proper care ! remus lupin

poisonous potions

Chapter Three

In potions class the next day, Venus sat with Rosie as Professor Slughorn droned on about safety and how to protect themselves. He would say the same speech every year at the beginning of each semester, and it got old really fast. She closed her eyes and listened to the soft breathing coming from her friend, breathed in the heavenly scent of apples that came from her perfume.

"Does anybody have any questions?" Professor Slughorn called out to his inattentive class, causing a few students to lift their heads, including Venus. Only one hand was raised, and it was a quiet Slytherin girl in he back row.

"Are we finally going to learn about amortentia this year, Professor?" A few of the girls in the class gave an excited glance, eager to know the answer as well. Professor Slughorn gave her a pointed look.

"Now Ms. Samson, that has nothing to do with what we discussed, but since you asked nicely, no, we will not be learning about that this year. Amortentia is a very powerful and advanced potion that will not be taught until next year."

A few groans were heard throughout the classroom, mostly from females. "I don't understand their fascination with the potion," Rosie whispered to her friend, " Unless they are planning to poison someone with it, It's just a smell-good potion."

Venus shrugged. "I guess some people might want to know if their love is true, if you sniff the potion and smell something different than what you thought was going to be there." She absently doodled a picture of Professor Slughorn in a dress at the bottom of her parchment.

"To start off this year we will be learning about the different type of poisons, and how we can create a quick antidote in a time of crisis. Please open your books."

"Venus, Venus! You'll never believe what I just saw!" Rosie exclaimed, causing Madam Pince to shush the loud Slytherin, but Rosie didn't care. Venus looked to the first year that she was tutoring and asked him to give her a minute.

"Is it important, I'm kind of busy?" Venus asked her dark haired friend while pointing to the small kid behind her.

"Is it Important? You know I would never get in the way of someones precious studying if it wasn't important." She said sarcastically.

"Would you call Thea making out with a Prewett twin important?" Venus was a little taken aback. Thea had never so much as held hands with a boy the year before. And she always talked about boys in her year, never someone two years older than her.

"How has she changed so much in the months since we've seen her? She was acting just fine when she came over to my house this summer." Venus pointed out, a tone of worry in her voice.

"I like this new Thea, I've slowly convinced her to join the dark side." Rosie had an evil smirk on her face. "You're next, Vee." The girls left and Venus went back to join Lucas to help him with his potions essay.

"I'm going to go grab you another book and I'll be right back." She said, giving Lucas a small smile, which made him blush a bit. Who can blame him, she was nice, attractive, and an older woman. She ran her finger along the spines of a few books before spotting a book before spotting one titled 'Potions: Year One' but it was a little high up. She stuck her hand up to try and get it down, but her fingers barely grazed the corner, and she left her wand in her dorm.

"Do you need any help, uh, with that?" Remus Lupin asked as he saw Venus struggling to reach her book. She gave him a nod, and he grabbed the book from the high shelf and read the cover. "First year? Seems a little advanced for you." He joked, causing Venus to let out a small chuckle.

"It's actually for Lucas, a kid i'm helping. He's having trouble in potions and I want him to be able to study on his own." She said, motioning to the first year boy who was currently slamming his head into the table repeatedly.

"That's very kind of you. Do you tutor other student often?" Remus asked, trying to make conversation. She gave a small shrug. "I guess so. I wouldn't call it tutoring though, but lots of students fourth year and below ask me for help occasionally. I even helped a fifth year once who was struggling with McGonagall in order to stay on the Quidditch team."

Remus chuckled with the girl, enjoying her company. "Well if you ever find yourself studying alone, I'm in the library 24/7. Have a good day, Venus." She bid him farewell and returned to his table where the rest of his friends sat.

"Where's your book, Moony?" Sirius pressed the scarred boy. "Oh, I guess I completely forgot about it." He felt a small blush rise to his cheeks at his forgetfulness.

"You were too busy flirting with Venus weren't you?" James questioned in a playful tone.

"Don't lie, we saw you. 'If you're ever studying alone'" Sirius made kissing noises, causing Remus to smack him in the face with a Charms book. "Oh, sod off, Siri. It's called being friendly. Something you know nothing about." Sirius stuck his tongue out at the werewolf boy causing him to roll his eyes at his childish friend.

When Lucas came up to Venus the next day, telling her how he got an almost perfect mark on his potions essay, she was ecstatic to see how proud of himself he was. She loved seeing the happy faces of people she helped, whether with cleaning, or studying, or just needing someone to talk to.

Venus was somebody everyone in Hufflepuff knew they could count on if they had an issue or they needed a friend.

When she walked into her dorm room during her free period, she was pleasantly surprised to see Clara laying on her bed. Clara usually hated spending time in the dorm when she wasn't going to bed. She was a real people person, always spending time outside hanging out with her own group of friends.

"Clara, what are you doing here?"

"It's my dorm room, too. I'm allowed to be here." She said casually, not looking up from the book that rested in her lap.

"Well, I know that, I just also know that Lily and Marlene are by the Black Lake, and you usually hang out with them during your free period." Venus said, like it was common knowledge.

"How did you know that?"

"I like sitting against the trees and watching people throw rocks into the water." Venus rolled onto her own bed and brought Aurora into her lap, making the animal purr in delight.

"I guess I wasn't feeling like hanging out with them today." Venus got the hint that something else was wrong, but she wasn't one to pry.

"Well Rosie, Thea, and I are heading outside to play a few games of exploding snaps, you're welcome to join us." Clara just shook her head. "I'll think about it, but I really want to finish my book right now."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

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