pure ; james potter [marauders era]

t e n ;

[ october 24th, 1976 ]

"Octavia," Slughorn boomed, breaking her train of thought. Her eyes left the back of James' head and turned to her professor, who didn't seem all too impressed. "Seeing as though you were daydreaming in class, I suppose you already know all of this. In saying that, I would like you to come up and identify these potions."

She mentally cursed herself, trying to ignore the embarrassment so her eyes stay the same color. She noticed it worked as she walked up to the front, looking at the three potions in front of her. Just from observation, she had a rough idea of what they could be. She leaned in to smell the first one, hoping to figure out what it was.

It was a clear potion and as she sniffed it, she noticed it was odorless. "This one is Veritaserum." She looked over at her professor, and when he nodded his head, she continued. "It forces the drinker to tell the truth."

Octavia moved over to the next one. It looked like shit and correspondingly, it smelt like shit too. "The next one is Polyjuice Potion. I believe it takes a month to brew and must include a piece of the person you wish the look like. Normally, a piece of hair. It doesn't last too long, but it's very effective."

Remus watched his friend with a massive smile on his face. She could thank him later for the extra studying he convinced her to do.

She moved to that last one but refused to take a whiff. It was pink and looked intoxicating, she already knew what it was. She was scared of what she may smell, if she went any closer. She kept her distance before continuing. "This last one is, what I believe to be Amortentia. It's the strongest love potion in the world; note though, that it doesn't create actual love, only intense infatuation. It smells like whatever or whoever attracts you."

"Very well done," Slughorn nodded his head, she was the second student to ever be able to identify potions that fast with accurate information about them. "Would you like to give a demonstration to the class?"

Reluctantly, Octavia walked closer to the potion and leaned over it, breathing in deeply. She was nervous, despite knowing exactly who she'd smell. On the other side of the room, James was basically hanging off his chair. He needed to know what smells she was attracted to.

"For example, I smell old books, bubblegum, firewhisky and-" She paused for a second, not wanting to reveal the last scent. James was about to explode, and Sirius was trying to contain his laughter at how desperate his mate was. "And broomstick cleaner."

Octavia sighed, broomstick cleaner and firewhisky. If her feeling weren't obvious before, they are now. Damn it! She walked back to her seat, refusing to look at either James or Sirius. She all but kicked Remus when she noticed the look he was giving her.

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Sirius, James, Peter and Remus all sat by the fire in the common room, spread out lazily on the sofas. It was late in the afternoon, and they were waiting for Octavia's Divination class to end. For once, James hadn't talked since class and it was pissing the boys off. He couldn't stop thinking about Tavia and what she smelt. Who could it have been?

The boys hated when James ranted on and on about their friend, but this was worse. It was consuming him and it was horrible. Finally, Peter broke. "Okay mate, spit it out."

In a millisecond, James responded. "Who the fuck smells like bubblegum, firewhisky and broomstick cleaner? I can't get it off my mind. Mine was so simple; I just smelt her. Why does hers have to be such a bloody mystery? You know what? I bet it was that fucking Ashton git. I'll get even with him, I'm telling you-"

Moony got alarmed, already knowing where this conversation was leading. "You know what we do with problems like this? We ignore them. No pranks, no fighting.. nothing."

The boys all rolled their eyes at their suck up friend. This was the love of James' life, he wasn't going to do nothing and let some pansy boy steal his girl! "You know what, that's actually a good idea. Yeah, and while we're at it lets try and ignore the next full moon and see what happens."

Remus scoffed at the boys attitude as Sirius barked out a laugh. "HA, good one James!" Peter praised his friend, going pink from laughter.

Remus couldn't hold it anymore. He's been watching them go back and forth for years without saying anything. He finally cracked it, revealing to the boys something he swore he wouldn't. "James, she loves you. Bloody hell, you're so daft. How have you not noticed?"

James was taken aback. He looked at his mate, but he knew that he wouldn't lie about this. Sirius, maybe. But not Remus. He thought about what Octavia smelt. Bubblegum, probably Droobles. His favorite thing to buy from Honeydukes. Firewhisky, the only alcohol he drinks. Broomstick cleaner, he's the captain of the bloody Gryffindor team!

"Ay! Finally your charm has won her over!" Sirius screamed as he and Peter jumped on James, patting their mate on the back. James was over the moon, he couldn't believe that she felt the same for him. On the other hand, Remus didn't. He felt so guilty. It was a secret he promised Octavia he'd keep until she was ready, yet he just told James in front of the other two. He couldn't believe himself, and he felt so disappointed. What would she say? He couldn't just tell her! What if they boys made it obvious they knew?

Fuck, he was screwed. "All of you, I swear to Merlin I will kill you all if you tell her you know. It was a secret and you better make it seem that way, okay?"

They all looked towards James, waiting for his response first. The boy thought over it, messing with his dark hair. I suppose he'll have a better chance flirting with her if she thought he was unaware of her feelings. It may scare her off. He pushed his glasses up and looked to Remus who was waiting nervously. "Yeah, of course not mate. This is just between us four."

Shortly after Peter and Sirius agreed too. Remus felt a lot better, but the guilt was still eating at him. How would she ever forgive him?

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published [6/2/2017]

note [sorry for not uploading in ages, i'm in the hospital at the moment and i've tried really hard to upload via my phone. i'll keep trying to upload more!]