Amortentia

Regulus had to admit that he was a little horrified when Juniper didn't immediately try to jump his bones after not only the first dose of Amortentia, but also the second.

"What on earth is taking so long?" He asked Severus in the Slytherin common room just an hour after giving Juniper the chocolate cupcake.

The older boy shrugged his shoulders, not even looking up from the potions textbook he was studying. "It doesn't work the same with everyone, mate. People who have more willpower than others sometimes take longer to fall under." Regulus raised an eyebrow at him. Why hadn't he mentioned this before? Severus rolled his eyes when he saw his friend's questioning gaze and finally shut the book in front of him. "Okay, do you understand how one can train their mind against ligilimency?"

"Sure," Regulus was fairly well-versed in Occlumency, Orion having made him practice it many, many times.

"It's similar to that. Some people can actually hold off spells for a while. Some even have a natural little mind barrier. Just your luck you picked a girl who does," Snape snickered and Regulus threw one of the emerald couch pillows at him. "Relax. She will come around and sooner rather than later.

"You think?" Regulus asked.

"I know."

***

Finally, after a full week of finding different ways to get Juniper the potion, something seemed to change in the girl. Regulus was hyper-aware of her gaze on him all through breakfast and could feel her watching him as he walked through the corridors then outside to get to the greenhouses. It sent shivers down his spine, but he smiled at the thought that he was on her mind, that her thoughts were littered with his face, his voice, and whatever else. Herbology dragged on, students swearing every time the Venomous Tentacula that they were supposed to be working with tried to reach out and prick them. An unfortunate Hufflepuff student had to be taken to Madam Pomfrey after the plant stuck him right on his thumb. He turned an ugly green color and promptly fainted. When the period was over, students gathered their books and bags and filed out, followed closely by their professor who wanted to check on the fallen Hufflepuff. Regulus took his time putting his tools away and was so focused on avoiding the vines of the Tentacula as he put it back on the shelf, he didn't even notice another person slip through the greenhouse doors.

He nearly had a heart attack when he heard her voice, "Hello, Reg." He turned swiftly, hand reaching for his wand on the table before he saw Juniper's face. Her full lips were pulled into a small smile, light brown eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Merlin, Junie, I could have taken your head off!"

She laughed--such a sweet, melodious laugh that turned his insides to goo--then shook her head. "That would have been a shame." She took a few steps forward. "If you had blown my head off, I wouldn't be able to do this." She was suddenly right in front of him. Had she been moving that whole time? Surely Regulus would have noticed her approaching him so quickly. Or maybe he had been too caught up on her smile.

"D-do what?" He asked, half knowing what was about to happen while the other half of his brain told him that there was no way. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and it felt like static electricity was shooting from his fingertips.

With clouded eyes, Juniper leaned forward and pressed a sweet kiss to Regulus' lips, a small sigh escaping her own as if she was finally relaxing after a hard morning. It had probably been a hard week for her. If Snape was right about what he had said about mental barriers, there was a chance that Juniper could have been fighting this instinct for seven whole days. Regulus placed his hands on her hips and could feel her body relax into him, tension melting off of her. Her sweet kiss grew hungry, and she pressed harder against his mouth, even daring to nip at his lower lip. Regulus smiled against her, a loud chant of YES YES YES on repeat in his head as he let his hand gravitate to the small of her back so that he could push her against himself. He was so thrilled to finally feel her. Not just a handshake or a brief hug, but really experience the sensation of her body against his. She let out a small purr-like noise, then slowly, almost reluctantly, pulled back. She rested her forehead against his but kept her eyes downcast.

Regulus watched closely as he saw her pale cheeks take on a tinge of pink. Was she embarrassed?
"Junie," he said her name softly. "Junie, look at me." Amber eyes shyly met his and she nibbled on her now slightly swollen bottom lip. "Hey," Regulus grinned. "How's your day going?"

Juniper giggled and composed herself. "Much better now. I, uh--" she let out a big breath. "I've been wanting to do that since term started. Sorry."

"Don't be." He still hadn't let go of her, wanting to memorize how it felt to be chest to chest with this beautiful girl who he'd wanted for so damn long. "I've been wanting to do that for six years."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, ever since you came to Grimmauld Place for the first time."

"That's a long time to harbor a crush without saying anything to anyone."

"Oh, all my friends knew," Regulus laughed. He released her and stepped back, running a hand through his wavy locks. "Don't even know if I should tell them about this, to be honest. Barty's going to lose it."

“So, um, about friends…” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth again and averted her gaze.

Regulus already knew where this was going and wasn’t offended in the least. It was well-known that their two social circles never got along well. It was equally both parties’ fault, both antagonizing the other. Regulus was fairly sure that the Gryffindors started the feud however, one because Regulus and Sirius had never really gotten along as children, but also because Potter had basically stolen Severus’ best friend away from him, something the long-haired boy had never fully gotten over. Of course, Sev hadn’t helped by calling Lily a mudblood.

“You’re not ready to tell them about our friendship.”

“Is that all it is?”

She was bold, and it made the younger boy smile, though he wasn’t one hundred percent sure if it was really his Junie talking or if it was the Amortentia. The thought was a little depressing, but the bottom line was that Juniper wanted him.

“It can be more. Of course I would like it to be more, but I want you to be sure.”

“It might take me a while to be sure, but I don’t really want to wait any longer.”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face and smirked, “Are you suggesting that we sneak around?”

Juniper looked at him with hooded eyes. “Maybe. Would you have a problem with that?”

“Well, it may be difficult. We need a place to spend time together. We can avoid your friends, but maybe we can tell mine and hang out in the Slytherin common room.”

She contemplated this for a moment. “You don’t think they’d tell people?”

Regulus let out a small laugh. “My friends aren’t really the gossiping type. We mostly keep to ourselves.”

“Except for when you, you know, hex other students.”

The Slytherin shrugged, not thinking much of it. “We have to have fun somehow.”

Juniper rolled her eyes, but she still smiled. After a few seconds of silence and hand wringing, she spoke again, “I guess your common room wouldn’t be the worst place to hang out.”

“Great!” He was very relieved. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t have enjoyed sneaking around the castle, ducking into broom closets for the occasional snog, but things would be much easier if they had a place to really settle in. Regulus was already excited to cuddle up with her in front of a crackling fire in the chilly common room.

There was a voice in the back of his head that reminded him of the fact that he would have to keep up with his love potion regiment. He was also very aware that the longer he gave it to her, the harder she would fall for him. That thought didn’t bother him as much as the fact that one missed dose would reverse the effects almost immediately. Still, he had faith in himself. Regulus had always been a very disciplined young man, and he was good at meeting deadlines. What made this any different from turning in a school assignment on time?