'I always thought love potions were a bit of a joke,' Ron went on, flushed with surprise. 'Not real.'
'They're real,' said Lupin, who was looking rather shaken. 'They're illegal, of course.'
Sirius was shaking his head. 'It makes no sense,' he said. 'I was thinking that before, and now…'
Now Harry glanced over at him.
'For Slytherin to want Hermione as his Source. Only a Magid can be another Magid's Source. The drain on her would have killed her.'
'Rowena was a Magid,' said Hermione. 'Maybe he assumed that since she was, I would be.'
'An assumption that would have been the end of you,' said Sirius, looking tense.
'I'd rather have died,' said Hermione, in a fierce little voice. 'Than be in love with that — that evil — '
'Oh, but being in love with Malfoy's all right?' interrupted Ron, shaking his head.
Now Harry spoke, and at the sound of his quiet voice, they all jumped, as if a bomb had gone off. 'Let her alone, Ron,' he said.
They all gaped at him, Hermione more than anyone else. She tried to catch his eye to give him a grateful smile, but he wouldn't look at her. He was looking at Sirius, and his hands were clenched tightly in his lap. 'Is there a way of taking it off?' he said. 'Is there a reversal spell?'
It was Lupin who answered. 'I'm sure there must be one, Harry,' he said, although he sounded far from sure.
'Every spell has a reversal,' said Hermione, slightly shrilly.
'No,' said Lupin, quietly. 'Not every spell.'
They all stared at him.
'But most do,' he added quickly. 'Hermione,' he reached into the desk drawer, and pulling out a quill and parchment, held it out to her, 'I'm going to need you to write down everything you remember about the potion: how it looked, what it tasted like, what it feels like, anything that will help us identify it. That way we can more efficiently discover whether or not it is, in fact, reversible.'
Hermione slowly drew the parchment towards her, took hold of the quill, and echoed faintly, 'How it… feels?'
'Er, yes,' said Lupin, and made a nebulous gesture towards the quill she was holding. 'Write it down, you don't have to tell us.'
Rather inadvertently, everyone looked over at Harry, who flushed and looked away again. Hermione bent her head and began to scratch away with the quill.
Lupin glanced sideways at Sirius, who glanced back. It was evident that this new information regarding Slytherin's intentions towards Hermione had given them much to think about. It was equally evident that they were far from willing to discuss it in front of Harry and Hermione. Especially Harry, who was beginning to look as if he were hanging on by the merest thread. Ginny and Ron had now transferred their worried glances to him.
The library door opened, and Narcissa came in, looking flushed and slightly worried. 'Sirius — ' she began, and broke off, as Harry jumped out of his chair as if he'd been shot, stared at her blankly, and announced, 'I've got to go.' He hurried out of the room, brushing past Narcissa, and slamming the door behind him.
Hermione began to get to her feet, looking blindly after Harry. 'I should — '
There was the sound of a muffled explosion from the corridor outside. Ron grabbed at Hermione's arm and yanked her back.
'Bollocks,' said Sirius, with finality. 'Magid powers. I'd nearly forgotten.'
Narcissa stared at all of them with wide eyes. 'What on earth is going on?'
Ron continued to hang on to Hermione's arm while Sirius, with admirable concision, explained. His speech was punctuated by occasional explosive sounds from outside the library, each one of which caused Hermione to wince.
'A love potion?' Narcissa echoed in disbelief, when he was done.
Everybody nodded.
'Right,' said Narcissa, and raised her chin. In that moment, Hermione thought, she looked very much like her son — determined, defiant, even a little arrogant. 'Here's what we're going to do. Ron,' she said, turning to him. (Ron blushed. It was the first time Narcissa had ever spoken to him directly.) 'Go after Harry. Make sure he's all right. If things start flying around, tackle him.'
Ron blinked and nodded.
'Sirius,' she said, turning back towards the desk. 'I want you to write to Severus Snape.'
Sirius' jaw dropped. 'Snape?'
'No one in the world knows more about potions than he does,' said Narcissa. 'The Dark Lord himself used to call on him for assistance, back when he was a Death Eater. If the potion is reversible, Severus will know about it.'
Now Narcissa turned to Hermione, who was suffering Ron's grip on her arm with very bad grace. She was, in fact, glaring at him. Which was fine, since if anyone in the world could match Hermione glare for glare, it was Ron; they'd been practicing for five years.
'Hermione,' she said, more gently, 'I want you to come with me.'
Hermione's head went up, and she said quickly, 'I have to talk to Harry-'
'No,' said Narcissa. 'You can't.'
