A Riddle of Love

Chapter 4: Potions, Amortentia, and Draco

I opened the door as quietly as I could and tried to slip into my chair unnoticed.  "You're late." Great. Just great. I winced and looked up to see Professor Snape standing above our table, with a deeper look of dislike than usually occupied his face. "Yes sir." I said, "Beg pardon sir." He clenched his jaw and started toward the front of the room. "Detention." We were two minutes late - that's not fair!  I started to argue, "What? But why sir? We were only a few -" "Detention." "But sir, please let me ex-" "Do not argue further, or I will increase your time. And twenty-five points from Slytherin - each." Snape looked at the three of us with an extremely severe look. We weren't getting out of this one. "Yes sir." Some of the Gryffindors in the room sniggered and I hit my forehead on the table. Ugh. 

I looked over at my friends with an apologetic look. I'm so sorry, I mouthed. Bean hid their head in their folded arms, Riddle clenched his jaw, Draco looked like he felt bad, Crabbe and Goyle looked tired, and thank Godric that Parkinson wasn't there, though she would eventually find out that we lost seventy-five points in one go. I really messed this one up. If I hadn't talked back, we'd be 75 points richer. 

   Besides that bumpy start, the class wasn't all that bad. I mean, I'm fairly good at Potions, and Bean got over the initial embarrassment pretty quickly. Like, really quickly. Not too long after we got our things set up, Snape partnered us up for one of the dumbest yet most interesting potions - the love potion.  "Today we will be preparing Amortentia," Snape grimaced a bit when he said that, "I have partnered you up, and you will work with each other to create a sample. Once your Amortentia is brewed, tell your partner what you smell. Yes, you will be telling your partner what your greatest love smells like." He looked at some of the wary-looking kids around the room. Ooh, Amortentia. Bean shouldn't be too upset with this lesson. I looked over at them and smirked; they looked as if they were going to pass out. They had a look of excitement mixed with dread and was blushing so hard I thought I saw steam radiating off their face. Why? They'd been paired with none other than our very own Tom Riddle. Hah. Go figure. 

   I was paired with Draco - again, go figure. Either way, whoever I was paired with would probably just learn my perspective of Draco's signature scent, so I guessed it didn't really matter. Draco walked over to my workstation with the ingredients and whispered, "Y/N?" "Hi Draco," I sighed. He kissed my cheek and asked, "What happened love?" "Well," I began, as I started preparing ingredients, "We had a little mishap on the stairs on our way down here - Riddle bumped into us and knocked Bean's things down the stairs. We were already five minutes till, and it took us at least two minutes to clean everything up, leaving us three minutes to get down here." I looked up at him, "And why did I talk back? I lost us seventy-five points - seventy-five!  Plus I got all three of us detention, I -" "Look Y/N," Draco cut in, "Don't beat yourself up about it, okay? Please." He looked at me with loving concern in those beautiful blue eyes. "I- okay, okay. You're right. Thank you." Draco smiled down at me reassuringly. "Y/L/N, do I need to take more points and/or add detention time?" I jumped and looked to the front of the room. "N-no, sir." "Please keep private conversation to a minimum." I blushed, "Yes sir. I'm sorry sir." More sniggering from the Gryffindors. I started measuring ingredients into our cauldron again. "Malfoy?" Snape looked over at Draco with a sternness I hadn't seen him give to anyone but that Potter kid before. "Yes sir."  I looked up at Draco with an oh great, I did it again. Kind of look. He looked back with an it's okay, don't beat yourself up over it, remember?  Kind of look. 

     I looked over at Bean and Riddle to see how they were coming along, and Bean was - crazily enough - blushing even more than usual. And, they sounded like she was choking. Then I realized she was suppressing giggles. Oh boy, here we go with the giggling thing again. I caught her eye and made kissy faces at them. Their eyes told me STOP IT RIGHT NOW Y/N OR I WILL CRUCIO YOU. I challenged them. I DARE YOU. I turned back to our cauldron with a smile and the thought that I had done my job well - making Bean blush so. Draco and I then worked on finishing our batch of the love potion. 

   An hour or so later, Snape addressed the classroom. "You all should be done with your potions. Each team bottle a sample and bring it to my desk." I looked at Draco and he understood. I had already had too many hits with Snape today, no need for another opportunity. He took our sample up to the professor's desk and placed it in front of him. Professor Snape gave him a curt nod and Draco came back to our workstation. Once all the samples were delivered, the classroom was addressed again; "Now, each in turn tell your partner what you smell." 

I looked at Draco for a second and said, "I smell green apples, with a touch of fresh rain and wood smoke laced with a hint of peppermint."  "Ooh, sounds absolutely handsome Y/N." Draco said with a smirk. "Ha ha, very funny," I rolled my eyes, "It's your turn, Malfoy. What do you smell?" He looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered; "I smell citrus and chocolate, a dash of pure peppermint with the slightest hint of old books in a library." He smiled, "Those are my favorite scents you know."  I gave a quiet laugh and shook my head. How did I get so lucky? "Are they now?" I asked quietly with a raised eyebrow, "That's quite interesting see, because I happen to like the scents I smelled as well. Though some may not know it." I winked and Draco laughed softly. 

     I  glanced over to see whether Bean had exploded yet or not, and found that they had somehow managed to level herself because they and Riddle seemed to be having a normal conversation. Or at least they were able to tell each other what they smelled without long, awkward pauses on Bean's end. Hey, good for them!  I thought they're starting to function again. They caught me looking, and while Riddle started clearing up they gave me a thumbs up and a silent squeal. I smiled and returned the thumbs-up. Before he could notice anything, Bean began to help him put things away. Draco and I also cleared our desk and cauldron, and as he readied himself to leave, he reminded me: "Don't beat yourself up love, it could happen to anyone. Alright? Y/N, look at me." He gently lifted my chin to make eye contact. "You'll be alright. Do you believe me?" I looked at those blue eyes and thought, yes, I do. Out loud I responded with, "Yes."  He smiled and left the dungeons. 

  After the other students had left, Bean, Riddle and I went to talk to Snape.