The next morning was a Tuesday and Ginny convened her fellow Gryffindor's at the table during breakfast. She told them of the sword being in Dumbledore's office and Seamus muttered in his Irish accent, "That's almost too bleeding obvious!" Ginny grinned and nodded, "Dumbledore gestured his head sideways at it. He obviously wanted me to see it!"
Neville nodded in agreement, "That seems likely. Does he think we stand a chance of getting it to Harry? How strange that Dumbeldore has to be in the same room as Snape all the time when Snape was the one who murdered him in the first place! Must be bloody awkward!" This caused Colin to smile a little. He had been exceptionally quiet since the whole wand incident the previous day. Luckily McGonagall took them for detentions because detention with Carrow seemed like the worst punishment imaginable! Ginny had been lucky enough to avoid it once.
They planned to find a time during the week where they could meet in the Room of Requirement in order to discuss the sword- how they were getting it and how they were going to expand the D.A. They decided to get up early the following day so that they could meet at seven and then be down to breakfast by eight. Ginny got up from breakfast with a smile on her face as she made her way to Potions with Professor Slughorn.
Potions was one of the few subjects she still enjoyed. She wasn't marvelous at it, but she wasn't poor either. Ginny liked to follow the recipe's step by step and have a feeling of achievement at the end of it. Today, they were making Armontentia. She noticed Romilda's eyes light up at this and she giggled to Julia beside her. Ginny scowled and rolling her eyes. It was stupid for the girl to think that she had any possible way of getting it to Harry. This made Ginny laugh.
Professor Slughorn lifted the lid off the Armontentia bottle and immediately Ginny could smell the combined mix of mint, citrus and something she couldn't quite peg…maybe it was grass. She inhaled it as though it was toxic. It was without a doubt Harry. Slughorn chuckled at the looks on everyone's faces…they were having potions with the Hufflepuff's today thankfully and not the Slytherin's, so she didn't feel like she would be judged if she made a sigh.
Slughorn said to them, "Now everyone, we're going to all get a chance to smell it properly, don't you worry. Everybody line up please." There was a shoving and pushing of eagerness to go first in the line. Slughorn beamed at them joyfully and said, "Right, now you're only going to be able to inhale once. If we stand here all day, we won't be getting any work done."
This caused some of them to laugh. Julia was first in line, followed by Rebecca and then Romilda. Ginny stood behind her and Colin was behind Ginny. She waited eagerly for her turn, fidgeting with her fingers while the others hurried on. When it was finally her turn, Ginny savored the moment as she inhaled a sweet combination of those scents. The strangest thing happened! She pictured Harry so clearly in her mind's eye. Being separated from him from this long meant that she sometimes forgot details of his face and it made her ache for them even more. She tried not to get upset over it, but now with his scent in her nose, Ginny was seeing him as though he were here right in front of her, clear as day. She was forgetting his mannerisms, the way he used to ruffle his hair when he was searching for an explanation, the way he stared at her when he thought she wasn't looking, the way he…
Ginny was interrupted by Slughorn who said, "Let's move along please, Miss Weasley." Ginny sighed and moved to the side, tempted to take the potion with her. Colin sniffed at the potion briefly, but did not seem too affected by it. Ginny frowned and asked him, "Why were you so quick?" Colin shrugged and replied, "No reason." She frowned but otherwise felt her mind filled with images of Harry so clear she could swear he was almost right in front of her. The one in particular of him kissing her like there was no tomorrow on his birthday sent a gut-wrenching punch to her stomach.
She exhaled sharply and shook her head to try and clear the fuzziness of her clouded mind. Then she listened to Slughorn sharply as he continued, "So…basically what I was saying was that anyone who manages to concoct an Armontentia that is worthy of keeping…mind you this will prove tricky and will have to go through my inspection first…will be able to keep a vial of it as a prize. Best of luck to all of you!"
Ginny set about it how she would if she was cooking at the Burrow- except this time with much more determination than usual. She almost needed that potion like she needed to breathe. Ginny didn't want that potion so that she could give it to someone…no…she wanted it so that she could smell Harry whenever she felt like it. Whenever she needed it. She was going to make a potion so good that she would be able to picture Harry that clearly every time.
XXX
Fourty minutes later, Ginny stood with a potion that was rainbow-colored and shimmered like a mother of pearl. There was indeed steam rising from it in twists and twirls and Ginny could smell Harry again as though he was right next to her when she closed her eyes. She sighed contentedly until Romilda, who was sitting opposite her spoke, "I know who I'm giving this potion to…" she said with a hearty laugh. Ginny's eyes snapped open and she responded with a scowl, "You have no way of getting it to him!" she snapped. A little too late, Ginny realized she had lost control. This was not good. Harry wanted people to believe there were no feelings between them anymore.
Romilda smirked at Ginny and said stoically, "Who said I was referring to Harry?" Ginny glared at her and Slughorn approached her. He grinned and said cheerfully, "Miss Weasley, it is your turn to be tested." Ginny nodded and stood back while Slughorn observed. He nodded and said, "Yes, very good. I like the gleam of it over the surface." He took a spoon a sipped it briefly. He nodded and grinned, "The consistency is excellent, Miss Weasley."
Ginny frowned and asked, "But Professor…surely you would be affected by having so many?" Slughorn shook his head and said, "Excellent question, Miss Weasley. But alas, I did take a cup of antidote before the lesson to prevent any such un-pleasantries. Do you remember when your brother, Walloby, got given potion last year?" Ginny nodded grimly and shot a glance at Romilda who was watching the exchange, "I do, Professor. I think it was meant for Harry. Ron almost died before of some stupid perosn's foolishness!"
Slughorn nodded sadly in agreement, "I remember it being one of my worst moments as a teacher. Mr Potter was very brave and very intelligent to have thought of the bezoar. Have you heard from him or your brother?" Ginny glanced down and shook her head, "No professor. Not a word." She was surprised he was asking her so openly about such a sensitive topic when there were people. And it felt kind of thrilling to be lying about it. It felt like the small contact they had shared was at least her and Harry's secret.
Slughorn sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry Miss Weasley. I was merely curious." Ginny nodded and smiled understandingly, "I know, Sir. Harry spoke highly of you in the holidays." The professor beamed and blushed, "Really?" Ginny nodded (she wasn't lying about this) and he chuckled, straightening his robe, "I miss that boy. Anyway, I best get on. Ten points to Gryffindor, Miss Weasley, for asking such an insightful question."
It was Ginny's turn to blush in embarrassment. He moved on to Colin…who's potion's smoke wasn't rising quite as well as Ginny's. When Slughorn finished his rounds, he announced the list of winners, "Can Miss Weasley, Mr Griffiths, Miss Shaw and Miss Harper please stay behind and collect your prize. Twenty points each also to the winners for their houses!"
There was a light smattering of applause as Slughorn gave each of them a rather large vial and dipped it in their own potions. The vial filled up with the silvery liquid and Slughorn told them all before they left, "Now, this potion has some serious side effects. Miss Weasley's brother last year was highly affected by having too much of it last year. I strongly recommend only using it for your own benefits or keeping it for future use. I do not wish to explain to Madame Pomfrey why so many students are being highly affected. I will get into serious trouble. Is that understood?" The four winners nodded and Ginny all but hopped out of Slughorn's room with excitement, gently stashing the long vial in her school bag as she hurried out of the room.
XXX
That evening when Ginny was in her room after dinner alone, she opened the vial and instantaneously she smelt Harry's distinct mint-grass and citrus scent. She inhaled the stuff sharply, lay back and then placed the lid back on the vial. She remembered the moments of their year together…
Ginny remembered so clearly telling Harry how she had loved him in the ministry…how the evening after he had told her he loved her too and how they fell asleep on the couch together. The Hogsmeade trips they had taken surged to her memory- how they had kissed in the empty street alleys…those stolen moments by the lake where he would kiss her without worry and with careless abandon…
She sighed and then she remembered his shirts that she had packed into her school trunk. Ginny hopped off her bed and grabbed one. It was navy blue and it was somewhat of a golfing shirt. It was one of her favourites on Harry because it truly bought out the color of his eyes. Ginny took her vial of Amortentia and put of drop of it on the shirt. She lifted it up and inhaled the addictive scent. She sighed in satisfaction and then she heard noises outside the door- high-pitched giggling.
Ginny quickly shoved the shirt into her cupboard beside her bed and hoped that they wouldn't see it. Romilda came in, laughing exuberantly with Rebecca and Julia. She raised an eyebrow at Ginny skeptically and asked as if she cared, "So, you really haven't heard from your boyfriend at all?" Ginny stiffened and grabbed her bag from the floor, "It's none of your business." She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from being rude. Rebecca laughed and shook her head before saying, "You see, Ginny, all that sucking up and wasting your time with him didn't do much good, did it? He still left you anyway, didn't here?"
Ginny felt herself tense and she wanted to scream at the girl and throw her pillow at her. She knew this bitch was just jealous of her relationship with Harry…but she still felt like doing it anyway. Julia at least had some sort of common decency to look embarrassed. She stared at the floor and didn't say anything as the other two laughed. Romilda grabbed parchment from her cupboard and then left with Rebecca.
Ginny was fairly certain that Julia was going to leave too. She was fairly surprised when the short, blonde haired, brown eyed girl didn't follow her cronies. Instead she sat on the end of Ginny's bed and offered her a small smile in embarrassment, "I'm sorry for their behavior." Ginny raised her eyebrows in surprise and then became on the defense, "You're not much better!" she snapped at her former friend.
Julia dropped her head morbidly, having the good grace to look embarrassed. She sighed and then looked up at Ginny, "I know. And I'm so sorry for my past actions. It's just…with Rebecca she likes to control me. She hates it when…" Ginny grumbled, "When you think for yourself?" The girl nodded and sighed, "I know you've been having a hard time this year, especially with Carrow and your brother and Harry and Hermione not being here…and I just want to say I'm truly sorry for what you're going through." Julia got up and for the first time in a while, Ginny actually had some kind of faith that maybe, there was still some good in the world. Julia was walking through the door when Ginny said suddenly, "Hey Julia…" the girl stopped and turned and Ginny inhaled, "Thanks…" she whispered. The girl smiled at her briefly before rejoining her friends.
A/N: Hey guys! Here's another one for you! And thanks to GinnyPotter6891 and Pablo for your reviews and thoughts!