Invidiosa

A Letter from Alex

Ron and Harry came stumbling to Attia in apparent stupor. It was early morning Saturday in the Entrance Hall, and she had just finished her breakfast, looking up at them with tired eyes, blinking expectantly.

'Just the person I wanted to see!' exclaimed Harry.

'I am?'

'He said Romilda Vane would be with you,' lamented Ron, looking around with his drooling mouth half open. 'But I don't see her. I didn't know you were friends.'

A loud snort escaped her. 'We're n—' she looked at Harry making a gesture at her to stop it, his hands flailing and teeth gritted. She sighed with a roll of her eyes, then gave a loud yawn. 'Ron, have you brushed your teeth?' She gave him a whiff and scowled, even though she was getting a whiff of the scent of some shampoo, a tea, some fruit, some woody smells or something she'd smelled that apparently attracted her. Yup, Amortentia. And definitely dated. 'You can't go meeting girls like that. She went to powder her nose, but, we were headed to study in my special spot, so, why don't we head there? She'll be by shortly.'

'She's gorgeous like the sun,' he dreamily said, trailing behind her.

'Yes, she is, isn't she? I'm sure she'll be delighted to meet you, Ronald.' They approached the painting, who was scowling at Ron's behaviour.

'He's not coming in.' the woman was full of scorn.

'Yes he is,' snapped Attia. 'Catula Dilectio.'

Miss Boss de Bécosses rolled her eyes and the portrait swung open, Attia leading them through. Ron was only focused on his obsessive puppy love to a girl he didn't know, but Harry was looking around curiously at her little lair.

'So this is where you do all that Love Potion business?' he asked, glancing around. He looked almost guilty at the extent to which she poured her passion into potions. There was nothing not suspicious about his current grades in potions, and she was going to find out soon.

'Yep.' She observed Ron, who was stumbling about. 'Don't touch the chomping cabbages.' She warned, watching him trip over himself when he came to a lurching stop.

'She didn't see that, did she?' he asked, embarrassedly.

'No. She's not here yet,' Harry indulged. Attia exchanged an disbelieving glance at Hasry, surprised that one could act this crazy on the potion.

'You, my dear old friend, might want a drink to wash down that bad breath of yours before she joins us. Let me fix you something up.' She turned to fumble about the insane amount of bottles littering the room-- she always had an antidote handy. She handed him a conjured glass, dumped the antidote in, and handed it over. 'Drink up, Ronald.'

He downed it in one swig. Smacked his lips, then that goofy lifted expression came down, looking horrified.

'Y'can't keep supplying this stuff to my brothers,' Ron lamented. 'The girls are running amok with it. Ruining lives!'

'Happy Birthday, Ronald!' she enthusiastically shook her hands with a sarcastic grin. 'I actually did get something for you, Ronald. I fixed a little problem, and we can go to Hogsmeade today. Dumbledore's signature and all. Ginny, Hermione, Harry, you, Me. I don't know. Do you have more friends?'

'What about Lavender?'

'You want to bring Lavender?' she lifted her brow and laughed disbelievingly. Harry found this amusing too, but tried to hide it.

'Ron, I hate to break it to you, but you just shoved your girlfriend out of the way and said 'I'm going to meet Romilda Vane',' Harry remarked, amused.

'So I'm free of her, then? Really?' His face was unusually wide with a beam.