So the person in charge of my docs closed them so I haven't been able to update! Sorry for such a long wait...
I don't remember how I returned to Shell Cottage that night, only that I needed to visit the Rain Pond again. I dreamed of Teddy returning for the rest of the month, but he never did. I could taste the rain in everything I tasted that enticed me with it's flavor. Even cake was only a lesser version of rain. When I returned to Hogwarts for my fourth year, I didn't tell Vivian about the pond. I wanted it to be our secret. But Teddy didn't so much as glance at me. He was in his sixth year now, impartial to us. I didn't mind, as just the memories of that night were enough to live off of.
Halfway through the year, Vivian was waiting up in our dormitory, holding a small flask and a note. I raised my eyebrows and she handed it to me. The note was still sealed.
I tore it open and read the few word gathered in black ink.
It doesn't ice over in the winter
I knew what was in the flask, but didn't open it yet. Instead, I stared at the letter, realizing how much I liked it. I liked how he hadn't put a period on the end, as though there was room for more words. He was choosing not to put a period, but to leave me silence as well. Silence and water. It was all I needed in life.
Slowly, I opened the flask and took a small sip. It was even better than before; crisper. It was like the rain from the summer, but with snow in it, adding a nip at the end that excited your stomach. I sighed in relief, and realized that Vivian was still there.
I didn't even need her to ask.
"It's water."
"Right." She laughed.
"Really and truly, watch!"
I poured a little into a cup and showed her that it was clear. "Oh." She turned to fold a jumper. "Why are you getting water?"
"It's from my favorite place to drink. Like a Christmas present."
"But it isn't Christmas."
"I know, stupid. That's why I said like."
She turned to me and smiled. "Why now and not another time?"
I shrugged.
Two weeks later, in Potions, Vivian nudged me and I noticed a potion brewing behind Professor Grubark's desk. I hurried to get ingredients and took a closer look. The potion was very attractive, with a pearly look and steam rising in spirals. I bent over it and smelled, then jerked back and rushed back to my seat.
"What is it?" Vivian whispered.
"I dunno. Look it up. Spirals of steam, pearly sheen look."
She divulged immediately to her book and started leafing through it, paying to attention to her Bloodroot antidote, which bubbled blue and thick behind her. I turned it off and turned back to mine, sighing at it's profound green color. Vivian was better at potions, as the book told me that it should now be azure.
Finally, she whispered the definition rapid fire to me. "Amortentia is the most powerfulLove Potion in existence. It causes a powerful infatuation or obsession from the drinker. It has a distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen, and steam rises from it in characteristic spirals. The potion often gives off three smells, which induce wild feelings of desire from the overseer."
It took me the rest of class to figure out which things I smelled, as I watched my determinedly green potion stay green.
The first was the most obvious; the spiny leather of old books. This was not unexpected, as I loved the library most.
The second was the clear smell of the rain pond, which reminded me of the flask hidden under my bed. I had still saved half of the water, and had no desire to finish it unless I had an awful day. This didn't surprise me either, as I still dreamt about the pond most nights.
The third I didn't recognise until a couple minutes before the class ended. It was rich and smoky, like dark wood and a deep forest. It smelled vaguely like moss and sweat, with the rich hue of ginger and bergamot. I was proud to have figured all of this out, but I didn't recognise who it came from, though I suppose I should've known, because, the next time I drank some of the clear water, it was interlaced, intoxicating, on the note and the little flask.
Yes, my third desire, the smell of deep forest and ginger, was that of the orphaned boy who had visited me those years ago.
My third desire was the smell of Teddy Lupin.
