the wizarding world can collectively bite me."

"Here, here!" Harry cried, pretending to raise a champagne glass into the air. "Say, Ginny's friends with a bunch of girls in Ravenclaw, isn't she? You could get her to see if one of them would go with you."

"Yeah," Ron said, brightening a bit. "Her blonde friend, Emily, she's cute," he mused with a thoughtful expression.

"Her name's Emma, you dolt," Hermione said, playfully throwing a quill at Ron. "Get it right before you ask her out."

"Emma, got it," he repeated. "How about you, Harry? Who're you going to ask?"

"No one. I was serious about the Hospital Wing."