Snape watched Draco and Hermione in amusement all week, as they continued to think they were under the influence of a love potion. To be honest he was surprised they hadn't started to question it at all. He'd made it clear that the potion didn't affect their sexual urges, yet from what he'd seen and heard they were very hands on with one another.

A couple of the Professors had been at Hogsmeade over the weekend and according to Madam Rosmerta, the landlady of The Three Broomsticks, Hermione and Draco had spent a good portion of their day snuggled up together in the pub. The whole school had then witnessed Hermione's support for Slytherin during the Quidditch match and they were often spotted sharing a heated embrace. The pair had even taken to sitting together in every class they shared. Even when they didn't share classes Draco walked Hermione to her class, before leaving for his own. Several of the Professors had shared stories of long drawn out goodbyes at the door that resulted in them intervening and prising the pair apart.

However as amusing as Snape was finding the situation, he decided a week was long enough and it should come to an end. He was just hoping that the week spent together would be enough of an incentive for them to continue their relationship. There was no denying that both Draco and Hermione had been happier than ever this last week, and while they may have acted out-of-character thinking they were under the influence of a love potion, their feelings for each other were genuine.

When the fifth years arrived for their lesson, Snape smirked to himself when Hermione and Draco arrived together and sat down in their seats without a problem. Normally he had to make a point of making sure they were both in their correct seat, but not today. Today they were more than happy to sit together.

Deciding to wait until near the end of class to break the news, Snape barked out his orders for the lesson, before settling down at his desk. While he did some marking he kept an eye on Draco and Hermione, noticing how well they were working together. Their normal bickering and sniping was gone, instead they were being co-operative and spent their time shooting one another smouldering glances.

"I have a quick announcement to make in regards to last week's mishap." Snape declared as the class finished packing up.

"Do you have an antidote?" Ron called hopefully.

"I have answers." Snape replied, not missing the disappointed look Draco and Hermione shared.

"I can't believe it's taken a week to find a solution." Dean grinned. "We must have made a brill potion."

"Yeah, our talent is beginning to emerge." Seamus said happily.

"I wouldn't get too excited, you two." Snape warned the two Gryffindors. "I can safely say your love potion was the worst I've ever seen, even my first years could brew a better one."

"So much for your wonder potion that you've been bragging about all week." Theo laughed.

"Wait, if their potion was so bad, why has it taken you all week to find a solution?" Draco asked his head of house.

"I have a small confession to make." Snape smirked. "When I was cleaning up the potion last week I discovered it was useless, it would have lasted ten minutes at the most."

"But it didn't." Hermione interrupted. "We're still under the influence a week later."

"No, you're not." Snape shook his head. "As I said the potion wore off in ten minutes. When I returned to my office I expected to find you were back to normal, when I didn't I decided to have a bit of fun."

"You tricked us." Draco growled.

"I did." Snape admitted. "But you could have worked that out for yourselves. The pair of you are exceptionally bright, you should have been able to realise you weren't under the influence of a potion."

"But they have to be under the influence of the potion." Ron said. "They've been all over each other all week."

"That is purely down to them. All the potion did was bring the feelings to the surface, if Miss Granger and Mr Malfoy didn't genuinely like each other than they would have realised the potion had worn off." Snape said.

"So you're saying that Draco and Hermione are really a pair of lovesick fools." Blaise laughed, thinking of some of the pair's behaviour over the past week.

"Not exactly." Snape said. "They thought they were under the influence of the potion, therefore they acted on their impulses and desires. I'm sure under normal circumstances they would never act quite the way they have done this week, but it never would have happened if their feelings hadn't been genuine."

"You still tricked us." Draco glared unhappily at Snape. "Whether our feelings are real or not, you still let us act like idiots."

"I'm sure you didn't act like idiots." Snape said reassuringly.

"They did." Theo chuckled. "It was downright embarrassing at times."

Before anyone else could say anything the bell rang for the end of class. Snape watched in dismay as Draco snatched up his bag and stormed out of the class, not even glancing in Hermione's direction. As the sad looking witch grabbed her own bag and left class with her friends, Snape began to wonder if he'd made a mistake. Maybe he should have told the truth last week, or maybe he should have told Draco and Hermione what he'd done in private. He just hoped he hadn't ruined any chance the young pair had of being together.

Hermione made her way around the lake, hoping she would find Draco in the spot he'd shown her on Sunday. After he left Potions, no-one had seen the blond Slytherin. He failed to turn up to the last class of the day and he hadn't shown up at dinner either. After dinner Hermione had told her friends she had something to do, before setting out to find Draco.

Hermione was hoping he was sulking because they'd both spent the week acting like fools, not because it was her he was with. Hermione herself was pretty embarrassed with some of the things they had done, but she didn't regret the time she'd spent with Draco. Despite the sappy behaviour she'd really enjoyed spending time with him and she did genuinely like him.

Clambering over the rocks, Hermione turned towards the lake and headed for the clearing. When she found the clearing she was relieved to find Draco sitting staring out over the water. Tentatively she moved forward and sat down next to him, although she waited for him to speak.

"I suppose we're the laughing stock of the school." Draco muttered finally.

"Is that why you're hiding away?" Hermione asked. "To avoid the gossips."

"I don't know about you, but I don't appreciate being the butt of people's jokes." Draco replied. "And let's be honest, we've given them plenty of material this past week."

"Tell me about it." Hermione cringed. "I did stuff I would never normally dream of doing."

"Like what?" Draco turned his head to face Hermione.

"Cheering like an idiot at Quidditch for a start." Hermione replied.

"You regret cheering for me." Draco said sadly, turning back towards the lake.

"No." Hermione said, causing Draco to turn back towards her. "I regret jumping up and down like an idiot, but I don't regret supporting you. I'm pleased you won, and I'm pleased I had the opportunity to really watch you fly."

"So what else have you done that you would never normally do?" Draco questioned.

"Spending almost all day Saturday snogging in The Three Broomsticks. It's kind of embarrassing to think about how caught up we were in each other in public." Hermione answered.

"So it's the public part that bothers you, not the snogging part." Draco checked.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "I have no problems with the amount of kissing we did, it's just embarrassing to think we were all over each other in public."

"Yeah, it is." Draco agreed. "I can't believe we didn't even notice our friends in the pub, that's bad."

"Definitely." Hermione said. "So since I've told you what I'm embarrassed about, how about you do the same. What are you most embarrassed about?"

"All the times we were separated by the Professors." Draco answered. "I can't believe I walked you to every class, I've been late for my own lessons quite a bit this last week."

"Sorry." Hermione whispered.

"It's not your fault." Draco said. "I wanted to spend my time with you. In normal circumstances I would have restrained myself from walking you to every class, that's just overkill."

"I just can't believe we didn't realise the potion had worn off." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Maybe we didn't want to." Draco suggested. "Maybe we were happy to believe it and go with what we were feeling. Snape was right, we should have known, we're not stupid."

Hermione nodded in agreement. In the few hours since Potions she'd thought about what Snape had said and she knew he was right. The signs were all there that they weren't under the influence of any potion, they were just too stubborn to admit their feelings were real.

"Do you regret this last week?" She asked quietly.

"I regret acting like an idiot." Draco snorted. When Hermione turned away from him, he reached out and gently turned her back to face him. "But I don't regret the time I spent with you. Apart from when I was spouting any sort of sappy nonsense, that was just plain embarrassing."

"How about we forget this past week and start again?" Hermione suggested hopefully.

"I like that plan." Draco nodded.

Simultaneously the pair leant forward and connected their lips. The effect was the same as it had been all week, the second their lips touched they couldn't get enough of each other. Draco's hand tangled in Hermione's hair, while she wrapped her arm around his neck and moved even closer to the blond. After what felt like an eternity the pair reluctantly separated their lips, although they barely moved apart. The couple looked at each other and smiled, before reconnecting their lips again.

Hermione and Draco stayed out by the lake for a good hour, before they reluctantly agreed they had to head back to the castle. As they walked they discussed what was going to happen between them. Draco had asked Hermione to go with him to Hogsmeade on the next trip, only this time they agreed not to abandon their friends. They also agreed that their embarrassing public displays of affection would stop.

By the time the pair reached the castle, they found Snape waiting for them in the front hallway. He'd been looking for Draco for a while and he'd finally spotted him heading back towards the castle moments earlier.

"I want to apologise." Snape said to the pair. "I shouldn't have misled you all week, and I shouldn't have revealed the truth in front of the whole class."

"It's okay." Draco told their Potions Master. "Actually we should be thanking you. If you hadn't have tricked us, we might never had admitted we had feelings for one another. So while this last week has been pretty embarrassing, it was worth it in the end."

"I'm pleased." Snape smiled in relief. He was worried that his meddling had just made things worse, but luckily Draco and Hermione seemed to have worked things out and looked to be continuing on with their relationship.

After saying goodnight, Snape headed back down to the dungeons, leaving Draco and Hermione standing in the front hall. It was still half an hour to curfew, but the pair decided it was best for them to just head back to their respective dorms.

"Do you want me to walk you back to Gryffindor Tower?" Draco jokingly asked. "I know the way."

"I think I can find my own way." Hermione chuckled. "Goodnight, Draco."

"Goodnight, Hermione." Draco replied. Glancing around to make sure they were alone, he pulled Hermione into his arms and gave her a deep kiss.

When they separated, the pair went their separate ways with smiles on their faces. They might have spent the last week acting like lovesick fools, but something good had come from it. Thinking they had been under the influence of a love potion had forced them to admit their feelings for each other and had given them a chance they might not otherwise have had.

The End.

A/N - Thanks for all the reviews and support, as always I really appreciate it.

I know this story has potential to go further, but I decided to end it here as it was about the love potion and what happened once they were hit with it. The main point of the story was mainly getting them to admit their feelings for one another and I hoped people enjoyed this mini tale.