Chapter Twenty - Hepzibah Smith

                                    

                                          
 Tom Riddle paid little to no attention during his next Potions lesson the following week. His focus was more geared towards Amortentia. For the past 6 years, he had no interest in a silly love-inducing potion, but for the first time in his life he was anxious to discover if he was actually able to smell an aroma coming from it.
                          
Professor Slughorn kept various potions in his storage closet and Tom happened to know that there was a freshly brewed bottle of Amortentia for the sixth years sitting in there right at this very moment. He was anxious to get his hands on it... just one whiff would confirm his suspicions.
                          
 Once the class ended, Nott, Lestrange and Avery waited for Tom, but he motioned for them to continue on. He had other things on his mind at the moment.
                          
"Professor," said Tom as Professor Slughorn was packing his things.
                          
"Ah, Tom m'boy," cooed Slughorn. "What can I help you with?"
                          
"Sir," said Tom smoothly, "I was wondering if I could borrow a potion from your storage."
                          
"Which potion, Tom?"
                          
"Amortentia," he said simply. Professor Slughorn stopped what he was doing and stared at Tom.  
                          
"The Amortentia?" he asked. His face was serious at first, but then he broke into a laugh. "Surely you don't need that particular potion, Tom. Why, a strapping boy like you, why would you?"
                          
Tom smirked, but mentally recoiled in distaste at the thought of actually using the wretched potion on someone.  
                          
"It's strictly for academic purposes," said Tom snidely. "I will return it once I am finished."
                          
"Oh," said Slughorn. "Well, in that case, I suppose it is fine. I just need it for demonstration purposes on Wednesday."
                          
"Of course," said Tom curtly.
                          
Slughorn unlocked his cabinet and handed Tom the vial of the milky white liquid.
                          
"Here you go," said Slughorn. "Now be careful with that. You wouldn't want to accidentally spill that into someone's drink."
                          
The professor chuckled at his own joke and Riddle faked a laugh as he tucked the vial into his robes.
                          
"Thank you, sir," said Tom. "I will get this back to you as soon as I can."
                          
"No worries at all, Tom. No worries."
                          
Tom faked another smile and left the classroom. As he rounded the corner into a secluded corridor, he pulled the vial out from his robes. He looked behind his shoulders to make sure no one was watching. He held the vial in his left hand and his right hand lingered over the stopper. For some reason, he was feeling some hesitation.  
                          
What was he trying to prove? Did he actually think he would be able to smell Rose's scent from this silly little potion? He felt a tad disheartened, but nonetheless pulled the stopper off and held the vial to his nose and took a deep whiff.
                          
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
                          
He took another whiff, thinking about Rose... maybe you had to have a certain person in mind in order for the potion to work, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not smell the scent of her vanilla hair, lavender skin and spearmint breath...
                          
Feeling foolish, angry and stupid, he resealed the vial and tucked it back into his robes. He stormed down the corridor, lost in thought as he made his way to his next lesson.
                          
 ***
                          
Rose once again found herself sitting alone in the Divination classroom. Professor Vablatsky had asked her to help grade assignments, but once she was finished she did not feel like leaving. The Divination classroom provided her with some peace of mind.