This Prompt required some guesswork because the grammar was a bit off (blaming autocorrect and texting for that), but I got the gist. For Hinny6477936 asking for a story involving amortentia being the reason our two fell in love.

AN- AU, no Voldie. Jily live, so though Ron and Harry are still best friends, he spends a lot less time at the Burrow and around Ginny. This takes place in their sixth year.

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Cauldrons and Contaminants

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He squinted really hard at the notes on the page, trying to decipher them. It was difficult because the ink had been smudged over the years and this potion was very specific, so he needed to get it perfect.

His grandfather's potion book was what Harry was working from; same as his dad had when he was going to Hogwarts. It was the only way his father made it through NEWT Potions and the only way Harry was going to get through it as well. Harry was decent at Potions, but because the Potions Professor was crap that meant he wasn't going to be learning much from him. This was the third Potions Professor he'd had since he started Hogwarts, and it looked like this one wasn't going to last much longer either.

Dumbledore needed to realize that just because someone was a potions genius did not mean that they knew how to teach. Harry was struggling, even the smartest person in their year, Hermione, was struggling. His grandpa Monty's modified textbook was going to be his real teacher this year.

There was the sound of someone cracking their knuckles two tables over and Harry ground his teeth together at the sound.

This potion he was working on was for his mid-year assessment and worth 25% of his grade. He was at a crucial part and needed to concentrate. So, of course that meant that detention was being held in the Potions class when he needed to be adding the next few ingredients.

This professor didn't assign anything for the students in detention to do either. They had to just sit there and wait for time to pass. Likely they were all taking daydream potions and thought they were actually at the beach or something right now.

He wished the NEWT level students could have a workspace of their own. There were certainly enough empty classrooms to choose from in the school, it wouldn't be that difficult to make that happen.

Harry cut the next ingredient, making sure that each piece of the cinnamon stick was equal lengths. As his knife was crushing the fragments with the side of the blade the professor called out that the detention was over.

The abruptness of the announcement startled him and the blade got away from him and sliced his palm.

"Shit," he said under his breath and held up his hand to inspect it. It wasn't that bad, but as it was a superficial cut, that meant that there was a lot of blood coming from it.

"Here, let me help," came a familiar voice. It was Ginny Weasley. She was in the year below him and his mate's sister. She pulled out her wand and had him cleaned up in no time, the cut already stitching itself closed.

"Wow," he exclaimed. "You're good at that."

She gave him an indifferent shrug, "it may have come in handy once or twice before."

"I've no doubt." She came from a rowdy household so there would have been many scrapes she'd had to clean up over the years. He gave her nod in thanks, his mind back on the to-do list he had for getting his potion completed and he scooped up the bit of cinnamon he needed and sprinkled it into his cauldron, turning the potion into a velvety looking cordial; exactly as his text told him it should look.

Ginny came around to the other side of the table and gave a look into the cauldron. "This is your big important project, is it?"

"Yeah, worth a quarter of the grade."

"Yep, it was around here that most of my brothers decided Potions wasn't worth it. It's always got to be the most difficult potions."

Now, Harry liked Ginny and all, she was nice, cool, played on the Quidditch team with him, apparently near the top of her class, and she still liked to get up to trouble every now and then, but now was not a time when he was interested in carrying on a conversation with her.

"Ginny," he started, exasperation carrying even on his breath.

Ginny grinned at him, a mark of amusement in her eye. She got the hint. "See you later, Harry." She turned away from the table and ran her fingers through her hair as she brushed it back off her face, the movement of which caused a single strand of her hair to float through the air and land in his cauldron as he was triple checking his next step.

That strand of hair sizzled when it met the liquid inside and became one with the potion, unbeknownst to either of them.

Much like Polyjuice Potion, Amortentia brewed en mass is meant to have this final ingredient added to it on completion of the potion. This ingredient being added at this point changed it in a way that Harry, having another two weeks until the potion is meant to be completed, had yet to figure out.

By the time he was done adding the ingredients for that day there was already a vapor emanating from the cauldron that he was unknowingly inhaling. It wasn't poisonous or hazardous, it just smelled really good.

After packing up his potions kit and putting a shield spell over his cauldron, he put away the extra ingredients and made his way back to Gryffindor tower humming to himself and thinking about how lovely wildflowers smelled.

()()()

Over the course of the week Harry needed to stop back and check in on his potion three times, each time he would be standing over it when removing the shield charm and a wave of the same vapor kept hitting him, growing progressively stronger in potency. After each time he would pack up his kit, put a shield back over his cauldron and walk away humming and thinking just how lovely the smell of wildflowers was.

It was on the third time that he was heading back to Gryffindor Tower when he ran into a few fellow Gryffindors that were heading back to the tower as well. He was in a good mood and started chatting with them on the way, then he caught the scent of something completely heavenly and turned towards the smell.

It was then that he saw Ginny was beside him climbing up the stairs as well. She was turned away from him and chatting with one of her friends. He couldn't help leaning towards her and attempting to take a discrete sniff.

Merlin, did she ever smell amazing. His eyes almost rolled back in his head from the scent. He wanted to bury his face in her hair and camp out there.

That would have looked slightly odd though. So instead, still having piece of mind he decided on a different tactic.

"Hey Ginny," he said to gain her attention.

She turned towards him and gave him a smile. "Hey Harry."

"Listen, sorry about last weekend. Being, you know, kind of dismissive of you. I was just really trying to focus, and it had been hard enough with a classroom full of silent, and yet somehow loud, detainees."

She gave a chuckle. "It's fine. I understood."

Huh, he never noticed how she got this little crinkle between her eyebrows when she gave a genuine smile. It was really cute. She had a really lovely smile too.

She and her friends started hurrying up the stairs then and he kept at his regular pace, watching her ascend the steps at a jaunt. His head tilted as he watched her hips moving side to side and the sway of her skirt. He'd never realized how fit she was either.

Guess you learn something new every day.

()()()

His effort on the Quidditch pitch Saturday morning had been pathetic. He could admit it, so Ron didn't need to ream him out for it. He'd been distracted by the Chasers the whole game.

One Chaser anyhow.

But who could blame him? She was amazing the way she handled that broom. She was basically radiating light with how gorgeous she was as well. Everyone's eyes should have been on her.

Thankfully, Ron chalked it up to him needing a good breakfast since Harry had only had time to grab a slice of toast after checking his potion first thing and the Captain of the team seemed assured by past performance that Harry would still be giving it his all on the pitch for an actual game.

His wistfullness and distraction had gone away by that afternoon, which was spent in the library doing homework, Harry was able to concentrate enough to get all his assignments done. He wanted them completed and out of the way so that all he had to do tomorrow was check in once more on his potions project.

There was a party tonight for the upper classmen and he wasn't sure what state he would be in tomorrow morning.

Hopefully someone would think to brew up a Hangover potion today.

After dinner he went down to the potions lab again and removed the shield on his project, taking in a good long whiff. It was getting stronger. The Mother of Pearl sheen was starting to come out and it was smelling even more heavenly.

He couldn't help inhaling quite a bit of it, but it just smelled so good.

It smelled like her, he thought in a happy daze.

She should be at the party tonight. He bet he could manage to get some alone time with her. That would be nice. Maybe she'd want to dance with him a bit to a slow song?

As Harry stood there fantasizing over what his evening was going to look like he couldn't help keeping his head over the cauldron of potion before him, the one that, while not as potent as it was going to be, was already doing exactly as it was designed to and making him unknowingly infatuated.

Once more, he finished with his check on the potion and stored it away under a shield charm, hoping he'd be able to get another whiff of that heavenly scent at the party.

Two hours later and he was dressed down and had a few pre-drinks with Seamus and Dean. It was still before curfew and the room had several silencing spells around it so no one from outside could hear, but the party was already raging. The music was loud and the room was dark. There were people everywhere, all from Fifth year and above.

Harry was scanning the lot of them looking for one person in particular. He wasn't feeling as desperate to see her as he had been before, but the image he'd had of the two of them finding a secluded corner was still very appealing.

Finally, he spotted her out dancing with her friends. It looked like she'd had a bit to drink already as well.

He did another check to see if Ron had made it there. Currently Ron was dating a sixth year Hufflepuff Prefect and Harry was sure they had plans to take advantage of the rest of them being out of the dorm tonight, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

He saw Neville chatting with a few others in the corner, but no Ron anywhere.

Seamus and Dean immediately threw themselves into the fray of dancing bodies and Harry made a bee line for Ginny.

He came up behind her while her hands were in the air and her hips moving side to side, that gorgeous hair of hers swinging in long tendrils down her back. Putting his hand gently on her lower back to let her know he was there he came around to stand in front of her. She opened her eyes and grinned at him. He could see her shouting his name happily but couldn't hear it over the music.

There was no protest she gave him about dancing with him. Instead, her hands came down and her fingers laced around his neck and they continued dancing together.

For several songs they were out on the floor, their bodies drawing closer and closer, then their lips met. He could taste the spice of drink on her tongue, and it tasted good. His head grew dizzy as they remained locked in an embrace.

Ginny was the first to pull back and catch her breath. She took his hand and led him off the dancefloor, grabbing a bottle off the drinks table and taking him to a secluded space in the corner. She took a swig of the Firewhiskey and then offered it to him.

It was still much too loud to talk to each other in this room, but what did they have to talk about? He knew her, she knew him. They'd just snogged on the dancefloor and anyone could see that they were about to start up again. It was in keeping with the atmosphere of the room to not think through any decisions and he certainly didn't want to waste his time thinking through anything she might be willing to do with him. She just smelled so good, tasted so good and, damn, did she ever look so good!

He took a drink and she took one more for herself before setting the bottle down and pulling him against her once more.

He'd forgotten how much he loved snogging. He didn't think any of his past experiences with it compared though. It might have been the drink or the intoxicating scent in the air, but being wrapped around Ginny like this, there was no other way he would want to spend his evening.

It had to be an hour that passed at least before they stumbled out of the room together, shushing each other and stretching their jaws to adjust their ears once out in the corridor and no longer able to hear the deafening music.

They were both appropriately drunk at this point and he was letting her lead them back to the tower, or wherever they were heading. So long as she kept pulling him into every alcove along the way for another quick taste of her.

The Gryffindor common room was empty when they got in, the fire nearly died down.

At the spot where the staircases went in opposite directions she pulled out her wand. "I'm not done with you yet," she said with a cheeky wink and pointed it at him casting a hovering charm.

He tried to muffle his chuckles. It felt nice to be floating up the stairs with her. And it was funny. The stairs turned into a slide if a boy stepped on them, so this was a nice work around.

Her dorm was only two flights up and after just stepping inside it they got right back to work. She chucked her shirt into a corner, his was quick to follow.

He could appreciate the sight of her in a tank top and skirt for only a moment before being pushed back on her bed and straddled, her lips back on his before either of them thought to close the curtains around the four-poster.

When he awoke the next morning, he felt a pounding in his head and knew that he was not where he was supposed to be. The curtains were closed around the bed but there was that same incredible smell close by. It wasn't as potent as he would have liked, but it was enough.

He rubbed his eyes and attempted to get them to focus as he looked down to see that the weight he felt on his stomach and at his side was Ginny.

Flashes of the previous evening flipped through his mind; the two of them dancing, snogging, pawing at each other. They didn't shag, he knew that, but they'd come damned close to it.

How had they gotten so carried away?

They had both been drinking, but he'd essentially targeted her. For whatever reason, he'd gone to that party knowing that what they'd gotten up to was exactly what he'd wanted. She seemed to have been completely fine with it too, but she'd been much more drunk than he.

Currently, she was curled up against his side and even through the painful side effects of blood pumping through his head, he was able to appreciate the sight of her.

He'd been very caught up in her lately and it wasn't hard to see why. All the reasons that he'd been thinking she was great this week, they kept running through his mind; pretty, fun, great at Quidditch. Ginny was an all-around great person. He even liked it when she got angry, so long as it wasn't at him.

He had to get out of here though.

This was the girls dorm and he could get kicked off the Quidditch team if he was caught in here. He also had his potions project he needed to check on.

And he really had to have a wee.

His shifting slightly caused Ginny to lurch awake. She shot up onto her elbows and gave a groan, lowering her head down to the bed and giving a whimper. Harry remained frozen while she pulled herself together a bit.

"Harry?" she asked through her pain.

"Er, yeah?" he whispered.

"Mkay, just checking." She stayed like that for nearly a full minute more before speaking again. "You don't have to stay. I get it."

"Oh, thanks. Cuz I really need to get to the loo." Relieved he poked his head out from behind the curtain. All the other beds he could see also had their curtains closed. He spotted his shirt on the floor by the door. "Talk later, yeah?" he whispered back at her.

"Mhmm," she managed before sinking back down to the mattress, keeping her eyes closed.

He tip-toed across the room and pulled his shirt back on. Opening the door to the stairwell he paused a moment.

If he stepped onto it then he'd be sliding the rest of the way down and someone would know there had been a boy up here this morning. Meaning his only way down would have to be riding the banister. There was just enough room for him to balance as he slid down and came out on the landing in one piece. He hurried back to his dorm and bee lined it for the loo. Once he was done in there, he searched through everyone's kits to see if there was something for his head. Dean was the only one prepared out of the lot of them; not only did he have a few bottles of hangover potion, but he had a Muggle headache pill too.

He downed a mouthful of the potion and took two of the pills before shrugging off his clothes and took a shower, feeling almost human again after it and went to lay down on his bed.

It wasn't incredibly sunny outside, but it being Scotland there was a chance it was just overcast and not just early. He checked his Tempus on his wand and saw he should have checked in on his potion at least a half hour ago then gave a whimpering groan of protest.

'Quarter of your mark,' he repeated to himself. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep. Everyone else in the dorm was happily snoring away on their Sunday morning, but he needed to get up. Had to be a good little boy.

Damn.

Hauling himself back out of bed he got dressed in clean clothes and trudged his way to the dungeons, the cool air down there doing him a world of good by waking him up more. By the time he got to the Potions classroom he felt human enough to take on the task before him.

He looked at the potion in his cauldron, it had more of sheen to it today.

Taking out his notebook he documented the changes he saw, then he removed the shield charm and took a good long whiff.

Merlin, last night had been amazing, he thought. Ginny had felt incredible pressed up against him like that. How lucky was he that he got to spend the entire evening just completely lost in her? Her lips were incredible, her hands were incredible, her body was incredible. And fuck, did she ever smell good.

Getting that whiff of her scent this morning should have been all the cure he needed.

Why had he left her that morning? He should have just used their loo and then climbed back into bed with her so they could cuddle all morning.

He should bring her breakfast!

And a hangover potion!

She'd probably really love that. And then she'd love him!

Wait, what did she mean that morning when she said that she 'gets it'? What was it exactly that she 'got' that meant he needed to leave her there by herself? That he needed to wee, or had to work on this project? She couldn't have possibly thought that he wanted to leave her side.

No, no. She couldn't think that. He'd make sure she knew that wasn't the case at all.

Quickly, he finished up with the rest of his notes and setting the fire under the cauldron to simmer for the rest of the day and reapplied the shield potion around the cauldron, then he went straight to the kitchens to grab breakfast for her.

He knew which dorm was hers now, so he could bypass the Gryffindor common room and fly to her window.

So, Harry did just that. It was at least two hours after he'd left her by the time he got to be sitting on his broom outside her window with breakfast in one pocket and hangover potion in another, it looked like all her dormmates had left. Ginny was still there, he saw happily. Her hair was piled up on top of her head and she'd changed into her pajamas now. There was a pile of papers at the end of her bed that she was rifling through and a few textbooks out.

He tapped on the window and she jumped, staring at him in shock for a moment while she realized what she was seeing.

"Harry?" she asked slowly when she opened the window for him. "What are you doing?"

"I brought you breakfast," he said simply. My God, she looked lovely. Her skin was practically glowing. "I also have a little cure for you," he teased, holding out a vial and shaking it.

"Oh, come on in then," she said eagerly and pushed the window open further then stepped out of the way.

She drank it down in one gulp and made a face at the taste. "Thank you for that."

"Anytime," he grinned.

She was looking at him now, confusion and discomfort on her face. She still looked amazing though. And the pajamas left very little to the imagination, so it was reminding him of how she'd let him touch her last night.

"Hi," he said again, smiling like an idiot.

"Hi," she said, and humorous smile on her own face.

"Breakfast?" he suggested brightly and pulled out a few croissants and bananas.

"Um… sure."

He turned to head to her bed so they could sit down and eat.

"Oh, wait," she darted in front of him and hastily began cleaning it off.

He caught a glimpse of some of the papers she was shuffling into one pile and saw that they had her brothers names on them.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Er, nothing. Just, you know, study material. Getting essays done and what-not."

"Right…" he didn't believe her, but she was agreeing to have breakfast with him so he chose not to call her out on it. "That was a fun party last night," he grinned. It was amazing that they were getting this alone time to have breakfast together, her in her pajamas and him riding in on his gleaming broomstick to provide her with a cure and sustenance.

It was like a fairy tale.

She let out a little laugh. "Sure, what I can remember of it was fun." She shoved all her work under her pillows and sat down in front of them.

"You don't remember it then?" he worried.

She chewed her lip and crossed her legs in front of her, taking a croissant and starting to break it apart nervously. "I, well I remember, um, winding up here. It's a bit of a jumble," she said flippantly.

It sounded to him like she was being dismissive about the whole experience. He didn't want that though. She was perfect! He counted himself lucky to have had the honor to spend that time with her. "I remember a bit more than a jumble. I had a really good time. It's a night I might want to repeat actually," he told her.

"You do?" There was the tone of amazement in her voice.

He moved down the bed to get closer to her. "Of course I do," he told her desperately.

"But you've never shown any interest in me before."

She was crazy! With her big brown eyes and pouty lips, who wouldn't be interested? "I'm interested," he told her. "More than interested. Ginny, would you go out with me?"

She had just taken a bite of her croissant and her little gasp of surprise at the question had her choking on the buttery treat. She managed to swallow it down and leaned towards him. "Are you sure? Don't feel like you have to ask me out out of obligation. We were drunk last night, we can just pass it off as a night of fun. We didn't get too carried away."

His heart sank. "Do you not want to then?" Is this what heartbreak felt like? He was beginning to feel like the human equivalent of crumpled up paper.

"No, I do," she said assuredly. "I've been interested in you for a while. I thought it was all just from my end."

His previous emotions were instantly gone, he moved closer to her still, a big smile back on his face. "It isn't, from just your end. Ginny, I think your brilliant. I don't know why it took me so long to see it, but I'd love it if you were my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" she repeated, her eyes growing wide. "Just like that?"

"Did you want a promise ring, or corsage or something to make it official? Because I'll get it for you," he told her, half joking, though seriously considering following through on the offer if she said yes. Hogsmeade was only a half hour walk away, or an owl order. Maybe he could even go there with her and she could pick something out. He could trust her enough to show her one of the secret passageways.

She grinned at him. "I don't need you to give me something," she laughed. "I just feel like this is coming on pretty suddenly."

"Well, I don't. If you want to be with me and I want to be with you, then I think we only need one more thing."

"And what's that?"

He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, "to seal it with a kiss."

Ginny let out a laugh at that. "Who knew you were such a cheese ball? Alright then, why don't you move a little closer and make this official then?"

He did just that, hugging her close and feeling such a sense of relief at having his lips against hers once more. How he'd managed to get out of her bed this morning he didn't know.

Once more they wound up horizontal on her bed losing themselves in each other. He couldn't get enough of her. It smelled like she'd had a shower and her shampoo scent was wafting up his nose making him continue delving his tongue in her mouth to try and taste as much of her as possible. When that couldn't satisfy the craving he was having for her he moved down to her neck, licking and sucking her there with his nose even further buried in her hair. It was heaven. And she was making these pleasured sounds and running her hands through his hair and down his back.

Ginny called out his name some time later and started pushing him away by his shoulders. "Harry, I think we need to stop for now," she said breathlessly. "I-I've got a lot of homework that I've put off and as amazing of a distraction this has been, I've got to get it done."

Slowly his eyes began to come back into focus and he was able to recognize the number of marks he'd made on her neck. That led to him feeling a twitch of interest between his legs. It was like he'd marked her as his own and he quite liked that.

"Harry," she said his name again to gain his attention. "I have to get my schoolwork done," she told him again.

"Right. Sorry," he grinned, not at all feeling sorry. "Don't forget to eat your breakfast." He got out of her bed then and grabbed his broomstick. "I'll just let Ron know, shall I?" he offered.

"Really?!" she asked happily. "That would be great! Thank you. That way he'll have time to deal with it before I head back downstairs."

"He won't be that angry, will he? I mean, we're friends and he knows I wouldn't do… uh, anything… wouldn't he?" He wasn't quite sure how to phrase it. He couldn't fathom Ron thinking he'd be anything but a gentleman with Ginny. Well, those marks on her neck might not help him with that argument.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I don't know where you've been the last six years you've known him, but Ron tends to overreact. It doesn't matter what he was getting up to with Lavender Brown last year, to him, and the rest of my brothers, I'm still a child."

"You are certainly not a child," he scoffed.

"I'm glad you finally noticed," she scoffed right back.

"I'll tell him," he assured her. He gave her one more kiss on the lips, unable to resist having just one more before he opened the window and flew out.

It turned out that Ginny as right in thinking that Ron wouldn't be happy hearing that one of his dorm mates was now dating his sister. Harry wasn't sure where the issue was coming from though, it wasn't like he'd been running through the girls in the school like some of the other guys they roomed with. He might have snogged a few, but he'd flat out asked Ginny to be his girlfriend. Surely Ron would have realized that meant Harry was serious about her.

They wound up getting in a fight about it, him and Ron.

Ginny not coming downstairs until just before dinner meant they'd had a lot of time to argue in their dorm room then have it devolve into throwing withering stares at each other in the common room.

Harry felt relieved when Ginny came downstairs so she could help her brother see reason. She looked refreshed, and hungry.

He got up and crossed the common room quickly, eager to prove to Ron that he could be a good boyfriend to her. "Hey. Got all your homework done then?"

"Yeah. And now I'm knackered and hungry." She still seemed a little hesitant about how she was supposed to greet him, so he took that problem away from her and kissed her in front of everyone sitting around them.

Ron was the only one who seemed to care about this little display of affection. No one else even gave them so much as a look or a whistle.

Harry slipped his hand into hers and they headed down to the Great Hall to get dinner.

He kept looking over to her for brief intervals as they headed down through the castle, part of him was wondering how he'd even gotten to this point with her considering it had only been a week since he'd really noticed her in that light. It felt really good to be walking with her hand in hand though. And the snogging had been fantastic. He wasn't feeling quite as overwhelmed with needing to fawn over her as he had this morning however.

Merlin, that would have been pretty embarrassing if anyone else had seen him behaving like that.

What had gotten into him?

He snuck another glance at her and saw she was doing the same to him, they both exchanged happily embarrassed smiles and a chuckle and kept heading down the stairs.

"So, Ron was pretty angry then?" Ginny asked once they were seated at the Gryffindor table with their plates loaded up.

"Yeah. I don't get it though. He and I are friends but it isn't like I should have needed to get his permission or something before asking you out."

She shrugged. "It's a sibling thing. I'm the youngest and the only girl. Just be happy that I don't have any of my other brothers still going here. At least it's just Ron we're dealing with."

Harry couldn't argue with that. He didn't have any siblings, and he supposed if he did have a younger sister than he might be a bit protective when it came to some guy wanting to paw at her. "I think if it were me I'd trust my sister enough to let her make her own decisions. Pretty sure you can take care of yourself." He'd seen her throw a hex at someone before and there was a lot of power behind it. On the Quidditch pitch too she could take on other team Chasers, no matter their size; she was right in there shouldering them out of the way.

"I appreciate that."

"So, you're a bit of a procrastinator then?" he offered, changing the subject.

"What?"

"The homework, leaving it all until Sunday. Guess you and Ron have that in common." His dormmate would likely be scrambling to finish up several essays that evening. "You know, I don't know that I've ever seen you in the library studying."

Ginny fidgeted a bit. "I normally get it all done in my dorm room. The other two girls in there are usually gone elsewhere so it's the quietest place to get it done. I don't get that kind of peace and space anywhere else. The library isn't all that quiet and it's full of people freaking out so I can almost feel the tension."

That was a fair point.

He cut up his chicken and took a bite while he remembered that her version of finishing up assignments included several marked assignments that bore the names of her brothers. Then he realized the real reason that she didn't get her work done around others.

She was cheating!

He nearly dropped his fork when he came to that conclusion.

"What?" she asked at his expression. "Something on my face?"

He leaned over and lowered his voice, "those papers you stuffed under your pillow."

Her eyes went wide. "Can we talk about this somewhere else?" Her eyes darted around them to see if anyone had been listening in on that.

He couldn't help smirking at her. He knew the twins had a devious side to them. Hell, it wasn't a side, it was their all-encompassing personality to find life-hacks and they wore that with pride. Ginny though, she was being secretive about it.

It made her even more attractive to him knowing that.

"I've got to check on my potions assignment again after dinner. There shouldn't be anyone around down there."

Her cheeks colored and she nodded, turning back to focus on her plate.

Twenty minutes later, Harry did a double check of the potions classroom before he closed the door behind them. "Alright, spill," he razzed her.

She gave a scoff and went to sit up on one of the wooden table work surfaces near his potion. "It isn't anything super nefarious or anything. It's just that after my second year I was home and found that my mum had kept all the assignments that my oldest brothers had done really well on when she cleaned out their trunks from the previous years. Bill and Percy were really good in all their subjects and Charlie was aces at Care of Magical Creatures. I, on the other hand, am great with the practical, it's just the words putting into sentences thing that I have a problem with. All the essays I had done up read like an eight-year-old was trying to sound smart and was failing horribly. So," she shrugged, "now I use their marked essays for guidance." Her expression turned sheepish again, "and maybe for answers."

"You have all of their marked essays?" he asked, astounded. "And you've been using them for the past three years?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I haven't been copying verbatim, but I haven't been caught by a professor yet."

"So that's the real reason you don't use the library for studying."

"Yep," she made a popping sound on the 'P'. "And don't you go giving me that look," she pointed at his face and raised her eyebrow in a superior fashion. "Don't think I didn't notice the state of that Potions book you were using last week and all the annotations there. Where did you get that from?"

"That's not the same thing," he argued. "It was my grandfathers, then my fathers. There are some extra instructions and substitutions for making the potions better. The textbook we get assigned is crap."

"Yeah, well, some of the professors we get assigned are crap as well," she countered. "Have you ever sat, fully conscious, through an entire History of Magic class."

Harry huffed out a laugh at that. "No, I can't say I have."

"Well, thanks to my little stash of marked essays, now I don't have to even pretend. Or stay for the class," she added.

"What, you don't even sit through the class?"

"No. We all show up for the start but alternate who stays to the end to get the assignment. Binns doesn't notice."

Harry couldn't believe it! All that wasted time he'd spent in History of Magic through his first five years before he was allowed to drop the class and here, she was getting good marks and not even attending the classes. "That's genius!"

"Why thank you," she feigned gushing and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

His eyes were drawn directly to her neck and the now exposed bruising there that his lips did earlier. He still felt pride seeing them there and couldn't help smiling.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing," he grinned. He went to his cauldron and saw the flame charm he'd set under it was still going, the simmering substance inside was still the right color. "I just have to check the consistency is right, give it a few more stirs and extend the flame charm."

Ginny slid off the table and came over to it. "What is it you're brewing again?"

"Amortentia."

"A love potion?!" she laughed.

"Hey, it is incredibly complicated," he defended. "It's easy to tell if you've done something wrong and meets all the parameters needed to get full marks for this project. You should see the one Hermione's doing! She had to start ages ago." He pointed to the cauldron in the corner of the room. "It's Polyjuice potion. She's looking to get extra bonus points with that one."

Ginny scrunched up her face. "I've heard of that potion, sounds creepy. I like yours better."

"It certainly smells better. Here, take a whiff." He removed the shield over the cauldron and that familiar waft of sinfully good smelling vapors went up his nose. They both leaned into it and closed their eyes breathing in inhale after inhale and moaning in unison at the deliciousness of it.

"Fuck, that's good," Ginny groaned.

"Yeah," Harry agreed in a dopey voice. He looked over at her and she at him. As soon as their eyes met the cauldron was completely forgotten and they went at each other.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, his at her lower back to pull her flush against him and there was a desperation in their kiss that was being further fueled by the still strong scent emanating from the potion beside them.

His mind was full of the need to get her closer, making her feel exactly how good it would be if they never stopped snogging and touching. With her responding moans and similar mauling she was doing to his jumper he was encouraged to back her up to one of the empty tables, hoisting her up so she was seated on it and could wrap her legs around his hips.

She was wearing too many clothes though. He was wearing too many clothes. He wanted her how she was last night, just the skirt and tank top, maybe less. He hadn't done or said anything yet though and she pulled her own jumper off and was clawing at his. Ginny took his hand and guided it up to her breast. "Doesn't this feel lovely?" she moaned.

He kneaded her there and gave a nod in agreement, setting to work on adding a few more marks to her neck.

"Hmm, do I taste as good as I smell?" she purred.

"Better," he growled against her skin, regretting that he had to lose that precious half-second of having his lips affixed to her.

Her legs clenched harder around his hips and her center brushed against his erection. "Oh! Oh, that feels good," she hummed and continued making a grinding movement against him.

His eyes rolled back in his head. He'd never gotten this carried away with a girl before. They grew close to it last night, but had essentially limited the contact to upper body only. If she was the one encouraging him though, he wasn't going to stop her.

He'd do anything for her. Anything to keep her around him, touching him, wanting him to touch her and make her make those happy purring noises she was making.

"I love you," he whispered, his head full of desire for her.

"I love me too," she groaned, her head tilted back as far as it could go while she still ground herself against him, her hand fisted in his hair to keep him lavishing attention on her collar.

It was a while before what she'd said resonated through the haze in his head.

"What?" he asked, managing to pull himself away. "Did you just say you love yourself too?"

She was still completely wrapped around him but righted her head so she could look down at him and blinked a few times, her eyes coming into focus as she looked at him. "I… yes?" her brow furrowed. "Why would I say that?"

He looked back over his shoulder at his cauldron, then back to her. "I think we might have been affected a bit by my project."

Her hips moved against him again. "Okay," she dismissed.

That feeling of her grinding against him made him give up all logical thinking again. What did it matter what had put them in this state after all? He was here with her, they were alone, they loved… her.

Wait, they loved her?

Shouldn't they love each other?

He tugged at her thighs to try and pry them apart and then at her arms once he'd extricated his lower half. "Ginny, wait," he gasped.

"I don't want to." She tried to pull him close again. "Don't you want to just keep touching me? Doesn't it feel fantastic?"

Yes, he said in his head. But he shook his head to try and shake some sense into it. He couldn't think properly with her being this close and such a willing participant.

Quickly, he moved around to the other side of the table to put some distance between them. "I think I need to quickly finish doing what I was with my potion and put the shield charm back on it. We're getting high off the fumes, I'm sure of it."

"Who cares," she purred, turning around to come onto all fours on the table and crawling towards him.

It was what wet dreams were made of having her coming towards him like a cat in heat.

When had the buttons come undone on her blouse? Her hair was all mussed up as well.

He was frozen where he stood and she came close enough to kiss him again, and did. He knew he needed to get the shield covering the cauldron again at least, then he didn't see the harm in carrying on with her.

He wanted to.

Desperately.

He grasped blindly for his wand and reapplied the shield before throwing himself once more whole heartedly into snogging his girlfriend.

All sense of time had passed before there was a chill of cold air entering the room and the sound of someone else's voice.

"What do you think you are doing?!" boomed the voice of the Potions Professor, Victor Stevens.

They jumped apart and looked over at him. Harry felt more anger than guilt over what they'd been caught doing. He was about to bark at the professor to get out when a look came over Professor Stevens.

"What is that incredible smell?" he asked in a daze and raised his nose slightly in the air. "Is that your project Mister Potter?"

Ginny answered for him. "Amortentia. It's wonderful, isn't it?" Her arms were still wrapped around Harry's neck and she tried to pull him back to her.

The professor looked at the cauldron, then back at the two of them and grew ridged, looking uncomfortable. "Right. Mister Potter, I think I can grade your project now." His eyes stayed on Ginny for a while before he took a deep breath through his mouth and adjusted his robes. "I have monitored that it is the correct sheen and consistency through your brewing process and though there should be one week left before it is complete I am confident enough that you have earned a 90% mark."

Harry frowned at him. "If it will be completely correct in one week then why only the 90?" His hand came up to run his fingers through Ginny's hair of their own accord while he spoke to his professor.

The professor waved his wand a few times, completely changing the scent of the air before fiving a hard swallow and went to his store cupboards, pulling out a vial he had sitting there. "This is the antidote to your potion. It thought it best to have on hand for when it was ready and I think the two of you need to take some right now."

He offered it to Ginny first and she took a sip before handing it to Harry.

Harry drank from the vial and felt it slide down his throat and into his stomach. Then it was like he could feel it spreading out to his fingers and toes, then upwards to his head. It was like when you took a deep inhale of menthol when having a cold and your sinuses were finally cleared. He could think properly again.

And then he was horrified.

Ginny looked horrified as well and gave him a push at his shoulders so he would move back far enough and she could get down off the table.

The professor cleared his throat. "I believe there may have been a contaminant that found its way into your brewing process," Professor Stevens explained. "When making Amortentia, if there is a hair or drop of blood or anything that is added early on the potion becomes an even more powerful aphrodisiac off the scent alone. I believe, from the scent and the sight of the two of you as you were, that this may have occurred." He then took the bottle from Harry and brought it to beside the cauldron, discretely taking a sip from the vial as well and stoppering the rest.

Harry and Ginny stared at each other, both at a loss for words. Then there was a gut wrenching feeling he experienced as he noticed a glassy sheen welling up in her eyes.

Now they both knew now what had made him pursue her like he had.

Before he could make a move she had turned around, grabbed her jumper off the table and rushed out of the classroom.

And Harry just stood there with his mouth hanging open, not knowing what to do.

The professor gave him a few more moments to try and process what just happened before speaking up again. "She is a lovely girl," he pointed out. "Smart, witty, rather the kind of girl someone such as yourself should probably go after if he might like to continue a relationship with her?"

It was the encouraging nudge he needed to snap his brain back into place and get his feet moving.

Harry ran after her. It was Sunday evening and every stairway and corridor had a few students milling around, delaying going back to their common room to stretch out the weekend. It wasn't hard to tell which way Ginny had gone based off of everyone else's reaction and where they were staring as he came upon them.

He found her up near the tallest tower by the Divination classroom.

"Ginny," he panted, needing to bend over and brace himself with his palms just above his knees to catch his breath. He'd forgotten his own jumper in the classroom, which he was grateful for now since stair running was not part of his usual workout routine.

She was sitting on the stairs with her face in her hands, still blocking him from seeing her properly.

"Ginny," he gasped in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"It's fine," she said with a shaky voice. "You didn't have to follow after me. You can go."

"No. You said that this morning and I don't know what if fucking means." He was too exhausted and worked up to sugar coat his words right then.

She rubbed her hands over her face and then finally lowered them so he could see just how red and puffy her eyes and cheeks were from crying. She was trying to compose herself though. "It means that I get that you just got caught up, like you did last night. Except last night I thought it was just from the drink. So, you don't have to tell me you're sorry, or make up some kind of excuse. Just walk away and we'll pretend this never happened, okay?"

He blinked at her. Was that what she thought? "I don't want to forget it!" he told her honestly. "Whether it was potions, or booze, or whatever, I do like you, Ginny. I might have jumped the gun a bit back there when I told you I loved you. That I will admit was the potion. I don't want to just shrug off the rest of it. I like you, you said you liked me too, why can't we just dial it back a bit and reset?"

She blinked at him, once more wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "You still want to go out?"

"Yes!" he blurted out, louder than he meant to.

Her embarrassment was giving way to confusion as she stared at him. "Will you admit at least that you never would have thought of me that way if it weren't for your potion getting buggered up?"

She had him there. He took a moment to think about an appropriate response. "Probably," he admitted. "I'm glad it did get buggered up though," he was quick to add. "It just made me realize that you are pretty great. And if you want to go back on the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing for right now, then fine, but will you at least agree to going to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?"

A smile started tugging at the corner of her mouth and he felt the nerves in his stomach begin to settle.

After what felt like an eternity, she nodded.

()()()