Ch. 34

Hermione's POV

We landed just outside the joke shop and raced in, startling George's assistant, Verity.

"Goodness, you two gave me a fright!" She exclaimed with her hand over her heart.

"Sorry, Verity," Ginny said sheepishly. "Is George back yet?"

"Yes, he came back not too long ago," Verity nodded. "Should be upstairs."

She let us in and we rushed towards the stairs, finding George not too long after setting up a new display. He was already out of his costume and looked up at us in surprise. "What are you two doing here? After the party, I thought-"

"Sorry, it's an emergency," Ginny interrupted as we stopped in front of him.

"Do you have any Amortentia?" I asked quickly.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "That's an odd request coming from you, Hermione. Does this have to do with Draco?"

I nodded sadly as Ginny answered in a huff. "Our brother decided to slip him a Hate Potion designed to make him break up with Hermione at the party tonight. It worked, unfortunately, and the only solution is a love potion."

"A powerful love potion," I added. "Ron apparently had the Hate Potion customized specifically to make him hate me, and it's very powerful."

George groaned and looked at me. "I may have some Amortentia in the back, I was brewing it for a special batch of WonderWitch products."

"We really need it, please," I pleaded.

He nodded and told us to wait there before walking off towards a door on the far wall. Ginny sighed next to me and leaned against the railing. "Have you figured out how you're going to get him to drink it yet?"

"No," I groaned. "If he knows I gave him anything, he won't drink or eat it. He can't know it's from me, but I don't want it making him fall in love with anyone else."

"Shouldn't it just cancel out the effects?" She asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"It should, but remember it's Amortentia." I shifted my weight and frowned. "I don't want to take any chances with this. If someone else gives it to him, that could chance him becoming obsessed with that person instead of me."

"That makes sense; that would be a rough switch from having him hate you to him becoming obsessed over someone else," Ginny nodded. Then she grinned slightly. "Can you imagine him accidentally becoming obsessed with Blaise or Harry?"

I scowled at her. "I appreciate the attempt at humor but not right now, Gin."

"You're right, I'm sorry," She said sheepishly.

George reappeared from the doorway with a small vial in hand. He made his way back over to us and handed me the small bottle as he said, "This is all I have left right now. Will it be enough?"

I held the bottle up to my eyes and saw that it was mostly full. There was at least a drink or two in there, and I nodded with a small smile. "This is perfect, thank you!"

I gave him a quick hug before apparating back to my apartment, Ginny reappearing not too long afterwards. She scowled at me and said, "Warn me next time before you pop off."

"Sorry," I said, setting the bottle on the counter. "I just got excited and I really need to figure this out."

She sat down at the counter and waved me off. "Why don't you just immobilize him and force him to drink it?"

I crinkled my nose slightly. "That's a bit forceful, don't you think?"

She shrugged. "Gets the job done."

"Yeah, if he doesn't jinx or hex me in the process," I retorted, sitting down next to her. "We'll save that as a last resort."

"Alright, alright." Ginny rubbed her temples as she thought. "Why don't you put it in some sort of food and have it delivered to his office?"

"That's not suspicious at all, him receiving random food," I muttered. "And how would I know if he even eats it? He'll probably just throw it out."

She sighed and put her hands on the counter, frustrated. "Well, I don't know what to tell you, Hermione. Why don't you just wait for the potion to run its course?"

"Because it's possible that it won't run its course for months or even years!" I exclaimed angrily. "I don't want to wait that long to get Draco back! I don't want to wait at all!"

She was surprisingly quiet after that, but a pop in the middle of my living room caught our attention. We both turned to see Harry standing in the middle of the room, looking between us.

"You two okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You both look frustrated, and I know given the situation that's to be expected, but not this frustrated."

"Just a small argument," Ginny sighed. "Harry, maybe you can help."

He slowly walked towards us and asked, "How so?"

"Well, we're trying to think of ways for Hermione to give Draco the Amortentia without him catching on that she's the one who gave it to him," Ginny explained.

"And we're having some issues coming up with ideas," I added.

"Are you overthinking the ideas?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed and looked down. "Probably. I just don't want it to go wrong and lose him..."

Harry shook his head and sighed. "Hermione, the Amortentia is going to counteract any effects that the Hate Potion has given Draco. You are going to have to be the one to give it to him, but that shouldn't be that hard to do."

"Well apparently it is," Ginny countered. "She's found a problem with the plans we've put forward already."

"Have you thought of inviting him out for dinner by making him think he's meeting someone else and slipping the potion into his drink before he gets there?" Harry asked.

"What if he doesn't drink it?" I asked in return. "And Amortentia isn't like Veritaserum, it isn't a clear, odorless liquid."

Harry sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, how about this: I have Draco meet me for dinner tomorrow, you be there underneath my invisibility cloak, I'll make sure he orders firewhiskey or something colored so you can put the Amortentia in it when he's not looking."

I opened and closed my mouth, unable to really find a flaw. He'd have a reason to go, since he and Harry are friends now, I would be the one administering the potion, and I'd have confirmation he actually drank it.

"That...might actually work," I said in surprise.

Ginny sighed in relief and smiled as she rubbed her husband's arm. "That's a wonderful idea. I mean, it's a bit ridiculous honestly, but it works!"

"This entire situation is ridiculous in the first place," I said. "I mean, Ron finally snapped and tried to make my boyfriend break up with me in an attempt to win me back."

"Yeah, we never thought it would get to that point," Harry frowned. "I mean, we knew the horcrux affected him badly, but this?"

"Either way," I said, waving him off. "Are you sure you want to wait until tomorrow to do it?"

"I thought you said you didn't want to wait," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't," I replied. "Is there any chance we can do it tonight?"

"Tonight?" Harry asked in surprise. Then he thought about it for a bit, tilting his head back and forth. "Actually, we might be able to."

He whipped out his phone and started texting as Ginny gave him an odd look. "What are you doing?"

"Texting Draco," Harry said simply. "Seeing if he's available for a drink tonight. After all, it's been a rough one; I hear he decided to break up with his girlfriend."

I laughed slightly, my stomach suddenly turning into a bundle of nerves. We waited in silence for Draco's reply, and thankfully didn't have to wait long.

"Alright, looks like he's willing to meet up," Harry announced as he looked between us. "I just need to go get the cloak and we should be ready to go."

He then put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. "Don't worry; things will be alright soon."

I  nodded  and  gripped  the  bottle  of  Amortentia  that  was  in  my  pocket,  taking  a  deep  breath  to  try  and  calm  my  nerves.