Amortentia
Draco scribbled notes messily on his fresh roll of parchment while Hermione flicked through her potions textbook. They were in Slughorn’s classroom in the dungeons today. That week during class they had learned about veritaserum, so naturally they were going over it in their tutoring sessions as well. Draco had a faraway look in his eyes, like he wasn’t really paying attention to anything he read. Hermione tapped the shoulder of his long sleeve Slytherin jumper, causing him to sit up straight.
“Draco! You look as if you’re about to nod off,” she exclaimed.
His voice developed that sharp tone he picks up when he’s trying to make a point.
“Well excuse me for not wasting all of my energy into this silly session. I happen to have far more important things going on in my life,” he snapped.
Hermione briefly wondered what other things Draco had going on in his life. She would never give him the satisfaction of asking though.
“Well considering we have an essay due Monday on veritaserum I suggest you move your mind elsewhere,” she snapped back.
He mumbled something under his breath but started taking notes more vigorously now.
Hermione couldn’t help but notice that Draco was looking worse by the session. His skin had grown paler, if possible. The circles under his eyes grew darker by the day and looked like he had lost weight he couldn’t afford to lose. He seemed shakier than usual too, more on edge; as if something was plaguing his mind.
“Draco…” Hermione started tentatively.
“Mm?” He scowled
“Is everything… alright?”
It felt weird asking Draco Malfoy if everything was alright. Usually he was the one making things not alright.
“What makes you think everything isn’t alright?” he practically spat.
“You just look….” she could hardly find the words
“Look what, Granger?”
“Different,” she said
“Ha,” he laughed coldly
He gripped his quill with such ferocity Hermione thought he was bound to snap it in half.
“You’d do well to tell Potter to stop lurking in my business. He thinks I don’t notice him watching me in the great hall, following me to the common room. It’s infuriating,” he said with a touch of real anger in his voice.
“Well it’s really not my job to control what Harry does,” Hermione said
Draco didn’t say anything, just stared at his blank piece of parchment, deep in thought.
Hermione knew the rumors about Draco and his family. Everyone at school knew the rumors. Since the dark lord had returned it’s speculated that Draco’s parents have rejoined forces with him. They were all doing his bidding now, Draco included. Hermione didn’t like to believe this and always tried to leave the room when it was brought up. Perhaps it was because she felt she knew Draco a bit better after these tutoring sessions; or perhaps it was because whenever she thought of Draco she still thought of that small blonde boy who was wiping his tears saying goodbye to his mother before boarding the Hogwarts express six years ago.
“I don’t think Harry means to upset you,” Hermione blurted out.
Draco stopped writing and met her eyes.
“Whether he means to or not he would do well to stay out of my business. The whole bloody castle would do well to stay out of my business,” he said bitterly.
There wasn’t anything Hermione could say to that. The ‘whole bloody castle’ would do well to stay out of her business too.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, both quietly working on their own thing. Until Hermione decided to break the silence.
“I saw your parents,” she said.
“My parents?” a look of confusion grew over Draco’s face
“Yes, this summer. In Knockturn Alley,” she said
“Knockturn Alley? What’s a good girl like you doing wandering around a place like Knockturn Alley?” Draco mused, raising his eyebrows.
Hermione blushed deeply.
“I was exploring,” she said.
This wasn’t entirely a lie, but it wasn’t entirely true either.
Her and Ginny had escaped the confines of the Weasley household for a girls day. A girls day that was quickly interrupted when they saw Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, wrapped in dark cloaks and only distinguishable by Lucius’ platinum blonde hair, disappear down the dark alleyway. They followed them down the dark path until they disappeared into a shady shop that had a vampire guarding the door.
They did not want to take their chances with a vampire.
They hadn’t found out any information about what the Malfoy’s were up to, but it had to be connected to what Hermione saw with Harry and Ron; Draco and his family inside Borgin and Burkes.
“Exploring? Is that what you, Weasley, and Potter were up to at Borgin and Burkes as well? Exploring?” he said
“As a matter of fact, yes. It’s not our fault you just so happened to be in the same place at the same time,” Hermione replied with an air of novelty in her voice.
Draco scowled, but didn’t say anything, he just picked up his quill, drawing lazy marks across his parchment.
Silence was too daunting in a dark dungeon. Hermione itched to say something.
“How have things been?- with your family?” Hermione asked nervously. She had no reason to ask, or even care. But something in her wanted to know.
“What do you care?” he spat back
Okay she expected that.
“Well it’s no secret there’s…. things going on,” she chose her words carefully.
Draco tensed, closing his text book.
“And what things do you suspect are going on, Granger?”
“Well for starters you look like you haven’t slept in a year, I saw you with your family at Borgin and Burkes doing god knows what, and all of a sudden your grade is slipping in potions. Potions! Everyone in our year knows that’s been your best subject since we were eleven,” Hermione said indignantly.
She knew it wasn’t her place to say most of what she said. But she wanted to know what was going on.
Draco stared down at his hands and started twisting his silver serpent ring. He wouldn’t meet her eye.
“Draco?” she asked tentatively
“What do you want me to say? That you’re right, there is something going on. Would that make you happy to hear?” he said in a sharp tone
He was mad, she could hear it in his voice. But there was a hint of something else in his tone too. Fear.
She continued carefully, “Are the rumors true? About your family?”
He jumped up from his seat and crumpled up his parchment.
“So what are you now?! A spy for Potter?! Doing his dirty work trying to get something on MY family. Well let me give you some advice, Granger…. stay out of my business and tell your bloody friends to do the same,” he said with rage.
“Draco,” she started. But it was too late- Draco had already stormed out of the room.
***
Hermione sat alone in the Gryffindor common room that night. Harry and Ron were in their dormitories, but she didn’t feel like going to bed yet. As the clock struck midnight her mind wandered to her parents’ safety.
How could she keep them safe while she was at Hogwarts?
Would the death eaters even know where to find them?
Would the death eaters have reason to find them?
What would happen to her parents if they were found?
She couldn’t help but think of Neville’s poor parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom. They suffered a fate worse than death, condemned to madness.
Hermione wasn’t naive. She knew the stakes were higher this time around. During the first Wizarding war Voldement was new to power. This time he knows what he’s doing and who he wants to destroy. The death eaters weren’t particularly known for sparing the lives of muggles either for that matter.
The fire in the common room started to die down as Hermione made her decision. She couldn’t protect her parents herself. Not from Hogwarts. But she knew people who could. She grabbed a blank piece of parchment and a quill from her bag and began writing.
“Dear Professor Lupin,
Hello, this is Hermione Granger. I have a favor to ask…… “
****
Hermione had sent off an owl with her letter to Professor Lupin early the next morning. She had briefly explained how nervous she was about her parents' safety and respectfully asked if a member of the Order could check in on them regularly. She had also explained to Professor Lupin how Slughorn had asked her to tutor Draco and how Harry and Ron think this it’s a bad idea but want to use it as an opportunity to get information about the Malfoy family. She left out the details of her last conversation with Draco- but for some reason she wanted Professor Lupin to know. She felt like he would understand.
Hermione entered Slughorn’s classroom that afternoon in a worse mood than usual. She didn’t want to speak to Draco after their last tutoring session, and she certainly didn’t feel like speaking to Slughorn.
She set her book down at her table and looked up at the board. Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world. Well this should be fun.
The rest of the class drifted into the room in pairs, except for Draco who was usually by himself these days, and only seen occasionally with Blaise Zabini or Pansy Parkinson. Draco sat down at his own table and opened his book. They made eye contact for a split second and while Hermione averted her own eyes, Draco stared straight ahead as if he was attempting to read her thoughts. It was quite unsettling.
“Blimey Mione, how’d you get here so fast,” Ron said as he sat down beside her.
“Because I value being on time, Ronald,” she laughed and stuck her tongue out at him.
“Childish,” he remarked.
Draco watched this interaction with a look of distaste on his face.
“What’s amortentia?” Ron asked
“Bloody hell, Ron. Can’t you read? It’s the most powerful love potion in the world,” Hermione said
“Bet you can’t wait to go over that one in these one on one tutoring sessions with Malfoy,” he mused
Hermione rolled her eyes.
“Honestly Ron, you’re so immature. You’re just jealous Slughorn didn’t ask you to do it,” she teased.
Ron was about to reply when Slughorn walked in the room and addressed them.
Slughorn was very excited to teach them about amortentia and was practically giddy that Hermione knew how the potion worked. She explained that it will smell different depending on what each person is attracted to. As she said this she stepped forward to smell the potion herself and was immediately taken back.
She smelled freshly mowed grass. It reminded her of how the grass leading down to Hagrid’s hut smells after it rains. She recalled that one night her third year when her and Harry used the time turner and how the Hogwarts hills had smelled as she trekked down to the Forbidden Forest. She smiled at the memory.
She also smelled fresh parchment. Her mind immediately went to long days in the library writing essays. Finishing up homework in the common room. It was comforting and familiar.
And finally, spearmint toothpaste. The familiar smell wafted off the cauldron and Hermione couldn’t get enough of it. She recognized this scent from somewhere. It was familiar yet she couldn’t place where she knew it from.
Slughorn closed the lid on the cauldron and she realized that she had unconsciously moved towards the potion as she described it. She took a step back, locking eyes with Draco. This time he didn’t hold eye contact, he looked away as suddenly as she did.
Freshly mowed grass, new parchment, spearmint toothpaste.
Freshly mowed grass, new parchment, spearmint toothpaste.
Slughorn asked them to grab ingredients from the cupboard and attempt to make their own amortentia. Hermione walked past the group of Slytherins to grab what she needed and stopped dead in her tracks.
She turned around and was met by Draco Malfoy.
“Granger,” he said curtly.
“Malfoy,” she replied in the same tone.
“Mind moving out of my way?”
She nodded and walked over to her table.
When she sat down she suddenly realized why the scent of the amortentia was so familiar. She had been locked up in a classroom with it twice a week since September 12th.
And she couldn’t go back now.