| Firecrab
Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: melbourne
Posts: 887
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Chapter Thirty Eight
Harry apparated to his side taking Faith from his arms and momentarily stunning him, Sophia dived out the way of Georges curse as he fell to the floor.
“No!” Ginny screamed, seeing Harry disappear from in front of her, turning around to see a green flash and leaning over to protect the baby in her arms. She looked up, tears pouring, “Harry - Faith!” he appeared beside her holding her and put her in the carrying cot, “Go” he said quickly, pointing his wand at George, zapping him, to keep on the floor as he tried to get up and reach for his wand, Sophia sitting in the corner in shock and pale. Ginny leapt up putting Patience in beside her sister and hurried up the stairs.
“Soph?” he said without looking at her,
“I’m ok” she scrambled over and took both Ginny’s and George’s wand from the floor to point them at them at him along with her own,
“I’m going to tie him up” he did so, “And I’m going to take him to Mungo’s, take Ginny and the girls to the Burrow, you go outside and sent up purple sparks and they’ll be an order member that can take you all – she’ll lose an arm or something in shock otherwise”
“Uh huh” she struggled to her feet gripping a nearby chair before walking up the stairs.
Harry pulled him to his feet and sealed his mouth magically before pulling him outside as they came down the stairs. He sent up the purple sparks for them before apparating and left as two Aurors appeared wands drawn at the ready.
“You need to take us to the Burrow” Soph said looking at Ginny holding the cot with her babies in, and back to the aurors.
“What happened?”
“We’ll explain once we’re there” each one reached out to place a hand on the young women’s shoulders and apparated them.
“Mrs Weasley” Soph called, leading Ginny and the two men to the door, “Mrs Weasley!”
“Yes – oh – what on earth – what’s happened?”
“George” Ginny said simply “Tried to kill – he’s gone mad – Harry – where’s Harry?” she said looking to Sophia,
“He’s taken him to Mungo’s Gin, its ok we’re ok, we’re all ok”
“Come in, come in” she tried to take the cot from Ginny’s hands but she refused to let go protectively,
Molly boiled the kettle as Ginny soothed the crying babies, “The shock has gotten to her” Sophia started,
“What the hell happened explain to that to me young lady?”
“George is under the influence of a ridiculously strong love potion, he just tried to kill me so no one else could have me but he was holding Ginny and the twin’s hostage”
“How did this happen?”
“We think Malfoy’s behind it” she said turning to the Aurors
“We’ll send guards here in case of anything”
She nodded and watched Molly put her head in her hands,
“I’m sorry”
“It’s not your fault” Ginny said speaking up “Someone’s doing this too you, you could have died”
“It’s not me I’m worried about - is Faith ok?”
“She’s ok”
Molly stared between them “What – why would Faith be hurt?”
“He was holding her – I thought – I thought – I didn’t know if Harry would get there to stop him, I didn’t know how he was going to do it without her getting hurt – and we’d just got Patience back, I couldn’t lose them again”
“Just got her back – Ginerva?!”
“She was in hospital over night, stomach bug from something, she’s ok now, there both ok” Ginny said not looking away from them,
“When were you going to tell me?”
“We didn’t want to worry you”
“This is his doing then, keeping secrets, making you keep secrets?”
“No, he wanted to tell you ; it was my decision not to, don’t blame Harry for anything unless you know he’s done something wrong, you’re going to have a long wait to find something real mother” Ginny replied sharply,
“You’re too protective of him to see anything that could possibly be wrong”
“I love him” she replied simply “He is my husband, my children’s father and my soul mate”
***
“He’s been given a love potion we think, needs the antidote but we don’t know what it is; is there anything you can do for him?”
“Is he aggressive?” she replied looking at the ropes,
“The fact I tied him up would suggest so don’t you think, plus the fact he tried to kill the object of the potion so no one else could have her”
“Are you family?”
“He’s my brother”
“Hmm” she looked him up and down, “Harry Potter is an only child”
“He’s my brother in law alright, just help him will you”
“We’ll sedate him for now”
“Thankyou – you might need to be armed around him though in case, the stuff is strong we’re trying to figure out what’s in it and who gave it too him – is there anyway you can tell us?”
“No I’m sorry, only the brewer will know”
“There anything you can do to lessen the effects?”
“As long as it’s in his system there is nothing we can do, a love potion stays and gets stronger over time, not weaker, it feeds off of emotion” she said pouring something green down Georges throat. His eyes drooped, he was knocked out.
“He was angry; soon the potion will be enough that not even the draught of the living dead will knock him unconscious, I would appreciate it if you find the antidote before then”
“I’ll try – what happens if I can’t?”
“Some end up killing the object, some them selves in pure frustration”
“So basically it ends in death – thanks”
“Look a love potion is not something to be taken lightly – the thing is if you get there true love to kiss them, well alls good and well, there brain will just go what the hell happened and they’ll be back to normal complete with memory loss”
“Right – but if that person has no true love to kiss them there screwed?”
“I’d say so - hold on this is a Weasley brother right?”
“Yes – George – a twin – the owner of the joke shop”
“Oh I thought it might be a married one or something” she shrugged,
“Would I have asked otherwise?” Harry said rolling his eyes “What if the object kisses them, what if they give in?”
“Nothing – still obsessive to the point of annoyance – unless well unless the object is there true love and they just don’t know it about themselves, highly unlikely but if you’re looking for impossibilities…”
It was possible to love two people, she could love Charlie but still be intent of having George as her friend a good friend – it just depended on when the potion was given to him – before or after he decided he liked her.
“Mr Potter” she repeated and he looked up from his thoughts, she must have carried on talking to him,
“I’ll be back, I’ll tell the family - watch him carefully”
***
He knocked on the door, Molly answered, “How is he?”
“He’s been sedated – Gin, Soph are you ok?”
“Uh huh” Ginny nodded and got up to hug him, he squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head, she sat down and he hugged Sophia,
“And you?”
“Fine, don’t worry about me little brother”
“He did just try to-”
“-Don’t remind me” she shook her head “I can’t wait for Charlie to come home now more then ever”
“Can I talk to you – alone?” he asked,
“Sure – but you don’t want to wait, see them first, explain to them?”
“There’s nothing they can do, but I might go and see Hermione first”
“There on there way” Ginny said putting her wand down as a silvery doe ran through the closed door,
“I would like some explanation to why my son is sedated and in hospital please”
“He’s under a love potion, they said it will only get worse unless well unless we find the antidote or another option which I want to discuss with Soph”
“How can we find the antidote?”
“We’ve been looking to see – Hermione’s been brewing a basic antidote for us to add to”
“Right and the other option, is to do what?”
“Like I said to be discussed with Sophia, in private”
“I would very much like to hear what it possibly is about her that is doing this”
“It’s a love potion and nothing more Molly” Harry replied “Come into the living room Soph”
She followed him in “What do I have to do?”
“It’s if you want to, if you think it will work”
“Harry what do I have to do?”
“Kiss him”
She blinked “You what? – but I’m the object, if I give in nothing will happen, I know that from studying the potions so should you”
“Soph – it will work if you love him”
“I don’t, I love Charlie”
“It is possible to love more then one person no matter how selfish it might seem to others – we all thought you two would end up together the way you were with each other”
“But I knew, I always knew that we wouldn’t be more then friends, not when I see him as a brother”
“A brother – brotherly love, only it really is more isn’t it – you can admit it to me, that there are some feelings there for him, I won’t judge, you love George, you just love Charlie more right?”
She started to cry nodding her head,
“I didn’t want to see it; I don’t want to see it”
“This could end it all, just one kiss”
“It would be like I betrayed Charlie, he wouldn’t trust me around George, he wouldn’t want me if he knew – I love him, I want him there’s just a bit of me that loves George too, if I kiss him I’ll know and he’ll know and George will know…”
“George will have memory loss, he’ll like you but he won’t be able to see you as anything but Charlie’s girlfriend”
“But I’ll know”
“You’ll know you belong with Charlie more, you’ll know you love him more and that you’ve made your choice from the moment you looked back at him, you two just look right together, you fit like pieces of a jigsaw”
“Charlie will know, I couldn’t hide it from him”
“He’ll forgive you for something you can’t help, you say it all the time, he’s like a brother to you and Charlie understands that, he’s his brother, they’ll get along, they won’t fight over you and you and Charlie can be happy”
“Can’t we just get him the antidote or something?”
“This would be simply to bring George back and nothing else, more effective then a potion we don’t know the ingredients of and that might not work – the healer said soon his body will fight the sleeping draught and nothing will stop him from being awake and trying to find you”
“Is there no other girl, no one else in his life that loves him, that’s meant for him more then me – the girl he can’t have”
“I don’t know”
“Please let me help you try and find them before I have to do it, please Harry”
“We don’t have much time”
“Then let’s not waste anymore”
“We’ll start with Fred”
He heard the front door “I won’t tell Hermione, I’ll see where she is with the potion”
“Thankyou”
He left her sitting in there walked in and gabbed Hermione by the arm pulling her into the living room before either Molly or Ron could object.
“What have you got so far – is it Malfoy?”
“They had a break in, the stuff that was stolen was the ingredients for a love potion three months ago, they stole crates of things, they’ve been brewing but the owner reckons that with that amount of love potion in one person he could kill”
“He nearly did Hermione – we have to solve this now”
“We don’t know what of Sophia was added, we don’t know how much potion he was given, and we need the exact ingredients, a basic potion wouldn’t do this he has added other things to make it more potent, we could end up poisoning him - we’ve got a better chance of finding his true love then creating a potion that works”
“Then we do that – we’re going to diagon alley, Fred doesn’t know what’s happened yet”
“Ok” she shrugged “But I don’t know what you’ll expect to find -”
“- Hermione if George was seeing anyone that could possibly break the spell and the potion Fred would know”
“Then I’ll take Sophia, you need to stay here with Ginny, she looks pretty shaken up”
“She’s fine” Harry snapped back, “If you’re that worried stay here yourself” he took Sophia’s hand and led her out of the room, she hadn’t said anything, just nodded at Hermione’s words. He needed to keep her with him to protect her, Ginny and the twins would be fine here with her mother, and they had Auror protection, he wasn’t going to lose his sister now he found her.
“Be back soon” he kissed Ginny and looked in on the twins, “Look after mummy for me” and pulled Sophia with him out the door, they apparated to the joke shop he burst inside calling for Fred.
“What’s going on – I don’t suppose you know where George has got to?” he grinned wading through the crowds,
“He’s in Mungo’s – we need to go in here” he gestured his head to the back room,
“Oh – erm – come on through” he led them inside, “Is he ok – what happened?”
“He’s been given a love potion, he tried to kill Sophia, and he’s sedated in Mungo’s so he doesn’t try again”
“But – but how – how’s that possible, he said he was going out to get some more fireworks from the warehouse”
“He didn’t, he held Ginny and the twin’s hostage and tried to curse Soph, now we need information”
“Right” he sat on a crate “I mean what – this isn’t right at all”
“There’s no time to explain properly, he’s going to wake up and come after her again unless you know who his true love is”
Fred blinked incredulously “You what?”
Harry rolled his eyes “Has there anyone he’s been seeing, before he got all obsessed with Soph was he dating anyone?”
“Erm – Yvonne, she used to work here, he dumped her and she left, about the time – about the time we got the first bottle of fire whiskey sent to us”
“What?”
“We’ve been getting fire whiskey sent every few weeks, he doesn’t let anyone else near his mind, and it comes with notes saying it’s from the company, complementary for selling some of there other products”
“You idiots – Mad eye moody only drinks from a flask exactly for this reason!” Harry fumed “That’s how Malfoy’s been poisoning him, he’s sent you an ordinary bottle and him one that’s contaminated”
“Oh – erm – whoops…”
“Whoops – he could have killed her; he could have hurt my daughter because you two are idiots!”
“Harry – Soph, look I’m sorry”
“Do you have one?”
“Erm no – he drank the last of his the other day, the bottles went in the bin, they’re long gone”
“Take me to Yvonne’s house”
“What why?”
“You manufacture the weaker stuff; you should know that it’s only true love that can break it now we can’t make an antidote”
Fred looked at him and then Sophia “Right – but Yvonne?”
“He broke up with her just after he started to take the potion?”
“So they could have been in love or something?”
“Exactly”
“Right – I’ll take you now, give me a second to tell the manager”
He did so and then came back in “Good to go” he took out his wand and put a hand on Harry shoulder, they appeared in a front garden of a muggle neighbourhood,
The muggle woman screamed and fell of the ladder as she pruned the fence “Wipe her memory” Harry said to Fred immediately and knocked on the door.
“Hello I’m looking for Yvonne”
“She doesn’t live here”
“You know where we can find her?”
Fred popped up beside them “Hi Yvonne”
The woman rolled her eyes and turned around, “Come in” she muttered,
“How’s things my favourite ex employee?”
“Don’t try to persuade me to come back Fred; it won’t work” she sat on the couch “Unless he’s changed his mind”
“You can help there – you see George only dumped you because someone was feeding him a love potion to make him like someone else”
“Yeah, a chick named Sophia who he wouldn’t shut up about, and told me he was madly in love with her and they were going to be together and all this other stuff after he only knew her a month – why don’t you tell me who she is so I can slap her silly”
“Erm – that would be me, and for the record I’m in love with his brother and have no intention – never had any intention of being with George, that would be the love potion Draco Malfoy has been sneaking to him talking to you”
“You love Fred, poor soul” she smiled, to him
“Not me – other brother, Charlie, you know there’s too many to keep track of Yvonne” he said grinning “Now if you kiss George well that could reverse the spell, all will be good and dandy”
“I’m not kissing him, he was horrible” she crossed her arms “He can suffer through it”
“The thing is if you don’t he’s going to kill me” Sophia replied “Only the person he really loves can break the effects of the potion and turn him back to normal”
“He met her twice and then the fire whiskey was delivered” Harry said trying to explain, “He only dumped you because of the potion not for any other reason, Sophia was already seeing Charlie by the first dose”
“How do I know this isn’t just something you’ve cooked up Fred – or something he’s done to make me jealous? He can’t just decide to like me now”
Harry groaned and put his head in his hands “Girls are stupid sometimes too” he muttered,
“Oi – you may be Harry Potter but I have no qualms about throwing you out of my house”
“You know what if your not going to come nicely because we ask you to, I might just kidnap you so you can see him for yourself – he just tried to kill my sister whilst holding my wife and baby daughters hostage, if that’s not a love potion making him sick I’m really worried I married into the family!”
“He what – George would never”
“He’s not George right now ok – he’s crazy and he’s out to kill her so no one else can have her because he’s been poisoned into thinking he loves her” Harry said trying not to shout at her,
“And what say’s that me kissing him will do anything, what says that I love him or he loves me?”
Fred looked at her nearly laughing “You’re mad about him or you wouldn’t be hiding and miserable”
“Erm…”
“Will you just kiss him so I can have my brother back and you can have him back?”
“OK” she got up, they all apparated to the reception to find him.
“Are you sure this will work?”
“Yes” the three people behind her answered, Fred pushing her forward to the door and she looked back,
“Go”
“Why is he tied up and still asleep?”
“Because he’s dangerous” Harry muttered,
“Then I’m not going in there” Harry grabbed her arm and pushed the door pulling her inside the room, “Hey!”
“Look at him ok, you haven’t seen him in months and I get that you’re worried but you’re his last hope alright”
“Hmm”
He watched as tears fell down her cheeks, “What if it doesn’t work, what if I’m not right for him?”
“Try and find out”
“What happens to him?”
“They said some of them kill themselves – Draco Malfoy is behind this, you can end it, just kiss him”
She nodded and stepped towards him, her hand reached to his cheek and she closed her eyes leaning in to press her lips against his.
Nothing happened.
“Harry?”
“I don’t know – I mean, maybe when he wakes up” He looked to the door to see Sophia staring in horror,
“I’m going to go – to go and get a healer to reawaken him or something” she replied wandering away,
“Ok”
She walked past Fred and Sophia wiping her eyes, pulling away from Fred as he tried to comfort her, he went after her and Sophia walked in –
“I’m the only option aren’t I?”
“We don’t know that”
“Don’t try and be nice about it, it’s my own fault”
“You can’t help it, George is a good guy”
“So is Charlie, I love Charlie” she walked forward leaning in as Fred appeared,
“What are you doing?”
“It’s me” she replied getting closer, “I’m so sorry Charlie”
Harry’s wand touched her shoulder as she moved in, she didn’t feel a thing.
Her lips reached his, she kissed him softly pulling away only to find his lips returning the kiss, holding her there. Her hand reached out to hold his cheek, breaking away to look into his eyes. He blinked, he stared he tried to move and started to panic. “What’s going on?” she stood away from him, Harry took her into his arms in a hug as she cried against his shoulder.
“Your in Mungo’s, you’ve been poisoned, you’re going to be fine now”
__________________
RIP JD Salinger |