noticed ⇀ fred weasley

grim arrival

With a heavily upset stomach, I slowly but surely made my way into the Great Hall. I plopped down on the bench at the Gryffindor table, resting my head on the cool wood. As I laid with my eyes closed, I heard frantic whispering around me. I groaned, hoping they weren't talking about me.

"Aguamenti," I mumbled, filling a glass with water and drinking. As I sat alone drinking water, I noticed Fred sitting with George and Angelina, and another sick feeling burned inside of my stomach. Just what I needed to see while I was hungover.

I turned away, ready to leave, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped, causing the person who touched me to jump back in alarm.

"Sorry," I apologized, blushing madly. I looked up to make eye-contact with none other than Ron. My blush deepened instantly, and I felt embarrassment stinging my conscience. I knew I had said stupid things to him while I was drunk, and I had preferred to forget about it completely. But with him always around me, that was near impossible.

"About studying, I have a potions test tomorrow and I really need help. You're like two years ahead of me, maybe you could help," Ron begged. I almost sighed out loud at his question, I was in no state to tutor when I was half-alive at the moment.

"I'm not really feeling the best, so not for long," I stuttered. Ron nodded his head and grinned sheepishly. "Thanks, Willow."

As we sat in the library that morning, I tutored Ron on Potions, my strongest subject and his weakest. He asked me about Amortentia. I tried my best to explain off the top of my head, but it wasn't one that I was the most familiar with. After all, that unit wasn't important to me because I had no crush at the time we made the potion.

"Amortentia is a love potion in a sense. It's made from.. I believe it's made with Ashwinder eggs, rose thorns, peppermint, moonstone, pearl dust, and... rose petals. The potion has a distinct smell for everyone. It is the smell of the one you love. The potion doesn't create love, it creates an obsession," I explained. Ron sat there listening to me, not interrupting once.

"What did you smell in yours?" he asked. I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to remember.

"I think it was um... broomstick wax, cinnamon, and earl gray tea. It was a good smell," I said, leaning my head onto my hand. "I still am not sure who it could be, but I like them already just from their smell."

"Do you think they play Quidditch? Because of the broom wax," Ron questioned. My gaze narrowed at the thought. Was there anyone on the team that was decently attractive? I did like Cedric a bit, but he was on the Hufflepuff team, and I'm pretty sure someone else smelled him in their Amortentia my third year.

"I dunno," I sighed, "I'm not really into anyone on the team."

Ron smiled and said, "Merlin, you're tough to figure out, I thought for sure you liked Fred."

My eyes widened and my stomach dropped instantly as I blurted out, "Of course not. He likes Angelina. And I'd never go after someone so shallow."

Ron pursed his lips together and then said, "Look, I see now that you don't like him like that, but remember he's my brother. As much as he gets on my nerves, I can't let anyone talk bad about him."

"Sorry," I flushed. "Your brother is a great friend, I could just never see him in a romantic way. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"It's okay," he smiled. "I made Amortentia a couple of days ago, you know."

"Oh really?" I said while flipping through the pages of an Advanced Potion-Making textbook.

"It smelled like my mum's cooking, bacon, and perfume," he explained. "But... I couldn't quite place whose perfume. I just remembered smelling it at the Burrow."