Chocolate
The slippery, viscous potion simmered fluidly in the silver cauldron. I carefully dipped a glass vial into the sinister liquid, using thick dragon-hide gloves to protect my hands. While Essence of Aphrodite wasn't as blatantly potent as Amortentia, it was still a force to be reckoned with and was easily one of the more dangerous potions I offered.
At its current, freshly-brewed state, a single touch against bare skin would be enough to induce severe feelings of affection that would latch themselves onto the first person I saw. I shuddered - Merlin, that could be disastrous. What if Dumbledore or, worse, Slughorn happened across the corridor?
Wanting to avoid vomiting in the potion, I quickly banished the thought from my mind. Some things were better left unconsidered. I corked the vial and filled the remaining two in the same manner, my hands sweating beneath the thick gloves.
After Thomas's bottles were sealed, I considered the remaining potion. I always brewed enough to fill one more vial than necessary to add to my stock. This time, however, I had the feeling I'd need it for a different purpose - not, of course, for my own use, but for emergency purposes. My standard love potion antidote worked on the broad scale, targeting general symptoms of affection - it lowered heart rates, calmed nerves, and induced feelings of apathy. This was usually sufficient in gradually countering Essence of Aphrodite's effects, but it wasn't enough to bring a rapid change. For that, I'd need to combine the antidote in a 1 to 1 ratio with a sample from the original brew.
Would I really need to sacrifice my sole vial of Essence of Aphrodite to the creation of a potent antidote that I might not even require?
I thought again of the rash, shrill Gryffindor and nodded grimly to myself.
I tipped a sky-blue vial of standard love potion antidote into the cauldron, stirred it two times counter-clockwise with my wand, and let the contents rest. It'd be ready for bottling in another hour - until then, I'd better deliver the love potion to Thomas before she threw another fit.
I slipped out of my laboratory and headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Ordinarily, I'd hand the shipment to one of my Gryffindor contacts - the less direct contact between customers and myself, the better - but I planned on using the opportunity to confront Davis about the chocolate frogs.
I tucked my cloak over the emerald and silver crest on my chest and pretended to examine a small painting just around the corner from the Fat Lady.
The painting's occupant, a lithe siren with a gleaming crimson tail, winked at me. She fluffed her golden hair and began swimming in graceful circles, sending sprays of incandescent bubbles up towards the clear sky.
I stared at her blankly, my attention focused on the empty corridor behind me. I just had to wait for a suitable group to insert myself into…
The siren scowled, miffed at my lack of appreciation, and, hopping awkwardly onto a rock cropping in the far right corner, pulled herself into the next painting over.
Three minutes later, a trio of laughing Gryffindors brushed past me. I waited for them to round the corner before hurrying after them, smiling and pretending to laugh along as we passed through the open painting.
Once safely inside the warm Common Room, I branched quickly away from the trio and headed towards the smiling girl on the farthest couch.
Thomas was surrounded by her posse again, and from the sounds of it, she was detailing her newest tryst. Her friends questioned her eagerly about his identity, but Thomas coyly brushed off the questions. Clever - she was setting the stage for her upcoming romantic development, which, with my potion, was sure to happen.
I sidestepped the giggling group, and, with a flick of my wrist, let the trio of glass vials drop gently into her lap.
I was already on my way out of the Common Room by the time she'd registered their presence. I didn't have time to wait for her reaction. Besides, I'd seen Davis leave just a moment ago, and I needed to hunt him down before the bloody weasel escaped again.
I really needed to find his source - or, better yet, find a way into Hogsmeade myself. I hated dealing with the middleman.
I stepped through the painting, ignoring the Fat Lady's cry of surprise, - "Oi! Who are you?" - and hurried after Davis.
As I was about to round the corner, however, a familiar voice called, "Willa?"
I paused, scowling as I saw Davis's cloak disappear around the corner, before shifting my attention to the same painting I'd examined before. Well, I might as well use this opportunity to cement my budding - well, not friendship, exactly, but tolerance - with Lupin.
The siren hadn't returned, which wasn't surprising - sirens were notoriously vain. My insufficient response had obviously offended her enough to leave the comforts of the water.
"What are you doing here?" Lupin asked.
I gestured at the painting half-heartedly. "Lucy told me this painting was her favourite. I wanted to check it out," I said, adding a hint of frustration to my tone. "But it seems to be empty."
Lupin frowned, leaning closer as he peered at the empty frame. He wasn't as wan as before - although faint, milky-blue shadows still stained the hollows of his angular cheeks, his pale eyes were once again bright.
"Huh," he said, "I've never seen her leave the painting before. Something must have spooked her."
I nodded. "Yeah, some first years were practising hexes here a few minutes ago."
I could feel his eyes on me, his gaze unwavering. I studied the painting for another moment before turning. "I guess Lucy appreciates the wat-"
"The potion worked wonders," Lupin said at the same time.
He paused, grimacing and waving for me to continue.
I shook my head. "No, you go on."
When he only gave me a doubtful look, I continued, "Seriously. I was only going to share a boring childhood anecdote involving Lucy and a large body of water."
He blinked, his lips curving into a lopsided grin.
"Well, now you have to share," he said.
"Lucy thought she could turn into a siren if she stayed in the water long enough. She stayed in the lake for a solid five hours; we eventually had to bribe her out with several bars of chocolate," I said.
"Chocolate?"
I grimaced. "She loves it. Honestly, the best way to get Lucy to do anything is to offer up a few chocolate frogs."
His expression grew thoughtful. "Interesting," he murmured, his yellow-green eyes distant.
I looked at him sharply. What was he thinking? My mind leaped to the most logical explanation. Lupin didn't seem the type, but Lucy had been hurt before - my hands clenched by my sides. I'd offered this information once before in a clumsy - it was one of my first experiences with business negotiation - attempt to secure the amity between myself and the Ravenclaw son of a major cauldron producer. The Ravenclaw misunderstood my words and approached Lucy soon after with a bundle of chocolate and an expectation for something she wasn't willing to give. Unfortunately, my sister's flirtations were often misinterpreted as a willingness to shag anyone who moved. Add that to her reputation as a naïve idiot and, well...
"She won't shag for chocolate," I said coldly.
His eyes widened, and I noticed detachedly that his left iris sported a dark amber ring around the pupil. "Merlin, Willa," he spluttered. He opened his mouth, closed it, and shook his head.
"Merlin," he said again. "I-I'd never - what kind of person do you think I am?"
I looked at him unblinkingly. I wouldn't apologise for ensuring my sister's wellbeing.
When I didn't reply, Lupin groaned and, to my utter surprise, placed a startlingly warm hand on my left forearm.
"I'm sorry," he said simply.
What? He hadn't done anything - why was he apologising?
"I should have realised you wouldn't have said anything if you didn't have reason to do so. I promise you, Willa, if I even hear anyone insulting your sister, I will do something about it."
My pride didn't like that - it reared up in the pit of my stomach, urging me to say something disdainful - after all, I was more than capable of looking after my baby sister. Besides, he may be a Prefect, but I had two thirds of the Prefects in my pocket and countless resources beyond that.
Still, his face showed nothing but solemn sincerity, and I'd worked too hard to repair the damage done after my last outburst. I bit my tongue and, mentally lashing my anger down with iron cords, nodded stiffly.
We both grew quiet, Lupin dropping his hand to face the painting once more.
What was he thinking about? His face was utterly unreadable. For some inane reason, Lucy's words resurfaced in my mind - bloody beautiful, she'd called him. I usually didn't notice a person's attractiveness or, if I did, I quickly dismissed it. After all, I was hardly one to judge another based on their looks. Either you looked like me and risked being dismissed as a nobody (which, actually, I was perfectly fine with - better for the business and all) or you looked like Lucy and risked being propositioned by hormonal idiots.
Still, if I ignored my usual, well, ignorance, I could see where she was coming from.
"That potion," Lupin began suddenly.
I started, my cheeks warming (had he guessed at my thoughts?), before forcing a calmer, less maniacal expression.
"Do you think you can show me where you got it from? At the next Hogsmeade trip, I mean," he said.
I hesitated. As the potion was one of my creations, it certainly wasn't going to appear on the shelves of J. Pippin's Potions (yet - I had plans to stock my potions there...at least until I had enough funds to open my own shop).
I weighed my options. I could refuse his seemingly benign request and risk attracting his merry squad's wrath (again), or I could agree and find some shopkeeper to temporarily house my potion. The only connection I had was the Ravenclaw who had so insulted Lucy; his family owned Ceridwen's Cauldrons, which sold a small variety of potions. I dismissed the idea immediately; I wanted no contact with him, and I had the strong suspicion that sentiment was mutual (I'd been a bit...vehement with my retribution for his insult).
"Willa?" he prompted.
I had two weeks to figure something out. That was plenty of time.
I smiled, saying, "Of course."
He grinned again. He had a nice smile - it appeared slowly, as if he was savoring the emotion, and made him look utterly...happy.
Happy or not, I did have to track down Davis. "Well, I'll see you later…" I said, edging slightly away.
He nodded, still smiling. "I'll see you in Arithmancy," he said. Arithmancy? He was in my class? I supposed it wasn't too much of a stretch; he appeared intelligent, and the elective course was composed of students from all four Houses.
I paused, my Arithmancy book suddenly weighing heavily in my bag. I hated to ask, but even I didn't want another T.
"Er, Lupin, do you think I could borrow your notes from the last two Arithmancy classes?"
He blinked and nodded, his rumpled hair grazing his forehead as he rummaged through his bag. He handed me two rolls of neatly tied parchment.
I took them gratefully. "Thanks."
"Of course," he said.
Not liking how...discomfited his steady gaze was making me feel, I turned and walked hurriedly away, my back rigid. I'd have to be careful around Lupin. He was too bloody disarming.
xxxxx
Production of Euphoria #2 was going smoothly. Although the work was split between only Lucy and I, we were able to produce a surprising quantity of the potion. By the end of the week, we had a row of twenty vials lined up. Although I could have started passing the vials out for distribution, I wanted to wait until I'd built up a more sizable stock. I hadn't revealed my plan to Lucy, for I knew she wouldn't take kindly to it - sister or not. She was, after all, a Hufflepuff.
In fact, this whole plan was mad. Making Hufflepuffs attack Slytherins? Such a notion was ludicrous...yet, if it worked, I could upend the whole House structure. That would finally put an end to this foolish inter-House prejudice which so limited my consumer base.
If I wanted to, I could produce total chaos. I could supply Euphoria #2 to all houses save Slytherin. By leaving Slytherin as the only clear-headed house, I could help manipulate the whole inter-House dynamic to something that favoured Slytherin. This, of course, wasn't my goal - at least not exactly. Besides, that much chaos was bound to draw Dumbledore's attention. I could only hope that the rest of my House wouldn't think of this natural progression to my plan.
To my surprise, Davis had produced the chocolate frogs much earlier than expected, even coughing up an extra pack "for good will." I was, of course, suspicious of his sudden generosity, but I was too desperate to refuse. With the added chocolate, I'd gotten six additional vials from Lucy and was currently working on producing the next batch of Euphoria #2.
"Merlin, Willa, we've been at this for days," Lucy complained. Her usually smooth blonde hair was a tangled mess, and her skin was bright red from standing over the steaming cauldrons.
"Hours," I corrected. "It's hardly been days."
She sniffed and held out an expectant hand. I tossed her a frog, which she swallowed with astonishing efficiency. "Well," she said, directing a stream of WW into the waiting cauldron, "I'm tired. I've decided to unionize."
I couldn't stop the snort from leaving my lips. "Unionize? You and what others?"
"You need me. It doesn't matter if there are a hundred or one of me."
She had a point there. I groaned. "I'll up your pay to three chocolate frogs per vial."
"I want to change it up. I've been yearning for some chocolate wands."
"That's changing it up?"
"It's a different shape! Different being the key word."
I groaned again. I'd have to contact Davis again, which meant I'd need to brew yet another batch of Sobering Draught. But what choice did I have?
My sister's smile was far too mischievous for my liking. Perhaps the Hat had made a mistake with her.
"Fine," I agreed finally.
She beamed, jumping up and down. "Yay!"
Or perhaps not - that move was pure Hufflepuff. The Houses did have their differences, but that didn't mean they couldn't interact peacefully - or at least without jumping down each other's throats. Such animosity was hardly conducive to business.
After I'd managed to convince Lucy to stay for another three hours, enabling the production of an additional six vials, I made one last round of my production array to ensure that none of my other potions were getting out of hand. I paused next to a burbling cauldron of Dreamless Sleep and, slipping two empty vials from my robes, filled them to the brim. I still had to make amends to Jasper for the embarrassing altercation. I could give the second to Valencia. I hadn't seen the Slytherin in several days, and that made me nervous. I preferred to keep potential foes close.
I concealed one of the vials in a standard Honeydukes box and sent it off via owl to Valencia. The other I slipped into my pocket as I made my way to the Great Hall. For whatever reason, Jasper preferred doing his studying there. I suspected he drew comfort from the bustle of the hundreds of students. I'd never asked him why he required so much Dreamless Sleep, as I'd gathered that the reason was unpleasant.
I found the Ravenclaw huddled as usual over a pile of heavy books. Luckily, as it wasn't a meal time the Great Hall was practically empty. I slid into the seat beside his and coughed awkwardly. "Sorry for the other day," I said bluntly. Better to get this over with quickly.
He glanced at me. "It's fine," he said, flipping the page and scrawling a note in the margins. His fingers, I noted, were stained nearly completely black with ink. "You, uh, have a very tight grip."
I winced and, noticing my look of discomfort, Jasper smiled. "It's fine, really," he said, setting down his quill. He brightened suddenly, saying, "Oh! I spoke with my father, and he gave me some good ideas about manipulating the chemical components of the vials to help achieve that delicate balance. I've come up with a promising prototype. It's still undergoing testing, but if all continues to go well I should be able to give you the plans by the end of the month!"
I grinned. Finally - good news. "That's brilliant, Jasper!"
He smiled, running a sheepish hand through his thick black hair. "Thanks," he muttered, his cheeks a pale red.
I ought to seriously consider extending him an offer before some other company snatched him up. This boy was brilliant and, most importantly, discrete.
I slid the last vial of Dreamless Sleep towards him, and his brows arched. "What's this for?"
"I nearly strangled you with affection," I said flatly. "This is to rid you of ensuing nightmares from that lovefest."
His smile broadened. "Death by hug," he said. "Sounds awful."
"Indeed." Satisfied that all was well with this end of the business, I stood from the table, saying, "I'll leave you to your studying. Standard time Sunday?"
He nodded. "I'll give you another update on the vials then."
"Perfect."
