"Now then! Who can tell me what this is?" Professor Slughorn's booming voice asked us over the swirl of various potent fumes. A rush of excitement shot through me; I had come across love potions only two weeks ago while researching the top ten uses for flubber worm mucus. I raised my hand.

"Yes, Miss…"

"Granger, sir," I supplied. "It's Amortentia – a powerful love potion. Not everyone can smell it but for those who can, it is said to smell differently to each person. It plays on existing feelings of attraction."

"Right you are, Miss Granger!" Slughorn congratulated me, with a beaming smile. "Of course, while it is impossible to create real love, the scents and smells this potion evokes within individuals are perfectly real. Amortentia plays, as Miss Granger so rightly put it, on existing feelings of attraction, should they be present. Otherwise, it creates intense feelings of obsession or infatuation towards a person, or people, at random. It is, quite possibly, the most dangerous potion in this room…"

As much as I tried to continue concentrating, I couldn't. Slughorn's voice was becoming distant and muted and all I was aware of was the sweetest, most intoxicating scent that had ever invaded my senses: wild strawberries mixed with spring time and something... floral. I could almost feel it hugging and caressing my very soul. My eyes closed and I felt every muscle in my body relax. I was so relaxed, in fact, that I could almost–

"Hermione!" Ron whisper-yelled in my ear, while simultaneously poking me in the ribs. The sharp sensation tore me away from my dream-like state and I swung my head round to look at him.

"Huh? What?" Was all I could utter by way of a response. Ron's eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you two?" He asked, intermittently looking between Harry and I. Harry, I noticed, was looking slightly flushed and almost guilty under his friend's gaze.

"Nothing," we both mumbled, leaning forward and pretending to read our text books.

I had no idea what had just happened; all I knew was that Harry and I were both lying through our teeth.