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It was early in the morning. Minerva loved this time of day, before the sun rose, everyone still snuggled under their blankets fast asleep. She could be alone with her thoughts, no siblings or housemates pulling her attention elsewhere. Quietly, she crept downstairs, her socks muffling any sounds as she skipped over the squeaky floorboard in the hallway. Pulling on her wool knit jumper she grabbed her boots before opening the front door.
She gasped in freight, jumping to the side, so as to not step on a tawny brown owl waiting on the stone step. Impatiently it held out its leg for her to take off the pouch secured to it. Setting down her boots on the cold stone she knelt down and carefully untied the strings. As soon as it was free the owl gave a low hoot and took off.
“Good day to you too,” she said, as the annoyed owl disappeared into the mist.
Minerva pulled open the pouch strings and reached inside to find a small wrapped package. Ripping off the paper she recognized the shimmering powder before she even turned it to read the label, pearl dust. This was one of her favorite potion ingredients to use because of the way it changed the look of the potions. She slid the jar of powder back into the pouch. Tucked it safely into her pocket before pulling on her boots and setting out toward the misty moors.
Minerva walked, lost in thought over the unexpected gift that had arrived on her door. This was the third time she had received a potion ingredient since returning home from Hogwarts two weeks earlier for the summer. All three had been sent using different owls which only baffled her even more. They must be Hogwarts owls as she didn’t know anyone with more than two owls in a household.
The first owl, a white snowy, had flown in through her window the second day she was home. It had been clutching three dried rose stems. There was no note and the owl had not waited for her to write a response to ask. She had carefully removed the thorns and had them safely saved in a jar in a cabinet in her room. Rose thorns were a potion ingredient that was best used when dried and kept in a dark place. She figured this must be the purpose, otherwise why would someone send her just the stems.
Four days later she had been reading when she heard a screech from an owl at the window. She opened it and the owl flew in, dropping a package on the table before immediately returning out the open window. She had opened this package with much apprehension as there was no note and she had not been expecting anything. Inside she had found four moonstones, another could be potions ingredient. They were beautiful and smooth to the touch. She tucked them away during the day but each night she placed them on her windowsill to allow them to catch the light of the moon. Eventually she would grind them up to a powder but the more nights they spent in the moonlight the better.
Now the package of pearl dust. There were only a few potions that required these ingredients, all of which were love potions. She would need to wait for any more to arrive before knowing exactly which one it would be. It would seem that she had a secret admirer, the thought of it only made her blush deeply on her now already wind bitten cheeks.
As she walked over the moor the only sounds were her footsteps and the whistling of the wind she made a mental list of who might still be at school sending her the ingredients. Students normally were not allowed to stay at school over the summer holidays. Then a memory of Riddle flashed into her mind, he had mentioned something about accompanying Slughorn to collect potion ingredients for a week over the summer to replenish his stores for the next year. He may have stayed at school to go on the trip.
She stopped dead in her tracks. No, it couldn't be Riddle, could it? They weren't friends by any means but they had been friendly in the sense of sharing a table in the library together. Both of them being in the top of their respective years they had a connection through their desire to learn. They would often get books from the restricted section and talk through more complex spells and potions. Sharing a fascination with spell combination and how to go further with charms and transfiguration. She enjoyed his company but at the end of the day they would leave the library and that was it, there was no relationship outside of that. Could there be?
***
Over the next week she received three more ingredients, dandelion root, howlet’s wings, and galanthus nivalis also known as snowdrop. She now knew what the potion was and waited on the last ingredient. It finally arrived late one night as she was reading by way of a barn owl flying in through the window. She quickly stood up and closed it, trapping the owl inside.
After dropping the package lightly on the table the owl looked to the window and back to Minerva with annoyance. She picked up a letter she had written to send hoping to finally find out who really was sending her the ingredients.
“Please deliver this to the person who sent me this,” She said, holding the letter out to the owl. It glared back at her but reluctantly stretched its neck forward taking the letter in its beak.
“Thank you,” she said, getting up and opening the window allowing it to leave. She then returned to the package and unwrapped it, careful to keep it facing up. As she pulled back the paper she was surprised to find a letter tucked on top. Placing the letter on the table she lifted off the top of the box to find the expected four Ashwinder eggs tucked in a nest. Leavening them tucked in the nest she placed the cover back on and carefully tucked them on a shelf. She would need to start the potion soon as the eggs had a limited shelf life.
She picked up the note and took a seat on the couch pulling the throw down over her legs. Unfolded the parchment she began to read.
Minerva,
Having an astute personality and being top of your class, I’m sure that you have figured out the potion in which these ingredients will make. I do hope that overtime your amortentia will change to include new smells for the things you have yet to love.
I realize this may be a bit forward but I do enjoy your company, your wit, and your intelligence. I have often grown bored and tired of conversations with others, but never with you. Therefore I want to ask you to consider spending more time with me when we return to school in the fall. Maybe outside the library when we aren’t studying.
I leave in the morning with Slughorn but I’ll be back in about a week and look forward to a letter from you.
Tom
She read the letter three times and laughed at the end. He would be receiving a letter, but it would be the one she sent with the owl already, not exactly the response he was expecting.
***
Two days later Minerva woke up early. She set out to walk the moors and thought about what she would say to Tom in her letter. Not wanting to send him two in one night she had initially decided to wait. He could get her response when he returned from his week away.
How did she feel? They both had the same thought, that they enjoyed each other's company but it was limited to the confines of the library. What would happen if they interacted outside the library? She was sure that their houses would not approve. Slytherins and Gryffindors were the biggest house rivals and most of the interactions between the two, even when fun had a dark or dangerous undertone. Could they really walk down the halls holding hands?
Houses aside she did very much enjoy his company. Tom was very intelligent, but there was still something about him that she felt she didn’t quite know yet. This would definitely allow her to get to know him better. She had often felt alone, unable to find someone who could keep up with her in conversation. Her friend Poppy was really the only person who let her say anything, even over-explain, when it was a topic she was unfamiliar with. Most people got bored or annoyed with her so she kept to herself.
Minerva walked until the sun was well up over th horizon and her family was definitely awake for the day. Hurrying back she hoped she would be able to join them for breakfast before her parents left for work.
***
It was late morning when she made it back up to her room tossing her sweater on the couch, the day was quite warm for the highlands. Malcolm and Robert had gone into town with her father so she had the house to herself. This suited Minerva just fine as all her ingredients were finally ready for her to make the amortentia.
She pulled out her cauldron from under the bed and brought it downstairs to the large hearth where she lit a fire. As it began to warm she collected all of her ingredients and her copy of advanced potion making. She read through the directions one more time before beginning to prepare the ingredients.
For the next few hours Minerva was in her element, amortentia was a potion that required lots of concentration and precision. She made it to the last step requiring her to stir the potion just right to change the color of the liquid. She hummed her favorite tune to keep her pace even and smiled when the color began to change into the beautiful gold. As per the directions she stopped stirring and let the potion sit for two minutes.
She sat down and watched the second hand of the clock slowly tick away the moments until it was ready. She wondered if she would indeed smell something new or if it would be the same as when they had tried it in class.
Books, her family's cat Tattie, and mallow flowers.
Time was up and she stepped up to the cauldron bringing her face down close to let the smells fill her nose. First came the mallow flowers, then books, and lastly Tattie. She waited a moment but there was nothing. Slowly she pulled away but stopped short as she found that the room smelled differently.
She put her face back into the steam and focused on the smell. It was faint but definitely different but it felt familiar. It was close to the book smell yet that wasn’t quite right. Finally she gasped, pulling back away from the potion.
The Hogwarts library.
It was books but not the crisp smell of a new book, it was old and almost musty with a hint of lavender. Madam Pince, the new librarian, had received a lavender plant from a student last year and she kept it at her desk. The library had smelled slightly of lavender ever since.
Could it be that Tom was right, the place that they spent so much time together was now part of the smells she loved most dearly. She knew what she would write in her letter back to him. The brave Gryffindor would indeed step outside the library with the cunning Slytherin and see what that would look like.