A/N: I just realized that I typed out 'Uncle Fred' instead of 'Uncle George' in the previous chapter and I am so very sorry! I hope you'll overlook that! Again, really sorry.
#C3
"Mol! Molly!"
"Huh, what?"
"As much as I think your drooling is cute, you're dirtying the library book."
I snap awake. It takes some time for my eyes to get used to the light of the library. I look up at Riven, who has been kind enough to wake me from my peaceful slumber. We make eye contact and he points his finger to the side of his mouth while looking at mine. My hand immediately goes up to my mouth.
I was drooling. Oh my god, why? I ask myself as I wipe my slightly wet mouth. Gross.
"What's the time?" I ask him, as I close the Transfiguration reference book on my desk.
"Five to eight." he answers, with a slight grin. Five minutes till the library closes and five minutes till curfew. (For years 1-4)
"Oh, right." I reply, standing up and placing the book back on its shelf. "Let's go."
As we walk downstairs, I sneeze.
"Bless you." says Riven.
I sneeze again.
"Bless you, again." he chuckles.
And of course, I sneeze again.
"Okay, what is up with you?" he asks, coming to a halt.
"I think I have a cold." I reply, pulling out my handkerchief from my robes and wiping my nose.
"We'll go to Madam Pomfrey after prefect duty?" he asks, resuming his descent down the stairs.
"No need. It's just a cold. Besides, she fusses over me way too much." I reply, taking note of how he said 'We'll go' and not 'You go'.
It's been over a month since our truce and our relationship has changed quite a bit. He's become… nicer. Which, weirdly enough, makes me uncomfortable at times. But maybe that's just because I'm not used to this side of him. Sometimes, he'll walk with me to classes and sometimes, he'll sit with me at meals (which has started to get me a lot of dirty looks from the other girls). I've noticed, also, that when he's not in classes or playing Quidditch or hanging out with his friends or snogging the next girl, he's in the library. I don't know why I'm noticing this, now of all times, either.
I think I've become less hostile towards him too. I hope so, at least. I'm still not letting my guard down, though. That could possibly be the stupidest thing I can do.
"What if it gets worse?" he asks as we reach the ground floor.
"I'll deal with it. It's a cold, I'm not dying." I reply. "Hey! James, Fred!" I call out as I notice the two boys trying to sneak away from me. They turn around, wearing the most innocent looks they can muster.
"Yes, Molly?" James blinks at me, while Fred tries to look confused. I roll my eyes.
"Why aren't you in the common room?" I smile and they scowl.
"We're going." they say, in a resigned voice. The number of times I've caught them out of bed, past curfew, in the past two years is record-breaking.
"Wait a second." I say, as the two turn around and they stop dead in their tracks.
"What are you hiding, James?" I ask, holding out my hand as he turns around.
"I'm not hiding anything." he says, stubbornly.
"Pity." I say, pulling back my hand. "I was almost about to send aunt Ginny and aunt Angelina a letter about the flesh eating slugs in the girls' lavatory."
"Just give it to her, James." Riven smiles sympathetically. Yeah, they know each other from Quidditch. Did I just say know each other? Sorry, I meant, love each other. Why James is such good friends with a prefect completely goes over my head, but yeah.
James scowls at me for the longest time (because there's nothing much he can do) and extracts a phial from his robes and hands it to me. I inspect the slightly pale pink liquid, turning the bottle around in my hand.
"What's this?" I ask James and he looks slightly relieved that I don't know the name of the potion.
"Nothing." he replies quickly and before I can retaliate, Fred and he run up the stairs.
"Let them go." Riven laughs, as I almost call out their names. "Don't be such a wet blanket."
"I'm not being a wet blanket! You don't know the kind of stuff they get up to!" I answer back.
"Okay, fine." he replies, snatching the phial from my hand and opening it. After visually inspecting it, he smells it. I raise my eyebrows.
"What are you doing?" I ask, taking the bottle back from him.
"Well, I was smelling it till you took it back." he replies as we walk past the entrance hall and towards the courtyard.
"And what did you smell?" I ask and weirdly enough, he looks away.
"Nothing." he replies. However, I take his 'nothing' to mean that the potion is odorless and pocket the phial.
That night, as I sit on my bed after patrolling duty, I pull out the phial from my robes to inspect it again. Its colour hasn't changed. It's still pale pink. So I un-stopper it and smell it, even though I think the potion to be odorless.
And suddenly, the smell of the earth after it rains emanates from the phial. I close my eyes, enjoying the fragrance, when I detect the smell of new books and parchment and my eyes snap wide open.
Note that I have never actually brewed Amortentia, nor have I seen it or smelled it. I've only read about it in books, since we'll be dealing with it next year in Potions. And it hits me that the potion in the phial is Amortentia because it matches the description perfectly. The colour and the smell of things I love.
I sniff the potion again, because honestly, it's bliss, and a third, rather familiar smell reaches my nose. It's a musky smell, but that's all I can tell.
"Hey, Molly." says Elinor, walking in to the sixth year dormitory, Jane and Annabeth following her. I share the dorm with these girls. May I also mention that they are the proud founders of the 'Riven Adams Fan Club.'?
"Hey, Elinor." I reply, quickly shutting the phial and hiding it in my blanket.
"Had a nice time patrolling the ground floor?" Elinor asks and Jane and Annabeth fold their arms, standing at her sides.
"Um, yeah, sure?" I reply, looking confused, but sounding polite all the same.
"Look, I'm not going to beat about the bush, so let's come straight to it? Are you or are you not going out with Riven?" she asks, seating herself on my bed.
"I'm sorry, what?" I blink, stupefied by her question. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Oh don't pretend. You think we haven't noticed the increase in the amount of time you spend with him?" she asks and I can see annoyance written all over her face.
Why do you care, you whore? It's my life and I'll decide whom I want to spend time with.
Ha ha. I can't say that. Say that and I'll ruin six years worth of creating my Ms. Nice image.
"I'm really sorry, but I think you're mistaken." I reply, sweetly. "I don't spend time with him. He chooses to spend time with me. And anyway, we're not going out. Not in the next thousand years at least."
Elinor almost replies when Jane steps in.
"See, Elinor? I told you they weren't going out. You really think he'd go out with her?" she laughs and Elinor looks relieved, getting up from my bed.
I'm not usually affected by this kind of thing, but am I really that bad looking? I don't think I am. I mean, sure, I'm not as pretty as Victoire, but I have a pretty decent face but a rather skinny body. Still, I'd classify myself in between okay and good looking.
So I don't pay heed to what these bimbos say about me.
Half an hour later, after they've finished their gossip, the lights are out and everyone's in their own bed. I open the phial one last time and sniff it's contents and again, I detect the musky smell. I've definitely smelled it before.
But where?
"You look terrible." is how Riven greets me at the breakfast table.
"Don't look at me then." I reply, helping myself to some cereal.
"No, seriously, Mol. You look sick. Is it that cold again?" he asks, sitting down opposite me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Elinor look daggers at me.
"Yeah." I sniff, wiping my nose with my handkerchief.
"Let's go to Madam Pomfrey before Transfiguration and have her give you some medicine." he says but I shake my head.
"I'm fine, Riven. I don't need to be fussed over, really." I reply and he frowns.
"Hey, Riven!" says Elinor, coming over and taking a seat next to him; apparently unable to stand watching us converse anymore.
"Oh, hey Elinor." he replies, smiling his famous smile.
"Let's walk to Transfiguration together?" she says, holding his arm and batting her eyelids. I stop myself from snorting.
"Some other time maybe? I'm going with Molly today. We have some stuff we need to discuss." he smiles and I look up at him, realizing that he's using me to get away from the leech.
"You can talk to Molly some other time too, y'know." she says, giving me a dirty look, still not letting go of his arm.
"Tell you what? How about you and I go to Hogsmeade together this weekend?" he winks and her expression changes into a ridiculously happy one. I have to hand one thing to him: the guy does know how to handle sticky situations.
"Okay then!" she grins, gives him a hug and runs off, probably to tell Jane and Annabeth of this newest development.
"It beats me why you waste your time on someone like her." I sigh, looking down into my cereal bowl.
"She is stupid... but boy does she know here way with her mouth." he smirks and I pretend to vomit.
"Do brains and personality figure anywhere in your description of a proper girl?" I ask, disgusted, but not surprised.
He thinks for a moment. "Nope."
I shake my head, giving up.
"If I had to go out with someone smart I would have gone out with you." he says and I almost gag, but manage to keep my composure.
"Don't say that even as a joke." I say, standing up.
"Oh don't pretend. You know you think I'm pretty desirable." he smirks, again. Jesus, what is it with him and smirking?
"I do not." I reply, simply, swinging my bag over my shoulder as he stands up and does the same, chuckling.
"Come on, let's go to Transfiguration. I wouldn't want to break your 'always early' record." he says.
Okay. I think it's important to be punctual. Very important. Better early than late, right? Even if I am ten minutes early. Or fifteen. Okay, fine, half an hour.
"It's really cold." I say, pulling my cloak tighter around myself as we walk past the Transfiguration courtyard.
"I really think you should-" Riven begins again but is cut off.
"Riven, I need a word with you." says Callum Lewis, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"Now?" says Riven, looking over at me.
"I'll see you in class." I say, quickly grabbing the opportunity for an escape. He looks at me for a moment before turning around and walking off with Callum.
I make it to the classroom early, as always, so I decide to occupy the first bench, again, as always. I've been feeling terrible since this morning, actually. My cold has worsened and I'm beginning to feel slightly feverish. I know I should be concerned about my wellbeing but if I go to Madam Pomfrey, she'll keep me in for the night (yes, even if it's just a fever) and I'll miss all my classes today and that will mean that I'm lagging behind. And Molly Weasley does not lag behind.
I decide to put my head down on the desk while the class is still empty. I manage to shut my eyes for fives minutes after which students start filing into the classroom. Professor Switch arrives soon after and begins with Conjuring spells. I begin to feel dizzy but I try not to pay attention to it. I'm surprised at my own stubbornness.
"I want a three page essay on the Snake Summons spell on my table by Monday." says Professor Switch, dismissing the class. I can't believe an hour has passed. As I get up, I feel all the energy being drained out of my body and I hold onto my desk for support as my knees go weak.
"What's the matter, Miss Weasley?" asks Professor Switch as the last few people leave the classroom.
"Nothing, Professor." I try to smile but it takes up a lot of effort. "I think I need to go see Madam Pomfrey." Isay and she nods.
"I think you do. You're looking terribly pale. Should I ask a student to assist you?" she asks. Professor Switch is really nice. Maybe 'cause she's young and close to our age. I don't know how I co relate being nice with age, well, whatever.
"That won't be necessary," I reply. "Thank you."
As soon as she leaves, I walk out of the class and make my way up the grand staircase, something that proves to be a feat. I reach the first floor and make my way to the Hospital wing.
Why the hell does my body feel so heavy? I think, as I slow down but my knees give away and I let my mind go blank as I feel myself falling. I hear my name being called out and I'm sure I feel someone catching me but my head is throbbing so I don't bother to open my eyes.
"Molly? Molly?"
I open my eyes and am faced with sudden light so I shut them again and try opening them more slowly. Blinking slowly, I notice Rose, Louis and Dominique by me. Another two seconds of looking around and I realize I'm in the Hospital Wing. How convenient.
"How are you feeling?" asks Rose, as I try to sit up slowly. My head is still throbbing slightly.
"Not bad." I reply honestly and Louis lets out a sigh of relief.
"Ah, Miss Weasley, you're up!" says Madam Pomfrey, making her way towards me with a small bottle in her hand.
She pours the saffron-coloured liquid from the bottle into a spoon and holds it in front of my mouth. I open wide.
"Urgh, this tastes horrible!" I swallow, shuddering.
"What did you expect it to be? Pumpkin Juice?" she asks, shaking her head.
Once I've got rid of the horrible taste in my mouth, I ask Madam Pomfrey the million-dollar question.
"What happened to me? I thought I just had a fever, right? Why did I faint?"
"You had a migraine too. Really, Miss Weasley, it's not N.E.W.T year yet. Please don't stress yourself." Madam Pomfrey replies, looking at me sympathetically, before leaving my bedside.
"Did Madam Pomfrey carry me here?" I ask, though I doubt it. She is pretty old and I'm not exactly light.
"No, that Riven Adams guy did." Dominique answers.
Great. Just splendid.
"Where is he now?" I ask, in spite of myself, looking around as though he'll just walk through the doors any moment, like in one of those cheesy muggle movies.
"I think he said something about Quidditch practice." Rose replies. I look over at Louis and he looks sad.
"What's up with you?" I ask him and he looks up at me with those huge blue eyes, inherited from Uncle Bill.
"You're okay, right?" he asks and I laugh in spite of myself.
"Yes, hon." I reply, hugging my baby, first-year cousin and he hugs me back. I wish James and Fred were like this. If I hug them, they'll act like I just covered them in dragon dung.
"Madam Pomfrey, may I go back now?" I call out to the matron and she rushes to me once again.
"Absolutely not! Even though I've cured you, you need to rest." she replies. "And visiting hours are over."
"Thanks for coming, you three." I say and each of them take turns to hug me before they leave.
This is pathetic. I'm all alone in the Hospital wing without a single book to read.
And then my mind suddenly decides to think about him. He carried me here. How utterly embarrassing. And, what- he just happened to be there when I fell?
I just want to take my pillow and suffocate myself with it. I mean really, carrying me? This kind of thing happens only in novels.
Speaking of novels, I'm halfway through with Pride and Prejudice and it is such an amazing read. I absolutely love . And Liz? She's practically me, other than the fact that she's not afraid to speak her mind. I'm not exactly afraid to speak my mind, but I choose to keep my mouth shut to avoid ugly situations. Other than that, I really associate myself with Liz.
Madam Pomfrey hands me a nightdress and draws the curtains around my bed, leaving me to change.
At around eight thirty, she brings me a glass of warm milk, which I thank her for.
"I'll be in my office if you need me." she says and leaves me alone. I drink the milk and the lights go out soon after, leaving me with my thoughts that usually attack me before I sleep.
I'm so lucky to have a big family. Really. It is irritating at times, but most of the time, it's a blessing. Notice how only my cousins came to visit me? Yeah. I don't really have many friends here. I know a lot of people, but they're not my friends. Just acquaintances. And when it comes to trusting people, I don't trust anyone other than my family.
I do get lonely sometimes, but I'd rather be lonely than become friends with people like Elinor, who'd do just about anything to fit in with the crowd.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a hand covers my mouth, smothering my shout.
"Shut up, Molly, it's me!" I hear Riven's voice whisper and notice myself immediately calming down.
As my eyes grow accustomed to the moonlit room, I notice his ash blonde hair and the shine of his blue eyes. As my vision gets better, I notice that he's in his Quidditch robes.
"What are you doing here?" I whisper back with slight panic in my voice. If Madam Pomfrey catches us… No. That won't happen, she's in her office, I reassure myself.
"How are you feeling?" he asks, as I sit up.
"Fine." I reply but he looks unconvinced. "Really." I stress.
"I told you, a million times-" he begins with his 'I-told-you-so' speech.
"I know, I know." I mumble, not wanting to admit that I'm wrong.
"I want you out of here tomorrow morning. You have to come for the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match day after." he says.
"You know I don't like Quidditch." I reply with a sigh.
"You don't have to like the game. You've just got to come and watch it. For me." he says.
"Why should I do anything for you?" I reply, looking away.
"Because I carried your fat arse to this bed." he replies, almost laughing.
"Just go. Your stinky Quidditch robes are making me nauseous." I say, still not looking at him.
"I smell like a man."
"Ape-man."
I'm still not looking at him but I can feel his eyes looking at me and it's making my ears grow hot.
"Seriously, though. You'd think that someone who wanted to be a Healer would take better care of herself." he says, his tone slightly serious.
"How do you know I want to be a Healer?" I ask, finally turning to look at him and guess what he does? Bingo. He smirks.
"Really, Mol? You used to say it all the time when we were kids." he replies, as though it's obvious.
He remembers?
I stare at him and he stares back.
"I'm going to have to kiss you if you look at me like that." he replies, and grins. This grin, however, is unlike his usual ones. I feel like it's slightly naughty, but genuine.
His comment unsettles me nevertheless and I look away again.
"You should go now, in case Madam Pomfrey comes to check on me." I say, softly.
"Yeah, I think so too," he replies, standing up. "You take care now." he says, messing up my hair before leaving the Hospital Wing.
I watch him walk out the door before sliding into my bed and curling up into fetal position, hugging my knees. My cheeks are burning and my stomach is doing somersaults inside my body. Why? Because I realize that the musky perfume I smelled in the bottle of Amortentia is the same one I have just smelled off Riven.
A/N: I had loads of fun writing this chapter! I hope you guys have as much fun reading it. Please post reviews about how you found the chapter and also please suggest areas I can improve in. Thanks for reading! ^^