In the week since school had been back in session, lessons were already becoming more and more arduous. Victoire's crowded schedule allowed for very little free time, and the lack of this was certainly starting to show itself with her moods. Still, she wasn't as bad as some people. Like the ones who claimed that they were so stressed with work and they didn't know what to do with themselves. These types would often appear at homework time begging for help, only to copy everything they could instead of bothering to do any work themselves. One girl in particular was rather notorious for this sort of behavior...

"What are the properties of Amortentia again?" asked Cassandra Holmes, a fellow sixth-year who'd parked herself at the same table as Victoire and Whit one evening in the library. She was known to do this; if it wasn't them she sat with it would be a gaggle of Ravenclaws, or some a pair of Hufflepuff girls, or that trio of bright Slytherins. She seemed to have a fairly well planned routine.

"Aren't they on one of the first few pages of the chapter," Victoire asked, gesturing to her Potions book since she was currently working on her Runes. "I remember seeing it."

Cassandra dropped her quill out of frustration. "Where?"

"On the first few pages," she repeated, again gesturing to her closed book that Cassandra hadn't even attempted to open to check. This was all part of her plan.

"I'm so bad at Potions," Cassandra muttered, still not touching her book and instead crossing her arms sulkily over her chest. "I wish I didn't have to keep taking it."

"You didn't have to keep taking it," Whit said, mapping out an elaborate star system for her Astronomy project beside Victoire. "You could have dropped it when school started. I did."

"I needed it to be a Healer."

Whit looked up at Victoire, seemingly as shocked by that admission as Victoire. She wanted to be a Healer? She couldn't even complete her own work on her own, but she wanted to be responsible for people's lives? That was a terrifying thought.

"Look," Victoire said as she pushed her Runes to the side and picked up the Potions book. At this point, Cassandra wasn't taking the hint and it would be easier to show her where the pages were so she would just leave. "If you open your book to this page-" She opened the book for her. "Amortentia is here."

Cassandra feigned some reaction halfway between pleased and surprised. "There it is! I should have known." She smiled at Victoire. "It's a fascinating potion, isn't it?"

"It can be," she said, returning to her Runes. "But I've heard enough accidental dosage stories to know that it's really more trouble than it's worth."

"Have you ever taken any?" she asked.

"Why would anyone take any?" Whit asked, looking puzzled by the question. Victoire had to admit, it wasn't one people asked often. 'Have you been dosed or drugged before?' That may have been a question to asked, but 'have you taken any?' People didn't take it willingly.

Victoire shook her head. "No, I haven't. No desire. But my uncle sells a variety of it in some of the products in his store—not full strength stuff, but enough for a laugh. I got to sit in one day and listen to a lady complain that it didn't work on her boyfriend and that he still left her."

"Well, you said it wasn't full strength," Whit offered. "Not that she should have been dosing her boyfriend anyway…"

"That's the funny part," Victoire said. "He didn't leave her because the love potion didn't work. He left her because he found out what she was planning and wanted nothing to do with her anymore."

Whit laughed.

"I had another one of my other uncles get accidentally dosed with some when he was here at school—the actual stuff—and that was apparently a nightmare. He said he lost all control of himself."

"It is scary stuff," Whit said, shaking her head. "Think of someone being so obsessed with you that they feel the need to drug you to get you to love them."

Victoire nodded as she started to take down the properties of the potions on her parchment. It truly was a horrifying thought. She'd always taken extra measures to be careful about what she ate and drank for fear of someone planning something nefarious. Especially this time of year when the sixth-years were studying it.

Cassandra, who again seemed frustrated because Victoire wasn't doing her work for her, started aggressively flipping through the pages of her book. She suddenly groaned loudly. "I'm so bad at this!"

Victoire and Whit exchanged looks. Neither seemed to want to ask what was wrong.

"Question seven," Cassandra finally asked when no one prompted her. "What scent does Amortentia give off? I can remember the smells in my head, but I can't find it in the book to double check."

"It's different for everyone," Victoire said. "You essentially smell things you love."

Cassandra stared at her with a curious expression. "Is that the answer?" She smiled. "How fascinating. What did you smell, then, Victoire?"

This girl always had so many questions. Victoire suspected she did it because she felt if she mixed enough personal questions in with questions she needed answers to, people would let their guards down and just answer everything. It must work at least some of the time.

"I smell the ocean, my mum's chocolate soufflé, and…" She knew the last one would get laughed at. "The smell of the Potions laboratory..."

Whit looked up at that, though she seemed seconds away from laughing. "Please tell me you're joking."

Victoire shook her head a little sheepishly.

"I know you love Potions, but to smell it in a love potion—?"

"I don't know," Victoire said, laughing as well. "It's what I smelled. I wasn't aware I liked Potions that much either."

"Perhaps you just fancy Professor Holt?" Whit teased. "Those golden yellow teeth might get you going?"

Victoire pulled a face. The elderly Potions Master was certainly not her cup of tea.

"I smelled sunflowers," Cassandra began, "and rain and raspberries."

"Sure you didn't detect a whiff of the Transfiguration room?" Whit teased. "Perhaps some of the Herbology greenhouses?"

"Ha-ha," said Victoire. "I knew you'd take the piss. Perhaps you should take a stroll down in the dungeons to see what you'd smell? Maybe a little ode de a certain fifth-year Quidditch player—"

"Alright," she said hurriedly, glancing quickly at Cassandra. Whit still tended to get embarrassed at any mention of her current crush.

Over the course of the half and hour, Cassandra must had grown tired of begging for help and answers, only to get little in return. She eventually picked up her things and ventured over to chat with a group of Slytherins, where Victoire could distinctly hear her ask if they were working on Potions. It left her and Whit finally on their own to get the work they wanted done, which was especially nice given Victoire now was struggling through some of the more complicated Runes translations.

"There's got to be a more thorough translation guide I can use," Victoire muttered, glancing up at the shelves. "Tate loves trying to assign us runes that aren't in the text."

"How does she expect you to answer them?"

"Research," she muttered, knowing then she would have to go find what she was looking for in one of the many texts on the subject. She wasn't sure she had the energy for all of that tonight, but she should at least find the book.

"I think I'm going to search for the right book and then head back to the common room. I'm done for the night. Do you want to come?"

"I'll be right behind you," Whit said as she scanned her star system that was taking up half of the table. "I'm nearly done."

Victoire nodded, gathering all of her things and tossing them into her bag. She threw Whit a wave-one she didn't return since was too busy attempting to plot some smaller star groups-and made her way to the back of the library. This was where she knew the Runes related books were kept; she often found herself back here attempting to find more obscure texts to help her solve some of the more difficult rune puzzles Professor Tate enjoyed assigning. She didn't know why, but solving runes was something she tremendously enjoyed.

She scanned the shelves quickly, but didn't exactly know what she was looking for. She scanned the spines, wondering if what she needed had already been checked out since her two favorite go-to book were gone. She could go ask Madam Pince for a suggestion, but it was getting rather late and the librarian tended to get crankier the later it became. She really did want to finish it, but all signs were pointing at her dealing with things tomorrow. The buzz of the common room and a comfy chair just had more appeal at the moment.

She turned and walked straight out of the aisle, narrowly missing someone who was passing by.

"Oh, sorry!"

"No worries," said a familiar face, one that glanced back at her before stopping and smiling. It was Stuart.

She smiled involuntarily. "Hey. Hi. Hey." She laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"Studying," he said a little obviously, though he grinned as he spoke. "I can't get a thing done in my common room, so I've had to start sneaking off and hiding in the library and hoping no one finds me."

"Oh. I'm sorry for finding you, then."

He shrugged. "I don't mind being found by you."

She definitely blushed and was thankful it was darker here in the aisles. In fact, given the candle light dancing on the walls, the mood was rather romantic. It was too bad they were in the library.

"I'm on my way out, though," he said, gesturing toward the exit.

"I am too," she said a bit too eagerly. "I was just heading back to Gryffindor."

"Oh, cool," he said, taking a step to leave. "Want to walk with me?"

She smiled and nodded rather casually, as if that suggestion only made sense as opposed to it being the only thing she ever wanted.

She followed him out and toward the grand staircase, making small talk as they went. She usually would have taken a well-known shortcut upstairs to Gryffindor Tower, but this time she was going to take each and every step up the stairs.

She glanced at Stuart as he yawned. He looked exhausted.

"Tired?" she asked for a lack of something better to say.

He nodded. "I haven't had any time lately. Today, I even skipped breakfast because I hadn't got to sleep until late last night." He sighed. "Then, I went to class all day and rushed to finish my homework during breaks. After that, I had Quidditch practice right until about a couple of hours ago" He looked over at her. "Now I'm here."

"That sounds rough," she said sympathetically.

"I'm killing myself," he said with a tired laugh. "It's bad enough we play your lot next and you're all doing just as well this year as you did last year when you won the cup."

Victoire smiled. She knew the Ravenclaw team was struggling this year, having lost most of their players at the end of last term. The new team didn't seem to be functioning quite as well as they had hoped. Gryffindor was a shoo in to win, But she wasn't about to say that to Stuart.

"Only a few more months," he continued. "Get through my N.E.W.T.s and earn as many as I can. Then I'm done."

"What do you want to do after that?"

He was quiet for a moment as they continued to climb the stairs. "I want to get into magical law. The legal aspect of it, not the enforcement."

"Oh, my aunt works in that department," Victoire said, happy to offer this piece of information to him. "She's the Deputy Head."

"Yeah? Maybe you can put in a good word for me then?" he said, though he sounded as if he were mostly kidding. She had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't be upset with her if she actually did, though.

She smiled at him. "You'll need to get those high exam scores first. Without those, nothing I could say matters."

His expression said he couldn't disagree with that. "Which is why I never rest these days. Work, Quidditch, and sleep. That is my life." He glanced over at her. "One of these days I'll take a break."

"I think you're overdue one," she said once they reached the landing where the stairs split off toward their separate towers. "Perhaps take a weekend and…" She searched her brain for something fun to do, though all she could come up with was, "Go to walk around Hogsmeade?"

He stared at her strangely for a moment and she briefly wondered if she had something foreign on her face or a visible bogey in her nose. She might die on the spot if that were the case, but she had little time to think about it since he suddenly asked her, "When is the next Hogsmeade trip?"

She had to think about that. They'd just had one about a week ago and there was nearly always one somewhere around Valentine's Day...

"Couple of weeks, I'd guess. But you're a seventh-year. You can go whatever weekend you'd like."

"I know I can," he said. "But I was wondering when you were allowed to go." He ran a hand through his hair. "Because if we figured that out, then perhaps we can make plans to hang out."

She let that last part sink in. Was he asking her out or just making a casual suggestion to see each other if they both ended up in Hogsmeade? She wasn't sure, and she needed to be sure of what level of excitement she should currently be experiencing.

"We could do that," she said, keeping things intentionally vague.

"Cool," he said as he put his foot on the first stair heading towards Ravenclaw tower. "Let's figure that out then. We can talk more later about it."

She nodded obediently, still not entirely sure the level of commitment she should be entertaining about this. It seemed like a loose plan for a date, but it could also just be a friendly hangout.

"I'm this way." He pointed up the stairs toward his common room. "I'll see you later."

"Right," she said as she pointed toward her staircase. "I'll see you."

She turned and started slowly walking up the stairs, now replaying that entire encounter over and over again in her head to try and make sense of it. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but either way, he'd definitely expressed an interest in seeing her in an out of school setting. She knew she'd spend the rest of the night lying in bed and dissecting what the words "plan to hang out" really meant.

She was hoping Whit would turn up so she could run it all by her, but apparently, almost being done with her homework actually meant another several hours worth of work. So much so, Victoire had fallen asleep waiting for her.

"I realized I had the entire left-half of my bloody system upside down," Whit said grumpily as she poured herself juice the following morning. "It's due today, so I had to finish it. I stayed in the library until Madam Pince kicked me out, and then I was up in the common room until who knows what time."

"I didn't hear you come in last night," Victoire said as she spooned porridge into her bowl.

"I know. I could hear you snoring."

She made a face. "I don't snore."

"I've slept next to you for five and a half years now. Trust me, you do."

"I do not—" Victoire began to protest, though she was distracted by Colleen and Penelope suddenly passing them on their way down the length of the table. Colleen stared Victoire down, but said nothing. This was nothing new. They had spoken very little to each other since school had restarted.

The pair made their way to the other end of the table and—as if they had planned on it—turned and stared at Victoire again before looking away. For some reason, the entire incident jogged Victoire's memory of her encounter with Stuart the night before.

"What do you think it means when a boy asks you to 'hang out' in Hogsmeade with him?"

"You're asking the wrong person."

"Whit, come on…"

She sighed and set down her toast. "A boy or a boy named Stuart?"

"A boy named Stuart," she said, immediately recalling the details of the conversation she'd had the previous night.

Whit shrugged. "I really don't know, but I think that after what happened on your birthday—and now this now—-it's a safe bet to say he likes you on some level."

"Yes, but does that mean this could be a date or just that he wants to see me at some point because we're friends?"

Whit shrugged again as she chewed her toast. "He sure didn't make it very clear."

"Tell me about it," she mumbled.

It was then that the sound of fluttering owls suddenly echoed around the Great Hall from above, indicating the morning post. A large brown barn owl dropped a letter and a copy of the Daily Prophet down in front of Whit while another owl appeared with a package and a letter for Victoire. A second owl dropped another letter down in front of her before flying away.

"My mum is going to America," said Whit, reading one of the letters in her hands. "She'll be there for two weeks."

"For work or for fun?" Victoire asked as she opened up her package.

"For both, I guess," she said as she continued to scan the letter. "She never goes anywhere when I'm home, but the second I get to school she's popping off everywhere."

Victoire smiled as she opened the box to reveal a homemade chocolate cake, courtesy of her mother. She smiled happily. "It's almost as if she knew I was craving something of hers."

Whit took a peek over the box top to inspect it for herself. "You'll share, right?"

"Maybe…" she teased, putting the accompanying letter from her parents aside to first open the other letter she had received. She tore open the envelope to reveal a single piece of parchment with a single sentence on it. She scanned the sentence quickly, a crooked frown forming at her lips.

I told you I would write.

-Ted

"Seriously, Ted?" she said aloud to her letter.

White stared at her curiously, prompting her to hand her the letter. After she read it, Whit smiled and handed it back.

"I bet he put a lot of thought into that."

"He's an arse is what he is," Victoire said, deciding then that two could play this game.

She reached into her bag and pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink. She flipped the letter over and grinned as she scribbled:

I was hoping for more than a handful of words, but I can see how that would be asking for a lot from you. Perhaps next time I'll get two sentences! Maybe one day a paragraph. Regardless, I have a question for you. If a boy says he wants to hang out with you (destination Hogsmeade) what exactly does that mean? Please be as specific as possible, since I'm utterly clueless on the matter. I'll be eagerly anticipating your reply…of two sentences.

With love,

Vic

She laughed to herself as she glanced up at Whit, who was reading what she had written upside down.

"I don't get it?" Whit said. "What's so funny?"

"Ted hates when I come to him with questions about boys." She smiled as she began to fold the parchment. "If he doesn't want letters full of questions like this, then he better give me something else to respond to."