ch 18 : cologne

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The next morning, you woke and got ready while humming softly to yourself. You worked some soft curls into your hair with a spell Megan had taught you, unable to stop beaming all the while. You got dressed into your robes before practically bouncing to the Great Hall for breakfast. When people smiled at you in the hallways, you beamed back at them, feeling like today was clearly going to be an amazing day.

You sat at the Hufflepuff table and cheerfully greeted those around you. Cedric gave you a side hug and kept an arm around your shoulders while asking how your day was going.

Before you could respond, mail came, and you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion as a package dropped towards you. You caught it, and Cedric shifted off of you.

You quickly opened the box and pulled out a perfume bottle. There was no note attached to it, so you furrowed your eyebrows and put a single spritz on your wrist. Lifting your wrist to your nose, you felt like your head was spinning.

Cinnamon, sugar, and smoke.

You put the cap back on the cologne and pushed away from the table. Taking the perfume in the small box, you marched over to the Gryffindor table. You stepped up to Fred and George and chuckled, "Ha, ha. Very funny. Do you guys just not like my perfume that much? That you sent me George's cologne?"

They both made quick eye contact while smirking. George just chuckled, "No, I quite like your perfume actually."

Fred shrugged and grinned, "It wasn't us. Maybe mum sent it to you on accident." You could tell by their mischievous smiles that it was from them, not Molly. You just didn't understand why they would send you George's cologne.

Hermione rolled her eyes and reached her hand out to you. You placed the bottle into her hand before she sprayed a bit on her wrist. She sniffed it and immediately gagged, "Ew, no, this is not George's cologne, it's Ron's."

She shoved the bottle back at you while she tried to rub it off. Ron rolled his eyes next to her while stuffing his face with food. George's hand slowly moved to cover his mouth while Fred's eyes widened as he glanced at his twin brother.

You blinked in confusion since Ron and George smelled nothing alike. Shaking your head, you handed the bottle to George and told him, "Well, figure out who your mum was trying to send this to because it was clearly not meant for me."

You hurried back to the Hufflepuff table and plopped into your seat to eat some semblance of breakfast before you had to run to class. As you inhaled some eggs, you noticed the way the Hufflepuffs across from you kept glancing at the Gryffindor table. You looked over your shoulder after swallowing your mouthful and noticed Fred and George staring at you curiously. You chuckled and rolled your eyes before turning back to your food.

You weren't sure why, but you had a bad feeling about that cologne. Throughout the meal, you kept finding discreet ways to lift your wrist to your nose and smell it, not wanting the smell of George to disappear. You were certain that it was his cologne. There was no way it could be anything else. The scent was too strong.

You brushed it off and attended all your classes for the day, trying to just forget about it while wishing that you had been able to keep it.

At one point, Susan caught you sniffing your wrist in class and raised her eyebrows at you, so you had to stop doing that for the rest of the day. However, you noticed Hermione inconspicuously sniffing her wrist throughout the day as well with her eyebrows drawn together in worry and confusion, expressions that looked foreign on her normally confident face.

In between your classes, Hermione wrapped a hand around your upper arm and dragged you into an empty classroom. You stood in front of the professor's desk, awkwardly shifting your weight from one foot to the next while she closed the door.

She whipped around and remarked, "We need to talk about that cologne because I can't stop thinking about it."

Lifting your wrist to your nose to find the smell still faintly there, you agreed, "Yes. It doesn't make any sense that we smelled something different. I don't think those two smell alike at all."

Hermione leaned back against one of the student desks with crossed arms and a scowl. She questioned, "What did it smell like to you specifically?"

Taking a deep breath, you waved your hand around and explained, "Well, it smelled very strongly of cinnamon, sugary candy, and a hint of smoke. That's how George smells."

Hermione paled, "It didn't smell like that at all to me. It smelled like Ron. The cologne reminded me of freshly mown grass, new parchment, and, uh, Ron's hair."

You rested your fingers on your lips and blinked rapidly at her. Those scents are nothing alike. How could you both be smelling something completely different?

Hermione suddenly smacked a hand over her mouth and stared at you with wide eyes. She exhaled, "Oh no. This is bad."

You widened your eyes and stared at her, demanding, "What? Do you know what happened?"

She dropped her hands to her sides and swallowed, "I have an idea, but I hope I'm wrong. I have a question, and I need you to answer it honestly if we are to figure this out."

Staring at her with furrowed eyebrows, you slowly nodded.

She took a deep breath before she asked, "Do you fancy George?"

You blinked rapidly, and you scratched the back of your neck. Silence filled the room for a moment before you slowly nodded. You stammered, "But what does that have to do with this?"

Hermione laid a hand across her forehead before she cursed, "They gave you an Amortentia potion perfume."

Your mouth ran dry as you stammered, "Wait, wait, the love potion?"

Hermione swallowed, "Yes. It creates infatuation for a short time, but we both used such a diluted amount that it likely had little effect on us in that way. The biggest concern for us when it's in the diluted perfume form is that it smells like what or who you're attracted to."

Your eyes widened, and your heart began pounding in your ears. You spluttered, "Wait. You're telling me that I just told them that I'm attracted to George without even knowing I was admitting that?"

Hermione gravely nodded while you shifted back against the professor's desk for support.

You were so screwed.

You realized, "Wait. That means you-"

Biting her lip and refusing to make eye contact with you, she murmured, "Yep, and now those two know. I might as well change my name and move to another continent now."

"We're screwed," You gulped as you tried to smooth your sweaty hands on your robes. You dryly chuckled, "I'm never going to hear the end of this. Oh, I'm mortified."

Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms, Hermione grumbled, "Tell me about it."

"What do we do?" You questioned, hoping Hermione would have some brilliant solution.

Instead, she replied, "We can just hope that they are merciful and forget about it."

She pushed off the desk she was leaning against. You nodded and followed behind her. When she opened the door and you both stepped out, you widened your eyes. Fred and George were standing on the other side of the hallway, already looking at the two of you with amusement dancing in their lips.

You and Hermione both looked at each other before hurrying off to your next classes.

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