(Short chapter, I know)
Ron had been searching up and down the Gryffindor tower looking for Harry, and all the time he had been in the library with Natalie working on Potions homework. Ever since she had showed up for tryouts he had been extremely interested in her. Parvati told him that she was an orphan too, so that's one thing they had in common. Quidditch was two, and they both wanted to be an Auror so that was three. She was very good in Potions and just about everything else, and somehow she managed to stay on Snape's good side.
Harry needed all the help he could possibly get in Potions, so she agreed to help him with the Periwinks essay.
"No, no, no Harry. If the Potion goes well it turns aqua. It's bad if it turns periwinkle," she said laughing.
"Sorry." Harry was not so amused by this mistake. Why would you name a potion Periwinks if it wasn't supposed to be periwinkle?!
"And it has to chill down before you drink it, not chili down," she commented off handedly.
"What? Oh..." He mumbled, realizing his mistake and erasing furiously. This reminded him of the time he wrote that one of Jupiter's moons was inhabited by mice, not ice. "Where's your essay?" He asked
"Finished it," she said not looking up from her magazine and handing him a very long piece of parchment. It was covered in spidery, blue handwriting.
Harry looked over it. It was very well done. He glanced back over to his own paper, his own bunched up handwriting filled up only a quarter of the very long parchment. He groaned loudly.
"Tedious work. But if you really want to pass you'll do it."
"I know I know. How long does it stay in the moonlight?" He asked exasperated.
She sighed, equally exasperated. "You only put it out on the full moon of the first month and the full moon of the second month."
"And then you add the noodles?"
"What?" She asked, finally looking up from her magazine.
"Just kidding. Then you add the unicorn hair, and wait for it to dissolve?"
"Right."
"Kay. So, moving on. Periwinks and its uses. Periwinks...and...its uses. What are the uses?"
Natalie glared at him over the top of her glasses. He waited for a response but she just glared. So he thought and thought and racked his brains for the answer.
"I know if delivered at the right time it can cure vampires, but there was something else..."
"Yes there was," she confirmed.
He thought again. "Oh yes! It also sobers you up!"
"Amazing how long that took..."
"Well maybe if they weren't such random uses I would've gotten it quicker!"
She laughed. "Maybe..."
So Harry took a good long time writing about Periwinks and it uses. When he finally finished he smiled triumphantly and announced it.
"Done!"
"Let me see," she demanded holding out her hand.
He watched as her dark blue eyes scanned the paper, and her long fingers corrected petty mistakes. At length she gave him a thumbs-up. "Very good."
"So our we done here?" He asked, taking in a long deep breath.
"I should think so. To the common room?"
"To the common room," he agreed. "I bet some people are back from Hogsmeade."