Amortentia

Chapter 6

When he got safely out of the dungeons he slowed his pace down, walking up the steps to the portrait. When he was inside, the common room was full of people, talking and laughing, or doing homework. John was happy he didn’t have any homework today.
“There you are!” Greg said from the chair he was sitting in. Sara and Mike were playing a game of wizard chess on the floor in front of the crackling fire. John smiled innocently and sat in the chair opposite, miraculously empty.
“How was it?” Sara asked as her castle smashed one of Mike’s pawns.
“Great! I made it perfectly.”
“Now I know you’re lying.” Greg laughed.
“I’m serious; ask Holmes when you go to potions.” John said.
“So it was Holmes then, no Snape?” Mike asked. 
“Ya, apparently Holmes does the extra help and Snape does classes.”
“You were gone for a while, much longer than it would take to make a potion.”
“We talked for a little.”
“About what?” Greg asked.
“Quidditch, school, stuff like that.”
“Did you find out how old he was?” Sara asked hopefully.
“Graduated last year.”
“What’s he doing here then?”
“He wanted to be a potions teacher but Snape won’t give up the job.”
“Was it just you two?” Sara asked.
“Yes.”
“I might need some extra help then.” She joked.
“He has no interest in any of the girls here.” John said. They all stopped what they were doing to look at him quizzically.
“How do you know that?” Greg asked, looking shocked.
“He told me! I know what you’re thinking, but no, he told me.” John assured, surprised that they’d think that he had kissed him or something, but that was crazy.
“Is he gay?” Sara asked, sounding disappointed.
“No.” John assured.
“You asked him that!?” Mike asked a little loudly.
“We were on the topic!” John defended.
“You must be real disappointed then.” Greg laughed.
“I’m not gay either!” John defended.
“Speaking of that, when are you going to ask Mary out?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know, I’m nervous to.” John sighed.
“Just go for it, I’m sure she’ll say yes!” Sara assured.
“I don’t know if she will.” John said.
“You’re the quidditch captain; you’re the coolest Gryffindor here!” Mike pointed out.
“Just go for it, we can ask her for you if you want.” Greg offered.
“Don’t you dare without my permission.” John hissed. 
“Of course, but still, you better hurry up, someone else might take her first.” Sara warned.
“I heard Bobby, that annoying Ravenclaw, is going to ask her soon.” Mike warned.
“And he plays quidditch too, she might say yes.”
“I have no idea who Bobby is.” John pointed out.
“That’s not the point.”
“Can you guys please stop bugging me?” John begged. Sara rolled her eyes, but continued to play chess; she was in the lead right now. John sat and looked at the fire, lost in thought. He couldn’t get Professor Holmes out of his head for some reason, his smile, his green eyes, dark curls. And he was brilliant, he had made John, a complete potions failure, make a perfect burn medicine, one that could be used in the hospital wing. Those few hours he spent in that dungeon with Holmes a lot better than he expected, he actually wondered when it could happen again.
“I’m going to bed, I’m exhausted.” Greg decided.
“Me too I guess.” John shrugged, following his friend up to the dorms. They changed into their pajamas and were in bed before any of the other boys came in, and John had fallen asleep faster than he ever had, hoping he had potions again tomorrow.

                To his happiness, potions were before lunch again, after Defense against the Dark arts, taught a new teacher every year. After lunch they had Ancient Ruins and then Care of Magical Creatures again. John smiled; it wouldn’t be a terrible day if Hagrid avoided werewolves. John had checked the little calendar, and the full moon was next week already, which had thrown a big weight on his life until then. But quidditch tryouts were coming up, the Monday before the full moon, which was Thursday. At least he had something to look forward to. He was still tearing his mind apart about whether or not to tell Greg, Mike, and Sara, but he still thought they’d leave him if they found out he was a blood thirsty beast. After breakfast they went to Defense against the Dark Arts, to find their new teacher was an Auror named Professor Tonks. She was a metamorphmagus, so she could change her appearance whenever she wanted, that was the first thing she told the class. She had bubble gum colored hair, and she demonstrated by turning it blue. John liked this class, not only was it interesting, but they shared it with the Ravenclaws, meaning Mary. She was sitting closer to the front, laughing at Tonks’s nose, which she turned into a pig nose. Mary’s laugh was amazing, and her smile was even better, every time she smiled it made John want to smile. Greg elbowed him under the table, having caught him looking at her. John smiled guiltily, and Greg looked annoyed. The class was about boggarts, a creature they had banned from anything other than seventh years because some of the images were so horrible. They just talked and took notes, but Tonks said she’d do her best to catch one somewhere for them to practice on. It was interesting; boggarts seemed amazing, getting to see your biggest fear. When it was over, John was slightly disappointed, but then he remembered what was next, and he fought the urge to smile. The dungeons were cold when they got down, they would be of course, and they were underground. Everyone was still dressed for summer, and they wrapped their cloaks around themselves to fight the chill. The door flew open and Snape let them all in, making them all scramble to get seats with their friends. John sat with Greg again, putting his stuff down at the desk and looking up at Professor Holmes, who was sitting with his book again, absorbed in whatever it was he was reading. The beam of light fell on him again, and John guessed it was probably for reading light, but it made his pale skin glow and his dark hair shine. Snape scowled down at the class and waved his wand at the board for the instructions. Today they were making the opposite of the burn healer, it was a burning potion, which, when making contact, would burn anything. John was confident he might actually get it right this time. When he and Greg started though, they got horribly mixed up, not sure what was added and what wasn’t, Greg added too much of the blast ended skrewt powder, so the potion bubble a lot and then blew up, splashing everyone with the potion. Thankfully there were no injuries since the potion was rubbish, but it smelled bad and John, Greg, and a lot of the people sitting next to them, were covered in it. Snape and Holmes jumped out of their chairs, Snape look furious, but Holmes looked more worried.
“What happened?!” Snape demanded, all of the students had stopped to watch. John tried his best to clear the gunk off of his face, but it kept dripping in his eyes.
“Too much Blast Ended Skrewt powder.” Holmes cleared up, making Snape look even madder.
“I’m sorry professors, it was an accident.” Greg said, terrified of Snape. Jim and Irene were laughing their heads off at the scene, having stayed clear of the potion.
“Hold still.” Holmes said, waving his wand at the two boys. The potion disappeared, but they still smelled terrible.
“Detention, both of you, tonight, and fifty points from Gryffindor.” Snape hissed. Greg and John both groaned, detention was no fun, and that meant they couldn’t get the potions help they obviously needed. Snape swept away, sitting back at his desk with a sour expression, slamming papers down hard.