THE AFTERMATH | RON WEASLEY [BOOK FOUR]

11. SEA-BREEZE, BONFIRE SMOKE, CHOCOLATE AND FRESH MAGNOLIAS

Gene wasn't quite in the clear after the emotionally-draining day of school she had faced already.

As she sat in her dorm, skipping dinner for the night, (due to obvious reasons), and she began to organise her bag that had been messed up from earlier. With each book that she threw to the ground in frustration, she imagined that the floor was Ron's face, and it seemed to brighten her mood immensely.

Frankly, Gene was more irritated at the fact that he acted the way he did while having a girlfriend. It wasn't fair to Gene and most of all, it wasn't fair on Lavender, despite her feelings toward her ex-friend at the moment.

A roll of parchment fell from her bag, falling directly in front of Stella who began to paw at it. Gene rolled her eyes, clambering out of bed to snatch the letter from her claws and unfolded it, being a reminder of her meeting with Dumbledore in less than ten minutes.

As Gene rushed to his office, murmuring the password she had remembered from the other day, she climbed the stone steps and knocked at his door, finding him sat at his desk with a small smile.

"Hello, Genevieve!" he greeted her happily, waving his wand once to charm a small glass of Butterbeer toward her, which she caught in both hands, "Come– sit, sit!" he gestured her over and she quickly did so.

"Hi, sir. Where have you been?" she asked curiously before taking a sip of her beverage.

"Now, we're here to celebrate you, Genevieve, not talk about me." he waved his blackened hand dismissively, "Congratulations on the success of your transformation! A toast–" he lifted his glass and Gene mirrored his actions, their glasses clinking together before they both drank.

"Thank you, sir." she smiled warmly, "I guess I shouldn't ask how you knew I would manage it two months ago?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Correct." he said simply, causing her to laugh. "I believe you had Potions today." Gene choked on her drink as she lowered her glass, passing it off as a cough, "You learnt about Amortentia, correct?"

Oh, he was good.

"Yes, sir." she nodded, dabbing the corners of her lips as she recovered. "Aurelia told me how my mother smelt my father in her Amortentia." she said, realising how she had never told anyone else that fact.

Dumbledore chuckled at this, a warm smile passing his features as he nodded, a flash of remembrance in his eyes, as though he was reminiscing.

"And what did you smell?" he asked curiously, causing Gene to freeze up.

"I smelt– a sort of sea-breeze, like at the beach. There was the smell of bonfire smoke and chocolate, and then–" she hesitated, "fresh magnolias." her voice was quiet.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, the realisation dawning on him almost instantly as a small smile pulled at his lips, careful not to embarrass Gene, (who was already blushing), further. He didn't do that great of a job, she noted.

"Magnolias?" Dumbledore said, humming under his breath, almost in approval, "Remind me, what colour do the ones outside Mr. Weasley's window grow?" he asked.

"White." Gene answered without a seconds hesitation, before her eyes widened, "You tricked me, sir." she muttered, while Dumbledore only smiled. He seemed to be doing a lot of that, lately.

"In my defence, Genevieve, I thought everyone was well aware." he returned, clicking his tongue as he shook his head gently.

"Sir?" Gene said, her eyes narrowed.

"Sirius had mentioned something in passing. Aurelia and Molly, too." Dumbledore recalled, nodding to himself, "Never mind."

"Well, actually–"