The Library Girl | Hermione Granger

16. Slughorn's class

The new Potions professor wasn't that bad compared to Snape, but there was another perspective that made him look obsessed with the most talented and clever students that attended his classes.

Entering the potions classroom wasn't so upsetting now that Snape wasn't there, because there was another energy inside there that made Felicity know no one was going to be yelled at after missing one ingredient or failing in their first try. The only ones who were attending Potions were the ones who got the highest mark at the O.W.Ls from last year.

Harry and Ron were the last ones to get in and Slughorn was really excited to see someone famous attend his class, expecting him to be the best.

- Alright students, let's begin the class now that everyone's inside -. Slughorn began to say, standing behind his desk.- Come here a moment and observe the cauldrons on this table, can someone recognize which potions are? -.

The only person who raised her hand was, obviously, Hermione.

- Alright miss...

- Granger, sir -. She said. Felicity didn't know why but she felt a shiver go across her skin.- That one's the Boil-Cure Potion, also called the "Cure for Boils". The other it's Veritaserum, the truth serum -.

- Correct, miss Granger -. Slughorn said, brightly smiling at her cleverness.

- That's Polyjuice Potion... -. She continued staring at every cauldron in front of the group.- ...and that one is... Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. It makes the person who gets closer smell what attracts them the most -.

There was a little silence in the classroom until Hermione talked again. Suddenly, a sweet smell of cinnamon and sunflowers that reminded her of a flowered valley invaded Felicity's senses and she felt weirdly hypnotized by it.

- For example... I smell lavender flowers, rain-wet grass, and coconut cake... -. Hermione said and quickly stepped back to her place next to Felicity.

The class's confusion ended once Slughorn covered the Amortentia cauldron with the lid.

Some of the things Hermione said made Felicity feel strange and recognizable, reminding her of the summer vacations when both spent time together cooking pastries, perambulating outside while it was raining, and walking across the neighborhood collecting bouquet of flowers for their homes. It was a bit filling how quickly she knew what her couple was talking about.

- I think I smelled cinnamon and sunflowers... How weird, don't you think? -. Felicity heard Ron whisper to Harry, who didn't answer but just looked at him confused.

Something gave her the nerves to turn around and say something but something on her mind told her to not say anything that would complicate the situation. Ron smelled the same thing she smelled and, in some manner, it bothered her to know it.

The class began to prepare a Draught of Living Death for the first class. The one who would get the perfect and acceptable result would be prized with a tiny vial of the luck potion.

The preparation around the classroom was in big part chaos. Cauldrons exploding, ingredients skipping the knives, Seamus almost getting burned out by his preparation, the Slytherins throwing and missing ingredients that weren't part of the list. And to not mention how Hermione was losing her mind over Harry's success.

- How did you do that? -. She said, nervously at Harry.

- Crush it, don't cut it -. He said, smiling.

- No, the instructions say specifically cut -. She said again, losing her patience.

- No, really -. Harry said, still smiling at his development and trying to give a hand.

Hermione swallowed her words and ignored Harry's advice, but Felicity tried what he said and, surprisingly, it worked perfectly. She was standing next to Hermione and was able to see the book Harry took, and she could see how the handwriting was all over the pages and printed sentences.

It didn't take too much for Hermione to end up messing her potion and her hair was now looking messy due to the cauldron's smoke. She was still looking pretty even if her hair was like a lion's mane. Felicity swallowed a little laugh and tried to calm her down.

- You're doing it great, Mione. Better than me at least -. Felicity said, smiling at her couple and laughing at her own cauldron. It was a disaster, more than Hermione's.

Hermione awkwardly smiled at her trying to agree with Felicity and came back to her instructions.

She kept looking at her and her hands hypnotized for a while until Slughorn walked past the four Gryffindors, expressing with sounds what he was evaluating from each progress.

At the end of the hour Slughorn gave, it was Harry the one who got it right, and the professor couldn't be more proud of him and prized him with the Liquid Luck vial. Hermione was still frustrated over his friend, no one ever surpassed her in any subject, ever. It was incredibly surprising.

Walking to the next class, the corridors of Hogwarts were loudly filled with students running in and out the rooms. Felicity and Hermione were both quickly going to Mcgonagall's class when Hermione talked again after cursing in a low voice to herself.

- It can't be possible, he couldn't just change the whole preparation and get it perfectly -. She said, speeding her walk and taking Felicity's hand, squishing it nervously.

- It could, actually, that's why he made it perfect -. Felicity said, remembering Harry's written book.

- It's just ridiculous, honestly -. Hermione said again, frowning and shaking her head while looking at Felicity.

- Hermione, if I ever tell you to do something out of the rules when we're alone, would you? Or would you deny experiencing something different? More knowing that maybe the result its quite better than the actual regulation -. Felicity said, smiling mischievously at her.

She knew she didn't think twice about what she said until Hermione opened bigly her eyes and blushed. Her thoughts made her blush and decided to shut her mouth until they arrived in the classroom.

Felicity saw a little shy smile on Hermione's face after she gasped, and that rarely hiped her butterflies and provoked a whole storm to invade her veins.