Amortentia

Harry had been in the shower for around half an hour now, listening to the portable radio that he bought for himself for Christmas (he knew it was kind of sad but he felt bad for asking someone else to by it for him). He held his hand infront of his face like a microphone while lip-synching to ‘Cemetry Gates’ by the Smiths. Loving the way the lyrics bounced off of the walls in the echoey shower space, he began to shake his head from side to side, swinging his hair around, causing small water droplets to cascade onto the white tilled walls. They held little mozaics within their shiny surfaces, Harry always stared at them when he was less joyful.

Harry took a look at the soaking bench beside the shower and saw his watch sitting there, staring back with the worst news splashed across it’s face: the watch was broken. This means that it was in fact not 7:15 and it was in fact, a lot later than that. Ahh shit. Harry scrambled out of the shower, not bothering to grab his towel as he was sure that his room-mates (Ron and Neville) were very long gone. He found some jeans in the back of his closet and tried to get them up his legs. I say tried because his legs were still soden from the water and the jeans rubbed painfuly against them. He ripped them off with a groan and stumbled back into the bathroom and grapped his fluffy pink towel off the wall and rubbed himself dry. Jogging back into the bedroom, he grabbed his jeans which were kind of wet and pulled them on. Next, he grabbed one of the crumpled shirts from his trunk and buttoned it up before realising that he missed one and had to redo it. He was then rumbling through the room trying to find his second shoe that had somehow gone missing between last night and now. He was just throwing things out of his trunk when he heard a groan. His head whipped around and saw a rumpled ginger head peaking out of the top of some covers in the furthest bed. Harry turned all of the lights up and he heard more disgruntled groans rising from the bed. He jogged over and shook the sleeping boy. Harry burst into laughter as his friend squinted blearily at him.

“Ron, mate! You’ve slept in! We are so late for transfiguration!” He weezed out, still laughing heartily. Ron’s head whipped towards him in a frantic panic, a sound like a wounded animal left his open mouth as he fell of the bed in confusion. Harry was rolling on the floor watching as the ginger ran around the room gathering his clothes that were scattered around.

“It’s not funny Harry! Hermione is going to kill us!” Ron shouted, with a grin on his face. They thundered down the stairs, two at a time, laughing uproariously. Ron attempted to straighten out his hair with his hands so that he would look at least presentable with his untucked shirt and untied tie. Harry didn’t even bother, knowing that he had lost that battle years ago. They were still two floors away from their designated classroom when the last bell rang, signifying that they were officially late for first period, great.

The two sprinting boys looked at each other in worry before beginning to giggle all over again. Harsh breaths ripped apart their lungs as they struggled to find the air to keep their legs pumping. Stares followed them as they pushed past other people who clearly had free periods at that time. They rounded corners at such speed that it almost made them crash into the walls. They were almost at the door of the class when Harry realised that they had both forgotten the most important thing: their books. Oh god, they were screwed.

They screeched to a halt just outside the door, trying to quieten their laughter as they went. This mourning wasn’t going well to say the least. Harry pushed Ron in first, using him as a shield against McGonagall’s stern gaze. It worked for the most part until she sent Ron to go and sit down which left Harry exposed and in the open. He smiled sheepishly at her, she just shook her head at him and motioned for him to find his seat.

His emerald eyes surveyed the room closely and found that the only seat available was next to the group of previously named Slytherins. He remembered the headmistresses words only two days ago, he must act neutral with these people, they had all been in the same war after all. His weary mind tried to settle itself without much luck. He set down his pile of books on the scratched desk and felt all of their eyes on him as they watched his movements like a bunch of hawks. His thoughts were moving at a mile a minute, he knew that they wouldn't dare do anything to him; he had gotten half of them out of the ministry trials without a sentence and the other half he had condemned their bullies that had called themselves parents. Which, Harry thought, they should be eternally grateful to him.

Despite his efforts, this thought did not in fact calm his mind. So he kept his eyes down and his head as well for that matter. They would find no reason to hurt him as he wouldn't give them any. He listened to McGonagall listing all of the elements needed for the new spell they were learning, that was until she called Malfoy's name. Harry's head swung to the side when the voice that came out of the boy's mouth was more deep and gravely than it had a year back. Maybe it was the torturous nature of war that made his voice drop ten octaves but then, Harry wondered, why hadn't his voice turned sexy deep and gravely. So Harry was now staring at Malfoy with a gobsmacked look on his face, well, that was until he realised that the head was now staring back at him.

Then it winked at him.

Harry had lost his mind.

His head whipped back around and straight down at his books. He was pretending to read them but couldn't quite make his eyes move realistically but he hoped that the slytherin had looked away but he didn't dare look back up until the end of the class. As soon as the bell rang he was out of that classroom, faster than a whippit.

Harry went to the toilets to compose himself, he had no idea when he had gotten so scared. He had defeated the world badest bad guy at the age of seventeen so where on earth had his backbone gone? Harry walked to the mirrors and slapped himself. "Pull yourself together you idiot." he whispered to himself and then the bell rang. He was late, again. This was becoming a reoccurring theme that Harry was not particulary fond of.

So now he was wandering down the corridor towards the dungeons which happened to be bloody miles away. He couldn't find it in himself to be only a small bit late so we walked at a leisurely pace. All in all it took him around five minutes to reach his classroom which was not bad considering he wasn't even trying to get there. As he waltzed through the door (his confidense reinstated) all eyes turned to him for the second time in two hours.

"Late on the second lesson of the year Mr Potter, that's a new record comparing the one set by your own father. He too was late more often than he wasn't" Slughorn called out to him.

"Oh, don't you worry about that sir, this is only a once a month situation. I promise." Harry drawled out as he slid into his seat, he was smiling becuase he knew that Slughorn wouldn't mind if he was slightly cheeky with him. He knew it was just a bit of banter. The professor just shook his head and continued writing on the board with his wand. Harry knew this was a clear show of favouritism but in that moment he was willing to reap the rewards, no questions asked.

This was the moment that he decided to start paying attention to the lesson going on around him. It was a theory surrounding the new version of ammortentia which happened to be the only version that was legal now after the war.

"...Now who can tell me what the differences are between the amortentia that we are brewing and the amortentia which is now illegal as a result of the war?" He asked the class. Harry knew without having to look, that Hermione's hand went straight into the air. It made sense that only she would know the law that had been past only a few weeks ago off by heart, she did want to be the next Minister Of Magic after all. "Yes Mrs Granger?" asked Slughorn, with a knowing smile of his own, her ambitions were pretty publicly known.

"Well, if i'm right Professor," the class as a whole rolled their eyes at this as they all knew that she would be right like usual," This potion is the strongest love potion on the market, meaning that it is also the most dangerous. It was used in the war to make victims easier to kill or use to gain information as the recipient becomes more pliant to giving up information to those that they are now besotted with." She paused for breathe as Slughorns smile was growing by the word, "After a large amount of research, the Ministry has found a version of the potion that is useless if three things are not done in the process of drinking the potion. First, the two participants need to be making eye contact. Secondly, they both have to perform the proper spell allowing the potion to actually begin to work. Lastly, two potions are needed and they are both to be drank at exactly the same time. If even one of these factors is absent then the whole effort will be useless." Hermione ended.

"Fantastic as usual Mrs Granger!" exclaimed Slughorn," Now I want all of you to write down exactly what your classmate just said and remember it! Now for the next part of this lesson I want you to continue making your potion and observe all changes you witness. Begin!"

A flurry of movement overwhelmed the small room. Everyone took what they needed from the storage cupboard and began preparing the newest ingreients for the next stages of their potions. Harry was the last to the cupboard as he accidentally tripped over a bag and had to pick up all of the things he had knocked over, so naturally he collected the runty ingredients that nobody wanted. Whilst he walked back to his bench, a soft aroma was filling the room. He knew from his time in sixth year that this was the smell that attracted him the most. But Harry couldn't quite recall where he had smelled it before.

However, he got distracted from his musings by a muttering coming from his right hand side as he was striding across the classroom. His eyes caught site of Seamus scribbling on a piece of parchment that did not appear to be the potion notes they were supposed to be making. Harry paused by his friends desk and asked,"what'cha working on their mate?"

"Oh you'll see Harry don't you worry, don't you worry about it. Just know that it is going to be the best idea I have ever had!" he said mysteriously with a grin on his face. Harry just shook his head at his friend’s antics. He knew Seamus wouldn't cause anyone harm, well except blowing things up of course but that wasn't the case right now. Harry just moved back to his potion and put his ingredients down to be chopped and used. The rest of the lesson went rather peacefully except that smell that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He knew that he would find out where he remembered it from.

The bell rang around an hour and fifteen minutes later and him Ron and Hermione left the classroom together on their way to break. It was pretty chilly outside, even though it was only the beginnings of autum, so they decided to stop by at the kitchens and grab some coffees. They went for a little walk around the grounds before their break ended. Their inside warmth was a harsh contrast to the chilly outside and once their walk had finished they headed off to charms surrounded in warming spells.

It was finally dinner time and Harry was sat with all the other eight years on their own separate table. It was nice, not having to wear clothes coloured with their houses. They were now one solid unit that all stuck together at their separate table and their private tower. The table was full of laughter and people mingling with those who were formally members of separate houses. It made him incredibly happy to see such joy coming to life.

That was when Seamus stood up to make an announcement. "Calling all eighth years!" he shouted, grinning, acting as though he was making the most important speech of his lifetime." We all know we need as much fun in our lifes as possible. So I am here to offer you said fun with a proposition. We shall hold a party for those above the age of eighteen. It is going to be an absolute blast. Those who don't want to participate should stay out of the comman rooms between the times of 8pm and 1am on saturdays. We can surround the room with silencing spells so that ya'll aren't disturbed from your sweetest dreams." he ended with a flourish. The whole table clapped for him, enjoying the prospect of some more Hogwarts fun in their final year.

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at eachother, silently questioning the others if they wanted to go. Harry just shrugged and turned back to his meal. They still had four days to figure it out. It wasn't like anything bad would happen if they did go and they could always sit out the main party and just sit on the sidelines while the others took part in all of the activities and then see if they wanted to participate the next week or not. So with his mind sated for now he bagan to chase his brochilli around the plate as he struggled to get it on his fork.

"Oh for shits sake Potter, watching you chase those god forsaken vegetables around your plate takes one year off of my life every second!" he hears a voice yell at him. He whips his head around trying to find the owner of the male voice and his eyes catch site of a blond male staring directly at him.

"What did you say?" asked Harry, looking slightly bemused.

"Are you deaf as well as dumb Potter? Use your god foresaken knife to push those potatoes onto your fork or God help me I swear I will ram them up your arse!" Malfoy growled at him.

Harry just stared at him gobsmacked before replying with the snarky remark: "You'd like that wouldn't you Draco~. To have a look at my arse" Harry smiled sweelty at the other boy who was now the confused one.

"Pardon!?" Malfoy stared.

"You heard me." he replied laughing, before getting up and walking off towards the library. He new that if he was going to go to this party on Saturday then he would need to spend a lot more hours in the library, especially if he was going every week.

It was suddenly Friday and Harry couldn't find where the time had gone and how it had passed him by so quickly. The golden trio was currently sitting in his dorm. The discussion of the party was coming up and the other two seemed apprehensive but Harry didn't understand why. It was just a party with all of their friends, what was the problem?

"So, it's pretty obvious that you guys don't think it's a good idea to go to the party tomorrow and I want to know why." Harry asked them in the pause between conversation.

"Oh Harry," Hermione whispered,"It's not because of the reason you think. We are just worried becuase there will be drinks there and lot's of Slytherins that were on the other side of the war and we don't think it is quite safe enough for you to go. Especially when you will be in a vulnerable state. You did make sure that a lot of their parents went to Azkaban for the rest of their lives and-" Harry interrupted her.

"Do you remember the headmistresses speech at the start of the year? All that talk about the forgiving and the acting as if the others weren't enemies. You were all for it then. Why not now?" He questioned her.

"Yes Harry, forgiving is all well and good until people try to get revenge. It is powerful and they will want to avenge their relatives."

"But I did save most of them from going to Azkaban and let's not forget the fact that most of them were still children, just like us, when the war started and their parents probably dragged them into it. So I think I will be fine." He finished as he got up and left the room, leaving behind their ashamed faces and upset aura.

He decided to stay in the comman room and sit at one of the tables to continue his studies. He remained un-interrupted until a rowdy group joined the seating area next to him. He didn't mind and so continued to work on the latest assignment that Flitwick had set them, well, that was until they started to talk about what they had smelled in the amortentia. He still pretended to be studying but his eyes had stopped moving along the page and his pen had stopped scribbling. He began to pay attention to their voices and realised that it was the group of posh Slytherins that had his childhood rival within it. Oh this would be interesting, very interesting indeed. Finding out what Malfoy loved the most would mean that Harry now had something to hold over his head.

So he listened intently to their conversation. He now knew that Parkinson's favourite scent was the smell of her boyfriend and Zabini's was the mix of cigarette smoke and whiskey because "it reminds me of childhood" which Harry thought was rather sad but then he reminded himself that his childhood smelled like washing up liquid and Mould. That thought quickly chased the judgy attitude away and left someone who recognised the pain left behind by a shity upbringing.

Then it was finally Malfoy's time to be in the spotlight. He was with-holding the information for as long as he possibly could but now his friends had turned on him and he couldn't get out of it any more. His friends started to circle him, trying to get the truth out of him. It took a little while but he finally huffed and whispered out, "Fine you bunch of dicks!" They all cheered at their shared victory and sat back down again waiting for the secrets to be revealed.

Harry held his breathe and waited for it to be out in the open. Harry realised that the silence went on too long and so did Malfoy's friends apparently because they suddenly announced, "Oh my gosh! He's blushing!" That, caught Harry's attention. He seemed to have discovered that Malfoy had a little crush on someone. This news should have elated him but for some reason some sort of cold feeling enclosed his heart. Harry shook his head and started to gather his books, thinking that he was just too tierd to think straight (no pun intended). As he was making his way towards the stairs he suddenly ran into something kind of soft but also very hard. He then lifted his head and realised that it was a certain six foot four blonde who was now staring down at him with a slight smirk and the remnant of the blush leaving his face.

"Watch where your going Potter"

Darkness surrounded him as he shivered in this new void, he found himself in. He knew that this couldn’t be real. He knew that this was all in his head. However, he did not know what he was doing here nor what his purpose was. So, he did the only thing he knew how: walk. He felt as if he was walking for eternity, the expanses of ink only seemed to get closer and closer, more and more claustrophobic. Harry didn’t know how much longer he could take this; the non-existent walls pressed in on him.  

He was just about to give up and stop breathing when he spotted a distant silvery light. It looked as though it was dancing, a flurry of movement. He suddenly found his breath and began running towards the only break of this dark night. The aura of light lit up a small circle surrounding its swaying movements. With the closer Harry got, the more he could see the outline of a figure dancing with this light. 

This discovery made him move faster than he thought possible. However, as soon as he was in hearing distance, white blinded his eyes. The figure was lost.