Tonks eyes widened in horror as the bubbling pink potion doused her partner. It managed to miss everyone in the room. Probably because they had run for their lives the moment they saw her coming. She heard the gasps followed by the snickers that seemed to follow her everywhere. At a loss of what to do, she reached for her wand to clean the sticky substance off him, but Snape beat her to it. With a flick of his robes and wand, Charlie was freed from the goo.
He stood with a dazed expression, looking unsure about what had just happened. He examined his clothes to see the pink stains removed. He looked up and his eyes met hers. His face split into a grin that was so Charlie, Tonks thought there had been no ill side effects of her mishap. She grinned back, glad he wasn't angry with her. But then Charlie was hardly ever angry at her. Not when she covered him with her lunch or pushed him down the stairs when tripping over her feet.
Tonks began to walk towards him, to ensure that he really was all right, but a hand on her arm held her back. She glanced down at the black clad sleeve of the professor grasping her. Automatically and brusquely, she wrenched her hand away. Snape glared at her.
"Stand back."
Tonks glared back, but turned her attention back to her friend. Snape thought there was something wrong, and that was cause for concern. Charlie looked all right. He was still smiling widely at her. The room was quiet again.
Charlie opened his mouth, and Tonks almost hoped to hear a jibe about her clumsiness. It would prove he was all right. He smiled again. "I love you."
Tonks strained to hear the words even though they were spoken loud and clear. He could not have just said that. Charlie didn't like anyone that she was aware of, and he would never choose potions as the moment to reveal that.
"You what?"
Charlie grinned in that way Tonks was beginning to recognize as not normal. "I love you."
That was really starting to scare her now. She glanced around her. The only people in front of Charlie were herself and Professor Snape. It was fairly obvious that Snape wasn't the object of his affections. She turned back to her friend and pointed a disbelieving finger at herself. "Me?"
Charlie continuing to smile, nodded. "Of course, you."
Her eyes got bigger and her mouth formed an 'O'. What had she spilled on him anyway? She whipped around to face her teacher. Snape was smiling grimly. His smile scared her just as much as Charlie's.
"Miss Tonks, it would seem that you have managed to upset an entire vat of Amortentia onto your lab partner, and he now sees you as the love of his life." These words were spoken with a thinly masked humor. This was just the sort of thing Snape would find amusing.
The class gasped as the situation sunk in. Tonks rolled her eyes. She had been evicting that response a lot today. And Charlie thought he was in love with her? She had a sudden urge to vanish a Boggart. Ridikulous!
Charlie had moved to her side now. He reached for her hand and whispered in her ear. "I love you."
Tonks reacted like she had to Snape. She yanked her hand away and stared at her partner. Charlie would be so embarrassed if he knew that he had declared his love for his best friend in the middle of Potions class.
She directed her gaze back at the Potions Master. "Can't you do something about him?"
He merely raised an eyebrow. "That was a very powerful potion, Miss Tonks. There is nothing I can do without an antidote. I'm afraid Mr. Weasley shall remain in a state of infatuation until you have completed your next potion."
Tonks imitated her professor by raising her own eyebrow. Her imitation might have been a little too accurate for Snape glared harder. "What do you mean by that?"
Snape smiled smugly. "I mean, your next assignment is to produce the antidote to Amortentia. I do suggest you hurry and have it ready for Mr. Weasley by the end of the day."
Tonks opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off. "Chapter 14 might prove useful." The bell that signaled an end to class sounded, and students began to make their way to other parts of the castle. The whispers started as soon as they reached the hallway, and Tonks knew it would be a long time before anyone forgot this brilliant episode of clumsiness.
The corners of Snape's mouth curved unnaturally upward. "Good luck, Nymphadora."
Tonks glared at her professor. In an exchange between any other teacher and student, the use of a first name would not have been such a big deal. But Tonks loathed her given name almost as much as she loathed Snape, and he in turn used it not to encourage, but to anger.
She spun quickly and drug her unfortunate partner with her as she marched out of the dungeon. Luckily, Potions had been their last class for the day, now all she needed was find a place to work, supplies for a love potion antidote, and for Charlie to cooperate.
