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Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. With its mother-of-pearl sheen and eternal mist, Amortentia was not only powerful but alluring, intrancing young witches and wizards with hopes of catching the eye of those they love the most. The sickly sweet and dreamlike fantasies that arose from amortentia were like arrows, wedging themselves into the hearts of many without a single ounce of regret.
“But one must never think they are the master of these metaphorical arrows,” Slughorn spoke as he lightly tapped the rim of the bubbling cauldron,“ for even Eros, the fabled god of love and desire, fell victim to the sting of his own arrows.”
In the back of the class, you sat twiddling a quill between your fingers and slumped over your desk. Next to you, your friend Amanda, sat equally bored and maybe even more so annoyed that she was in class rather than buried beneath a mountain of pillows back in the common room.
“Why are we learning about some flying baby? Isn’t this potions class?” Amanda whispered.
“That’s Cupid, Amanda. Not Eros.”
“ Whatever ,” Amanda leaned back in her seat, “I just want to make the damn potion already.”
“Why in such a rush?” you smirked. Amanda's cheeks warmed as she looked away, finding the jars of frog legs and gillyweed a lot more interesting than whatever you had to say. You chuckled to yourself, “ oh I see . Trying to catch a certain someone’s attention?”
“You’re one to talk, [Y/N]. At least I can hold a conversation with him. You on the other hand―,” Amanda trailed off. You rose a brow and leaned closer to the blonde haired Hufflepuff.
“On the other hand?”
Amanda jutted her chin towards the front of the classroom where a pair of Slytherin boys sat. One of them, who you knew as Evan Rosier, leaned back in his seat and lazily doodled on his parchment. His short blonde hair shimmered in the sunlight and his bored baby blue eyes fluttered around the room, hoping for any ounce of entertainment to get him through today’s class.
“Are you talking about Rosier?” you scrunched up your nose.
“Very funny. Don’t play dumb with me , Eromaneo,” Amanda hissed. Your eyes moved from Rosier to one Regulus Arcturus Black. The younger brother of the Gryffindor heartthrob, Sirius Black, was diligently taking notes, trying to block out whatever Rosier was whispering in his ear and pay attention to the lecture.
His soft, ebony locks curled at the ends, bouncing slightly as he shuffled in his seat. He was obviously annoyed, you observed, and you could almost see the aggravated grimace that adorned his thin, pale lips.
“Take a picture. It'll last longer.”
“I'm fully capable of holding a conversation with Regulus,” you said, voice lowered in fear of being overheard.
“Yeah. If you're drunk.”
“We've known each other since 1st year.”
“And how many times have you actually sat down and talked to him,” Amanda said and before you could retort, she added,” about anything other than class.”
“I—.” You could feel your mouth dry as your brain fumbled to form a coherent sentence,”—we talk in the library. When his friends aren't around.”
“Oh really? Seems a tad embarrassed of you, ain’t he?”
“Fuck off,” you hissed.
“Five points from Hufflepuff, Ms. Eromaneo. I tolerate no fowl language in this class,” Slughorn said. The whole class turned towards you and your cheeks warmed from the unwanted attention. Amanda covered her mouth as she chuckled, obviously enjoying the amount of embarrassment you were receiving.
“Sorry, professor,” you mumbled. Looking towards you from over his shoulder, Regulus frowned as he watched you sink back in your seat.
“Now then class,” Slughorn resumed, “who here wants to come up and smell the amortentia? Ms. Eromaneo? You seem excited enough already. How about you come up and try?”
You grimaced at the thought and ignored Amanda practically dying right next to you. You sighed and walked up towards the set of bubbling pots laid out in the front of the class with a cauldron of amortentia placed dead in the center.
“Now before you smell,” Slughorn hummed. He tapped on his chin as he looked around the room, thinking of Merlin knows what, and startled you with a quick snap of his fingers, “Mr. Black! How about you come up here as well!”
“ Shit ,” you cursed again, this time under your breath. The last thing you needed was to lose more house points, especially for a reason as stupid as cursing. Too into your thoughts, you barely register Regulus walking up and stopping not even a hand’s length away from you, arms practically touching.
“Alrighty then! You both can smell now!”
Swallowing an invisible ball of air, you awkwardly took a quick sniff of the amortentia and was hit with a wave of ocean breeze. It was crisp and refreshing, almost as if you were standing at the shore right now. You inhaled deeper, catching hints of freshly, brewed chamomile tea mixed with old books.
Your heart stopped as you connected the three smells together and your cheeks, like that with a teapot on the oven, blossomed into a bright crimson.
“I smell,” Regulus paused, briefly looking at you before looking up towards Slughorn, “chocolate frogs, soil, and red apples.”
“And you, Ms. Eromaneo?”
“I— uh —I smell the ocean, chamomile, and—,” you looked up at Regulus and locked eyes with him as soon as he turned back towards you, “—and old books.”
Realization dawned on Regulus as soon as he took note of your flustered expression. Cheeks warming as well, Regulus quickly hid his face away from both you and Slughorn in fear of anyone discovering his equally flustered state.
“What interesting smells! Especially yours, Mr. Black! Chocolate frogs, soil, and apples—quite a particular person with whom you love, hmm?”
“I suppose so, Professor,” Regulus gave you one quick glance before rushing back to his seat.
“As are your smells too, Ms. Eromaneo! Chamomile tea sounds quite nice right now,” Slughorn mused. He then shrugged his shoulders and with a wave of the hand, ended class, “you all are dismissed! Don’t forget your homework for next class! We’ll be going over the basics of making amortentia!”
As you walked back to your desk to retrieve your belongings, you see Amanda red eyed from laughing too much.
“That was—,” Amanda laughed, “that was brilliant! Did you see your face? That was priceless!”
“You’re enjoying this too much aren’t you, Maximoff?”
“Are you kidding? I’m—,” Amanda paled as she looked behind you, her former pink dusted cheeks turned into ash, “—I’ll be going now.”
“What? What do you—oh. Hi, Reg,” you were startled by Regulus’s sudden appearance, having thought of him already out of the room and back at his dorm. The tall Slytherin rubbed the back of his neck, playing with the baby hairs that rested there.
“Hi, [Y/N].” Regulus said, his gaze locked on the stone floor rather than on you. You fiddled with the sleeves of your sweater as you shifted your weight from one foot to the other.
“So— uh . I don’t know about you but I could go for some chocolate frogs,” you said, slowly walking towards the classroom door. Hand on the door handle, you gestured for Regulus to follow, “wanna go to Honeydukes?”
“[Y/N] it’s not even last—,” Regulus stopped himself as soon as he saw the small smile on your lips. A soft smile erupted on his own features and a quiet laugh escaped his lips, “—you know what? If my brother can do it, so can I.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” you exclaimed. Despite how red your cheeks were and how sweaty your palms and back had become throughout class, you hooked your arm around Regulus’s elbow and pulled him out from potions.