Aphrodite's brew

"Oh, yes," cawed Hermione. Harry looked up from his browsing, and the brunette beckoned him over. "Look at this. Aphrodite's brew."

"Transforms the consumer's form into that which will most arouse a chosen other," read Harry. "Does that mean this is essentially polyjuice potion, but instead of becoming someone else, you become a more beautiful version of yourself?"

"No," Hermione corrected him. "It means you become the most beautiful, erotic version of your physical self, in the eyes of a particular person."

"I like the sound of it," nodded Harry. Looking at the nude nineteen-year-old next to him, he wouldn't change a thing about her. But he knew that, although he had become lean during their year hunting horcruxes, he was shorter and less muscular than most girls wanted, and he expected that included Hermione.

"Oh wonderful! Aphrodite's brew is one of the best sexual potions," clapped Heather excitedly. "You two are already seriously hot - I can't wait to see the results..."

Harry glanced at the painting with a wry smile. Her giggling optimism and simple passions had begun to grow on him - though her inability to respect personal boundaries was still somewhat annoying. Maybe endearingly so.

The witch and wizard gathered the ingredients and equipment they would need from the various cupboards. Heather pulled something out of frame, and a stone workbench emerged from the wall with a grating rumble. They set to work on the prep immediately - skinning horseberries, chopping up the knotgrass, measuring out the powdered bicorn horn. Both being quite adept at potions, they were soon ready to begin - but the protocol had some notable differences to the usual fare. Specifically, the stages where bodily fluids had to be added.

With everything prepared, they set to work on cooking the potion, following the book's instructions:

1. Bring four measures of water and one measure of blood wine to the boil in a brass cauldron.
2. Add the skinned horseberries and boomslang skin together, stirring with an iron rod until the liquid is a deep purple.
3. Immediately drop the thaumatagoria in, and cover until popping sounds are heard.
4. Reduce the heat until the brew is no longer popping, but continuously hissing. Leave at exactly this temperature for two and one fifth hours.
5. In a separate cauldron, heat two measures of the saliva of the witch or wizard to take Aphrodite's brew with the sexual fluids of the witch or wizard to determine the changes made to the former's body. Note the saliva and sexual fluids must be mixed immediately upon production.

It was at this point Harry and Hermione realised they had had a miscommunication.

"Of course I think I should take it, Hermione - you're already perfect. But me - I bet you've fantasised about bigger, stronger guys, with a six pack and huge pecs."

"Why would I want that?" Hermione looked horrified. "I only care about what someone's like on the inside! And, as I think I've made clear in the last few hours, I'm very attached to your outside, to. I, on the other hand - I don't have anything to offer. I don't have a bum like Ginny's, or boobs like Lavender's, or even Katie Bell's athleticism. I want you to want my body more than you ever wanted Cho Chang's, or anyone else's."

Harry kneaded his forehead. "I do want your body more than anyone else's - it's like an instinct. I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world. And if that's because I know it's your body - so what?"

Hermione's cheeks glowed, but her smile faltered. "Why are we brewing this, then, if neither of us would change the other?"