I had the strange feeling that someone was watching me, but Professor Sterling interrupted my train of thought.

"Miss Weasley, veritaserum."

"Veritaserum," I repeated, "A powerful truth potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth and admit even their darkest secrets. Only a few drops are necessary for the potion to work and overdose can cause dangerous side effects."

"Excellent," Professor Sterling said. "Take five points for Gryffindor. Mr. Malfoy, Essence of Dittany."

There was no response.

"Mr. Malfoy!" he repeated.

"Yes, sir?"

"Mr. Malfoy, I asked you to please explain the qualities and attributes of Essence of Dittany?"

"Right, Professor, sorry. Essence of Dittany heals wounds and is extremely effective in repairing injuries caused by splinching during apparition..." he rattled off his response.

I couldn't fathom why Malfoy wasn't paying attention in class; although we were sworn rivals, he was the only one who had ever come close to my scores on tests. He was probably too busy staring at his reflection in a mirror or something, I decided.

"Correct, Mr. Malfoy, but next time, please try to focus and answer the first time I ask the question. Mr. Conwells, Wolfsbane, please."

I smiled to myself, glad that Malfoy didn't merit any points.

And again, I felt like someone was staring at me. I turned around to catch a pair of grey eyes looking back.

"Is there something stuck in my hair?" I whispered, wondering why Malfoy would be looking so intently at the back of my head. I reached a hand up and felt my ponytail – nothing.

Malfoy just shook his head and looked away. Weird.

"Today, class, we're going to be brewing amortentia," Professor Sterling announced. "In partners."

Marissa and I had already started setting up a cauldron when Professor Sterling added, "Miss Weasley, Professor McGonagall has given me specific instructions that you and Malfoy are to work together on every assignment."

"What?"

That definitely hadn't been part of the terms McGonagall had established. At least, not while Malfoy and I had been in her office.

"It's McGonagall's orders, not mine."

I picked up my materials and moved back a row to sit next to Malfoy. Marissa, who ended up working with Malfoy's mate Todd Richards, turned around to give me a pitying look, which I returned, although not as strongly. Malfoy was much worse than Richards.

Thirty minutes later our potion was complete and I had managed to survive by talking to Malfoy only when necessary. Since "pass the roots," and "I'll stir," were the only words that had passed between us so far, I was mildly surprised when he asked, "So what does it smell like to you?"

I leaned forward over the cauldron and inhaled. "Vanilla," I said immediately, recognizing the scent. "Melting candles, and coconut, and…" I took another deep breath. "Something else… I can't tell what it is." I shrugged, but I was a little put-off that I couldn't recognize the last scent. "What about you?"

Malfoy bit his lip as though he was debating about something, then took a whiff of the amortentia.

"Cinnamon, and the Quidditch pitch, and something… I think raspberries?" the last one came out as a question. For some reason, it agitated me, although why I should care about whether or not Scorpius Malfoy liked raspberries was beyond me.

As Professor Sterling dismissed class, I grabbed my bags and left. I was all the way back up in Gryffindor tower by the time I realized what was bothering me.

I used raspberry shampoo.

It doesn't mean anything, I told myself. Just because he liked raspberries didn't mean he liked—

No, of course not. That would be ridiculous.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out what the last scent was, but to no avail.

***

Divination the next day was hell.

For some reason, Malfoy refused to talk to me and Marissa was too far away to pass notes, so I was forced to sit quietly and try to look like I was paying attention.

My thoughts drifted back to the mystery scent.

It was sort of like pine, but not exactly. Sort of like different spices my mother used to use in her cooking. And a little bit like the Quidditch pitch, which put me off a little because Malfoy had also mentioned liking the Quidditch pitch.

I liked the outdoors, I reasoned. That was all, it explained the pine and the Quidditch pitch. It had nothing to do with Malfoy.

Actually, I could almost smell it right now.

So it had nothing to do with –

The realization hit me and I felt my stomach tie itself in a knot. Under my breath, I let out an impressive string of expletives.

No, there was no way…

"Weasley?"

No. No. No.

"Weasley," Malfoy whispered again. "You look kind of… green."

No. No. I hated him. I really, truly, hated him.

Which didn't explain why my heart was about to explode out of my chest from beating so fast.

Or why I couldn't look him in the eye.

Or why I really, really needed to get out of the Divination tower.

Or why Malfoy smelled like my amortentia potion.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

And it also didn't explain why my vision was slowly fading, and everything was going black.

***

"Look – she's moving!"

"Oh my God, Rose, are you okay?"

I blinked a few times, trying to sort out all the voices. I was lying in bed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was all a dream; I must have had a little too much sugar last night. And I mean, of course it was ridiculous. The whole amortentia thing – I would never fancy Malfoy. Just the thought made me gag.

Once I was past the initial relief of having woken up from the nightmare, more things began to register. I had a throbbing headache, my best friend and my brother seemed to be overly concerned with my well-being –

Wait. How did my brother get into the girls' dormitory? Weren't boys unable to enter it? And why was all the bedding a bland white color?

I wasn't in my dormitory. I was in the hospital wing.

"Rose! Rose, are you okay?"

"I think so," I answered Marissa, moving to sit up. The sudden motion sent the blood rushing to my head and I felt an oncoming wave of vertigo. "No."

I lay back down. "What… happened?"

"We were in Divination—" Marissa started.

"I remember that part."

"And then… you collapsed on your desk. Malfoy dragged you all the way down here. Professor Trelawney was freaking out about how the planets hadn't warned her or some other nonsense like that…" she rambled on.

"Wait – Malfoy carried me down here?"

"Yeah. He's actually really strong, apparently."

I swore under my breath.

"Um, Rose? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, closing my eyes. "I'm fine."

Okay. Just because we had been in Divination didn't mean that Malfoy and the amortentia thing was true. I mean, I didn't smell people on a regular basis, the fumes in Professor Trelawney's smoky classroom were probably just getting to my head. I had collapsed out of heat exhaustion and imagined that Malfoy smelled like my amortentia potion… it was probably just my subconscious getting back at me for forgetting to study for Transfiguration.

See? There was a logical explanation for everything.

Everything, that is, except for Scorpius Malfoy, who decided that that was the time to walk over to the hospital bed, smirk at me, and say, "Feeling a little faint, Weasley?"

As Madam Pomfrey opened the window of the hospital wing a little, a small breeze blew into the classroom, ruffling Malfoy's hair and blowing on my face, carrying with it the scent of my amortentia potion, the scent of Malfoy, the scent of pine and the Quidditch pitch and spices.

No. Bloody. Way.

***

A/N: Okay, well, I had to do the whole amortentia thing; it was just too much fun to write. I know it's been overdone, but don't worry, I'll be more original later…

I'm sure a lot of you think I ruined my own story by having Malfoy smell Rose's raspberry shampoo, and Rose smell Malfoy, but allow me to explain, please.

Amortentia does not give away what a person loves; it gives away what a person is attracted to. So, it doesn't mean Rose is in love with Malfoy, it means she's attracted to his scent, which is different. I mean, she still thinks he's a hideous person, which is why she overreacts when she concludes that she might have a crush on Malfoy. She hates him, why would she be attracted to him? Anyway, the point is, she doesn't actually like Malfoy, or at least not yet. She just thinks he smells nice, but of course, the idea that she might possibly be attracted to him kinda freaks her out.

I'll let you all decide what Malfoy thinks of her.

And I know, I know, I said I would update within a week and it's been eight days, but don't shoot me, please!

Also, I'd like to thank everyone for all the amazing reviews: keep them coming, please!