𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖓 𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌

Chapter 7. Potions

Harry's POV

"Harry! M' boy!" Slughorn boomed.

"Evening Professor." I muttered.

"Have a seat. Today, we'll be learning how to brew a advanced Polyjuice Potion. And-aha! Miss Lovegood. Just in time." Slughorn conjured a seat and gestured for Luna to sit down. I looked at her. She was even prettier in the faint glowing light of the candles, bouncing on her pale cheeks. Her ocean blue eyes glanced at me, and I felt my cheeks burn. To my surprise, Luna's face grew slightly pink, and she quickly looked away. I felt a sinking feeling on my stomach.

What would people say if Harry Potter was in love with Luna Lovegood? And Ginny... I fear for Luna's safety.

"So everybody, go find a person and partner with them." Slughorn continued.

I immediately looked up, and glanced at Ron. He gestured at Hermione. Neville went with Hannah and Seamus went with Dean. Blushing, I went to Luna.

"Hi Luna, um-wanna pair?" I said.

"Of course Harry!" She laughed. Her laugh sent shivers down my spine.

Slughorn handed out the ingredients. "I'll go grab them." I grabbed the stuff and brought them back to the table. Beside me, Luna had already got the cauldron simmering.

"Ok, so..." I squinted at the instructions on the board.

"We add crushed Lionfish spine, and then stir clockwise three times. We crush the Snarguluff Pods and tip the juice out. Let it set for 56 seconds, and then we add-" Luna seemed to know all the stuff.

"H-how do you know all this, Luna?" I muttered, amazed.

"Oh, it's probably the Nargles. Sometimes they infest my mind for good purposes. I like them that way." She smiled dreamily.

"Okay. So we add the spine, stir clockwise-um"

"Three times."

"Yeah." I stirred it carefully.

Luna crushed the pods, pouring the juice from the pods into the cauldron.

"I'll do that." She gently took the squirming Agrippa from my hand to cut it. As she did, her hand brushed against mine. When her skin made contact, I gasped. A tingling feeling spread around my body, and my cheeks burnt like they never did before. Luna seemed to have realised what she had done, as she apologised.

"I'm so sorry Harry!" She said.

"It's okay Luna." I replied. Inside me, a creature was screaming and dancing with triumph, and I felt so elated that I didn't really pay attention to Slughorn, as my eyes were stuck on Luna. Her focused eyes were fixed on the board, but I could see her cheeks turning pink whenever she saw me. Did she like me? Wait—Did I want her to like me?

What I didn't know was a certain Ginny Weasley was watching this the whole time.