𝐿𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐿𝑖𝑓𝑒

Chapter 40: Strawberries

Lily had waited for this moment her entire seventh-year. The countless nights of delirious studying, bugging James to help her recite her notes, and the amount of motivation she had to try to incite into Marlene.

Yet, she froze when she got to question number four.

What does your amortentia smell like?

She had made it through every exam, except Potioms so far, as it was her last one of a very long day. She tried very hard not to freeze up, but a flood of memories was brought back with the question.

She vividly remembered brewing the potion with Sirius, as he made it quite the interesting time. However, the good memories were tainted with the fact that the potion was used against her mum, who would never had known better.

Rose Evans was smart, top of the class in her prime. Yet, she was very much a muggle. All Henry had to do was introduce the potion as a special type of wine that he had imported from a foreign nation.

Lily still beat herself up about how it got past her. Potions was one of her best classes! How could something so detrimental slip past her grasp?

Refocusing, she took a moment to write down her answer.

My mum's apple pie, new books, and foresty cologne

...

4. What does your amortentia smell like?

My aunt's special pasta sauce, strawberries, and mint gum

Quite an odd combination for Craig, but he knew why two out of three of them were there.

He associated the pasta sauce with his loving childhood. Vivid memories flashed passed his eyes as he soaked in the laughter, the teasing, the family board game nights that the mere memory of the amortentia gave him. It was strong stuff.

The mint gum gave him a sense of security. It was very odd to try to explain, but the memories associated with the mint gum were adoringly close to his heart.

Smelling the strawberries was different than the rest. He couldn't trace it back to a specific memory, but the sweet scent was the dearest to him, as well as the newest. It felt different than just a fond childhood memory, it felt like love.

Of course, Craig was just assuming. He had never been in love with someone else before, so it was completely new territory that he didn't understand at all.

Disregarding the fact that mystery, he allowed himself to celebrate the fact that exams were finally over and he was free from school. He loved Hogwarts and the people he had met along the way. Speaking of which, he was going to meet Regulus outside by the lake.

He could spot the boy from about a mile away—he had gotten in the habit. They often shared eye rolls from across the cafeteria, since it was so easy to see each other.

In hindsight, it really wasn't that easy to find each other, but the bozos were too oblivious to their obvious feelings towards each other that they thought this was normal.

"How do you feel about strawberries?" Craig asked, since the topic was still fresh in his mind.

"I quite like them actually. Fun fact! Strawberry shampoo is the only muggle product I use!" Regulus smiled brightly as he had increasingly become accustomed to around Craig. "Why?"

"N-no reason," Craig responded shocked.

He smelled Regulus in his amortentia. Did that mean that- No! It couldn't be! Yet, it was possible. What if he actually was in love with him?