Amortentia

The sorting ceremony and start of term feast was no less than amazing, as usual. Dumbledore gave a rousing speech to get all of the students excited for the school year, even those who had O.W.L and N.E.W.T exams to stress about.

Juniper stuffed herself with the incredible food that the Hogwarts house elves made—roast, glistening glazed ham, smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, dozens of different casseroles, baked macaroni and cheese, green beans, cream corn. Merlin, there was so much! As soon as the students were positive that they couldn’t eat any more, the main courses were cleared from each of the house tables and replaced with every kind of dessert dish imaginable.

Finally, the students were released to their dormitories for the night. Juniper walked with one arm linked with Lily’s and the other with Sirius’. Exiting the great hall, the group nearly ran straight into a mass of Slytherins that they all recognized—Severus Snape, Barty Crouch, Jr., Alecto Carrow, and Regulus Black. While the five Gryffindors scowled, fingers twitching for their wands, Juniper showed a very soft smile at all of them and tugged her friends along before they could inflict any type of damage. She even nodded at Regulus, having spent a fair amount of time with him at the Black manor in the past (before Sirius had moved in with the Potters).

“Hello, Reg.” His cheeks took on the slightest shade of pink, but he nodded back and a crooked smile spread across his face.

They passed and eventually Juniper parted ways with her friends to retreat to Ravenclaw tower. She talked idly with the other girls in her dorm as they all got ready for bed, climbing into the large beds. Juniper grinned as her head sunk into the marvelous goose feather pillows. She slept well enough at home over the breaks, and some of the inns that she spent nights in on her vacation were truly wonderful, but Juniper didn’t think there was a bed in the world that was more comfortable than the ones at Hogwarts. There was just no way. She wouldn’t have been surprised if all of them were somehow charmed for sleep. It took no time for the girls to fall into deep slumber, dreaming of their new lessons—so many spells to be learned and potions to be brewed.

***

The students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry wasted no time in jumping into their studies. On their first full day back at the castle, Juniper had Transfigurations early in the morning, followed by Herbology in the greenhouses, Potions with the Slytherins, then ended the day with History of Magic with the boring Professor Binns. She was assigned homework in every single one of the classes—book work from McGonagall, a small spring of Devil’s Snare to take care of for Professor Sprout, an essay for Slughorn, and chapter reading from the old ghost.

She got most of her reading done during lunch and got about halfway through the assignment in her Transfigurations textbook before the group of Gryffindor boys and Lily demanded that they go to Hogsmeade to celebrate their first day of classes.

They poked fun of each other, their professors and peers for the whole train ride there then walked through the warm evening breeze to their favorite spot, The Three Broomsticks. The atmosphere was subdued, not many patrons for a Tuesday. The group of seventh years grabbed a table toward the back and Sirius volunteered to get the first round of Butterbeer for his friends.

Other guests littered the pub, but neither the bar nor the tables were full. Across the room was another group of Hogwarts students, the Slytherin boys that Juniper and the others had run into the night before. They were huddled closely together, though one of them, Barty, turned to look over his shoulder at the newly arrived group, nodding at Juniper but rolling his eyes at her friends.

The blonde didn’t share the same distaste for the snake house as everyone else seemed to. Sure, some of them were rude and arrogant, but so were James and Sirius. She had long been exposed to that kind of behavior. Some of the Slytherins were known to throw around hexes in the courtyard when they were feeling particularly violent (usually during fights with unruly Gryffindors). Scary as they were, the dark magic that a lot of them used was pretty interesting, and many of the Slytherins were some of the most talented and powerful young wizards at the school. Even if Juniper didn’t agree entirely with their means of practicing their spells, she could still admire their dedication.

On the other side of the pub, the Slytherins talked quietly to one another. Barty had a hand on Regulus’ shoulder who had his head in his hands.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” the raven-haired boy told his friends. “I just… I don’t know. It feels so wrong.”

Across from him, Severus sneered and nearly slammed a small vial on the table in front of him. “Regulus, I did not brew this for you for nothing. It’s a perfect love potion made from my personal ingredients, and if you don’t use it, so help me—”

“Okay, okay, shite,” the younger boy picked up the vial and barely uncorked it. He held it up to his nose and sniffed it tentatively. Smoke from burning firewood, old well-read books, and the lovely scent of perfect roses—Regulus had smelled roses on Juniper before, her perfume probably. It was intoxicating, and his eyes came very close to rolling into the back of his head.

“Come on, lad,” Alecto encouraged. “Their drinks are almost empty. Why don’t you buy their next round?” He wriggled his eyebrows.

Regulus inhaled deeply as he recorked the vial. He nodded a few times, more to himself than to his house mates. Come on, you can do this. It will be fine. Juniper will finally be yours. After all this time, she’ll return your feelings.

He stood up quickly, chancing a glance at his desire, then made his way up to the bar.

“Six butterbeers please,” he said to the bartender who nodded and grabbed six chilled mugs from a rack behind him. He pulled down on the draft handle and filled each mug with the foamy golden drink, lining them up on the bar top. He conjured a tray and handed it to Regulus, then turned his back to continue cleaning whatever he was before the sixteen-year-old had approached him.

Looking around nervously, Regulus took the vial and pulled the cork out once more, tipping it over the mug on the far left. A small pink cloud emerged from the foam, but it dissipated after a few seconds. Regulus was careful to arrange the drinks on the tray so that the spiked beer was closest to him.

He made his way over to the Gryffindor table on shaky legs, nodding at his brother when he looked up with those icy eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Sirius asked haughtily.

“Sirius,” Juniper warned, making Regulus’ heart stutter in his chest.

“Just thought I’d get your next round. We were talking at our table, and all of us would actually really like to cut back on all the fighting this year,” he lied. “I know that all of you need to focus on exams this year, and I’m personally tired of getting hit with the bogey hex, so what do you say?”
All of the boys eyed him suspiciously as he held out the first beer to Sirius.

“I don’t really believe you,” James spoke, “But I’m never one to turn down a free drink, so,” he reached over and took the mug from Regulus, nearly spilling it on his best mate. “Cheers.”

The others nodded and Regulus distributed the rest of them, taking special care with the last one. He hoped his eyes weren’t as wide as they felt as he handed it to Juniper. His entire body thrummed with electricity as she thanked him and took a sip, the foam coating her upper lip in a way that the boy thought was absolutely adorable.

“Thank you, brother,” Sirius said, still sounding a bit cold. “Now run along back to your little friends. We’ll talk more later to discuss the terms of this truce.”

The younger Black breathed in deeply, eyes lingering on the blonde girl sitting directly in front of him, then turned on his heel and walked back to his table, the bar tray suddenly vanishing from his hand. He sat back down with a huff and held out both hands which were shaking profusely.

“Calm down, mate,” Barty spoke calmly. “It’ll take a little while for it to kick in, about a half hour at least, right Sev?”

The dark eyed boy nodded, eyes fixed on Juniper as if she were one of his assignments. “Yes, soon she will be completely infatuated. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, Regulus.”