Stories from the Vault - Hogwarts Mystery One Shots

Love Potions (Pt. 1)

"It's February first, everyone," said Andre on Saturday morning as he joined Sarah and the others out in the courtyard. "You know what that means!"

"How sweet, Andre. You remembered my birthday," said Sarah.

Andre hesitated only a moment. "Of course, that's what I meant! Happy Birthday!" 

There was a pause as everyone watched Andre's nervous face with amusement. 

"My birthday isn't until the eleventh, Andre," Sarah admitted at last. 

Andre let out a relieved breath. "Thank goodness, I hadn't gotten you anything. What I was going to say was anyone that wants me to design a Valentine's Day outfit for them needs to let me know...now."

"Oh, I would," said Penny at once. "This year, Dumbledore's throwing a Valentine's Day ball. I'd love a big, gorgeous ball gown."

"Count me in, too," said Sarah. "A Valentine's Day ball sounds great."

"Really?" said Charlie, surprised. "I always thought you found Valentine's Day stressful."

"I do when it comes to the madness of trying to get a date, having to let people down or hope the person you want to take wants to go with you, having to find the right place or the right outfit..." Sarah shuddered. "But this year, that's all taken care of for me. There will be a dance, Andre will have my outfit, and I'm going with Barnaby."

"You sure about that?" Andre asked. 

"He is my boyfriend. Who else would--" Then, she caught sight of what Andre had been looking at.

Barnaby had just crested the hill from the direction of the lake. He must have just finished a morning swim. His spiky hair was stuck flat down. Walking with him were three girls, all twittering around him like song birds at a feeder. Sarah noticed one of them holding a Valentine's Card. Another offered him some hot chocolate from a thermos she was holding. 

"Barnaby!" Sarah called, running over before he could accept the offer. 

"Hi, Sarah!" said Barnaby cheerfully. Up close, Sarah could see that his hair was frozen stiff. "This is Demi, Belle, and Cindy."

"Nice to meet all of you," she said flatly. None of the other girls seemed pleased to see her either, especially the dark haired girl with glasses, Demi, the one who'd offered him the hot chocolate. 

"Barnaby, Andre wants to see you," said Sarah, gesturing back to where the others had gathered. "He wants to go over plans for what we'll be wearing together at the Valentine's Day Ball."

She dragged him away from the group of girls and over to her friends. 

"Now watch," said Charlie as they returned, "as the mighty lioness drags her prey away from the scavenging hyenas, claiming it as her own."

"Shut up," said Sarah as the other laughed. 

"If she's a lion, what am I?" asked Barnaby. 

"A frozen fish," said Andre, eyeing Barnaby's crisp hair wearily. "I don't understand why you would willingly throw yourself in the lake, especially at this time of year."

"It's not so bad," said Barnaby. "Once you start swimming."

"Barnaby, were those girls watching you swim?" asked Penny. 

"Yeah," he said. "Them and sometimes a few others usually do on the weekends. I think they must want to swim too, but don't know how. Maybe I should offer to teach them."

"Or not," said Sarah quickly. "Listen Barnaby, you might want to be more careful. It's almost Valentine's Day, you know."

"I know, I love it! Everyone's always so nice to me this time of year."