𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐑 ❧ sirius black

XXV - The Head, the Heart, and the Horcrux

Why did the bloody Amortentia always have to get involved?

Hermione hated the feeling of no control. When the love potion touched her lips, however slight it may have been, it still succeeded in throwing her for a loop for the remainder of the night.

While Sirius and Frank fixed themselves up and regained their balance, Hermione still lay on the floor, replaying what had just occurred through her head in slow motion.

Without time for hesitation, Sirius grabbed hold of Harper's delicate hands and proceeded to help her up. Herein lies another moment of frozen time for Sirius and the girl whose hand he held.

Hermione tried her best to spring to her feet, to have her mind return to the party without a second thought, but once her eyes met Sirius', there was a new level of emotion that took over her. Never before had she been this nervous around him. Her heart beat louder than the screams of the party, and even Sirius began to notice this. He felt beads of sweat build upon his forehead while a seconds-long moment ended up feeling like an eternity.

"I'm so sorry, you two," Frank said, knocking the two out of their trances. The kind boy took notice of the spilled liquid all over the new girl's shirt. "Oh, Harper, your shirt..."

"No worries, Frank," she spoke, while Sirius nearly sprinted to grab her some napkins.

Upon arrival, Sirius watched as Harper flustered in trying to clean up her shirt. It was absolutely adorable. But, his awareness shifted, and his heart dropped even deeper as the scent of the girl in front of him grew stronger and stronger.

The parchment, and roses, and ginger... I knew it was her.

Left in the dark about the origins of the stronger scent, Sirius felt the anxiousness grow inside him despite having a hunch that Harper was indeed who he had smelled that day in Potions class. He was more aware of how close he actually was to her; how close his lips were to hers. That is, until these new emotions prompted Harper to scurry through the party, away from Sirius and now out of his sight. He felt confused, powerless, and nervous.

Why would she leave?

Meanwhile, Hermione couldn't take what was running through her head. Sure, she had felt intense anxiousness around him before but now? It was so much more amplified, even if she didn't ingest the Amortentia.

She no longer wanted to just be near him by chance, she wanted to bring herself so much closer. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, to be kissed by his lips and held tight.

And before then, when her eyes gravitated toward those very lips more and more, she chose to remove herself from the situation. She darted through the dancing crowd and out of the party to the common room, where everything seemed more peaceful.

But of course, her knight in shining armor was—as always—only seconds behind.

"Harper, what's going on?"

She panted, pacing around the room like a mad woman. It took her a good while to formulate a response to the one causing her extreme nervousness.

"It's, I don't know, Sirius. It's personal," she said, shaking her head. All she wanted was to be close to him, but with each step he took toward her, the beat of her heart picked up speed.

"You can tell me, Harps, you can tell me anything." He hated seeing Harper upset.

His sincerity only led her to internally fawn over him even more, which was the last thing Hermione wanted.

"I can't..."

Her hands gripped tight on the roots of her hair as she paced through the common room. She couldn't comprehend what Emma's drink had done to her mind, her thoughts, her perception... The list seemed endless to Hermione.