Ultimatums

Chapter 31

Hermione woke up sweating and chest heaving, clutching her covers. Her dream. It had started like a normal day, her and her friends going to Transfiguration and debating on something or other. Avery had won.

After lesson, Regulus had taken her to the Astronomy Tower. It was unlike him, skipping a lesson just to sit and watch the sky. Hermione knew her friend liked to be productive, to be doing something. The only time he truly relaxed is when he sat on the roof of Grimmauld Place with her, describing the stars.

Over time, they inched closer together until they were millimetres apart. It seemed right, simple even, and Hermione uncharacteristically leant in, not sure what she was expecting. Not the hand that wrapped around her throat pulling her away to the railing. Regulus watched with an amused smile, one akin to how he looked when he said Checkmate. He raised his sleeve, revealing the gruesome mark.

He looked regretful for a moment, a flicker, before sadistically grinning. "And now I prove myself to the Dark Lord... Avada Kedevra!"

She fell backwards, arms flailing, though she didn't scream. She screamed when she woke up. Bulstrode threw a pillow at her and yelled obscenities, so she crept out of the room and headed to the Common Room. A Muggleborn in an attempt to win the ruder Slytherins over had installed a kettle, and she made some herbal tea before sitting down on the sofa. Within minutes, Regulus arrived too.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked with suspicion, her tone snappish and eyes still in a frown.

The boy seemed hurt by the way she was regarding him. "You had a bad dream, I assume. You were scared, and upset so I came to comfort you. Evidently, you don't need it"

He turned on his heel and stalked back up the stairs, leaving Hermione alone with her guilty conscience and fearful thoughts for the future. Regulus's exit had barred the thought of how did he know? from her mind completely.

☏

Hermione walked to Potions that day with Persephone. She decided it was best to leave Regulus be, and Avery would sort it out. He always did with their disputes.

As the girls walked into the foul smelling classroom, they saw Slughorn stirring his own potion at the front. Hermione was hit with an intoxicating smell. A smell she would've followed anywhere, because it smelt like home. It drew her to the cauldron, and she practically dragged Persephone closer.

The cauldron had a pearly sheen, and it glittered under the dim green light, the smoke spiralling around it.

Once the class had finally filed in, Slughorn began his short lecture, though no one was truly listening. They were too busy inhaling their personal seductive smells. For some, it was a revelation, others a comfort. Some kids even felt sadness due to what made them feel most at home was gone.

"Miss Potter, my dear, what is the definition of Amortentia? If you please?"

Hermione looked up in a daze. She took a moment to regain her surroundings, before reciting "Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is distinctive for its mother-of-pearl sheen, and the steam rises from the potion in spirals. Amortentia smells different to each person, according to what attracts them"

Slughorn beamed "5 points to Slytherin. Now, Miss Potter, could you give me an example? Tell us what you smell in the potion"

Hermione stepped forward tentatively, bringing her nose down into the cauldron and breathing in deeply.

"Rain. The library at Grimmauld Place. Butterbeer..." and her best friend's favourite mint green jumper she liked to steal.

Persephone watched her friend begin to trail off in shock, and she internally cheered.