Faux Amour (Frerard/Bandom Hogwarts AU)

Smells like?..

"Promise you won't open it until Christmas?"

"Swear, Gerard." Frank gave his boyfriend a sweet smile as a flood of students made their way to the carriages behind them to get to the Hogwarts Express. It was early in the morning; the sun was barely creeping over the horizon.

Frank and Gerard had chosen this day to exchange their gifts. Frank's gift to Gerard was wrapped in simple, brown paper. Gerard's gift to Frank was wrapped in golden paper with a black bow sitting on top of it.

"I'll miss you." Gerard said before Frank pressed a soft kiss to his lips, "I'll write."

"You'll be back in no time." Frank laughed, reaching up to push aside some of the longer strands of Gerard's white hair. "Enjoy home. Give Mikey some hell."

"What the hell, Frank?" Mikey asked from where he was stood just a few feet away. Both Frank and Gerard laughed.

The final carriages were pulling up, now. Gerard hugged Frank tightly, feeling a strange mixture of emotions. He was so happy to go home, but so torn to leave Frank here for the holidays. There were other students and teachers around, but Gerard was sad for Frank missing out on his family.

"Gerard, we're going to be late! I'll tell mum it's your fault!"

"I'm coming!" Gerard hollered to his brother as he pulled away from Frank. He gave the Slytherin a sad smile, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Frank repeated, returning the same exact smile. Gerard waved as he back stepped before turning and hurrying to the carriage. Frank watched the carriage door close and head off towards the Hogwarts Express. He stayed in place a bit longer after they vanished from sight.

He looked down at the present Gerard had given him. The wrapping shimmered in the growing morning light, accented quite beautifully by the black ribbon encasing it.

Frank smiled at the box. How had he been so lucky to have someone like Gerard?

---

Dallon stirred the potion brewing in the first floor girls bathroom. His hair was a mess, he had smudges of ingredients covering him, but a look of determination was plastered on his face. He was so focused, that he didn't even notice Jamia slip into the large room.

"How does it look?" She asked, briskly walking over to the Ravenclaw.

"Dunno..." Dallon replied, absently, "Never brewed this before..."

Jamia sat down next to Dallon, pulling a liquorice wand from her robes. "You're the best at Potions in our year, though, if not the whole school." She said as she broke the candy in half to offer Dallon some.

He thanked her, softly, never looking away from the murky potion in front of him. "How did you even get the ingredients?" He asked after taking a bite of the candy.

"I know people." Jamia shrugged. She was going to add on, but stopped when she noticed Dallon's sudden sniffing of the air after he dropped something in the cauldron. "What are you doing?"

"Do you smell that?" He asked with a pondering look.

"Smell what?" Jamia questioned as the potion shifted dramatically in color. It was now a vibrant pink, with a dulled version of the same color rose up in smoke from the concoction.

"It smells like fresh books?" Dallon spoke with perplexity in his tone, "Is it supposed to smell like that? Where's that potion book..." Dallon spun back and forth while Jamia peeked into the cauldron.