.:Felix Felicis:.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Chapter 3

A Werewolf's Call For Love

"I said... do you or do you not know of the Aphrodite's Curse... It's a simple question really... just a yes or a no will do... quit gaping like that Malfoy..." Hermione said in a bid to snap Draco back to reality. Draco did know of the Aphrodite's Curse, but just vaguely. He couldn't be bound by the curse could he? "Yea I do know a little about it.... My father told me a lil' abt what it does... what about it Hermione? this potion's the Aphrodite's Curse?" Draco sounded uneasy and Hermione could tell that he was not going to like what she had just learnt. "Malfoy... Draco... is there something you'd like to tell me regarding this? like why you want to know soo much abt this potion? I can help you... Harry will be most willing to help you as well... after what you did at the Manor a few months ago... I'm sure even Ron would..."before Hermione could finish, she was cut off by a now highly agitated Malfoy. But somehow, she could sense that he was more worried than anything else, for his deep greyish green eyes told a different story. "Hermione... I really need to know how this potion works... the side effects etc... and no... i assure you i'm not in any danger... neither am i going to use this potion for my own personal gain... so can we please hurry this up a bit? I've got Seeker practice later on... " Draco pushed Hermione for the answers he was longing to obtain. "ok Draco... but I want you to know...my offer still stands...anyway... Aphrodite's Curse is a very powerful love potion... The power of this potion depends on when the drinker drinks this potion... as well as, how long ago the potion has been brewed ... " Draco shifted uneasily as Hermione related this to him, but nonetheless paid close attention to what she had to say. "The closer it is to the full moon... the stronger the effects would be and harder to reverse at that... if the drinker drinks this potion on the full moon, however... the spell of the love potion cannot be broken except by death of either party..." "wait... Hermione... you're telling me... this potion has got to do with the full moon? which crazy prick would think of following the full moon for a love potion?!" Draco flared as he attempted to kick the wall on which he was leaning on. "That would be the werewolves... the werewolves found it difficult to find themselves a mate... and so... one of the werewolves... William Fanghorn coerced with Salazar Slytherin and came up with a powerful love potion... the Aphrodite's Curse... this of course happened ages ago... before the Great Slytherin War... the use of the potion has since been banned... and there has been no cases of anyone drinking the potion ever since... " Draco seemed nonplussed, but just before Hermione could say anything further, Draco butted in. "How can it be broken by death from either party when only one person drinks the potion? shouldn't it affect only the person drinking it?" Draco asked, still trying to devour what he had just learnt. "Ah... well... that's where the cursed bit comes in... Godric Gryffindor as well as some of the Dragon leaders of Drakonia had found out Slytherin's plan to breed more werewolves by the use of this potion... hence they placed a curse on it... they were far too late to stop the werewolves from using the potion when they had finally heard wind of what Slytherin was up to... so they ensured... that when the werwolves did find their mate and use this potion on their mates... the drinkers of the potion would immediately kiss the person who made them drink the potion in the first place... thereby rendering the werewolves themselves defenseless and crippled by the power of their own potion... this was a clever trick as the werewolves brewed the potions themselves and had to add a strand of their hair as the final ingredient for the potion to work..." Hermione finished, her eyes still transfixed upon Draco as she was attempting to decipher Draco's thoughts. "so the person who wants the drinker to fall in love with him/her should add a strand of their hair into the potion then?" Draco asked. 'How can that be? Ginny drugged my Mai Tais? I thought she loved Potter?' A million questions flooded Draco's mind as he awaited Hermione's reply. "Well yes... oh... and there's a little time limit for the potion as well.... supposing the drinker drinks this potion before the full moon.... both parties can still reverse the effect only up till the coming full moon... and once it is the full moon... the potion cannot be reversed... and the spell becomes permanent... the only way to break the spell then, is by death... " Hermione finished, bracing herself for more questions to come. "ok... so how do we reverse the effects of this potion Hermione?" "well... i'm not sure exactly... i've searched the library... even the restricted section... and not a single book tells of how to reverse the spell..." Hermione finished with a sort of finality in her voice. She had to consult Professor Freakency regarding her Arithmancy assignment and at the rate she was going, she was going to be late for sure. "all right then... thanx Hermione... and don't... i know you're itching to tell Pothead and Weaselboy... but think about the consequences first... unless you wouldn't mind me letting slip to our favourite Professor Snape that Oliver Wood comes up into your room illegally at least two times a week... by all means... tell Pothead and his weaselboy all you know..." Draco smirked as he knew that he had struck at a sensitive nerve. "How did you... that's blackmail.... " Hermione stuttered in a bid to retort, but it was in vain for shock had overwhelmed her so. "A Malfoy knows how to get the information he needs Granger... besides... it was more of a bargain rather than blackmail... but rest assured Granger... I'll honour my word when i say i owe you one... good day to you..." Draco replied with a smirk as he left a dumbfounded Hermione staring back after him in a deserted corridor.

~-~

Was it the full moon when he had drunk the potion? and why would Ginny possibly drug his Mai Tais? A million and one questions bombarded Draco's mind. He also knew that he had to consult Lodina and tell her everthing he knew. Part of him wanted to be truthful to her and let her know the current situation they were both faced with. However, part of him also wanted to leave Lodina out of this and solve the problem on his own. 'This is precisely the attitude that would lose you the girl Malfoy' Draco's conscience got the better of him as he decided that he would have a 'nice' long talk with Dina after his Quidditch training. On top of all of this, he had his OWLs and quidditch games to worry about. 'I need to take a loooong holiday after all of this...' Draco thought quickly changed into his quidditch robes and summoned his Nimbus 2001 by his side. He was grateful for these quidditch sessions as these were the only times he could be free and relaxed...

~-~

"Hi Tonks! Is my dad in? I need to get a book from the library... i was hoping he could find it for me... " Lodina said through the floo network. The first thing that came to her mind after seeing Draco leave was to find that book of ancient magic spells her father had in the library; so without further adue, Lodina had found an appropriate timein the Gryffindor Common Room when all the other Gryffindors were fast asleep, to talk to her father regarding the book using the floo powder. "It's ok dear... you can tell me.. I can get the book for you... Sirius is out for a walk... he's been cooped up in this house not being able to do anything 'worthwhile' for the order... so he's a lil' frustrated right now..." Tonks replied with a slight grin on her face. Lodina loved Tonks' fashion sense. It was to say the least, funky and even cool! Ever since Tonks had entered her father's life and hers as well, things seemed brighter. Of course, it didn't hurt that Tonks did have a perky and bubbly personality and was such a joy to be around with. "Well ok then... it's the book of ancient magic spells... by Newt Salamander... could you find it for me? and perhaps deliver it via owl-mail? Thanx Tonks... and send my regards to daddy too..." Lodina said as she ended the conversation with her going- to- be Step-mother. "So who is that lady with pink hair Dina?" a familiar voice called out from behind her. She turned around and was surprised to see Draco for a moment. 'How much had he heard?' she wondered to herself. "oh... she's my dad's fiance'... and what are you doing here Malfoy?" Lodina confronted Draco, sounding very formal. He did look extremely hot in his leather pants and quidditch robes and Lodina tried her best not to ogle at his well-toned muscles. It pained her so much to act indifferently around him, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to take the emotional torture should it come to the worse. She was simply protecting herself from getting hurt, wasn't she? Lodina wasn't sure of the things she was doing anymore. Her grades in school were slipping and she was becoming increasingly distracted from everything that she had been undertaking. Truth be told, she could not get Draco off her mind no matter how hard she tried. "So i'm Malfoy now eh?" Lodina could sense the hurt in his voice but willed herself to remain strong. "I just came in here after quidditch practice to let you know of what i've found out about the potion... I think it's best we sit... perhaps some Butterbeer would be in order... " Draco summoned two cans of butterbeer as he motioned for Lodina to sit by the fire. He then narrated what he had learnt from Hermione in the afternoon to her. Lodina was deeply saddened by what she had heard from Draco. She wasn't shocked by what he had told her as she half expected it to be a love potion in any case. However, deep in her heart she had hoped that it wasn't a love potion. Learning the outcome of the Ahprodite's Curse only strengthened the need for her to get that book of ancient spells as soon as possible. "Well... i guess we should break the news to Ginny as well... don't you think? since she is a victim in this episode as well..." before Lodina could finish her sentence, she was cut off abruptly by Draco. "No... she shouldn't know... don't you understand Dina? What if she was the one who prepared the potion? The potion had to have a strand of her hair for it to work..." this time, it was Draco's turn to be cut off. "You can't possibly think that Ginny WANTED to make this potion... That's simply absurd... i mean Ginny would never ..." "We're keeping this within ourselves Dina... that's final..." Hearing the finality in his voice, Lodina decided that it was best not to argue with Draco. She didn't have the stamina left anyway to last through another quarrel. "Fine... I won't tell Ginny... I will look into my dad's book of spells to see if i can find any information about an antidote to reverse the spell... I'll let you know when i find one Malfoy..." "ok... good... oh by the way... Was the night we had our welcome feast a full moon?" Draco asked with a sense of urgency in his voice... "No... it wasn't... strangely enough though... it was the Lunar solstice... it happens once every ten years... not many people know about it... It happens when the planet Venus blocks the moon completely... people usually think it's a full moon they're seeing when they look up into the sky... but in actual fact... it's the planet Venus... which is slightly bigger than the moon when seen with the naked eye... so technically we have one more month till the next full moon to reverse this spell..." Lodina replied knowing Draco's intention for his last question. "It's rather late... I think you should be getting back to your dormitory Malfoy..." Lodina said, hoping Draco could sense that she didn't want him staying in the Gryffindor common room any longer. She couldn't bring herself to see his face without crying her eyes out about the decision she'd taken, for she loved him too damn much. Sensing that Lodina wanted him gone, Draco started to say his goodbyes but not before someone had heard their bickering. Harry was naturally a light sleeper and was now wide awake from all the racket Lodina and Draco were making in the Common Room. Quietly, he tip-toed to the top of the staricase just to get a good glimpse of what was going on. Fortunately for them though, Harry had only heard their goodbyes. He quickly tip-toed back to bed to avoid getting caught. 'They do sound hostile though... I wonder what's up..' Harry thought as he willed himself to sleep once more...

~-~

A couple of days had passed and it was now time for the first quidditch match of the season. Gryffindor was to play against Slytherin. The whole school was excited as a Gryffindor/Slytherin match had always been an exciting one, not to be missed. The crowds were cheering wildly and the mascots, the Gryffindor and Slytherin House Dragons, were now up and about entertaining the crowd with their antics. Madam Hooch finally blew the whistle and both the teams kicked off from the ground in a speedy start. Minutes into the match, both Harry and Draco spotted the snitch. Both of them made spectacular dives, but something strange happened. Draco knew that Harry was one who never had any doubts when playing quidditch, yet something seemed wrong with Harry that day and he wasn't playing with his soul. Harry pulled out of the dive too early and because of that, Draco managed to catch the snitch instead. 'What's wrong with Pothead? He never makes a wrong decision when catching the snitch?! ' Draco thought as he was now being carried by his team mates. A downcast and dejected Gryffindor quidditch team headed for the bleachers as the crowd went frenzy. The Slytherins were cheering happily, while the other houses looked terribly downcast as it was a Slytherin victory. Harry had never failed to catch the snitch and Draco was now curious as to why Harry wasn't playing at his best. Something seemed to distract him and he was curious more than ever to find out what it was that distracted the Boy-Who-Lived....

Clutching the Dragon's seal from under his quidditch robes, Draco muttered the communication spell and entered Harry's thoughts once more. "Pothead... why so glum? It wasn't you who was flying today... you were a different person... not that i'm saddened by my victory of course... quite the contrary.... but it irritates me to know that you could have flewn better and that i've only defeated Gryffindor coz' it's 'star' seeker was distracted... not like i couldn't have beaten you when you weren't as distracted as today... but.. oh hell... you get the picture... what's up then?" Draco communicated, eagerly waiting for Harry's reply, snitch still tightly grasped in his other hand. "you know... I'm starting to regret giving you that Medallion Malfoy... in any case, it was nothing... Ginny and I haven't been hitting it off at all since the start of school... i wonder what's wrong with her... I don't know what I've done wrong... but she tries to get away from me every time i go near her... i want to make things better... but i'm at a loss of what to do right now....anyway, enough about me... I should be asking you that same question Malfoy... since when did Dina start addressing you by 'Malfoy' and not Draco or luv anymore eh?" Harry said with a smirk, not knowing what he was roping himself into. 'Oh damn! how did he know about that?' Draco thought as he found that he was at a loss and didn't know how to respond to Harry. He was feeling guilty about Harry's situation seeing that it was partly his fault that Ginny had acted the way she did towards Harry. Without realising he'd accidentally let go of the snitch, Draco inquired further. "How much do you know Pothead? Spill it now or I'll let the magazines and newspapers in on a lil' juicy gossip about the Boy-Who-Lived..." Draco said still shocked and curious about how much Harry knew about his encounter with Aphrodite's Curse...

~Nymphadora~

[Tonks was grooving to Korn's Slept So Long |

~ cynical]

9:17 PM

Comments: Post a Comment