Northern Star (Hiatus)

Chapter Thirteen

Draco landed in another fireplace and cautiously stepped out finding himself in his own livingroom.
"Fuck" he cursed running a hand through his hair and moving out of the fireplace trying to wrap his mind around what had just happpened.

He must have paced the entire room three times before pulling out his wand and flicking his wrist "expecto patronum" a wisp of white came from his wand slowly forming into a sleek and powerful dragon. "Blaise get your arse to my place I dont care where you are this is important." Once his message was relayed the dragon took off through the window and vanishing into the night to find blaise.

After about twenty minutes Blaise apparated into Draco's livingroom with a familiar blonde on his arm.
"Lovegood?"
"Hello Draco. Blaise had just finished explaining the potion to me when your patronus arrived, impressive dragon by the way, so I decided to come along to see if I can help."
Draco blinked in shock and looked at his best friend who simply nodded.
Draco sank down onto the coffee table sitting there bewildered.
"I presume you apparated to a witch too. Was it someone married?" Blaise asked looking at his friends pale face.
Draco shook his head
"A wizard?" Blaise asked shocked
Draco glared at his friend "of course not"
Blaise held his hands up in surrender "hey nothing wrong with being gay"
Draco sighed "I know that I just..." he ran a hand through his hair again and said "its Granger"
Luna nodded in her usual carefree dazed way "I had always suspected you and Hermione belonged together."
This statement shocked both Slytherins and resulted in the rest of the night being a deep conversation between all three about the potion and if Draco should tell Hermione. After much debating and Draco failing to find a reason not to tell her, it was decided that she will get to see for herself by asking her to assist balancing the potion. Clearly Blaise hadnt been able to avoid telling Luna but Draco had avoided telling Hermione, which meant it was unbalanced.

The next morning when Draco attempted to apparate to work he found himself landing in Hermione's livingroom once again.
He looked around momentarily confused before seeing Hermione in her kitchen and calling softly "Good morning Hermione. Hope I'm not intruding?"

Hermione looked up from her coffee, surprise clear on her face as she said "Good morning Draco. No just having my morning coffee. Would you like one?"
Draco smiled at her kindness and shook his head "no thank you. I um ... I just wanted to apologise for last night."
The confused look on her face had Draco biting back a chuckle "I was rude when you offered help with the potion and just ran off like a little boy"
He watched her try not to laugh and settle for hiding a grin in her coffee mug before saying "Not at all. Though I do hope you're alright. You were really flustered."
Draco nodded and rubbed the back of his neck "I'm fine. Just caught me off guard I hadnt expected such results."
Hermione nodded finishing off her coffee "So would you like my assistance? I promise not to be offended if you dont."
He chuckled this time and nodded "Yes Hermione I would truly appreciate your help. Blaise had some similar effects and some very different ones. We think its because the potion was unbalanced."
Hermione nodded setting her mug down in the sink and getting her bag "Alright. Will we head straight in then?"
Draco smiled offering his arm delighted when she took it and apparated them to Malfoy Apothecary.

As they walked in he said softly "So both Blaise and I ended up in someone elses home rather than our own." He explained with a small chuckle "Blaise ended up in Luna Lovegood's livingroom of all places."
Hermione chuckled "I'm sure Luna was so casual about the sudden appearance if the Slytherin."
Draco laughed "apparently she was. She just asked him why he decided to visit. But here is where things are different. Blaise could not stop himself from telling Luna EVERYTHING he had done yesterday from getting up to arriving in her livingroom."
Draco could see Hermione's brain kicking into gear as she stated "But you were able to tell me it was just a potion. You didnt say anything specific or spill the details of your entire day."
Draco nodded "exactly. We think perhaps the Jobbernoll feathers were disproportionate."
The spark in her eyes as she recognised the ingredient made Draco's smile simply grow as she asked "They're the common ingredient in all truth serums."
Draco nodded "yep. We think that is why Blaise had loose lips and revealed every detail down to his bathroom visits."
Hermione cringed and nodded "okay yeah thats unbalanced for sure."

Draco led her into his office and gestured to his desk. "All the notes are there. The original potion was an order for Fred and George Weasley. The ingredients that fell into the potion are listed on a spreadsheet next to the order."
Hermione nodded moving to his desk and taking a seat asking "How did the extra ingredients fall in?" She asked as she started looking through papers.
"A shelf broke as staff were moving the potion to the cooling area." He admitted with a sigh. "Clearly a structure spell wore off or someone forgot to lighten the ingredients."
Hermione nodded mumbling "doesnt matter now I suppose"
Draco just nodded and watched the most wonderful woman he had ever known get settled in his chair and start going through the reports.
Hermione was so beautiful and dedicated, Draco had always admired her and now although he wanted her to find out what was going on, he was also terrified of how she may react to the news.
"You have some of the ingredients for liquid luck in hwre" she stated confused as she moved to look at the original order "And the original potion was a love potion?" She looked at Draco with a raised eyebrow.
Draco shrugged "Weasley's ordered it and its diluted from the original"
Hermione nodded "I see that I'm just amazed at how stupid you and Blaise are."
Draco smirked "We call it creative genius"
Hermione rolled her eyes "well genius" she mocked "what if this has serious side effects?"
Draco continued to smirk "We have healers on call for such issues. Besides the ingredients that fell in are harmless the more harmful stuff is locked in a cabinet."
Hermione looked again and nodded "alright. I guess they are harmless. I still think you're stupid. And maybe a little insane"
Draco laughed and sat in the chair opposite her as she continued "I mean what sane person tries a potion that could help them fall in love, mixed with a potion granting them luck and a truth serum that stops them from being decietful? Its like some sort of true love potion"
Soon as she said it Draco smirked and Hermione's eyes went wide looking at him. Draco just nodded and smiled as he watched Hermione implode before finding a sense of calm.
"Do you mean this potion, if correctly balanced may help the drinker find their one true love?" She added "Not just an immitation of it"
Draco nodded repeating "Find their one true love, NOT imitate the feeling."
Hermione sat back in the chair in shock "Merlin help us!" She breath in shock as she looked at the reports again.
Draco watched her wondering when she would connect that final dot.
"HOLY MERLIN!"
There we go