Love Potion

BONUS CHAPTER I for 5K Reads

The folder caught Hermione's eye, and she fished through the pile of closet junk to get to it. Her latest organization spree had wound up with piles of junk everywhere in her house. Maybe it was boredom, without Ronald or the kids, with Ron on a business trip and the kids all at school, that drove her to work so much around the house.

The folder was a thick blue muggle office folder, nothing special. But when she opened it, the worn parchment inside said something that made her heart leap.

Visitation Scroll, the print read. Good for one thirty-minute visitation from a deceased loved one. Directions: burn in fire and chant the name of your loved one while picturing his or her face. He or she will appear in the space outside the fire, with a temporary body that will turn to ash in approximately thirty minutes.

Hermione dropped the scroll in a panic, her heart racing. If this scroll was real... she could spend half an hour with anybody she wanted. Tonks... Sirius... Fred... Dobby... anybody.

Anybody? If that was so-

No, I mustn't. This is clearly dark magic, she thought. I should turn this in immediately. It's probably a jinx.

But say it wasn't a jinx, that small voice inside her still persisted. Then you can finally...

No! Who knows what crazy or scary or dark curse it could unleash? She put the folder on the ground and stood abruptly. "This is madness!" she said to herself. "Ludicrous."

Suddenly there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Hey, 'Mione, guess who's home," a voice said.

Hermione panicked, shoving the folder under her bed. "Ronald!" she hurried to the bedroom door where he stood, and caught him in a warm embrace.

"Hello, Hermione," he said affectionately, stroking her hair.

"I missed you so much," she said.

"Clearly. What happened in here? Did a tornado sweep out the closet?"

Hermione batted at his arm. "No, Ronald. I was cleaning it out," she replied.

"So, like I said, a tornado?" Ron teased.

"Ugh! You're impossible." She kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too, 'Mione. Hey, did you fix something for dinner or should I?"

Hermione smiled. "I made chicken," she said.

Ron's face lit up, and the two strolled arm-in-arm to where the kitchen waited.

Once Ron had been fed, he turned a warm shade of red and seemed quite satisfied. "Hey, Hermione, I was thinking of going to see the Potters tonight. I haven't talked to Ginny in ages, and Harry said just last week that they wanted us to visit. Would you be up for it?"

Hermione glanced down at her belly, then up at Ron. "I don't think our little buddy is up for that just yet," she said. "You go. I'll stay here and finish the closet."

"Are you sure, Love?"

Hermione nodded. "I will be fine," she said.

"Okay."

Later that night, when Ron had taken the Floo powder to visit the Potters, Hermione pulled the folder out of its hiding place and brought it to the fireplace.

She flicked her wand, muttering "incendio," and the stone place exploded with crackling flames. Hermione took a deep breath and slipped the Visitation parchment from the folder. Crossing her fingers and clutching her wand, she leaned forward and tossed it into the fire, whispering his name and picturing his face.

A moment later, the crackling flames grew, and Hermione shielded her face. The flames got even bigger, turning purple, then blue, and a figure appeared in them. They halted.

Peeking out from behind her hands, she felt her heart lift, and soar.

"Hermione?"

She smiled and stepped towards him, wrapping him in a warm embrace. "Good to see you again," she whispered. "I missed you so much, Severus."