The snake and the lion (Severus x OC)

9- The love filter

February brought the stress of NEWTs, the accumulation of homework and, of course, Valentine's Day.

On the morning of Friday the 14th, the castle was flooded with hearts: heart-shaped streamers, heart-shaped confetti, heart-shaped balloons, and even heart-shaped cakes of dubious origin.

The professors did not feel the inclination to get carried away with the romance of the day, and except for Dumbledore's special greeting at breakfast, they continued with the usual routine. Although there was one exception: Professor Horace Slughorn.

"Well, guys, since today is a special day, I'm going to ask you to brew something special," he was excited, like a big kid. The students looked at him with strange faces, not quite sure they wanted to know what he meant.

"What do you mean by something special?" Lucius asked, his voice slurred, when the Professor's silence became unbearable.

"Well... I thought you should prepare... A love filter!"

James and Lily looked at each other mischievously, but Rose was shocked. A love potion? It couldn't be true. It was a top-level potion, and it very rarely turned out well. She looked towards Severus, as if asking for help, but he just shrugged and prepared his cauldron.

Rose got up with Lily to collect the ingredients that the Professor requested, without fully understanding why he was so afraid to make that potion.

"Miss Benson," the Professor called her. "Please focus, your grade depends largely on what you do in this class."

"So, this is a midterm exam." she thought bitterly.

Trying to keep her movements from revealing her nervousness, Rose grabbed the ingredients she needed from the common cupboard. Severus stood next to her, stocking up as well. Their hands brushed gently.

"Don't worry, it's just a potion. Use your instinct and everything will be fine," he whispered unnoticed.

"Thank you," she replied in the same way, feeling better. Knowing that someone trusted her and her potion-making skills was reassuring.

Each one returned to their desks and got ready to work. They had an hour and a half, barely enough time to complete the job.

Severus devoted himself to his potion with all the care in the world, as always, occasionally writing down some advice in his textbook, but without missing a beat. Beside him, Lucius grumbled, muttering that he had better things to do than brewing some stupid love filter.

He said that his father would scream when he found out, and that all his contacts would work to fire Slughorn and Dumbledore and... oh, of course, that he was a Malfoy, and that as a Malfoy he was too important as for...

Severus turned off his hearing and focused on what he was doing.

His potion seemed to smell like the things he liked the most: he distinguished the perfume his mother used, the smell of ink, the smell of cauldrons when they are on the fire... he only had to add ground cinnamon to the mixture to finish the mixture, and that he did, ignoring the instructions from the book.

He was instantly hit with a wave of steam that smelled like... roses?

Severus stood still, as if he had been hit, realizing that there was only one reason his potion smelled like Rose. He was perplexed; he had long suspected that his feelings for Rose went beyond simple affection, and now he had just gotten confirmation that he had fallen in love with her.

Unable to help himself, he turned to Rose, discovering that she was looking at him with wide eyes. He would never have guessed that Rose had the same expression as him for the same reasons as him.