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“It’s Valentine's Day; pink is around every corner, and students are walking around with hearts in their eyes,” Professor Slughorn talked wistfully at his potions classroom. “I figure we might as well put some love into the air,” and then he smiled almost deviously at himself. “Can anybody tell me about the love potion by the name of Amortentia?”
As she always did, Lily Evans raised her hand dutifully.
Slughorn didn’t even have to look her way to know she had the answer, “Yes, Ms. Evans?”
“It’s considered one of the most powerful love potions to exist. It has a distinct mother-of-pearl sheen and its steam rises in spirals. It smells differently to everybody, as it is said to smell of what most attracts a person.”
“Correct as usual.” Slughorn smiled, “Five points.” Lily smiled at her knowledge.
“Do I tell you often, how much I admire your smarts?” Mary MacDonald whispered and bumped shoulders with her girlfriend.
“Not nearly enough, darling,” Lily giggled.
Professor Slughorn continued with his short lesson, and soon enough the students were partnered off and brewing the potion.
“I bet yours will smell boringly academic, like books and rain or something,” sniggered Sirius Black to his partner.
“Petrichor,” amended Remus Lupin quietly, focused on grinding pearl dust in a mortar.
“Pardon?” Asked Sirius as he half-payed attention.
Remus smiled to himself.
“Do you have an idea of yours will smell like, Pete?” asked James Potter.
Peter Pettigrew searched his mind for a moment.
“I honestly haven't a clue. I don't think I’ve liked someone in practically years.”
“You’re lucky then. Maybe yours will be interesting,” James pondered, “give you insight into yourself.”
“D’you figure what yours will be, mate?” Peter eyed James.
“Come off it, you know I’m over Evans,” the boy scoffed.
“Right, then, maybe yours will be insightful too.”
Peter wasn’t thinking of Lily when he’d queried James. He knew well and good that James fancied Sirius’ younger brother, Regulus. James was not nearly as subtle about his crush as he thought he was.
Marlene McKinnon knew exactly what her Amortentia potion would smell like. She’d been pining after Dorcas Meadowes for months now. At first she thought that the Slytherin might like her back, but with every passing day, she was losing hope of a potential relationship.
Marlene sat with her chin in her hand as she stared dreamily over at the girl of her affections. Her normal partner for potions class was in the infirmary, so she had joined Mary and Lily’s partnership for the time being. She found it quite easy to get lost in her thoughts as the two other girls were so diligent about their work.
Dorcas just looked so lovely where she sat. Half of her braids were up in a ponytail, and the rest framed her face beautifully. She’d taken to keeping little rings of wire throughout her hair, and Marlene was almost certain there were exactly 43. Dorcas wore a dark brown smudged eyeliner that nearly matched her skin tone, and rings on almost every finger, and Marlene couldn't be more enamoured with the look.
Dorcas felt Marlene looking at her, of course- it was hard not to notice such an intense stare. Merlin, she wanted to glance over at her just once, but if she did, she might not be able to look away. As much as she tried to fight it, she felt a blush begin to paint her cheeks and neck, just from the humidity of the potion, Dorcas reasoned.
“Marlene, Godric, who are you staring at?” Lily asked incredulously. “It's been a full few minutes.”
Marlene harrumphed and looked back to the brewing potion, “It’s nobody,” she pouted.
“Really?” teased Mary as she leaned closer and continued in a whisper, “because it almost seems as though you’re looking at Meadowes.”
Marlene blushed furiously, and Lily smacked her girlfriend's arm.
“Don’t be an arse,” she scolded. Mary just scrunched her nose in a way that she knew Lily found cute, and the two girls went back to giggling together as they worked.
“If you smell anything but me in this potion, love, we’re breaking up,” Lily smiled sweetly.
“Don’t be nervous, darling, I only have eyes for you,” Mary batted her lashes.
“Aren’t you two a sight?” Marlene deadpanned.
“D’ya say something, Marls?” Mary broke Lily's loving stare. “No need to be jealous. I have it on good authority that Dorcas likes you back.” She winked and tapped the side of her nose.
Marlene thought that she might die on the spot, from embarrassment, giddiness, or a mixture of the two.
Soon enough, Remus had nearly finished making the potion that Sirius was supposed to be helping him brew. Instead Sirius was sitting backwards in his chair, chatting with James. He missed the rather frantic look that Remus sent him for a second.
Godric, Remus’ potion smelled nothing of books and petrichor. It smelled of cigarettes and oud and wet dog. It was not a nice combination, but it was distinct to the boy sitting next to him. Remus composed his look in time for Sirius to swing his head back to him.
“Merlin, mate,” did you just douse yourself in your damned perfume?” Sirius scrunched up his nose. He was suddenly smelling a strong scent of sandalwood and amber. “I mean, it's not a bad smell, but it is pungent.”
“I finished the potion, bloody prick,” Remus grumbled with red cheeks.
“And?” Sirius asked incredulously.
Remus looked dumbfounded for a second.
“Moony, I don’t think Sirius was paying attention when Evans explained the potion,” James supplied.
Remus' mouth broke out into a wide grin. So then, he knows Sirius must like him, and Sirius has no idea that he knows.
“What's with the smile?” Sirius frowned, “It's off-putting.”
“Ah, nothing.” Remus started to doodle on some parchment in front of him.
“I feel like I’m missing something, " Sirius looked between his three friends, all of whom were now diligently looking away from him. “Real help you lot are,” and Sirius stalked off to find a textbook to fill him in on the joke.
Dorcas did, in fact, like Marlene back. Or at least, she might like her back. She was over it by now, as she told herself. A year of pining after a girl, and only recently said girl takes interest in her back? She wasn’t going to pursue such a late attraction. If Marlene was interested in her, she needed to be forward. Dorcas wanted her to just come right out and say it. Moreso, she was maybe even getting over her schoolgirl crush when Marlene started to notice her.
Salazar, why did the Gryffindor have to make moving on so hard? Dorcas couldn’t focus when Marlene was looking at her like a love-sick puppy, with her big blue eyes and her pouty lips.
Finally Dorcas found some confidence in herself, and she looked back at Marlene with furrowed eyebrows and downturned lips. Marlene sat up straight and looked right back at her. They stared at each other, Marlene openly checking Dorcas out, and Dorcas pretending not to do the same to Marlene.
And then Marlene did something a bit unexpected. She gestured to her own hair and then to Dorcas and mouthed quite obviously, “I like your hair.”
Dorcas sunk a bit in her seat to hide her smile behind her cauldron. Damn Marlene for making her feel giddy.
James felt as though his brain might be short circuiting. There was no possible way he smelled what he smelled in his cauldron. It had taken him a moment to realise that he could place the scent. It was almost a musk, not quite like a perfume, but rather a person's natural scent. He also curiously smelled oud. The same oud that he knew to be a signature scent of the Black family. Merlin, it can’t be Sirius. He doesn’t ever smell this nice.
And then James suddenly held his breath to avoid smelling the potion any longer, because he realised who it reminded him of. He made a mental note to never look Regulus Black in the eyes again, because he knew now that if he did, he might combust on the spot.
No, no, no, no, no, James can’t like Regulus. The boy is a right prick.
Though, James always did seem to like it before when Lily was mean to him. And, well, now that he thought about it, he remembered quite liking it when Regulus would be mean to him as well. He took pleasure in riling the boy up.
Godric, James is doomed.
“Okay, love, break it to me easy, what do I smell like?” Lily sighed as she asked Mary.
“Thank Merlin you brought it up,” Mary said in faux relief. “I didn’t want to have to be the one, but since you asked, it's nothing good.” In fact, Mary was smelling an overwhelming scent of peppermint, which she promptly decided was her new favourite scent.
Lily narrowed her eyes.
“You know, now that I,” Lily paused and comically sniffed the air, “really pay attention, I think I’m smelling perhaps broomstick polish and parchment. Does that remind you of anyone?”
“You twat!” Mary whisper-yelled, but smiled at the same time. “Tell me how long you’ve had feelings for James Potter!”
“Oh, darling, this whole time,” Lily played along.
“Well, how can I convince you to start liking me instead?” Mary leaned in a bit closer.
“You can start by wearing your delightful apple perfume more often,” Lily gave in.
“Oh, I knew you loved it!”
Sirius returned to his table rather quietly. He had some thinking to do. If the textbook was telling him the truth, which it likely was as he crossed-checked a handful of other textbooks, then he must fancy Remus.
How did he not realise? The boy was proper gorgeous. And now that Sirius was really thinking about it, he was finding himself more and more stupified by Remus. His eyes were simply captivating, and his scars running along his face only matched maturity. He might be perfect.
Remus was still doodling on his parchment when Sirius leaned over. “You know, I may have complained about it earlier, but I do quite like your smell.”
“Smell me often, Pads?” Remus quirked a brow.
“I suppose I do,” Sirius answered honestly.
“Well, you know, you wouldn’t be too bad yourself if you didn’t perpetually smell like dog.” Remus teased.
Sirius pulled at a strand of his long hair to give himself a smell.
“Do not.”
“Do so,” Remus paused, “but I suppose I don’t quite mind.”
As she’d expected, Marlene smelled exactly what she thought she would. Citrus and rosemary. She sighed, perhaps Dorcas was smelling her. She wondered what she might smell like.
As it turned out, Marlene smelled like fresh laundry and flowers. Dorcas knew it was Marlene's scent, but she still dreaded to think so. She’d smelled it on Marlene in passing enough times to recognize it.
Merlin, maybe she was being immature. She ought to give Marlene a chance finally. It was clear enough that the girl liked her. Dorcas supposed that she was just waiting for Marlene to make a move, but perhaps the compliment about her hair was as far as Marlene was willing to go.
And so, Dorcas decided to compromise. She looked up and directly at Marlene. The girl was surprisingly busy talking with Mary MacDondald, and so Dorcas found herself admiring the girl for a moment. Her hair was cut short, a change that Marlene had made only recently, and it fit her face very well. Even from this distance, Dorcas could see the permanent rosiness of Marlene's cheeks and the striking blue of her eyes.
When Marlene did look up, Dorcas couldn’t help but smile a bit as she mouthed, “I like your hair, too.” Marlene gave a wide grin back and suddenly both girls felt much lighter about themselves. Perhaps this mutual crush could go somewhere.
Peter was finding himself amused by his friends around him. James had been blushing and quiet for some time now. Sirius was now looking longingly at Remus, who was keeping to himself as usual, and otherwise poking fun at the boy next to him. Mary and Lily were sickeningly in love, as to be expected from the couple. Marlene and Dorcas seemed to be making strides, if you could call singular compliments “strides.”
Merlin, perhaps Peter was lucky not to be interested in anyone. It seemed tiring to pine after a person. Besides, if he got caught up in his own romance then he would miss out on his friends drama, and he’d hate for that to happen. What a wonderful Valentine's Day, The boy thought.