The weekend had finally arrived, and Sirius was relieved to have at two day break from the stress of the classroom. From the chaos of Defense Against the Dark Arts to the questionable events occurring in Potions, he was ready for a quick pause. He wouldn't let himself forget what happened in Astronomy the other night, however, and he maybe had thought about it a little too much.

After scurrying down from the Astronomy towers, the robes that he left laying on the railing had completely slipped his mind. And watching an ever-so-nervous Harper hand them back to him the following evening got him thinking. Not about the robes, per se, but about how nervous she was to hand them back. Even Remus noticed it.

But he wouldn't let himself get carried away with the usual what-ifs that happen every time he had fancied a girl in the past, even though deep down a part of him believed that they really did smell each other in that Amortentia. Instead, he focused on the exciting event that would take place in the evening.

For sweet Marlene, a birthday party would be held tonight. On December 5th at precisely 10:05 pm, she would turn 18 years old. For years, her birthday was celebrated with an elaborate party down to the minute that she was born. It was a milestone for sure, and Marlene was on the edge of her seat ever since waking up on the morning of the fifth.

Alice and Lily had taken charge of the planning for this elaborate event, which would take place in the same little secret room that the boys had thrown their rambunctious pre-term party in a few months back. Under the girls' control, however, Hermione knew that the party would certainly be less chaotic.

Marlene had always been a social butterfly, and every year for her party, practically the entire school was invited. Putting the pieces together, Hermione assumed that Emma would also be at her celebration, which gave her yet another event to analyze the Vanity girl at.

Though a large part of everyone's day consisted of helping Lily and Alice set up for the party, Hermione made sure to set aside at least a few hours to dissect the newest addition to her reading list.

After securing the cups and non-alcoholic beverages with Remus for the party, all while avoiding Sirius as best she could, Hermione darted out of the pre-party scene to dive into The Secrets of the Darkest Art.

Hermione hated every part of this book already. It was the extreme, uncensored version of what she had learned in Defense Against the Arts over the years, and the sheer evil that this book contained led her to queasiness.

In the privacy of her dorm room, Hermione read chapter after chapter, digesting each and every thing that Edgar Vanity had to say. The more she read, the more dark the content got.

She read about terribly dark spells that not even she recognized, about more than just the surface level of the Unforgivable Curses, about how to breed and slaughter the most dangerous magical creatures, and it was getting to be too much. To her knowledge, everything she read upon didn't have any correlation to the Voldemort in this time, or the Voldemort that she had grown to fear in her own time.

As sweat dripped down her pallid face, Hermione felt as if she were going no where. The book had taken up an ungodly amount of time from her day and she was nearly finished with it. All she wanted was a break, and a quick glance at her wristwatch let her know that it was almost time for Marlene's birthday party. Thank Merlin; she couldn't get rid of this terrible little book under her bed soon enough.

Even a quick splash of cold water on her face and a change of clothes didn't shake the dark-induced sick feeling from her stomach. But the party surely made a good distraction for Hermione.

As the night grew colder and darker, the secret room began to fill with everyone she knew and more. Snacks and drinks of all sorts filled the many tables, and a large birthday cake sat in the corner, waiting for the clock to strike 10:05. The party offered itself as a distraction from the darkness that Hermione had just tried to digest, but deep down she knew that spying on Emma was nearly as important as her mental sanity.

And for that reason, Hermione would keep herself sober for the night. An altered sense of reality would only pose problems, and she already had enough to keep track of at the moment. She poured herself a cup of juice and moseyed around the room, not staying in one place for two long.

Marlene grew with excitement as 10:05 pm approached closer and closer. Lily and Alice held up her cake and the entire room beamed with happiness as soon as she blew out her candles.

The was yet another moment that no story could replicate for Hermione. She was here to visualize it; she was a part of it. Sometimes, she wondered if she had gotten too caught up in her mission that she had forgotten to take a second look and appreciate the beauty of this time. Never again would she see Marlene blow out her 18th birthday candles, or James make move after move on Lily, or truly see these people in their youth once she went back to her own time.

But as much as that scared her, failing her mission scared her even more. She still needed to focus.

And that little bit of focus allowed Hermione to catch a glimpse of an angry Emma and a flustered Peter back in the corner of the hidden room. While the crowd helped themselves to cake, Hermione did her best to analyze the situation. Before she could do so, however, Emma stormed away from the conversation in a frenzy, in turn leaving Peter to grow angrier with every step she took.

The tiniest details in these situations often made the most impact in Hermione's mind, for once Peter left the corner, and the party for that matter, Emma's drink still lay unattended on the nearest table.

Now was the time! She could finally have concrete proof if Peter was using Amortentia on Emma. Just one smell of the cup would do it; one whiff of wet dog would secure her hypothesis.

Hermione practically ran over to Emma's drink with the potential of getting one step closer to her final goal. Her heart beat rapidly as she lifted up the cup from the table with shaky hands. Bringing it to her nose, she thought both of her hatred for Peter in this moment, and her pity for Emma, and...

"Sluggy! I've been looking for you!" spoke a tipsy Sirius, flashing a cheeky smile in Hermione's direction.

There the two stood in the corner of the secret room, with drinks in hand, both growing more and more nervous as the other found a way to get closer. Sirius masked his nervousness through the consumption of alcohol, whereas Hermione masked her's with near silence.

Though interrupted, Hermione couldn't say she was disappointed to have Sirius join her. "I've barely seen you tonight, how are you?" he started, a bit slurred in speech.

All Hermione could focus on was the cup in front of her. Her eyes darted from his eyes, to the cup, to his lips, and back again as she struggled to form words. "I'm good, great, actually. The cake was delicious," she added awkwardly, eyes back on the cup.

"Indeed it was. So is this Firewhiskey, might I add."

"Agreed," Hermione said, holding up Emma's cup as if it were her own. The silence was louder than ever, and she couldn't stop thinking of the possible Amortentia within. But the next words that left Sirius' mouth made that hope a reality.

"Well, cheers to that, Harper!" he slurred, practically slamming his cup against the one in Hermione's hand. He tilted his cup back and downed the rest of his glass without a second thought.

Hermione felt cornered. It was as if the space between her and Sirius was getting smaller and smaller each second she waited to lift the cup to her mouth. These nerves, combined with the nerves that were brought forth by the boy she had grown to fancy (apparently) only inches away from herself sent a whirlwind of anxiousness through her head. She couldn't speak.

"This is usually the part where you take a drink, Sluggy," he chuckled, easing the anxious girl up a tad, "It's bad luck if you don't."

She chuckled nervously, her pale face gaining an intense blush color in record time. Slowly, she lifted up Emma's cup and brought it upon her lips. Without actually drinking juice, Hermione was overcome with a new set of emotions as soon she discovered the scent of the boy in front of her residing in Emma's cup.

As much as she was happy to find out the truth behind Peter and Emma's relationship, it pained her to know that Emma had to undergo this without consent. It was a terrible feeling for Hermione: knowing the problem without a concrete way to solve it.

With her assumptions confirmed, however, Hermione's mind could rest for a moment. But that moment was made impossibly short by none other than Sirius Black.

While bringing the cup to her face, Sirius had started on a long tangent about Merlin knows what (Hermione wasn't really listening in all honesty), maybe something about James and Lily?

I should probably listen to him...

So with her lips still pressed against the cup, Hermione turned her focus directly at Sirius. He seemed caught off guard by her stare. His speech stopped, and his eyes returned the favor. Though short, this moment allowed both Sirius and Hermione to feel like the only two people in the room. Everyone else began to fade.

But moments like this was not what Hermione was here for. Her head would overcome her heart any day; she needed to snap out of it.

But his eyes, smile, lips...

Her mind was running in circles while she tried to gain her mentality back, but failed to notice Frank Longbottom plow into Sirius after completely losing his balance on the dance floor, in turn knocking Hermione into the wall and onto the floor.

The love-spiked liquid in the cup sloshed upon impact, meeting Hermione's lips without control. Her heart dropped, but she hadn't ingested the potion.

So there she lay on the ground, piled underneath Sirius and Frank, crossing her fingers that her feelings wouldn't take over.

How bad could it be?

But the slightest touch of the most powerful love potion in the world on the lips of Hermione would make both her night—and Sirius'—one they would never forget.

A/N UPDATE (7/13/21): heyyyy i just got back from a little fam vacation so i was terribly inactive for like 3 weeks so here's a chapter that i just pulled out of my butt this morning!! can you tell i hate writing dialogue??

anyway, this concept of "the slightest touch" of amortentia is an idea i've had mapped out for SO long and it makes me so happy to finally write it! plz let me know if you like that concept and vote and comment and such because it really does make a difference for me!!

p.s. sorry this chapter is kinda on the shorter side, it just felt natural to end it on this note and save the juicy stuff for the next chapter hehe. who doesn't love a good cliff hanger?? -callahan