Yet again, the teachers were changed around and new ones were brought in. This seemed to happen every year and (Y/n) knew it had something to do with Potter figuring out that they were either linked with the Dark Lord or just utter nutjobs. She just wanted one year where she had teachers that didn't end up being weirdos. This year their new teacher was Professor Slughorn who would be taking over Potions. Sure, the bloke was a bit peculiar and favoured a certain student over the rest but overall he was nice and easy to get along with.

(Y/n) sat down next to Blaise Zabini at the Slytherin table with Draco in front of her along with Pansy, Crabbe, Theodore and Knott sitting around them. (Y/n)'s friendship with this group wasn't as strong as it was with Zabini, she'd call it more of an acquaintance group. She wasn't particularly fond of Draco being that he was a complete prat most of the time, constantly whining about Harry Potter and his friends, however recently he was a bit more quiet about him. The (Y/h/c) haired girl conversed with her friend about their day, laughing and joking quietly to themselves as they ate lunch when they heard Pansy's snobby voice. "He's staring at you again," The 16 year old immediately knew who she meant and the group turned to look at the Gryffindor table, she briefly made eye contact with blue eyes before they quickly looked down as their face paled even more if that was possible. The girl's eyes then switched to look at Dean Thomas who was laughing his ass off at his friend being caught and the fact that all 7 of the Slytherins turned around at the exact same time to stare at him. Draco rolled his eyes.

"What's been his problem recently? He's never been like this," Six disinterested heads turned back to their meal while (Y/n) continued to stare at the clumsy Irishman, trying to figure out what she had done for him to suddenly find her so interesting.

It all started around a month ago when Seamus hadn't seen where he was going and bumped into Draco, of course the Malfoy boy didn't take too kindly to it. The poor lad had apologised which (Y/n) knew was difficult for him since he had a strong distaste for the Slytherin Prince. The platinum blonde had scowled at him, telling him he was 'a useless clumsy oaf' and 'to get his halfblood ass out of his way'. Those comments quickly struck (Y/n) the wrong way and she glared at the back of Malfoy's head. 'Knock it off Malfoy, he said he was sorry, what more do you fucking want.' To say it was a shock to everyone there was an understatement, they all stared at her with surprised expressions. Usually she wouldn't say anything and hang back but she actually stood up for someone this time and in front of her friends. Draco sneered at her with a reddish face before stropping off to class, Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy in tow. The Slytherin girl tutted and rolled her eyes before casting her gaze to the Irish boy who was already staring back at her. She blinked at him before giving him a small smile, he could see it though and it made his heart skip a beat. He'd never seen her smile at anyone but Blaise, she's always been quite stoic around others but when she aimed her smile at you no matter how big or small, it would give you a good feeling. He managed to stutter out a 'thank you,' to which she replied with a 'no problem, just be careful next time.' From that point, Dean didn't hear the end of it or could have a proper conversation with him because either the Irish boy was staring at her or the discussion was about her.

(Y/n) herself didn't know what to think, nor did she understand. All she did was stand up for him, maybe he just admired her? She would notice him stare at her and blush whenever he got caught, at first it was annoying and she would make it obvious by rolling her eyes or scowling at him but the boy was persistent, he wanted to see that smile again and there was nothing that could stop him from looking at that pretty face anyway. One day, as the Slytherin girl sat alone on a stone bench getting some work done, she almost didn't realise someone had sat beside her. Slowly, she looked up to see Seamus. He smiled at her as she glanced around, confused by his sudden approach.

"Hello, (Y/n),"

"Hello?"

"I was wondering, could you help me with the DADA homework?"

"Why don't you ask Hermione?"

"She's fed up with having me constantly asking for help, and you're the second cleverest person in class who's approachable," he chuckled nervously, making the (Y/h/c) haired girl raise a brow. (Y/n) agreed anyway and explained the work to him, the quicker she could finish this, the quicker she would be rid of him. However once the work was done, he didn't head off straight away after thanking her, instead he continued to sit there and stare at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"What now?" the girl sighed sensing his intense gaze on her.

"Why did you help me that one time? You Slytherin's don't really do that kind of thing for other houses," the girl thought for a moment, wondering herself why she did it.

"To be honest, I don't particularly like any of my Slytherin peers and Malfoy's a prat anyway, he'd getting on my nerves all day and just how he spoke to you seemed to rile me up even more,"

"Why do you hang out with him then?"

"Because Blaise hangs out with them and he's the only one there I feel I can call a friend, he's not as stuck up as the rest of them and he's always been decent to everyone, even the Slytherins can be rude to Slytherin's and he was the only one who made an effort with me," Seamus nodded hearing what she had said, but he felt a slight pang of jealousy toward Blaise.

"Do you like him by any chance?" The Irish boy found himself asking, making the girl lean back in surprise and she made a face of disgust.

"Like him? As if! He's just a friend and besides… he's a bit too vain for my liking, he drives me insane when he talks about himself and I'm only his friend. I couldn't handle dealing with all that if we were dating too," she had whispered the last part to him, leaning close and hovering her hand over her mouth in case someone could lip read. She laughed softly at what she said along with Seamus. The boy grinned, liking the little bit of progress he had made and how she opened up to him slightly. He stood up, looked down at her with a soft look in his eyes.

"Very well then! I'd better be off, Dean's probably wondering where I've gone. Thanks for the help again," he waved and went to walk away but she was surprised to see him turn around again. "Also, you should smile more often, it really lights up that pretty face of yours," with that he was gone and the girl just sat there in complete shock at the words he had just spoken. She could feel her cheeks warm and her heart seemed to have skipped a beat and quickened instantly. What the heck was this feeling?

It was quite obvious that he liked her, he wasn't good at hiding it. (Y/n), on the other hand wasn't entirely sure of her feelings, she was a lot sneakier with her glances but she couldn't work out how she felt about him. She knew she liked the compliment he had given her that was for sure, mainly because it was the only one she had ever actually really received. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, it brought her back to reality. "You alright (Y/n)?" Blaise asked as she stared at him for a moment.

"Uh, yeah, just zoned out,"

"Right, well it's time for Potions now," Ah yes, Potions. Slytherin would be sharing the lesson with Gryffindor as always. Only this year it's been slightly different. The group got up and gathered their belongings before heading toward the exit of the Dining Hall and toward their common room. On the way out, (Y/n) couldn't help but let herself glance toward the Gryffindor boy and that was a huge mistake, (Y/e/c) met with blue and she felt her breath hitch and she quickly looked away.

Shit.

She had made that way too obvious especially with the reaction to being caught and with that, she sped walked past her friend group, leaving them behind in hopes of losing them and the boy even though she was going to be in the same class as him in less than 5 minutes so what was the point of her running away exactly? She didn't care, she needed time to herself before class started to gather her thoughts. She stood outside like they had to before any class started, her back against the wall, staring mindlessly at the stone wall opposite her.

"What was that about?" A self righteous voice rang through her ears and yet again she was disturbed from her thinking. She sighed in irritation before looking up to the Slytherin boy with a glare on her face but she didn't answer him. He rolled his eyes. "Are you stupid too?" Before she could answer that question, Professor Slughorn opened the door and a group of Gryffindors rounded the corner.

"Right everyone in! Class is about to begin," with that (Y/n) rushed in first and took her spot, she gained strange looks from Draco, Blaise and Pansy but she chose to ignore it, trying her best to not look at a particular table. After getting everything out, Slughorn called them to gather around his table which had a variety of potions set up, bubbling away in their cauldrons. The girl made sure to stay in the back away from people however she sensed a presence beside her, she knew exactly who it was but she pretended he wasn't there. It was only when she felt a gentle nudge at her side, did she look at the blue eyed Irishman. He smiled at her but he was only met with a petrified look at her head snapped forward to the front. This was gonna be a lot harder than she had anticipated. The class's attention went to Harry and Ron as they appeared through the door, late. Harry and Slughorn conversed before the old teacher turned back to teach his class, he asked the class who would like to tell everyone what these potions were. Of course, Hermione's arm shot straight up but Slughorn's eyes searched around the room wanting to find someone else, his eyes landed on the (Y/h/c) haired Slytherin and he smiled. "Ah, (Y/n) my dear, why don't you tell us," timid eyes looked up at him as the girls in front of her dispersed to let her through. She sniffed before stepping forward and stared at the first cauldron she approached. She looked at the potions inside for a moment and hummed to herself.

"This one's Veritaserum… It's a truth-telling serum, and this one," she spoke but she got herself distracted by the scuffling of the two boys at the front of them, she glared at them through her lashes before moving onto the next potion. "This final one here is Amortentia. The most powerful love potion in the world… it's rumoured to smell differently to each person, according to what attracts them. For example, I smell... " she frowned as she tried to figure out the scents she was picking up. "Freshly baked bread, cherry blossoms and… gunpowder?" she frowned at the last one, that's an odd one. The girl glared at the ground before turning round, the girls dispersing yet again, so that she stood beside the short boy. He peered at her curiously, seeing her face scrunched up in thought as she muttered to herself. "Gunpowder, since when have I come across gunpowder?"

The lesson carried on when Katie Bell asked what the other potion was that was held up by a clamp and stand. It was Felix Felicis. Slughorn wittered on some more about it, gaining the attention of a few who weren't originally paying any mind to the lesson. He told them to make the concoction using the Advanced Potion Making Books they had to help them and whoever created a perfect one would get the vial of Felix Felicis and so the class dispersed to go to their own tables.

Staring at the first instruction (Y/n) began to cut the Sopophorus, she slowly brought the blade down but as soon as it touched the bean it zipped to the side. Her eyes widened as she looked for it and grabbed it up to try again only to be met with the same struggle. She looked up to see if anyone else was having the same problem and they were, the continuous tapping of knives made it obvious. She glanced over to Seamus, seeing him trying to dangerously stab at it, he caught her gaze and she shook her head with a look of worry written on her features. He chuckled quietly, looking down he felt embarrassed yet warm at the fact she cared. When he glanced back up but he wasn't met with her (Y/e/c) eyes again, instead she was focused on something else, she was making her way over to the table with the other potions. He watched her fiddle with the clamp, putting the bean into it and tightening the clamp around it.

"Miss (Y/l/n), what are you doing?"

"Trying… to make.. this a bit easier…" she grunted, as she smiled, successfully getting it in the two claws with no problem. She then looked around the bean, trying to find a good angle to cut into it without hurting herself, she tried anyway from the top and carefully pinching the bottom so it wouldn't ping out from underneath. Using as much strength as she could, she shoved it in point first. Her eyes lit up when she saw the tip become embedded in the bean and she let out a short laugh as Slughorn came over.

"(Y/n)?! Are you mad, you could've hurt yourself?"

"I cut into the bean though," she held it up triumphantly as everyone else got their own bean to take over. The old man noticed this and quickly picked up the stand and clamp.

"No, no one else is doing it," the class groaned apart from Harry who was squeezing the beans juices into the cauldron, seeing this, the (Y/h/c) haired girl made a beeline to him and stood beside him staring at his hand.

"How'd you do that?"

"Crush it, don't cut it," he spoke confidently, making the girl frown.

"But the instructions specifically say to cut it,"

"That's what I said," She heard Hermione say from behind her and she turned to see the brunette's hair beginning to get messed up. They shared a baffled look.

"You're struggling with this too?!" The Slytherin girl exclaimed, hearing that the other brightest Witch in class wasn't having any luck to make her worry. She cast her gaze back to Harry with an accusing glare before heading back to find Crabbe had melted his stirring tool. Inevitable death with his potion, for sure. Suddenly, there was an explosion and she turned to see Seamus with soot on his face and his table laughing at him. (Y/n) giggled at his typical antics, everytime he managed to blow something up. It was then that a familiar scent hit her nose. Gunpowder! It was faint but she recognised it and it definitely wasn't the Amortentia potion since it was covered with a lid. Her eyes widened, that was the only scent and it wasn't necessarily the explosion, what if… she remembered when she sat with the boy he smelt slightly of the explosive substance, over the numerous times of his accidents with casting spells the aroma seemed to have stuck with him. (Y/n)'s face warmed up as she stared at him, she found him attractive.

Once the lesson was finished, (Y/n) and Hermione looked like a pair of unorganised scatterbrains as they watched Harry receive the prize of Felix Felicis, not that they cared for it, they were just upset with not having successfully created the potion. Despite that, (Y/n) found herself drawn to the Irish boy even more, from where she stood next to Draco she got a good view of him. Yet again their eyes met and she smiled at him, a proper smile this time and his reaction was priceless. His once saddened and somewhat traumatised face visibly lit up. The Witches and Wizards gathered their things and began to filter out of the classroom but before you could leave, someone grabbed your hand just by the door. She turned to find her new love interest, who was telling Dean to go up first and that he'd meet him later. Dean nodded and winked at you before leaving the two of you in the Slytherin dungeons. Seamus didn't let go of your hand as you looked at him again, you watched him run his thumb over your hand. She could smell the gunpowder again and she loved it.

"Here," she suddenly spoke up, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket, she briefly let go of his hand which neither of them liked. The Slytherin placed it in her hand and took her wand out muttering 'Aqua Eructo' causing a gentle stream of water to pour from the tip of it and onto the white cloth. She stopped the enchantment and rang the handkerchief out of excess water before lifting it to his face. She hesitated a moment. "May I?" The freckled boy could only nod, too enamoured by the girl's soft features to speak. She smiled softly, gently rubbing the boy's face with the damp cloth, the soot coming off easily. She brought her hand under his chin, and she noticed his cheeks glow. "You're blushing again,"

"Like you haven't been doing that all day too," he said smugly.

"You got me there,"

"You've never done that before, what's changed?"

"That Amortentia potion helped me realise something," the boy's eyes widened at her words. He found himself getting lost in those big, beautiful (Y/e/c) eyes as they watched him softly and lovingly. "Gunpowder, that was the weird one that I didn't understand. Where had I smelt it before? I wasn't sure until you messed your potion up again," she laughed at the memory. "I smelt it then and I remember smelling it on you when you needed help with homework, I realised it was actually you that I was attracted to," she said finishing cleaning his face. "There, all handsome again," she didn't know how she was speaking so confidently, maybe it was because the reactions to her rambling were good.

"About time, I've been waiting ages,"

"About a month is ages?"

"When I like you as much as I do, yes," (Y/n)'s heart fluttered.

"Hey, um. Slughorn invited me to one of his parties and I can bring a plus one. Would you like to go with me?" The boy stared at her before snatching her hand up again.

"You don't have to ask me twice and… don't let go of my hand again," the girl's face erupted in red as her heart skipped a beat.

"You know, I might temporarily die whenever you say something like that. My heart is pounding, but I love it," she said as they walked up hand in hand.

"Well, I got to keep you falling for me haven't I, my Cherry Blossom?"