I walked into my Potions class. I see Sev with his awesome Text Book. I
smiled weakly at him. He flashed a quick smile before turning back to
his book, etching out a few lines. I hurry to my seat next to Lils.

"Welcome
class! Welcome!" Professor Slughorn smiled brightly, walking in with
his arms wide open. Behind him, in a run down cauldron, was a pearl
white liquid with steam coming out. I smile slightly to myself.

"Can anyone tell me what this Potion is?" As soon as Professor Slughorn finished the sentence, my hand shot into the air.

"Yes... Ms Longbottom," he pointed to me.

"It's Amortentia. Or more commonly known as...the Love Potion," some girls started to giggle, along with a few of the boys.

"Well
done! 5 points to Gryffindor. And can any one tell me what Amortentia
does?" Once again, my hand shot into the air. He pointed at me.

"Amortentia
is a potion that makes the drinker obsessed or, for all they know, in
love with someone else. Most likely, the one who gave them potion. It
smells different to every person," I finished.

"Yes!" He shouted
with glee. "Take ten points to Gryffindor Ms. Longbottom. Now, will you
and...hmm...Mr. Black! Would you two please come up here and tell us all
what you smell?" Sirius and I slowly made out way up to the pot.

"Ladies first?" Sirius said hopefully. I laughed a little. I sniffed the steam rising from the pot.

"I
smell, wet dog, lemons, and-" I took in another deep huff, "the smell
of dust after rain." I turned on my heel and sat back down next to Lily,
trying to block out the laughs.

"So, I just take a sniff, yeah?" Sirius said, pointing at the pot. Professor Slughorn nodded. He smelled it.

"It
smells like waterfalls and orchids. It smells like New books and quill
ink," Sirius scowled slightly. I looked at Lily who was smiling
mischeviousvly at me.

"What?" I hissed.

"Waterfalls? Orchids? New books? Quill Ink? He's practically describing you, Rani," She smirked.

"No, Lils. He's probably describing some other girl," I said with a shake of my head.

"Waterfall
scented shampoo-" she picked up a strand of my hair,"Orchid lotion, we
all know you have dry hands. You always have a book on you. And when was
the last time you didn't drop your quill ink on you at least once a
day?"

​"Um...good point. But, so what if he's describing me? What does it matter?" I Shrugged.

"You
and I know perfectly well 'what it matters'! You smell like the one
Sirius loves most! He likes you, so that's what he smells!" She
exclaimed.

"Or maybe he just happens to like Orchids, Waterfalls, new books, and quill ink!" I hissed quietly.

"What
about you, aye? Wet dog? Lemons? Smell of dust after rain?" She smirked
again, sending a glance to Sirius, who wasn't listening to anything
that James had to tell him.

"Wet dog, because I've always wanted a
dog and I love the smell of wet dogs. Lemons, because they are my
favourite fruit. And the smell of dust after rain is a smell I've grown
up with. It rains a lot, and we have sawdust all around our front and
back yard. Come on Lils, don't try and give me hope that he likes me
too," I growled at her. She backed down.

"Now, I'd like you all
to make this potion! The first pair, will both get a vail of Felix
Fulecis!" Slughorn clapped his hands together. "Ok, Um...Mr. Lupin and
Ms. Jinx. Mr. Potter and Mrs. Evans. Mr. Snape and Mr. Pettigrew-" he
kept rattling off names until "Mr. Black and Mrs. Longbottom." All the
other names didn't hit my ears. I looked back at Sirius. He smirked at
me.

"Which one?" Another voice called. I looked to my left. Regulus.

"The older one," Slughorn sighed. I mentally groaned as Lils smirked at me.

"Have fun. But not too much fun," she winked. I rolled my eyes. Sirius walked over.

"Hey, Razzy," I smiled gently at him.

"Hey River," he smiled back and sat next to me.

"So, how do we make this Potion?" He asked.

"Well...you
start with-" I told him how to make it, exactly and precisely. He
nodded and we began making it. Then bonk our heads clonk together.

"Waterfall," he muttered.

"What?" I whispered. He shook his head.

"Nothing.
Let's just get back to work," he continued on. By the end of the class
period, Slughorn was walking around. Lils and James' was pretty good,
but it was a little bit grey. Alice and Frank's was green and lumpy,
Jinxy's and Remus' wasn't steaming, Peter's and Sev's was the best.

"Ah! Mr. Black and Ms. Longbottom! Very well, very well indeed," he clapped us both on the back.

"Thank you sir," we both mumbled.

"Here you go. And Ms. Longbottom, how would you feel like joining my Slug Club?" He asked, turning me.

"I'd
be delighted...sir," I smiled quickly. He laughed and handed us both
our Felix Felicis. We took it with a slight nod. I hurried out of the
classroom.

"Look, boys, it's Ms. Black!" Someone laughed from behind me. I ignored the laughter.

"Come
on, Longbottom, why such the long face? We all know you will get
hitched with Black. Everyone sees the way he looks at you," another
person, a female, laughed along.

"Listen to us when we speak to
you!" The person shoved me, sending me and my books sprawled across the
floor. I hurriedly pick them up.

"Stop!" Sirius' voice rings in my ears. Roaring laughter, the people walked away.

"Here, let me help you up," he held out his hand. I hesitantly took it. He pulled me up.

"Orchids," he whispered under his breath.

"Sorry?" I questioned.

"Nothing," he hurried off. I stood there confused for a second, before shrugging and going off the Care For Magical Creatures.



"Her
hair smells like waterfall, and her hands smell like orchids. She
always has a book, and she's always spilling ink on herself. Admit it,
Pads, you love her!" I hid in my dorm, looking down at the communing
boys.

"I don't, Prongs. I mean, I'm Sirius Black! I don't love girls! I think they're hot!" Sirius laughed.

"So, you're saying Longbottom's hot?" James held back laughter.

"Well, no. I mean, I'm not saying she isn't... oh shut up!" Sirius yelled at his wailing friends.

"Padfoots in loove! Padfoots in loove!" Remus sang cheerfully.

"Shut up! She can't even like me back anyway," he grumbled.

"Come on man!" James groaned," First, she tells you she loves you-"

"She didn't know it was me!" Sirius protested.

"So?
Then, she practically described you! Wet dog? Lemons? The smell of dust
after rain? Come on man! When will you get it through your thick head?
Longbottom loves you too!" James exclaimed. Sirius flushed a deep red. I
gasped. No! They couldn't have figured it out? Wait, Sirius told his
friends I had a crush on him? Of course he did. I ran downstairs and
past the boys.

"River. River. River, wait!" Sirius failed to call after me. I ran into the library. I hid in my usual spot.

"River!" He shouted.

"Shhh!"
Mrs. Pince hissed. There's these two bookshelves, at the very far end
of the library, parallel each other with another, really short bookshelf
connecting them. The smack we bookshelf slides to the left, so a small
person can fit inside, like me. I always had to pull my legs up, but
that didn't really matter. Mrs. Pince showed it to me. She said
Dumbledore told her about it to tell me.

I picked the first book I
could from the shorter shelf. All the books faced inwards, making it
easier to see their titles. I looked at the cover.

"Wizard Of
Oz," I smiled slightly to myself. I had read this story many a Times. I
began read in, and soon the constant 'River,' was blocked out as I was
sucked into my own reality.

"Rani," a voice whispered, snapping
me out of my trance. I startled, but pretending I was still reading.
Lils snatched the book from outside my 'den' as she calls it.

"What, Lils?" I groaned

"Sirius really needs to talk to you. He's been looking for you for the last 30 mintues," she sighed.

"I don't want to talk," I snapped.

"He
told me that you over heard them talking about you and him. Why'd you
run? Isn't this what you want?" She asked. I slid the bookshelf out of
the ways sighed.

"It is, Lils, it really is. But-" I stopped.

"But what?" She pressed. I took in a deep breath.

"I'm
afraid. Everything Alice, Molly, and everyone have said about him, I'm
just afraid it'll happen to me too. I do love him, a lot. But I'm just
afraid of being hurt. He's beautiful on the outside, absolutely
beautiful, but he's arrogant, self-centered, and mean. He sees a pretty
girl, runs after her until she's head over heels for him. Then he sees
another pretty girl and runs after her, leaving then last one in the
dust, in the rubble, like she was nothing. If that happened to me, I'd
be hollow, empty. I can't do that to you, Frank, Jinxy, Sev. You guys
are my friends, I don't want to be hurt and leaving, with you guys only
looking at the shell of my old self."

"The truth is, Lils, I'm
afraid of falling. I'm afraid of thinking I have wings, but only to find
out thAt they weren't ever there. I'm afraid of being hurt. I'm afraid
of breaking down the wall between us, only to have him leave me in the
rubble, after some other girl. I'm afraid Lily," I sobbed. I started to
cry. She hugged me. She soon pulled away.

"Listen to me Serana,
and listen to me good. He loves you. Can you really say that Sirius
Black has ever really loved a girl? Go to him. Tell him you love him,"
she smiled at me. I shook my head.

"I wish everything was back to
normal. Just you, Jinxy, Sev, and me. No one else. No worries. Just us
for. I want everything to be normal! But now I'm a werewolf, and there's
so much drama. I can't deal with it Lily!" I shouted. I pushed past her
and an out of library, Sirius was stuck in my mind. I pulled out a vial
with a pearl white colour and a light steam and sniffed it.

"It smells like you," I whispered to myself.