The Legacy (Camren)

Chapter Eleven

The following day was a Saturday, which meant that Camila and Lauren would likely go into Hogsmeade for the afternoon, which meant that Lauren's plan to figure out the secret behind the love potion was officially set into motion. She was going to get Camila alone, ask who she was in love with, and if the answer was as Lauren suspected, tell her she did not feel the same in hopes that it would reverse the effects of the potion. While it seemed like a good plan, there was a strange feeling in the pit of Lauren's stomach when she woke that morning. She couldn't quite place it, but it fell somewhere between guilt, nervousness, and potential disappointment.

When Lauren opened her eyes, Camila was pressed to her side as expected, but not in her usual clingy manner. It seemed, for the first night in a month, that Camila was not afraid that Lauren would leave in the middle of the night, which made Lauren ecstatic. Perhaps the potion was already wearing off. Nevertheless, Lauren dragged a very sleepy and very love-struck Camila down to the Great Hall for breakfast, where her friends were waiting for her with grins that suggested they were getting a great deal of amusement out of seeing Lauren struggle with Camila for yet another day.

Lauren picked out her usual breakfast- two sausage links, scrambled eggs, a biscuit, and a pancake- and watched as Camila picked out the exact same things.

"You know you don't have to eat the same thing as me, right?" Lauren chuckled.

Camila bit off the end of one of her sausages and smiled, her face oddly contorted, suggesting that she didn't like the breakfast selection as much as she wanted Lauren to think.

"Sure I do," she insisted. "I have to learn to like what you like, or we'll never work."

"It's just breakfast, Camila," Lauren reminded her.

But Camila wasn't listening. She was watching Lauren, taking a bite at exactly the same time as her, trying to mirror her every movement. What copy-catting had to do with love, Lauren didn't know. It must have been a strange side effect of the obsessive half of the potion. Either way, it annoyed Lauren to no end. She was getting impatient, waiting for Camila to ask the one question that would set everything into motion, and finally-

"We should do something today," Camila suggested, finding Lauren's hand under the table. "Hogsmeade? It can be a date. We'll get ice cream-"

"Yes," Lauren said almost immediately. "Yes, I'll go on a date with you."

Camila smiled so large that Lauren was almost sure her lips would stretch too far and fall off. Normani and Ally exchanged confused glances and Dinah smiled. No one knew of Lauren's plan except for her, and she didn't want to say it out loud in fear of Camila becoming offended and backing out. She would just have to tell her friends later. For now, they would have to think Lauren and Camila were going on a real date.

Lauren's plan consisted of three major steps. The first, agree to go on a date with Camila. The second, figure out if Camila was really in love with her. This part was going to be particularly difficult. Lauren knew that if she asked, Camila would say it was Lauren because of the potion. She hoped that she could get Camila to talk enough, get her to loosen up enough on their date that Camila would tell the truth, whether it was actually Lauren or not. Step three was to terminate the crush. If Camila was in love with someone else, all Lauren had to do was tell that person to turn Camila down or have them ask her out, and perhaps the potion would wear off, though that particular option made Lauren uneasy for some reason. If it was Lauren, well, that was more complicated. Lauren could tell Camila that she didn't feel the same, but she wasn't sure how much Camila would remember after the potion wore off, and she didn't want to hurt her feelings or risk the bond they'd grown over the first month and a half back at school.