O.W.L level herbology might not have been an attractive idea to many of the students in my year, but it had always been my favourite subject. Well, it used to be.
Herbology wasn't like Charms, Transfiguration or even Potions where there was a chance of the Professor picking you to answer a question even if your hand hadn't been in the air. Professor Sprout would never do that. In fact, the older witch was more than happy to leave you to silently study your plant. And that suited me just fine.
Or rather it had until I'd been assigned to the seat across from George Weasley for the year. Salazar, the Gryffindor was a blabbermouth and the moment he'd settled into the seat across from me he had wasted no time in telling me that he was George Weasley. Not Fred. Because – just between us – Fred didn't have the brains to make it into O.W.L. level herbology. I could still remember the way he'd stared back at me, waiting for me to say something and I'd just sent him a wan sort of smile before looking back to the front of the class. He hadn't had enough sense to realise that my not speaking meant that I simply didn't want to speak to him. Well, even if he did realise it, it certainly didn't stop him from attempting to speak to me anyway.
But just when I thought that it couldn't possibly have gotten worse, Professor Sprout had decided to shuffle the seating arrangement around a little. I watched utterly helpless as Weasley rose to his feet to walk around the long table in the greenhouse until he eventually settled into the seat beside me. My eyes followed his approach and I wondered if my irritation was obvious on my features, but even if it was, Weasley smiled widely at me. Merlin, what happened to the whole rivalry thing between our two houses? Why couldn't he just start ignoring me like he was supposed to?
"Looks like we're partners, huh?" he said brightly, sorting through his bag before looking back towards me when my silence lengthened. "Aguilar?"
I held his eyes for a long moment, wanting to demand that he found somewhere else to sit, or that he at least didn't talk to me. Weasley was one of the more lively members of our class, with attention being regularly drawn towards him and as a result, to the people around him. That did not settle well with me.
Weasley continued to level his eyes with mine until I eventually sighed and turned away. I really wasn't going to be able to concentrate anymore, or even to escape notice for much longer. Well, there went my O average.
No matter how much I wanted to turn my attention away from the, for once, silent Gryffindor besides me, it was a useless effort. Even just the image of him that I caught from the corner of my eye was distracting enough and I struggled not to frown even more. Salazar, it was like he had been born to act as a distraction!
I started from my thoughts when he turned curiously to look at the plant I had been studying. And like an innocent child eager to explore all things novel, he reached out a hand towards the plant. I acted without thinking, slapping his hand away before he could make contact with one of the seemingly harmless, closed flower buds. Weasley looked at me in surprise, his hand clutched to his chest.
"It's poisonous," I explained quietly, gesturing to the plant which seemed to awaken at the sound of my voice. The flower bud opened quickly, revealing sets of carnivorous teeth the snapped at where his hand had been previously and the tentacles that sprung from the dirt around it reached out to grasp at something, anything that it found. I ducked away from one of the tentacles as I continued to explain, "One bite from it and you'd have wound up in the Hospital Wing."
Weasley, for his part, didn't seem to know what he should have been more surprised by; the plant's dangerous truth or the fact that I'd spoken to him without being provoked into doing it. Eventually, he coughed, lifting his eyes from mine and lowering his hand from his chest. Shuffling slightly in his seat, he turned towards me.
Pressing his elbow to the table, he propped his head on his fist as he studied me closely. "I guess this means I owe you my life, love."
"It really doesn't," I insisted with a grumble, wincing when I realised that I was continuing to speak to him and that he'd addressed me as love. What was that about?
He realised this just as I did, his grin slowly widening as he straightened up and leaned towards me. I barely stopped myself from leaning away from him. "It really does, Aguilar. So, tell me, how should I repay you?"
"You can repay me by staying quiet for the rest of the lesson," I suggested, forcefully turning my entire body away from him to continue my study of the potted plant before me. It had now returned to its deceptively calm appearance as it lied in slumber for its next prey.
"No, I don't think that'll count," he insisted and I held my tongue, to stop myself from retorting that surely, I should have been the one to decide how he was supposed to repay me. If he even needed to repay me – not that he did.
I sighed, realising that he was distracting me again. Eyeing Weasley disdainfully from the corner of my eyes, I frowned openly when he only seemed to grow even more amused that I was so clearly disgruntled by him. Bloody Gryffindors.
Professor Sprout liked to rotate the students who were responsible for watering the plants in all the greenhouses. She insisted that knowing how to water each of the plants was an important part of the syllabus – not that many of her students agreed. But she wouldn't be swayed. Even though last year one of the seventh years had managed to overwater the knotgrass plants and wound up killing the entire batch. She remained resolute that it was important.
It just so happened that tonight was my turn and I thought I was one of the few students who actually enjoyed it. What downside could there possibly be to having to water the plants? So what if you had to walk out of your way to the greenhouses when you got almost an hour to yourself? The private time was something that was seldom found in the castle; even in the Slytherin common room where the students knew when to leave well alone.
I headed down to the greenhouses before dinner and walked out of the common room after bidding a quiet goodbye to my friends. They had asked where I was going but the moment I mentioned the greenhouse, they'd understood and waved me off as they promised to save me a space at dinner. The castle corridors were always bustling with students who, at this time of day, were likely biding their time until dinner was announced. Navigating my way through the hidden passages of the castle, I arrived in the back corridor within minutes.
"Aguilar!" the sudden, unexpected call of my name had me startling as I emerged from one of the hidden alcoves. My eyes scanned the corridor to settle on Weasley as he jogged towards me. I contemplated rushing away from him, but something told me that the stubborn Gryffindor would no doubt only follow after me.
Stepping fully into the corridor, I walked at a normal, if not brisk pace towards the door leading to the grounds at the back of the castle. Without any effort Weasley matched my pace and looked down at me, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"You really are a surprise," he said with a slight laugh. "You're the last person that I expected to know anything about the hidden passages."
I held my tongue, keeping myself from asking him just when he had decided that I wasn't that sort of person and what had he based that assumption on anyway. Clearing my throat, I eyed Weasley as he walked beside me towards the greenhouses. His blue eyes shone expectantly down at me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked with a sigh.
He clutched a hand dramatically to his chest. "I think this is the first time you've ever asked me a question."
"Which you didn't answer," I pointed out, unlatching the lock on the door to the first greenhouse and letting myself in.
Weasley ducked in after me, following me step for step as I headed towards the watering cans that lined the back wall. One by one, I started filling the jugs up under the tap and furrowed my eyebrows when Weasley began to silently help me.
"I just thought I'd help," he explained easily, shrugging his shoulders as he lugged the heavy watering cans towards the other side of the greenhouse to begin watering the plants.
"Why?" I asked as I straightened up and turned the tap off.
"To repay you of course." He looked at me from over his shoulder, watching as I lifted the watering can to water the plants closest to me, "I did say I would."
"And I told you that you didn't need to," I reminded him.
"If you paid any attention to me over the last 5 years then you'd realise that I don't tend to do what I'm told."
I snorted at the bold-faced understatement but said nothing. We worked in an amiable silence but I continued to expect Weasley to break it. I'd always assumed that silence was something that he hated and so naturally he would be tempted to pierce it whenever it presented itself. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't true.
With the two of us steadily making our way through each of the greenhouses, it only took half the time to sufficiently water all of the plants. Once I was done with locking the final greenhouse, and checking that I had locked it properly, I turned to head back towards the castle. My Gryffindor companion was there in an instant, linking an arm through mine. I tried to tug it away from him but he just held on firm.
"What are you doing?" I protested, staring up at him in surprise.
"I'm showing you another shortcut," he explained, taking me away from the entrance to the castle and towards a small wooden door which I had never seen before. He laughed slightly at the blatant surprise on my face. "This'll take you directly outside of the great hall."
"Are you sure?"
He took mock offence with my obvious doubt and just unlocked the door, pulling me in after him. "Trust me. Just this once."
Weasley looked down at me as we stood in the darkened corridor which was lit by torches mounted on the walls. The flickering light bounced off his features and cast a rather beautiful shine on his eyes. Not that I would ever tell him that. My ears coloured slightly as I coughed and drew my arm away from him. This time he let me and rubbed the back of his neck.
Misinterpreting my silence, he assured me, "Nothing will happen."
"Just lead the way Weasley," I mumbled, pressing my lips together and bringing my eyes away from his face.
"Stay close or else you'll get lost, love." He leaned down to take my hand before I could protest, drawing me further into the corridor. "I can't wait until I show you the rest of the hidden passages."
I stopped myself from demanding to know just when I consented to explore the hidden parts of the castle with him. Something told me that at some point, I had silently consented to it. Quite without realising it myself.
A few days passed and I found myself, once again, sitting in the greenhouse as I waited for the lesson to begin. Slowly the room began to fill up as the rest of my classmates took to the room and found their usual seats. My deskmate was nowhere in sight and I drummed my fingers against the tabletop, briefly wondering where he was. But I swatted the thought as quickly as it came when I spied Weasley enter the room.
He stood in the doorway, scanning the room and I frowned for a moment. What was he looking for? His eyes settled on me and then, a grin that spelt trouble took centre stage on his face. Raising his hands in a large wave, he called out far too loudly, "Aguilar!"
I jumped slightly at the volume of his voice before ducking my head when all eyes swung towards me. Lowering my rapidly reddening face to hide my features, I tried not to glare at Weasley's approaching figure, I really did. But honestly, I thought he was perceptive enough to realise that I didn't like drawing attention to myself. Unless he just didn't care.
Once Weasley was seated beside me, I turned my attention fully onto Professor Sprout who started to address the class. After giving us our instructions, the older witch allowed us all to get on with our work and I rose from my seat to gather the plant that I'd been studying last week, as I'd been instructed to do. Weasley spent a few moments looking around the room before gathering a plant that he certainly hadn't been studying last week. I frowned, wondering if he'd misheard the instructions. With a sigh, I slapped his hand away from the plant and silently pointed towards the actual plant he'd been assigned. He just sent a sheepish smile my way before following me to our seats.
Once I was seated, I looked over my plant for any new growths and made notes about what I had found. Just as I had begun to inspect the newest budding flower, Weasley leaned in far too close to me and had me pausing mid-sentence. I turned to him with a very obvious frown and waited for him to take the hint to shuffle away. He didn't.
"Are you always this quiet?" he questioned and I felt my eyebrows rise only before I eyed him weirdly. I leaned in close to him and found myself scanning his features closely – something was off but I didn't know what it was. Weasley, for his part, drew away from me slightly before asking, "Is it because you fancy me or something?"
It took me only a little longer to realise that Weasley had switched places with his twin. But why? What did he stand to gain from it? Settling back in my seat, I tried to concentrate on the plant in front of me but once again, I found myself distracted by thoughts of Weasley. Merlin, even when he wasn't here he was causing problems for me.
"You can trust me," Weasley – the other Weasley – insisted as he lowered his head slightly to whisper beside my ear. "I promise I'll keep it a secret. Just tell me and I'll handle the rest."
Barely restraining myself from sighing aloud, I shifted in my chair to face him and arched a single eyebrow. He held my eyes and put on his most sincere expression but I wasn't convinced. Just what was he blabbering on about now?
"You don't need to feel shy about it," he continued and I narrowed my eyes. This Weasley was a lot dimmer than the one that usually sat beside me. "Tell me and I'll take the lead from here on out."
"Weasley," I started quietly and he nodded eagerly. "Are you going to shut up or do I have to hex you?"
He frowned – no, pouted and looked like he was going to whine, "Aguilar –"
I cut him off before he could say another word. "Stop it and get on with your work."
Weasley sighed to himself and did as told. But only for a few moments. I watched Weasley from the corner of my eye as he fidgeted in his seat, quite clearly bored and suddenly remembered what his brother had told me. He'd said that Fred didn't have the brains for Herbology – or the required concentration, it seemed.
His eyes began to wander around the room, looking down the long table to see what plants the rest of the class were currently studying. His eyes settled on the one in front of me and he leaned in closer to study the beautiful, seemingly innocent closed bud. Without any thought, he brought his hand up to touch it and, like I had done with his brother, I slapped his hand away before it got too close to the flower bud.
Weasley drew his hand away with a muttered curse and stared at me with wide eyes. His eyes only widened further when he noticed the outright glare I was sending his way. Whatever doubts I might have had, that this really was Weasley, had disappeared with his single gesture and I was left to stare back at his twin brother who had been disturbing me from the moment he set foot in the greenhouse. Merlin only knew, what these stubborn brothers had thought they'd achieve by switching places for the lesson – or had they done it for the entire day? Salazar, it didn't matter.
"What's the matter now?" he asked incredulously as I eyed him dirtily and turned away from him with a scowl. If the brothers had somehow planned on getting one up on me then they had another thing coming. "You're so prickly. Are you like this all the time? You're not, are you? You're just in a bad mood today, right? Right?"
He wisely quietened at the sight of the glare I threw his way. Turning his attention back to his own plant, Weasley grumbled under his breath, "Godric knows what he sees in you."
When it was again time for Herbology, I found myself walking with a little trepidation into the greenhouse. It was strange that something as small as the person sitting next to me could have such a major impact on my approach to my favourite lesson. And as I finally walked through the entrance of the greenhouse, my eyes settled onto the redhaired wizard sitting in the seat beside my own and I couldn't help but wonder just which Weasley twin had decided to attend the class today. As I walked closer, I realised that he was twiddling the lid to his inkwell awkwardly between his fingers – a habit I had noticed that the correct Weasley possessed.
Just like that, just recognising the single gesture, had the tension fleeing my spine and when I settled into my usual seat, it was without any tension. A calm settled over me as I pulled my things out of my bag before setting it on the floor. The moment I'd sat down, Weasley straightened out in his seat and looked cautiously towards me, clearly having something that he wanted to say to me. But he remained uncharacteristically silent. He instead chose to drum his fingers anxiously across the table.
Without realising it, I found myself turning to face him. Weasley, more than a little surprised by my gaze, met my eyes with a curious furrow of his brows. I paid no attention to him and instead looked over his features, trying to figure out just what it was that had been missing from his brother's face. Because that was what had alerted me to the switch the pair had made – something had been off about the other twin's features.
And I found it – while both of the twins were freckly, this particular Weasley twin had a cluster of freckles under his left eye that the other hadn't. Satisfied that I had found the answer, and conscious that I'd spent a while observing Weasley, I looked back towards the front of the class.
"This is a theoretical lesson," I said instead of mentioning what had just happened. Besides, I doubted that his brother had thought to tell him that. "No doubt Sprout is going to talk to us about a classification of plants for the entire lesson."
"Oh – oh right." He cleared his throat and quickly snagged his quill in his hand. "Thanks."
"No problem."
And, just as I had told him, the lesson was a theoretical one which consisted of the entire class listening to Professor Sprout as she taught us the way to differentiate between two seemingly identical plants but one was harmless if consumed and the other was poisonous. Listening avidly to the Professor, I couldn't help but notice the looks that were being continuously thrown my way by the Gryffindor seated beside me. But I didn't bother meeting his eyes.
Merlin, Weasley had proven to be enough of a distraction when he wasn't here. I didn't need to have him distracting me even when he was here as well. By the time Sprout reached the end of the lesson, there were only five minutes left and she was more than happy to let us all leave early. Naturally, that brought grateful words from her students and she just smiled and told us all to pack our things.
I rose to my feet, reaching down to pick up my bag and put it on the table. Just as I opened the bag to put my things inside, Weasley cleared his throat to make me look at him. "Something wrong?"
"About the last lesson," he started hesitantly as I rolled my parchment up to put it into my bag. "Was there – "
"Is this about your brother?" I asked straightaway when it became evident that Weasley had no idea how he wanted to finish his sentences. Screwing the lid onto my inkwell, I looked down at his still seated, but now cleared shocked face. "Well?"
"What are you talking about?" he spluttered, eyes wide as he rose to his feet and slowly started to pack his things up again.
"You and your brother switched places, didn't you?" Closing my bag, I slung it over my shoulder and looked up into his face. "I have no idea why you both decided to do that but don't do it again. Your brother is a menace in this greenhouse. Salazar, the idiot almost got himself bitten by 4 different poisonous plants."
"Wait," Weasley called out desperately when I made to leave my seat and to leave the room. His arm shot out to stop me from leaving. I looked between his face and his arm, raising an eyebrow. "You knew that Fred wasn't me?"
"Of course, I did." I scoffed, dodging around his arm to continue on my way. "Do you think I'm some sort of idiot?"
Weasley, still shocked that I had managed to see through him and his brother's little trick, didn't bother to answer my question. Instead, he chased after me as I headed out of the greenhouse and began the trek to the castle. He followed a short distance behind me, continuing to ask how I had known that it wasn't him. I didn't deign to answer him, not even when he dropped into step beside me and continued to ask. It wasn't like I was being horrid on purpose and not telling him. It was just that I didn't know how I had told them apart. There had just been something wrong about his brother and because I knew he wouldn't be satisfied with such a simple answer, I chose to keep it to myself.
I really shouldn't have been naïve enough to believe that Weasley would leave me be. Apparently, as he had confided to me during one of our shared lessons, not many people possessed the ability to tell the Weasley twins apart. I was one of the select few who could and he wanted to be able to know just how I had done it. He wasn't satisfied with my answer that it had just been a simple hunch. But as I'd learned over the last few days, Gryffindors were a stubborn bunch. Or was that just a trait that all Weasleys had?
Merlin, he certainly didn't waste a single chance of getting the 'secret' out of me. I was so close to hexing him if he insisted on cornering me again. Sure enough, as I excused myself from the lunch table with the promise to meet my friends at our next lesson, I caught Weasley rising from his place at the Gryffindor table. He quickened his paces slightly as if to catch up to me and I was so very tempted to leave him behind.
"Aguilar," he called out from behind me and I sighed and stopped in my step.
Glancing over my shoulder I found him jogging slightly to catch up with me. He was grinning warmly as he closed the distance between us until he eventually stopped beside me. Without giving him the chance to start, I began to walk again and he naturally followed along.
"So where are you headed?" he asked as if he planned on accompanying me the entire way. Then again, perhaps he did.
"To the common room. I forgot to pack my Potions essay in the morning and I've got Snape next." I eyed him closely and he batted his eyes innocently. "Are you going to follow me the entire way?"
"Of course, I am. What if someone tries to attack you whilst you're headed to the common room?" Bringing a hand dramatically to his chest, he demanded, "Just what sort of Gryffindor would I be if I let that happen, love?"
"And just who would be planning on attacking me?" I asked dubiously, even as a mini amused smile played at the corner of my mouth. Weasley spotted it, of course he did, and I hurried to look away from him.
"My darling admirers of course – the ones that are jealous that I spend so much time with you."
Scoffing, I rolled my eyes. "No one told you to hang out around me."
"I know," he said quietly, all of a sudden. "But I just want to."
Clearing my throat, I fisted my robes at my side. "You must have followed me out for some reason, or another. What do you want?"
"How did you know that Fred took my place?"
"I thought I told you already – I don't even know."
He pursed his lips, very obviously annoyed by my vague but truthful answer. "Fine, then why didn't you say anything to Fred about it?"
"Why should I have?" When I looked at him, he met my eyes with a subtle frown; he really hadn't expected that answer. "I mean it's not my business, is it?"
"It's not," he agreed with a slow nod.
"Besides, I already put up with you on a weekly basis. Why did I have to put up with your brother as well? Whose bright idea was that anyway?"
"Fred's," he said as if the answer should have been obvious. I eyed him dubiously but said nothing as we turned the corner into the corridor that eventually led to the common room.
Spotting the room at the end of the hallway, I headed straight for the common room and belatedly realised that I should have addressed my companion. Turning to face him, I hesitated before calling out, "Thank you – for walking me down to the common room."
"No problem," he said after a short moment, stopping in front of the wall that led to the common room. He tucked his hands into his pocket and I got the vague impression that he wanted to say something more. Not that I was going to give him the chance to do that.
Stepping away from him, I approached the wall and annoyed the password, "Pureblood."
"Charming password," Weasley piped up dryly, bringing an unintentional upward curve to my mouth.
"Isn't it just," I said just as dryly, eyeing the wall which slowly slid open. Without looking back at him, I went to step into the common room.
But Weasley was there quickly, reaching out to grab my hand. I looked at him in surprise and he just drew me out into the corridor again. Behind me, the wall slowly shut again and I glanced expectantly between Weasley and the hand he was still holding.
"But honestly," he started quietly, "how did you tell us apart?"
"Why does this matter so much to you?" I wondered, looking between his eyes.
"It just does," he insisted.
Sighing, I removed his hand from my arm. "The two of you are twins – identical twins but even identical twins can be told apart. You're different."
"But how?"
Biting my bottom lip, I hesitated. "You're only a little less annoying than he is."
Weasley, who had been expecting some serious answer, let out an incredulous bark of laughter. Salazar, why was that sound enough to bring a smile to my own face? He continued to chuckle, shaking his head as he gestured for me to head in first. This time I let him see my smile as I announced the password to the wall and ducked inside when the common room revealed itself.
Hopefully, that would be enough to have the Gryffindor off my tail. If only for a little while. But – he still hadn't told me why his brother had come up with the idea to voluntarily switch places with him. Especially when it was obvious that he didn't have the talent for Herbology and he didn't enjoy it either. A small part of me didn't want him to stop bothering me either. Salazar this was dangerous; I'd only gone and gotten attached to the bloody Gryffindor.
Weasley, for once, was one of the first people in the greenhouse. It was so out of character that I actually stopped in the doorway at the sight. And it was just my luck that Weasley looked to the doorway at that point, shifting his attention away from whatever he was scribbling on the piece of parchment in front of him. And when he saw me standing like I had no idea what was going on, he gave a loud call of my name – my first name – and gestured for me to hurry to his side. Realising that I was making a scene, I adjusted my bag and hurried to my seat.
"What made you stop in the doorway?" he asked with more mischief than I thought someone could fit into a short question. "Was I so handsome that you couldn't stop yourself from admiring me?"
I rolled my eyes as I settled into my chair and sorted through my bag. "I was actually wondering whether pigs were flying because there was no way that you'd be here so early."
"Maybe I just wanted to spend more time with you."
"Oh please," I scoffed, setting my inkwell and quill onto the table. "What's the real reason you're here? You were busy jotting something down when I walked in."
"Ah, this." He gestured to what looked like a series of scribbles across the paper. I recognised it as his handwriting but he was clearly too invested in whatever he was doing, to make sure that anyone but him could read it. "I'm trying to get Fred's latest idea to work. It's a sweet that'll render someone mute for an hour or two."
"When you manage to make it work, make sure Snape eats some."
He smirked a little and nodded his consent before deflating suddenly. "But that's only if I can make it work properly in the first place."
Discarding my bag on the floor, I leaned in towards Weasley to read over his shoulder. Scanning the paper, I took a few moments to try to read what he had written. It took much less concentration than I had thought it would. Murmuring for his ears only, I acknowledged, "So you're the brains of the operation then, huh?"
"No," he disagreed instantly, shaking his head. Weasley moved as if to draw back only to still when he realised just how close I had moved towards him. He didn't protest and let me continue to read what looked like a recipe he was busy assembling. Glancing towards me, he said quietly, "I think being the brains of the operation is more Fred's thing."
"And yet you're the one doing this," I said drawing away from him slightly. Holding his eyes, I smiled quietly as I suggested, "Maybe he's the idea man, but you're the one that makes those idea's work."
His eyes softened and under my gaze, I could pinpoint the exact moment his eyes had my stare gentling too. "Just how much time have you spent thinking about me to know me so well?"
Evading the question, I gestured towards the parchment. He motioned for me to slide the parchment across the table so I could take a better look. "You said this wasn't working, didn't you? What's not working about it?"
"The recipe's not stable. I was planning on having the potion actually inside chocolates."
"So, you don't end up making the potion detectable," I murmured, nodding quietly. "That's ingenious."
He didn't react to the compliment, well nothing more than clearing his throat a little to hide how flustered he was. "It doesn't matter when I can't get the potion to be stable."
"You're using cinnamon." Frowning, I looked towards him and asked, "Why? Is there any reason for it or –"
"Flavour," he said in confusion. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"It's known to be reactive with the ginger root. I know that you've probably added cinnamon to counteract the flavour of the ginger but –"
"That's what I've spent the last week wracking my brain over." Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back in his seat as he asked, "Do you have any other suggestions?"
"Mint?" His eyebrows rose quickly as if he'd never thought of it but it made so much sense. "You could remove the cinnamon and mint is much less reactive."
"But the leaf – would that be enough with the ginger?" Leaning suddenly towards me, he outstretched an arm to grasp the back of my chair as he pulled the recipe towards me. "But what about powdered peppermint? Like the stuff they use in peppermint swirls? Can you think of any reason we can't use that?"
"Powdered peppermint is much less reactive than mint leaf."
And then he was grinning, in such a way that I swore my breath caught in my throat. But he was too excited to notice it and I was grateful for that. He reached out suddenly to pull the parchment towards him and grabbed his quill. Scribbling over the word cinnamon, he wrote POWDERED PEPPERMINT down followed by 2 exclamations marks.
Finally satisfied, he folded the parchment up and shoved it unceremoniously into his robe pocket. Weasley was still smiling as he turned to face me.
"What?" I mumbled, fidgeting with my own quill.
"I was just thinking that it's no wonder that I like you," he said with no hint of embarrassment.
Rather, I felt embarrassed as I looked towards him with eyes wide. He held my eyes for a long moment and I waited and waited for him to retract his words or to tell me that he didn't mean it in the way I instantly assumed he did. Straightening up in his chair he turned his body towards me. Salazar today had to be the one day Sprout chose to run late.
"I'm not taking it back, just so you know," he said abruptly as if he'd read my mind. "And I don't mean as friends either. But, you know that don't you?"
I nodded and he watched me, waiting for me to say something. But Merlin, what was I supposed to say to that? How could he expect me to speak when I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest?
"Sorry I'm late," Professor Sprout announced as she practically ran into the room and broke our eye contact. "Everyone turn to chapter 4 of your textbooks."
Taking the offered chance, I turned away from George and rifled through my textbook. This conversation wasn't over, I knew that. But it could wait, until after the lesson was done. That would give me enough time to think because this was all so new to me. Merlin, I didn't make it a habit to talk to people apart from my friends so I didn't really speak to boys in the first place. None had ever told me they liked me before and I'd certainly never acted on my own feelings for one before.
No matter how I tried, it was impossible for me to concentrate on what Professor Sprout was saying because George had taken over all of my thoughts. So really it was no wonder that I had tried to leave him far behind in the greenhouse when the lesson was over. But he'd stubbornly followed after me because he was insistent on walking me to my common room. The walk was awkward and that was even by my standards. By the time we reached the entrance to the common room, I hesitated because it wasn't like I could let this drag on for much longer.
"I know you're not going to leave without sorting this out," I admitted, turning to face him for the first time since Sprout had entered the classroom. Merlin, I couldn't bring myself to look up into his eyes. "And I want to sort this out as well. But Salazar, I'm not good at stuff like this. It's hard enough for me to admit the way I feel to my friends, but to admit to –"
Cutting myself off, I peeked up at him from beneath my eyelashes, hoping that was enough for him to understand. He was suddenly staring down at me like he'd reached a sudden epiphany. Rocking back on his heels, he struggled to dim his smile.
"That's fine," he insisted. "I understand what you mean."
"I'm glad," I said with a smile I tried to hide. When he reached out to finger one of my curls, I gave up trying to hide it.
"Let me take the lead from now on?" he suggested and when I nodded after a few moments thought, he leaned in suddenly.
I drew in a sudden breath, eyes widening when I found his face so close to my own. The blood suddenly rushed to my cheeks and Weasley chuckled under his breath only to lean forward to kiss that reddened cheek. When he drew back, he gestured for me to head inside the common room.
"I'll come to pick you up before breakfast tomorrow?" he suggested and I could do nothing but smile as I nodded my consent.