Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Whenever Merope smelled Amorentia, she caught the aroma of freshly brewed tea mixed with two teaspoons of sugar and a tablespoon of milk.
Just the way her Tom liked it.
Well, at least that was what he had told her. The first time she had made him tea, praising her "goddess-like grace" to notice if his tea had too much sugar and cream in it. Of course, this tea was loaded with a large dose of Amorentia, the second dose Merope had given her husband after they had eloped to London.
Love potion was a beautiful thing.
Merope took a step back and admired her finished potion. She had just finished brewing a cauldron of Amorentia. The mother-of pearl sheen glowed in the dimly lit kitchen and the steam rose in lovely, sparkling spirals. She gave her husband a goblet-ful everyday, though only one tablespoon was required a month.. Merope just couldn't take a chance with her husband's "love" wavering now.
After all, she was pregnant.
Merope touched her stomach instinctively. It had been a week since she had announced her pregnancy to Tom, and he was delighted. Everything about her delighted him….
….of course that was just the Amorentia.
Merope shook her head and pulled a pot out of a cupboard to make soup. Tom loved her and that was all that mattered. The love potion simply helped it along. Merope filled the pot with water and placed it on the stove, before proceeding to cut up some carrots. Tom would be home from work soon. She had to finish making dinner.
"Tom loves you now," she murmured to herself. "He loves you. You ain't so pretty yourself, Merope. That Amorentia was the only way you could get him."
Merope never liked the idea of forcing her darling Tom into loving her. She wanted him to fall for her on his own. But that, she knew, would never happened, so she had resorted to Amorentia instead. Indeed, she had gotten used to the smell of tea, sugar, and cream every week rising from her cauldron, but she didn't want to trick Tom anymore.
After all, she loved him more than anything else in the world.
And shouldn't he love her by now? She was pregnant with his child, for God's sake!
Merope winced as she sliced her finger with the knife.
It wasn't fair.
Merope placed the knife down and walked slowly over to the cauldron. Then with a bracing sigh, she picked up the cauldron and tossed its contents out the window. She smiled in relief.
She wouldn't give her beloved Tom that damnable Amorentia anymore.
After all, she loved him so much he was bound to love her back.
Right?