Winter's Rose ▫️T. Lupin

▫️ Seventeen

A few days passed since Teddy's initiative to sit with Rose and from that point on, things had changed for the better. It wasn't unusual at this point to notice the three Hufflepuff boys moving to sit with the Gryffindor girls or the Gryffindor girls moving to sit with the Hufflepuff boys, and so, when Beatrice had suggested a while later that all of them should meet and study together, no one had really disagreed.

That was exactly where they were right now. They had formed some kind of a circle around a table, that started with Beatrice, then Brenda, Angela, Rose, Thomas, Teddy and finally Bill. Beatrice and Teddy were studying Transfiguration, Brenda, Angela and Bill were studying Charms, while Rose was studying Potions and Thomas Defence Against the Dark Arts. They were quiet, as they should be in a library, but Rose, even though she tried to, couldn't really keep her mind from thinking of other things and Angela beside her was growing dizzy as she kept moving her legs from side to side in an unerving pace.

"Could you please stop moving your legs?" she asked after a while, and just like that, everyone was looking up from their studies to Rose and Angela. It seemed like all of them had been looking forward to a disruption.

"I can't," Rose admitted with a sheepish smile over at her. "I'm just excited, you know."

Beatrice's eyebrows rose. "What are you excited about?"

"Potions," she admitted, "the Professor told us that today we'd do the last step to complete the Amortentia potions we had been brewing all year long."

"I remember him saying that now you mention it," Teddy nodded, a slight smile forming on his lips as she turned to him with a grin. "That got you so excited?"

"I'd love to know for myself what smells I like the most," she exclaimed in a silent manner as she looked around at her friends. "This is probably going to be the most interesting Potions class of the year. And Teddy and I've got just a few minutes to spare before that."

"I trust you know what you're going to smell means," Bill smirked over at her. "You might just find out you're infatuated with someone after this class."

"Nonsense," she shook her head as Brenda's and Angela's interest was piqued.

"It's not nonsense, Rose," Angela sent her a look. "That's an interesting prospect."

"You can't smuggle some of it so we can smell it too, I suppose?"

Rose turned to Brenda with a raised eyebrow. "There's no way I'm trusting a love potion to you, Brenda."

Thomas chuckled from beside her as she stood up, closing her books and placing them inside her bag before closing it and swinging it over her shoulder. Teddy did the same and she came to stand beside him with a slight smile. "You have fun studying."

"Make sure to pay attention to what you're smelling," Beatrice smiled at her as Bill turned to Teddy.

"It goes without saying you'll tell us all about this, right?"

Teddy only shook his head as he placed a hand on Rose's lower back and pushed her forward. She waved at her friends one last smile before leaving the library, Teddy right behind her. As soon as the door of the library closed behind them, she turned to him.

"You aren't planning on letting them know what you'll smell, right?"

"I'll tell them only if I'm confused by the outcome."

She stole a look up at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I smell something I shouldn't, it means I'm infatuated with someone who likes that smell. That'd be something confusing and slightly unsettling so I'd probably discuss it with them."